Review: A Dance with Dragons
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin My rating: 2 of 5 stars This is going to be difficult for me to write, as I looked so forward to this book for so long, and have recommended the series to everyone I know. Twice. *** SPOILER WARNING *** SPOILER WARNING *** “A Dance with Dragons” is a disappointing read. Not disappointing within the context of the series, although the writing certainly isn’t as strong or as cohesive as the first or second books. Not disappointing within the fantasy genre, as it is still some of the stronger fantasy writing I’ve read. It is disappointing because I am already scrambling to find a synopsis just so I can remember who everyone is and why they did what they did. Maybe it would have...
Read MoreReview: Glad No Matter What: Transforming Loss and Change into Gift and Opportunity
Glad No Matter What: Transforming Loss and Change into Gift and Opportunity by SARK My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was my first exposure to SARK’s writing, aside from her posters. It was a gift from a former co-worker as I left my job at the San Francisco Public Library. At the time, I didn’t feel very gracious about the transition, and so it has taken me a while to finish reading this. “Glad No Matter What” is primarily a book about the type of loss and change that surrounds the death of a loved one, but I could apply some of it to the loss and change I am currently experiencing as I transition to my new home. SARK’s unbridled enthusiasm and good nature bursts from every page, and it is difficult not to be cheered by...
Read MoreReview: We Need to Talk about Kevin
We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver My rating: 3 of 5 stars I really do not know what to write about this book. On the one hand, it is a known quantity; no one starts reading it without knowing, at least in the most general sense, what it is about. On the other, it answers none of the questions the reader will have about its horrific central narrative. Shriver is, undoubtedly, a talented writer. The story made me feel ambivalence for every single character introduced, no small feat considering how easy it would be to create a maudlin mother or monstrous son. No, in fact, every single person involved has realistic foibles, making the absence of the great “why” at the end all the more appalling. It could happen to any one of...
Read MoreReview: The Dewey Decimal System: A Novel
The Dewey Decimal System: A Novel by Nathan Larson My rating: 4 of 5 stars It may be weird to say that I am a fan of dystopian near-future settings. I have a morbid fascination with bleak, sparse landscapes and crumbling infrastructure; I remain hopeful that I will never have to live in such a world, but constantly wonder what type of person I would be if I survived in one. In “The Dewey Decimal System”, Larson creates an instantly engaging survivor as a protagonist, and a compelling city in ruins around him. Larson’s staccato, fragmented style makes this a quick and brutal read with plenty of physical and emotional carnage. I only wished for more scenes in the New York Public Library, yearning for more details of this...
Read MoreReview: Bossypants
Bossypants by Tina Fey My rating: 4 of 5 stars Because I am not up on these things, even though I really should be, I had no idea that Tina Fey had written a book. If I had, I would have pre-pre-ordered it as those of us in the librarian cabal are able to do. What? That’s not a thing? I have been lied to! Anyway, I stumbled across the disturbing cover of her not-quite-memoir "Bossypants" three seconds after stepping into a local bookstore, and even though I am trying very (kind of) hard not to buy any new books, I bought it.And I devoured it in less than 24 hours."Bossypants" is a fast, sparkling read, with plenty of LLOLL (legitimate laugh-out-loud in the library) moments. Fey is funny and smart, which everyone already knew, and also...
Read MoreFOX’s Traffic Light: How to Make Lying Unfunny
I didn’t plan on watching FOX’s new show “Traffic Light” last night on Hulu, but I was trying to switch my brain off after a particularly intense round of homework. Little did I know that those twenty-two minutes would annoy me enough for me to write a review. There are many things I could say about “Traffic Light”, many things that I hope other, better reviewers will say. Right now, my annoyance is focused on how “Traffic Light” sucks all the funniness out of lying. In real life, lying isn’t funny. I’m not talking about hyperbole or sarcasm, because those are plenty funny. I am talking about the lying that “Traffic Light” depicts: misrepresenting oneself intentionally to another person in...
Read MoreLibraries get their due in two very different books
Libraries get their due in two very different books“It’s National Library Week. USA TODAY’S Bob Minzesheimer examines two books about libraries — one mystical, the other more mundane.” (via monkeemind)
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