Books
19. I Am Not A Cop by Richard Belzer with Michael Black
This is a novel about this guy named Richard Belzer who plays a cop on TV and then gets sucked into a real-life mystery, which he investigates using his celebrity status, police connections, and experience playing Detective Munch. In other words, Belz is pretty much using the same formula as Kinky Friedman. I was expecting a little more humor, but overall it's a pretty good mystery novel.
20. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Another one of those books that I picked up because I should have read it long ago. After reading it, I about halfway think that maybe I did read it as a kid, but that could just be due to the fact that I've seen adaptations of and allusions to it all my life. In any case, it's a classic for good reasons.
21. The Tooth by Cullen Bunn, and Shawn Lee, art by Matt Kindt
This might sound biased because I've known Cullen for so long, but this is the best comic I've read in a long time. It's a completely ludicrous premise (a guy finds a magical tooth that comes to life and fights monsters), but somehow it works. The trade is framed as a later collection of a comic that's been running for years and the "The Tooth Hurts" letters pages that hint at the backstory of the character as well as the comic itself are just amazing. One of my favorite parts is when we find out that issue #37 doesn't appear in the collection because it's so rare even the publisher doesn't have a copy, due to a printing error and a lawsuit from the artist, Brian Hurtt (Cullen's Sixth Gun collaborator). The whole book is over the top, but the creative team is so gung-ho about it that you can't help getting swept up in the madness.
22. Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
Nick Hornby has already written the best review that will ever be written of this book, so I'll just say that I enjoyed it.
This is a novel about this guy named Richard Belzer who plays a cop on TV and then gets sucked into a real-life mystery, which he investigates using his celebrity status, police connections, and experience playing Detective Munch. In other words, Belz is pretty much using the same formula as Kinky Friedman. I was expecting a little more humor, but overall it's a pretty good mystery novel.
20. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Another one of those books that I picked up because I should have read it long ago. After reading it, I about halfway think that maybe I did read it as a kid, but that could just be due to the fact that I've seen adaptations of and allusions to it all my life. In any case, it's a classic for good reasons.
21. The Tooth by Cullen Bunn, and Shawn Lee, art by Matt Kindt
This might sound biased because I've known Cullen for so long, but this is the best comic I've read in a long time. It's a completely ludicrous premise (a guy finds a magical tooth that comes to life and fights monsters), but somehow it works. The trade is framed as a later collection of a comic that's been running for years and the "The Tooth Hurts" letters pages that hint at the backstory of the character as well as the comic itself are just amazing. One of my favorite parts is when we find out that issue #37 doesn't appear in the collection because it's so rare even the publisher doesn't have a copy, due to a printing error and a lawsuit from the artist, Brian Hurtt (Cullen's Sixth Gun collaborator). The whole book is over the top, but the creative team is so gung-ho about it that you can't help getting swept up in the madness.
22. Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
Nick Hornby has already written the best review that will ever be written of this book, so I'll just say that I enjoyed it.