So, I managed to actually read a few books since September’s What I’ve Been Reading. That was while listening, yet again, to Tony Hillerman’s fantastic Navajo Tribal Police series. I never tire of those. And I’m now listening to The Caine Mutiny – great novel, movie, and even play. Gotta do a major piece on that some day. I tried to listen to my current Malazan Book of the Fallen, but it’s 44 hours long! I simply couldn’t make myself…
It’s a new shelfie and we’re up to number eleven. And this one is my Dashiell Hammett collection. His face is the first one on my Hardboiled Mt. Rushmore. So, he’s got a solid shelf in my Hardboiled collection. William T. Nolan’s bio on the far left has some good info, but he’s a bit of a hack. He doesn’t miss an opportunity to run down Carroll John Daly to make Hammett look better. It’s juvenile, and Hammett doesn’t need…
Wow. It’s been a year since I did a What I’ve Been Watching. I did do those two Ten Things I Think I Think, covering Marvel movies, but that’s it. So, let’s talk about a few things I liked. WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Our own Goth Chick has talked about this show a couple times – including here. This is a vampire show, running on FX. Based on a previous movie (which had a different cast). Its about…
Clearly, the Black Gate-verse wants to know some more Things I Think I Think, since it’s been three weeks since that last time I shared that. I mean, The Bob View is certainly nerd-centric and somewhat….different. So, without further ado (and leaving out a couple numbers…) 1) I LIKE MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN This is a brand new Fox shows, four episodes in. The lead is Kiefer Sutherland’s brother, Rossif. I recently watched him on the excellent Three Pines…
I started reading William Bernhardt’s Ben Kincaid books back in the mid-nineties. I seem to recall I went on a ‘lawyer’ kick and read him, Steve Martini, and Robert K. Tannenbaum. But years later, Bernhardt made a bigger impact on me with his Red Sneaker Writers series. These slim volumes with the brightly attractive colors are jam-packed with great writing advice. The first book I read was on story structure, and I think it’s still my favorite. Though every one…
I am the in-house mystery guy (that’s how I hoodwinked John O’Neill into giving me a weekly column). Ten years later, he’s still trying to configure the Firewall to keep me from getting up my Monday morning post! I organized the Discovering Robert E. Howard, and Hither Came Conan series’ here at Black Gate. And contributed, of course. That’s the advantage of being in charge of them! Robert E. Howard is my second-favorite writer (trailing only the terrific John D….
I listen to audiobooks because I can fit them in far easier than I can actual books, to read. But even as my bifocals have to continually work harder, I still enjoy actually reading, be it a physical copy, or on my Fire tablet (I prefer the former, but needs must win out sometimes). So, let’s look at some of what I’ve been reading lately. THE WATERS OF ETERNITY – Howard Andrew Jones I’ve been talking more about my Black…
And it’s time for you to find out what I’ve been listening to. I know you’ve been anxiously waiting since last month. Now, if you read last two blog posts. Which I’m SURE you did….you know I watched 26 Marvel movies. While that was fun (and ridiculously indulgent), it did cut a bit into my listening (and reading). But I still managed to get in some of both. So, awaaaay we go. THE DESERT OF SOULS – Howard Andrew Jones…
Last week I did a Ten Things I Think I Think on the deep dive I did with seventeen Marvel movies. I watched nine more to finish off this really fun movie watch, so here are Five More Things I Think – Marvel Edition. Twenty-six movies, and Ultron was the only on I didn’t care for. That’s pretty good. Shang Chi Avengers Ultron Ant Man 1 Avengers Civil War Dr. Strange 1 Thor 3 (Ragnarok) Spider Man: Homecoming (1) Spider…
At loose ends and not too keen on writing over the Labor Day holiday weekend, I decided to start a week-long Marvel deep dive. I had re-watched Guardians of the Galaxy stuff for the third one, so I set those aside. And I had watched the Logan movies not too long ago, so I skipped X-Men stuff. With those parameters, I re-watched (with a couple first watches): Avengers: Infinity War Avengers: Endgame Iron Man 1 Captain America: The First Avenger…