I have never read a Hercule Poirot book, and I have not seen the movie version of this Agatha Christie classic. Thus, this is an untainted review. Let me go ahead and solve the mystery for you – this is a very fun book. It’s especially fun if you get the audio version narrated by Dan Stevens (Downtown Abbey et al.). For the other three of you who haven’t read this bottle episode of a mystery – famous Belgian mystery solver Hercule Poirot is on […]
Halbs Rambles About Poison Ivy
Poison Ivy is a great example of a comic character that can change with the times. Initially, Ivy was a one-dimensional woman. She became this kind of floral sexpot, and a Halloween costume favorite. My understanding of the most recent DC lore is that Ivy is more of a benevolent eco warrior (terrorist?) interested in taking care of planet through whatever means necessary. She has also had a romantic relationship with Harley Quinn. (I got a little bit of that in Paul Dini’s Harley & […]
The Book That Got Me Shook, or, My Heart in Novel Form
I don’t understand everything that happens in Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland (1985), but I love this novel. I love it because it puts into a tangible art form the way I feel in my guts about our confusing and beautiful existence on earth. A sample, about a guy chilling in the park, watching a family feed birds, and getting hit with the profundity of living: Wide shot: Pigeons, fountain, mother and child. I didn’t want to leave this scene…I closed my eyes, I felt a ripple run through my […]
We’re Goin’ Space to the Wild, Wild West!
Book four of the sci-fi series The Expanse, Cibola Burn, is my least-favorite book in the series thus far. While I read the previous three books in a matter of days, this one took me several weeks to finish. Book three also took some time to get going, but ended up being fantastic. I mentioned in a previous review of this series that it seems like each book takes on the flavor of a different genre. Book one was a mystery, book two was a political thriller, […]
“I am the least difficult of men. All I want is boundless love.”
My first exposure to Frank O’Hara’s poetry was on season two of Mad Men. Don Draper mails a book of poems to someone, and over the scene Jon Hamm’s smoky gravel recites a few lines from “Mayakovsky”: Now I am quietly waiting for the catastrophe of my personality to seem beautiful again, and interesting, and modern. What gorgeous brooding was this? I looked up the book, drove to Barnes & Noble, and bought Meditations immediately. I skimmed it once and let it sit on my shelves for […]
Quick, Helpful Advice on Being a Better Husband
Like eleven million other Americans (literally!), I bought Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages at some point in my relationship. The gist of the book is that there are five “love languages” and everyone prefers one of them: time, touch, gifts, service, and words of affirmation. I remember liking it when I read it several years ago, but I was engaged at the time and it didn’t really stick. I remembered what it said about me (quality time!), but unfortunately not enough about what it said about […]
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