A few busy days at work and I miss that Sam Waterston is mere blocks from my office!?!?!? t ::thwaps:: head on things

Where I went to kindergarten in 1974 they were teaching some then-trendy reading technique where you learned the completly logical phonetic spellings of everything (including literature translated into such so you had third graders reading shakespeare and stuff). I don't know what it did for my reading, but I'm a lousy speller to this day (as are several other people I know who were subjected to that program). I wish I could remember the name of it... my kindergarten class picture has all the funny writing on the bulletin board behind us.

In first grade I chaged schools and had Dick and Jane. I quickly grew bored with that and went for bigger and bigger books on my own.

My main source of books was the Harvest Festival. Every October the local hospital had a big fundraiser fair and at the end of the day they emptied out the book stall for a dollar a bag. This lead to very ecclectic reading habits and a still lingering tendency to be drawn to books by their color or texture or smell.

Reading in the car was a battle. My Mother had seen an article somewhere that it caused eyestrain and my books were a source of considerable consternation on any car trip longer than ten minutes. By Jr. High she'd either read something new or just given up. It was my one big rebellion.

I think my least favorite Discworlds are the ones where he gets too obvious about drawing a parallel with real-world stuff

It was interesting to read the first few Discworld books (like Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic ) and see how much better he became later on about not trying too hard with his jokes and interweaving plots, and keeping a good pace. I haven't read any of ones you're referring to, but have you read The Last Continent ? Dear God. It's just ridiculous, and he doesn't even bother to make any sense out of it, and the narrative is practically non-existent.

Oh, oh. I forgot another contender for Favorite: Hogfather. I love the ones where he actually makes you think about the way the real world works because of how he's made Discworld work.

While looking for something else at the library today, I stumbled upon a Batman novel by Andrew Vachss. Anyone read this? Are there more like this?

I love the character/myth/universe of Batman, but am completely unschooled, if that's the word I'm looking for -- I know Batman pretty much from just living in the world, the campy Adam West series, the movies, and the newer Batman animated series, but I've never read the comics or graphic novels. Lately I've been tempted to get into them, maybe because I am very eagerly anticipating the new movie with Christian Bale and what I've read about the Year One story, but I'm little overwhelmed by how much stuff is out there and where to begin. The idea of a novel fascinated me, but I didn't pick it up because I have too much else to read right now. Any thoughts? Is Plei a big Bat fan, or am I confusing things?

Is Plei a big Bat fan, or am I confusing things?

Does the Pope have legs?

Plei, by proxy, would have you read the Batman: Year One graphic novel. It's not very long, and Batman Begins is supposed to take its tonal cue from it rather than the previous movies. She would also recommend the novelization of No Man's Land if you don't want to read all five volumes of the graphic novel.

And any Batfan will also recommend The Dark Knight Returns.

Thank you, P-C, aka Plei-by-proxy. So the novelizations aren't awful, then? I've never read Anddrew Vachss, but I know he's fairly popular, and it was just interesting to see someone outside the comic universe taking a crack at a very beloved characters.

But...No Man's Land. Will look it up ASAP.

When do I get more stories to read, by the way?

So the novelizations aren't awful, then?

She's only read No Man's Land. I've never heard of the Vachss one.

But...No Man's Land. Will look it up ASAP.

And, I just edited. You have to read The Dark Knight Returns.

When do I get more stories to read, by the way?

Uh, um, you want more? I'm running out of ones that are worth passing around. I'll send you one if you promise to go all critical on it so I can start revising it.

I'll send you one if you promise to go all critical on it so I can start revising it.

I will gladly give you constructive criticism.

No Man's Land (and Dark Knight Returns came up on Amazon as graphic novels. The Vachss thing is actually pure novel -- all text, no illustrations. Struck me as very odd, but intriguing. I may go back for it soon just to see what it's like.

I do want to read Batman: Year One before the movie comes up. Googling Batman this morning, by the way, I found a website for Batman Begins, with nothing on it but a few early photos. Such a tease!

You can get NML 1-5 as graphic novels, but the shortform I rec is the Greg Rucka (and accomplished novelist in his own right, and former classmate of our own JZ), NML, which you can get in regular paperback.

For posterity, my current introset recommendations

• Batman: Year One (Frank Miller)
• Robin: Year One (Chuck Dixon)
• Batgirl: Year One (Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon)

This gives you a basis for the core three.

After that, recs get tailored to what you're getting into the 'verse for.

The No Man's Land novel rec is for those who want to get kind of up to speed with where things are at in the Batfam, but don't have the time or money to spend on the massive list of trades that one would suggest for that.

DKR is good, but I actually rarely re-read it, and while it's on the default list of "You Must Have This Book" for many people, I think it's not aging as well as many others.

Thanks for the recs! I definitely feel the beginnings of a new fascination coming on. (And I hope it's okay I called you Plei...)

Isn't the Vachss novel the one about child abuse?