Promethea Machine's Dead Moomin Sloth; Earth Turned Jones

[maribou]

The Machine's Child, by Kage Baker
"Mendoza herself is more plot device than character," quoth Publisher's Weekly, and unfortunately they are rather spot on. This is part of Baker's ongoing series about The Company, and at this point there is just so much going on that a lot of what I loved about the earlier discrete narratives has been shunted aside. But it's still entertaining, I just got a bit frustrated - every time I settled into a part of the story, wham bam thank you ma'am I was off on another part of the story. That being the case, I would recommend that newcomers to this series start with an earlier volume - The Garden of Iden by preference, but any of the first 3 would be a better place to begin.
(234/250)

Sloth, by Wendy Wasserstein
A lot of people seem to find this parody of the self-help genre very very funny. I didn't laugh once and only cracked a smile a couple of times. I was disappointed in this; it was originally a lecture and I found myself wondering if I would've enjoyed it better live.
(235/250)

Promethea Volume 2, by Alan Moore et al.
Some parts of this were muddled and unimpressive and some parts of it were beeOOOOOtiful.
(236/250)

The Day I Turned Uncool, by Dan Zevin
A bunch of short personal essays about getting used to being a grown-up. Some were really good, most just okay. Quick and easy, with the occasional useful insight.
(237/250)

The Dead Beat, by Marilyn Johnson
A totally absorbing look at obituaries and obituarists. Even better than I'd been expecting from the great reviews.
(238/250)

Earth Abides, by George R. Stewart
I loved this book so much. It has that curious timelessness that classics usually have - not that I couldn't tell it was written in 1949 - things were old-fashioned in some ways - but that it was otherwise startlingly modern in its outlook. If you compare it to the other SF being written at that time (much of which I also love, don't get me wrong), it's sort of startling that the author came up with all this stuff and thought to write a book about it ... Even when nothing much was happening, it had my complete attention.
(239/250)

Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, by Tove Jansson
Oh man oh man. I was so happy and excited to get this book. See, the Moomin series of books was one of my childhood favorites, and not only that, but I still love all the books on rereading. And now! A comic strip with Moomins in! From the 50s! That I'd never read before!!!! It totally lived up to expectations; it arrived yesterday afternoon and I had so much trouble putting it down that I finished it yesterday evening. I love how weird things pile upon weird things in Moominworld, and also how much existential gloom there is, counterpoised against bright cheerful absurdities. Love love love.
(240/250)

Skippyjon Jones, by Judy Schachner
Ok, I'm actually not trying to pad out my totals with kids' books, but my usual rule is that if it's a picture book, I've never read it before, and I was paying attention (not just skimming to see if kid X would like it), it counts. I read this one at my friends' house last night and it was extremely cute. I think a certain kid I know would especially dig on the high energy level and effusive wordplay.
(241/250)

Comments

[lemonchiffon.livejournal.com]

I wish I had that much time to read. I'll be lucky to make it to 110.

[maribou]

I read pretty fast. Back when I was in high school and didn't have little things like a full-time job and an actual social life holding me back (not to mention actually bothering to clean), I frequently hit 30 books a week. So I wish I had more time to read, too.

But you know, part of it is that I just fell out of the habit - when I started keeping track back in 99 I only read about 90 books all year even though I was less busy, mostly spent time playing video games and stuff instead ...

Also it helps if you can read and do something else at the same time. I read while walking to work, while sorting laundry ... and so on.