Bibliomania.

The Homing, Jeffrey Campbell

2009-12-17T04:19:36Z

George Kenner's daughter Katherine moved to a small town and changed entirely. When George finally gets the courage to go and visit his kid, he's dismayed by Katherine's domesticity and seeming content.

George has ideas about some weird government-sponsored ESP project, but the truth turns out to be way creepier.

This was pretty good. Sometimes it pays to pick up obscure horror novels the library discards. Usually it doesn't.

The Nero Wolfe Cookbook, Rex Stout and Others

2009-12-14T03:00:53Z

This strikes me more as the thing you give to someone who's into Nero Wolfe books than an actual cookbook. Part of that is that the recipes have so many ingredients that are tough to find (squab, pheasant) or prohibitively expensive (caviar, truffles). Then there's the fact that the recipes are kind of hard to follow. It'll just say to cook something, with no mention of how long or at what temperature.

It doesn't help that a lot of the ingredients are either not to my taste or things I actively find gross.

Capyboppy, Bill Peet

2009-12-14T02:56:23Z

The author tells of a capybara that came to live with his family and scare the cats. The illustrations are adorable.

An Autobiography, Bill Peet

2009-12-14T02:55:01Z

Story of this dude's life-from a kid obsessed with drawing to a dude working on the first ever Disney films to a full-time writer of picture books.

The book is interesting and the illustrations are great.

Odd John, Olaf Stapledon

2009-12-14T02:52:40Z

This novel is supposed to be the biography of a "superior human," a weird-looking smart dude who thinks of all us normal people as animals. It's a weird story, filled with xenophobia and casual racism. Also, not much was said to convince me this guy or his friends were superior to anybody.

Under the Wolf, Under the Dog; Adam Rapp

2009-12-07T11:23:10Z

Nick writes a diary about his brother's suicide, his mom's death, and how he wound up in the mental hospital.

This book did not blow me away, and I don't see why the hell it would be compared to Catcher in the Rye, except that reviewers like to do that.

A Family Affair, Rex Stout

2009-12-06T06:28:03Z

I really try not to read two novels by the same author in a row, but I was checking to see if I'd read the last novel in the omnibus and I just didn't stop reading.

A man who works as a waiter at Nero Wolfe's favorite restaurant comes to ask for help. Wolfe has gone to bed, so Archie Goodwin puts the waiter guy in a spare bedroom. A scant few minutes later, a bomb goes off and the guest is dead in a very gruesome way.

Of course this cannot stand. In the process of the investigation, another, previous, murder becomes part of the puzzle--and then someone else is murdered.

I didn't think Rex Stout could surprise me, but this one did it. Particularly the way it was resolved.

Please Pass the Guilt, Rex Stout

2009-12-06T06:18:04Z

As a favor, Nero Wolfe agrees to see a neurotic man imagining blood on his hands. This leads him directly into a very convoluted bombing case.

Very good mystery.

There is something bugging me about the Nero Wolfe mysteries, and here it is: The first book was written in the late thirties. At a conservative estimate, we'll put Archie in his twenties and Wolfe in his forties. The last book in my seven-book omnibus came out in 1975. This would put Archie in his seventies and Wolfe in his nineties. And they aren't written as old dodderers, just a milk-obsessed detective and a cantankerous fat dude who is really smart.

I know mystery authors don't like to age their characters very much, but common sense says some time has to pass between adventures.

I don't know, it bugs me, but it doesn't bug me enough to make me quit reading.

Astro City: Family Album

2009-12-06T06:14:48Z

Three stories: family moves to Astro City and finds it more exciting than they expected, little girl superhero wants a more normal life, so she goes off on an adventure to learn to play hopscotch, and Jack-in-the-Box gets some visitors from the future.

Jack-in-the-Box is a scary-assed superhero. I would not want to meet him in the dark. Yeegh. Clowns.

Anyway, this is a very good comic collection. I like the way Astro City approaches things, especially after the other crap I read this week.

Hellblazer: The Gift, Mike Carey, Leonardo Manco & Frazer Irving

2009-12-06T06:09:04Z

The pattern of Hellblazer stories is starting to annoy the fuck out of me, so I think I will quit reading the damn things.

Ultimate Galactus Trilogy

2009-12-06T06:03:37Z

There are some interesting concepts in these comics, but that does not make the characters or dialogue any less annoying.

Also, why is a black Nick Fury calling everyone "boy"?

Doom Patrol: Planet Love

2009-12-06T05:59:27Z

The art in this pretty much sucks. And I can't really say much more for the plot.

Curiosities of Literature, John Sutherland

2009-12-06T05:55:48Z

This book is full of all sorts of weird facts regarding books and authors. It is fascinating and sometimes funny.

Mystery!: A Celebration, Ron Miller

2009-12-01T04:44:29Z

This is a book about PBS's "Mystery!" series. It came out about 13 years ago. Still, the book is quite interesting, and I wrote down about 12 things to try and rent from the library.

The main problem with that is the shows are old--"Reilly, Ace of Spies," the first show I looked up, is only available on VHS through the library database.

American Elf Book Three, James Kochalka

2009-11-26T10:29:07Z

This is a collection of two years of diary comics. They are all pretty damn neat.

I want to read more of these comics, but this is the only one you can order through my library for some fucking reason.

Shadows Over Baker Street

2009-11-26T10:26:20Z

These stories attempt to put Sherlock Holmes in a Lovecraftian context. So if you think this concept is too silly for words, you are not this book's audience.

It is a very silly idea, and never really a scary one, but most of the stories are quite readable. There was one that was based more on the films than on the stories, though--Watson was a fat, easily shocked idiot always thinking about food--and that one was kind of annoying.

The Sneaky Book for Girls, Cy Tymony

2009-11-26T10:21:01Z

There's lots of neat info in this book, from how to install spy gear in your clothes to how to break someone's grip on you.

Mail Me Art

2009-11-26T10:18:03Z

A collection from a project this guy did where people sent him mail art for a year, and then he sold it and sent them the money.

Mail art, in case you didn't know, is when you draw (or whatever) something on an envelope before you mail it to someone.

There's some neat stuff in this book.

How to Make a Journal of Your Life, Daniel Price

2009-11-21T11:00:41Z

A little book about journal keeping, this is pretty neat.

I think it's my curiosity about how other people do things that keeps me reading this type of book. Also, I am always looking for new things to write about--my life is so dull.

An Illustrated Life

2009-11-21T10:57:34Z

This is a collection of excerpts from different artists' sketchbooks, along with essays about how and why they keep them. The whole thing is pretty neat to look at, and I found some artists I definitely need to check out.

Also, it was so neat when I finally realized who Christian Slade was, and that I'd get to look at his sketchbook!

The Diary of Victor Frankenstein, Roscoe Cooper & Timothy Basil Ering

2009-11-21T10:53:09Z

This is a really neat-looking book which thankfully is based on the Frankenstein novel rather than any of the movies. The art is really cool. The only problem is that sometimes it's impossible to read--which turns out to be okay because there's a transcription of the entire thing in the back.

Change Your Underwear Twice A Week, Danny Gregory

2009-11-21T10:48:14Z

This book is about filmstrips, which were a big part of my school life. I don't know if they're still using them today. Anyway, the author explores a bunch of them here, highlighting the art, the strange messages and the propaganda.

The whole thing is pretty fascinating.

The Gates, John Connolly

2009-11-17T10:34:58Z

A kid trying to get a head start on trick-or-treating is the first to find out that four foolish people (and the large hadron collider) have opened a gate to hell. Now hell wants out.

This is an entertaining and funny book. Actually, I kept wondering why they didn't ask Connolly to write the new Hitchhiker's Guide book instead of the Artemis Fowl dude.

The worst-Case Scenario Almanac: Politics, David Borgenicht and Turk Regan

2009-11-17T10:30:38Z

This book is very entertaining, with great stories, some interesting charts, and instructions on everything from how to kiss a drooly baby to how to avoid an oddly specific ninja attack.

Thankfully, most of the information is from the past, so it didn't depress me the way politics usually does.

When She was Bad, Jonathan Nasaw

2009-11-06T10:44:16Z

Dr. Corder has a new and controversial treatment for multiple personalities: he destroys most of the personas with electric shocks. Unfortunately, one of his most famous patients--a particularly nasty serial killer--is hiding the fact that his worst personality is still hanging around.

Pretty fucked up story, hard to put down. Also pretty much debunks Dr. Corder's solution. I thought the ending was a bit too neat, given the chaos of the rest of the novel. Maybe Nasaw gets too fond of his characters.