Current Reading Habits

I enjoy reading if you did not know that about me. I am willing to give almost anything a try. That does not mean I will finish it though. In fact, I start far more books than I ever finish. There is a lot of crap out there being published. I firmly believe that life is too short to waste time reading something that just doesn't grab you in some way.

I also tend to read one style or genre for awhile and then switch to something else. It might be non-fiction, mysteries, scifi, etc. Lately I have been on a graphic novel/manga kick. I am trying to catch up on some old stuff I never got around to plus try some new things. There is a lot more stuff out there than I remembered.

I started with all four volumes of Lady Snowblood by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura. The premise was good as was the artwork. I thought the english translations at times were just awful though. At least I hope the original japanese was not that bad. And the nudity and sex got to be a bit over the top too. These are definitely for more mature readers.

I missed the run of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 in comics (although I did get the first issue). Volume 1: The Long Way Home (collects issues 1-5) and Volume 2: No Future For You (collects issues 6-10) are out already. I finished both of them this past week. I thought the second volume that focuses more on Faith was a little better than Volume 1. They are both well worth your time to read especially if you were a fan of the show. Volume 3: Wolves at the Gate comes out next month.

Supernatural is one of my favorite shows on tv at the moment. The last season was particularly good. So I was happy to find Supernatural: Origins in graphic novel form. This book is a prequel to the hit show and picks up right after Dean and Sam's mother is killed. Here we see how John Winchester became a hunter. Good stuff!

On a recommendation from a friend I am giving World War Hulk a try. I just finished Frontlines in this series. Again good stuff. I had not read any Hulk in awhile. There was some interesting social commentary in there without being over the top which I hate. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series now.

Addendum:
I forgot to mention I also just read Elric: the making of a sorcerer. It is a prequel to Michael Moorcock's Elric books. I am a big fan of the books and was a bit disappointed in the graphic novel. It did give some background on Elric but really did not add anything essential to the mythos.