Books, Blogs, and Brain Clouds No. 44 (April/May 2026)


Books, Blogs, and Brain Clouds

No. 44 (April / May 2026)

Contents:


-My Latest Projects

-Blog Updates

-Hopefuls Spotlight

-Reader's Corner

-A Brain Cloud

My Latest Projects

1) I can only give a tease, unfortunately, but there's been some good news regarding my long-gestating project with Mike Berenstain. I hope to be able to share more later this summer!

2) As always, I'm keeping up with new Beginner Books as they are released. There have been three so far in 2026, including the brand new A Trip with BLIP, which unfortunately I did not enjoy.

3) My comic strip, Zuzu the Groundhog, has six chapters so far, with he seventh through ninth due to be published in the next couple of months. Each "chapter" (between 7 and 12 strips) tells a complete story. Check it out here: http://comicsbypaul.com/

Blog Updates

On my music blog, I've completed my "Beginner's Guide to Yacht Rock." It answers almost everything you've ever wondered about rock's most smoothest microgenre, from the best songs to the best albums to the modern-day torchbearers.

Hopefuls Spotlight

In my last newsletter I mentioned that Spymob were back together and teasing new music. Well, now we have a brand new 10-song album, Another Night, and it's like no time has passed at all since their last album over 20 years ago. You can check out the entire thing on Bandcamp, or wait until it's on streaming services in a couple of months.

Reader's Corner

I've been on a nonfiction kick lately. I read Future Boy, Michael J. Fox's memoir of filming Back to the Future, and Keza McDonald's history of Nintendo, Super Nintendo. Now I'm reading Mac Barnett's controversy-creating Make Believe and Peter Straub's Ghost Story.

Comics-wise, I've just finished the DC KO epic, and am onto Batman and Robin: Year One.

And Finally, a Brain Cloud

www.paulvallen.com

https://comicsbypaul.com


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