Stitches

Loved it. Great art. Great narrative. Great art. This is one of those stories that lends itself to graphic novel. The drawing style was really classy. It had a great flowing quality that was anti-comic strip, helping to make the story unique. I love the idea of the family having a unique ability to communicate--mom uses slamming cupboard doors and throwing dishes; dad is the sound of his car leaving as fast as possible; brother percussion; and author his artwork.

Ode to Kirihito

After an embarrassment and confusion trying to decipher the Dewey Decimal System I used to know and love, I finally found Ode to Kirihito in the Graphic Novel section (not the non-fiction aisle). Quite an awesome read. I love the story--always enjoy the conspiracy and the medical story--and the graphics were cool as well. I loved some of the drawings of the characters, especially Dr. Urabe (aka Mr. Hot). Plus the hilarious big-breasted women who always took their tops off. Greed, humanity, pride, age discrimination, we had it all.

Donna Tartt The Little Friend

My first foray into Tartt's crazy world was quite enjoyable. She is the literary daughter of Carl Hiasson and Shirley Hazzard. At 625 pages it is a bit long but the writing is so interesting and the plot twists engaging enough to keep my interest.

The Chocolate War

Robert Cormier's YA novel about finding individuality is considered a classic by many. I find myself reading a lot of YA lately and enjoying most. They have a simple intensity that many adult books lack; attributable I think to some degree to grown-ups' dismissal of the complexities of youth. At any rate, this book was not my favorite. I like the idea of faithfully portraying young and mature people with good and bad qualities and letting kids know that adults are just as unreliable as anyone else. I actually liked the ending as well. Maybe I really did like the book. Hmmm.

The Savage Garden

While Los Angeles Times calls Mark Mills' The Savage Garden "A remarkable voice", I found it unreadable. Lines such as "His fingers charted a lazy yet determined course along the inside of her dove-white thi8gh, the flesh warm and yielding, like new dough" made me laugh out loud. His coincidental homophobia truly annoyed me however on page 59 when he learned his professor was heterosexual and he apologized for "casting aspersions on his sexuality." Poor homosexuals...

The Mermaids Singing

After seeing an episode of Wire In The Blood I was intrigued about the series on which it was based. I love the Tony Hill character and his social awkwardness and wanted to see what the character was like in the text. The novel was graphic and a bit gory and I'm not sure the takeaway was better or worse. There were aspects I liked such as his neuroses were more pronounced in the book and his sexual relation with the mysterious phone caller made more sense. While I enjoyed the read I probably wouldn't continue with the series.

Shirley for Halloween

Re-reading Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House was fun. I remember her from university and wanted to revisit something so I picked up HH. It has a smooth simple flow. She writes quite lovingly about allowing intuition to find one's destiny. The book has a strong lesbian element which I don't recall from my first reading. I like how the protagonist evolves through the story from a timid mouse to someone comfortable with life and death. Good read. It may inspire me to pick up We Have Always Lived in the Castle next.