50 book challenge update
It's been a while between posts and I'm behind.
5. Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today by Katherine Ramsland. Dude, people? Are freaks. Yeah, this is non-fiction and scary as hell because of it. Not that the author treats all vampires (and various subcultures involved with vampiric activity - from role players to Buffy fans) badly, but she's investigating the disappearance of Susan Walsh, a reporter researching vampire culture in New York. Luckily, Katherine is Anne Rice's biographer and somewhat of an expert and I think that got her into a whole lot of private circles. It's incredibly interesting to read, though. During the day. With a stake in hand.
6. Wonderboy by Stephen Cummings. Really sweet father/son story but mostly set in a fantasy/dream land. I enjoyed it but I suspect there was some deep and meaningful authorial intent which went straight over my head. *g*
7. Praise by Andrew McGahan. It's set in Brisbane so it's fun to catch all the references to suburbs and landmarks. The rest? Not so fun since it's all about unemployment, sex and drugs and stuff. It's darkly funny however - kinda like Trainspotting. The guy really knows how to write a character with eczema, though, I'll give him that. Will have to pass this one on to my sister because of that poor girl.
8. A Place in the Bay by Jane Anderson. Yes, it's a H&A novelisation of Tasha's storyline where she was trying to find out about her birth parents. It's written even more badly than the show and I *so* wanted to be given a shot at this story for the Robbie and Kim scenes - particularly those with Duncan because, *sigh*, those were the days. There're some interesting takes on Tasha, though. She's not one for telling us what she's thinking onscreen so to see her thoughts on the page was weird.
9. The Nimbin by Jenny Wagner. One of my childhood faves I decided to read again. It's pretty much a kids' classic in Australia now, right? I mean, there are sequels and everything. We used to go on camping trips as a family and, apart from the little mythical creatures, I remember them like this with all the kids from the campsites meeting up year after year and forming those temporary holiday friendships. Lots of fun.
10. How to Read Superhero Comics and Why by Geoff Klock. I started reading this ages ago before it got put on *that* pile beside the bed. The technical style of writing took some getting used to when dealing with Superman et al, and it's hard to believe I used to *excel* at spinning shit like this at 2am before they were due. Except I usually had to write about boring stuff like soil or integrated pest management and not superheroes. Anyway, I'm not entirely sure I could tell you exactly what the "revisionary superhero narrative" is, but he mentions the gay and that's enough for me. *g*
11. Loaded but Christos Tsiolkas. Another Aussie novel, which was made into the movie, Head On with Alex Dimitrades. Another book about sex and drugs, but hey, there's gay sex this time. I love how Ari identifies with the music he listens to and relates it to his life. And I really like the way it's written - stark and confronting and like Ari's just brain-dumping on us as we follow one day of his life.
12. I Have A Bed Made Of Buttermilk Pancakes by Jaclyn Moriarty. Okay, I loved this book so much when I started reading it, if you remember the squee-filled post. It did kinda drag on too long, and the ending wasn't nearly as...magical as I expected it to be, but it was still fun. And I laughed out loud way too many times to quote passages. I want to quote half the book. Just read.
13. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Re-read, obviously. And if you haven't read this book, do so right now. The end.
14. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman: Trinity by Matt Wagner. Graphic novels count. The evolution of the Super OT3. I love that this story focuses on Bruce, Clark and Diana as much as it does the heroes as it explores their relationships. And that Clark and Diana's POVs are first person but Bruce's isn't.
15. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. Meh. Didn't hate it, didn't love it, didn't stop reading half-way through, so it gets the thumbs up. I haven't even seen the movie even though I kinda like Mandy Moore as an actress.
16. Tongue First by Emily Jenkins. Um, I skimmed a lot, does it count? It's like a feminist book that makes a point of being sexy and rebellious. A 50c bin book I picked up a while back and never opened. The author decides to try everything from erotic dancing to drugs to body art all in the name of breaking inhibitions with the female body or something. Meh, maybe being a slasher into internet porn means we're just not shocked that easily.
17. What To Do When Life Sucks by Margaret Clark and Dr Claire Fox. This book is from the same bargain bin and I got it for the simple fact that I loved seeing the title on my bookshelf. It was comforting to know that whenever I was down, help was at hand in the form of the little green book. But when I actually *opened* the book, I realised it was just a self-help book for teens. It's funny, though. Starts with body image, ends with suicide so I figure if you get to the end of the book, your life really does suck. Being gay is right in the middle.
18. The Dog Walker by Leslie Schnur. Sometimes, a girl just needs to read chick-lit. But I'm particular and will *not* read about characters who want to settle down and have babies which a lot of this genre is about these days. If there's a baby, or baby-related paraphernalia on the cover, I'll walk on by. But if there are *dogs* on the cover...heh.
I could wax lyrical about how much I identified with Nina, but this gives you an idea:
Like her backpack filled with crap, Nina carried her disappointments with her. They were heavy, and she probably would have been better off to leave them at home, but she was used to their weight and would feel naked without them. Hell, in some ways she was proud of them. To have survived gave her more self-respect than had she never suffered at all. And it was impressive to others, to boot.
So thank god for Sam. On an ice-cold day in December, Nina found herself at the pound over on East Ninety-third. And on that day she fell in love, unconditionally and permanently, with an eleven-month-old mutt of questionable heritage, though she thought he was of the lab and spaniel persuasion. With Sam it was love at first sight, and it's only been up from there. Okay, so he is a dog. But after loving anything that way, you are spoiled forever. How full and deep human-to-human love must be in order to stand up to it.
Do you see? Yeah.
I loved this book. A story about obsessiveness, secrecy, friends who love you in spite of it, and dogs.
H&A: How cruel of the writers to make Kim choose between his pseudo sister and the man he loves his best friends or the future of his unborn child. Oh, but when Kim was telling Robbie not to get a cutesy beep beep car because he needed a man's car? He wasn't talking about cars. One day, Robbie will figure this out.
5. Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today by Katherine Ramsland. Dude, people? Are freaks. Yeah, this is non-fiction and scary as hell because of it. Not that the author treats all vampires (and various subcultures involved with vampiric activity - from role players to Buffy fans) badly, but she's investigating the disappearance of Susan Walsh, a reporter researching vampire culture in New York. Luckily, Katherine is Anne Rice's biographer and somewhat of an expert and I think that got her into a whole lot of private circles. It's incredibly interesting to read, though. During the day. With a stake in hand.
6. Wonderboy by Stephen Cummings. Really sweet father/son story but mostly set in a fantasy/dream land. I enjoyed it but I suspect there was some deep and meaningful authorial intent which went straight over my head. *g*
7. Praise by Andrew McGahan. It's set in Brisbane so it's fun to catch all the references to suburbs and landmarks. The rest? Not so fun since it's all about unemployment, sex and drugs and stuff. It's darkly funny however - kinda like Trainspotting. The guy really knows how to write a character with eczema, though, I'll give him that. Will have to pass this one on to my sister because of that poor girl.
8. A Place in the Bay by Jane Anderson. Yes, it's a H&A novelisation of Tasha's storyline where she was trying to find out about her birth parents. It's written even more badly than the show and I *so* wanted to be given a shot at this story for the Robbie and Kim scenes - particularly those with Duncan because, *sigh*, those were the days. There're some interesting takes on Tasha, though. She's not one for telling us what she's thinking onscreen so to see her thoughts on the page was weird.
9. The Nimbin by Jenny Wagner. One of my childhood faves I decided to read again. It's pretty much a kids' classic in Australia now, right? I mean, there are sequels and everything. We used to go on camping trips as a family and, apart from the little mythical creatures, I remember them like this with all the kids from the campsites meeting up year after year and forming those temporary holiday friendships. Lots of fun.
10. How to Read Superhero Comics and Why by Geoff Klock. I started reading this ages ago before it got put on *that* pile beside the bed. The technical style of writing took some getting used to when dealing with Superman et al, and it's hard to believe I used to *excel* at spinning shit like this at 2am before they were due. Except I usually had to write about boring stuff like soil or integrated pest management and not superheroes. Anyway, I'm not entirely sure I could tell you exactly what the "revisionary superhero narrative" is, but he mentions the gay and that's enough for me. *g*
11. Loaded but Christos Tsiolkas. Another Aussie novel, which was made into the movie, Head On with Alex Dimitrades. Another book about sex and drugs, but hey, there's gay sex this time. I love how Ari identifies with the music he listens to and relates it to his life. And I really like the way it's written - stark and confronting and like Ari's just brain-dumping on us as we follow one day of his life.
12. I Have A Bed Made Of Buttermilk Pancakes by Jaclyn Moriarty. Okay, I loved this book so much when I started reading it, if you remember the squee-filled post. It did kinda drag on too long, and the ending wasn't nearly as...magical as I expected it to be, but it was still fun. And I laughed out loud way too many times to quote passages. I want to quote half the book. Just read.
13. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Re-read, obviously. And if you haven't read this book, do so right now. The end.
14. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman: Trinity by Matt Wagner. Graphic novels count. The evolution of the Super OT3. I love that this story focuses on Bruce, Clark and Diana as much as it does the heroes as it explores their relationships. And that Clark and Diana's POVs are first person but Bruce's isn't.
15. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. Meh. Didn't hate it, didn't love it, didn't stop reading half-way through, so it gets the thumbs up. I haven't even seen the movie even though I kinda like Mandy Moore as an actress.
16. Tongue First by Emily Jenkins. Um, I skimmed a lot, does it count? It's like a feminist book that makes a point of being sexy and rebellious. A 50c bin book I picked up a while back and never opened. The author decides to try everything from erotic dancing to drugs to body art all in the name of breaking inhibitions with the female body or something. Meh, maybe being a slasher into internet porn means we're just not shocked that easily.
17. What To Do When Life Sucks by Margaret Clark and Dr Claire Fox. This book is from the same bargain bin and I got it for the simple fact that I loved seeing the title on my bookshelf. It was comforting to know that whenever I was down, help was at hand in the form of the little green book. But when I actually *opened* the book, I realised it was just a self-help book for teens. It's funny, though. Starts with body image, ends with suicide so I figure if you get to the end of the book, your life really does suck. Being gay is right in the middle.
18. The Dog Walker by Leslie Schnur. Sometimes, a girl just needs to read chick-lit. But I'm particular and will *not* read about characters who want to settle down and have babies which a lot of this genre is about these days. If there's a baby, or baby-related paraphernalia on the cover, I'll walk on by. But if there are *dogs* on the cover...heh.
I could wax lyrical about how much I identified with Nina, but this gives you an idea:
Like her backpack filled with crap, Nina carried her disappointments with her. They were heavy, and she probably would have been better off to leave them at home, but she was used to their weight and would feel naked without them. Hell, in some ways she was proud of them. To have survived gave her more self-respect than had she never suffered at all. And it was impressive to others, to boot.
So thank god for Sam. On an ice-cold day in December, Nina found herself at the pound over on East Ninety-third. And on that day she fell in love, unconditionally and permanently, with an eleven-month-old mutt of questionable heritage, though she thought he was of the lab and spaniel persuasion. With Sam it was love at first sight, and it's only been up from there. Okay, so he is a dog. But after loving anything that way, you are spoiled forever. How full and deep human-to-human love must be in order to stand up to it.
Do you see? Yeah.
I loved this book. A story about obsessiveness, secrecy, friends who love you in spite of it, and dogs.
H&A: How cruel of the writers to make Kim choose between his pseudo sister and the man he loves his best friends or the future of his unborn child. Oh, but when Kim was telling Robbie not to get a cutesy beep beep car because he needed a man's car? He wasn't talking about cars. One day, Robbie will figure this out.