Showing posts with label Westerns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Westerns. Show all posts

Monday, April 1, 2019

C-SPL Reader of the Month: Luke Vorwald


https://catalog.dubuque.lib.ia.us/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?op=view&shelfnumber=1450&sortfield=title
April's C-SPL Reader of the Month is a paralegal, avid D&D player, and frequent library user. Luke Vorwald has been gracious enough to share all about his reading interests, the best snacks to accompany a book, and—if you're not getting into a story—what page number it's safe to call it quits.

Luke's Reading Interests  


I tend to lean towards fantasy and sci-fi as my go-to genres of books and novels. Rather seldom will I pick up a biography or a book on real-world history. For me, it's all about the story. If the book doesn’t have an interesting narrative, it will get a hard pass from yours truly. In my humble opinion, I get plenty of real-world experience in my adult day-to-day, and while that is important, I would rather spend what precious little free time I have reading something I wouldn't otherwise experience. The same for me is true with video games; why would I play a golfing video game (an extremely achievable real-world act), when I could be shooting dragons out of the sky with lightning bolts?

However, I have been branching out into some non-fiction work, although they would be more on the fantastical side. Books on the paranormal, cults, and lesser-known history are of particular interest to me. Even when it comes to “real world” stories, I love to be astounded and amazed.

I also spend a fair deal of my reading time on published Role Playing Games books, especially Dungeons and Dragons material. While not a traditional book one might use for casual reading, I find these books contain some amazing stories and ideas; furthermore, these books contain amazing stories and ideas you can actually participate in. Playing an RPG with other folks through the vehicle of these books is the closest one can come to actually experiencing and affecting the same stories we love to read. With the support of books such as these, we are able to create our very own version of The Hobbit by living as our very own personal Gandalf. I also enjoy D&D books on a separately nerdy level, being that I love their lore and world building. I really geek out on knowing the ins and outs of different cosmologies, creation stories, magic systems, and rules that come along with these worlds. This gives me more street cred when talking with other nerds.

To me, that which is not real is just as important as that which is real. Works of fiction are both tools to learn from to prepare ourselves for reality, as well as an extension of reality itself. Our species has been given the unique capability of living in both the real and the fictional, so it would be a shame if we didn’t exercise that capacity.

  • “Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.”
    ― Neil Gaiman, Dream Country

  • “The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.”
    ― Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings


Q & A with Luke

Q. What is the best book you have read within the last year (or ever)?

A. Within the past year, I would have to give it to What the Hell Did I Just Read? by David Wong. I checked that book out on a whim (which is something I normally don’t do as I always have a large “to read” pile), and I was so pleased when I finished it. It was the first horror novel I had read in a long time to actual make me feel fear.

As for Ever… the choice is very difficult, but ultimately it has to be American Gods by Neil Gaiman. That novel was probably the most influential story I had ever read. I discovered it my first year on my own away from home in college, and it not only resonated with much of my core beliefs, but also helped to form new ones.

Q. What is your ideal reading environment (location, sound, snacks, etc.)?

A. Location: On my sectional in my living room, on the bed in my upstairs bedroom, a big comfy chair in a library, my futon in my old bedroom at my dad’s house, by the man-made pond of the Waterloo KOA, or on the bench under that huge oak tree on the corner of North West Arterial and JFK. During the fall, preferably.

Sound: Either rustling leaves or those long videos on YouTube of post-rock albums with no lyrics. I could also deal with some of those long lo-fi atmospheric videos as well.

Snacks: York Peppermint Patties, beef jerky, belVita blueberry crackers, Crown Royal Apple, some Stone Cliff wine, and a glass of milk. Not all at the same time though.

Q. What book are you most excited about reading next and what about it is most exciting?

A. I am most excited to read Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin. I had finished A Dance with Dragons on this most recent Thanksgiving, and I am jonesing for more Ice and Fire. For me, as well as pretty much all the other fans of his work, I love to piece together the subtle connections Martin works into the story, as well as realizing how he takes classic fantasy tropes and filters them through a lens of realism.

I’m also pumped for The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited by the McElroys, which I believe is to be released this year. Those good boys are just too funny and make content with a lot of heart.

Lastly, Jim Butcher, please will you finish and publish Peace Talks? Pretty please???

Q. What book has been the most challenging for you to read? How did it challenge you?

A. The book that challenged me the most would have to have been Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. As you can tell by the majority of the books provided as my favorites in the attached list, I primarily read fantasy and sci-fi. This book, however, is a western, and a very lengthy one at that. I decided to read it as the 4-part made-for-TV mini-series has a very special place in my heart, thanks to growing up watching it with my family. Lonesome Dove was such a challenge for me due to its lack of familiarity. There were no dragons, no vampires, and no magic systems to learn. The demons and monsters the protagonists faced came in the form of other men and from within themselves. This book is about as raw as it gets in terms of what it means to be human. While I had to completely readjust how I view a novel while reading it, I enjoyed it all the more for doing so.

Q. When do you decide to stop reading a book? (In other words, do you read every book to
the last page, or is there a moment when you decide to stop?)

A. A wise man once told me that in order to determine when it is ok to give up on a book, one must take 100 minus your age. The result is the page at which you can truly determine if the book is not for you and can toss it over your shoulder. I will admit I have not always followed this method, and I have given up on a book before the end. There have been times when I read books all the way through, only to find the rewarding lesson at the end was that I wasted my time. It seems to me I could have been using my precious reading time on books I actually would enjoy.

However, it's still worth giving books their fair shake. The Way of Kings was a bit of a rough go for me until about page 800 (out of approx. 1,200) when I first read it, but I am so glad I finished it (and all of the books that follow it).

However, if you don’t want to use the method I provided above, you could always use the Luke Vorwald Method: your heart will tell you when to raise the white flag. 


Check out  Luke's Favorite Reads for a list of books in the library catalog!

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Bingeworthy TV: Westworld

If you are an adult who likes sci-fi westerns and doesn’t mind gratuitous nudity and violence, Westworld is for you. Season one of Westworld aired in 2018 on HBO and if that isn’t enough of a disclaimer, I don’t know what to tell you, besides DON’T WATCH THIS WITH YOUR KIDS!
A not entirely coherent shoot-‘em-up mostly western that takes place in the future, Westworld is a theme park run by its creator, Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins). Guests who visit the park get to experience the American Old West; the park is populated by “hosts” or very fancy robots that are basically indiscernible from humans. These hosts live in loops of their story lines and are there to fulfill the guests' every desire. In Westworld you can be your true self, do things you would never do in real life, and then go home afterward without consequence or remorse because after all the hosts aren’t human and have no feelings.
Westworld is visually spectacular with amazing scenery. The story line, while worth it, requires patience. I got to the end of season one and thought, “Oh, huh, now I want to watch that again!” I was often lost and confused during the series, which, I am sure, is the intent of the writers because many of the main characters are lost and confused so why shouldn’t you be as well?
Westworld has an all-star cast of characters that bring the show to life. In addition to Anthony Hopkins there is Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, and my personal favorite, Thandie Newton. While I thoroughly enjoyed Westworld, I cannot stress this enough: it is not for everyone. Parts of it can be downright disturbing.
~Becca, Circulation

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Bingeworthy TV: Firefly

“You can’t stop the signal”
It’s never too late to become a Browncoat! I watched and fell in love with Firefly back when it aired on Fox in 2002 and wept when it was cancelled unceremoniously after one short season. In 2005, after a fan support campaign, the story continued with the movie Serenity and has continued since with the release of graphic novels, video games, board games, and, hopefully, an upcoming series of books. Even after all these years Firefly still remains my favorite show of all time.
Set in the year 2517 all the resources of earth have been used up and people have set out into space finding new solar systems and terraforming planets for inhabitation. The story centers around nine individuals living together as part of the renegade crew of Serenity, a Firefly-class spaceship. They live on the fringes of the galaxy taking jobs mostly within the pioneer culture of the struggling newly inhabited planets.
Each member of the crew is there for their own reasons, some transparent and others not. The captain and his first mate fought on the losing side of the galaxy’s civil war and haven’t completely given up the fight. A brother and sister are on the run from some sinister government conspiracy. The mercenary is along for the money. The preacher has a mysterious past. The pilot is there for love. The ever optimistic mechanic has an intuitive gift for machines. Finally, there’s the high society companion, slumming it on the fringes of society. Together this ragtag bunch try to keep flying, sometimes working together and other times trying to kill each other.
~Rebecca, Technical Services