15 Books, 3 New All-Time Favorites

[@Johanna_reads]

That bad narrator description! 😂The Postman has such a cool cover. I may live under a rock, but I've never heard of the movie. Frankenstein is so good! Great wrap-up!

[@JosephReadsBooks]

That narrator was truly terrible. The Postman (movie) was a box office flop. I like the movie but a lot of people prefer to forget it existed 😂. Thanks!

[@gearoidosullivan356]

Nice to see a shout out for The Postman, which I really enjoyed when I read it when it was released. Was disappointed, but not surprised by the fact that Costner chose to change a lot about the story to suit himself in the lead role. There were some clever twists and turns too. Brin could write an entertaining story alright back then.

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

Beastly wrap-up, and thanks for putting Glen Cook’s sci-fi on my radar! I also don’t understand the near universal hype for the Martian Chronicles, which I found utterly underwhelming.

[@JosephReadsBooks]

I'm editing a video right now dedicated to Glen Cook's SF where I elaborate on his work. Martian Chronicles was just okay. It was another one of those times where I felt like I was missing whatever it was other people enjoyed.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Wow, what a month. I really liked The Postman, the movie clouded my thoughts ahead of time but I quickly forgot about the movie and just immersed myself in the story.

[@JosephReadsBooks]

I had a feeling it was a lot different than the movie so I just went along for the ride. I almost wish there was a sequel.

[@SheWasOnlyEvie]

Read Water Sleeps and now currently reading Soldiers Live. Thank goodness I have so much more Glen Cook to read and you are making me so excited to read his sci-fi!

[@JosephReadsBooks]

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on how Cook capped off his greatest work. I love Soldiers Live. I'm editing my Glen Cook SF overview right now. So that should be out in a few days.

[@jonrhoades1845]

I picked up a copy of Pop 1280 after you talked about it. Absolutely great book. Thanks for the recommendations.

[@JosephReadsBooks]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@_johnmaag]

I'll have to look up some of that Glen Cook SF since I love the Black Company. I got my mom to buy me the first 5 to 8 of the Survivalist series when I was in grade school. I'll be interested to hear your take. I think they were a bit cheesy but I remember enjoying them. But I was also running around in corn fields playing army at the time. I wish I would have kept them.

[@JosephReadsBooks]

I hope you enjoy the Glen Cook SF stuff! I hope The Survivalist is decent enough that I don't quit reading it. That will be enough for me 😂.

[@leopercara3477]

I've read Wellness by Nathan Hill, The Hemlock Cup by Bethany Hughes, There Is Happiness by Brad Watson. And I DNFed Gone South by Robert Mccammon half way through because I stopped caring, it was weird. It was going well and then I didn't want to pick it up anymore. Maybe you could read Dandelion Wine by Bradbury, is a coming of age.

[@JosephReadsBooks]

Robert McCammon is on my short list of "writers to read ASAP". I will keep an eye out for Dandelion Wine. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels]

Is Passage at Arms heavily tied into the Starfishers trilogy? Went to add it thinking it was a standalone but GR has it as Starfishers 4. Just curious, I'll read the whole quartet now. Doesn't take much convincing for me to pick up Glen Cook, lol.

[@JosephReadsBooks]

It is not heavily tied to it. It is a prequel that takes place in a war that is mentioned maybe three times in the Starfishers trilogy. You can read it before or after. It has no impact on the trilogy.

[@thatsci-firogue]

As someone who has no patience for conspiracy theories whatsoever (especially the right-wing variety) One More Bridge to Cross sounds too jarring for me. I also prefer Lonesome Dove to Blood Meridian. I've read BM twice and for whatever reason it just didn't click with me. I mostly stuck to reading comics in July, just needed a change of pace and I just missed reading comics, especially Image Comics. I read: *Comics* Invincible Volume 1 Written by Robert Kirkman | Art by Cory Walker - I used to be a HUGE Walking Dead fan but as a kid and teenager I always preferred what I had read of Invincible. Jupiter's Legacy Volumes 1 & 2 Written by Mark Millar | Art by Wilfredo Torres - A lot of modern Millar reads like a film pitch but not this. It's mature but not as edgy as a lot of his creator-owned superhero stuff tends to be. Kick-Ass Volume 1 (re-read) Written by Mark Millar | Art by John Romita JR - A bit of a miss for me on re-read. JRJR's art is already an acquired taste but just doesn't do it for me anymore. Nailbiter Volume 1 (re-read) Written by Joshua Williamson | Art by Mike Henderson - I dunno what I was doing when I originally read this because I will definitely be trying to get to the next volume sooner than later. Saga Volume 1 (re-read) Written by Brian K Vaughan | Art by Fiona Staples - My favourite ongoing comic and I am YEARS behind 😅 Scott Pilgrim Volumes 1 - 2 (re-read) Written & Drawn By Bryan Lee O'Malley Sin City 1: The Hard Goodbye (re-read) Written & Drawn By Frank Miller - Visually speaking, Sin City is a treat. The use of negative space, shadows and caricature is breathtaking, I'm surprised how well this translated to film. The depictions of women is questionable tho. The Boys Volume 1 (re-read) Written by Garth Ennis | Art by Darick Robertson *Historical-Fantasy* The Last Light of the Sun / Guy Gavriel Kay - Underrated. Carried over from June. *Thriller* Winter of Frankie Machine / Don Winslow - Looking forward to reading more Winslow! Carried over from June As for what I'm currently reading: *Grimdark Fantasy* Aspect-Emperor 2: White-luck Warrior (re-read) - As mind blowing as Bakker was on first read, the re-reads (so far) have been twice as impactful. The Blood Meridian inspiration is very prominent, and I like what Bakker does with it infinity better NGL. My priority read atm. *Sci-Fi* Cloud Atlas / David Mitchell - I'm not wild about the short story approach in SFF so I've been taking my time with it but so far it's gotten much better. Just started the 1st Timothy Cavendish story. *Western* Streets of Laredo / Larry McMurtry - It's great to be back with some of the Lonesome Dove crew.

[@thekeywitness]

Interesting that you don’t like Bradbury. He’s legendary for bringing literary prose to genre fiction. So, what about his writing do you dislike exactly?

[@JosephReadsBooks]

His ability to craft a sentence is great. My issue with the Martian Chronicles was that every other "story" in the fix up was exposition vomit and characters so thin they were basically transparent. With Fahrenheit 451 I just thought it was okay. Beyond the interesting premise everything else just feels forgettable. I am going to give his short stories a try and see if I prefer them.