One of the things I’d like to do in 2021 is read more, and hand-in-hand with this I’d like to document the books I’m reading, month-by-month. This does not include comics, magazines, streaming video descriptions or cereal boxes. I’m a little late with the January selections, but let’s cover them anyway, before February dies on us, thank god and good riddance.
The View From the Bridge
Writer/director Nicholas Meyer’s account of his creative life is fascinating and very Star Trek heavy, obviously because he’s best known for his work on the movies based on the original series.. But he also directed the wonderful Time After Time (HG Wells vs Jack the Ripper in 1970s San Francisco) and the nuclear holocaust TV movie, The Day After.
Bone Canyon
Lee Goldberg’s second Eve Ronin novel follows the LA Sheriff Dept. homicide detective’s investigation into bodies exposed on a hillside after the wildfires. I love the character, but this one suffers from a last minute “revelation” that all but ruined the book for me. Goldberg’s Ronin novels (a third is on it’s way) are a great gap-filler while waiting for Michael Connelly’s next Ballard & Bosch book (coming in November, BTW).
Fright Favorites: 31 Movies to Haunt Your Halloween and Beyond
Another in the series of Turner Classic Movies books published by Running Press, this one by noted horror film expert David J. Skal focuses on 31 horror films with a lot of great posters and photos (it’s actually 62 films, with a sidebar additional movie for each of the main ones).
The Seeds
The long-awaited graphic novel collection of Ann Nocenti and David Aja’s post-apocalyptic eco-thriller is beautiful to look at, but I’m not too sure I got it. There are people with technology, people with out, aliens harvesting the seeds of a dying earth and bees. Lots and lots of bees.
Cover Me: The Vintage Art of Pan Books 1950–1965
Great look at British paperback publisher Pan Books by Colin Larkin, based on his amazing collection of original cover art, I already did did a more comprehensive look at this book, one of my 2020 faves, right here … click here to read it.
The Queen’s Gambit
Walter Tevis’s 1980s novel is every bit as good as the Netflix series and shows how faithful that adaptation is to this great book. And I triple-dog dare you to read it without picturing Anya-Taylor Joy as Beth Harmon. It’s impossible.
More books coming at the end of February!
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innocent bystander 
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