I thoroughly enjoy reading Jason Kottke’s monthly media diet posts, so I decided to try something similar with my monthly reading for this year. I thought it would be a good writing challenge and help keep me fresh between longer reviews.
Spellbound, Volume 3 by Jean Dufaux – Despite the faux-Disney character designs, this is a pitch-black story about a young woman who murders her mother in self defense only to realize that she enjoys the power that comes with royalty. REALLY LIKED IT
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin – This was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. I have very strong memories of reading and re-reading it, even if the details of the book slipped my memory after more than two decades. The only thing that stuck with me was the reveal at the end of the book, so re-reading it this time was like uncovering buried memories. The audiobook version also gave it a new dimension that I never experienced as a kid. One thing that surprised me about this book is that the adult characters get as much stage time as the teenage girl who would be the more traditional YA heroine these days. This book doesn’t talk down to kids, if only because there’s so much going on thematically that the story works on multiple levels. It’s also held up very well despite being published in 1978. LOVED IT
Loverboys by Gilbert Hernández – I keep reading these standalone stories that exist tangentially in the Love & Rockets universe because I’m in the mood for a quick read, but I’ve only really liked one or two of them, and one I flat-out hated. This one fell somewhere in the middle. It was elliptical and weird and not much happened. One of these days I’m going to give the series proper another go – I do like the art style, after all. LIKED IT
Early Riser by Jasper Fforde – I think it’s fair to say the Fforde is one of my favorite authors. He’s got such a bizarre sensibility and manages to keep things fresh and weird with every new book. The Thursday Next books are probably my favorites of his work, but this standalone story was just as good as the best of those, and didn’t end with the promise of future installments like Shades of Grey, which is feeling more and more like an unintentional standalone with every passing year. Early Riser takes a basic premise – that humans have always hibernated – and runs with it, building whole new societal structures around this biological necessity. Much like most of his other works, this results in a dystopian society. Early Riser is a very funny book, but it’s also one of his darker dystopias, with hibernation resulting in potential zombification, cannibalism, “farming” for repopulation or being “parted out” for transplants. I really enjoyed the ride, with all of its weird little details and digressions, although the climax did feel like it wrapped things up very quickly. I’m always glad to read new Fforde, and look forward to the next of his books, whatever and whenever that might be. LOVED IT
The Boys, Omnibus Volume 1 by Garth Ennis – Watching the trailer for the upcoming Amazon series made me decide to finally pick up and read this series, which I’ve heard about here and there over the years. I ended up really liking this volume, although I wasn’t entirely sure what to think at points. It feels like a book from the 80s or 90s, but it was first published in the early 2000s and is set around the same time. Parts of the book are pretty gruesome, and it seems like series isn’t going to shy away from depicting the gore and perversion. I’m not sure how well that will work in a live-action setting, but I’ll give it a chance if I can find time to watch it without my girlfriend. Worth checking out for its combination of misanthropy crossed with inverted tropes. REALLY LIKED IT
Vacationland by John Hodgman – I really love Hodgman’s work. He’s got a great comedic sensibility, and he’s the perfect narrator for his own stories. This is his first book without made-up facts, focusing instead on short memoirs of his life on vacation and how things changed for him after his sudden fame. These aren’t particularly eventful stories, and they probably won’t blow your mind with their unique insights, but they’re well-told and entertaining, and I loved every minute of the audio version. I just hope he decides to write a novel some day, if only because I love him best when he takes flights of fancy. LOVED IT