Book Reviews

[kyra_ojosverdes]

luminousx has been posting some good movie reviews, so I'll do my part with the book reviews. Or something.

Shock by Robin Cook ***
The research is excellent as always, and Robin Cook presents all the oooh-ahhh science in a way that's interesting and engaging... to science-head dorks like me, anyway. The premise is that two Harvard grad students donate some eggs to a fertility clinic to earn extra cash, then the more neurotic of them wants to find out what happened to her eggs: are there little people running about with her genetic material? Despite things like "privacy agreements" and "contracts," she simply must know if there are little baby Joannas out there, so the two women commit various felonies and find out more than they expected.

There was a time when I loved Robin Cook's fiction. My mom always borrowed Cook novels (Cook-books haw haw) from the public library, and I read them as soon as she was done. I'm not sure if his writing has changed, or if I've become more aware of good writing. His writing is good, but not great. This book needed a better editor. I'm the sort who cringes at typos and mispellings in books. I actually groaned when the book had "undo" instead of "undue." EDITOR! A better editor would've tightened up the writing, too. The story could have been more suspenseful. I was guessing most twists before they happened, including the end "suprise." (What's a thriller if the "good guy" doesn't turn out to be a "bad guy?" In this case, the "good guy" was already obviously a bit messed up and lacking ethics, so it wasn't exactly a surprise that he was in league with the baddies.)


On Writing by Stephen King ****½
I really enjoyed this book. It's a fast read, and it made me want to write fiction. King skips the bullshit and tells you what makes writing suck.. and how not to make your writing suck. He starts the book as a sort of memoir: a portrait of the horror-novelist as the child of a single mother. I hope he writes his complete memoirs some day soon. This book ain't dry. I love it when the instructor swears.


100 Bullets (books 1, 2, 3, and 4) by Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso *****
The two Dans introduced me to the wonderful world of graphic novels, and 100 Bullets is definitely my favorite serial story so far. (I'm still kind of fuzzy about the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel, so feel free to educate me.) The story is tight and full of surprises, but well-crafted enough that the reader doesn't get lost. I have found myself re-reading the books to catch all the details I'd missed the first time through. The art is perfect. There is no "fat" in these books. Every detail is intentional, and will play a part in the story at some point. 100 Bullets has few, if any, "bit" players. They're all part of a larger pattern, and hell if I know what it is, but I can't wait to read book 5 to learn more.


Strangers in Paradise (Volume 1) by Terry Moore ***
It's fun, the drawing is good, the story leaves something to be desired, but it's light, fluffy, fun, and has a really gorgeous blonde spitfire of a lesbian as one of the main characters. If her roomie had any brains, the story would be more engaging.


Get Fuzzy: "The Dog is Not a Toy (House Rule #4)" and "Fuzzy Logic" by Darby Conley *****
If you haven't discovered the "Get Fuzzy" comic strip yet, you're missing out on wonderful things. Bucky is my hero. Go read. You can find it online at www.getfuzzy.com


Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett *****
Read it. The book is about Armageddon, the end of the world, the Antichrist, and the Four Motorcyclists of the Apolocalypse (and the other four too, including "Things that Don't Work Even After You Give Them a Good Thumping"). The books gets extra points for having a character with my surname, not that it needed the points. It reads like Douglas Adams, with some Monty Python tossed in for fun. Now I want to read more stuff by Gaiman and Pratchett. (The only other thing I've read by these guys is "The Comical Tragedy or Tragical Comdey of Mr. Punch" by Gaiman... and some excerpts from a book Tess had.)


Maus by Art Spiegelman ****½
I'm a bit of a history buff, and I'm especially drawn to Jewish history. (Blame my Mormon upbringing, I dunno.) I learned new things about the Holocaust by reading Maus. Can you say that about many graphic novels? James, age 9½ surprised me when he said he's already read Maus... as I was launching into my "Mom's explanation of What It All Means." He knew what it meant. He'd read it in the winter, when Matt gave it to me, thanks, and would like to read it again, so could he have permission if he washed his hands first, please? (He explained the highlights to me, so I knew what he really did understand the book.) The only correction he needed was in thinking that "all Jews are rich."

Comments

Jewish History. . .

[kagomeshuko.livejournal.com]

Have you ever read Night by Elie Weisel? That is a very good book about the Holocaust. I had to read that when I was a senior in high school. I loved that book and hated to give it back to the teacher.

I just finished reading A River Runs Through It, but I did not read the other two stories in the book. However, every time I picked the book up, I thought of you. Why? Almost every other page they mention Missoula, or it seemed that way.


I am currently reading A Diary of an American Au Pair which I just started today and I cannot tell you much about it, but it seems like it will be a good book. It was formerly published as Do Try To Speak As We Do.

Stein Auf!
Bridget