http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/1131113 en-US Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:22:06 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 21389181 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:22:06 -0700
author: Philip Pullman
name: Mary
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/15/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21397472 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:09:17 -0700
author: James Patrick Kelly
name: Mary
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/19/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 24929183 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:04:54 -0700
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Mary
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/19/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 23995591 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:54:03 -0700 I suppose I was expecting something more substantive when I picked up this book. What I found instead was a collection of drawings and photos of what Knisley ate and bought while living in Paris for 6 weeks with her mother. And she ate and bought a lot (I'm pretty sure that if I could, I would, too.) The thing is, that doesn't make for a gripping or even an intriguing read. The comic became an inventory of consumption and anecdotes.

This was all the more frustrating given her projected scope for the book. On the first page, she wrote a sort of mini-intro regarding how the title relates to her work. Her FRENCH MILK aims to get a deeper understanding of how the French appreciate life, even to the smallest details like dairy, and how that affects her, the artist. She also wanted to delve into the changing relationship between her and her mother. Do you end up getting any of that? No, not really.
Occasionally, there was an attempt at showing an event but those attempts were of seemingly trivial events and then abbreviated at best. So I was confused with the disparity between what the book wanted to be and what it was, as well.

A better choice if you're looking for a travel memoir in the form of graphic novel is CARNET DU VOYAGE by Craig Thompson. In it, the artist visits friends in a few European countries, as well as Morocco. The whole shebang is lyrical and cohesive. Or perhaps even A YEAR IN JAPAN by Kate T. Williamson. Williamson's book really is a collection of Japanese vignettes through the eyes of a young American but with more thoughtful prose.

]]>
author: Lucy Knisley
name: Mary
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2000
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 06/08/08
shelves:
review:

I suppose I was expecting something more substantive when I picked up this book. What I found instead was a collection of drawings and photos of what Knisley ate and bought while living in Paris for 6 weeks with her mother. And she ate and bought a lot (I'm pretty sure that if I could, I would, too.) The thing is, that doesn't make for a gripping or even an intriguing read. The comic became an inventory of consumption and anecdotes.

This was all the more frustrating given her projected scope for the book. On the first page, she wrote a sort of mini-intro regarding how the title relates to her work. Her FRENCH MILK aims to get a deeper understanding of how the French appreciate life, even to the smallest details like dairy, and how that affects her, the artist. She also wanted to delve into the changing relationship between her and her mother. Do you end up getting any of that? No, not really.
Occasionally, there was an attempt at showing an event but those attempts were of seemingly trivial events and then abbreviated at best. So I was confused with the disparity between what the book wanted to be and what it was, as well.

A better choice if you're looking for a travel memoir in the form of graphic novel is CARNET DU VOYAGE by Craig Thompson. In it, the artist visits friends in a few European countries, as well as Morocco. The whole shebang is lyrical and cohesive. Or perhaps even A YEAR IN JAPAN by Kate T. Williamson. Williamson's book really is a collection of Japanese vignettes through the eyes of a young American but with more thoughtful prose.


]]> 22079326 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:50:07 -0700
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Mary
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 23995577 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:49:08 -0700
author: Gene Luen Yang
name: Mary
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 23995555 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:48:49 -0700
author: Chester Brown
name: Mary
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21390156 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:05:59 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Mary
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21397353 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:34:14 -0700
author: Mary Anne Mohanraj
name: Mary
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 23319369 Fri, 30 May 2008 12:09:34 -0700
Sure, there are sections on character development and idea development, but I found the content in these sections to be obvious to the point of uselessness. I don't want to mean to the book or to anyone who found it entirely useful, by any means. Certainly, I understand that the whole book's premise is to be a primer on the fundamentals, it's just that some parts were more refreshing, lucidly illustrated, and therefore exceedingly useful for my purposes than other parts.

In any case, this is my second time reading through it. I returned to this text (as well as a few others), so as to thieve the more interesting approaches to storytelling, just in case I get stuck in the next several months when I'm working on revising a short story, working on my graphic novel shebang, or playing with a spec script. I'm thinking I'll actually make schematic-type notes on certain parts so I can quickly refer to their lessons when I'm frustrated.

]]>
author: Linda Seger
name: Mary
average rating: 3.48
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/30/08
shelves:
review:
What you get here is just a sound, basic text on act structure, turning points, catalysts, and overall narrative cohesion in films and television.

Sure, there are sections on character development and idea development, but I found the content in these sections to be obvious to the point of uselessness. I don't want to mean to the book or to anyone who found it entirely useful, by any means. Certainly, I understand that the whole book's premise is to be a primer on the fundamentals, it's just that some parts were more refreshing, lucidly illustrated, and therefore exceedingly useful for my purposes than other parts.

In any case, this is my second time reading through it. I returned to this text (as well as a few others), so as to thieve the more interesting approaches to storytelling, just in case I get stuck in the next several months when I'm working on revising a short story, working on my graphic novel shebang, or playing with a spec script. I'm thinking I'll actually make schematic-type notes on certain parts so I can quickly refer to their lessons when I'm frustrated.


]]> 22502497 Thu, 29 May 2008 12:52:01 -0700
author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
name: Mary
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1909
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/29/08
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review:

]]> 21389223 Thu, 29 May 2008 11:24:50 -0700
author: Philip Pullman
name: Mary
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/29/08
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review:

]]> 22804009 Fri, 23 May 2008 06:41:13 -0700
author: Lynda Barry
name: Mary
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/23/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 22523449 Sun, 18 May 2008 20:48:22 -0700
author: William Shakespeare
name: Mary
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1604
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/18/08
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review:

]]> 21390511 Sun, 18 May 2008 20:48:12 -0700
author: Charles Dickens
name: Mary
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1859
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/18/08
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review:

]]> 21397510 Sun, 18 May 2008 15:09:34 -0700
author: Audrey Niffenegger
name: Mary
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/18/08
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review:

]]> 22393012 Fri, 16 May 2008 15:17:09 -0700
author: Iris Murdoch
name: Mary
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1977
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/16/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 22393001 Fri, 16 May 2008 15:16:58 -0700
author: Michael Chabon
name: Mary
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 05/16/08
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review:

]]> 22078883 Mon, 12 May 2008 11:28:31 -0700
author: Anne Elizabeth Moore
name: Mary
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/12/08
shelves:
review:
It was an amusing and fun read all together. I just found I'd read a surprising amount of the comics compiled in the anthology already. I hope next year's edition pulls from more diverse sources.
]]> 21782411 Mon, 12 May 2008 09:06:20 -0700
author: Christie Mellor
name: Mary
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/12/08
shelves:
review:
I'll be reading an ARC of this book.
]]> 21853167 Thu, 08 May 2008 08:44:55 -0700
author: Tracy Chevalier
name: Mary
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21853146 Thu, 08 May 2008 08:44:38 -0700
author: Crockett Johnson
name: Mary
average rating: 4.45
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/08/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21783686 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:32:27 -0700
author: Caroline B. Cooney
name: Mary
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/07/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21783390 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:30:05 -0700
All the more so considering Harrison wrote this novella in a three-week marathon.]]>
author: Jim Harrison
name: Mary
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1980
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/07/08
shelves:
review:
Stunning.

All the more so considering Harrison wrote this novella in a three-week marathon.
]]> 21783323 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:28:32 -0700
author: Evan S. Connell
name: Mary
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/07/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21783260 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:27:54 -0700
author: John Berger
name: Mary
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1972
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/07/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21783183 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:27:05 -0700
author: Liza Kirwin
name: Mary
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/07/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21783060 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:25:35 -0700
author: Victoria Finlay
name: Mary
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/07/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21782920 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:23:45 -0700
author: Gerard Durozoi
name: Mary
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/07/08
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review:

]]> 21409661 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:12:04 -0700
But I'm happy to report I did like it.

A lot, too, once the sperm whale and petunia chapter came up, and then all the more when the old world builder (or award-winning fjord artist) wandered in. And then I felt as if I might come to possibly have a crush on the book after Zaphod gave his monologue about how he thinks.

The absurdity in the story and its world was of the specific kind I care about -- an absurdity that manages to parallel this world's absurdity but tinged with mystery, whimsy, and wonder, of course. It's the kind of absurdity that exists in the stupendous Doctor Who, which makes sense, and exists somewhat in Dead Like Me. I don't find much purpose for the other kind of absurdity. You know the kind, that ragged, empty, cold, fraught, and menacing absurdity that lives in the Batman's Joker and performance art projects by people with bold, asymmetrical hair cuts. Shudder.

It's all right. I've found my way back.

I'll now take joy in reading Chris's hefty and timeworn Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, rather than approach it with the dread of potentially being shanked. Which is a good thing, no?






]]>
author: Douglas Adams
name: Mary
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/07/08
shelves:
review:
I was quite afraid I wouldn't take to the book considering how many people close to me -- as well as at parties -- would rage, rage, RAGE at my never having read Hitchhiker's Guide. What would the fallout be? Would I be shanked at the next party I went to if, when asked about my liking of the book, I were to shrug? Oh, the anxiety!

But I'm happy to report I did like it.

A lot, too, once the sperm whale and petunia chapter came up, and then all the more when the old world builder (or award-winning fjord artist) wandered in. And then I felt as if I might come to possibly have a crush on the book after Zaphod gave his monologue about how he thinks.

The absurdity in the story and its world was of the specific kind I care about -- an absurdity that manages to parallel this world's absurdity but tinged with mystery, whimsy, and wonder, of course. It's the kind of absurdity that exists in the stupendous Doctor Who, which makes sense, and exists somewhat in Dead Like Me. I don't find much purpose for the other kind of absurdity. You know the kind, that ragged, empty, cold, fraught, and menacing absurdity that lives in the Batman's Joker and performance art projects by people with bold, asymmetrical hair cuts. Shudder.

It's all right. I've found my way back.

I'll now take joy in reading Chris's hefty and timeworn Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, rather than approach it with the dread of potentially being shanked. Which is a good thing, no?







]]> 21690399 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:27:40 -0700
author: Quentin Bajac
name: Mary
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21690380 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:27:20 -0700
author: Alain Erlande-Brandenburg
name: Mary
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21690367 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:27:02 -0700
author: Philippe Thiebaut
name: Mary
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21690341 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:26:42 -0700
author: Edward Lear
name: Mary
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21690262 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:24:20 -0700
author: Katharine Harmon
name: Mary
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21690176 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:22:47 -0700
author: Oliver W. Sacks
name: Mary
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21690137 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:22:05 -0700
author: Kay Redfield Jamison
name: Mary
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21690134 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:22:04 -0700
author: Kay Redfield Jamison
name: Mary
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689840 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:15:50 -0700
author: Joseph Campbell
name: Mary
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689824 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:15:39 -0700
author: Joseph Campbell
name: Mary
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689792 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:15:12 -0700
author: Nancy Pearl
name: Mary
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689741 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:14:03 -0700
author: Various
name: Mary
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689698 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:13:08 -0700
author: Tony Millionaire
name: Mary
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689685 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:12:57 -0700
author: Tony Millionaire
name: Mary
average rating: 3.08
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689656 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:12:26 -0700
author: Tony Millionaire
name: Mary
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689605 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:11:18 -0700
author: Alan Moore
name: Mary
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689585 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:10:44 -0700
author: Alan Moore
name: Mary
average rating: 4.53
book published: 1986
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689581 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:10:39 -0700
author: Alan Moore
name: Mary
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689516 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:08:56 -0700
author: Aeon J. Skoble
name: Mary
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
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]]> 21689458 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:07:22 -0700
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Mary
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1964
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689385 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:05:49 -0700
author: Saul Bellow
name: Mary
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1956
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689349 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:05:10 -0700
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Mary
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1886
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689320 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:04:35 -0700
author: James Joyce
name: Mary
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1914
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689245 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:03:21 -0700
author: Denis Johnson
name: Mary
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689212 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:02:41 -0700
author: Henry James
name: Mary
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1954
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
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review:

]]> 21689163 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:00:42 -0700
author: Nancy R McArthur
name: Mary
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689160 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:00:35 -0700
author: Nancy McArthur
name: Mary
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689158 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:00:32 -0700
author: Nancy McArthur
name: Mary
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689151 Tue, 06 May 2008 05:59:53 -0700
author: Herman Melville
name: Mary
average rating: 3.01
book published: 1924
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689140 Tue, 06 May 2008 05:59:22 -0700
author: Edith Wharton
name: Mary
average rating: 3.35
book published: 1911
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 21689134 Tue, 06 May 2008 05:59:08 -0700