Nyårslöftet 2016 redan brutet / The New Year's Resolution 2016 already broken

My New Year's Resolution 2016 was to read one book at a time. Now I'm reading six books simultaneously. Old habits die hard.

There are millions of books in the vast sea of literature. Even an avid reader who gets through a hundred books a year, and is fortunate to live for a hundred years, will read only a minuscule fraction of available books. As a reader, I enjoy looking backwards as well as forward through the variegated landscape of the printed word. And I love to re-read old books. That's why we collect books, isn't it? To re-read stories we've read a nonspecific number of times before. Particularly true regarding novels by our favourite authors.

I'm currently reading from the back catalogue:

Dragon (Clive Cussler)

Shapeshifter (J. F. Gonzalez) (re-read)

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (Stephen King) (new release)

Ghouls (Edward Lee)

The House of Blood (Bryan Smith)

Lightning (Dean Koontz) (re-read)

Guillermo del Toros filmer en fröjd för ögat / Guillermo del Toro’s films a feast for the eyes

Bland alla filmregissörer och författare jag har haft nöjet att träffa och lyssna till i samband med diverse tillställningar, är den mexikanske filmskaparen och konstutövaren Guillermo del Toro förmodligen den mest excentriska personligheten. Platsen: Odeon West End, London. Ett entusiastiskt tal välkryddat med svordom (det välkända F-ordet). Effekten är komisk, minst sagt. Han skämtar till och med om den egna (överviktiga) kroppshyddan. Del Toro, en extremt passionerad regissör som älskar monsterfilmer (vilket resulterat i, exempelvis, Mimic, Pacific Rim, Blade 2), samtidigt som han demonstrerar en stark vilja att skapa personliga, politiskt laddade äventyr (Devil’s Backbone, Pans labyrint). Jag vill påstå att hans senaste film, Crimson Peak, är en av de visuellt snyggaste filmer som gjorts. Stephen King kallade Crimson Peak ”underbar”, och jag måste faktiskt hålla med om det.
  
Del Toros filmer – skapade i Hollywood, i Spanien, eller i hemlandet Mexiko – jag älskar samtliga, men om jag rangordnade dem, skulle listan se ut på följande sätt i dagsläget:

CRIMSON PEAK
BLADE 2
CRONOS
MIMIC
PANS LABYRINT
PACIFIC RIM
HELLBOY
HELLBOY 2
DEVIL’S BACKBONE

Från min filmsamling / From my film collection: Guillermo del Toro signerade omslaget till mitt DVD-exemplar av hans mexikanska kultförklarade skräckfilm CRONOS. / Guillermo del Toro signed the DVD cover of my copy of his Mexican cult horror movie CRONOS. 

/*/*/

Among all film directors and writers I’ve had the pleasure to meet and listen to in connection with various events, the Mexican filmmaker and artist Guillermo del Toro is probably the most eccentric personality. The venue: Odeon West End, London. An enthusiastic speech peppered with a particular swear word (the famous F-word). The effect is comical, to say the least. He even jokes about his own overweight body. Del Toro, an extremely passionate director who loves monster movies (resulting in, e.g., Mimic, Pacific Rim, Blade 2), while simultaneously demonstrating a strong commitment to creating personal, politically-charged adventures (The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth). I would say that his latest film, Crimson Peak, is one of the visually most beautiful movies ever made. Stephen King called Crimson Peak "wonderful," and I actually agree with that.

Del Toro's movies – created in Hollywood, in Spain, or in his native Mexico – I love them all, but if I ranked them, the list today would look like the following:

CRIMSON PEAK
BLADE 2
CRONOS
MIMIC
PAN’S LABYRINTH
PACIFIC RIM
HELLBOY
HELLBOY 2
THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE

De 25 bästa spänningsböckerna 2015 / The 25 best suspense books 2015

"Whitley Strieber at his best; part Stephen King, part Dean Koontz, but always Whitley."
– Douglas Preston



En svensk tar en plats i den mördande konkurrensen på min topp-25-lista 2015. De tjugofem spänningsböckerna i godtycklig ordning: / A Swede grabs a place in the extremely tough competition on my top-25 list for 2015. The twenty-five suspense books in no particular order: 

Greg F. Gifune, Orphans of Wonderland, Samhain Publishing
Dean Koontz, Ashley Bell, Bantam Books
Robin Cook, Host, Macmillan
Bentley Little, The Consultant, Cemetery Dance Publications
Stephen King, Finders Keepers, Hodder & Stoughton
Joe R. Lansdale, Paradise Sky, Mulholland Books
Ed Gorman, Elimination, Severn House
Whitley Strieber, Alien Hunter: Underworld, Tor Books/Macmillan
Robert McCammon, The Border, Subterranean Press
Dan Simmons, The Fifth Heart, Sphere
Ramsey Campbell, Think Yourself Lucky, PS Publishing
John Ajvide Lindqvist, Rörelsen : den andra platsen, Ordfront Förlag
Simon Clark, Cold Legion, Endeavour Press
Joe McKinney, The Dead Won’t Die, Kensington Publishing
Douglas Preston, The Kraken Project, Tor/Forge
Jeremy Robinson, Freeman, Breakneck Media
Kim Newman, Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School, Titan Books
Shaun Hutson, Monolith, Caffeine Nights Publishing
Clive Barker, Tonight, Again, Subterranean Press (novellsamling / collection) 
Gary A. Braunbeck, Halfway Down the Stairs, JournalStone (novellsamling / collection)
Jonathan Maberry, Predator One, St. Martin's Griffin
Christopher Golden, Dead Ringers, Headline
Jeffrey J. Mariotte, Empty Rooms, WordFire Press
Simon Wood, The One That Got Away, Thomas & Mercer
Graham Masterton, Plague of the Manitou, Severn House