Every once in a while, because it may be of interest to those who wonder things like “Where does he get his ideas?” or “What’s wrong with him?”, I post a list of what I’ve been reading lately. I would also post a list of what I’ve been WATCHING lately, but that would be a much longer list. Anyway, here’s the last six weeks or so, give or take me not actually counting how many weeks it’s been since my last reading list…
Reading List 3:
(22 Nov. ’13)
Finished rereading Stephen King’s THE GUNSLINGER. Has some fine moments in it. Looking forward to finally reading the entire DARK TOWER series.
(11 Dec. ’13)
Finished the Kevin Leahy translation of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s VAMPIRE HUNTER D. I’ve loved the movie for years, but the novel—maybe it’s the fault of the translator—seemed pretty cheesy. The story was good (in a sci-fi, vampire, horror film, western sort of way) but the prose was about as purple as it gets…
(16 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading Hiroaki Samura’s BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL: BLOOD OF A THOUSAND (translated by Dana Lewis and Toren Smith.) Still a great book. Gruesome but fun.
(16 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading Hiroaki Samura’s BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL: CRY OF THE WORM (also translated by Dana Lewis and Toren Smith.)
(16 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading Hitoaki Samura’s BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL: DREAMSONG. (See above for translation credits.)
(17 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading Hitoaki Samura’s BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL: ON SILENT WINGS. (See above for translation credits.)
(18 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading Richard Sala’s PECULIA. A fantastic book full of illustrated very, very, very short stories. Much weirdness (and some naughtiness to boot!)
(19 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading Hitoaki Samura’s BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL: ON SILENT WINGS II. (See above for translation credits.) Pretty good stories. I bought these books several years ago. I have the first five, but I know there are at least thirteen. I wonder if I should buy more of them…
(19 Dec. ’13)
Finished reading Robert E. Howard’s WORMS OF THE EARTH, which is part of THE CTHULHU MYTHOS MEGAPACK, edited by John Gregory Betancourt and Colin Azariah-Kribbs. (I’m pretty sure in a previous entry from the last list I said there was no editor info. I found it…)
(21 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading the first volume of Toru Yamazaki’s OCTOPUS GIRL. It’ yucky and silly and ridiculous, but it’s also fun (disgustingly entertaining.)
(21 Dec. ’13)
Finished reading ENVY, THE GARDENS OF YNATH, AND THE SIN OF CAIN by Darrell Schweitzer, which is also part of THE CTHULHU MYTHOS MEGAPACK.
(22 Dec. ’13)
Finished reading DRAWN FROM LIFE by John Glasby, also part of THE CTHULHU MYTHOS MEGAPACK.
(24 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading Bill Watterson’s WEIRDOS FROM ANOTHER PLANET!, one of the Calvin and Hobbes collections. Why don’t newspaper comics come this good anymore?
(26 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading Yuzo Takada’s 3X3 EYES. Haven’t read this one in a long time. Still good, though.
(28 Dec. ’13)
Finished rereading (for the first time in 20 or 25 years) George Bernard Shaw’s PYGMALION. Funny. Much darker than MY FAIR LADY. I particularly like the epilogue.
(31 Dec. ’13)
Officially giving up on the copy of Dennis Barden’s GHOSTS & HAUNTINGS that I’ve been reading (and throwing it in the trash, although not because of the content.) After reading the first 164 pages, several of them torn and with large chunks of text missing, I’ve discovered that the spine is even more damaged than I thought and several pages (165 through 170) have fallen out, entirely. Shit. If I find another copy in a used shop someday, I’ll try to finish it, but this crappy copy is being eliminated so that no other hapless reader gets over halfway through the book only to find that it’s incomplete!
(1 Jan. ’14)
Finished Michael R. Collings’s IN THE HAUNTED DARKNESS, part of the often mentioned CTHULHU MYTHOS MEGAPACK.
(2 Jan. ’14)
Finished rereading, again, Edward Gorey’s AMPHIGOREY collection. It’s still one of my favorites. Each piece in this book is brilliant, but THE OBJECT-LESSON, THE WILLOWDALE HANDCAR, and THE CURIOUS SOFA are absolute masterpieces.
(6 Jan. ’14)
Finished rereading Gary Larson’s THE PREHISTORY OF THE FAR SIDE. Fun.
That’s the stuff I’ve FINISHED (or given up on) since my last list. Now you know.
—Richard F. Yates
The Primitive Entertainment Workshop 