It's Monday, What Are You Reading? [Aug 3, 2015]

Guys, I'm sick. And that's pretty much all I have to say about this week. But I have good news, reality TV fans: Bachelor in Paradise has started. It's vapid and beautiful, go check it out. Oh, some blog news. I'm now using star ratings! It's prettier and slightly easier to understand than trying to work out what I'm thinking when I number things. And there are pretty buttons on reviews now. And there's a scroll back to top button that you'll see on the right side of the screen! There were other changes, but they're so miniscule that you won't even notice them. But I feel accomplished, so it's fine.

If you read comics (or if you don't), I just wanted to quickly highlight a new series you should check out: Harrow County by Cullen Bunn. It's a horror comic and it's completely creepy and delightful. There are only 3 issues out, but I'm smitten.

THIS WEEK I READ:

Revival, Vol. 1 by Tim Seeley - People in a small Wisconsin town can't die. COOL.
Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick - Weird Western folklore-y story about Death with awesome female characters. COOLER.
The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips - This book was everything I could ever want. It's coming out soon, look out for my review!
Locke & Key, Vol. 1 by Joe Hill - Spooky haunted house business.
Nailbiter, Vol. 1 by Joshua Williamson - A small town seems to breed serial killers. SCARY.
Severed by Scott Snyder - A graphic novel that will make you never take a road trip or trust anyone ever again.

CURRENTLY READING:

I just received The Captive Condition by Kevin P. Keating from Pantheon a number of days ago and I'm very excited about it! It's a thrillery horror novel that was described as Edgar Allan Poe mashed with True Detective. And it also has some surprisingly elaborate prose. I'm digging the darkness in this Midwestern college town so far, but we'll see if the writing doesn't become distracting and how the story pans out!

Now that I'm caught up on the graphic novels that were due back at the library, I can focus on the novels. White Noise by Don DeLillo is a satire on American society and our reliance on technology. Right now it's a very clever look at a man who works at a liberal arts college and his family, but apparently "Then a lethal black chemical cloud, unleashed by an industrial accident, floats over their lives, an "airborne toxic event" that is a more urgent and visible version of the white noise engulfing the Gladneys—the radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, and TV murmurings that constitute the music of American magic and dread." This sounds right up my alley. I've never read DeLillo before, but reading him with a friend is a good time.