Gratuity Tucci (known to her friends as Tip) is an average girl whose life rapidly became not-so-average when the Boov showed up, kidnapped her mom and then took over the entire planet. As the entire population of the US is being transported to Florida so the Boov can take over the rest of the country, Tip decides that she is going to find her own way there. She already figured out how to drive the family car in the weeks after her mom disappeared, so she packs up her cat Pig and sets off to leave her New England home, bound for the swampy home the Boov have chosen for her.
Tip is less than thrilled to find herself giving a ride to a young Boov mechanic who has chosen the curious human name of J.Lo, but after he transforms her car so that it can float over the roads destroyed by the Boov, the two form a curious bond and find themselves spending long hours together in the car. Soon a new and sinister threat comes along and threatens to make the Boov invasion look like a day at Florida's Happy Mouse Land amusement park.
This book was extremely cute and utterly appealing. Adam Rex took some liberties with the format of the novel, making it a sort of scrapbook of letters, essays, drawings and J.Lo's hilarious cartoons. Normally, I might find this distracting - I'm one of those people who likes words and only words, thank you (I hate those links to news stories on newspaper websites that turn out to be videos!). In this case, the format works really well and adds to the charm of this novel.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Alone by Richard E. Byrd
After reading so much fantasy over the past few weeks, I wanted something completely different and discovered this old paperback buried on my bookshelf, loaned to me long ago by a friend. Alone was certainly different in content but no less gripping than some of the better novels I've read lately.
This is a brutally honest and yet strangely dignified account of a man's struggle to survive a dark Antarctic winter in the 1930s, alone on a remote weather station more than 100 miles from the safety of the Little America base. When his stove malfunctions and he begins to suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning, he does his best to pretend that everything is all right so that his colleagues at the base will not put their own lives at risk in an attempt to rescue him. Byrd's writing is strangely compelling as he explores the twisted paths his mind takes as depression sets in and he confronts his mortality.
This is a brutally honest and yet strangely dignified account of a man's struggle to survive a dark Antarctic winter in the 1930s, alone on a remote weather station more than 100 miles from the safety of the Little America base. When his stove malfunctions and he begins to suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning, he does his best to pretend that everything is all right so that his colleagues at the base will not put their own lives at risk in an attempt to rescue him. Byrd's writing is strangely compelling as he explores the twisted paths his mind takes as depression sets in and he confronts his mortality.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Long Way Down by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
This is an account of the authors' second massive motorcycle journey, travelling from John O'Groats at the northern tip of Scotland, through Europe and then thousands of kilometres through Africa down to Cape Town. (The first series "Long Way Round" takes the authors from London to New York via Siberia and points in between.) Although I've watched the television series that this was based on, I enjoyed getting a more personal story of how both men experienced the trip. There's only so much footage you can show in a TV documentary, after all.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
This book has had a lot of hype lately among the nerd community, thanks to an upcoming film adaptation. Now that my kids have finally convinced me to read manga, I thought I might be ready to try a 'real' American-style comic book. This one seemed to fit the bill - all twelve titles in the series bound into one book makes it feel more like reading a novel, which is still far and away my preferred format. Just give me straight words. I don't need all those stinkin' pictures!
Watchmen turned out to be worth slogging through all the pictures, though. It's set in an alternate 1980s universe where real people actually do dress up in costumes to embark on crime-fighting careers. They even grow up and have kids who go on to become costumed superheroes themselves. They aren't all nice people - in fact, I wouldn't say any of the 'heroes' in Watchmen bears much resemblance to the squeaky-clean Clark Kents of the comic book world. Nevertheless, they're interesting and compelling characters trying to save the world in the only way they can, against the backdrop of the cold war and the real possibility of a nuclear disaster that could destroy everything.
I don't really want to give too much of the story away, but even if you aren't someone who has ever thought of reading a comic book (ahem, sorry, GRAPHIC NOVEL), I'd recommend you give this one a try. Alan Moore has a way of really making you think about bigger issues, and he uses some very clever ways of telling his story. For instance, there's a minor character who occasionally turns up, sitting at a newsstand getting a free read of his favourite pirate comic book series. We get to see little snippets of what he's reading, while in the background the news vendor is talking to his customers about current events. The pirate story somehow reflects what's going on in the bigger 'real' world of Watchmen, and yet is interesting in and of itself. Watchmen has so many layers to it, there's so much to digest and consider so that even after I finished reading I still find myself thinking back on it and figuring things out that weren't obvious at first.
Watchmen turned out to be worth slogging through all the pictures, though. It's set in an alternate 1980s universe where real people actually do dress up in costumes to embark on crime-fighting careers. They even grow up and have kids who go on to become costumed superheroes themselves. They aren't all nice people - in fact, I wouldn't say any of the 'heroes' in Watchmen bears much resemblance to the squeaky-clean Clark Kents of the comic book world. Nevertheless, they're interesting and compelling characters trying to save the world in the only way they can, against the backdrop of the cold war and the real possibility of a nuclear disaster that could destroy everything.
I don't really want to give too much of the story away, but even if you aren't someone who has ever thought of reading a comic book (ahem, sorry, GRAPHIC NOVEL), I'd recommend you give this one a try. Alan Moore has a way of really making you think about bigger issues, and he uses some very clever ways of telling his story. For instance, there's a minor character who occasionally turns up, sitting at a newsstand getting a free read of his favourite pirate comic book series. We get to see little snippets of what he's reading, while in the background the news vendor is talking to his customers about current events. The pirate story somehow reflects what's going on in the bigger 'real' world of Watchmen, and yet is interesting in and of itself. Watchmen has so many layers to it, there's so much to digest and consider so that even after I finished reading I still find myself thinking back on it and figuring things out that weren't obvious at first.
Back in the saddle again...
OK, I've decided it's time to revive this poor neglected blog. It's not that I haven't been reading, I just somehow haven't felt compelled to write all summer.
Here's a quick partial list of what I've been reading since I last posted:
the Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. I enjoyed this, my first foray into epic fantasy in a long time. Martin's a good storyteller, and I appreciated how he slowly introduced his large cast of characters and didn't overwhelm me with a gazillion subplots and names to remember right off the bat.
Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel, the sequel to Airborn and Skybreaker. A great series, though I admit the latest book didn't grip me - probably Skybreaker is the best of the lot, though I'd suggest you read them all. :-)
Vol. 1 and 2 of Yu Yu Hakusho, a manga series which my son became addicted to while we were visiting Japan. It's the story of a young troublemaker who is suddenly killed when he saves a little boy from being hit by a car. The afterlife isn't ready for him and gives him another chance, which he takes full advantage of and uses to make the world around him a better place, one person at a time.
Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman -- this is the companion book to the TV documentary of the same name. These two motorcycle-obsessed pals decide to ride from London, across Europe, Asia and Russia and then fly to Alaska and ride to New York. I loved the show, and this is a neat diary by both men who give us a bit more insight into their feelings about the trip as it unfolded.
I know this is just a short list of all that I've read, but in the interests of getting my kids picked up from school on time I'll publish now and add more later. (Honestly!)
Here's a quick partial list of what I've been reading since I last posted:
the Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. I enjoyed this, my first foray into epic fantasy in a long time. Martin's a good storyteller, and I appreciated how he slowly introduced his large cast of characters and didn't overwhelm me with a gazillion subplots and names to remember right off the bat.
Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel, the sequel to Airborn and Skybreaker. A great series, though I admit the latest book didn't grip me - probably Skybreaker is the best of the lot, though I'd suggest you read them all. :-)
Vol. 1 and 2 of Yu Yu Hakusho, a manga series which my son became addicted to while we were visiting Japan. It's the story of a young troublemaker who is suddenly killed when he saves a little boy from being hit by a car. The afterlife isn't ready for him and gives him another chance, which he takes full advantage of and uses to make the world around him a better place, one person at a time.
Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman -- this is the companion book to the TV documentary of the same name. These two motorcycle-obsessed pals decide to ride from London, across Europe, Asia and Russia and then fly to Alaska and ride to New York. I loved the show, and this is a neat diary by both men who give us a bit more insight into their feelings about the trip as it unfolded.
I know this is just a short list of all that I've read, but in the interests of getting my kids picked up from school on time I'll publish now and add more later. (Honestly!)
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