10-11-12-13 Down, 39 To Go

Check my math but I am pretty sure that is right on the count. So I have read some stuff since I last blogged. I wasn't sure whether or not I would count three of them, but decided that they were unique enough that they should be counted separately.

10 Book: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Album: Sink Or Swim - The Gaslight Anthem

This has become quite a famous graphic novel. It is the autobiographical story of Satrapi growing up in post revolutionary Iran. It is quite a saga and was quite interesting to read. I actually read it awhile ago, right around graduation time. I could tell you about the Gaslight Anthem but I have already blogged about them and all I can say is BUY THIS RECORD. They also have a new one coming out soon which I am excited for.

In between Persepolis and the next three I read a good chunk of Gonzo, a biography on Hunter Thompson. I will finish this book, but it is not the most fun read. I can be summarized as people saying Hunter was a great guy and that he acted like an Ass most of the time. I also read in about an hour another book in the Y: The Last Man series. I will blog that book once I have read all of them. This same idea is true for the Walking Dead series.

11: Haunted Knight - Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
12: Long Halloween - Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
Album: Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne

This is where I started to read a lot of Batman. It was a little before the movie came out. Which if you are one of the few people to have not seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out. I do not think they could have made a darker or more topical film. Both of these books help create the basis for the new movie. The Long Halloween is especially influential on the Harvey Dent character. I didn't like Haunted Knight as much but oh well. I listened to the new Weezy disc a lot recently. It is actually really good and pretty bizarre. The rhymes are absurd and filled with space/death/drug themes in unique ways. The beats range dramatically from standard club stuff to what the hell is this. Overall though the disc is one of the best I have heard this year.

13: False Faces - Brian K. Vaughn
Album: 8 Diagrams - Wu-Tang Clan

Batman False Faces was okay not great. I bought it mostly because I am a big fan of Brian K Vaughn's other series, Y: The Last Man. The story he told was fine but nothing that interesting or adding to the Batman legend. Overall I kind of wished I had saved the cash and bought another Y but lesson learned. 8 Diagrams took multiple listens before I really liked it. It is an interesting record because Wu-Tang is sort unsure of its place hip hop currently. They are no longer producing the grimiest and most violent drug ridden rhymes, that goes to Clipse, nor do they produce the meanest beats, those go to El-P and the rest of Definitive Jux label. So they are left attempting to sound modern but classic. Which this album ultimately succeeds at.

Right now I am reading Spook Country by William Gibson, it is very good. Soon I will blog about my favorite TV Show: Venture Brothers. But for now this is all you get.