Books read in March
Apr. 6th, 2018 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orangerfulWent for quality over quantity this month. :)
Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lita Judge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I think we've all heard the myth that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein during an evening when her group of friends wanted to see who could write the scariest story. Like any tale, there is some truth to it, but the REAL events of Shelley's life and everything leading up to that night and the nine months after, is far more interesting.
I knew nothing about Mary Shelley beyond her being the author of 'Frankenstein'. I had no real context for her life and what the world was like when she penned this tale. I didn't know her mother had been a prominent member of the early feminist movement and that Mary was born into that "celebrity" status. I didn't know about her love affair with Percy Shelley and the roller coaster ride of that relationship.
Lita Judge did tons of research to craft a very readable and very beautiful book, written in short poems and heavily illustrated. Judge brings Mary's story back from the grave and reanimates it and hopefully readers will be inspired to revisit her classic work and think of Shelley as more than a scary story writer, but a real person who fought and suffered and LIVED.
Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Adorable easy reader book that kids will want to go back to even as they get older. Very simple, large text, but Selznick fills his images with lots of hidden delights. Plus, the monkey is SO ADORABLE!!!
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Probably 2.5 stars.
When I read this as a teen, I assumed I was too unsophisticated for the humor or, perhaps, too American to understand it all. But reading it again, I had all the same issues with the pacing and the plot-twist. Nowhere near as funny as the sequel or HHGttG series.
I'm going to read The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul next which I have very fond memories of so I'm hoping it holds up after all these years!
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I was in middle school, I was on a major Douglas Adams kick. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had rekindled my love of reading and I was trying to find anything he had written. The public library had this book on cassette, abridged, read by Simon Jones (aka Arthur Dent from the HHGttG miniseries). Being me, I copied the cassette and proceeded to listen to the book on a loop all summer long - I can still recite passages.
So sitting down to read the book was a little tricky because I could still hear Jones' voice in my head as I read certain passages but then the abridged lines would catch me off guard. Sadly, that edition is no longer in print, which makes me sad but what can you do.
I think this book is still really funny, definitely better than the first Dirk Gently "mystery" but just as wacky. Perhaps it is Kate, who is a much more likeable character than any one in the first book. Her quest for delivery pizza made me love her immediately. And now that I picture Thor as Chris Hemsworth, my mental image is even better for the incredibly ridiculous moments.
**eagle swoops down and I can't write any more of this review**
Lock In by John Scalzi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is my kind of Science Fiction - taking the world we live in now and throwing it to an extreme, in this case, a disease that manages to turn a good part of the population into "Lock Ins".
This was my first John Scalzi novel but it will not be my last! His style was very readable, with great characters and a plot that moved.
And I finished it just in time to pick up "Head On"
Bolivar by Sean Rubin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sybil seems to be the only person that bothers to notice that her next door neighbor is a dinosaur! This beautifully illustrated, adorable graphic novel is like an adorable companion story to "Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct" by Mo Willems. It is also a love letter to New York City and I'm sure children that read the book will want to follow in Bolivar and Sybil's footsteps around the town.
Really cute!
View all my reviews
What did you read this month that stood out? Have you ever listened to an audiobook enough to memorize it?
Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lita JudgeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I think we've all heard the myth that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein during an evening when her group of friends wanted to see who could write the scariest story. Like any tale, there is some truth to it, but the REAL events of Shelley's life and everything leading up to that night and the nine months after, is far more interesting.
I knew nothing about Mary Shelley beyond her being the author of 'Frankenstein'. I had no real context for her life and what the world was like when she penned this tale. I didn't know her mother had been a prominent member of the early feminist movement and that Mary was born into that "celebrity" status. I didn't know about her love affair with Percy Shelley and the roller coaster ride of that relationship.
Lita Judge did tons of research to craft a very readable and very beautiful book, written in short poems and heavily illustrated. Judge brings Mary's story back from the grave and reanimates it and hopefully readers will be inspired to revisit her classic work and think of Shelley as more than a scary story writer, but a real person who fought and suffered and LIVED.
Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian SelznickMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Adorable easy reader book that kids will want to go back to even as they get older. Very simple, large text, but Selznick fills his images with lots of hidden delights. Plus, the monkey is SO ADORABLE!!!
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas AdamsMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Probably 2.5 stars.
When I read this as a teen, I assumed I was too unsophisticated for the humor or, perhaps, too American to understand it all. But reading it again, I had all the same issues with the pacing and the plot-twist. Nowhere near as funny as the sequel or HHGttG series.
I'm going to read The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul next which I have very fond memories of so I'm hoping it holds up after all these years!
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas AdamsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I was in middle school, I was on a major Douglas Adams kick. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had rekindled my love of reading and I was trying to find anything he had written. The public library had this book on cassette, abridged, read by Simon Jones (aka Arthur Dent from the HHGttG miniseries). Being me, I copied the cassette and proceeded to listen to the book on a loop all summer long - I can still recite passages.
So sitting down to read the book was a little tricky because I could still hear Jones' voice in my head as I read certain passages but then the abridged lines would catch me off guard. Sadly, that edition is no longer in print, which makes me sad but what can you do.
I think this book is still really funny, definitely better than the first Dirk Gently "mystery" but just as wacky. Perhaps it is Kate, who is a much more likeable character than any one in the first book. Her quest for delivery pizza made me love her immediately. And now that I picture Thor as Chris Hemsworth, my mental image is even better for the incredibly ridiculous moments.
**eagle swoops down and I can't write any more of this review**
Lock In by John ScalziMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is my kind of Science Fiction - taking the world we live in now and throwing it to an extreme, in this case, a disease that manages to turn a good part of the population into "Lock Ins".
This was my first John Scalzi novel but it will not be my last! His style was very readable, with great characters and a plot that moved.
And I finished it just in time to pick up "Head On"
Bolivar by Sean RubinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sybil seems to be the only person that bothers to notice that her next door neighbor is a dinosaur! This beautifully illustrated, adorable graphic novel is like an adorable companion story to "Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct" by Mo Willems. It is also a love letter to New York City and I'm sure children that read the book will want to follow in Bolivar and Sybil's footsteps around the town.
Really cute!
View all my reviews
What did you read this month that stood out? Have you ever listened to an audiobook enough to memorize it?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-11 12:29 pm (UTC)