Challenges Update #3 + a kaleidoscope of new comics (and books)!

Soooooooooooo….. its been a while since my last challenge update…because I haven’t really been actively challenging :/

I didn’t bother posting an update last week because I had nothing to report – I haven’t finished any books, so I haven’t started any new ones, complete with Comic Companion, and I have been really slack with the Poe challenge…

As I suspected the weekend of comedy shows was not conducive to some casual reading – my entire weekend was made up of social happenings before and after the shows and the seeing of the shows themselves, which if you’re interested were Justin Hamilton’s Perth International Comedy Festival (PICF) show on Friday the 3rd, and then on Saturday the 4th Adam Hill’s show, Happyism which were both absolutely hilarious, if very, very different (Justin Hamilton was in a small room, very intimate and casual, and Adam Hills was in a theatre of 2000 people with a sigh language interpreter and choir!).

During the week I did intend to read some stories to catch up, but I’m usually too tired after work and I just want to veg out in front of the TV, eat dinner and go to bed, so my good intentions fell by the wayside These wasted good intentions  carried on into the weekend as my best friend, Sarah, moved around the corner from me (:D!!!) so I was distracted by the exciting tour of the new house, conveniently located catch-ups, and helping her build a snazzy new bed. Up until yesterday I was convinced I would somehow still complete the challenge before the horrifying One-Year-Since-I-Started-This-Book date, but guess what today is? That’s right, the 14th of May….. Happy Anniversary Tales of Mystery and Imagination -.- 

Anyway, since I still want to challenge myself, and as I’ve established before I enjoy repeated numbers, why not extend the challenge until it hits the 1 year, 1 month and 1 day mark? This would mean that the challenge would go until the 15th of June, or 5 more weeks which works perfectly with the amount of stories I have left too because I have 15 to go so I only need to read 3 a week and I’m done!

On the Comic Companions front I haven’t fared much better, because as I said I haven’t finished or started anything.

But!

I have acquired quite a few new graphic novels that can be read as part of the challenge.

Firstly I have borrowed a few from the East Perth campus of my college, where I work on Thursdays and Fridays:

Lots of great Graphic Novels have been donated by my workmate, Scott, so I may borrow some more in the near future

They are: The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity (The Unwritten, Volume # 1) by Mike Carey (writer), Peter Gross (artist), Chris Chuckry and Jeanne McGee (colourists) and Todd Klein (letterer); White Tiger: A Hero’s Compulsion (White Tiger, Issue # 1) by Tamora Pierce  and Timothy Liebe (writers) and Philippe Briones (penciler); House of Mystery: Room and Boredom (House of Mystery, Volume # 1) by Matthew Sturges and Bill Wilingham (writers), Jill Thompson (penciler), Luca Rossi (inker) and Todd Klein (letterer); and Nevermore by Edgar Allan Poe (because its an adaptation of some of his short stories), Ian Edginton, Jamie Delano, John Reppion, and Leah Moore (writers) and D’Israeli, James (Jim) Fletcher, John McCrea, Shane Oakley and Steve Pugh (artists)

I also borrowed two graphic novels off my workmate at East Perth, Scott:

Batman + Buffy =

Batman: The Killing Joke: The Deluxe Edition by Alan Moore (writer), Brian Bolland (artist, colorist, writer), Ellie De Ville and Richard Starkings (letterers); and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Origin by Dan Brereton and Christopher Golden (writers), Joe Bennett (penciler) , Rick Ketcham (inker), Guy Major, Jeromy Cox (colourists), and Ken Bruzenak (letterer).

And Scott kindly picked me up a few comics from Free Comic Book Day which was on the weekend of all the comedy:

Two of them have a different comic on each side, so I’ve placed the two pics side by side to show all the covers – sorry for the weird glare and change in light :/

Star Wars: Captain Midnight/Avatar: The Last Airbender ; Mouse Guard /Rust flip book ; and Molly Danger/Princeless

Then on Friday night while looking for a Mother’s Day present for my mum I had a mini shopping spree at one of my new favourite bookstores, Kaleido Books 

 

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll , Lewis Helfand (writer/adapter) and Rajesh Nagulakonda (artist); The Book of Human Insects by Osamu Tezuka (writer, artist and cover designer – go Mr Tezuka!); The Beatles Graphic by Hervé Bourhis (writer, artist and cover designer – again, go Mr Bourhis!); and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (another classic I’ve never read)

And lastly, I bought a quartet of books at the end of my holidays when me and mum went op-shop trawling that I forgot to share with you:

 

Past The Shallows by Favel Parrett; The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin; The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch; and the Calvin and Hobbes book, Scientific Progress Goes “Boink” by Bill Watterson :D 

So, I have PLENTY of comics to read for my challenge, as well as more books that I don’t have room for…..and like any true book addict instead of culling my collection, or heaven’s forbid, stopping my endless purchasing of new and used books (*GASP* *dramatic Victorian lady swoon*) I will eventually buy a new bookshelf that I can fill with even more! (*cue maniacal laughter and crazed grin*)

That’s it for now my booktastic Bookbaggers! Stay tuned for updates as they occur + the usual junk and I bid you all:

Happy Reading!

Adventures in Etymology: Triumvirate

Triumvirate

Triumvirate by ~BlackSeaFoam (DeviantART) used with artist’s permission

Reason for Adventure

Reading the first volume of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman (Preludes and Nocturnes) I can across this word because when The Sandman visits hell to find the whereabouts of one of his possessions, he is told by Lucifer that the realm is no longer ruled by himself alone but is a triumvirate consisting of him, Azazel and Beelzebub.

Dictionary.com Definitions/Origins

Pronunciation:
trahy-uhm-ver-it, -vuh-reyt
Form:
noun
Definition:
1. Roman History . the office or magistracy of a triumvir.
2. a government of three officers or magistrates functioning jointly.
3. a coalition of three magistrates or rulers for joint administration.
4. any association of three in office or authority.
5. any group or set of three.
Origin:
1575–85;  < Latin triumvirātus.  See triumvir, -ate³

Source:
triumvirate. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/triumvirate

Online Etymology Dictionary Information

triumvirate (n.) 1580s, from Latin triumviratus, from triumvir (see triumvir).

triumvir (n.) ”one of three men in the same office or of the same authority,” 1570s, from Latin triumvir, from Old Latin phrase trium virum, genitive plural of tres viri “three men,” from tres ”three” + viri, plural of vir ”man” (see virile).

Sources:

Harper, D. (2012). Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved May 10, 2013 from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=triumvirate&allowed_in_frame=0

Harper, D. (2012). Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved May 10, 2013 from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=triumvir&allowed_in_frame=0

Challenges Update #2

Greeting my weird and wonderful troupe of Bookbaggers!

If you read my last challenges update you will know that I’ve been on term break last week (*GRIN*) which meant that I got to lounge around and read a whole lot Logically this would also mean that I had more time for blogging, but that is only logical if you aren’t acquainted with my ancient and temperamental laptop. The Zombie laptop, which it’s not-so-affectionately named for the number of times it has risen from the dead, is about 5 years old, has next-to-no memory, and takes forever to do even the simplest tasks, which means I barely use it and save my interwebbing for my fancy smartphone (which has much more power and memory than the Zombie laptop….which is a tad ridiculous) and when It’s quiet at work (this sounds naughty, but is generally acceptable as library work at a college like mine has its ebbs and flows) and the last thing I wanted to do on my break was struggle with it to get some posts up.

Anyway, since I did a fair bit of reading I have some updates on my current challenges for you all:

Since my last update I have read 4 more stories: The Mystery of Marie Rogêt which is a sequel to Murders at the Rue Morgue ; The Purloined Letter which is also kind of a sequel, because it features the same detective, Dupin ; The Thousand-and Second Tale of Scheherazade, which may be my favourite, and is certainly the funniest I’ve read so far, as it’s the forgotten tale of Scheherezade (the storytelling sultan’s wife from One Thousand and One Nights  which includes stories of Aladdin and Sinbad) which tells of Sinbad’s final adventures, including a long list of seemingly impossible sights and inventions, which are perfectly explainable in Poe’s time (and each one had a footnote so it was quite informative too!) ; and then the night before last I read Fall of the House of  Usher which was wonderfully spooky and atmospheric, especially because near the end I was reading during the ad breaks of American Horror Story: Asylum!

I now have 14 stories left and 13 days before the dreaded 1 year mark (14 if I don’t mind reaching 1 year exactly :/) so I’m a bit behind, and I’m going to try and read one each day. I’ve already failed this a little as i didn’t read a story yesterday, and the likelihood of me reading any this weekend is slim because I’m going to two comedy gigs with friends, but I will do it somehow!

On the Comic Companions front I’m doing much better! After reading The Sandman volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman I finished Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen

so I started to read Among Others by Jo Walton
and picked The Sandman volume 2: The Doll’s House by Neil Gaiman as the Comic Companion

I finished that quick smart (I started one night and read the rest the next morning) and I wanted to read the 3rd volume Dream Country ASAP because that was the only one I had read previously (I borrowed it over and over from the library when I was a kid) and I wanted to see if it was a different experience when done straight after its predessesors (it was much less confusing, plus more age appropriate now).

So, to make it feel like I wasn’t cheating I read two of the little books I bought at  Oxford Street Books, The Amber Amulet by Craig Silvey

and The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kaufman

and made The Sandman volume 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman the Comic Companion

I read all three on my last day of holidays which was a nice way to farewell the break

Alas, my local library doesn’t have any more Sandmans until volume 7, so I’ll have to rustle up the next three at another library, or buy them (I found a very tempting collection for sale on book depository, but it says “includes all 10 volumes” when there is 11 so I’m not so sure about that) for when I next start a new book, but I do still have the Clive Barker Omnibus, and the manga of Soulless so I’m fairly set

That’s it for now but stay tuned for upcoming Collective Nounitude and Adventures in Etymology posts as well as a couple of Micro Reviews from Planet Procratination installments, and some long neglected reviews once I’ve decided on a new review format that I’ve been thinking over (including a more interesting rating system), but in the meantime:

Happy Reading!

Share the love (and crazy):

The birds still shouted, the cars complained, and a few metres away people were talking like talking people everywhere, but where Marge stood she was in a cold and terrifying place.

• Kraken, by China Miéville, pg. 155
  

Share the love (and crazy):

“When the first living thing existed, I was there, waiting. When the last living thing dies, my job will be finished. I’ll put the chairs on the tables, turn out the lights and lock the universe behind me when I leave.”

• Death, The Sandman Volume 3: Dream Country, ‘Facade’, by Neil Gaiman (writer), Colleen Doran (penciller), Malcolm Jones III (inker), Steve Oliff (colourist), Todd Klein (letterer), pg. 20
  

Share the love (and crazy):

The night is silent but he won’t let that soften his focus. The Masked Avenger knows too well that Calm and Chaos share the same cold quiet.

• The Amber Amulet by Craig Silvey, pg. 19
  

Share the love (and crazy):

It seemed like the late autumn wind blew them in that night, spinning and dizzying from the four corners of the world. It was a bitch wind, knife-sharp and cutting, and it blew bad and cold. And they came with it, scurrying and skittering, like yellow leaves and old newspapers, from a thousand places and from nowhere at all.

• The Sandman Volume 2: The Doll’s House [Graphic Novel], part 5: ‘The Collecters”, by Neil Gaiman (writer), Mike Dringenberg (penciller), Malcolm Jones III (inker), Robbie Busch (colourist), Todd Klein (letterer), pg. 140