#4 - Zombies Vs. Robots Complete

Another Ashley Wood creation and this time it is a trade paperback collection of all of the Zombies Vs. Robots (vs. Amazons vs. mermen) which is a force of art and style telling the tale of human nuclear annihilation at the hands of Warbot to end a zombie invasion. Instead of ending, it is just the beginning, and one hell of a ride! Genius work.

#3 - World War Robot Complete

After a bit of a hiatus in posts it's time to catch up. First up is Ashley Wood's World War Robot Complete. WWR is, at first glance, an art book with seemingly disconnected snippets of text strewn about in letters, communications, etc. The artwork is outstanding and truly speaks more than words could to create a rich world that draws you in as well as any novel. Mankind has split into two factions, those on Earth are fanatically religious and the atheists have jumped ship to Mars. An enterprising figure based out of the Moon creates the robots that help each side wage war against each other while he profits from it all. It's an awesome book and also the background for some of the most amazing toys ever created by Ashley's company Three A Toys.

#2 - Corduroy

When it comes to selecting children's books for gifts, my wife (who's an elementary school teacher) is perfect for those 10-and-under titles and I generally handle the young adult and up. I had never read or heard of Corduroy before, but being a 40th anniversary edition I knew it must be a classic and favorite of many. I love the artwork and imagination in many children's books, and I am always sorely disappointed when they are just frivolous and phoned-in stories with no real depth or care. Happily this is not the case here! Great artwork and a tale that provokes thought and a jumping-off point for discussion and learning greeted me and actually left me wishing this title was the start of a novel instead of the end of the journey.

Brief synopsis: A teddy bear in a toy shop that is missing a button is constantly passed over, and despite his best efforts to "fix" his shortcoming a little girl desperately wants to love him anyhow. Highly recommended!

#1 - Life in a Medieval City

A new year is upon us! Last year I fell a bit short at 26 (halfway there, and still 1 book every two weeks on average), but I also had forgotten to post a few books I read and lost track of the final tally... my guess was that it really ended somewhere around 35-38. Sometimes I am reading two books at a time, or one at home and one on the go or during travel, and sometimes I'll sit and read a book at a bookstore and forget to add it to the list. This year I will try to better capture the full list, and I've been making notes in my iPod Touch so that no matter where I am, I don't forget.

Starting off the year is another in the "Life in a Medieval..." series focusing on city life. Troyes to be exact. Thankfully there wasn't a lot of overlap with the previous castle title, and this really did give a different view and perspective on life and times in a bustling medieval city. Fair's were the big draw of the day and whole economies thrived around these festivities at specific times of the year. Trade, shops, commerce, food, homes, and all of the things that make up daily life are given a great overview with some aspects receiving much more in-depth coverage. Sometimes it feels like things get too glossed over, and some are covered again and again, but on the whole it pulls back the cover and affords a great peek at a time and life long passed. For anyone interested in the period this is a recommended read.

#26 - Tricycle (magazine)

I only include magazines when they are of some real depth, and this is certainly one that fits that category. A quarterly published magazine on Buddhist and Eastern thought, Tricycle could be one of my new favorites. Rather than catering to the new-age yoga crown with fluff pieces an happiness, this magazine comes with articles by true luminaries and masters. The foreword alone hit me with a quote from Pablo Picasso that I had never heard before and blew my mind:

“You must always work not just within but below your means. If you can handle three elements, handle only two. If you can handle ten, then handle five. In that way the ones you do handle, you handle with more ease, more mastery and you create a feeling of strength in reserve.” - Pablo Picasso

This is an amazing magazine, I couldn't recommend it highly enough.

#25 - The Book of Tea

Kakuzo Okakura's classic work, The Book of Tea, was the first book I ever picked up upon getting into tea many years back. To be honest, I had no idea that it was a classic work and was less about tea and brewing tea as it was about "Chadao" or "The Way of Tea." The history, and ceremony, and spirituality of tea. I flipped through it and put it away at the time. A few years later, as my interest and knowledge grew, I picked it back up again and still had trouble enjoying or appreciating it, but understood more. As my interest in Taoism and Japanese tea blossomed, I then revisited the book and enjoyed every moment of it. I found a free digital copy for my ebook reader before a recent trip, and re-reading it I realized just how much more I pulled from it. Few books grow with you, and when they do that is a sure sign that there is a very deep amount of knowledge and wisdom contained within. This is one of those books, and one that I hope to continue to grow with. Not for everyone, but Highly Recommended!

#24 - Life in a Medieval Castle

This book kicked off a whole chain of similar books written in a quasi-historical fashion based on the Medieval times, so I decided to start from the beginning. The book starts off a bit wordy and nebulous in the beginning and threatens to lose the reader, but then snaps onto the track and never derails with part history and part storytelling to convey each aspect of life in great detail. It is an excellent peek behind the curtain of what went on in daily life and manages to dispel some long-held beliefs of crude and barbaric lifestyles in favor of surprisingly modern conveniences and interactions. There are some tales, however, that do cement just how tough things could be at the time. A perfect blend of history and story that easily explains how this book could have spawned the legion of additional books in the series. I'm looking forward to the rest. Highly Recommended!