diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 471a9d2..9e074bd 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ Usage
     $ doc8  -h
 
     usage: doc8 [-h] [--config path] [--allow-long-titles] [--ignore code]
-                [--ignore-path path] [--max-line-length int] [-e extension]
+                [--no-sphinx] [--ignore-path path] [--max-line-length int]
+                [-e extension] [-v]
                 [path [path ...]]
 
     Check documentation for simple style requirements.
@@ -55,12 +56,13 @@ Usage
       --allow-long-titles   allow long section titles (default: False)
       --ignore code         ignore the given errors code/codes
       --no-sphinx           do not ignore sphinx specific false positives
-      --ignore-path path
-                            ignore the given directory or file
+      --ignore-path path    ignore the given directory or file (globs are
+                            supported)
       --max-line-length int
                             maximum allowed line length (default: 79)
       -e extension, --extension extension
                             check file extensions of the given type (default:
                             .rst, .txt)
+      -v, --verbose         run in verbose mode
 
 .. _rst: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/introduction.html
diff --git a/doc8/main.py b/doc8/main.py
index 03be25b..0d48db4 100644
--- a/doc8/main.py
+++ b/doc8/main.py
@@ -169,8 +169,8 @@ def main():
                         help="do not ignore sphinx specific false positives",
                         default=True, dest='sphinx')
     parser.add_argument("--ignore-path", action="append", default=[],
-                        help="ignore the given directory or file",
-                        metavar='path')
+                        help="ignore the given directory or file (globs"
+                             " are supported)", metavar='path')
     parser.add_argument("--max-line-length", action="store", metavar="int",
                         type=int,
                         help="maximum allowed line"
@@ -194,15 +194,24 @@ def main():
     if not args.get('extension'):
         args['extension'] = list(FILE_PATTERNS)
     setup_logging(args.get('verbose'))
-    files = collections.deque()
-    ignored_paths = []
-    for path in args.pop('ignore_path', []):
-        ignored_paths.append(os.path.normpath(path))
+
     print("Scanning...")
-    for filename in utils.find_files(args.pop('paths', []),
-                                     args.pop('extension', []),
-                                     ignored_paths):
-        files.append(file_parser.parse(filename))
+    files = collections.deque()
+    ignored_paths = list(args.pop('ignore_path', []))
+    files_ignored = 0
+    files_selected = 0
+    file_iter = utils.find_files(args.pop('paths', []),
+                                 args.pop('extension', []), ignored_paths)
+    for filename, ignoreable in file_iter:
+        if ignoreable:
+            files_ignored += 1
+            if args.get('verbose'):
+                print("  Ignoring '%s'" % (filename))
+        else:
+            files_selected += 1
+            files.append(file_parser.parse(filename))
+            if args.get('verbose'):
+                print("  Selecting '%s'" % (filename))
 
     ignoreables = frozenset(args.pop('ignore', []))
     error_counts = {}
@@ -258,6 +267,8 @@ def main():
                                 % (type(c), c))
     total_errors = sum(six.itervalues(error_counts))
     print("=" * 8)
+    print("Total files scanned = %s" % (files_selected))
+    print("Total files ignored = %s" % (files_ignored))
     print("Total accumulated errors = %s" % total_errors)
     if error_counts:
         print("Detailed error counts:")
diff --git a/doc8/parser.py b/doc8/parser.py
index 9f7b82e..9f6a614 100644
--- a/doc8/parser.py
+++ b/doc8/parser.py
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ import six
 
 
 class ParsedFile(object):
+    FALLBACK_ENCODING = 'utf-8'
+
     def __init__(self, filename, encoding=None):
         self._filename = filename
         self._content = None
@@ -82,8 +84,11 @@ class ParsedFile(object):
 
     @property
     def encoding(self):
-        if self._encoding is None:
-            self._encoding = chardet.detect(self.raw_contents)['encoding']
+        if not self._encoding:
+            encoding = chardet.detect(self.raw_contents)['encoding']
+            if not encoding:
+                encoding = self.FALLBACK_ENCODING
+            self._encoding = encoding
         return self._encoding
 
     @property
diff --git a/doc8/utils.py b/doc8/utils.py
index c508523..4e50217 100644
--- a/doc8/utils.py
+++ b/doc8/utils.py
@@ -14,33 +14,46 @@
 # License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
 
+import glob
 import os
 
 
 def find_files(paths, extensions, ignored_paths):
     extensions = set(extensions)
+    ignored_absolute_paths = set()
+    for path in ignored_paths:
+        for expanded_path in glob.iglob(path):
+            expanded_path = os.path.abspath(expanded_path)
+            ignored_absolute_paths.add(expanded_path)
 
     def extension_matches(path):
         _base, ext = os.path.splitext(path)
         return ext in extensions
 
-    def path_ignored(path):
-        return os.path.normpath(path) in ignored_paths
+    def path_ignorable(path):
+        path = os.path.abspath(path)
+        if path in ignored_absolute_paths:
+            return True
+        last_path = None
+        while path != last_path:
+            # If we hit the root, this loop will stop since the resolution
+            # of "/../" is still "/" when ran through the abspath function...
+            last_path = path
+            path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(path, os.path.pardir))
+            if path in ignored_absolute_paths:
+                return True
+        return False
 
     for path in paths:
-        if path_ignored(path):
-            continue
         if os.path.isfile(path):
             if extension_matches(path):
-                yield path
+                yield (path, path_ignorable(path))
         elif os.path.isdir(path):
             for root, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(path):
-                if path_ignored(root):
-                    continue
                 for filename in filenames:
                     path = os.path.join(root, filename)
-                    if extension_matches(path) and not path_ignored(path):
-                        yield path
+                    if extension_matches(path):
+                        yield (path, path_ignorable(path))
         else:
             raise IOError('Invalid path: %s' % path)