Wow. I took a moment to actually see how much I need to catch up on and ... it's a fair amount. Let see how far I get now. In no particular order (because I can't remember in what order I read these), here are the latest titles from my summer reading.
Book sales are ... um ... dangerous. I love them -- don't get me wrong -- but for someone who already has a lot of books on the "waiting to be read" shelves, it's ridiculous how I allow those shelves to grow and grow and grow.
At one such recent sale, I picked up The Keeper by Sarah Langan just because it seemed to have potential and I'm happy to say it was a nice find. I've always found the idea of "horror" genre books odd, because I don't find them scary. Interesting, page-turning reads? Yes. But do I get scared reading them? No. And I didn't get scared reading this, either, though it falls into the horror genre, I suppose. A supernatural thriller, it focuses on a pair of sisters: one an elective mute with a reputation as the town crazy and her younger sister. When Susan starts appearing in the dreams of the citizens of the village, it's surely an ill omen, right? Right...
Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief (first in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series) found its way onto my reading list primarily because it's popular with the kids I teach. So, dutifully, I cracked it and read it. Well ... while I didn't hate it, it didn't do what I hoped it would, which is convince me that it's not just a reactionary Harry Potter knock-off. Yes, there are obvious differences to the Rowling books, and yes, even the formula that she uses (a young protagonist discovers his/her place in a much bigger and supernatural world) has been around for a long time (see Susan Cooper's amazing The Dark is Rising sequence), so it's not like it began with Harry Potter, but in the end, The Lightning Thief just wasn't well-written enough to cut the mustard with me. There's so much telegraphing from chapter to chapter, from scene to scene that only children will be surprised by what happens. The writing itself isn't terribly sophisticated, so it doesn't elevate itself above its pulpy nature. It's fine. I understand why kids like it. It's just nothing special. For similarly themed books done better, see those mentioned above.
Another in the "Meh. I could take or leave it" pile is James Lecesne's Absolute Brightness. When Phoebe's flamboyant cousin Leonard comes to town to live with them, he starts affecting those around him in various ways, not all of them to Phoebe's liking. When he goes missing, he somehow manages to become an even bigger part of her life. The inside flap reads, "This is the story of a luminous force of nature: a boy who encounters evil and whose magic isn't truly felt until he disappears," and ... well ... that about sums it up. What's my problem, then, you ask? Well, it's such a book written to make a point (namely that point so succinctly expressed on the book flap) and it's all there to make the point. It's not a point that comes out of a story needing told, but a story told to make a point. It was no wonder when I got to the "about the author" and saw that the term activist was applied to him. Again, it's not crap, and lots of teenagers will like it because it puts a version of themselves on page, but it just doesn't come off as authentically as I would like.
Let's step away from novels for a moment, shall we?
The sensation which is Bone is a bit fascinating. The black-and-white alternative comics by Jeff Smith were not originally intended for young readers when they were published in the 90s, but with Scholastic's new, fully-colourized books, they've found a new life and an enormous new audience. Since the original series' story has been completely re-issued in these new editions (and were big hits), several companion books have been released. The lates is Bone: Tall Tales by Jeff Smith and collaborator Thomas Sniegoski are a collection of sort-of prequel short stories linked with a campfire story arc. As good as the original series? Of course not. Fine for what they are? Absolutely. It'll certainly be a welcome fix for kids I know who have read the cycle and hope for more from the world of Bone.
Probably my favourite magazine/periodical right now is The Believer, published by McSweeney's. This summer's issue (Number 73) is their annual music issue complete with a CD. What I like about The Believer is that it's essentially an eclectic mixture of non-fiction articles about topics that I (a) don't know much about, often, and (b) that I wouldn't otherwise read about (or think to read about). Where else would I read about MIA, the history of the drum machine, and the "slackness" of Lady Saw?
Okay. That's enough for today. I'll try and fully catch up by the end of the week!
No comments:
Post a Comment