Welcome to Day Two of my annoying End-Of-Year Lists! Today I’m ranking the thirteen books that I read in 2016 (but it’s still a Top Ten as I didn’t really like the bottom three very much). As always, I rank things according to my own personal taste. For example, number 13 is a far better & more well-written book than 12 or 11 – I just enjoyed 12 & 11 slightly more. I’m also quite proud that I somehow managed to review them all (poorly, though – I suck at book reviews even more than movie reviews) so I’ve included the links to what I said about each.
So now, counting down to my very favorite, these are all the books that I read in 2016:
Can I just say that, while I highly recommend at least my top seven, I want to give a special mention to Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts. I’ve now read several of his books after wanting to find out if he was as good as his father (Stephen King). I’ve really enjoyed all his books so far but, finally, 20th Century Ghosts is one that I really loved. As with all short story collections, some stories are much stronger than others. But the best ones are fantastic!
**See you for two more end-of-year lists over the next two days. Tomorrow I’ll be posting a list of My Top Ten Movies Watched At Home In 2016 then will end on Friday with My Top Ten Movies Released In 2016 (going by UK release dates). š
Here are two mega quick reviews of two books since I’m trying to review everything I’ve read this year before I make my end-of-year lists. Let’s have a look at this strange combo…
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
What It’s About: (via Amazon) There is a long tradition of Great Detectives, and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. But his search for a missing cat uncovers a ghost, a time traveler, AND the devastating secret of humankind! Detective Gently’s bill for saving the human race from extinction: NO CHARGE.
My Thoughts:
My absolute favorite book of all-time is The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams. But I’ve never re-read it (I’m not a re-reader of books) and I’ve never read the rest in that series or anything else by Adams until this one. I know I really should read more of his work as, judging by the two I have read, I love his fabulous sense of humor and he was clearly clever as hell. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is NOT as utterly brilliant as Hitchhiker’s. However, it has the same style and wacky characters and was a lot of fun. Will I read more in this series (it’s a series, right?)? No, probably not but I’d love to re-read Hitchhiker’s now & maybe continue with those.
The crazy characters in this book are its selling point more than the actual story, which was at least certainly intriguing. I’m not sure why but I found this book to be very slow going at first & it took me a while to get into it (probably just because I’m not super smart & Adams was clearly all intellectual & shit). It picks up about halfway through, though, and I did enjoy the ending.
Okay – I’m seriously struggling with what to say as this is a very hard book to describe, especially to anyone who has never read anything by Adams. As I have so little experience with his work myself, I’m not going to ramble on like an idiot. I love all the little things thrown in, like the Electric Monk (a time-saving device of the future or, um, parallel dimension (?) that was created to believe all the things humans are meant to believe so that we no longer have to spend our own time worrying about such things…. Did I get that right?!). There’s a couch stuck on some stairs even though its being there is a scientific & mathematical impossibility, there’s a horse in a bathroom, there’s a ghost, there’s a dead cat, and there’s a lot of the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan. The main thing I got from this book is that I really want to read those poems now – they sounds nuts! Or maybe it’s just this book that’s nuts.
Anyway, I won’t pretend that I fully followed what was going on in this book but it was bizarrely entertaining. Read Hitchhiker’s first if you’ve never read Douglas Adams but, if you think sci-fi comedy is something you’d like, he’s definitely a must-read author. I need to read more myself and I happily will. Does anyone have any science fiction comedy recommendations? (I actually have another sci-fi comedy one for you – I loved George R.R. Martin’s Tuf Voyaging, which I reviewed HERE. I need to explore this genre more as I really enjoy it).
Kennedy Marr is a novelist from the old school. Irish, acerbic, and a borderline alcoholic and sex-addict, his mantra is drink hard, write hard and try to screw every woman you meet.
He’s writing film scripts in LA, fucking, drinking and insulting his way through Californian society, but also suffering from writer’s block and unpaid taxes. Then a solution presents itself – Marr is to be the unlikely recipient of the W. F. Bingham Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Modern Literature, an award worth half a million pounds. But it does not come without a price: he must spend a year teaching at the English university where his ex-wife and estranged daughter now reside.
As Kennedy acclimatises to the sleepy campus, inspiring revulsion and worship in equal measure, he’s forced to reconsider his precarious lifestyle. Incredible as it may seem, there might actually be a father and a teacher lurking inside this ‘preening, narcissistic, priapic, sociopath’. Or is there…?
My Thoughts:
This book won’t be for everyone. I find it hard to read a book with a truly hateful lead character and you can’t get much more hateful than this book’s Kennedy Marr. He’s the exact definition of the type of prick I absolutely cannot stand and would avoid at all costs in real life. However, it’s a well-written and at times very funny book. The character arc is fairly believable (we don’t get a MASSIVE change, which is good as it would go too against character) but he somewhat redeems himself.
I know John Niven wrote Kill Your Friends, a similar sort of story set within the music industry as opposed to the literary world and I’d possibly find that one a little more entertaining due to its setting. I wouldn’t totally avoid another book of his but I also wouldn’t hurry to read another. I didn’t hate Straight White Male but didn’t actively enjoy it either since I really didn’t care what would become of Kennedy Marr and his dick, the one true love of his life. I admit, though, that his masturbatory adventures were highly amusing. Do guys actually go to that much trouble when doing that?? Put that much effort into something else instead & maybe something good will happen! World peace? Well, now that I’ve used the phrase “masturbatory adventures” on my blog, I think I’ll just declare this post finished & give this book a rating. I’m spent.
My Rating: 2.5/5
This song kept popping into my head while reading the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poems in Dirk Gently!
Hi all! Happy November! October’s month of horror-related posts is always fun but I’m also happy to move on once the month finishes. So let’s just have a quick recap of the 31 horror movie reviews & four horror top tens that I posted in October. š
POSTS
My Most Popular Post: My Top Ten Crazy Ladies In Movies. This was by far my most-viewed post. It was a hard list to do as there have been so many fantastic actresses playing the “crazy” thing brilliantly. Plus I did all genres, so this one wasn’t horror-only. Us crazy ladies cross all genres. š
I was also very surprised that my list of My Top Ten Devil & Hell Songs, which I posted last year, was my second most popular post. Strange… Not sure where those views were coming from. The bowels of Hell, maybe?? Awesome.
My Favorite Post: Phenomena (1985) Blind Spot Review. I don’t have a lot of experience with Dario Argento’s films but I had fun reviewing this as one of my Blind Spot choices. It was seriously nuts & didn’t make much sense. I can relate to that…
MOVIES REVIEWED
My Most Popular Movie Review: Don’t Breathe. Ugh. How disappointing that this was my most-viewed review! I didn’t like this film very much & honestly don’t understand the decent reviews it’s had. But, as always, current releases get the most views which is why I try to at least review everything I manage to go to in the cinema. But I have a lot more fun reviewing unpopular old shit… š
All Movies Reviewed(ranked favorite to least favorite):
Reblogs (Okay, I cheated a little by reblogging old horror reviews of mine at the weekends to make it up to 31 reviews. Again ranked favorite to least favorite):
Yep, I only actually watched two horror movies in October. All my reviews were for movies I’ve watched over the past year & saved up to review in October. Time management!
In Cinema:
Kubo And The Two Strings
Trolls
At Home(ranked favorite to least favorite):
Trick ‘r Treat
Desperately Seeking Susan (re-watch)
Blended (You know what? I liked this Adam Sandler film. Deal with it!) š
John Wick
Manhattan
Brooklyn
John Carpenter’s Vampires
My Top Search Term: “Michael Jackson Songs“. I posted the Thriller video for my Music Video Friday series to kick off my month of horror. Funny that this was the top search term (by far). Good to know his music lives on! This album is an all-time classic.
My Favorite Search Term: “Jennifer O Connelly horse ride gif“. Mainly because I like the added O. It’s just Jennifer Connelly, not Jennifer O’Connelly! I like that, though… How very Irish. By the way, here’s the link to that horse ride gif that pervs keep searching my blog for: Career Opportunities (1991) Review.
I also like “French blue movies” (that would be Blue Is The Warmest Color & Three Colors: Blue, I guess?) and “swimming pool scenes in movies” (because I liked doing that top ten list HERE).
Here are my top search terms for the month:
BOOKS
Book Reviewed: None – I focused on horror movie reviews instead.
Books I’ve Just Finished: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel & Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Book I’m Currently Reading: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
BLOG PLANS FOR THE COMING MONTH
Very little. I’m in serious need of a blog break & focusing on real-life stuff. But I’ll never give this hobby up completely. I love watching movies & chatting with you guys about them far too much to fully give this up! So I have no specific plans other than to post reviews of current films when I happen to go to them & do the occasional top ten or older movie review when I have the time & feel like it.
On November 12th & 13th, I’ve signed up to do one review for the At The Circus Blogathon hosted by Serendipitous Anachronisms & CrƬtica RetrĆ“. I love that theme & had to grab the opportunity to finally review the fantastic 1932 film Freaks. Am looking forward to re-watching and reviewing that and to reading all the other bloggers’ entries.
Upcoming Movies:
There are two November cinema releases I’m desperate to see: Arrival & Your Name. Due to lack of time, my excessive movie-watching days are now behind me but I will NOT miss these two. Both are total “me” films. Sci-fi and critically acclaimed Japanese anime?! Yes, please! š Arrival is mainstream enough to not be a problem but I’m unlikely to find anywhere near me showing Your Name. I really need to live next door to an indie cinema…
Okay, I’m going to rank these like a loser! In order starting with what I want to see the most (aside from the first couple, I’ll probably wait for Netflix):
Cinema: TIE: The Arrival & Your Name Potential Netflix-watching:
The Wailing
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Bad Santa 2
Gimme Danger Maybe watch if I ever have time:
Nocturnal Animals
The Edge Of Seventeen
The Accountant
Paterson
The Light Between Oceans
I always end recaps with a movie-related song so I have to go with Iron Maiden’s Flash Of The Blade as heard in Phenomena. MAIDEN!!! \m/
Cinema Parrot Disco 
