Books read in April 2020

[orangerful]

Most of one of these books was actually read in March...I'm not really going to bed on time and my whole reading routine is non-existent. Or, at least, it was until I started 'Layoverland' and then lucked out with the book I'm reading now 'Recursion'. Both books are really hard to put down and I find myself wanting to go to bed so I can read them.

But, yeah, just two books. I think I'm going to have to scale back the goal of 100 books for 2020...

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book had been on my TBR list since I saw it on the shelf. Just flipping through it, you quickly see that this is something different. Eugene Yelchin's artwork is so unique and strange, very Brian Froud-esque, I knew this would appeal to my Dark Crystal/Labyrinth fangirl heart.

The story is quirky and weird, but at its heart, it is about prejudice and biases and how we see "others" when we don't really know them. It is far smarter than it might look at first glance, especially when Spurge has to sneak into the Goblin undercity by crawling down a toilet. But don't be fooled, there are layers here.






Layoverland by Gabby Noone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was struggling to read anything during this time in quarantine but I found myself actually going to bed on time so I could read 'Layoverland' so how's that for a big thumbs up?

This book was far better than it had any right to be - full of humor and heart. That same humor about death and the afterlife of shows like 'Dead Like Me' and 'The Good Place' but with a young adult twist that I think works better since being 18 and being self-centered and a little awful is par for the course?

Really quick read, lots of heart, moments that made me giggle and others that got me choked up, definitely a book I will be recommending for awhile!



View all my reviews

Comments

[the_rck]

I should try reading The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge in text. The audiobook was really, really bad. All of the goblins' dialogue sounded as if they were Chinese villains from a 1950s B movie, and I could only get the visual bits of the book if I downloaded a specific program. Reading the text would sidestep both issues.

[orangerful]

ew that is problematic...yeah, reading it would be a lot more enjoyable. It is HEAVILY illustrated and the pictures are really important to understanding the prejudices/biases of the elves and goblins?

[the_rck]

The accent choice made me feel really icky listening to it. I’m very reluctant to complain to the library about material in the collection, but I had to talk myself down from it. I think what I need to do is to attach a review to the catalog record. I usually don’t because I’m not good at explaining what I liked and didn’t in ways that will convey useful information.

Mostly, my ‘reviews’ are comments noting when the catalog record for a DVD is tagged as having captions but doesn’t actually have them. I know that that information is of interest to not-me people who’re browsing for movies to try.

[orangerful]

I almost feel like that criticism should go right to the publisher and maybe even alert the authors because it really changes their story. I mean, yeah the library should know but how could the publisher let that happen?? It's a brand new book!