#my favorite dc factoid

[yetanotherknitter]

this is detective chimp erasure

ATE

[nitewrighter]

So I finished both the Reign of the Supermen and Return of Superman compilations, and these were little factoids I thought were neat (a lot of it has likely been retconned out by both the New 52 and DC Rebirth but I think they're neat):

>During the course of his career with the Daily Planet, Clark wrote three books in addition to all his articles.

>Clark's favorite movie is "To Kill a Mockingbird"

>Bibbo Bibbowski rescued his own little white puppy and wanted to name it 'Krypton' but the dog tag engraver only had room for six letters, thus shortening it to 'Krypto.'

>It's implied the first time Lois and Clark ever had sex was "a rainy night in July."

>Superboy literally had no idea he had tactile telekinesis as a power and the first couple times he used it and basically just recognized it as "Touch power that makes technology explode."

(He's a moron. I adore him.)

>Superboy keeps getting leather jackets and keeps fucking destroying them.

>Cyborg Superman is capable of just straight up going Eldritch Tech Abomination (which honestly I wish he could have gone full "THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM!!!" for the last fight but I get why they'd stick with him as Cyborg Superman™)

>Jimmy got Clark into Van Halen.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

What's this? Another Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow post?? But it's 2024! Surely, there's nothing new to uncover with regards to this seminal work of sequential storytelling...right?!?!?

Well...kinda. XD

BEHOLD! Another Tom King podcast interview, wherein he discusses Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and mostly confirms stuff we already knew, but! BUT! He does drop some new bits of info!

Right then. LET'S GO!

My usual disclaimer applies, recommend listening to the interview firsthand to get a more objective perspective.

But if you're cool with my (INCREDIBLY BIASED! ALWAYS! ALWAYS BIASED WITH THIS BOOK!) summary, then ONWARDS WE GO.

(And when I say 'biased summary' what I mean is that I will be including the bits that make me want to run a victory lap because my readings were SPOT HECKIN' ON, ALL YE NAYSAYERS!*)

Ahem. Anyways.

So I'm going to start off with some new-ish info (at least, it's new-ish to me. XD) The interviewers had asked about the title, specifically in regards to Zor-El's dialogue in issue six (I believe it's the portion where Zor is explaining to Kara why he's going to save her, and says something like, "tomorrow will come soon enough...and you will be a woman looking back on the many decades of your life..." hence 'Woman of Tomorrow') and whether that was planned from the outset, or if that part came about organically as he was writing it.

King said he'd originally written a completely different script for issue six (which we did know) but FUN NEW FACTOID TIME: Zor-El/Kara's origin (initially) weren't included in issue six like, at all. It therefore would not have come up at any point within the mini-series, had they gone with that first script.

But editorial hated it (King agreed with their conclusion, and another fun fact, we'll get to see said script in the backmatter for the new deluxe edition, YAY) and when King asked if there was anything in it that they liked, they said the tiny flashback to Kara's time on Argo was good.

SO. King then decided to expand that/incorporate her origin, because that would be 'easy', and this was back during his crazy COVID writing schedule.

(Folks will perhaps recall that he wrote issue seven in like...a day. What we did not know was that he rewrote issue six in that same week.)

And then it ended up being everyone's favorite issue so yaaaaay for editors! Unsung heroes of comics!

They are also comics' greatest villains but that's a discussion for another day!

Evely's art was mentioned at this point and King was like, 'I had to go back and make the writing more beautiful/esoteric to match what she was putting out.'

Also we stan a comic writer who lets his artists take as long as they need on art. (Though as he's mentioned before, Evely was able to turn in the art quickly on this book, which is heckin' WILD to me, have you SEEN that woman's pencils and inkwork??!??!?!??!?!)

They touched on the True Grit comparisons, only relevant/new bits there are that King feels it's the perfect novel (agree) and that the John Wayne version is terrible (also correct) and the Cohen Brothers' version is great (right again.)

Another bit we already knew: It was an editor who was responsible for the suggestion that Kara should be Rooster, not Mattie. (I think in the past he credited this to Jamie Rich, but this time he said he couldn't remember if it was Rich or Brittany Holzherr, and said they could fight over the credit if they want. XD)

Either way, THANK YOU, WHOEVER YOU ARE, b/c the alternative pitch, with Kara as Mattie and Lobo as Rooster, sounded awful.

Instead King went with, 'Kara will learn from the young naïf, and teach the young naïf.'

(Much better.)

MORE NEW, FUN TRIVIA!!!!

King said they had the first issue completely drawn, colored, and lettered--basically ready to go, and DC said, 'we can't publish this because Supergirl doesn't drink.'

King called Jim Lee, trying to make his case, that she was twenty-one, it was legal, it was a totally normal/human thing to do, and Lee was like, 'but we can't.'

King: Could I do it with Superman? Lee: Yeah.

Essentially it was a lot of tiptoeing around stuff like, 'girls can't get drunk and whatnot' coupled with 'Supergirl can't do that because she's perfect and pure.'

But! Lee ultimately was like, 'okay, you can leave the scene in, but you can't say she's drunk.'

So if you go back and read the actual dialogue/narration, there's no explicit language confirming that kara is three sheets to the wind.

(Which is so, so ridiculous to me because the art makes it very, very clear that she is. XD LOOPHOLES!)

King and the interviewers pointed out that this real world editorial incident ironically tied into one of the metanarratives of the character, that being the pressure placed on Kara, which Clark doesn't have to deal with.

Art imitating life etc. etc. XD

Feel like I've heard this bit in other interviews but it's sweet so it bears repeating: the green sun planet's name is based on King's nickname for his daughter, and she was the one who came up with the idea of a 'green sun planet' during a discussion at dinner one night.

So shifting gears a bit, the rest of the podcast focused specifically on various plot points that the interviewers wanted to discuss/had questions about; it's basically King offering his insights as the writer. And I really, really appreciate this, for reasons I'll get to further down. Now then, more summarizing!

One of the interviewers brought up a sticking point he had with the book: the execution of the Brigand in issue four. Ruthye says to Supergirl that she thought she would save him. To which Supergirl replies: Did you?

King explained that Ruthye and Kara are on opposite journeys in this book. In issue one, Kara is on the side of 'I don't kill, heroes never kill' and Ruthye is on the opposite side, 'Krem killed my father, I have to kill him.' At the end of the book, they are once again on opposite sides, but they've switched.

(I love the way King described it, that Ruthye becomes Supergirl, and saves Supergirl. More on this later.)

But specifically that part in issue four, where Kara doesn't step in, King confirmed that she's on that journey, she's going through that transition, but she hasn't crossed the line of, 'I'll kill him myself.' Rather, she's allowing the system to do what it will.

King also mentioned that this theme isn't especially new and has been examined in comics time and time again, of superheroes asserting their morality over governments, and how that spirals into fascism. He cited Kingdom Come, etc.

Further comments from King on Kara's character: she's conflicted, unlike Clark. Clark's soul and ideals are aligned one to one; Kara wants that. She loves those ideals and wants to uphold them, but she's not fully aligned like that because of what she's been through (read: She's Seen Some Things)

Loved this bit from King: "Supergirl's a little more human than Clark, in spite of being more alien."

King said DC probably would've let him have Supergirl kill Krem in the end, BUT (and it's a good 'but' tying into that earlier bit about Ruthye becoming Supergirl) he said that the theme of this book was 'what makes Supergirl awesome' (he admits this is kind of a dumb theme, but hard disagree, sir) and he liked that Kara's lessons to Ruthye are ultimately what saves her. Kara saves herself.

(STICK A PIN IN THAT ONE, FOLKS)

King once again stated, for the record, that Krem does not die in the end!

The two interviewers had differing interpretations, hence King needing to confirm. XD He even pulled out his script for issue eight, and the description does indeed say that Krem is unconscious, not dead.

And, AND, Evely even made this clearer in the art; the script didn't have Krem moving after Ruthye hit him, but Evely added Krem placing his hand on his head.

Another point the interviewers wanted to discuss: Ruthye writing that Supergirl had killed Krem.

King confirmed that this was to prevent the Brigands from retaliating against Ruthye, and instead focus on going after Supergirl.

In King's mind, Kara feels immense guilt that her father saved her over literally anyone else, so she spends her life taking on other people's pain, to make up for what she sees as taking someone else's spot on that ship.

The scene in issue seven, where Kara's falling through the atmosphere and pushes through in order to preserve the memories that she carries with her was inspired by events from King's life; his mother died unexpectedly, and when going through her things, realized that he was one of the only people who carried certain memories of his mother and grandparents; he described it as a kind of burden.

Last question from the interviewers: Why make Ruthye and unreliable narrator? Do we believe anything in this book, now?

King started off his answer by noting that he fought against using captions in his books for his entire career; by the time he started writing comics, caption boxes had sort of lost their vitality and had become the equivalent of thought balloons, which had long since fallen out of style.

But when he returned to them with Supergirl, he said, (and I have the full quote below)

King: "What I love about [captions] is that you can write things that contrast what's in the pictures, so that the captions can tell you a little bit of a different story than what you're seeing, and thereby enhance it--it's that idea of Ruthye being, she's narrating the story but we're seeing pictures of what's actually happening, creates an excellent sort of tension I think." (Bold mine)

And so, some THOUGHTS!

As always, I love learning new things about this comic. I wish this comic had a commentary track, with King (and Evely, Lopes, and Cowles!) talking about the creation/processes behind the book.

Next best thing is podcasts, I guess! XD

But IN ADDITION to fun, new information, as I mentioned at the outset, King has basically confirmed a bunch of stuff I mentioned in my deep dive posts.

To quote one of the interviews: "I was validated by Tom King!"

XD

This also debunks like. Every bad-faith criticism lobbed at the book. It's almost like a checklist of the month-to-month stuff I was seeing from those aforementioned naysayers, complaining on twitter that King had ruined Kara beyond repair.

They'll likely never listen to this podcast, but I wish they would! I think it would make them feel better. XD Like, hearing the insights on Kara/Ruthye/etc has just reminded me once again how good this book is, and how emotionally moving.

Like, again, I love the way King sums up how Kara and Ruthye work together in this book to shine a spotlight on Supergirl; Kara teaches Ruthye lessons, Ruthye becomes Supergirl thanks to those lessons, Ruthye then saves Kara, thus Kara saves herself.

(Which hey, I touched on in my issue eight post, way back when.)

(I'm also beyond thrilled that my assumption that the art is the true account while the narration boxes are Ruthye's recounting was CORRECT.)

(Which isn't to suggest this is a terribly deep, difficult to decipher text. I mean. It's a monthly comic book intended for mass consumption, starring popular IP--the writing isn't inaccessible by any means. XD But I just remember seeing SO MANY PEOPLE deliberately misreading these specific points as a way to Stay Mad, so I'm relieved that my glass half full interpretations wasn't just the result of desperate Evely Stan goggles, you know? XD)

TL;DR: I cannot heckin' WAIT for that big, beautiful hardcover coming out in July (IDK if I've posted about it here yet but Lopes said he recolored some stuff so you BETTER BELIEVE I'll be back on my Woman of Tomorrow nonsense this summer) and I'm also thrilled that this entire creative team has returned with a new creator owned title (EXPECT A POST ON THAT...AT SOME POINT???)

[arrowjaeger]

Basic Bayverse TMNT (2014 - 2016) Headcanons

some 18+ themes ig

Leonardo

probably a swifty

fluent in japanese

writes everything in japanese mostly so his brothers can’t read it as easily

refuses to call his brothers by their nicknames

probably has horrible taste in women tbh i am so sorry

thinks sugar is the devil

pretty much only drinks tea

and he sweetens it with honey

tries to be the son Splinter wants him to be

probably sings the first line to the pokémon theme in his sleep

“i want to be the very best”

always wakes up first

the mom friend but he acts way more like a mom than normal mom friends

“ugh my head hurts!”

“it’s cuz you’re always on that damn phone!”

thinks the games his brothers play are violent but he literally carries katanas with him pretty much everywhere- he’s hospitalized dozens of foot soldiers but noooo shooting a few pixels on a screen where only people’s pride is getting hurt is violent.

wears his gear like 24/7 “if there is an emergency we won’t have time to get ready”

as much as he says he doesn’t like tv, he gets obsessed with shows easily

he’ll also watch tv with Splinter since he likes older action shows

Raphael

works out at 2 am for no apparent reason

can’t sleep? oh! i should work out!

always states how much protein is in whatever he is eating

like we care, Raphael

i’ve said this before but he dry scoops protein powder, he just does.

barely knows english

forgets words and has to play charades until someone knows what he is trying to say

most likely to have had an emo phase

still listens to Black Parade occasionally

either listens to heavy metal or pink floyd

cracks his knuckles and neck way too often

drinks monster energy 24/7

will drink red bull if there is no monster left

smashes the empty cans with his forehead

has asked Donnie how to delete his search history before. Donnie definitely didn’t help him and just looked at Raph’s search history.

we all knew Raph would be into some weird shit

Donatello

is constantly chewing on things as he works: pens, erasers, his lips, the insides of his cheeks. and he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it

breaks pencils when he’s stressed

has a box for the broken pieces on his desk

listens to way too much dubstep and basshunter

lives in sweatpants

like he’d fight in them if he was allowed

favorite poptart flavor is hot fudge sundae or just hot fudge. either way, those are the only poptarts he will eat in it’s entirety

otherwise he just licks the frosting off of them. he claims it helps his brain work.

probably plays dating sims in his free time

plays mystic messenger

projects onto 707

is sorta in love with MC

has one of those huge desk calendars but never has any plans

fluent in japanese and spanish in addition to english ofc

learned spanish in like three weeks for fun

he really just listens to any music unless it’s country

he’d rather be double mutated than listen to country

only drinks soda/energy drinks if they are purple

monster energy ultra violet and grape crush are his go to’s

put food coloring in his apple juice to make it purple so it would go with his brand

will not wear anything that is one of his brother’s colors

so he ends up wearing purple, gray, or black

prefers dc over marvel

the boy knows EVERYTHING about nintendo

in fact, he’s a walking encyclopedia/almanac. if you make any sort of statement, he has to tell you a fun fact about what you just said

used to say “interesting factoid” (like Olive from ANT Farm) but after his third interesting factoid Raph punched him in the face, which is why his glasses have been taped back together

only uses wooden pencils. none of that plastic stuff

definitely twirls his pencils in his fingers and probably practices bo fighting techniques with it as he thinks

one day a monitor from his set up disappeared. Leo brought it up and Don just shrugged it off.

it is definitely in his room, and it’s where he looks up more delicate topics.. he definitely watches porn on it-

hates 90% of what comes out of Mikey’s mouth

smells like coffee and motor oil

addicted to froot loops

types ridiculously fast for only having three fingers

hates when people mix up Star Wars and Star Trek

points out flaws in movies and theorizes the plot out loud

spoils most movies for his brothers unknowingly

hates when the strong female characters start dating the asshole male lead by the end of the move

cries by the end of any movie

craves attention

needs to be pegged

Michelangelo

beat boxing legend

lives off of totino’s pizza rolls

probably eats them frozen

is obsessed with retro video games

keeps breaking their atari

the only thing Mikey knows how to fix is NES cartridges

*aggressively blows into the bottom of the cartridge*

always loses the tv remote

does he best batman impression out of all of them

collects human things

is definitely making a fort out of old pizza boxes

is the most stereotypical gen z

is cracked at fortnite

uses gen z words like cheugy

probably wanted to be a vsco girl back when they were popular

kesha stan

he has more orange crush in his veins than blood

probably watches David Dobrik

gave Raph a full soda can for him to smash

he smashed it successfully just soda went everywhere and he had to clean it up

while watching sports, he roots against his brothers for fun

prefers marvel over dc

makes horrible “yo mama” and “deez nuts” jokes at every opportunity

eats so many snacks during movie night

chews with his mouth open

ADHD

laughs at all the wrong times

loves cringey movies

[thevindicativevordan]

What do you think of Guy Gardner?

God he's such a glorious jackass.

Never been my favorite, in fact I think he's probably my least favorite of all the human Lanterns, but still such a great character to have around. Of course being "fearless" is going to lead to some of the Lanterns being cocksure blowhards who never back down from a fight, and Guy is a powder keg amongst the human Lanterns. Not really much reason for the other "core four" Lanterns to be at each others throats, but you add Guy to the mix and tempers are sure to flare because of how abrasive he is. Did you know his attitude is a result of brain damage? One of comics craziest factoids is that the popular take on Guy didn't exist until Steve Englehart basically revamped him, using the coma Guy had been under as justification for his new personality.

Anyway Guy works great as a foil/supporting character but I don't see him as capable of carrying a solo. He doesn't have the lore and prestige stories that Hal does, he doesn't have the DCAU to keep him in the public consciousness like John does, and he doesn't have the racial or LGBT factor to make DC push him like Kyle, Jess, Simon, Alan, or Jo do. Great character to have play off of another lead, not someone who can attract enough interest on their own.

[dccomicsnews]

Directed by: Cathy Yan

Written by: Christina Hodson

Starring: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ewan McGregor

Review by: Eric Joseph

Summary

Somewhat capitalizing on the success of 2016’s Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie returns as Harley Quinn in an ensemble tale that kind of functions as a solo adventure all at the same time. The Clown Princess of Crime may share the screen with several other DC favorites, sure, but it still feels like it’s her movie in the end. Think of how Steve Rogers remained the central character in Captain America: Civil War amid guest stars galore, and you have somewhat of a decent parallel here – albeit with a much smaller cast, of course.

Unfortunately, Birds of Prey didn’t rake in the box office dough it should have, but we can only hope that more people discover it once the home video release hits shelves. In my view, this film turned out much better than I’d anticipated, so I’m going to tell you why it’s worth your time and money. Questionable marketing, costume choices, and an unnecessarily long title that should have been simplified to “Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey” in the first place were likely the biggest factors contributing to financial shortcomings, although there’s nothing we can do about any of those at this point.

Basically, the story follows Harley Quinn, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya as they call come together while the villainous Black Mask and Victor Zsasz hunt the human MacGuffin that is Cassandra Cain. I won’t spoil why they’re pursuing said child in case you haven’t seen the picture for yourself, but that’s the gist of it.

Positives 

The greatest positive to mention is that of the gal whose name is included in the title itself: Harley Quinn. Like I said, this is damn near a Harley solo film, although I can’t complain too much because Margot Robbie simply knocks it out of the park. It’s as if Suicide Squad were the appetizer and Birds of Prey is the main course. Her performance is spot-on, and I can tell she put a lot of effort and research into every onscreen decision she made while inhabiting the character’s skin. My guess is that she’d just begun reading the comics while filming Suicide Squad, and then read a lot more in the time since. I know for a fact that she’s become a fan of the source material, and it really shows.

In fact, I must say that the rest of the main cast did commendable jobs with the roles they landed – even if some of those portrayals were questionable. Well, any missteps when it came to characterization weren’t their fault, as actors just play with the scripts they’re given. We’ll pick up on that point when we get to the “negatives” part of this review, alright?

Actually, it could be argued that some gripes can be tolerated when the end product turns out so well. The narrative itself unfolds in nonlinear fashion, yet it comes across as quite smooth. It’s a far cry from the editing nightmare that was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s theatrical cut, that’s for sure.

If anyone deserves a round of high fives, it’s 87eleven, the stunt team who choreographed the stellar action sequences. There’s a very good reason why the fight scenes are on par with John Wick films – and that’s because the same talented folks just mentioned worked on those. Here’s hoping they’re brought aboard for more DC projects in the future, particularly anything having to do with Batman.

K.K. Barrett and his production design crew also warrant a tip of the hat. I’m aware that they wanted their Gotham City to look different and more realistic, but it’s my belief they achieved something closer to the comics than anything lensed by Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder. Not meaning to knock what those guys did, but their Gothams simply looked like everyday major cities. Gotham City is a character unto itself, and that’s something I haven’t seen portrayed to the fullest extent outside of the Tim Burton-Joel Schumacher era and the Gotham TV series. But here, we’re transported to Black Mask’s nightclub, an eerie amusement park and otherworldly pier that look like they were plucked from Batman: The Animated Series, with daytime romps through the city forcing me to recall something like the Burnside borough from the comics.

And when it comes to supplemental content, WB sure didn’t skimp on that for the Blu-ray release. I recommend checking out “Birds Eye View Mode” for your second viewing of the feature presentation, as it is essentially a video commentary, behind-the-scenes tour, and pop-up video-style factoid dropper all rolled into one. Beyond that, there are featurettes that delve into production design, stunts, costuming and much more.

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Negatives

Okay, here’s where I have to get dead serious.

My first airing of grievances has to be directed at costuming. That particular department may have wanted to avoid skimpy spandex outfits and “onesies” as they put it, but not many characters in this movie are recognizable to readers of comics. Although most people flocking to theaters don’t actually read the books, the core audience will kickoff the snowball effect of advance poor word of mouth without fail, and that definitely happened well before opening weekend this past February.

Now, I’m not saying Mary Elizabeth Winstead had to run around in a singlet as if she were going for a swim, but they could’ve figured out some sort of tactical gear akin to the blueprint laid by comic book artists. If other movies in the genre can do it, why couldn’t this one? And when she finally does don the black and purple complemented by a white cross, it’s in a tracksuit-type whatever-it-is that looks like it was ordered online and arrived several sizes too big. You see, this is what grinds the gears of diehard fans. If their familiar getup is supposedly so impractical and unfavorable to women, then Harley Quinn and Black Canary wouldn’t be cosplayed ad infinitum worldwide, would they?

Now, I’m not going to do likewise for every other character – save for Harley, who couldn’t even wear her familiar red and black color scheme – but there’s a reason why I singled out Huntress: I’d been waiting years for her to come to the silver screen. Not only that, but both the Birds of Prey and Arrow TV series had already struck out when it came to her costume, so that’s why I had high hopes for this. And to be clear, I have no criticisms of Ms. Winstead herself; the casting department found the right actress. It’s just that they missed the mark with her gear.

As for poor characterization mentioned earlier, I can’t fathom how Black Mask and Cassandra Cain got so f—ed up. The former would be more aptly described as “Black Mascara” and the latter is not the disabled hero who once took up cape and cowl as Batgirl in the comics. I’d go as far to say they could’ve called her “Jimmy Olsen” and it wouldn’t have made a difference. Really, why mess up them both when every other major character in this production was pretty much nailed from a writing standpoint? But that’s Hollywood, baby, and they know better than you or I.

Verdict

In the case of Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), the pros far outweigh the cons. Trust me when I say this film is a must-see for fans of Harley Quinn and DC Comics in general, so do yourself a favor and pick it up on whatever home video format you prefer. It’s insane, R-rated fun on the same level as Deadpool, so fingers remain crossed that this finds the larger audience it deserves.

Blu-ray Review: Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) Directed by: Cathy Yan Written by: Christina Hodson Starring: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ewan McGregor…

[cultfaction]

Reposted from @grantscomics THIS DAY IN HISTORY (November 29, 1983) - I'm a big fan of "Today in History" factoids, be it when a movie was released or a sporting event was held. I'm going to be posting one cover a day, inspired by one of my favorite Twitter accounts - RackSpinner. I don't want to steal their thunder at all so please give them a follow as they showcase a LOT more than what I'm going to do here. I'm going to try and pick out what MY personal favorite cover was from this day in history for discussion (which automatically means it's gonna be from between 1960-1989 lol). In addition, if you really wanna submerge yourself in comic release dates, I can't recommend the 'Mike's Amazing World of Comics' website enough. #GrantsComics.com #Comics #Marvel #MarvelComics #DC #DCComics #NCBD #ComicBooks #ComicBookFamily #ComicBookCollector #ComicBookCollection #ComicCollector #ComicCollecting #ComicCollections #ComicBookCommunity #ComicMarket #ComicsForSale #ComicBooks #ThisDayInHistory #TodayInHistory #70scomics #80scomics #vintagecomics #gocollect #amazingspiderman #spiderman #hobgoblin #johnromitajr https://www.instagram.com/p/CljxcyAsrdJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[gettingagriponthings]

Reading Through 2019 (Part 1)

As always, I had a lot of fun with reading this year. I found a couple of new used bookstores that I love, I made good use of libraries, I discovered new authors and doubled down on some favorites, I created a #Bookstagram account, and maybe most importantly...I got really good at reading on airplanes!

Heading into 2019 I knew that with a new work commitment (I took a job that had me travelling about 75% of each month) I had to be realistic with my reading goals. I cut my goal down to 25 after reading 40 books last year. This turned out to be a wise move and I comfortably hit my mark. I got in a good mix of Fiction, History, Biography, and Memoir.

Here’s what I read this year (in chronological order):

The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama, by David Remnick (2011, 704 pages) This is the best book on Barack Obama (not including his memoir, Dreams from My Father) that I’ve come across. Remnick is a talented writer and successfully combines compelling prose and detailed research with a tremendous number of interviews of folks close to the 44th president from the different parts of his life. I took my time reading this one, usually in 20-30 page chunks in bed before sleeping.

Leadership: In Turbulent Times, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (2018, 473 pages) I read this entire book on a long day of travel between Des Moines, Iowa and Newark, New Jersey. An important endorser gave this book to my boss and I got to read it. I saw DKG speak about Leadership at the 2018 National Book Festival and was completely taken by her. This is a good book with a relatively unique format, to be coming from a historian, that works well to instill some solid lessons from the individuals profiled in the book: Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and LBJ.

One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School, by Scott Turow (1977, 288 pages) A fun book to read, though maybe not the most original. I don’t think I got much substance from this that I didn’t get from the book The Paper Chase, which was published six years earlier.

Liar’s Poker, by Michael Lewis (1989, 310 pages) I’m a big Michael Lewis fan so I was excited to tear into his first book about his time at the legendary investment bank, Solomon Brothers. Lewis’ characteristic mixture of accurate, educational factoids and history, hilarius details, and masterful storytelling were all mostly in place in this book. This is a great book for anyone interested in finance, but will definitely keep you entertained even if that’s not exactly your forte.

The House of God, by Samuel Shem (1978, 416 pages) Hilarious. Disgusting. True. These are the overwhelming reactions I got from this book. Shem (real name, Dr. Joseph Bergman) got a lot of flack from the professional medical community when he released this satire depicting the hell that is the intern year at a top hospital just after graduating from a top medical school. This book is not for the faint of heart, but seems to give some genuine insight into the old, elite, and maybe a bit self-important profession of medicine.

“LAWS OF THE HOUSE OF GOD I Gomers don’t die. II Gomers go to ground. III At a cardiac arrest, the first procedure is to take your own pulse. IV The patient is the one with the disease. V Placement comes first. VI There is no body cavity that cannot be reached with a #14 needle and a good strong arm. VII Age + BUN = Lasix dose. VIII They can always hurt you more. IX The only good admission is a dead admission. X If you don’t take a temperature, you can’t find a fever. XI Show me a BMS who only triples my work and I will kiss his feet. XII If the radiology resident and the BMS both see a lesion on the chest X ray, there can be no lesion there. XIII The delivery of medical care is to do as much nothing as possible.”

Beneath a Scarlet Sky, by Mark T. Sullivan (2017, 513 pages) Another book that I read entirely on a series of airplanes. This time I was travelling between DC, Indianapolis, El Paso, and Las Vegas, before heading to Wisconsin to return it to my girlfriend’s mother who lent it to me. We both agreed that this historical fiction piece was a little light on beautiful writing, but more than made up for it with compelling prose and historical detail. Recommended for history buffs who might want a unique look at a subject (the Italian experience in WWII) that doesn’t get as much artistic coverage as some others.

Spy Master, by Brad Thor (2019, 402 pages) I picked this one up to pass the time in a Wisconsin airport during a long weather delay back to DC. I’m a casual fan of paperback espionage/military/government thrillers and hadn’t read a Thor book before. Not my favorite practitioner of the genre, but I wasn’t disappointed.

When Life Gives You Lululemons, by Lauren Weisberger (2019, 352 pages) Another airport bookstore special - I loved reading this book. I had a short break from work when I got this and was looking for something to totally get me out of my headspace. Emily Charlton (the protagonist from Devil Wears Prada), and her world of celebrity sex scandals, coverups, and adult irresponsibility did the trick.

Losing Earth: A Recent History, by Nathaniel Rich (2018, 224 pages) A compelling and heartbreaking quick read history of when the US government almost preemptively tackled climate change. Picked this one up from the new releases section of my local library.

Sag Harbor, by Colson Whitehead (2009, 273 pages) An interestingly constructed recounting of childhood from a super talented writer. Recommended for Black people, for a summer read, or for those looking to escape to the summer in their mind in the middle of an urban winter.

The Fifth Risk, by Michael Lewis (2018, 219 pages) The second of three Michael Lewis books for me this year. Fascinating dive into parts of the federal government that most people don’t understand at all. I saw Lewis speak about this one at the 2017 National Book Festival when he was still in the writing process.

On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System, by Henry M. Paulson, Jr. (2010, 528 pages) The 2008 financial crisis is one of my very favorite historical (weird to say as we all lived through it) events to read and study about, and Hank Paulson, then the Secretary of the Treasury is my favorite character within the all encompassing drama. This book is FULL of technical details that you’ll savor if you love federal government of finance. The lack of personal anecdotes was a bit disappointing (though totally in character for Paulson) and might make this a tough read for those who aren’t active nerds for the topic.

The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe (1983, 369 pages) A candidate for favorite book of the year. I’ve read other Tom Wolfe material before and loved it, and this one did not disappoint. Wolfe was a standard bearer for a style of writing called “New Journalism” that aimed to communicate real stories that read like a novel. He nailed it with this book detailing the creation of NASA’s successful Mercury effort to reach the moon ahead of the Sovient Union. High octane and drama, comedy, historical accuracy - this book’s got it all.

“After all, the right stuff was not bravery in the simple sense of being willing to risk your life (by riding on top of a Redstone or Atlas rocket). Any fool could do that (and many fools would no doubt volunteer, given the opportunity), just as any fool could throw his life away in the process. No, the idea (as all pilots understood) was that a man should have the ability to go up in a hurtling piece of machinery and put his hide on the line and have the moxie, the reflexes, the experience, the coolness, to pull it back at the last yawning moment—but how in the name of God could you either hang it out or haul it back if you were a lab animal sealed in a pod?”