Fiction read in 2012

I compiled this for my own personal record-keeping, but thought I’d share.

I try to read at least one novel or story collection a week, and I aim to write at least a brief review for each (I rarely hit that goal, though, especially with my other reading/writing requirements). I’m probably omitting some books I’ve forgotten from this list because I started compiling it at the end of July,  and I’m not including kids’ books I read with my daughter or scholarly non-fiction/philosophy/etc. only people like me read (each of which would have a separate list if I had time to put it together).  This list is organized in a roughly chronological order of when read.  Books marked with an asterisk were re-reads.

The Future of Batman Films

The always engaging blogger known as trashfilmguru has spent way too much a lot of time thinking about what would make for a great post-Christopher Nolan incarnation of Batman on film.  These musings are, at the moment, 10 posts long.  I have no idea where he(?) finds the time.

While I haven’t finished the entire series, and I suspect there will be some points where I’ll disagree, I highly recommend any Batman fans out there check these posts out.  They’re smart and the author is well-read on the world’s greatest detective.

You can find the first post here: “Which Way Forward for the Batman Movie Franchise? Take One.”

Each of the subsequent posts can be found by viewing the author archive (unfortunately in order of newest first, so scroll to the bottom) HERE.

The Avengers and Suspension of Disbelief

The imperatives of blockbuster action films and the composition of The Avengers’ team make for odd bedfellows

Hawkeye wouldn’t stand a chance if Hulk smash

Almost a month after everyone else, I finally got around to seeing Joss Whedon’s The Avengers this past weekend.  I was impressed.  Though I’m certainly not an Avengers super-fan and have only read a few Avengers team comics, I felt Whedon does a great job doing justice to what I know of the source material and character continuity while still creating a compelling action film.  I initially worried a bit about Loki as the villain falling flat, but Tom Hiddleston’s acting and Whedon’s writing/direction pulled it off much better than I expected.  One thing that stuck out as a weakness, however, was the make up of the team that Whedon has to work with: the pairing of superhuman heroes with exceptional humans who happen to be at the top of the mere-mortal scale of physical ability. This comes through most clearly in the final, climactic battle scenes, which are mostly thrilling but had me feeling I was actually consciously suspending my disbelief.

[spoilers follow]