I would also compare Carrion Comfort to early King. It's a hefty book and it is mean-spirited and brutal to its characters. But very dated.

The Far Side of the World, book 10(!) in Patrick O'Brian's amazingly impressive Aubrey/Maturin series. It's almost at a point where I'm starting to take for granted how great these books are. O'Brian hasn't made a false step since the ridiculous bear disguise in book 2.

I'm a couple days late to the party on this, but I have recently become obsessed with Hop Along. They might be my favorite new(ish) band of the past several years. I love her voice so so much. AVQ&A ran the question last week of "What Song Gives You Goosebumps?" My answer is the entirety of Painted Shut.

The answer is Indiana

Handmaid's Tale is quite good, but The Blind Assassin is exceptional.

In regards to Lone Ranger, I remember hearing stories about Disney execs visiting Depp on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean and being super confused and worried at how Depp was dressed and the direction he chose for his character and were pretty convinced the movie was going to be a disaster. Considering how well it…

I just finished Trouble Boys last week. So so good. Those guys really were a bunch of lunatics. And I've been retelling that Metallica story to anyone who will listen.

YES. same thought. I'm hoping for at least one Barry Lyndon-esque dual with laser blasters.

Sailing to Sarantium. I'm 150 pages in so far, so I'm not going to make judgments yet. I will say that his prose seems a little more pedestrian than his dual masterpiece Under Heaven/River of Stars. So maybe he's just become a more confident writer as he's gotten older.

Those are increasingly rare around these parts.

gotta get up to get down

Nobody remembers when Made of Honor came out

"Bridget Jones’s Baby doesn’t deliver"

That scene is seared in my brain. Actually most of that book is seared in my brain. One of the most memorable reading experiences I've ever had.

Dreamcatcher. And yeah, that book was awful. King went full-on into self-parody mode with that one.

Also: Robin Williams in World's Greatest Dad

Also: Black Book is great and features a frequently nude Carice van Houten

Blind Assassin: That's a "Top Five Books I've Ever Read" contender right there.

Nice, bro!

Thank you! I do like the time periods he writes about, but I think I'm pretty spoiled with O'Brian. I may give his Warlord Chronicles a shot once the Aubrey/Maturin series is well in my rearview mirror.