Alan & Jono's Watching/Reading List: October 2026 (Patreon)

Alan:

Hello Heroes!

Vessel prep is going full speed! We’re making a MOVIE!!! Which leaves me so much time for reading and watching and playing! (Not really. Free-time is way down this month.)

What I’m reading!

The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman. Working my way through the Dungeon Crawler Carl books, mainly as gym listens. Boy this series is getting crunchy. About half of this book was just explaining rules. Which bores me to tears. The action is great, and the character stuff is actually compelling in these books, but man. The rules crap. I’m not the target audience for that level of crunch.

I’ve started, or am working on, six other books this month. Megan is constantly baffled by how I can read so many things at once. Must be nice to not have ADHD sometimes, but not when it comes to that!

What I’m watching!

Taxi Driver: I kinda liked this one? Still going through the Scorcese back-catalog, and there’s a lot to get through. I do find it interesting that Scorcese is obsessed with telling stories about the worst people, but man… not fun to watch. And frankly, I’m not sure the filmmaking is as transcendent as everyone always claims. Whatever. Soldiering on.

Digger: You know what. I’m gonna call it. I’m not a fan of Alejandro Iñárritu. I don’t like his movies. I don’t even think they’re good. I thought this movie had one interesting idea, that comes at 45 minutes, and then doesn’t evolve that idea or do anything with it for ALMOST 2 MORE HOURS OF RUNTIME! The performances were great though.

Whalefall: This was right up my alley. What a great time! What I’m learning over the last several months of film viewing is that I am a true vulgarian. I like movies that are fun and interesting. Getting swallowed by a whale is fun and interesting.

What I’m playing!

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Resync: Still. But also:

Halo: Campaign Evolved: I’m playing it split screen with my sons. And you’ll be shocked to learn that they love it. Probably not as much as I loved it back when it first came out, and I played hundreds of hours of Halo, but still. Great games stay great forever.

Watch Movies! (And television, and read books, and play video games)

Jono:

Hello all! Another month has absolutely zipped by! Hoping you all are enjoying spooky season!

This month I kicked off a re-read of Stephen King's Doctor Sleep. Taking place some 30 years after The Shining, it's one of my favorite book sequels. Mike Flanagan's film adaptation is excellent as well. King once said "there is no horror if there is no caring and love." This book is an excellent example of that. I've only read these two King books, but I might have to get into his catalogue. The way he balances and contrasts light and dark, evil and good, humanity and depravity really speaks to me.

SO many movies this month! Every Friday night we do "double-feature Friday" with the kids. We've got a spread of ages, so we always start with a family movie, put the younger kids to bed, then watch something with a little bit more bite. Highlights this month include Paranorman, Hocus Pocus, Coraline, Corpse Bride, Monster House, The Ring, Drag Me to Hell, Ghostbusters, and Clue.

This weekend I'm watching Casper (1995) for the first time! I know, I know. As Alan would say, it's one of my movie holes. We're saving Nightmare Before Christmas for Halloween night. It's the perfect film to watch while eating candy and wrapping up the holiday, pivoting you from trick-or-treating towards Christmas.

What are you all watching and reading this month?