Bookin' It with The Great Sabatini

The Great Sabatini

These kinds of columns for me a lot of fun, especially when I'm dealing with people from other countries.

Now, The Great Sabatini isn't from like Uruguay or Ghana, but from Canada. 

Even though, they hail from the Frenchest French part of French Canada, it's still Canada, but all the same, I have friends in the Great White North and there are still loads of things that are different between our two nations.

So, let's check in and see what books are like up there.

1. I try to read at least two books per month, and mostly fail, what's your goal and reality?

I'd love to read 2 or 3 books per month but it usually winds up being 1. I always have a pile of books on the go. But it's slow going, due to my daily routine. 

2. Encyclopedia Brown and Choose Your Own Adventure books were a big part of my childhood. What did you read back in Elementary School?

I read a lot of Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid. But I'd read anything I could get my hands on when I was little including comics. 

When I was learning French as a kid I got my hands on the Tintin books and those helped me out a lot and were fun to read. The C.S Lewis Narnia books were a favorite as well. 

3. It's no secret that I think Harry Potter is an amazing saga, but it wasn't until after the movie for Chamber of Secrets was released that I began reading the books. What was the big thing you were late on?

I'm usually late to the party on the best books, or at least the ones that everyone around me seems to like. It took me a good long while to read Max Brook's World War Z, probably because in my inner circle there was some hype attached to it. 

There's some grouchy contrarian in me I suppose. But when I finally read it I loved it. Ready Player One was another... 

I kept hearing about it and never got around to reading it, but when I did, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I still haven't read Catcher In The Rye though... I tried when I was 17 or so, but I didn't make it too far. 

I found it pretty irritating to read but maybe I'll revisit that one.

4. My local library is amazing and I'm there pretty frequently. What do you like about your library?

I've been living in the NDG area of Montreal for about 10 years now and I've never been to the public library here. That's a shame, really. 

I guess I don't need to use a library, since the books I read are either lent to me by a friend or I just buy outright... I try to support the arts by paying for physical media (or digital media as well). 

But I really should get to know my local library. We shouldn't take these things for granted. 

5. Comic Books. Which ones are you reading?

I recently read the current Trade Paperback for the Darth Vader comics. Those ones are fun. I'm also making my way through Alan Moore's Swamp Thing comics... at this point I just get the trades because collecting issue by issue is impractical for me. 

Brian K Vaughan's Saga is something I've been into as well. I think I want to reread the Locke and Key series again, as I recently read a (very short) new story from that universe... 

It was written by Stephen King's son, under the name Joe Hill. Those books are probably my favorite comics to come along in a while. 

6. What author can you just read again and again?

Vonnegut is very repeatable for me. I can read the man's words all day.