I know I’ve been absent for a little longer than usual, but I wanted to take some time and catch everyone up on the awesome things that have been coming me away from you guys! So I’ll be trying out this feature called “Listen Up, Nerds” to convey this priority info. Today’s topic: Books!

[amazon_link id=”161109139X” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Hitman’s Guide to Housecleaning by Hallgrimur Helgason[/amazon_link]

The tale of a Croatian mafia cleaner who ends up stuck in Iceland, this novel ended up being nothing like my expectations. I came looking for a book about killing people in new and interesting ways, but was instead treated to an examination of Icelandic lifestyle disguised as a pop-culture fueled character piece. It’s less Transporter 2 and more In Bruges, if you catch my drift.

[amazon_link id=”1451676891″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Double Feature by Owen King[/amazon_link]

This is the first thing I’ve read by Stephen’s younger son, but it will be far from the last. The plot revolves around Sam Dolan, a film student convinced he’s going to make the next great masterpiece of cynical cinema. It’s the other people in Sam’s life who provide the real drama, and over the course of the novel we watch Sam grow to hopefully understand that a life is meant to be lived, not viewed through a camera lens.

[amazon_link id=”B007S0EF24″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Mongoliad by Eric Bear, Neal Stephenson, et al[/amazon_link]

I’m admittedly only a few hundred pages into the first book of this trilogy, but I’ve enjoyed it so far. A collaborative effort of historical fiction mixed with fantasy, these three novels and several Kindle short stories comprise “The Foreworld Saga.” This first volume deals with the spread of the Khan army by Genghis’ successors, and a desperate plan by an ancient order of knights to stop them.

I hope this added a title or two to your Amazon cart (or at least your wishlist) and I will do my best to keep these little mini-reviews coming about things like comics, movies, TV, games, music and more!