As I’m sure is the case with many of you, I read more books that I usually review. The reason I don’t get around to doing a full review of them generally isn’t because of disappointment in the book, but more due to a lack of time or the desire to post about something else. Time then passes and the book remains unreviewed. And yet the desire to share my thoughts about said book lurk under the surface. So, in order to let some of these thoughts out, I decided to do a group of mini book reviews, hoping some of these may spark your interest if you are looking for something else to read. (He says jokingly).
In a wonderful moment of unexpected serendipity, the weather here in the Kansas City area became positively autumnal on the opening Sunday of the NFL season. It was beautiful. Despite their being games played on Monday night, my Fantasy Football team, the Conqueror Worms, handed Jimmy’s Grind House their first loss of the season, relying on the stellar performance of tight end Antonio Gates to propel them to victory. Look out, the Worms are on the move!
While planted firmly in front of the television screen all weekend, reveling in football glory, I had plenty of time to get some reading done. So, on to Short Story Sunday:
Forgive the break from R.I.P. reviews if you will, but the mood for Bond, James Bond settled upon me the other day and I decided to finish a book I had started some time ago, From Russia With Love.
You may recall that Casino Royale, the film, was my inspiration for reading a set of books that I had never had a desire to read previously, the original 007 tales of Ian Fleming. You may also recall just how surprised I have been with the originality, depth, and quality of writing of Flemings’ work. Gone are the crazed gadgets and the tongue-in-cheek humor. These are brooding, gritty, suspenseful tales of adventure whose Cold War setting evokes a nostalgic remembrance of my own childhood, when the Cold War and the threat of attack from Russia were very real concerns.
For my second book for the R.I.P. II Challenge I chose Annette Curtis Klause’s NY Times bestselling book, Blood and Chocolate. Having really enjoyed the film, despite its flaws, I was interested in seeing just how different the story was in its original novel form. My motivation for reading this increased after the intensely satisfying experience I had with Klause’s latest novel, Freaks. With Freaks she proved herself a writer worth reading and thus I picked up Blood and Chocolate with very little trepidation.
I will forewarn you: if you have not seen the film or read the book and have intentions of experiencing either from an unspoiled viewpoint, you may want to skip the rest of this review as this is a case where I really cannot talk about either without giving away some plot points.
Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire is an illustrated novel by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and author Christopher Golden. The arrival of the Diamond exclusive edition in the comic shop last Wednesday (the standard edition doesn’t arrive in stores until August 28th) helped pave the way for my desire to open R.I.P. II just a bit early. There was no way that I was going to pass up the opportunity to dive right into this book.
