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Extra Yarn, and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
So while I was waiting for the LONG hold queue for Sam and Dave, I picked up Extra Yarn - another picture book by the same team - and just loved it. Thought it was splendid. Turns out I liked it better than Sam and Dave :D. More vibrant, and one of those unusual books where it's super didactic but I love what it's getting at so I don't mind. Sam and Dave was cute, but not as brilliant as the reviews would suggest.
(188, 196)
Ancillary Justice and Ancillary Sword, by Ann Leckie
I love this series so much. I voted for Ancillary Sword for the Hugo (though I was fine with the eventual winner) and I am SO EXCITED about the third one. I can't believe I'm not already reading it, actually. *gets on that* Anyway, the writing is fluid, the characterizations are compelling, and the world is that delightful mixture of strange and familiar that one chases in this sort of SF. Even though she reads nothing like Le Guin, they are alike in that way. "Yes, given those new circumstances, people WOULD be like that, wouldn't they, though I'd never have thought of this on my own," sort of a thing.
(189, 200)
Park Scientists, by Mary Kay Carson and Tom Uhlman
This was very dry, especially for a kids' book - though maybe I only felt that way because I already knew most of the basic science they were going over - but it is full of really interesting information and cool pictures, detailing various scientific inquiries that are going on in various national parks.
(190)
Abe Lincoln's Hobby, by Helen Kay
OMG who knew that Abraham Lincoln was a crazy cat lady? This children's book was so quirky and odd and delightful (pretty sure the first 2 of those adjectives were unintentional) that it made the rounds of my library coworkers. If you come across it, READ IT.
(191)
Hawkeye, vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon, vol. 2: Little Hits, and vol. 3: L. A. Woman by Matt Fraction et al
Really solid story-telling, despite the non-linearity of it, and good art. I'm intently looking forward to the next one, and I liked these enough to be willing to try Sex Criminals based on that series ALSO being by Matt Fraction - even though I'd previously been avoiding it like the plague.
(192, 202, 218)
The Walls Around Us, by Nova Ren Suma
I read this so fast I can barely remember it. Which speaks well for the book, if not so much for the reader. The parts I remember were all splendid - readable and yet deeply weird - almost hallucinogenic without losing the thread of the story. A++ would read again.
(193)
Letters of Note, edited by Shaun Usher
I have loved this website for years, but the letters / explanations are often long enough and compelling enough that I fell out of the habit of reading it while in grad school. Rabbit holes are dangerous when you don't have any free time. So I was exceptionally excited to see that it had come out as a book, and I gloried in reading it. Letters are basically my FAVORITE literary form, and it's exceptionally well laid out, too.
(194)
So while I was waiting for the LONG hold queue for Sam and Dave, I picked up Extra Yarn - another picture book by the same team - and just loved it. Thought it was splendid. Turns out I liked it better than Sam and Dave :D. More vibrant, and one of those unusual books where it's super didactic but I love what it's getting at so I don't mind. Sam and Dave was cute, but not as brilliant as the reviews would suggest.
(188, 196)
Ancillary Justice and Ancillary Sword, by Ann Leckie
I love this series so much. I voted for Ancillary Sword for the Hugo (though I was fine with the eventual winner) and I am SO EXCITED about the third one. I can't believe I'm not already reading it, actually. *gets on that* Anyway, the writing is fluid, the characterizations are compelling, and the world is that delightful mixture of strange and familiar that one chases in this sort of SF. Even though she reads nothing like Le Guin, they are alike in that way. "Yes, given those new circumstances, people WOULD be like that, wouldn't they, though I'd never have thought of this on my own," sort of a thing.
(189, 200)
Park Scientists, by Mary Kay Carson and Tom Uhlman
This was very dry, especially for a kids' book - though maybe I only felt that way because I already knew most of the basic science they were going over - but it is full of really interesting information and cool pictures, detailing various scientific inquiries that are going on in various national parks.
(190)
Abe Lincoln's Hobby, by Helen Kay
OMG who knew that Abraham Lincoln was a crazy cat lady? This children's book was so quirky and odd and delightful (pretty sure the first 2 of those adjectives were unintentional) that it made the rounds of my library coworkers. If you come across it, READ IT.
(191)
Hawkeye, vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon, vol. 2: Little Hits, and vol. 3: L. A. Woman by Matt Fraction et al
Really solid story-telling, despite the non-linearity of it, and good art. I'm intently looking forward to the next one, and I liked these enough to be willing to try Sex Criminals based on that series ALSO being by Matt Fraction - even though I'd previously been avoiding it like the plague.
(192, 202, 218)
The Walls Around Us, by Nova Ren Suma
I read this so fast I can barely remember it. Which speaks well for the book, if not so much for the reader. The parts I remember were all splendid - readable and yet deeply weird - almost hallucinogenic without losing the thread of the story. A++ would read again.
(193)
Letters of Note, edited by Shaun Usher
I have loved this website for years, but the letters / explanations are often long enough and compelling enough that I fell out of the habit of reading it while in grad school. Rabbit holes are dangerous when you don't have any free time. So I was exceptionally excited to see that it had come out as a book, and I gloried in reading it. Letters are basically my FAVORITE literary form, and it's exceptionally well laid out, too.
(194)
