Alan J. Porter

It’s 1976 an a friend turns up with a cool looking new album with a comics style cover called “Jailbreak.”

A few years later I’m at the Empire theater in Liverpool watching and photographing the same band in action in what I still consider one of the top three gigs I ever attended.

Jump forward a few more years and I met this cute girl on the first day of college and we find out we both love the rocking sounds of that same band.

Thin Lizzy has been a constant in our lives for 50 years, but it’s taken me a while to get around to reading this biography of the man out front.

At times it’s an absorbing read about how an abandoned child could remake himself, about the soul of a poet inspired by the mythology of his adopted home, about a man who knew he was on a path to perform.

Yet it’s also a difficult read of missed opportunities, insecurity, controlling behavior, jealousy, and addiction.

A sad tale of an amazing talent that could handle almost everything life threw at him, except the one thing he craved, fame.

This fourth novella in the excellent and entertaining Murderbot Diaries series brings the first story arc to a satisfying conclusion.

Peppered with the right amount of snark, wry humor, and pithy observations on the way we humans conduct ourselves, balanced with some cool action sequences and entertaining insights into the ever evolving rogue Security Unit and its relationships.

Collecting the TMNT series relaunch from 2011 in recommended reading order, this volume includes the first 12 issues plus five single character focused one-shot issues.

It’s a great introduction to the current incarnations of the Turtles as they battle evil ninjas, corrupt corporate bosses, as well as come to terms with both their past lives and recent incarnation.

This extensive oral history of Paul McCartney’s career in the 1970s provides some interesting insights into the creation and success of Wings, while at the same time openly discussing its numerous line up changes and the tensions that came with working with McCartney.

The book expands on the material from the recent Man On The Run documentary and provides greater depth and context.

I know I’ll be listening to my early McCartney solo and Wings albums from now on with a greater appreciation of the stories behind their creation.

This posthumous collection of essays and speeches compiled by the daughter of the American historian and biographer provides a more personal insight into his approach to his work, and his love of learning.

It’s a well balanced collection that resonated with me on different topics. Unsurprisingly it was the section on writing historical non-fiction that I found the most compelling and informative.

If you’ve read and enjoyed any of his books, then I’d recommend this as a complementary text.

This three part graphic novel tells the story of three young people in pre-war Silesia who share a passion for flying. But world events overtake them and their lives take different paths.

Told in parallel is their story in the waning days of World War 2 when once again their flying skills bring them together in unexpected ways, and secrets are revealed.

I was Alain Henrit’s stunningly detailed and accurate renditions of a variety of WW2 aircraft in general and the esoteric experimental German aircraft of the late war years in particular that attracted me to this series. But it is the heartfelt story of friendship and sacrifice that really made it memorable.

I’d only ever heard of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald because of the Gordon Lightfoot song, and knew nothing about it beyond that.

This deeply researched and excellently structured telling of its story, and the history of the Great Lakes region changed that in a day. Yep, I was so absorbed in the book that I read it in a single day.

It’s a gripping tale that introduces and develops the characters of the lost crew, and their families, while firmly presenting the background to the myriad factors that led to the tragic sinking of the ship.

It’s poignant, heartbreaking, insightful, and equally informative and thought provoking.

This graphic novel biography of director Sergio Leone plays with the comics format almost as much as its subject plays with the concept of film. Using mixes of different techniques, color pallets, page design, and even a few prose articles, to tell the story of an iconic director.

The stories of the behind Leone’s struggles to get his movies made way he wanted are fascinating reading, and he doesn’t pull his punches in the quoted interview transcripts.

A must read if you are a fan of Leone’s work.

Think I’ll be putting the Dollars Trilogy back in the DVD player soon.

As much as I enjoy watching the Game of Thrones TV series and its various spin-offs I’ve never read the original novels. Having also enjoyed the recent TV adventure of hedge-knight Sir Duncan the Tall and his squire with a secret, Egg, I thought I’d check out this collection of the three novellas that recount some of their travels.

They were a fun read full of adventure, jousting, and intrigue through which our two heroes blunder their way pulled into situations beyond their control.

The heart of the stories is the relationship between Dunk and Egg which is masterfully written.

While the world building is very effective in placing the main characters in context, it does pay to have at least a basic knowledge of the kingdoms of Westeros and its various houses.

Originally published in 1954 this memoir by the secretary to London’s leading forensic pathologist during the war years promised much, but failed to deliver.

I found the prose style dreary and hampered by the author’s class prejudice and unquestioning acceptance of the societal injustices of the time.

Yes it’s a product of its era, but some things are hard to put aside.

A compelling quick read that illustrates how little we are in control of our destiny as humans, and how disease shapes almost every aspect of our lives and world.

This book will educate, pull at your emotions, but also leave you feeling angry at the way we have treated, and continue to treat, others.

As the intro states, “We know how to live in a world without tuberculosis. But we choose not to live in that world.”

A clever and entertaining way of presenting an overview of British history by examine the lives of 18 historical figures when they were 18 years old. Some of whom already had greatness thrust upon them (the Empress Matilda for example), while others were on their way to it (such as the teenage Richard Burton).

Although aimed as a way to introduce today’s younger audience to history by telling relatable tales it was also a highly enjoyable read for this history buff who is somewhat past that demographic.

As it says on the cover this is a “Delightful and charming” read.

The wonderful story of the relationship between a young British ex-pat schoolteacher in Argentina in the 1970s and the penguin he rescued from an oil slick polluted beach.

Michell uses the story to not only spin some wonderful anecdotes about the penguin’s impact on the people he meets, but to also ask some hard questions about the way we as humans treat our planet and the other species we share it with.

I’m the sort of detail oriented geek who loves to dive into the back story of fictional universes, so this hardback edition of the recent update on the history of the DC comics universe was something I was looking forward to, especially with Mark Waid guiding the journey.

While the early art driven thematic summary pages were delightful to work through, the real treat for me was the detailed timeline based on Mark’s research that was full of references to the source materials.

I was also blown away by the four double page spreads of DC characters, with each one including around 300 characters.

This is a volume that is destined to be pulled off the shelf and revisited on a regular basis for both research and fun.

It’s almost impossible to read about late 19th Century - early 20th Century American history and not come across the name of photographer William Henry Jackson. His photographs of the American West were the first images many people saw of the geography and peoples of western reaches of the expanding United States. His photographs of Yellowstone directly resulted in the creation of the National Parks.

His later travels around the world brought images of far away places and peoples to the American public through publication in Harper’s Weekly magazine. He even created the color picture postcard.

Yet, as this excellent graphic novel biography by his great-grandson, acclaimed cartoonist Bill Griffith, points out his achievements came at a price of an abandoned family and questions about his apparent unquestioning role in imperial colonial expansion and the treatment of indigenous peoples as props to be exploited.

Using a multiple timeline approach Griffith’s walks a fine line between appreciation of his ancestor’s technical and artistic achievements without shying away from asking the difficult questions about his legacy.

I found Tim Curry’s memoirs to be both fascinating and frustrating. Like the best memoirs it reads as if the writer is sat across from the table from you in a pub just reminiscing and spinning stories.

Although he has an extensive body of work in stage, film, television, and animation he does tend to refer back the same half dozen of characters a lot - and I haven’t seen him in most of those roles. Other roles I was interested in knowing more about sometimes just get passing mentions, if referenced at all. But of course any work like this has to be selective, so I get it.

It was the last few chapters that really stood out for me, his insights on bringing decades of acting experience into performing voice work were insightful, while his openness about his stroke and the adjustments he’s had to make to his life were quite moving.

A beautifully designed and presented coffee table volume that emphasizes what I think is one of the most under-appreciated aspects of the Bond movies - the travel.

Each of the 25 EON Productions 007 movies gets its own section giving some cool insights into its production and locations, while revealing a few secrets where certain films were actually filmed while fooling you they were somewhere else. One location from each movie also gets a detailed map showing the relative position of certain scenes which I enjoyed pouring over. I also liked the title page for each movie that tracked Bond’s global travel for that particular adventure.

All of this is accompanied by some stunning location photography as well as some fun behind-the-scenes stuff.

Highly recommended addition to any Bond fan’s library, but I’m sure it would also appeal to those of us who just enjoy to travel.