January is a weird month.

It may mark a “new start” in terms of the calendar, but it really is a big dead zone following three months of fast-paced activity.

Escaping into a good book is always recommended. But sometimes we also want to escape into some mindless entertainment like movies, television and video games. Well, here’s a trio of random reads that will do both:

The Art of Fallout 4 edited by Aaron Walker

Published by Dark Horse with a forward by the games’s lead artist Istvan Pely, this book is one of those art books that shows just how much imagination, skill, talent, and hard work goes into good video game design and storytelling. There are some beautifully detailed concept designs of characters, creatures, weapons, vehicles and most impressively, settings. My favorite section by far though, is the final chapter on “Illustratrion.” It features the game’s retro-futurism and dark humor through its parodies of advertising, propaganda, comics and magazines, movie posters, logos, military insignia, historic paintings and information workplace signs. It is overrun with so many cool designs, you might have too look through it several times. There are many great art of books spawned by video games, but with the popularity of the Fallout television series, this is an ideal one to read right now. The Amazon Prime series is not without its flaws, but one thing it really does right is celebrate the environment and worldbuilding the games do so well. If you haven’t played the game, this is a good way to see where many of the visuals and details in the show take inspiration.

Then play the games…because they are a “blast”.

Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In (Updated Edition) by Joe Bob Briggs

Another Dark Horse book is the new updated version of the cult classic horror movie icon’s 1987 bestseller, Joe Bob Goes the the Drive-In. I bought the original book as a senior in high school, after being an avid reader of his weekly humor and movie review Dallas Times Herald column (that ran in my city’s weekly entertainment insert) for some time. I purchased the book’s sequel Joe Bob Goes Back to the Drive-In when I was in college, and got to see and meet the man himself in the 90s. Now, in the age of social media, Joe Bob Briggs is back with a vengeance and has a bigger following than ever with The Last Drive-In Series on Shudder. As a result, his first collection of politically incorrect humor essays and movie reviews, with an introduction by Stephen King, has had a huge, glow-up in a big hardback oversized edition. Each original column is enhanced with great graphics and illustrations by comic artist Mike Norton. There are also a few published additions like letters and commentary. More than anything, this is the best opportunity to pick up a good version redneck masterpiece that is now hard to find.

No one, and I mean no one, tells a story like Joe Bob can, and you’d bee a fool for missing out on it.

The Art of Mondo written by Rob Jones

One of greatest things about this huge collection of the first decade of Mondo’s movie poster art is it is shows what good non-computer cookie-cutter layout or AI design should be. It features artwork by several of the Mondo artists on designs for movies ranging from early silver screen classics to modern day favorites. There are also posters for many animated features from Disney to Ghibli, television series and shorts. It is hard to pin down my favorites, but Ken Taylor’s design for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Francesco Francavilla’s The Invisible Man and The Creature from the Black Lagoon are up there. If you are tired of the predictable look of mainstream movie posters, this is wonderful reminder of the talent that is still out there in the design world. If you have an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in your area, you might be familiar with some of these images. Even is you aren’t you’ll be highly entertained and impressed by these gorgeous poster designs.

The beauty of a good coffee table book is it gives you that reading, visual arts, and sometimes a little performing arts fix all in one big cool volume. And, you can set it out and tempt others with it…just for the joy of reading and geeking out all year long.