Shawn Towner
An interesting concept for a novel (adolescent boy obsessed with mapping out every aspect of his life) with wonderful illustrations, but the problem with a novel that seems to want to be like a David Foster Wallace novel is that there was only one DFW.
This would make an interesting book club pairing with [b:Made for Love 32600556 Made for Love Alissa Nutting https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480669388s/32600556.jpg 53181276]. Both books deal with the complexity of 21st-century romance and the complexity of having sex with a fish.
An incredibly detailed and often engaging history of the last 40-50 years or so. It's also strangely dispassionate. I suppose the author is trying to present things how they actually occurred, using the collection of vignettes and stories to make a point, but it was different that a lot of other non-fiction, where the point is much more overt. I also suppose that it's strange that I'm complaining about a book being subtle and understated in much of its commentary. There are probably a lot of people who would think that's a good thing.
This went from one of my most anticipated reads of the summer to what will surely be one of the summer's biggest disappoints. The novel mixes post-apocalyptic dystopian realism with what I guess would be considered aspects of weird fiction, and although I normally love mixing and blending of genres, it doesn't work for me here. All of the weird stuff (telekinesis, controlling animals, bat boys) is all explained away by the presence of radiation which contributes to accelerated evolution. And that explantion gets repeated so often throughout the novel (or at least to me it seemed to) that it begins sounding more like an excuse.
The novel also makes use of multiple-perspective, which, again, I generally enjoy. But sometimes the perspective changes mid-chapter, which bothered me. I know that multiple-perspectives doesn't always have to work in the one narrator to a chapter model of Game of Thrones or Faulkner, but I got frustrated by the perspectives shifting without the closure of the ending of a chapter. And since the narrative perspectives often lack closure, the books seems to drag, as if we're slowly plodding along from St. Louis to Oregon with the characters. I know Benjamin Percy is a good writer. I've enjoyed his writing in the past. But I'm just not feeling it with this one.
I think I would have appreciated this before I went back to grad school. Having read all sorts of writing research, there's not much new here for me. But that also means that I'm not really the audience for this book. There is a huge disconnect between the research world of academia and the pedagogical reality of K-12 education. For a reader who's unfamiliar with writing research or the policy statements of NCTE, CCCC of the WPA council, this book could be eye-opening. I think it would make a great professional book club selection for teachers and administrators, as a lot of the book deals with education and schooling in general, with writing and the five-paragraph essay serving as examples of the counterproductive norms of standardized education.
If you read this on a Kindle, the progress bar will make it seem much longer than it actually is, as almost 40% of the book is Appendix. But the non-appendix part of the book is a really enjoyable read, just as much about stand-up comedy and finding your place in life as it is about a consuming passion for film.
Anaphora overload, bad jokes (“Dylan had gone electric,” in reference to a violent hurricane), and all sorts of primetime crime-solving cliches. There's an interesting contrast and connection between the murder investigation and the main character's return home to his estranged and hospitalized father, but the procedural stuff is just too schlocky to coincide with the more introspective aspects of the novel.
I started the book with high expectations. I had heard only good things about the book, and the opening chapter read like an Easy Reader Kurt Vonnegut. I love Kurt Vonnegut, so I anticipated enjoying some Vonnegut-lite. In spite of its enjoyable style, The Book Thief is unfortunately overambitious.
The novel tries to deal with a variety of themes: growing up, family, death (who narrates the book), the joy/power of books/learning, WWII, Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, the psyche of the German people during WWII, the list could go on and on. Although it's admirable to attempt such a broad portrayal, The Book Thief never really manages to tie everything together. It's a good book, but one that tries to be much more than it actually is.
Beautiful artwork, although it's presented in frames that are often distracting or difficult to follow. Everything I read about this reboot really emphasized Batwoman sexuality (she's a lesbian), but that aspect of the character seemed more tacked on than actually necessary. Naturally, I enjoyed the variety and quality of the Lewis Carroll references, although I wish the authors hadn't decided to so blatantly point out the connection. A villainess who calls herself Alice and makes references to things being curious or not being afraid of falling down the stairs should be obvious enough; if the Batwoman readers aren't savvy enough to make the connection, that's their problem, there's no need to insult the rest of us by pointing out the obvious.
Any review of The Finkler Question is required to make at least a passing reference to Woody Allen, so I'd like to say that the first half of this book is like Annie Hall-era Woody Allen. Funny, engaging, a pitch-perfect work. The second half of the book, however, is more like Everyone Says I Love You Woody Allen. Flawed, not as fun, and it makes you feel sort of uncomfortable finding young Natalie Portman so attractive.
I certainly didn't read every book that came out in 2009, nor will I ever, but I doubt I'll read a book from 2009 that is as good as Last Night in Twisted River.
Basically the first 20 minutes of a Spiderman movie. Superman has super-awesome powers that make him super-awesome and he can get all sorts of super-awesome jobs, but he has to deal with the reality that maybe he's meant to do more than play sports or make buttloads of money. Then a bunch of aliens try to blow up Earth, Superman beats them down, fake interviews himself, then uses that fraudulent interview to lie his way onto the Daily Planet. In fact, this is exactly the plot of the first 20-30 minutes of the first Spiderman movie. I don't even like comic books, but even I know Superman deserves better than this.
The first chapter of this book is perfect. I'd love to teach it as an example of how to introduce characters and settings without being entirely direct or giving too much away.
Since I have too much to read, I probably rushed through too much of this book. There wasn't enough Phillipe Petit as I expected, but the section about the mothers who lost sons in Vietnam was absolutely brillant. It captures the loss and emotional stress that war can cause on even those who aren't actually in the war, as well as demonstrating the fear that horrific events can bring about. It's amazing that something about Vietnam and a WTC circus stunt can be so exquisitely and subtly related to the events of 9/11.
Better than the first book in the series, but still nowhere near as good as Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom. I think reading those books before the Grisha trilogy has really soured my experience of these books.
Easily one of the worst books I've ever read. The author seems to think that by repeating various iterations of Hobo Vampire Junkie Sluts that the words will somehow gain meaning. There is no plot, the characters are given names and repeatedly called hobo vampire junkie sluts, but they are all entirely interchangeable. A complete and thorough waste of my time.
I've heard this described as the greatest comic book/graphic novel ever, but I'm not sure if it's as good as [b:Garfield in Paradise 1435128 Garfield in Paradise Jim Davis https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1183569834s/1435128.jpg 1425682].
A pretty good book, although I'm not sure why it won the National Book Award. I enjoy books with multiple narrators, so I liked that about the book, but it certainly isn't unique or innovative. The author does manage to cram a lot into a relatively short novel. It's not just about horse racing (in fact, the actual racing of horses plays a fairly small role in the novel), with subplots ranging from small-time gangster stories, personal and romantic relationships, hard-luck characters trying to earn a little stability in life, and a poorly explained thread about a young horse manager apparently becoming a gigolo and going insane.
Quality satire, but even though it's a fairly short book, it gets repetitive after a while.
A fire-breathing superheroes fighting zombies, a sexy ninja chick sneaking up on people and beating the crap out of them, a man of pure energy making terribly uncalled for pop-culture references: what's not to like? More of an action novel than a zombie survival novel, I actually enjoyed it more than Ex-Heroes, and I freakin' loved Ex-Heroes.
I really enjoyed the artwork and coloring of the book, but the story just didn't do it for me. At various times the story is a little bit funny, a little bit sad, or a little bit heartwarming. But it never really goes on past that little bit. Maybe it's just that the main character is named Jimmy, but I couldn't help comparing this book to Jimmy Corrigan, and it certainly doesn't hold up to that standard.