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jodiwilldare's reviews
1523 reviews
Do Not Deny Me: Stories by Jean Thompson
3.0
When I first discovered The Hold Steady it was love at first listen. They were like nothing I’d ever heard before. I fell hard and fast and there was no looking back. But, sadly, as is often the case of for fickle young girls, the love grew tired. As The Hold Steady and I fell into a meaningful, comfortable relationship I began to grow restless. I missed those first exhilarating months –butterflies in my stomach and a racing pulse. With each record that was release, I began to grow a little resentful. Yeah, sure this is good and all, I thought, but it’s not like that first time.
And while my love for the band hasn’t necessarily abated, it’s just not the same. I’ve come to dub this “The Hold Steady Effect” which is clearly defined as: A phenomenon whereby nothing seems to blow you away quite like the first experience, and while it’s good and all it still makes you long for that first mind-blowing time.
I fear Jean Thompson’s suffering from The Hold Steady Effect (which would be kind of awesome had she mentioned THS in her Largehearted Boy Book notes essay). It’s sad. Her latest short story collection Do Not Deny Me is a good, readable book. Solid writing, decent stories, everything you want. Right?
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And while my love for the band hasn’t necessarily abated, it’s just not the same. I’ve come to dub this “The Hold Steady Effect” which is clearly defined as: A phenomenon whereby nothing seems to blow you away quite like the first experience, and while it’s good and all it still makes you long for that first mind-blowing time.
I fear Jean Thompson’s suffering from The Hold Steady Effect (which would be kind of awesome had she mentioned THS in her Largehearted Boy Book notes essay). It’s sad. Her latest short story collection Do Not Deny Me is a good, readable book. Solid writing, decent stories, everything you want. Right?
Read more
Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
3.0
If you read about graphic novels at all, it’s hard to escape the accolades being heaped upon David Mazzuchelli’s Asterios Polyp. If you believe the hype this book is like the second-coming of Jesus here on Earth to show us the beauty and wonder of the graphic novel form.
Really, they (reviewers & readers) are pretty sure Asterios Polyp is the BEST THING EVER. Maybe they’re right and I’m just too dumb for this book. Or maybe they’ve just been fooled by the big words and concepts and the hype.
It’s probably a little bit of both.
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Really, they (reviewers & readers) are pretty sure Asterios Polyp is the BEST THING EVER. Maybe they’re right and I’m just too dumb for this book. Or maybe they’ve just been fooled by the big words and concepts and the hype.
It’s probably a little bit of both.
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Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman
2.0
Andromeda Klein is a skinny, goofy-haired seventeen-year-old girl with disorganized collagen which causes her to have fragile bones and bad hearing. Because that’s not enough to make her a high school misfit, she’s also got a couple of wacky parents (Mom’s addicted to online role-playing games and Dad’s a conspiracy theorist) and is dealing with the death of her best friend, Daisy.
Also, Andromeda is a little obsessed with the occult and spends all her free time studying the dark arts, reading tarot cards, and worrying over a sort of boyfriend she calls St. Steve. Oh, and because she’s a high school student there are the requisite mean girls and frenemies who seem to alternately persecute Andromeda and be nice to her.
As a character, Andromeda is top notch. She’s smart and weird and not afraid to do what she wants. It’s a bit of a pity she’s stuck in this slow-moving tome named, aptly, Andromeda Klein.
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Also, Andromeda is a little obsessed with the occult and spends all her free time studying the dark arts, reading tarot cards, and worrying over a sort of boyfriend she calls St. Steve. Oh, and because she’s a high school student there are the requisite mean girls and frenemies who seem to alternately persecute Andromeda and be nice to her.
As a character, Andromeda is top notch. She’s smart and weird and not afraid to do what she wants. It’s a bit of a pity she’s stuck in this slow-moving tome named, aptly, Andromeda Klein.
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Totally Killer by Greg Olear
2.0
I picked up Totally Killer by Greg Olear because of the cassette on the cover, which I spied on his Largehearted Boy Book Notes essay. There’s something in my genetic makeup that makes it nearly impossible for me to pass up any book with a cassette tape on the cover. Somewhere buried deep in my subconscious is the girl who spend all Sunday taping her favorite songs off America’s Top 40 countdown, and apparently she’s the on in charge of book selections.
I stuck with the book despite my extreme annoyance because it’s the November pick for Rock & Roll Bookclub.
As a reader, I rarely question an author’s Point of View (POV) choices. I figure it’s their story they can tell it how they want to. However, this is not the case with Totally Killer. In fact, I spent the first half of the book so annoyed by Olear’s POV choice that I nearly abandoned it. I’m kind of glad that I didn’t.
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I stuck with the book despite my extreme annoyance because it’s the November pick for Rock & Roll Bookclub.
As a reader, I rarely question an author’s Point of View (POV) choices. I figure it’s their story they can tell it how they want to. However, this is not the case with Totally Killer. In fact, I spent the first half of the book so annoyed by Olear’s POV choice that I nearly abandoned it. I’m kind of glad that I didn’t.
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Ignorance by Milan Kundera
3.0
Kundera would have done a better service to his readers had he made a decision about whether he was writing a book of personal essays or a novel.
The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way
4.0
Since The Umbrella Academy Volume 1: Apocalypse Suite was written by Gerard Way of the band My Chemical Romance (whose music I am not familiar with at all), I decided it totally counts as part of the Rock & Roll June project. For the uninitiated, Rock & Roll June is where I spend the month reading Rock & Roll books.
Since I’m knee deep in a few other Rock & Roll books, and since I wanted to start the month off right, I decided to squeeze in this delectable graphic novel in quick. It was a solid choice.
If Preludes & Nocturnes was the Goth Family Robinson, The Umbrella Academy is the Emo Family Robinson, which is not a complaint.
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Since I’m knee deep in a few other Rock & Roll books, and since I wanted to start the month off right, I decided to squeeze in this delectable graphic novel in quick. It was a solid choice.
If Preludes & Nocturnes was the Goth Family Robinson, The Umbrella Academy is the Emo Family Robinson, which is not a complaint.
read more
Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton
4.0
What an unusual book. Even for a graphic novel, Leanne Shapton’s Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry is unlike anything I ever read before. I picked it up because Shapton mentioned Big Star’s song “Thirteen” in her Largehearted Boy Book Notes essay. Yes, that’s really all it takes. Anyway, this graphic novel is presented as an auction catalog, and chronicles the rise and fall of Lenore and Harold’s relationship through their stuff.
Stuff. Huh.
Read the rest of the review on MN Reads.
Stuff. Huh.
Read the rest of the review on MN Reads.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
4.0
Near as I can tell, I stopped reading Junot Diaz’s The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao sometime around Tuesday, May 8, 2007. I know this because when I cracked open the book a few weeks ago, a ticket stub for an Elvis Costello concert fell out.
I stopped reading because the buzz for Diaz’s much-anticipated first novel was exploding all over the place. See, it’d been ten years since the publication of his short story collection Drown which is nothing short of fan-fucking-tastic. The buzz for Oscar Wao was big, and buzz scares the shit out of me.
Generally you can’t win with a buzz book. Either you’re a contrarian naysayer who doesn’t like anything “popular” or you’re just another pathetic hipster following the heard. As a reader the buzz paralyzes me because while I’m trying to read the book I continue to have an internal debate with the buzzmakers. It’s a mess, so I just generally avoid the buzz book until all has died down (this explains why I have yet to get past page nine of Lorrie Moore’s A Gate at the Stairs).
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I stopped reading because the buzz for Diaz’s much-anticipated first novel was exploding all over the place. See, it’d been ten years since the publication of his short story collection Drown which is nothing short of fan-fucking-tastic. The buzz for Oscar Wao was big, and buzz scares the shit out of me.
Generally you can’t win with a buzz book. Either you’re a contrarian naysayer who doesn’t like anything “popular” or you’re just another pathetic hipster following the heard. As a reader the buzz paralyzes me because while I’m trying to read the book I continue to have an internal debate with the buzzmakers. It’s a mess, so I just generally avoid the buzz book until all has died down (this explains why I have yet to get past page nine of Lorrie Moore’s A Gate at the Stairs).
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The Annunciations of Hank Meyerson: Mama's Boy and Scholar by Scott Muskin
3.0
Hank Meyerson is that friend who takes a really, really long time to tell a story. Sure once you reach the end where the awesome is you’ve kind of forgiven him for taking the slow, meandering route, but still . . .
In Scott Muskin’s novel The Annunciations of Hank Meyerson, Mama’s Boy and Scholar, Hank tells us his entire life’s story. Much like most people’s lives, Hank’s life has a lot of really interesting and a hell of a lot of not so interesting. Unfortunately, we get a great deal of both in this book.
Read the rest on MN Reads
In Scott Muskin’s novel The Annunciations of Hank Meyerson, Mama’s Boy and Scholar, Hank tells us his entire life’s story. Much like most people’s lives, Hank’s life has a lot of really interesting and a hell of a lot of not so interesting. Unfortunately, we get a great deal of both in this book.
Read the rest on MN Reads