Book Review: Captain Harlock Classic Collection, Volume 2

Reiji Matsumoto (author and artist) and Zack Davisson (translator), Captain Harlock Classic Collection, Volume 2. Los Angeles, CA: Seven Seas, 2018. ISBN: 978162928497.

Genre: manga

Subgenre: science fiction, pirates

Format: hardcover

Source: Interlibrary Loan via Hutchins Library. It came from the Palm Beach County Library System, West Palm Beach, Florida 

The adventure continues, and the mystery goes deeper. As Earth stands on the brink of an alien invasion, most Earth people are pretty much indifferent, clueless, and apathetic. Only Captain Harlock and his space pirates stand to fight the Mazon. 

In this volume, the crew of the Arcadia begin to unravel some of the Mazons' mysteries, such as realizing the aliens have been infiltrating Earth for centuries. Meanwhile, the Mazon queen starts realizing that Harlock and his crew do pose a threat to her invasion plans. 

The story's pace picks up a bit in this volume. The story continues to draw readers in. As we get to the end, the story starts to set up the eventual confrontation. This is a very good science fiction and adventure story. While it is a fun tale, intriguing, it also says a thing or two about society that is still relevant today. This is a series I will keep on reading. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

Fiction Books Read in 2025

Welcome to my series of top books read in different categories for 2024. This will be the short list in the series as I did not read much fiction in 2024, and not all of it was very good. After going over my annual reading list, I found 4 books that are fiction. The list is down below, in no particular order, with links to the reviews. 

Donald Tyson, Necronomicon: the Wanderings of Alhazred

As I mention in my review, I read this in preparation to work with Tyson's Necronomicon Tarot deck. I did enjoy the book. Do you have to read it to use the deck? No, but I think if you do it may help you appreciate the deck more. 

Brian Keene, Island of the Dead

 

This is some classic zombie fun in a fantasy setting. If you like your sword and sorcery with a touch of horror, this may be for you.

Chuck Tingle, Bury Your Gays

 If you've never read a Chuck Tingle book, this may be a good entry point.

 

Ben Counter, The Soul Drinkers Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000)

 

I liked the overall premise, but I found the execution falling short. There are better Space Marines books in Warhammer 40,000, and I will be looking for those in 2025.

Thanks for stopping by and reading Got any good fiction you've read? Feel free to share in the comments. Coming up in this series of lists I will be writing about the nonfiction I read in 2025. I hope you decide to come back and check that out. 

Happy reading.

 

Reading List for 2024

Welcome to my 2024 reading list and end of year report. Before I get to the books, I always do a few end of year general thoughts. 

In 2023 I wrote some of my thoughts on the COVID-19 pandemic. I was going to do the same for 2024, but one, time got the best of me, two, end of 2024 was seriously rough in various ways, and three, it seems by now COVID-19 is mostly forgotten if it was ever minded (though I am sure the virus certainly remembers us). I did get my vaccine updated towards the end of last year. As we enter 2025, the bird flu, better known as H5N1, is starting to make some noise and could become a threat. We'll see how that goes. In terms of 2025 so far, given how bad 2024 was I think 2025 is taking it as a personal challenge, and that does not include the return of the Pendejo In Chief to the White House along with his cronies and minions controlling the federal government. It is not shaping up well, but again, we will have to brace ourselves. 

A quick note on my social media, or what is left of it. I am getting a bit more active on Bluesky. In part because the engagement so far is better overall. With some good filtering and a block function that actually works well, I got a pretty good feed going of stuff I want to see. I am also still on Mastodon, and while I do like things about it, the snooty attitude of some users there who think their shit doesn't stink keeps me a bit distant from the site. Just the past week, I was reading an article out of Nature on academics who are joining Bluesky more often. I shared it on Bluesky, and few people were positive about it, at least interested. I shared it on Mastodon, and the first comment was some snooty Mastodon fan bitching that those academics "are dumb," going to some shitty site, and ranted something about "cryptobros." Basically they were bitching how dare they not come over here. My thought, which I refrained from typing at the time was, no one is coming here with that attitude. I just went ahead and blocked them because, one, I am an academic librarian, and two, I don't need that kind of arrogant toxicity on my feed. As some folks learn, #MyBlockIsQuick. At any rate, Bluesky and Mastodon are my two main social media spots at the moment. I still have a presence of Facebook, mainly due to family that won't move elsewhere and due to my workplace's Facebook page. As I have noted before, I may try some new to me site, mostly to park my username, but otherwise, I am keeping my social media to a minimum. As always, you can find me here on the blog, and my remaining links are on the right column of the blog 

Writing about the blog, my main blogging focus is here at The Itinerant Librarian. Here you can find book reviews, cartomancy reviews, some book and reading related content, and a few miscellaneous posts. If interested, I usually post here on Fridays, but I may post other days as needed. 

My professional blog, Notes from a Simple Librarian, remains open, but as I noted last year, I am not worried about it. Between work keeping me busy, and me not as interested in a lot of the dramas in librarianship, the blog is sort of dormant. While I do continue reading the LIS literature, I don't always have the time to make notes and post them on the blog. In the end, if I need to post over there I will, but otherwise, I am good with it chilling a while. 

My second blogging focus is on Alchemical Thoughts, my cartomancy and commonplace book blog. I do enjoy writing about parts of my cartomancy and magic craft journey on the blog. For instance, 2024 was a good year where I tried out a few more cartomancy spreads that I then shared on the blog. In addition, posting my deck interview spreads has been good for me. I hope to keep expanding my writing there as I deepen my practice and craft. I also use the blog as a bit of a commonplace book where I jot down quotes and other small things I want to remember. If interested, Wednesdays is the day I do most of the posting on this blog, but again, may post on other days as needed.

As one year ends and a new one begins, I am grateful to my four readers who support me and keep coming back to read what I write and/or share it with others. Thank you, and I hope you keep coming back. If you can, feel free to bring a friend or two. 

A few other things I've written on previously: 

• My politics/social issues/activist stuff moratorium continues. I do admit it has softened a bit given a few recent book selections, such as reading White Poverty this month. In my defense, so to speak, the library acquired the book, and I am reading it in part to review it for the library's blog, which I will do sometime after I write my more substantial review here. While I do maintain the moratorium and do my best to limit my media exposure on such topics, unless I go completely off the grid, some stuff will just filter in. That, and as a professional librarian, I can't totally black it out; I do need to stay informed. This is a topic I may write a bit more on to better see my status down the road. 
• My boycott against the publishers that sued Internet Archive, their imprints, and any other defending those publishers continues strong. I do not foresee ending it any time soon, and while I know I am only one librarian and reader, I am making my displeasure known. I may also write some follow up thoughts on this. For instance, I've discovered some more independent publishers and writers as a result, so some of the effect has been positive. More on that later.
• Want to see what movies and media I watched? Click on the blog tag for "Film and television."  I do brief reviews of movies and media I watch, mostly movies that are new to me, i.e. not brand new (think back list).
  

Finally before we get to the reading list, a small advertisement and reminder that I do review books and cartomancy materials, especially card decks. If you want me to consider something for review, you can find my review policy here. Thank you for your consideration. 

So let's get on with what I read in 2024. If you see a book title with an asterisk (*), that is a book I reread. If I have written a review for a book, it is on this blog.

 

January

• McCalla Ann (author) and Mercenary of Duna (illustrator), The Anime Tarot Deck and Guidebook.
• Kathryn S. Olmsted, The Newspaper Axis. 
• Lon Milo DuQuette, Allow Me To Introduce. 
• Archie Goodwin, Eerie Archives, Volume 1. (EC Archives)
  
• R.K. Brislin, Atheist in Appalachia. 
• Yusuke Osawa, Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Manga, Volume 1.
   

February

• Richard Webster, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Divination.
• Brian Michael Bendis, The United States of Murder Inc. Volume 1: Truth.
• Apollo Publishers, Words to Win By.
• Mickie Mueller and Dan Mueller, Magical Dogs Tarot (deck and companion book kit).
   

March

• Yasmin Boland, Moonology Oracle Cards (deck and companion book kit). 
• Colin Kaepernick, et.al., Our History Has Always Been Contraband. 
• Jenna Matlin, Will You Give Me a Reading?
• Maria Minnis, Tarot for the Hard Work. 
• Al Feldstein, The Vault of Horror, Volume 1 (EC Archives). 
• John Wagner, Essential Judge Dredd, Volume 1: America. 
• Stan Sakai, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo.
   

April

• Mitzi Szereto, ed., Women Who Murder.
• Garth Ennis, Punisher MAX Complete Collection, Volume 1. 
• Lucy Cavendish, Faery Blessing Cards (card deck with companion book kit). 
• Arlene R. Quaratiello, The College Student's Research Companion. 
• lenny duncan, Psalms of My People. 
• Valeria Ruelas, The Mexican Witch Lifestyle. 
• Garth Ennis, Punisher MAX Complete Collection, Volume 2. 
• Ben Counter, The Soul Drinkers Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000).
   

May

• Sam Keith, Arkham Asylum: Madness.*
• Greg Pak, Darth Vader, Volume 1: Dark Heart of the Sith.
  
• Greg Pak, Darth Vader, Volume 2: Into the Fire. 
• G.B. Trudeau, Lewser! More Doonesbury in the Time of Trump.
• Lunaea Weatherstone, Celtic Astrology Oracle Cards (card deck with companion book kit). 
• Greg Pak, Darth Vader, Volume 3: War of the Bounty Hunters. 
• Todd McFarlane, Spawn Origins, Volume 1. 
• Louis Ferrante, Borgata: Rise of Empire. 
• Kerry Ward, Card of the Day Tarot. 
• Michelle Stacey, The Complete Guide to Keto. 
• Lea Svendsen, Loki and Sigyn.
• Frank Cullotta, The Rise and Fall of a 'Casino' Mobster.  

 

 June

• Susie Green, Bird Messages Cards (card deck with companion book kit).
• Pamela Chen (author) and Elisabeth Alba (illustrator), Tarot of the Owls (card deck with companion book kit).
• Lane Smith: 78 Acts of Liberation: Tarot to Transform Our World. 
• Bess Matassa, The Tarot Almanac. 
• Leiji Matsumoto, Captain Harlock: the Classic Collection, Volume 1.
• Chuck Tingle, Bury Your Gays. 
• John Vasquez Mejias, The Puerto Rican War: a Graphic History. 
• Natalie Goldberg, Writing on Empty. 
• Leiji Matsumoto, Captain Harlock: the Classic Collection, Volume 2. 
• Inna Segal, Mystical Healing Reading Cards (card deck with companion book kit). 
• Charles Soule, Star Wars, Volume 1: the Destiny Path.
  
• Charles Soule, Star Wars, Volume 2: Operation Starlight.
• Sergio Toppi, The Toppi Gallery: Bestiary.
   

July

• Jake Johnston, Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism, and the Battle to Control Haiti.
• Austin Frerick, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry.
• Elliot Adam, Tarot in Love: Consulting the Cards in Matters of the Heart. 
• Charles Soule, Star Wars Volume 3: War of the Bounty Hunters. 
• Maria Emmerich, Keto Instant Pot.
• Amy Blackthorn, Social Media Spellbook.
   

August

• Brian Keene, End of the Road. 
• Alison Chester-Lambert, Astrology Reading Cards (card deck with companion book kit).
• Lee Bursten (author) and Ciro Marchetti (artist), Tarot of Dreams (card deck with companion book kit). 
• Rich Bottles, Jr., ed., The Big Book of Bizarro. 
• Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineburg, Verified. 
• Paula Durlofsky, Logged In and Stressed Out. 
• David L. Ulin, The Lost Art of Reading. 
• Tsugumi Ohba, Death Note, Volume 3: Hard Run.
   

September

• Garth Ennis, Punisher MAX: the Complete Collection, Volume 3. 
• Jason Engle, Mausolea: Oracle of Souls (card deck with companion book kit). 
• Fortuna Noir, Tarot Magic: a Handbook of Intuitive Readings, Rituals, and Spells. 
• Shawn McKenzie (author) and Firat Solhan (illustrator), Tarot of Dragons (card deck with companion book kit). 
   

October

• Susie Green, Animal Messages Cards (card deck with companion book kit). 
• Benjamin Toff, et.al., Avoiding the News. 
• Carlos Lozada, What Were We Thinking: a Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era. 
• Stacey Demarco, Queen of the Moon Oracle (card deck with companion book kit).
• James Spooner and Chris L. Terry, eds., Black Punk Now. 
• Timothy Eastman, All the Past We Leave Behind. 
• Brian Keene, Island of the Dead.
   

November

• Andrea Freeman, Ruin Their Crops on the Ground. 
• Light Ken, Delta Time. 
• Joshua Williamson Cobra Commander, Volume 1: Determined to Rule the World. 
• Garth Ennis, The Boys Omnibus, Volume 5.
   

December

• Archie Goodwin, Eerie Archives, Volume 2 (EC Archives). 
• Donald Tyson, Necronomicon: the Wanderings of Alhazred. 
• Diana Helmuth, The Witching Year. 
• Emily C. Hughes, Horror for Weenies.
   

Number of books read in 2024: 83, including one re-read.

 

Number of books read in 2023: 80, including 3 re-reads (the 2023 list). 

Number of books read in 2022:  82, including 5 re-reads (the 2022 list).

Number of books reading in 2021: 69, including 3 re-reads (the 2021 list).

Number of books read in 2020: 80, including 5 re-reads (the 2020 list).

Number of books read in 2019: 72   (the 2019 list).

Number of books read in 2018: 74, including 2 re-reads (the 2018 list).
Number of books read in 2017: 84 (the 2017 list).
Number of books read in 2016: 92, including re-reads (the 2016 list).
Number of books read in 2015: 123, including 2 re-reads (the 2015 list).
Number of books read in 2014: 152, including 2 re-reads (the 2014 list).
Number of books read in 2013: 173, including 2 re-reads (the 2013 list).
Number of books read in 2012: 117, with 6 re-reads (the 2012 list).
Number of books read in 2011: 119, with 3 re-reads (the 2011 list). 
Number of books read in 2010:  119, with 6 rereads (the 2010 list).
Number of books read in 2009: 98, with 5 rereads. I believe this is the first time I started to actively track rereads. (the 2009 list).
Number of books read in 2008: 111 (the 2008 list).
Number of books read in 2007: 85 (the 2007 list).
Number of books read in 2006: 106 (the 2006 list).
Number of books read in 2005: 73

 

Commentaries and thoughts on numbers

 

I see I read three more books more than last year. To be honest, I felt I had read less, in part because I read some long books here and there, but it is nice to see I managed to read a good number. As before, given the Hard Times, I tend to be reluctant to predict how many books I may read in a given year, so this is a good result. No, I am not predicting nor setting a number for 2025. I will just keep reading, and we'll see how many I manage to read by this time next year.  

By the way, in terms of reading challenges, I did complete the three challenges I undertook in 2024. As of this writing, I need to sign up for any new reading challenges I may do in 2025. So stay tuned for that. I will be writing a post on reading challenges soon. 

 The numbers: 

Re-reads: 1, and I admit it was accidental. It had been a while since I had read the one book. It was a good book, so I did not mind. 

Best reading month: June with 13 books. 

Worst reading month: February, September, November, and December tie with 4 books in each month.

Number of books read in print: 62

Number of e-books (galleys included): 21

Audiobooks: 0.

My strong preference for reading in print continues. I will note that given a lot of advanced reader copies for review (ARCs) now come out mostly in electronic format, I will continue reading a good amount of books electronically. For me, most of these come from either NetGalley or Edelweiss Plus. As for audiobooks, I just did not make time to actively seek them out in 2024. I may or not try in 2025, but I admit this depends on how busy or not I am overall. 

Graphic novels (includes comics): 21

Manga: 4

Nonfiction: 53

Fiction (does not include graphic novels, comics, nor manga): 5 

I still favor nonfiction when it comes to reading, and at this point I do not think that is going to change. I read five works of fiction, including at least one omnibus edition (it actually had three novels in it, but I am counting the volume as one). Five works of fiction for me in a given year is pretty good. I will note I have some fiction review galleys I need to get through, so we will see how 2025 shapes up in fiction. 25 graphic novels and manga is pretty good and about what I often manage.

Library books: 

• Berea branch, Madison County (KY) Public Library: 0
• Eastside Branch, Lexington (KY) Public Library: 23
• Hutchins Library, Berea College: 21
• Interlibrary Loan (ILL): 1
   
• Via Libby: 0
• Via Hoopla: 0

Once I discovered that LPL had reciprocal privileges with Madison County PL, I really started using LPL more. LPL has some good advantages over my home public library including: automatic renewals if no one is requesting the item you have checked out. This means give my slow reading pace, I can keep items longer without worrying over fines or overdue dates. Also, their selection, especially in comics and graphic novels is just superior. It takes a drive up to Lexington, but we usually combine it with our monthly or so Costco run, and I get a good pile of books when I go up there. I still like Madison County PL, but using it less since I get more books up in Lexington. 

As for my work library, Hutchins Library, recently I am making an effort to read more of the books we are acquiring. This includes writing some short reviews of those books for our library's blog. Some of those books I have acquired myself, others have been acquired by colleagues. Most of these are nonfiction, though our library does have a very good graphic novels collection too. I ordered one book on Interlibrary Loan, and that was Brian Keene's End of the Road (link to my review, which includes information on where the book came from).

As for the e-book options, I like both Libby (both public libraries offer this) and Hoopla (Madison County), but between e-galleys and regular books, though I browse both electronic systems, I did not check out anything online this year. We'll see how next year goes. 

Books I own. For this, I can refer readers to my results of the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge. I officially read 19 books to complete the challenge. I will note I did finish a couple more books I own, but I have not finished reviewing them, so I am carrying them over to 2025. 

Books borrowed from anyone (not family) or recommended by others: 0. 

Other numbers of interest (to me at least): 

• Erotica: 0. As much as I enjoy erotica, the Hard Times are just not very conducive for me to read it. I may have read an erotica short story here or there, but nothing of note. I have a feeling 2025 will not be better in this regard. 
• LIS and Reference: 6. This is two more than last year, so a very small improvement. As the college continues to make some curriculum changes, my library makes some changes in its instruction and reference strategies, I expect to continue reading books in this area. In addition, I read and wrote notes on four academic articles over in my professional blog; I do not count that reading in my end of year list. 
• Tarot and Oracle (includes deck companion books): 21
• Other esoterica/pagan/spirituality: 7
• Netgalley: 8
• Edelweiss Plus: 8. For the second year in a row, the Netgalley and Edelweiss totals match. I did not plan it that way, but here we are. I will make a note that though I still use Netgalley, I find myself using it much less to find new things. Edelweiss seems easier to use, and they are not as persnickety as Netgalley in terms of having a percentage of reviews to requests. In addition, not sure why, but Netgalley has lost a few publishers I tended to favor, so I have less incentive to go there instead of using Edelweiss.
• Other books offered for review, i.e. not from Netgalley or Edelweiss Plus. These are books from a publisher, author, and/or editor that I was offered or that I requested: 1, and that was Women Who Murder (link to my review).
  
• Books in Spanish: 0. I had so much good stuff to read in English already that I did not really go looking for books in Spanish. We'll see in 2025. 
• True Crime: 3. Though to be honest some of the history and business books I read in 2024 might be rated as true crime, but that is another story. 
• Food and drink: 0. I did not really seek out this genre in 2024. 
• Poetry: 0. I did read some books that contained poems, but I did not read any volumes that only had poetry. 
• Books that broke my politics/social issues/activist stuff moratorium. I say this should be zero, but realistically speaking there will always be a break in the moratorium here or there. In 2024 I read 5 books that break moratorium. That is 3 more than last year, but 5 out of 83 is not bad. However, 2025 promises to be seriously challenging, so will I be able to keep it at 5 book or less that break moratorium? We will have to see. Oh boy.
  

 

This time last year I was reading the following books. Links go to the reviews: 

• Ben Counter, The Soul Drinkers Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000). 
• Apollo Publishers, Words to Win By: the Slogans, Logos, and Designs of America's Presidential Elections. 
• R.K. Brislin, Atheist in Appalachia: Nonbelief in Rural America.

 

As we start 2025, I am reading the following books: 

• William J. Barber II with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, White Poverty. (As you can see, already breaking moratorium here).
  
• Various authors, Honour Imperialis (Warhammer 40,000. This is an omnibus edition of three novels by different authors plus a few short stories). 
• Xueting Christine Ni, ed., Sinophagia: a Celebration of Chinese Horror. 
• Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, Harley's Little Black Book. 
• Barbara Moore, Tarot Spreads.
   

Finally to wrap up, here are a few bloggers I have found who do end of year reading lists and surveys: 

• Readerbuzz has their year in reading.
• Sally Bend of Beauty in Ruins has their end of year review roundup. 
• Jana from That Artsy Reader girl has their end of year survey.
• Feed Your Fiction Addiction did their end of year survey with graphs.
• Jessamyn West's 2024 reading list and commentary.
   

As I have mentioned before, finding other bloggers doing this is challenging given there are few active blogs out there that provide good writing consistently. It seems every year one or two blogs I follow go extinct. As for me, I will keep on blogging as long as I can. 

If you made it this far, thank you for reading and stopping by. I wish you all a safe, happy, and prosperous 2025, and may you find many good books to read. 

Book Review: Captain Harlock Classic Collection, Volume 1

Reiji Matsumoto (author and artist); Zack Davisson (translator), Captain Harlock Classic Collection, Volume 1. Los Angeles, CA: Seven Seas, 2018. ISBN: 978162927704.

Genre: manga

Subgenre: science fiction, pirates

Format: hardcover

Source: Eastside Branch, Lexington (KY) Public Library  

 As a child in younger days, I used to watch the anime adaptation, Captain Harlock, Space Pirate (Capitan Raimar in Spanish).  So when I came across this classic collection, I knew I had to read it. 

In the future, an alien force is about to invade Earth. In fact, it soon becomes apparent to Harlock and his crew that those aliens, the Mazon, have been infiltrating Earth for centuries. However, by now Earth people are about as lazy and hands off as can be. Only the fiercely independent Captain Harlock and his pirate crew make a brave stand and choose to fight the invasion. 

This first volume's pace is a bit slow, but it is because it is setting up the story. Harlock and his crew investigate and follow various leads. We also learn about the characters, especially the crew of the Arcadia. The story does offer depth, and it keeps the reader interested. 

If you've read this before, or maybe like me watched the anime, this is a nice trip down memory lane. If you are brand new to the story,,  you'll discover a science fiction adventure with depth, substance, and even a bit of social commentary. To be honest, some parts such as the arrogantly complacent  Earth people seems relevant even today; the manga was published in first in 1977. New or old reader, this is a good space tale with some action and a bit of mystery. On a side note, the art is a bit more cartoonish in this manga. It appears they refined the style a bit for the anime; it's just a small detail I noticed. 

I really liked this volume. I will be looking for the next two in the series to keep reading. So far, enjoying the tale. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

Deck Review: Serpieri Tarot

Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri (artist) and Pietro Alligo (writer), Serpieri Tarot. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2022.  ISBN: 9780738773100.  (link to Llewellyn, US distributor)

Genre: Tarot decks

Subgenre: Serpieri art, science fiction, erotica

Format: card deck with little white book in tuck box

Source: I own this one. 

Before I go on, a content warning. This deck does feature nudity and some fairly explicit scenes. If that is not for you, feel free to skip this deck and stop reading this review and move on elsewhere. You can check the blog's tags on the right side column. The "Tarot" tag features reviews of books and decks in Tarot. You can also check for reviews by publisher as I assign a tag to each publisher that I review one of their books. 

Still interested? Keep on reading. 

 

The Hermit-IX

This deck features the art of Italian artist Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri. He is known for his work in comics about science fiction and western stories. His female curvy figures are also well known including his heroine Druuna. This deck integrates all of those elements. If you are a fan of his art, you may want this deck as a collector. If you like science fiction with a bit of neo-western and post apocalyptic style, this may be a deck for you as well. 

The deck comes in a tuck box with the 78-card deck and a little white book (LWB). 

Typical of the Lo Scarabeo, the publisher, the LWB comes in four languages: English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The LWB includes: brief artist biography, a look at his art and how it connects to Tarot, the Major Arcana, and the Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana entries feature card name and number, a keyword, and a paragraph for interpretation. The interpretation includes some description of the images and symbols. The Minor Arcana entries are thinner with a main keyword, then additional keywords and a phrase or two. The LWB ends with a short statement on the symbolism of sex and nudity in the deck and Tarot. Given the rich art and setting of Serpieri's work, it is a pity the publisher did not commission a full companion book. 

The cards' art can work intuitively. If you do know Serpieri's work, you may be better able to appreciate the deck. You can still work with it if you do not know the art beforehand, but you may want to do some research to supplement. Thus this is not a deck for beginners. As an intermediate cartomancer, knowing the basics of Tarot helps. The deck has some nods to Rider Waite Smith (RWS) system, but a lot of it does not; it does its own thing. All in all you can read with it, but you do have to do some work and learning. I am good with that, but your mileage may vary. 

I love the science fiction somewhat post-apocalyptic art. It is a strong style, very expressive. Colorful in mostly light tones. Grey tones predominate a bit. Female figures are curvy, buxom at times. As I mentioned, there are some erotically explicit images. I like those images fine, but they are not your thing, or you are a prude, this is not the deck for you. I feel like this can be a good deck to use during the Hard Times. I will have to explore that further. 

Overall, I love the deck but the overall package falls a bit short. The LWB is seriously minimalist. The card themselves are great. While I do recommend it, I do so with the caveats I've already mentioned. Still glad to own it. 

4 out of 5 stars, for the overall package.

Holiday Post 2024: What the heck happened?

Welcome to the fourth and last post in the 2024 holiday posts series. For me, being Puerto Rican, I am still in the holidays spirit well into January. In fact, as I am typing this, tomorrow is Dia de Reyes (Three Kings Day) in Puerto Rico and much of the Hispanic world. In Puerto Rico we keep going with  "las octavitas." So still plenty of holiday cheer to go around, even with today's serious winter storm going on in our area.  In this post, I take a look at what the heck happened in the previous year, and boy has 2024 being a royal pain. Last year, I thought 2023 had been a hot mess, but apparently 2024 took that as a personal challenge to be worse. Anyhow, I will also add some predictions and outlooks for the new year, and we'll see how things go from there.

 

Top news events of the year

•  The top news in the United States has to be that the Pendejo In Chief was re-elected  (via Reuters) to the presidency. You'd have thought that being a convicted felon, among other issues, may have kept him from public office, but as a man wiser than me once wrote, and I paraphrase, never underestimate the empowerment Americans feel in being able to say fuck you. It did not help that Kamala Harris did not exactly run (via BBC) a brilliant campaign against him. In fact, at one of those times she was visiting Michigan and Dearborn, MI, which has a big Muslim community that she managed to alienate (see Reuters here and Al Jazeera here), I said it would likely make things difficult for her, and sure enough. And while the post-mortems on what the Democrats failed to do came out pretty much right away, you can already tell they will not learn anything. I've lived in the States long enough to know the Republican Lite party is notorious for snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory. The bottom line is we are in for a rough four years ahead. 
• And while folks fuss about the election and its results, the climate continues to break heat records in weather. Story via The Daily Climate. I honestly do not see much hope of anything being done about this. Between the robber barons who don't give a fuck and a society that just let's them get away with it, it will just keep getting worse. 
• NPR reports as the Atlantic hurricane season ends that the season was the deadliest in nearly two decades. 
  

 

 

What the heck happened? 

(Big news overviews) 

Graphic with a big question mark. Text: What happened?

 

 

•  Here is UPI's overview of top stories for 2024. Their highlights include the U.S. elections, wars, and the clusterfuck that is now Boeing. 
• Vox considers "what really matters in 2024" for their annual review. Among their highlights are the rising bird flu epidemic (the one no one in the U.S. seems to be concerned about. Anyone feeling deja vu in light of COVID-19?), the rise of AI, and the insurance CEO shooter. Now that last is a story that will stay with us for a while as the shooter has basically risen to become a folk hero. I don't think I need to explain why. The article also does a bit of looking back at previous years to see what if anything from previous time we still remember. 
• ABC News looks at the stories "everyone was talking about" in 2024, at least according to them. Among their highlights we find school shootings, hurricanes, and the insurance CEO shooter. 
• FAIR (Fairness and Accountability in Reporting) has their most-read stories for 2024. This includes some of the usual for last year line of "the economy is fine, look at the numbers you ungrateful peons," which for me boils to asking the wrong questions. But, as I often say, I am not a pundit nor play one on TV. 
• ProPublica also has their list of most read stories for 2024. Unlike FAIR's list, this list is a bit more balanced and realistic. Among their topics, we get stories on American militias, the company that helps insurance companies deny you coverage (and then some folks wonder why people want to free Luigi), and the fraud of Walmart's financial services. 
• The Root has their list of worst Black moments of 2024. I usually avoid stories with slide shows, but I figured this topic was worth a look. Among the highlights are some notable deaths including James Earl Jones and Nikki Giovanni. 
• Religion News Service has their list of top 10 religion stories of the year. Among the highlights, the Roman Catholic church had their Synod on Synodality and the United Methodist Church actually did something constructive and overturned their ban openly LGBTQ+ clergy and same sex marriages. There is also a story about what could be my dream job: being a (Roman Catholic) church approved hermit. This particular story is better because the hermit recently came out as being transgender, and the church so far is going along with it. 
• If you are in Texas or have an interest in Texas, the Texas Observer has their list of most-read stories for 2024. One or two of my four readers may recall I did a sojourn in Texas. It being Texas we get stories on government corruption, Neo Nazis, and Christofascists. 
• In keeping it rural, The Daily Yonder has their year in review. Among their highlights was a story on queerness in rural areas. They also highlight some rural prison journalism and some environmental stories. 
• In higher education and academia, according to Inside Higher Ed, it was a year of closures and mergers.  
• Colossal has their list of top articles of 2024. If you want to read a few things on topics like arts, this may be for you. 
• RAND Corporation, the think tank, lists their big policy stories for 2024. Topics include competition with China, education, and the rise of AI. 
• ABC News at the billion-dollar disasters of the year. We are talking natural disasters, not fuckery like the 2024 elections in the US.
  
• In photography:
• For some humor, My Modern Met has a list of amusing photos that won the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. 
• Reuters has a 2024 in photos feature. It highlights a lot of floods that happened in 2024. 
• Religion News Service has their list of photos of the year.
   
•  JStor Daily lists their most popular stories for the year. Want to read something other than the usual news, this is a good option. 
• And we wrap up this part with the Rude Pundit's annual tradition of haikus for the end of the year. 
• Part One. 
• Part Two.
• Part Three.
• Part Four.
  

 

A bit from around the world 

 

•  The Walrus has "2024: Year in Review." This list of stories has a more international perspective and offers stories about the rest of the world because no, contrary to what gringos think, it is not all about the U.S. Topics here include women in Afghanistan, dissidents in India, and mass market mountaineering (this you may want to read). 
• My Modern Met offers a list of 45 best photos from around the world in 2024. Check this out to see some beautiful photos. 
• Reporters Without Borders reports on the many lost lives of journalists covering war zones and repressive regimes around the world.

 

Film, music and television

An old time movie projector

 

Though I stay aware about media through reading about it, media is not really something high on my list of priorities. I am very much a reader, and I prefer to read books and articles over watching and/or listening to film, music, television, and other media. As I have written before, I tend to enjoy the comforts of watching or rewatching older media than worrying about whatever the heck is considered the latest. Yet in order to stay informed, in part because I am a librarian, I do read on the topic, and thus I take time to look over the annual highlight in film, music, and television. I am sure my four readers have probably experienced some of the things listed, so feel free to leave me a comment with your favorites, or perhaps which ones to avoid. 

• Film. Since I gave up going to movie theaters years ago, movies and film is not an area I worry too much about. I read enough to know what is in theaters, plus in social media people often can't shut up about whatever they're watching in theaters or streaming, so I manage to stay informed. For me, I usually watch stuff when it makes it to physical media, so I can borrow it from the library, or much later find it on a free streamer like TubiTv. Anyhow, let's see what others considered good or not in 2024. 
  
• Sojourners lists their top movies of 2024. From their list, I had heard of Furiosa (the Mad Max movie), Dune: Part 2 (I am waiting to watch this once it is complete, and I may want reread the book), and Conclave. 
• Rolling Stone always has lists of pop culture items in various categories. Here are their 10 best horror movies for 2024. I admit that aside from the new remake of Nosferatu I had not heard of any of these movies on their list. From their list, the South Korean film Exhuma is the one catching my eye. On a side note, I do enjoy international films, and I have often found some very good selections on TubiTv. Exhuma is the kind of thing they might pick up down the road. 
• UPI offers a list of "2024 worst movies." A lot of these are pretty much remakes, rehashes, and other recycled material no one really asked for, but the studios said fuck it and went for one more cash grab only to fail at the box office and/or critically.
   
• Music. This is certainly an area I do not follow very much, so I make this list to remind myself of what is out there and maybe find a thing or two to listen. I'll be honest. I pretty much stayed within my decade of the 1980s, and outside of that, the things I like are few and far between, but I am happy when I do discover something new to me that I end up liking.
  
• Associated Press has a list of 2024's best new holiday albums. I probably should have highlighted this story sooner. Some are new, some are reissues such as Toby Keith's 1995 Christmas album making the rounds again; the man passed away in 2024. List overall combines new albums with some reissues. 
• Among their end of year lists, Rolling Stone has their best country music albums and their best Spanish-language songs for the year. 
• The Guardian lists their best global albums of 2024. 
• Teen Vogue lists 15 best non-English albums of the year.
   
• Television. Yes, I am aware of the various television shows out there. No, I do not give a hoot about most of them, but if they bring you joy, go for it. There are one or two shows I am amazed are still on the air, especially in the reality television genre, but it is what it is. I tend to take comfort watching old favorites. This month, for example, I am rewatching the Granada Television Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett. For newer things, I just keep an eye out, and if they are good and get a DVD release, I may borrow from the public library. Anyhow, let's see what everyone else seems to be liking or not.
• Decider has a list of the saddest cancellations in television in 2024. I was not sad but apparently some people were. Most of the items on the list were apparently on pay streamers that I just don't have nor care about, so that is probably why I missed them and did not care. I see the first responders drama/soap opera genre, a la Third Watch (which I recently rewatched on Tubi) is alive and well on the list. If they're good, I may catch those down the road or not. No rush here. So, were you sad about any of these? Feel free to comment and give me reasons to seek out any of the shows listed, or warn me away from them. 
• Reality Blurred lists what they consider the best reality TV of 2024. This is a selection of what the author has watched. Article also gives a bit of an overview of the reality TV landscape for the year. Most of these to be honest I could not care less and there are at least one or two I never heard of, and I am at peace with that. I am a bit amazed Survivor is still hanging on. They also have a list of best true crime documentaries for the year. That list I may need to check out as I do like true crime now and then. The article is part of their "best evidence" series where they look at true crime in various ways. You can find a link for the "best evidence" series at top of the article.
  

 

Books and reading

I already did a holiday post on books and reading, so this covers some lists I found interesting that I may have missed and/or came after that post, plus some trivia about books and reading. On a side note, let me mention that I will be writing and posting my end of year reading list and report later this month on this blog, so stay tuned to see what I read in 2024.

• Via Literary Hub, the most scathing book reviews of the year. 
• Religion News Service has a list of their top picks in religion and spirituality. From their list I am currently reading White Poverty.
   

 

 Adult and risque

A nice woman wearing light blue lingerie, next to a Christmas tree, holding up a present. Pin up style

 This is where you can feel free to scroll on down if it is not your jam. But if it is, read on. 

• Pornhub revealed their top searches of 2024. I live in a retrograde puritan state that Pornhub said fuck it and blocked access, so you can read the summary in The New York Post. Post article includes link to the report if you live somewhere other than a shithole Christofascist state. 
• Clips 4 Sale, based on their data, finds that "chastity" is their 2025 Fetish of the Year. The NY Post has a summary if you prefer. Not my jam, but if it makes you happy and everyone consents have at it.
  

 

 

Miscellaneous

These are stories that did not fit any of the categories above and/or just random trivia.

• Word of the year, depending on which dictionary you ask.
• Cambridge Dictionary chose the word "manifest." Via Reader's Digest. 
• Dictionary.com chose "demure." Via ABC News. Apparently we can thank a couple of Tik Tok folks for that one. Whoop dee doo. 
• Oxford University Press chose "brain rot." Story via CBC. That one seems pretty applicable for the year and going into 2025. 
• Merriam-Webster settle on "polarization." Story via AP. Another very relevant word for this year and going into 2025. 
• FactCheck.org presents their 2024 FactCheck Awards. This looks at some unusual, odd, and/or cheeky political ads for the year. They also have a list of the Whoppers of 2024. Yes, there was a lot of lying and bullshit from public figures, so what else is new? 
• In more awards, EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) looks at the worst data breaches of the year.
  
• 2024 was a year that you could not get away from AI no matter how hard you tried, and it seems to be getting worse as we go into 2025. The Verge offers an AI year in review. 
• The Root looks at the wildest political moments of 2024. No, the Pendejo In Chief making a comeback is not the only wild moment. Among the highlights, remember JD Vance's "childless cat ladies" comment? 
• Google reveals their top search trends for 2024. Story via The New York Post. 
• Mother Jones has their list of Heroes and Monsters for 2024. 
  
• What is a yearly summary without a list of notable deaths? 
• The Latin Times has a list of notable deaths. This list features celebrities, public figures, and others. It does have quite a few names you might not have seen in other lists. Among the lost here: Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, Roger Corman, the American B-movies master, and Ratan Tata, Indian industrialist and head of Tata Group. 
• The Root looks at Black celebrities that died too young in 2024. 
• Religion News Service looks at faith leaders who died in 2024. Most of these folks did some good, but as often happens, there is at least one asshole on the list. 
• For the pagan community, they are facing the deaths of pagan pioneers and elders. Via Religion News Service.
  

Predictions for 2025

Predictions was a new category I added to this in 2023. People love to make all kinds of predictions about new year, and I found quite a few. This year I am breaking this down into trends, you know the pundits, experts, and gurus who tell us what to expect, and into esoterica where we look at things like astrology, Tarot, and other esoteric ways to predict what will happen. 

Trends: 

• Nieman Lab has their predictions for journalism in 2025. Some of these seem a bit optimistic, such as publishers figuring out that AI is not that lucrative, but we will have to see. 
• In his last show of the year, late night show host Jimmy Kimmel makes some predictions for 2025. Article includes link to the video clip. Via Daily Beast. 
• Quartz offers a list of predictions from various hoity toity people like bankers and bitcoin "experts." 
• Vox does something a bit different. They went back and looked at the predictions they made for 2024 to see which ones came true and which ones did not. Out of 24, they missed 10, so they got a bit more than half right. Among the predictions they got right: The Pendejo In Chief's return to the White House, climate getting hotter (I think that was kind of a low fruit given the climate patterns), and that Mexico would elect a woman for president.
  

 

Predictions and looking at the future:

A fluffy cat with a cloth on head, necklace, and crystal ball. Text: Let me check my crystal ball.

 

•  Reader's Digest presents some horoscopes for 2025. 
• From Teen Vogue: 
• Their 2025 horoscopes by astrological sign. 
• Their 2025 horoscopes based on the best songs of 2024. Not sure how well or not this works, but the idea caught my eye.
   
• Via OM Times: 
• Their 2025 Tarotscopes. You get a Tarot card for each Zodiac sign. 
• Their numerology overview. This year the number 9 is prominent. 
• Want to know how your pets may do in the new year? They got Pawscopes for 2025.
   
• Lisa Eddy, of Angelorum, offers "Angelic Tarot Wisdom for 2025" and also discusses the significance of 2025 being a 9 year. By the way, 9 is the number of The Hermit in Tarot. On a small side note, I consider The Hermit-IX one of my personal cards. Her post includes a Tarot spread you can try out.
  
• Theresa Reed, The Tarot Lady, has her "Ultra-Deluxe Superfly Astrology Guide for 2025." This has just about everything you may want to know about astrology in the year and then some more. This includes things such as dates, retrogrades, and other astrological details. This may be one to keep handy. 
• I did a small Tarot spread for New Year 2025. Feel free to check it out.