Bonus 22 - Boon Companion Bookshelves

thank you! great recommendations

Ferrell's Everything Must Go made me cry when I saw it. I didn't realize it was an adaptation from a short story. The experience was an eye opener, as it seemed to be a very relatable depiction of the downward spiral of an alcoholic. it compares and contrasts well with Leaving Las Vegas. Both seem fairly realistic depiction s if real human experiences, but Everything lacks the perverse glamor and romantic attraction of Leaving, resulting in a much starker depiction of self destruction. I would not claim that watching that movie saved me in any way, because I wouldn't say that it was a certainty that my life required saving from that path. But it definitely opened my eyes to the distinct possibility that such a fate could be mine as much as anyone else's, that I am not immune to the pitfalls of human experience. I guess it served to reinforce a lesson that I did not actually have to experience first-hand in order to learn.

Jeremy Impson

Just added this to my reading list. Can’t believe I’ve not heard of it before.

You mentioned loaning out a book, not getting it back, buying a another copy, lending it out, etc. I do that every couple of years with Carl Sagan's "Demon Haunted World". I pick up a copy, read it, and give it to someone. Great book to spread around.

Great show and not at all the list of books I expected. Have you ever thought about an episode where you discuss the books you read as children? I’ve a 2-year old girl who demands to be read the Gruffalo’s Child most nights. I can’t wait to open up my box of kids books when she’s older. (My wife thinks I gave them to charity but they are hidden in our attic. Small victories).

A literary podcast that delves into books? How dare you! It was delightful. I was fortunate enough to have a library of plays and scholarly work on them gifted to me by my grandfather many, many years ago. He had been a teacher and had both bought a ton of stuff and had publishers send him a ton of stuff in the hopes that he'd use them (and students would, naturally, have to buy their own copies). It was, when I first received it, a huge collection. But over the years, moving from place to place and continent to continent meant winnowing it down. Again and again. A very painful process. Do I use them? Rarely. But they are a comfort to me. A tie to times past and a good man passed.

I got a copy of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling for Christmas this year after hearing about it on your show. If anyone is looking for some bafflingly strange incidents and encounters to spark ideas for a roleplaying game, web comic, or high school creative writing assignment, look no further. I would really love if you guys did another show on these pieces. But I realize that most are rather slight, and there are so many, that sifting through to find a few choice stories may be difficult. I haven't read a large number yet, but here are some I've liked in particular: Talking Pupils - disturbing Stealing a Peach - neat ending Taoist Priest of Mount Lao - not much of a story, but another good ending Grace and Pine - the most substantial of these, and some interesting relationship stuff

Buffy, Angel, Babylon 5. I like the cut of your jib! That was my life in the 90s.

I had that on my shelf when I was a kid! My dad got it for me when I was ten or eleven I think, along with Readers Digest Historical Mysteries.

Ken regularly talks about his book purchases on Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, especially after visits to London or Portland.

Steve

My Granddad had a copy of Readers Digest Mysteries of the Unexplained which fascinated me as a kid. He past away a few years ago and my dad asked me if I wanted anything of his, I pretty much just wanted that book.

I had been trying to write stories since I was in 6th grade but it wasn't until I read Save the Cat (based on your guys' recommendation) that I actually started finishing them. I still have a lot to learn but that was a real game-changer for me. Thank you.

David Halstead

When I was 15, there was a book I checked out from my library - RAVEN, by author S.A. Swiniarski. I later found out that it was a pseudonym for sci-fi/fantasy author S. Andrew Swann, whose work I later became more acquainted with... and not in a good way; I've not been a fan of his work under that name. He only published two books - both vampire books - under the name of Swiniarski, and RAVEN really has stuck with me. It tells the story of an ex-cop turned P.I. who specializes in missing children in Cleveland and often quotes Edgar Allan Poe. He awakens in a sewer in winter and he has amnesia, so he has to piece together his life and the case he was working on... oh, and he finds out gradually that he's been turned into a vampire. I've read the book six or seven times in my life - the writing style is so visual and evocative. I've rarely read a book and so vividly had an image in my head of what the characters look like, what the city looks and feels like (I've never been to Cleveland, but reading this book made me feel like I had), the imagery and the storytelling is so well done... and it's a vampire story, so it's got a fair amount of gore and campiness to it that is so delightful and dark. I have two paperback copies of it - one of the original '96 print, and one when the book was reprinted in '07 with Swiniarski's other vampire book from '98, The Flesh, the Blood, & the Fire (the collection was called Blood & Rust).

Ilker Yucel

Love the bonus content! I have another post on the community board last week, maybe here is a better place for it. I have anthology books of both weird tails and unknown world, not sure if you guys would be interested in the table of contents in the stories?

All of these sound quite interesting. I didn't know Richard Williams died. If anyone wants to see a feat of animation that borders on alchemy, check out the restored cut of The Thief and the Cobbler.

Your thoughts about Twin Peaks struck a chord with me- for me it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I was in high school and then in the Army (we have conscription here in Singapore) when Buffy and Angel were airing but I never watched them on TV. My flatmate at uni had vhs tapes of both series entire run and I watched them over the course of my final year. I look back now on that as a real point of awakening in my awareness of the Weird because that was also the year I first read all of Lovecraft. He also had the entire run of B5 but that's another story. So anyway three cheers for boon companions with blurry VHS copies taped off the tv.

The Graveyard Book is of course also essentially a reworking of Kipling's Jungle Books.

I am so excited to listen to this!!!! MORE BOOK PORN BONUS CONTENT!

Alan Ricks

Wow, what a great show. I could see this concept being spun off into an internet show, interviewing interesting people in front of their bookshelves and letting that spring board into a biography. When a book becomes an artefact, there is always a story behind it. I would love to hear you talk to some friends of the show like Patron Oswald, Ken Hitte or Andrew Lehman about THEIR bookshelves.

Great. Now I have to break out my copy of Everway to re-read. Thanks, Lackey!

Crom Thews

Don't know how much work it would be, but a list of these books would be awesome. Only thought of it half way through, may have to just listen through again.

Tony Sleaze

Our school biology textbook in the final year was all human biology and much of it seemed to be images of boils, buboes, carbuncles, warts, wounds and sexually transmitted diseases. That was some scary stuff.

Steve

A local book store is selling a first edition printing of The King in Yellow. Only $700! Complete with strangely textured cover and yellow ink, the shade of which makes my stomach churn. Wanna go halfsies?