Listened to a great chat with Joe Hill. He shared some great stories about his career, his new book, and gave some hints for his upcoming work. He said starting with King Sorrow, he is aiming for a book a year for the next ten years!

I had bought the second book at a used book store, but I'll be donating after having finished book one...

It wasn't necessarily bad, but I think the character in the cultural zeitgeist has outgrown the original story. You probably know all you want to know about Tarzan without reading this and spoiling your mental image. Overly long, pretty racist, way too many mentions of sinew, and a depressing ending took away from the overall enjoyment.

"D-Day" by Rachel Khong imagines that God is sick of humanity, and gives everyone a month to decide what animal they want to become. It's been a while since I've listened to the Selected Shorts podcast, and this was a delightful story to come back to!

Audio: Selected Shorts podcast "The New You" 6/19/25

Or read online: https://www.guernicamag.com/d-day/

My wife and I are traveling to Philadelphia this week. She is attending ALA '25, and I'm tagging along to see family and friends. The heat wave will hopefully break before we arrive, but it's been a while since I've had to deal with east coast humidity. It'll be a short, busy trip, but I'm excited 😀 🥨🔔

#tuesdaytunes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHh6TWfwRRM

An excellent, effective conclusion to a great series. Brubaker never ceases to amaze me. This story was good, but nothing too special until this volume. It gets absolutely bonkers, but still feels like it is exactly the way the story was meant to unfold, if that makes sense. The artists really get a chance to flex as well.
Available digitally, name your price at http://panelsyndicate.com/comics/friday

After the disgusting, multipronged assault on LGBT lives by the tangerine terror's cronies this morning, I spent my lunch break in a nearby park where the library has a story walk. This was a cute picture book about emotions, and, bonus, there was no orange in it 😉 😩

HOTLINES:
Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
BlackLine: 1-800-604-5841

RESOURCES:
HRC.IM/FAQ
THETREVORPROJECT.ORG
TRANSLIFELINE.ORG
CALLBLACKLINE.COM

#tuesdaytunes

I just finished You Like It Darker this weekend, so here is the inspiration for the title, Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker 😎

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD6fvzGIBfQ

My favorite part of reading this was during “Rattlesnakes“: one line after thinking of the Tell-Tale Heart, Vic says “this isn't the Tell-Tale Pram.“ ? Some stories in this collection were obviously less developed, but I can't say I disliked any of them. “The Answer Man“ and “Danny Coughlin“ were absolutely brilliant, “The Fifth Step“ got a good laugh out of me at the end. Themes of luck (or lack-there-of), destiny, and aging. #constantreader

Books and brews for @WildAlaskaBibliophile's birthday🎂🎈
We had a nice breakfast at a new-to-us diner, then sipped some beer and read at a local brewery. We would have liked to have gone home after that, but adulting demands errands be run 🤷😢

Trans punk rock singer-guitarist Laura Jane Grace dropped a new single, “Wearing Black.“ Grace is notable for being one of the first highly visible punk rock musicians to publicly come out as transgender, which she did in May 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohBymqYJ2pk

The video is borderline NSFW, but I couldn't help thinking while watching, “I bet this is what conservatives picture every pride events looks like“ 🤣🤣🤣

#pridemonth

Two immortal assassins from a dystopian future are trapped in endless battle. Each time one of them kills someone, they are transported together to a different time and place. Can they put aside their differences long enough to save humanity, or will their violent nature lock them in a cyclical pattern of death? Lee Bermejo is possible my favorite artist working today, and he gets to flex some serious skill in this wild, stimulating thriller.

Jedi Knight Mace Windu gets involved with a smuggler who claims to have the formula for a new, improved Coaxium hyperdrive fuel. Decent art and a good start, but too many hanging threads to really recommend. If they continue the series, there are some interesting places the story can go, especially with his grim, suspicious demeanor in the movies contrasting with this more loose and open portrayal.

@WildAlaskaBibliophile and I took a very exciting, much needed vacation this past weekend to Talkeetna, AK, which included a train ride, boat trip, and plane tour. It has been a stressful winter, with the Alaskan darkness, work/pet issues, and the Tangerine terror. I was very grateful to get away for a bit with my favorite person.

Happy Release Day to V E. Schwab! I was hoping to get King of Ashes today as well from the library, but it's not in yet. Oh well, it'll give me time to finish You Like It Darker 😁

R.I.P. Sly Stone

"We've got to live together." #tuesdaytunes

https://youtu.be/lkFjRk4jKOo

I really enjoyed this classic sci-fi novel. I've seen the movie a few times, but I really want to rewatch it now to compare.

I don't know what happened at the printer, but every third page has this perforation down the length of the page. Weird...

It took a couple phone calls and fortuitous timing, but we were able to visit Northern Nights Book Company on our last day in Talkeetna. The owner hadn't opened earlier this season because the weather has been quite rainy and the trailer can get humid. Bought a couple titles from Alaskan authors based on her recommendations!

Little Free Library spotted in Talkeetna, AK

#bookspin #bookspinbingo @theAromaofBooks

Really enjoyed this band when they played a show at my college. An alt rock band with a prominent saxophone. Apparently pretty popular at their peak in Boston, Averi released two albums, which I still own 😁 The lead singer left to pursue a solo career, and while they tried to carry on, the group eventually disbanded.

https://open.spotify.com/track/3RSrpI1JNnKmaTvBsjpd1w?si=hCA026bkTjuta78ONce_eQ

#tuesdaytunes

A murder mystery in the Halls of the Dead?! Um, yes please!

Releasing 1.6.26

I selected this book for The Storygraph's genre challenge. It is a great introduction to the struggles of indigenous people throughout the history of the United States. It is especially important to recognize their fight as our government continues to ignore their sovereignty, as evidenced by the recent Supreme Court ruling for greed over non-Christian religious freedom.

#bookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

We have a couple trips planned for June, so I likely won't read everything I'd like to, but I am excited for V.E. Schwab's new book, as well as S.A. Cosby's.

I had been listening to this as background noise, and realized that I have zero interest in the plot. Cal is an emotionally immature, whiny punk, instead of a budding, confident Jedi. Merrin is an insecure, pining schoolgirl, instead of a powerful, self-assured Nightsister with whom trust needs to be earned. And the whole thing is weirdly horny; not that romance is not welcome, but it is too much a focus for how poorly it is developed.

The Wild Man of Greenhollow lives a quiet life in the woods until a researcher enters his domain and upends his life of quiet seclusion. A slow reveal of an interesting history, soft romantic tension, and a wild second act make for an excellent novella with plenty of green magic.

My mom is a Muppets fan for life, so I grew up loving them. I recently started watching the new(-ish) series on Disney+, The Muppets Mayhem, and it is a delight! Animal is one of my top 3 Muppets, and I especially love him in this series. I couldn't deny #tuesdaytunes followers the original hippy dippy jam from The Muppet Movie ✌️

https://youtu.be/XoKFBjd5-F8

It's hard not to root for Nick and Charlie, even when they are acting like children. This novella deals with a pretty big fight. It was also written before graphic novels as a Solitude novella. I'm not sure if it was tweaked at all before being reissued as a Heartstopper novella, but I appreciated the drawing sprinkled throughout.

This is Alaska at 11p 😜

A pair of sisters support their ailing father in a world where magicians are consigned into the service of the king. When the younger sister starts showing signs of magical abilities, choices must be made, but the threat of war is not the only danger magicians face.
Paulsen, creator of Garlic and the Vampire, has a style all her own, bold and consistently strong. The story is exciting and well paced.

I borrowed this audio from Queer Liberation Library!
This is a pretty effective zombie novella with strong themes of queer acceptance and righteous anger. A void in the cosmos is causing straight people to become irrational and violent towards queer folk for one night a year. A group of friends attempt to escape to Joshua Tree to wait out the event. It doesn't go well. Heavy COVID allegories, as straights refuse the vaccine and ignore precautions

You may have noticed that I've been doing a read-through of the Lady Mechanika series. The upcoming volume has started its Kickstarter campaign; while the new issues are a continuation of the main storyline, if you are interested in dipping your toe, you can pledge $15 and start at the beginning with Vol. 1 (and support independent comics)!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eljoebenitez/lady-mechanika-the-mechanical-...

#tuesdaytunes We had the absolute delight of seeing country star Pam Tillis in concert Friday. She had shows in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and graciously added a show on the peninsula in a local high school. It was a great night of prime country music and stories of her life.

One of her biggest hits includes some literary references:
https://youtu.be/D1OVMyJbJwE

2025 Nominees have been announced!

https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards/

Library cover vs. the cover I had growing up. I think they did a reissue of her books when I Know What You Did Last Summer became a movie.
A teen nearing high school graduation develops psychic abilities that catch the attention of a local police officer.
This was a fun read, until the end. Very predictable twist, very toxic/borderline inappropriate relationship.
It was interesting to read this and The Dead Zone at the same time 😋

King writing about a political clown goofing his way into office spelling certain disaster, decades before Drumpf disgraced the White House. I hated James Franco as narrator; he sounds either hung over or bored for the majority of the audio. It was a well constructed story, though, with lots of foreshadowing and good payoff. #losersclub #constantreader

Recommended by @WildAlaskaBibliophile :
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I absolutely loved this! I loved the story, the characters, the art, the message, the relationships.
Snap is a weird kid who is trying to find her place in the world. She befriends another social exile at school as she also investigates the town witch. Both actions have huge impacts on her life.

I completed my first gallon of blood donations with the Blood Bank of Alaska this week! #5joysfriday @DebinHawaii

A quiet book about a quiet man. Bookended by a year in his old age, we examine different eras of Bob's life. I think Patrick deWitt is one of the finest modern authors, so I really enjoyed reading this novel, but I think I lost the thread when it flashed back to Bob's runaway. Still, Bob is probably one of my favorite main characters I've read about in a while.

I really enjoyed this series, more so than a lot of older comics I've read recently. Batman is settling into his role in Gotham when a villain known as the Reaper starts to terrorize the city. A vigilante from the past, the Reaper's return rattles Batman, as he is a violent, murderous reflection of our dark knight. Batman has to reconcile with his own self-imposed limits while also confronting Joe Chill in a fascinating side story.

@WildAlaskaBibliophile usually crank the 80s and 90s country hits during road trips, and this weekend we spent Saturday in Homer. A song from this album popped up. This was an early favorite of mine; I grew up with country music from my mom and classic rock from my dad. This was one of the early country-pop crossover hits, but I think it was well-balanced. https://youtu.be/hU0nP9dcI_w
#tuesdaytunes

Happy Peter Pan Day! I have this reminder hanging on the printer next to my desk at work. 🧚‍♂️

I got this beautiful connecting cover set through the last Kickstarter campaign, and I'm finally caught up on this series.

Lady Mechanika is still working solo as her partnership with Mr. Lewis remains strained. She is called to Serbia to hunt a lake monster that may be responsible for the disappearance of a research team. A sweet, heartbreaking story. I enjoyed this guest artist, Siya Oum, more than the artist on Vol 6.

I am wanting to do a re-read of some of the Marvel Star Wars comics soon. I am familiar with Sana, but I only remember bits and pieces of her character, but this is a solid comic even without any history. A dysfunctional family heist/rescue mission with lots of twists and improvisation. Good art and entertaining characters.

#tuesdaytunes

The non profit radio station in Philly, WXPN, has a program called Kid's Korner at 7p EST. We loved it growing up, and I still catch every now and then, especially since it comes on at 3p Alaska time, the middle of my work afternoon. They were celebrating a belated May the 4th, and played this delightful little Star Wars ditty. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/pjBAiroabUI

@WildAlaskaBibliophile indulged my fandom with a gift of this Star Wars logo Lego set. I spent a couple hours yesterday on my replay of Jedi: Fallen Order, then we built Legos together until it was time for errands and cooking. Happy Belated May the 4th!

I really enjoyed this manga series and this was an excellent ending to the story. A gay man and an asexual woman marry to avoid unwelcome societal pressure of being adult and single. In past volumes, there were tons of flashbacks, but this volume spends the majority in the present, dealing with familial tension and concerns about the future.

Patrick Horvath's new one-shot comic about a future where the 1% either donate half of their wealth or fight to the death to try to keep it all. Short and to the point, with plenty of violence and tension. After the success of Beneath the Trees and this, he is definitely a creator to watch.

A cute book, quick read. Themes of consumerism, online safety, labor unions, and community. While I may not be the target audience for this book, I really enjoy Jen Wang's art, and I'd like to read more from Cory Doctorow.

@TheAromaofBooks #bookspin #bookspinbingo
May 2025

Thanks to @debinhawaii for this giveaway a while back!

This features several stories that examine the tension of claiming Hawaii as home: people who were born there, people who left and came back, people who weren't born there but lived most of their lives there, and outsiders/tourists. Definitely some new-to-me perspectives and themes. Well written and easy to get caught up in the stories!