Book Twenty-Two: OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL: MAP YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS

Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success, by K.M. Weiland, 2011.

     

TTR: A day and a half.

Comments:

If you're a writer, this is most definitely worth a read. It helped me jumpstart my mystery novel (which I've been struggling with and rethinking for at least the past four years). I am now almost halfway through a fresh draft (and I only had three-thousand words when I read this at the beginning of June) and am looking forward to having a polished draft by the end of the year.

Yep.

Book Twenty-One: KITTY GOES TO WASHINGTON

Kitty Goes to Washington, by Carrie Vaughn, 2007. Book Two of the Kitty Norville series.

(See, I'm not all excuses! Told you I'd read this sometime near the beginning of the summer).
     

TTR: Uh, a day and a half? Something like that.

Comments:

I read the first Kitty book after listening to Carrie Vaughn speak at the Jack Williamson Lectureship in Portales, NM. She talked about the roots of Urban Fantasy and mentioned the Bronte sisters, which was awesome because I LOVE ME SOME VICTORIAN LITERATURE. And anyone who can reference it on a whim is worth talking to, or reading as the case may be.

I liked this book better than the first Kitty book. I like that the series takes place in different locations, and I like that Kitty is much more self-confident in this book.

Consensus? I'll keep reading the series. I like the premise.

Book Twenty: FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson, 1971.

   

TTR: I started reading this one sleepless night during finals week, and finished it after about a week of off and on reading (once again, I cite burnout for the slow reading time).

Comments:

What to say about Fear and Loathing? What to say? What to say? Ah, yes...

AHHHHHHHHHHHH. *Twitch* *Twitch*

This book was interesting and painful and, perhaps because I read it during some very severe bouts of insomnia, surreal. I felt an odd connection with the drug saturated pair.

What is it about? Eh, the American Dream, the pursuit of...difference, distance.

Book Nineteen: MOCKING JAY

Mocking Jay, by Suzanne Collins, 2010.

 


TTR:  A day or two.

Comments:

I liked this book, but I also had less than happy feelings about this book. Blerg. It was frustrating (and, as a writer, completely understandable). Katniss is (again, understandably) a very unlikeable character in this book. She's being churned, once more, through the system. She's being asked to make decisions that go against everything she ever knew or thought she believed. She makes decisions that (SPOILERS) I do not think she should make: namely, to reinstate the Hunger Games one last time. BAD KATNISS. Although, I'm also not sure if this "yes" vote on her part is just her plan to assassinate President Coin or what.

Sorry for the garbled response. Garbed feelings equals garbled review...

Book Eighteen: CATCHING FIRE

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins, 2009.
    

TTR:

A few days. I read this during finals week, and although it was great I was pretty burnt out.

Comments:

For some strange reason, this series reminds me greatly of Cormac McCarthy's The Road which (SPOILERS!) is about as pervasively hopeless in terms of world view.

In terms of the series as a whole, I think this was one of my favorite books. Although it feels somewhat abrupt and disorganized at the end, the characters in this book are much more relate-able than the characters in the first. Which is partly because Katniss is forced to move out of the narrow world-view she inhabits in the first book to see the humanity in people she would normally write off as sell outs or evil.

I liked it. *Shrug*

Book Seventeen: HARK! A VAGRANT!

Hark! A Vagrant! by Kate Beaton, 2011.

 
(you can find samples of Beaton's work at her website).

TTR: a day or two.

Comments:

I'm not sure if I should count this book, mostly because it's a collection of comments. But I did read it cover to cover. So there.

Beaton is a genius when it comes to the satire of pop culture, past and present (and by past, I mean 19th Century Romantic Period and onward). I LOVE her comics about the Victorian and Romantic authors. But, I also LOVE her Sexy Batman comics (which you can find here).

Verdict: awesomeness, pure and simple.

Book Sixteen: THE CATS OF COPENHAGEN

The Cats of Copenhagen, James Joyce, Ithy Press 2012.

TTR: 10 minutes (more or less)

Comments:

Just when you think Joyce can't confuse you any more, he reaches out beyond the grave and, with a smug, "ha ha ha," tosses a children's book into the world. Or at least that's what it seemed like when, late last year, I stumbled across this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/09/james-joyce-childrens-story-cats-copenhagen.

Honestly, I bought it out of sheer curiosity. What sort of children's book would Joyce write? I also bought it because the illustrations are amazing.

                                     

I didn't pull a typical analysis of this book, mostly because I was finishing my thesis.  So, my impressions may come from some misunderstanding. It was entertaining, but I felt like there was some theoretical winking going on (you know, like theoretical inside jokes), and I didn't really understand who/what the cats were supposed to be.

But I will reread it eventually and let you know.