LaytonReads

LaytonReads

I read books and listen to music and ramble on about both.

Good Television - New and Old

I am bored.

 

Like really, really bored.

 

And I should be reading and trying to finish up the three books I have at the moment, and even though I love all three I continually find myself being distracted. I have such a short attention span.

 

*sigh*

 

That's probably why I tend to ramble if I talk too long.

 

Shit I got distracted. 

 

Anyway, instead of talking or reading my books I decided to talk about the TV shows I regularly obsess over and am eagerly awaiting to come back on, and some shows that haven't been on in years but that I love anyway.

 

Here goes.

 

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1. Fargo

 

 

Fargo ending earlier this summer in June, and I must say it is the best show on televison right now. 

 

It's a mystery/crime noir series executive produced by the Coen brothers, with connections to their 1996 film starring Frances McDormand. 

 

In the beginning of this series it was almost a dark comedy but as the season progressed it hit a whole other level of dark, and characters in the beginning began to become corrupted, which was the point of the series. To show how bringing one evil man named Lorne Malvo into a smalltown in Minnesota destroys the order of things. 

 

The plot is absolutely amazing, and Billy Bob Thorton chews scenery every time he is on screen. I anticipate he will be finding his way on stage at the Emmys later this month. 

 

It would be unacceptable if he didn't. 

 

Here is the Metacritic description of the series:

 

The series based on the Coen brothers’ Oscar-winning film begins with the arrival of Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) to Minnesota town. Lorne's actions brings major changes to the lives of insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman); Officer Molly Solverson (Alison Tolman), the daughter of former chief (Keith Carradine); and single father Duluth Deputy Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks). Other people in town include grocery chain owner Stavros Milos (Oliver Platt), widow Gina Hess (Kate Walsh), and Deputy Bill Oswalt (Bob Odenkirk).

 

2. Doctor Who

 

 

It doesn't come on for another week and a half my friends, but I can already smell the fantastic.

 

3. Homeland

 

 

I have only watched the first two seasons of Homeland but I think it is a awesome show, and when ever a new season comes out of DVD, I binge watch that fucker in a day.

 

The plot concerns bipolar CIA agent Carrie Mathison, played excellently by Claire Danes, who while in the middle east talks to a man about to be executed who has some intel for her. He tells her that an American soldier has joined Al Queda's ranks and that they are planning a terrorist attack. No one in the CIA believes her and it is quickly forgotten. 

 

A year of so later, during a raid of a suspected terrorist compound in Iraq, armed forces find Sergeant Nicholas Brody, a prisoner of war who had been believed dead for five years. Carrie believes he is the terrorist the man told her about and the whole first season is about her trying to proof it, while Brody tries to re-integrate himself into society and his family and wife come to terms with him being back. 

 

This is the kind of series that never holds back and every episode keeps you on your toes wondering what's going to happen next. 

 

It was my favorite TV show but then Fargo came along and stole my heart...

 

3. True Detective 

 

 

Just watch it.  

 

Rust Cohle is such an amzing character and every person needs to watch this just to see McConaughey play him.

 

So good, just so good.

 

I also might do a long post eventually about the whole Ligotti plagiarism fiasco, and my opinions on it.

 

4. Game of Thrones

 

 

Do I really need to explain Game of Thrones?

 

If you haven't bought into the phenomenon yet or heard of it, you've either been living in a cave for the last five years or you're dead.

 

5. The X-Files

 

 

This might be my favorite TV series ever. 

 

You all know the jist of it. Two FBI agents, Scully and Mulder, solve cases involving the supernatural, with most cases involving aliens. 

 

There are no words for how much I love this series. It might not have been as good near the end as it was in the first five or six seasons, but I still thought it was fantastic.

 

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So there you have it, my favorite TV shows. You guys can do a similar thing if you want, which would be cool. :)

 

 

Reblogged
"World's Greatest Dad" is Free for the Next Five Days!

This one has been free on Goodreads for a while now, but if you want a copy for your Kindle, now is the time to grab it. The short story (which is also featured in my collection WHAT THE DARK BRINGS) is one of my favorite stories that I've written. Seeing that it's kinda sorta a Halloween tale and All Hallow's Eve is right around the bend (don't look at me like that, I heard Christmas music at Walgreens last week), I figured I'd drop a freebie on everyone. Click on the cover below to grab your copy today. Enjoy!

 

Oh, and as always, feel free to share wherever you see fit. Thanks!

 

 

 

Click HERE for the UK edition.

Reblogged from Lornographic Material
The Daily Funny - Do Not Try At Home

Nathan Ballingrud Interview
North American Lake Monsters: Stories - Nathan Ballingrud

Here is an Interview with Nathan Ballingrud, whose fantastic collection of short stories, North American Lake Monsters, is what I'm currently reading.

 

Enjoy!

What Really Grinds My Gears 4 - James Patterson Edition

I'm almost certain my opinion on this topic isn't going to be popular.

 

 

Today, I was on Goodreads scrolling through my news feed when I noticed a review my friend had just put up.  It wasn't necessarily a review but more a reaction to a book that isn't out yet; what she thought of it being published etc.

 

The book was the ninth fucking book in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson that hasn't been published.

 

 

 

 

This makes me so angry, and is also the reason I hate YA fiction. Everything has to be a huge grand series to milk the moneymaker, and it makes me sick.

 

But the truly bad part in the case of the Maximum Ride books is that they have went on for-fucking-ever and this is the third time Patterson has said he was going to end the series.

 

The third fucking time.

 

And he just keeps bringing them back, even though only some whiny teenage girl with a brain so small I could pinch it between my thumb and index finger would actually still be reading this garbage.

 

This man is just an outright terrible writer who can't really be called one. I mean it is a very well known "secret" that every thing he has published for the last decade has been ghost written and that he just comes up with the ideas. That makes me furious.

 

Any writer who thinks that since they have reached a certain level of popularity shouldn't have to actually write their own books anymore is in my opinion a fool. I don't see Stephen King (amazing Sai King) or John Grisham (as bad as some of his recent books are) doing that so why should you? 

 

So, yes I think James Patterson is a money hungry bastard, and I don't like his writing. I tried to read When The Wind Blows about two years ago and thought the plot was weird and the prose was just.....awkward. 

 

And remember my friends, this was a book he supposedly wrote, not one of his ghost writers.

 

I do have a small amount of respect for Patterson though. He runs some kind of program to get kids to read which is nice, even if the only books he really wants to get into kids' hands are his own. 

 

There, that is my rant of the day.

 

I hate money hungry bastards.

Reblogged
Scooby-Doo and the Night of the Necronomicon (art by Travis Falligant)

Reblogged from Gregor Xane
Just Started and Already Overwhelmed
North American Lake Monsters: Stories - Nathan Ballingrud

I just started this book and at 9% in I'm already shocked and overwhelmed. I read a review on Goodreads by a really great reviewer named Karl who said that the stories in this book are "GRIM, harmful, and hurtful". No, kidding.

 

I'm strangely hooked though...


Thank you Char for sending this to me. You made my week. :D

The Daily Funny

For all my friends with the Chuck Norris memes yesterday, this is for you. :)

So Angry

I was just writing a review of the Chaos Walking books and I was more than halfway through and my computer crashed.

 

Just shoot me in the fucking face.

 

A Rich Bitch Gets Her Comeuppance...A Review Of Blue Jasmine

 

I realized earlier today that I could review whatever I want on this blog so I'm going to do just that. 

 

A few days ago I was lucky enough to watch the new Woody Allen film, Blue Jasmine, on one of the movie channels (I think it was Starz, I'm not sure). 

 

I watched it because I usually go through the Oscar winners and losers every year and see what the big fuss is about. There were a lot of terrific films released in 2013, and here are the Oscar nominees that were released last year that I saw and the rating I gave each:

 

  1. Nebraska 4/5
  2. Dallas Buyer's Club 4.5/5
  3. 12 Years a Slave 5/5
  4. August: Osage County 4/5
  5. Frozen 5/5
  6. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 4.5/5
  7. The Great Gatsby 1.5/5

 

I was kind of was lazy and didn't watch as many nominees this year as I should have, but I watched enough to proclaim 12 Years a Slave best film of the year, which is why I put my rating in bold. 

 

I might go through some of these and review them later, but for now I'll settle on reviewing my second favorite film of the year.

 

Blue Jasmine is basically about a New York socialite name Jeanette "Jasmine" Francis who after learning her husband is a fraud and losing all her money, must go back to her working class roots to live with her sister in San Francisco. The film basically shows Jasmine's attempts to re establish herself into the high class and at same time her trouble getting over the loss of everything she once had.

 

 

 

 

I posted those gifs above this not to tell you about the film but to just look at Cate Blanchett. This woman is fucking spectacular in this film. And as a film fiend and a massive admirer of her acting I have no problem telling you this is the greatest performance she has ever given, maybe even one of the greatest film performances of all time. She is just terrific and loses herself in this role the way an actor like Daniel Day Lewis does in his films.

 

I also really like the last gif, just cause you know, it's the truth.

 

Blanchett plays a supreme bitch in this film though. She plays a character who is a snob, and someone who didn't even like her own sister to visit her, because she was poor and thought it would hurt her reputation. I'm talking about a woman who changed her own name to Jasmine because Jeanette wasn't good enough. I'm talking about a woman who after losing all her wealth and upper class connections tries to find a way back in to that high class world, and can't settle for less. And that's why she is a bitch in my eyes. Oh, and did I mention she constantly calls her sister a failure, when her sister is trying to help her get back on her feet?

 

But Blanchett's performance as Jasmine is the main reason to watch this film. 

 

I mean the film has a pretty decent plot, but all it is is a modern rehash of A Streetcar Named Desire. 

 

Go watch this film my friends, just to see Cate Blanchett's mesmerizing performance. 

 

It's truly one for the ages.

 

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4.5 Stars

The Daily Funny

What Really Grinds My Gears 3

 

In today's installment of What Really Grinds My Gears I'll be talking about one of the worst, most disgusting organizations in American history. No I'm not talking about the KKK, nor am I talking about the Confederacy, as much as I hate both.

 

No, I'm talking about an evil that plagues our country 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that's filled with disgusting biased bigots and hypocrites, with nothing but hate on their minds.

 

 

They are the most despicable news organization in America, bringing lies to the public, and brainwashing a lot of them. And they don't really even present the news, they just argue constantly, something I assume their viewers just love.

 

Oh, and remember their slogan, fair and balanced?

 

More like

 

Ugh, I'm just going to end this post here. If I don't I may be sick.

 

This is my opinion, if you don't agree with it that's fine.

Holiday time

Week off work, c'mon.

 

 

 

Progress....
The Bleeding Season - Greg F. Gifune

20 percent through but I'm trying to take my time with this book. Greg F. Gifune writes books to be savored and thought about. 

 

Here is the first paragraph which I just love:

 

"I didn't know it then, but it was impossible to survive the darkest corners of his mind without first surviving the dark corners of my own. I was headed for the same depths of Hell he had descended to, and though we passed through the flames for different reasons, our journeys are forever entwined. His story cannot be told without also telling mine, and maybe that's the way it should be. After all, Goodness is a state of grace.

Evil is a state of mind."

Reblogged
Thought for today...

Reblogged from Books2day
URL
Summer of Sleaze: The Southern Gothic Horrors of Michael McDowell

Here is a really great article on Tor.com about Michael McDowell and his marvelous Blackwater books.