book reviews!
(i haven't done this in a while so there are a lot. sorry?)
the mysterious benedict society by trenton lee stewart: this was pretty enjoyable! i really like middlegrade mystery book that you can solve along with the kids. it's why i used to read the shit out of the encyclopedia brown books, you know? i'm also happy that my library has the rest of these as ebooks, so the next time i find myself stranded without something to read i can just download one of these to my phone.
lies my teacher told me by james w. loewen: this was really interesting! i had pretty terrible history classes all through high school, which sucked because before then i really loved my social studies classes. so naturally it was a lot of fun for me to learn all of this stuff.
magic bites by ilona andrews: i bought this because there was an amazing short story set in this 'verse in one of the anthologies i bought earlier this year. this book was really fucking awesome. you should just go read my review at goodreads because it really says everything important. (also add me on goodreads! i generally write better, less fangirl-y reviews over there.)
the wonderful wizard of oz (graphic novel) by eric shanower & co: i still want to read the actual book. but i'm also really impressed with myself for reading and understanding a graphic novel, so whatever! yay!
how the beatles destroyed rock n roll by elijah wald: GAH, I LOVED THIS. the title is pretty misleading, but the book is SO FUCKING INTERESTING. it's basically a history of music in america, from about 1900-1970 or so? wald talks a lot about the different music formats, and how records and radio and dancing all changed music completely. it's a bit of a dense read, but i thought it was definitely worth it.
how to live safely in a science fictional universe by charles yu: i know i keep saying that i don't understand how this book got published, but I REALLY DON'T. it's about a guy named charles yu who time travels back and gives himself a book he wrote called "how to live safely in a science fictional universe" which he then has to write so he can travel back in time and... it's like if john green wrote doctor who. it was brilliant, basically.
sisters red by jackson pearce: meh. it's an interesting story with some great characters, but the writing really kills any momentum that builds up.
hipster haiku by someone: fantastic.
stardust by neil gaiman: i liked this more than i've liked any other gaiman book, which everyone told me i would, but i still didn't love it the way i had hoped i would. his writing just doesn't set me on fire, i guess.
white cat by holly black: purchased on a whim, really enjoyed it. the 'verse is very well-done. i actually caught myself thinking about it all as though it was real a few times. i'm excited to read the next one, but of course i've got nine million other things to read first.
tender morsels by margo lanagan: this book is nearly impossible to describe and, if you are anything like me, will have you saying, "WHAT THE FUCK AM I READING?" a lot through the first section of the book. once you get past all of the horrifying rape-y parts, the story blossoms into a beautiful, painful, heartbreaking world that really makes you question what it is to be happy. liga seriously broke my heart, so many times. this is definitely worth a read, but probably not if you require trigger warnings.
the great gatsby by f. scott fitzerald: i never read this in high school, cos i liked being told what to do even less then than i do now. i'm pretty glad i didn't- the writing (which was lovely) would have been completely wasted on me then, and that was really the only part of the book i found to be worthwhile.
the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by douglas adams: i read this once, ages ago, but i never read the rest of the books because my library only had the omnibus edition and i fucking hate omnibus editions. anyway, this was an incredibly fast read and i really enjoyed it. normally things that have as much fannish hype as this just annoy me because i already know the jokes or whatever and i always end up at least a little disappointed, but not with this. (i'm acting like this was my first time reading it because i have such a shit memory that it basically WAS my first time reading it. everything i knew was from repeated jokes/quoted lines, and the movie, which i really love.)
i am a genius of unspeakable evil and i want to be your class president by josh lieb: this was a fun, fast read. it was really engaging, and definitely grade for any nerdy middle schoolers you know. i really disliked the ending though. (i am one of those soppy people who likes things with ~messages~ and ~feelings~ or whatever. speaking of, did y'all know soul surfer was a BOOK? i'm gonna read it since nobody wants to see the movie with me.)
the mysterious benedict society by trenton lee stewart: this was pretty enjoyable! i really like middlegrade mystery book that you can solve along with the kids. it's why i used to read the shit out of the encyclopedia brown books, you know? i'm also happy that my library has the rest of these as ebooks, so the next time i find myself stranded without something to read i can just download one of these to my phone.
lies my teacher told me by james w. loewen: this was really interesting! i had pretty terrible history classes all through high school, which sucked because before then i really loved my social studies classes. so naturally it was a lot of fun for me to learn all of this stuff.
magic bites by ilona andrews: i bought this because there was an amazing short story set in this 'verse in one of the anthologies i bought earlier this year. this book was really fucking awesome. you should just go read my review at goodreads because it really says everything important. (also add me on goodreads! i generally write better, less fangirl-y reviews over there.)
the wonderful wizard of oz (graphic novel) by eric shanower & co: i still want to read the actual book. but i'm also really impressed with myself for reading and understanding a graphic novel, so whatever! yay!
how the beatles destroyed rock n roll by elijah wald: GAH, I LOVED THIS. the title is pretty misleading, but the book is SO FUCKING INTERESTING. it's basically a history of music in america, from about 1900-1970 or so? wald talks a lot about the different music formats, and how records and radio and dancing all changed music completely. it's a bit of a dense read, but i thought it was definitely worth it.
how to live safely in a science fictional universe by charles yu: i know i keep saying that i don't understand how this book got published, but I REALLY DON'T. it's about a guy named charles yu who time travels back and gives himself a book he wrote called "how to live safely in a science fictional universe" which he then has to write so he can travel back in time and... it's like if john green wrote doctor who. it was brilliant, basically.
sisters red by jackson pearce: meh. it's an interesting story with some great characters, but the writing really kills any momentum that builds up.
hipster haiku by someone: fantastic.
stardust by neil gaiman: i liked this more than i've liked any other gaiman book, which everyone told me i would, but i still didn't love it the way i had hoped i would. his writing just doesn't set me on fire, i guess.
white cat by holly black: purchased on a whim, really enjoyed it. the 'verse is very well-done. i actually caught myself thinking about it all as though it was real a few times. i'm excited to read the next one, but of course i've got nine million other things to read first.
tender morsels by margo lanagan: this book is nearly impossible to describe and, if you are anything like me, will have you saying, "WHAT THE FUCK AM I READING?" a lot through the first section of the book. once you get past all of the horrifying rape-y parts, the story blossoms into a beautiful, painful, heartbreaking world that really makes you question what it is to be happy. liga seriously broke my heart, so many times. this is definitely worth a read, but probably not if you require trigger warnings.
the great gatsby by f. scott fitzerald: i never read this in high school, cos i liked being told what to do even less then than i do now. i'm pretty glad i didn't- the writing (which was lovely) would have been completely wasted on me then, and that was really the only part of the book i found to be worthwhile.
the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by douglas adams: i read this once, ages ago, but i never read the rest of the books because my library only had the omnibus edition and i fucking hate omnibus editions. anyway, this was an incredibly fast read and i really enjoyed it. normally things that have as much fannish hype as this just annoy me because i already know the jokes or whatever and i always end up at least a little disappointed, but not with this. (i'm acting like this was my first time reading it because i have such a shit memory that it basically WAS my first time reading it. everything i knew was from repeated jokes/quoted lines, and the movie, which i really love.)
i am a genius of unspeakable evil and i want to be your class president by josh lieb: this was a fun, fast read. it was really engaging, and definitely grade for any nerdy middle schoolers you know. i really disliked the ending though. (i am one of those soppy people who likes things with ~messages~ and ~feelings~ or whatever. speaking of, did y'all know soul surfer was a BOOK? i'm gonna read it since nobody wants to see the movie with me.)