Thought Train to Pusan

A recommendation from my sister who hasn’t even read this series yet, but she was told by my cousin that it is really good. And I have to say, the first volume of Locke & Key is a solid and intriguing start to this somewhat spooky and supernatural comic book series. Collecting the first 6 issues, volume 1 is entitled Welcome to Lovecraft and is written by Joe Hill, with engaging artwork by Gabriel Rodriguez: the artwork has a clean style that isn’t too flashy, and so doesn’t distract from the progression of the writing. Welcome to Lovecraft begins with the murder of a man in the presence of his three children, by two teenagers, one of whom knew Mr. Locke (the murdered man) as a school counselor, and also had had words with Mr. Locke’s eldest son, Tyler. After this grizzly event, the Locke children move with their mother to their family estate in Keyhouse. Each child tries to cope with the death of their father in a different way, though something is clearly a little strang...

If I had to summarize my feelings for this book in one sentence, it would read something like, “This is so silly, but I love it!” In all honesty, I don’t know why I had never heard of Bo Burnham until recently, and I must say that although he is a little ridiculous and random, I find his brand of comedy to be extremely amusing. Egghead: Or, You Can’t Survive on Ideas Alone is a short book of poems with accompanying drawings by Chance Bone; the setup sort of reminds me of Demetri Martin’s writings at times, though with differing comedic sensibilities. Many of the poems come from Bo Burnham’s various standup routines, which are always a little scatter-brained, yet enjoyable. For the most part, the poems found in Egghead are short, random, and ultimately very clever. Some, I might even call rather profound, or at the very least, quite sweet. An example of such is the poem entitled “Gypsy” which reads: “On Wednesday morning, clear and calm I went to Astor Place and had...

I was inspired to read this book after a stellar review during last year’s Cannonball read, and have finally been able to finish it! And I must say, I wasn’t disappointed, as all the characters are rich and interesting, as is the weaving in and out of the relationships between both people and their sense of religion. Brideshead Revisited itself begins with protagonist Charles Ryder, an English army officer in the 1940s, coming upon the old Marchmain estate of Brideshead, where his dear friend, Sebastian, used to live. The rest of the story then deals with Charles remembering his past, and all the events that occurred in his life that has some relation to the family at Brideshead. We first see Charles as a young college student, who is at a little bit of a loss as to where his life as headed, only to meet a young man named Sebastian Flyte, the youngest son of the aristocratic Lord Marchmain. Charles and Sebastian become fast and close friends, which results in Charles going to...