Dark Tower Re-Read, Book 5: Wolves of the Calla

Wolves of the Calla meets Champagne of the Beers

 

In my Dark Tower re-read I have reached the final, weirdest leg of the journey that begins in Book 5: Wolves of the Calla.

The last three Dark Tower books blend together a little bit for me, which is not surprising since King wrote them almost at the same time in the few years after his 1999 accident. But I had forgotten how much of the really weird stuff from the later books starts happening in Wolves of the Calla. As with the other Dark Tower books so far, I enjoyed this even more the second time through!

Bill and Ted's Most Triumphant Return: Bill and Ted Face the Music

 

Bill & Ted Face the Music was released yesterday, and it gave me a chance to do something I haven't done in several months: review a newly-released movie.

Pandemic Journal, Part 12: Back-to-School Doom-Anxiety Edition

 

My pandemic journal continues with Part 12, Back-to-School Doom-Anxiety Edition.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the 2020-21 school year for me, so this juncture in my life and the lives of many others seems like a good time to post a journal update. You can see my latest thoughts at the end.

In recent week's I've come to feel what I've been calling doom-anxiety about the impending school year.

And as always, there are plenty of doom-memes to make the doom-anxiety go down a little easier. 

Whether you're here for the memes, my random thoughts, or you just realized you clicked on the wrong thing: good luck to us all!

Dark Tower Re-Read, Book 4.5: The Wind Through the Keyhole

The Wind Through the Keyhole on my porch with a beverage

 

At the end of my review of The Wind Through the Keyhole the first time through, I wondered if we might get another one of these latter day Dark Tower books in 2019 given the importance of the number 19 in the series. (Quick note: The Wind Through the Keyhole was published in 2012 while the core books of the series finished in 2004, but in terms of the story it fits in between books 4 and 5... hence, 4.5).

Well, we didn't get another Dark Tower book in 2019, but I am re-reading the whole series in 2020, a year that has given us... lots of stuff, I guess.

Some Thoughts on the 20th Anniversary of my Mom's Death

My daily recommended dose of Dairy Queen

My mom died 20 years ago today. It simultaneously feels like it happened yesterday and a lifetime ago.

 

Dark Tower Re-Read, Book 4: Wizard and Glass

Living the High Life on my porch with Wizard and Glass

My Dark Tower re-read continues! Much to my surprise, Stephen King's Dark Tower series has become one of my favorites in recent years. And it's definitely a series that demands re-reading. After most of the main components of the series came together in Book 3: The Waste Lands, which I read on a socially distanced beach vacation, and a break for the Hugos, it was time to move on to what might be the longest Dark Tower book, a book which might have the longest flashback I've ever read in a novel: Book 4: Wizard and Glass.

Hugo Results 2020, and Award Ceremony Controversy

The Hugo Awards were announced the other day (Friday night for me in the US and Saturday in New Zealand). You can see the complete run down of voting statistics here. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

This year I voted in eight categories. Usually I do more, but ... <gestures toward the world right now>.... You can see how I voted here and here.

There was also the matter of the ceremony itself. I watched most of it live. There was some controversy about it, and rightfully so. I'll come back to that at the end.

But first, how did I do?