Bibliomania.

Vanilla Ride, Joe R. Lansdale

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:32:08 GMT

An old friend asks Leonard and Hap to do him a favor: go fetch his granddaughter from a gang of drug dealers. This isn't too big of a problem, but you know how people being beat down always say, "You don't know who you messing with?"

Hap and Leonard have no fucking idea who they messing with. The shit hits the fan rather rapidly. There is a shoot-out on a suburban street. Now the boys have a new job, and it's even worse than the last one.

Damn, I love this book. It's so funny, and fucked up, and real.

The World of Quest, Jason T. Krause

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:44:59 GMT

A young price goes to visit a warrior, who wants nothing to do with him. They fight some monsters.

The story is somewhat funny, the rest of it is kinda self-congratulatory.

The Children of Greene Knowe, L.M. Boston

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:36:52 GMT

A little boy is sent to live with his great-aunt. In the big creepy estate he makes friends with the ghosts of children.

A sweet book.

All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By, John Farris

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:32:11 GMT

I really have no idea why John Farris is considered a classic horror author. It's not just that he's racist and sexist, or that his books don't make any sense--it's that he's BATSHIT INSANE.

I can't really describe the plot of this novel, because I'm not sure what it was. There's this military family, see, and one of the sons ran off after hitting his father in the face with a gun, one of them kills his wife-to-be, father and himself at the wedding, and the other one went off to war for a while. Also there is voodoo, and the young widow of the dead father is poisonous. And snakes.

Why is this book so highly regarded? Gah!

Burnt Offerings, Robert Marasco

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:22:57 GMT

When the Rolfes rent a huge house for way too cheap, Marian gets obsessed with it. Her husband starts to feel he's going crazy. And it tries to kill the kid and Aunt Elizabeth.

A very slow-feeling ghost story, this novel could be interpreted as a warning about material greed. Or something. I didn't find the book particularly creepy, but while it's not as good as The Haunting of Hill House, it's way less silly than Hell House.

I tried to watch the movie. It got the slow part right. Oliver Reed is creepy as hell, but he can't keep me from falling asleep.

Amelia Rules: When the Past is a Present, Jimmy Gownley

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:16:10 GMT

Amelia follows her mom on a date, hits fifth grade, goes on a date, and finds out a friend's dad is going to war.

I love this series.

Read Responsibly, Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:13:13 GMT

Another collection of Unshelved, a comic strip about librarians. Funny stuff.

My Last Best Friend, Julie Bowe

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:11:34 GMT

Ida's best friend moved away and never wrote back. Now Ida's determined to give up on friends. But despite the worst kid in school's best efforts, Ida and the new girl really get along.

Decent.

The Watchers Out of Time, August Derleth & H.P. Lovecraft

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:21:38 GMT

These are unfinished Lovecraft stories and ideas that Derleth finished/fleshed out after Lovecraft's death.

While there are some interesting stories, there's a lot of repetition as well. Derleth almost succeeded in making the prose as impenetrable as Lovecraft's, which makes the book a great sleeping aid.

I had to look up the word "rugose." Not sure why it's so hard to write "a wrinkled, lumpy cone." Guess it would make the story too penetrable.

The Boy Book, E. Lockhart

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:09:14 GMT

What I like about Lockhart is that she can write about high school and not make me as sick of it as I was while I lived it.

This novel is the further adventures of Ruby from The Boyfriend List.

Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:06:59 GMT

I got this book because Shaun Tan illustrated it. I'd never read Link before, and I was pleasantly surprised.

The book is a collection of fantasy/horror stories, and many of them are close to perfect. Another collection for kids that anybody should enjoy.

The Haunted Playground, Shaun Tan

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:07:30 GMT

Gavin likes to go over playgrounds with his metal detector, and he finds a new one that seems ripe for the picking. But not only does his detector not pick anything up, when it gets dark some strange kids suddenly appear.

Not the best thing ever, not bad.

Bad TV, Craig Nelson

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:35:38 GMT

The introduction is overly long and over-self-congratulatory. There are some glaring factual errors. I enjoyed most of the book anyway.

The topics covered range from the soaps to TV movies, kids' shows to drama, and all that cap in between. And I have to keep it as this damn book's got the only picture I've ever seen of that character from my dad's past, Froggy the Gremlin.

The Tightwad Gazette, Amy Dacyzyn

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:31:03 GMT

A collection of articles from a newsletter the author runs--or ran, in the 1990s. Some of the suggestions seem good, most of the recipes seem gross.

Apparently Dacyzyn wanted to save money because she wanted six kids, a house in the country, and a sense of smug superiority. All of this is stated in the text if you don't believe me. Toward the end of the book there's a whole thing about "tightwad ethics."

I think this one is getting rotated back into the library sale.

Tales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:25:41 GMT

A couple weeks ago I realized Shaun Tan had more than one book out and immediately ordered as many as I could from the local library. This is the first non-picture book that showed up, and it's wonderful.

Tales is a collection of weird, wonderful, somewhat sad short stories with perfect illustrations. The book is sold for kids, but I would recommend it to anyone.

The Helmet of Navarre, Bertha Runkle

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:18:45 GMT

A thrilling tale of intrigue, love and swordplay, set in France. I don't know exactly when the novel is set, but it was published in 1901. The story is rather compelling, once you get past the language. I'm guessing it help that I hardly ever read this type of story.

The Illustrated Mum, Jaqueline Wilson

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:31:29 GMT

Marigold isn't like everyone else's mother, and her older daughter is sick of it. The younger daughter, who's also the narrator, just wants them to be a family like always.

Pretty good take on dealing with a mother's mental illness. Covered some of the same material as the V.C. Andrews melodrama I read previously, but is a much better book.

Star, V.C. Andrews [posthumous]

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:28:00 GMT

Another girl tells her story. It's a drunk mother, an absentee father and a dead boyfriend this time around.

What is it that makes trash so damned compelling, anyway?

The Middle Man: Collected Series Indispensibility, Javier Grillo-Marxauch & Les McClaine

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:25:56 GMT

Collects the volume I already read with two others. Nothing special, but the art doesn't suck and it's kind of fun.

Explainers, Jules Feiffer

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:22:46 GMT

About ten year of comic strips from the village voice. This book is long, thick, and heavy, making it quite awkward to read. Also quite easy to sound dirty while talking about. None of the strips are really the laugh-out-loud type, they're more the nod-grimly-in-agreement-or-recognition type.

From Girls to Grrrlz, Trina Robbins

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:23:04 GMT

A book about comics aimed at girls and young women. I was just going to flip through it, but I started reading and couldn't stop. Pretty fascinating stuff. In a way, also kind of bleak.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:26:45 GMT

Frankie is thrilled to get a hot and popular new boyfriend her freshman year. But she is also aware of the precariousness of her new status and aware of not being taken seriously. So Frankie takes matters into her own hands.

I loved this book. Frankie is a great character.

Misty, V.C. Andrews [posthumous]

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:21:57 GMT

In group therapy, four girls talk about their awful lives. Misty goes first. It is a tale of divorce, horrible parents, and being naive. There's sex, but mostly off stage because this book is directly marketed to teenagers--probably the now-deceased author's biggest demographic anyway.

I'm pretty sure V.C. Andrews died in the 1980s, and most of the books under her name have been ghosted. That is pretty creepy.

Tru Confessions, Janet Tashjian

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:19:41 GMT

When a local TV station holds a contest, Tru sees it as an opportunity--not just to get a show of her own, but to educate people about her mentally handicapped twin brother.

Pretty good stuff.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Work, Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:17:28 GMT

The advice in the book is kind of skewed toward office workers, but there is a ton of useful information anyway.