Monster by A. Lee Martinez

isbn: 9780316041263

I have looked at his book Too Many Curses before, and thought it sounded kinda cool, so when this appeared in the store I decided to borrow it (one of the perks of working in a bookstore is that you get to borrow the hardcover books, as long as you don't damage them). I ended up reading it in a quick afternoon and it wasn't bad at all. The opening scene is incredibly strong, the buildup is pretty good and the descriptions of the monsters and of the battles is super fun. There is a lovely bit in the middle where we learn what bonding with the universe is like. The main character, Monster, is fun; he changes colours everytime he wakes up, and different colours give him different powers (he flies when he is goldenrod, shoots beams from his eyes when he is peach, can heal when he is turquoise). Too bad he can't choose what colour he will be in the morning. The end, though, is a bit like finding out the only ice cream left at the dessert buffet bar is lemon sorbet. It's still nice, but it's not triple chocolate fudge.

3/5

Throw Out Fifty Things, by Gail Blanke

isbn: 978-0446505796

I saw a favourable review of this on Bookgasm and spotted it at work. It is a very short book and only took a few hours to read. She has really simple rules and interesting anecdotes which make throwing out things make sense. What have I thrown out? Some Christmas rubbish, 6 pairs of shoes (which only count as one thing according to the rules). bits of clothes and three feather boas from three halloweens ago. Ok, so I am not doing so great. Oh well.

3/5

World of Warcraft Graphic Novel by Simonson and Lullabi

isbn: 9781401218362

I used to be way more into comic books than I am now. Then again, I am way more into World of Warcraft than I have ever been. When I saw this sitting at the library, I grabbed it. I feel that a graphic novel created by many people can never really be rated on one thing alone. Art-wise, Lullabi does a great job. He keeps the bright, slightly cartoony look of the video game and knows how to draw fights, which is rarer than you might think. His elves are pretty, his bears are vicious and have big butts (wow inside joke) and his armour totally fits the over the top style. Writing wise, they also did a good job. It keeps moving and the dialogue does not feel overdone. Plot wise, though, ouch. They tried to cram in so much lore... Wow lore is best discovered slowly, through series of quests that make you understand the motivation of one group or another. This thing bounces around the horde, the alliance, all the main towns (which are beautiful, don't get me wrong. Seeing Darnasus, the giant tree, or the high peaks of Thunderbluff is amazing) but then you throw in the furbols, the naga, warsong gulch.... They are trying to cram about 40 levels of lore into a hundred pages. Ouch, my head!

Art: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Plot: 2/5

Average: 4/5

Zombie Haiku, by Ryan Mecum

isbn: 9781600610707

This is cute. Really cute. In a gory, horrible, flesh-eating way. The story told is lovely, interestingly paced and fun. There is even an awesome video on youtube advertising the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd1Ws9QnmZY The book is classified as humour at the store, but I will put it squarely in the horror genre just because of the grape/eye reference. It was a bit short but the artwork inside was fun, matching the poems and the movement of the character. How a zombie can still write is beyond me, though I guess we are supposed to forget about that part.

3/5

The Economic Naturalist, by Robert H Frank

isbn: 9780753513385

Since I enjoyed Freakonomics, I thought I would pick this up too. The British cover, seen above, is way more appealing than the Canadian one. Oh well. Most fantastic fact in the book: Why is milk stored in rectangular containers and pop in cylindrical ones? It all has to do with wasted space between the cans and the price of keeping milk refrigerated. If you have to keep it cold, you may as well minimise the space between cartons to have no wasted space. Clever and ridiculous, eh? The book is full of little gems that sometimes get repetitive but often are eye openers into the weird world we live in.

3/5

Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr

isbn: 0061214671

I have been looking at this one for a while, and finally took it out at the library. I am really torn. On one side, I really wish it hadn't ended so damn well. Ugh. I think boy A should go with girl B. Oooooh. Of course! On the other hand, I did really really want to finish it. Ate it up in two days (on the bus and at lunch). Honestly the second part looks better, but I can't figure out how it will work at all. Hmmm.

3/5

Fire Study, by Maria V Snyder

isbn: 0778325342

This is the third book in the series that started with Poison Study. I find it interesting/annoying that the books follow each other within a week or so. Her entire story is told in the books, with nothing happening off page. This is fun, but also a bit tedious. I feel the first chapter could have been cut out.

Still, the twists in this one are fantastic, and the evil things the bad guys do is so damn evil that by the time you realise what has happened you really really want to finish it. I had about 10 pages when I started by shift and I just wanted to die. :)

3/5

The City of Dreaming Books, by Walter Moers

isbn: 1585678996

A very self-indulgent book, it chronicles the adventure of a wannabe-author dinosaur who travels to Bookholm, the City of Dreaming Books, and gets involved with Cyclops, Bookhunters, bug-like books, and the Shadow King! It is self-indulgent because it makes up most of the authors, creatures, races, places, everything, and describes it all in ridiculous (but fun) detail. Seriously, the asides and footnotes almost read like The Hitchhiker's Guide. Which is a compliment. It was a little long, but I totally wanted to finish it.

3/5

Bones, Rocks and Stars, by Chris Turney

isbn: 978-0230551947

A cute little soft-core history book about the trouble with dating things. Each chapters goes through a different mystery such as the identity of King Arthur or the validity of the Turin Shroud or the problems one faces when identifying the missing link. It discusses different calendars, the ways of criss-crossing calendars together (and why it rarely is as simple as it seems) and explains everything in a easy but not dumbed down way. Tidbit of information: the Egyptians started back at year zero every time a new King showed up. The Chinese, with each new dynasty. If there were years of famine and war and turmoil between official people being in charge, those years were simply lost. Hmph!

3/5

Bloodletting, by Victoria Leathan

isbn: 1572244577

I don't typically read non-fiction, but spotted this at work. I work with youth who sometimes have serious mental health issues. This book, about cutting, depression and the innadequate medical system made me think and reflect how everyone feels this way sometimes, but with mental health issues, it is not so easy to control the inner images and voices. A quick read, but well paced.

3/5

Bad Monkeys, by Matt Ruff

ISBN: 978-0061240416

This book is crazy. I like books with twists, but this is a bloody tornado! :) A girl kills someone, then is caught and interviewed by a doctor at the psych-prison. According to her, she is part of an organization called the Bad Monkeys who kills evil people with a thing called the NC (Natural Causes) gun.

And then it gets weird.

3/5

Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel, by Scott Adams

ISBN: 978-0060521493

Like all Scott Adams books, it does get a little weak at the end, but it was a laugh and his knowledge of human nature is spooky.

3/5

Making Money, by Terry Pratchett

ISBN: 978-0385611015

I was so anxious for this book I literally screamed when I saw it on the basement table in receiving. I got a few strange looks. This book is very funny, very twistey, but it feels more like a direct (as in moment after) sequel to Going Postal. I don't know if that is fundamentally bad, but it made my reading extremely quick since I was totally in the story already, having read Going Postal about 6 times already. I will have to review my score once I can read it at my leisure in paperback (which is always more enjoyable and comfortable than trying to be extra careful with a hardcover book you borrowed from the bookstore you work at - which they expect to sell again afterwards (the book, not the store)).

3/5

The Island of Dr Moreau. by HG Wells

ISBN: um....

I read this on the recommendation of a customer, who told me she would not be responsible if I had nightmares and threw up. Um... This girl should read monster island. Anyway, I like Wells (War of the Worlds is one of my favourite classics) and this lived up to his name. Unfortunately it was extremely short and was really not as gory as I was expecting/hoping. We have vivisection and that is it, and that is really not even described. Meh.

3/5

Zodiac: the eco-thriller, by Neal Stephenson

ISBN: 978-0802143150


I have tried to read Snow Crash three times now and cannot get beyond the first thirty pages. Something about this guy's writing style bugs the shit out of me. It distracts me and I find it hard to keep track of who is speaking. Sometimes I skip pages and don't notice. BUT! Despite this book not being my kind of writing style, I really liked it. The topic, toxic waste and how we could "solve" it is fantastic, and it really kept me interested for the whole book. It got really good by the end, but the writing style gave me a headache. For some weird reason it is classified as sci-fi, when it should be in the regular fiction, along Christopher Buckley and the like.

3/5

Fantasy Gone Wrong, ed. Martin Greenberg

ISGN: 978-0756403805

This is a collection of short stories that explore how WRONG fantasy can get. Stories of note include Food Fight, where a man can hear food talking, conspiring against our arteries, and Crumbs which takes knighthood and gingerbread and bops it on the head.

3/5

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

ISBN: 978-0312865047

They are turning this into a movie, and I don't see how it will work... It has a downer rating of about 6-7 out of ten, so they will have to change it, probably, to make it work as a blockbuster Will Smith flick. Meh. It is still a fun short story. Word of warning: the title story is followed by multiple other short stories, which I mistook for other chapters. Trying to fit them into the I Am Legend mythos completely ruined all of them for me. Do not let it happen to you!

3/5

Supernaturalists, by Eoin Colfer

ISBN: 978-0786851492

This was a great teen book, with more serious themes than you sometimes see in adult fiction. Lots of torture and death, and plot twists galore. The characters are really fun too, especially the main kid who is quite brilliant.

3/5