Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Monday, November 07, 2022

Benalish Hero - MTG 4th Edition

Sunday, November 06, 2022

On Stranger Tides ★★★✬☆

Title: On Stranger Tides
Series: ———-
Author: Tim Powers
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 301
Words: 122K

Phewwwww, what a re-read. I read this for the first time back in ’07. Then the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise used it as the basis for the 4^th movie.

This time, while I enjoyed it as much as the previous time, the magic used in the story really bothered me. I found the same thing when I read The Stress of Her Regards. The emotional content really hit me in the pit of the stomach. The inclusion of demoniacal beings in league with humans bothered me a lot more than last time too. Being older and seen more since then has made me realize that joking around about spiritual affairs, or trivializing them in fiction, has consequences.

Other than that, this was a cracking good read. I mean, we’re talking about pirates and magic all rolled together. Plus the Fountain of Youth and ghosts that can run you through with a ghost sword. That is just good story telling right there 😀 Add in that the hero’s name is Jack Shandy, he gets the girl in the end AND he kills an immortal Black Beard the Pirate, well, if that doesn’t do it for you then you should probably check your pulse.

★★★✬☆

On Stranger Tides (2007 Review)

Saturday, November 05, 2022

Bookstooge 3.0

I was going to wait until the New Year to upgrade my avatar, but I had all the feelingz this week and so I wanted to do it NOW. Besides, I wanted to show Dr Who how you really do it (that poser needs a spanking).

It’s a little more square and red than my previous one, but now I have hands, so if you bother me I can bitch slap you. Total Win! While I am introducing it right now, I am not sure exactly sure when I’ll start using it full time. Probably when the mood strikes me and I say to myself “Bookstooge, my fine and devilishly handsome fellow, TODAY is the day you begin your life as Bookstooge 3.0”. I’m all aquiver in anticipation already!

Of course, just like when I changed my avatar before, it will take a little while for me to remember all the places I have to bleeding change, so bear with me and if you don’t see it somewhere you think you should, let me know and I’ll get right on it. I seem to remember from the last change there are 3-4 places I have to deal with. As I change them I’m going to be editing this post with links so that I know EXACTLY where to change them the next time. Because just like Dr Who, I will not be staying at my current level forever. Nigh Infinite Power means a Nigh Infinite Journey.

I’d like to thank Luna for her work on this. My level of “Art” is a stick figure, on a good day, so I always appreciate those with the talent and drive who will help someone like me out.

A Placeholder for links for places I have to change this.
https://en.gravatar.com/emails/
https://wordpress.com/me
https://wordpress.com/settings/general/bookstooge.wordpress.com
myaccount.google.com
https://www.blogger.com/edit-profile.g

Here are the previous avatars as I have powered up through the years. As you can see, I start off very modestly and then my power simply explodes as I go on a book reviewing rampage. Now it is all about refining my power and becoming The Bookstooge that has always been inside of me.

Friday, November 04, 2022

Liberation (Seal Team 13 #2) ★★✬☆☆

Title: Liberation
Series: Seal Team 13 #2
Authors: Evan Currie
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 321
Words: 117.5K

While slightly better executed than the first book, the nonsense about the Veil still continues (if you are ignorant of the supernatural you supposedly can’t be affected by it. But that rule is broken so many times that I wonder why it was even included.)

A mediocre urban fantasy tale that I won’t bother with any future installments. Currie just isn’t worth my time any more.

★★✬☆☆

Seal Team 13 (Book 1)

Thursday, November 03, 2022

Road Trip (Bone #14) ★★★☆☆

Title: Road Trip
Series: Bone #14
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 25
Words: 1K

This had just enough comedy to keep things from getting too dark, but between the massive storm, the rat creatures attacking Lucius, Smiley and Phoney and Fone and Thorn comparing their dreams, this was probably the darkest part of the story so far. It has fully leaned into its “epic fantasy” storyline and I think the standalone community stories are done.

It’s tough to tell if I thought this was so much better or if I’m just over-correcting for the previous 13.5 non-story comic. Either way, I was happy to have read this issue and I think Smith is doing a good job of juggling everything without letting things smash into the ground.

★★★☆☆

All My “Bone” Reviews

Wednesday, November 02, 2022

Predator: Eyes of the Demon ★✬☆☆☆

Title: Predator: Eyes of the Demon
Series: ———-
Authors: Bryan Schmidt (Ed)
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 298
Words: 111K

★✬☆☆☆

Totally woke bs. The only reason this didn’t get just a half star was because Scott Sigler wrote the final story and it was awesome and was a REAL Predator story. No pregnant predators bonding emotionally with human mothers and the universal bond of motherhood or some other such bologna.

Monday, October 31, 2022

October '22 Roundup & Rambling

Raw Data:

Novels – 23 ↑

Graphic Novels – 6 ⭤

Average Rating – 3.02 ↓

Pages – 6498 ↑

Words – 2175K ↑

The Bad:

Forgotten Ruin – 2.5stars of Rangers rangering this book right into the ground.

The Good:

Kill Shot – 4.5stars of Mitch Rapp at his best.

Movie:

The Muppets Haunted Mansion was the final muppet movie in my journey. I’d say it was for either kids who know nothing about the Muppets or for fans like myself who need to watch everything Muppet. Everyone else, probably not really worth your time.

Miscellaneous Posts:

Personal:

What a month. I was sick near the beginning that threw me out of work for a week and then took another 2 weeks to fully recover. Bronchitis is awful! 🙁 But it is one reason I read so much. Of course, feeling so bad I rated things a bit harder and so my average rating was down.

Not writing reviews was just what I needed. It gave me a chance to realize that a book review site is a second job while blogging is a hobby. Over the last year I have turned into a book reviewing site and I want to be a blogger again. I want to write for fun, not because I feel like I have to. With my personality, that is going to be a hard line to balance, as I just want to go all-out in whatever I am doing. But I can’t. I would also like to thank all of you for your patience as I posted essentially book ratings. Several of you commented mightily and made it a fun time in spite of nothing going on. Aonghus, I was proud of you for jumping in too. Even if you aren’t a regular 🙂

Reading my old journals made me realize how I’ve changed and stayed the same and blogging is integral to that part of me that is fun and spontaneous (it’s about the only spontaneous part of my life). I am not a spontaneous person and so I have to take it when I can. I’ll never call out of work sick and just go to the beach (especially not in November in New England, brrrrrrrr!) but maybe I can blow off a book review and write about how laundry has changed my life 😉

Cover Love:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Shadow Claus is coming to town
He’s making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice
Shadow Claus is coming to town”
He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Shadow Claus is coming to town
Shadow Claus is coming to town

Plans for Next Month:

November is going to be a return to having some words and pictures to go along with the ratings. I am also going to be cutting WAY down on the number of books read (I am NOT going to have 29 entries for books, that is for sure!) and I’m going to be leaving Tuesdays open. Not as a space to post something last minute but just have a day to not worry about the blog and to concentrate on those I am following.

I am going to follow Matt’s path and make my reviews very simple affairs, like they used to be. Trying to become a blogger again and not exclusively a book reviewer. I LIKE connecting with people on their blogs and if all they did was reviews with no personality, it wouldn’t be much fun. So I’m going to add personality here, or at least try.

I am also going to be stopping my manga reading until January. Once the new year rolls around I’m going to start up One Piece again as well as Full Metal Alchemist. But I just need a break so this is one place I can easily make that happen. Sorry, Misaki, you’ll have to continue being patient with me.

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021 Movie)

In 2021 Disney released another pseudopod of the Muppet Franchise out into the world of streaming. At just under 50 minutes, Haunted Mansion had the unenviable job of trying to get and keep people’s attention AND tell a good Muppet story.

Gonzo and Pepe the king prawn visit the Haunted Mansion (based on Disney’s ride in Disneyworld) and they have to survive the night or be stuck forever in the mansion. Gonzo powers through with the power of friendship, blah, blah, blah, happy ending. The rest of the Muppets are sidelined at a halloween party, so while a few muppets make appearances as ghosts, this was no where near filled to the brim with Muppet Goodness like the original movie.

Thankfully, this was MUCH better than Muppets from Space, where Gonzo was the main character too. I laughed out loud several times and overall had a fun filled time. Besides Will Arnett, I didn’t recognize a single actor making a cameo though. I’m guessing they all were tied to Disney’s apron strings in one way or another though. Which would explain why I didn’t recognize them.

When I saw it was going to be only 50minutes I wondered if it was going to be too short. It was just the right length for the story they had though. Any more and the holes and thinness would have shown. Once again though, it is very evident that Disney just doesn’t know how to handle the Muppets. Some things really stuck their landing while other bits fell completely flat.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with this and if it ever comes out on disc I’ll probably buy it before Disney disappears it like they tend to do. But first, they have to actually release it on disc. That’s by no means a given here. Definitely more kid oriented than the previous 2 movies (The Muppets and The Muppets Most Wanted) but still good enough for a dedicated Muppet fan.

Saturday, October 29, 2022

Author Index: My Next Big Project

After finishing up The Hotel Bookstooge Project, it was evident that I needed another blogging project to keep me busy in the background. But something that wouldn’t disturb everyone quite so much. Bormgans gave a good suggestion that should help anyone searching the site, ie, an Author Index.

While I never use an index if a site has one (I always use the search bar), I’ve heard that other people DO use them, to good effect too. So instead of alienating these good folk of the internet and impeding their unquenchable thirst for all things Bookstooge, I have decided to begin work on an Author Index.

I’ve created a new page and posted the link to it at the top of my home page along with all of my other Important Things. It will slowly fill in over the upcoming year/s. If you are that kind of person, I hope this helps you out a lot. If you are not that kind of person, it will be going on completely in the background so you won’t be bothered or notice a thing. You’re welcome 😉

So Stay Calm & Index On

★★✬☆☆