"Funny thing about Jokers. There's two in every deck."
When it comes to franchises involving superheroes, DC Comics' Batman is my number one favorite, "Funny thing about Jokers. There's two in every deck."
When it comes to franchises involving superheroes, DC Comics' Batman is my number one favorite, so it was a no brainer to have this book and its sequel shelved on my tbr shelf.
Set in Tim Burton's Gotham City, John Jackson Miller's Batman: Resurrection invites the reader to discover how the city is recovering after the Joker's mayhem. Thanks to Bruce Wayne, Gotham General Hospital has opened a new ward to help treat victims of the Joker's Smylex, but not everything is as it seems.
Let me start off by saying I LOVE THIS BOOK.
It was so incredibly good, and it has left me wanting more. I want more Batman books like this. Don't get me wrong; I still want comics, especially ones created and illustrated by my favorites, but there is just something so incredibly special when it is a novel.
It was a joy to see familiar faces from the Batman universe, especially the ones who never officially made it into Burton's films. (At least, I don't think they ever did.) For those well-versed in Batman lore, you may have an easier time identifying key figures ((view spoiler)[Karlo Babić/Clayface, Hugh Auslander/Hugo Stranger, Norman Pinkus/the Riddler (hide spoiler)]).
I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery aspect of the book. Even when I felt like I had the answer, or answers, there were still moments that made me second guess myself.
The audiobook, narrated by Will Damron, was very well done. I loved being able to listen to it as I followed along with my physical copy. In my opinion, Damron did a really great job when it came to the voices of the characters.
My only mistake was not rewatching the 1989 movie and its sequel before starting the book as there were a few faces I had forgotten about. That said, it was not enough to hinder my experience. If anything, I feel like Batman: Resurrection has given me a newfound appreciation for Tim Burton's Batman.
In the end, Batman: Resurrection proved itself to be a captivating, thrilling story all around and has me excited to its sequel, Batman: Revolution!...more
"Libraries are models of gift economies, providing free access not only to books but also music, tools, seeds, and more."
Read for the Back to Hogwarts"Libraries are models of gift economies, providing free access not only to books but also music, tools, seeds, and more."
Read for the Back to Hogwarts Readathon 2025 challenge. The reason why I chose to read The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World is because it has plants on the cover, which was the requirement for the challenge's Herbology subject.
It was okay, I guess, but I wish it hadn't been so repetitive....more
"How terrible, to navigate the world without a story to comfort you."
dnf at 48% (page 182).
A disappointment.
I love the cover and its stenciled edges, "How terrible, to navigate the world without a story to comfort you."
dnf at 48% (page 182).
A disappointment.
I love the cover and its stenciled edges, and it left me with high hopes that I would come out loving this. It was also my other Jólabókaflóð gift of 2024, so it makes the disappointment all the more crushing.
Between the pacing, the worldbuilding, and the characters, I just was not having a good time. It just felt like it was dragging on forever without ever really going anywhere....more
"Hello. I am ROZZUM unit 7134, but you may call me Roz."
A very touching, heartwarming and endearing story!
When the trailers for the adaptation dropped"Hello. I am ROZZUM unit 7134, but you may call me Roz."
A very touching, heartwarming and endearing story!
When the trailers for the adaptation dropped, I figured I would eventually watch it, but never did get around to seeing it in theaters. Then when I spotted The Wild Robot at Barnes and Noble one day, I decided I would read the books first and watch the movie afterwards. And I'm glad I did!
The audiobook was an absolute joy to listen to, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series! I also can't wait to watch the movie and see how faithful it stayed to the book (and/or see what changes they made)....more
... For a book that has "A History of the American Bookstore" in the title, I expect it to be about history of the "Being surrounded by books matter."
... For a book that has "A History of the American Bookstore" in the title, I expect it to be about history of the American bookstore.
At the start of the book, it started off strong, promising, and I was so excited to learn.
Instead, this book was pretty much mediocre at best. The writing, the presentation, the organization, the audiobook—all of it was okay, and it is not the worst thing that I have consumed. But it also wasn't quite as gripping and captivating as I hoped for. It wasn't as rich and detailed as I thought it would be.
There were bits and pieces that I felt could have been delved into a little more because of how it caught my interest, and understandably there were parts that I felt dragged on for far too long. Sometimes what Evan Friss wrote (and how he wrote it, and/or how the narrator delivered the line) made me go fact-check it for myself because it felt more like his opinion than an actual fact.
I wish I loved it like so many others, so I'm disappointed that I didn't....more
"People don't change their minds in the face of evidence. People look for evidence that fits what they believe."
Alexander Freed's The Mask of Fear (St"People don't change their minds in the face of evidence. People look for evidence that fits what they believe."
Alexander Freed's The Mask of Fear (Star Wars: Reign of the Empire, #1) was one of my most anticipated reads for 2025.
It is, therefore, unfortune it not quite hit the mark like I had hoped.
Please do not get me wrong. I knew it was going to be political, heavily so, which is why I was looking forward to it. When I learned it would follow Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Saw Gerrera, I was ecstatic! But Freed added a few more narratives that, for the most part, fell flat for me. Only one of the new faces introduced ended up becoming interesting.
So, let's start with that character.
Soujen was, by far, the best. In my opinion, he was when compared to the other new narratives.
True, it took time for me to be drawn into his narrative, but by the 30% mark, his chapters improved for me. I was invested and thought he made a great addition to the cast. (view spoiler)[I'm also super disappointed by his death. I mean, I get it, I expected it, but I was hoping he would have lasted to the next book, if not the very end of the series and then be taken out. (hide spoiler)]
The two Imperial Intelligence operatives, however, I did not enjoy. At all.
Haki and her apprentice never became interesting to me, and I was disappointed by how the former joined one of the main three. (view spoiler)[The latter's chapters, whose name I still have not figured out how to spell, only served to confuse me to the point of frustration. After I reached that point, I just skipped those chapters entirely. Maybe the book itself makes it easier to understand(?), but listening to it on audiobook was downright awful. (hide spoiler)]
Now, going back to the original crew, I think Freed did a good job nailing Mon Mothma's character. Her chapters were on par with Soujen's, and I really liked seeing how she handled and maneuvered in the political aspects of the book. Saw, seen through mainly Soujen's chapters, also seemed in character. The only one who felt out of character, at times, was Bail, which was unfortunate since he's one of my favorites.
Anyway, it was an okay installment, but I do feel hesitant to continue. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Alphabet Squadron trilogy, but I loved Freed's novelization of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and really enjoyed Twilight Company (Star Wars: Battlefront), so... Yeah....more
I read George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings last year, after I read A Game of Thrones and Fire & Blood, respectively, and forgot to return and give it a proper review upon finishing it.
It is a good thing, therefore, that I returned to give it a second read, if only because I purchased the boxset with the beautiful cover editions by Faceout Studio, Tim Green, Mark Seekins, and David G. Stevenson and wanted to tab all of my favorite quotes, scenes, etcetera from the previous books I read.
I think, though, this second time has been better. Perhaps due to the fact that I went straight into the second book after the first rather than branching off to read on the Targaryen history. It made it all the easier to start off where the last book left off, and so it was quite thrilling despite remembering the big events that take place. For example: Elmar Frey's betrothal. I do not recall this piece of information clicking into place back then like it did now (view spoiler)[that he was referring to Arya as "my princess" (hide spoiler)].
"Of course, real life and fiction are very different, but the way of thinking—the logical thought process—is useful practice for anything life throws "Of course, real life and fiction are very different, but the way of thinking—the logical thought process—is useful practice for anything life throws at you."
The first book of the series, and I can already tell Detective Kosuke Kindaichi will rise in the ranks as being one of my favorite literary detectives of all time.
This locked-room mystery was very enjoyable and entertaining, and I really appreciate the inclusion of a cast of characters list at the beginning of the book. It helped me keep track of who was who, and I also appreciated the diagram layout of the Ichiyanagi Annexe House.
The audiobook, narrated by Akira Matsumoto, was good for the most part. There were times I wished he made the voices of the characters a little more distinguishable; however, I greatly appreciate that there even is an English audiobook because it really helped with the pronunciation of names.
I can't wait to join Detective Kosuke Kundaichi on his next case!!...more
"When I was a kid I believed everything I was told, everything I read, and every dispatch sent out by my own overheated imagination."
The audiobook was"When I was a kid I believed everything I was told, everything I read, and every dispatch sent out by my own overheated imagination."
The audiobook was performed by various narrators. I easily recognized Yeardley Smith, who voices Lisa Simpson, who has narrated a few other books by Stephen King, and Stephen King himself since he read the introduction when it came to "Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Volume 1." None of the narrators had included their names when they read their respective parts, so I was surprised "Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Volume 2" had somewhat remedied this. Some of the narrators introduced themselves while others did not.
In addition to having various narrators, the audiobook included music intros at the start, sometimes in middle, and at end of each story. Some of them suited their respective stories well, like "Crouch End" and "Rainy Season" while others did not leave much an impression on me.
Listed below are my ratings for the stories contained within the collection. I think if I were to ever visit this anthology again, I would just read the ones that have a 3-star rating or more.
"The Shine" Crouch End read by Tim Curry ★★★★ (3.5 stars) Rainy Season read by Yeardley Smith ★★★★ (3.75 stars) You Know They Got a Hell of a Band read by Grace Slick ★★★★ (3.5 stars) Popsy read by Joe Mantegna ★★★★ (3.75 stars) Sorry, Right Number read by Cast ★★★★ (3.75 stars)
Stories in the Middle Dolan's Cadillac read by Rob Lowe ★★★ (3 stars) The Doctor's Case read by Tim Curry ★★★ (3 stars) The End of the Whole Mess read by Matthew Broderick ★★★ (2.5 stars) The Night Flier read by Frank Muller ★★★ (3 stars)
The Twos Suffer the Little Children read by Whoopi Goldberg ★★ (1.5 stars) Umney's Last Case read by Robert B. Parker ★★ (1.5 stars) Chattery Teeth read by Kathy Bates ★★ (1.5 stars) Home Delivery read by Stephen King ★★ (1.75 star)
Not My Cup of Tea The House on Maple Street read by Tabitha King ★ (1 star) Head Down read by Stephen King ★ (1 star) My Pretty Pony read by Jerry Garcia ★ (1.25 stars) Sneakers read by David Cronenberg ★ (1 star) The Fifth Quarter read by Gary Sinise ★ (1.25 stars)
Steer Clear Brooklyn August read by Stephen J. Gould (0.5 stars) Dedication read by Lindsay Crouse ☆ (0 stars) - dnf The Moving Finger read by Eve Beglarian ☆ (0 stars) - dnf It Grows on You read by Stephen King ☆ (0 stars) The 10 O'Clock People read by Joe Morton (☆ stars)...more
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