The Wicked and The Divine Vol. 1 The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson, Clayton Cowles

I remember learning about this series through a variety of different posts detailing different comics books to read. It was put on my list, and I went on my merry way, not in a particular rush to buy it or read it. However, months later, Josh's friend, Scott, loaned him a few comic books, and this was one of them.

I grew up mostly on manga instead of comics, so I like the longer story format rather than the monthly installments of comics, which is partly why I was interested in this comic. I also was interested in the premise, which gods and goddesses from different religions, current and past in urban fantasy. Sure, I could make the argument that uses such mythology in any capacity is over used and over rated, but I'm a sucker for those types of stories. It was partly the reason why I was a Religious Studies minor. Aren't we all drawn a bit to the "who, what, why and how" of the mysteries of the universe? 

Or maybe it's just me? 

It's about a super fan named Laura who follows the Pantheon, a group of 12 who have been selected to merge with powerful gods and goddesses and given unlimited fame, power and wealth only to die within 2 years and reincarnated every 90 years.

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I guess the reason there are such strict rules on merging with a super powerful mythological deity is so they don't become too powerful or whatever.

Joking aside, I like the strict rules placed on them, because it gives the Pantheon such urgency to live vicariously and recklessly with knowing that they have no idea how long their powers last. It also makes for a great set up to a series.

Now, I would be lying if I said I was 100% sure I knew what was going on in the first issue. There is a lot being thrown at the reader that includes the predicament of Lucifer, the introduction of these famous but doomed deities, the super fan, the world itself, along with brazenly diverse characters, Whedon-esque dialogue with a splash of super stardom and a side of cheese.

Instead of taking the time to explore the world and the setting, the authors demand the reader to buckle in and enjoy the ride, because they are not stopping to cater to those new to the world where gods and goddesses exist.

Normally, my eyes would scrap the top of my skull from rolling so hard at this. It shouldn't work, and I should be bothered by this. Seldom are authors able to pull this sort of immersion off, and I'm quick to judge those books that don't make the cut.

What I think saves it all.. is the illustrations. The art is just beautiful, and seeing these particular characters, in their diverse, wonderful glory interacting with each other and barely able to navigate their own world brought it all together for me. I was able to just sit back and enjoy the ride, bypassing the fact that I was lost on several occasions.

I can't wait to read the rest of the series... Hopefully, my friend Scott has them!

A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown by Julia Scheeres

Thanks Audible.com, for your 4.95 sale on mostly nonfiction books (with a dash of autobiographies, biographies and classics thrown in there for good measure) because I bought a lot of them. Yes, yes, I can actually get books and audiobooks for free at the library, and slowly, I'm making my way over there. It's very bizarre, but even though my mother and I were voracious readers, we don't really go to the library. Maybe it's the time constraints and the overdue fee? And even now, even though books are free at the library, I'm still buying them?

Something is wrong with me, I know. 

Anyway, so I have a weird fascination with religions and most notably, cults. I remember reading a ton about Islam and about Latter-day Saints, and then about Fundamental Latter-day Saints. I don't know why, per say, but something about a group of people believing in something greater than themselves and these beliefs govern their daily lives just fascinates me. 

When I spotted this book in Audible, it reminded me of this story a family friend, Linda, told me. She grew up in Northern California, and would go horse back riding on a daily basis. She would ride her horse close to where the Peoples Temple Communes were located, but she didn't realize it at the time.

So of course I get the book about Jim Jones, The Peoples Temple and the demise of Jonestown. Because of course I do. 

In the beginning of the book, it's a bit hard to follow. Scheeres just jumps right in by introducing a teenager by the name of Tommy arrives to Jonestown to finally see his father after what appears to be several months of being separated. Even though there are four main characters that are followed throughout the book, she doesn't stick with them, drifting in and out between the many people who made up The Peoples Temple. 

What I also found a bit hard to swallow was just how much of her personal self and emotions she put into the book. It's a fictionalized account from her extensive research, a fact she doesn't try to hide but she emotes what Jim Jones thinks and feels, along with other characters as well, which is a bit too omnipresent for my own personal tastes. 

For half of the book, she shows the buildup of Jim Jones popularity, which at the time, I found a bit boring. At first, I thought, oh... Jim Jones just wants equality and Harvey Milk dug him? Ok then. 

Then the tides turned when the author peeled back more and more layers. The twisted and psychological mind games that Jim Jones played with his believers were terrifying like a train flying full speed into the dark, dark tunnel of Jonestown,

The last few chapters detailing the end of Jonestown, with Jim Jones descending into madness with his addiction to drugs and obsession with death shook me to the core. What turned from a Congressman checking in on his constituents into a man's last power play almost seems laughably plausible.

Throughout the book, I wanted to yell at them to run and that commanding people to write letters incriminating themselves is not a normal thing to do, and fervent tests of loyalty are also not a normal thing to do! That it's ok to back out! Don't be afraid!

I always assumed that people that were sucked into cults were gullible and devoid of critical thinking skills. However, this story, despite the author's own embellishment, shows a group of people, mostly the disenfranchised, who wanted equal rights. They wanted to help make the world a better place, and at first glance, a white man who also believed that seems to be a powerful way to go.

What also hit me hard was the story of Edith Roller because I saw myself the most in her. She was a well-educated, white woman who valued her privacy but also had a strong desire to succeed, and to use her talents for the greater good. She was in the military, and then worked for the CIA. She doesn't fit the profile for someone who would willingly follow Jim Jones into death.

It really brings it into perspective on psychopaths who use what people wish for the most to control, manipulate and gain power. Especially now, where the world is changing and all people want is for it to be better... is it so easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys?

Jim Jones started out as a man who would fight for the end of racism and promoted living in a perfect world. Politicians in California loved him and counted on his influence. He had a "rainbow family" and adopted an African American boy, and gave him his namesake, something unheard of at the time. He staged rallies, and protest, and preached about God's love and will, and about equal rights for all.

He tricked people into thinking he could heal them. He started asking for their money, and then even more of their money. He coerced people into blinding following him by intimidation, guilt, love and hope.

In this election year, where there are so many rising stars, both loved and hated... Do we truly know who the good guys are? I think about this question a lot.

Weirdly enough, I would like to see Jonestown. It's in ruins and the Guyanese government toyed with the idea of turning it into a dark tourist site where people could stay the night to get the experience of Jonestown.



Couldn't they take a page from the concentration camp memorials?

I would've liked to say that I would be interested in reading other accounts and stories of Jim Jones... but I think one book is enough.

Joyland by Stephen King

I received this book from my good friend, John, over at Rant n' Rave.  He's an excellent writer, who is working on many things at the moment, including a script that will change the 'inspirational disabled' troupe that he and I have gripe over since forever. He knew how much I enjoyed 11.22.63, so he recommended a book like it. 

I dutifully took it to jury duty, and with the slow day and no interruptions, I got through half of it. It was an easy read and King does what he does so well, which write a story where it's not full out horror, but a story based on suspense and creepiness.

You know that feeling you get when you see something move out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn to focus on it, it's no longer there? Or when the hair on the back of you neck stands up? Joyland gives me that same sensation, just like 11.22.63.

Joyland is about a young man named Devin, who takes a job at an independent amusement park for the summer after getting his heart broken by his college sweetheart. Devin is concerned about losing his virginity, replays what went wrong with his relationship, and befriends Tom and Erin, who become a couple by summer's end. He learns the ins and outs of an Amusement Park, makes a lot of friends, and slowly comes into his own with a few bumps along the way. 

Tom and Erin learns that Joyland was the setting of a murder years back, and those who work there state that some could see her ghost. As well, Devin is confronted by the park's fortune teller, who tells him that he'll meet a boy with a dog and a girl in the hat.

The reviews about this book are all over the place. Some loved it, and others hated it for various reasons. There was a rather long review about how King didn't do any research on the Amusement Park life and his lingo and set up were all wrong.

I personally enjoyed the novel simply because I don't know much about that Amusement Park life. King took me on a roller coaster (pun intended) where the end of the book had me weeping hysterically at 11pm on a Sunday night.

Josh woke up alarmed and wondered what the heck was wrong with me.  I blubbered that it was because of the ending of the book and he held me bewilderingly, not understanding a word I just said.
Even though the book was a supernatural mystery, the overarching theme was the importance of life, and that life is fleeting; take advantage of it now.

Also, be nice to sick kids, cause there is a chance they have the ability to talk to ghosts and help you out one day.

In all seriousness, I enjoyed the novel, even though I bawled my eyes out at the end. It's sad, but it's still a King creepy-mystery, which also makes it a good read.

So, thanks John. I liked the book and I cried a lot. 

Review: Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII

Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You guys... I can't even. Check out my review coming soon!

View all my reviews

Which is Better? The Magicians

At first, I thought the show was terrible. I was confused by the complexity and rushed first episode. Josh had read the book before I did and inform me that the first half episode covered about 200 pages of the book.

We're not given much of a set up as Quentin and Julia are hurried into Brakebill's to take their exams, with Quentin passing and Elliot to show him around while Julia, being told that she's not good enough, is exported back to NYC. She leaves a mark on her arm so she remembers through the strong memory spell they put on her. 

Throughout the episode, it seemed like characters would say things without any background or context, expecting the audience to go along with the fact that though we hadn't seen Alice and Quentin interact before, we are expected to believe that Alice is ace at magic and Quentin sucks at it. Everyone, including Quentin is incredibly good looking, but we're expected to believe that Alice is a gross nerd and Quentin is a weird geek. Oh, and there is a lot of sex, 'cause pilot.

By the end of the first episode, the Beast arrives, but I was so darn confused for the entire episode that I had no idea who the Beast was, or why he was so dangerous, or why he arrived for the first episode. If he's a big bad, like the characters stated, briefly, that he was.. shouldn't he have been wielded out for a episode later on in the season? It seemed a bit unnecessary with Dean Fog getting his hands and his eyes removed by the Beast right off the bat.

The writers aged up the characters, made Brakebills University a magical graduate school and Josh disclosed that Julia's story was from the second book, instead of the first.


I figured that was my cue... So, I read the first book, wrote a review, and discovered that they added a few characters, took away a few characters and even changed a few characters' names.

As I continued watching the show, I just blatantly ignored "graduate school" since the book so expertly placed them in college. Hollywood has a habit of casting much older people in younger parts anyway. 

The pilot was confusing and terrible, but we hoped that the pilot followed the rule of most pilots: the first one of a series is never any good. Josh and I turned in week after week, dismantling the show and making fun of it's disconnected episodes. However, our snarky comments and  ripping apart every episode diminished as we watched, and after the episode where they turn into geese, Josh turned to me and went...


"Do we like this show now?"

And the answer is.. Yes, yes we do. Somehow, the show stumbled through way more voiceless episodes than allotted for a new show, especially during "peak TV," and managed to become a funny show about the price of magic sans Harry Potter.

As Josh and I recapped, we maintained that if we hadn't read the books, we still wouldn't have known what was going on in the series. However, it did get renewed for a second season, so I guess people that didn't read the books liked it.

I since read the second book, and soon I will read the third book. I can't wait to see where they go with this, providing they keep the steam they built over the last several episodes.

My only hesitation is Alice. Quentin finally came to the conclusion that Alice was the one, and not him, which lead to their demise in the season finale. I hope they use Alice the way she was used in the book, because she turned out to be an undeniable bad ass that saves the day. So, don't undo all the goodwill you've mustered, show! Keep a good thing going! 

The Servants' Hall: A Real Life Upstairs, Downstairs Romance by Margaret Powell

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Oh man, I am all about that GIF life now. Thanks, new job for making me more tech savvy! (I can actually look at HTML code without getting cross eyed. I know what I'm looking at now!)

But seriously, Herman Munster was appropriate for this book. I feel like I've wasted my "buy one, get one" free Audible book sale because this book was completely useless.

I purchased the book because of it's connection to Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs shows on BBC. I think it's actually the author who inspired those shows... which I thought would lead to some juicy stories and tidbits about the wealthy back in the day. The title of the book has "romance," but it's not the main character's romances, though she discusses the various duds she dates before she meets her husband. It's about a romance of her friend, Rose, who is incredibly pretty, but Margaret doesn't pull any punches in the beginning of the story, stating that Rose is a bit of dullard.

Margaret dutifully tells us all the things she experiences as a cook, going from house to house, all the while keeping contact with her friend Mary and her friend Rose. However... she doesn't experience much. I almost wanted her to embellish or make some stuff up to make the story more interesting. I love food, and I like cooking, but damn, I don't want to hear about the dishes that were made.

I had this never ending sensation that I was waiting for the book to start, but really, I was waiting for Margaret to tell the reader something exciting. I thought that Margaret was going to still away Gerald, or find a rich man of her own... but no... Rose just remains a stick in the mud and Margaret remains jealous of her the entire book. She has a good sense of humor and I laughed a few times, however, when she made fun of Rose and her lot in life.

By the end of the book, I was so bothered every time she mentioned 'people now' v. 'people back then.'Largely, it seems, she prefers how things are now, but has that annoying habit of just assuming that all young people are a certain way. I didn't listen to the book with the intention of listening to someone compare lifestyles. Yes! We know! Women can wear lipstick now and not be considered a harlot!

Finally, for most of the book, she laments over the fact that she can't find a good man. She has some funny antidotes for some of the men she meets, but effectively leads the reader into the moment where she meets her husband... until she just glosses over the whole introduction to her husband! He was the milk man that she knew throughout the entire book. Couldn't she had thrown in some antidotes about meeting him, and assuming he had a wife, and maybe even the freaking story about how they actually met?! She just glosses over all of it! It would have been a far better book to just... make up a friendship with the milkman or something in the beginning of the book, and a chapter about the revelation that he was asking her out or something of that nature.

Overall, this book is a waste of time. Don't waste your money. Is her first book better? Has anyone read it? 

Which is Better? Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare

Much like the Hannibal series, I felt like by the time I actually got to the book, I was oversaturated with seeing the movie and watching the TV show. I'm going to try and get the second book so when I watch the second season of Shadowhunters, I'll be able to properly compare both the show to the book. As it stands, I feel like the shine has gone off all three, so I'm not sure if my opinion on the TV show and the movie is actually accurate.

The reason I said all of that, however, is because it's been a while since I saw the movie, and then the TV show, and it's been a few months since I read the books, so it's all mashed together now. Also... I missed a whole bunch of episodes of Shadowhunters, so I saw the first 6, and then the season finale, and the one before the season finale...so... I hope this post is more amusing than really informative.

Let's talk about this bomb of a movie. Poor, poor Lily Collins, trying to become an actress, and the agency that thought it was a good idea to sign her because she's Phil Collins' daughter. Sure, we can teach her how to act... she can take acting classes, right? It'll be fine!

Her eyebrow game and her last name are the only things she has going for her. She's not a bad looking girl (she's not a troll, but she's just a pretty face with all the benefits of a life with a chef, a nutritionist, stylist and personal trainer), but man, oh man. She's a terrible actress.

Hollywood tried to make her a thing in that other movie with Taylor Lautner (Right? the Werewolf from Twilight?), and though she was better in this movie, this poor girl can't act to save her life. Her eyebrows did more work than she did in the movies she was in.via GIPHY
Look at much those eyebrows work for their money.

However, let's not forget the rest of the cast of this doomed movie; Jonathan Rhys Meyers (who did this movie to fund his coke habit), Lena Headley, whose single requirement for roles is that she gets to play the mother of child-prodigies, for better or for worse and Lane Pryce, who, much to his surprise, woke up in an alternate universe after hanging himself in his own office.

There is also this guy:

Who... the only reason I remember him is because he got that, "oh yeah, he's been in something" reaction, and also because after watching the show, I realized how the movie cut the love subplot between him and Jace. Who is played by

this guy:

Who, and again, I don't want to piss on people that don't fit my standard of beauty or attractiveness, but he should really be a character actor. Not only does he and Lily have the zero onscreen chemistry, I don't look at him and go, "man, he should play the guy that turns Clary from a high school girl into a full fledged Shadowhunter, and after all of that, when they discover they are "siblings" still question whether kissing your brother is such a big deal."

However, this guy?

If a girl is going to question whether kissing her long lost sibling is such a big deal, I'd buy him.

On that note, the movie feels way too rushed with the attempt to shove all the folklore and urban mythology that Clare meticulously builds up in her first book into one movie... and the movie feels jumbled together and long, despite the twists and turns and googly eyes that Clary and Jace make at each other. With the final reveal of Clary's father and Jace and Clary/Lily long lost siblings, instead of being shocked with wonder of how Jace and Clary/Lily will ever recover, you marvel at Rhys Meyers attempt to sell the terrible script and try to take Lily Collins seriously (though I think there must have been a contingent in his contract that he had to try to act in order to get his coke blocks) to get through his scenes.

I understand the attempt to try and cash in on the rising tide of the Harry Potter and Twilight movie phenomenon, but this movie was a hot garbage mess. Though I think Lane Pryce was relieved that no one asked for the money back and no one bought up the embezzling.

All the fans were disappointed with the movie, and many were concerned with the development of the TV show. With the... 6 (I'm guessimating), that I watched, is a definite improvement from the movie. They cast much better actors and actresses, including the Old Spice guy, who, in my opinion, is the best part of the show.
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I wish he would be given a bigger part... or did he have more of a part to play in the episodes I didn't watch?

As well, Magnas Bane is played by an actor who was on Glee; Harry Shum! The only reason that was exciting for me was because I just watched him in the Netflix Original Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel.

I gathered there is a lot of material for the show to use from her books, so I hope they continue with the show and keep both Isaiah Mustafa and Harry Shum employed. As for the rest of the actors... they look and act like your typical young teen ABC/CW show actors, which is perfect for a show like this.

The TV show is silly and entertaining, though I will have to say it wasn't engaging enough for me to keep tuning back in week after week. Hopefully Hulu brings back the episodes I missed so I can binge. I think it'll be a good binge series. Free Form is literally a no name network, so they need to take the cue from CW and renew everything, regardless of ratings!

And besides, anything is better than that movie.
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