(Jeremy Renner needs to play Repairman Jack)

I have a confession to make. I'm cheating on my collection of sci-fi and fantasy novels.

My brother introduced me to Repairman Jack back in March. He'd been going on for years about how I would really like him but I have such a vast pile of books to read that I never listened to him. But then, I had the awesome chance to meet the creator of this fictional fix-it man at C2E2 - F. Paul Wilson. I figured 'dI better read The Tomb so I didn't seem like a complete tool when I asked him to autograph a book for my brother.

Continue reading "Repairman Jack - I Wanna Party With You!" »

Due to a bunch of scheduling snafus, Carey was the only Geektress that was able to make it to our annual Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo meetup this year. But she carried on like a champ and did a bunch of picture taking and blogging for us. Unfortunately, the site was suffering its malware malady and so she posted her roundup on her personal blog. So, after the jump, we have some of the highlights.

Continue reading "C2E2 Roundup: The Highlights" »

I know I'm slow on the uptake with book reviews. I have so many that I try to read that I don't usually get to new ones until they've been out for a few months. Unless of course publishers send me ARCs (hint, hint - I need more of these!). I finally got around to finishing David Anthony Durham's Acacia trilogy this week. The final book, The Sacred Band, came out late in 2011. The trilogy as a whole was a rare, satisfying read. I like to compare books to food. Books are food for the brain, and like food for the stomach, they can taste great (or awful), fill you up (or leave you starving), and nourish you (or give you gut rot and cavities). Durham's trilogy manages to do all three.

Continue reading "The Acacia Trilogy: Parents Just Don't Understand" »

When I was in my teens and early 20s, I lived for The X-Files. I had the hots for both Mulder and Scully. And also Krycek, occasionally Skinner, and the cute bearded Lone Gunman. Shoot, I wanted to have Chris Carter's babies. I watched Millenium when that came on, even though it was only peripherally related to The X-Files. I even watched The Lone Gunmen, and it made me weep, but I watched it. I saw the movie on opening night - twice. And in my mind, there is only one movie - I like to think I only imagained the second one in a horrible nightmare.

Continue reading "A Belated X-Files Valentine" »

It was a pretty big week for comics last week. Brian K Vaughn's Saga finally dropped (I didn't read it), and another much-anticipated book, Womanthology, showed up in comic stores (I sort of read it, but I'm in it, so I mostly just obsessed over my mistakes.) (I'm on page 194, go look it up.)

However, three much more exciting (to me, anyway) stories ended up on my digital (and actual) doorstep this week. I didn't think I could top the thrill of seeing my own work in print, but the following three comics were so well done, they have confirmed my choice to only read creator-owned / indie comics from here on out.

Continue reading "Comic Reviews and Parenthetical Asides" »

Warning: This Way Lie Spoilers

It's no secret that I love Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. I've read the books three times now, the last time so I could write a fancy learning, academic-like paper. I am so pumped for the movie. It comes out the weekend before my birthday so I'm going to go see it. Maybe twice. And while I'm happy with the finality of Mockingjay - seriously, not every series or movie franchise or television show has to go on forever and ever until it's too awful to continue - I am kind of sad that the adventures of Katniss, Gale, and Peeta are pretty much over.

So, when offered the chance to review the movie tie-in version of The Girl Who Was on Fire, a compliation of essays on The Hunger Games trilogy by other YA authors edited by Leah Wilson, there wasn't much arm twisting involved. FYI, there is an edition of this book in stores currently, but this is a review of the movie tie-in edition with three additional essays.

Continue reading "The Girl Who Was on Fire: A Hunger Games Essay Compilation" »

I've been remiss in writing about comics for Geektress. I'm a slacker, but isn't that what comic readers do? DC's relaunch has given me the chance to start fresh, and read comics I've never looked at before. Here's what I think as a new reader to the DC-verse (selected titles only since I can't afford to read them all):

Continue reading "Carey's Comic Roundup" »