Mike > Recent Status Updates

This is not a very well-written action sequence. Penryn shouldn't be stopping to think in the middle of it - it ruins the hectic and chaotic tone that Ee was going for.

The Choir Affair Director (The Baby's Teeth): 3/5 I did like the writing and characterization in this one, but... eh. I guess I just felt like the theme was a little forced, and I had trouble telling why Wilson wrote this. Definitely the weakest story so far.

This has the same lack of focus that Angelfall had, but it also has the same tension. Still, without Rafe as an active character, it doesn't feel quite the same.

Mortal Kombat: 4/5 Very effective use of narrative summary, and I liked the unpredictable trajectory, even if this was the least original premise so far.

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: 5/5 FEEEEEELS oh god this was hard to read.

The Shooting Man: 4/5 I predicted the twist at the end, but the buildup is still very well-written.

There is some genuine tension here, I'll give Ee that. But compared to how hyped up this book is, I'm just as underwhelmed as I was in Angelfall.

Birds in the House: 4/5 Very nice story, but I feel like there was a lot of missed potential. I feel like it would've worked a lot better if we'd known the narrator better. Still, it's a very original premise, and it was very well-written.

I really wish Penryn's mom wasn't treated as such a burden. The narrative is so dismissive of her - she's nothing but an obstacle for Penryn. This is not how people with schizophrenia generally are in real life, even when it's unmedicated.

This is alright, I guess. I wish I remembered Angelfall better, because I do want to give this the credit it deserves, and the writing is pretty good, if not great.

Blowing Up on the Spot: 4/5 I wish this one had been a little longer and more detailed. However, it's a very good portrayal of anxiety and grief.

The Dead Sister Handbook: A Guide for Sensitive Boys: 5/5 Very original and well-written, and it makes great use of ambiguity. It kind of reminds me of The Virgin Suicides in its themes, and I like that it was about a sibling instead of a love interest.

The artwork is still distractedly bad, but I very much like the story. I can picture a kid having a lot of fun with this.

Ee is pretty good at building up a tense mood. I can see why Angelfall was so well-liked.

It has been three years since I read Angelfall, and all I really remember about it was that it was pretty good, but underwhelming compared to my expectations. So trying to figure out this book is going to be interesting.

The Grand Stand-In: 5/5 This is one of the best short stories I've ever read. I went into this anthology thinking it might be pretty good, but wow, I was not ready for this. The premise is brilliant, and there's so much good social commentary and worldbuilding, not to mention very good characterization, all in such a short amount of time. I'm very excited to read more.

This artwork is... pretty bad. Like, to the point where it's distracting from the story. It's all very flat and 2D-looking, and there's very little style or even variance from panel to panel. However, the story itself is quite good, so I'll put up with it. This is a very good introduction to deafness for kids, I wish I had read it when I was younger.

I do very much want to like this. Something about the writing style suggests to me that Suma has interesting ideas to come. But Violet and Amber have almost the same voice, and there hasn't been much but narrative summary so far - both big writing mistakes. We'll see where this goes.

In conclusion, this book is better than I've been making it out to be. In better circumstances, I would've really enjoyed it.

I've kind of discussed this before, but here's an opinion piece on why I hate the phrase 'unlikeable character' that I wrote for my blog:
http://thelowercasegimmick.tumblr.com...

I guess I just feel like Fink and Cranor are on autopilot, and if they had tried to branch out from the podcast more, they could've made something a lot better.

I guess on the whole, I like this book in theory, but not in practice. It's premise promises a lot more than it delivers.

I did enjoy this book, to an extent, but I'm still finding myself skimming as I reach the end, just because this book took me so freaking long to read. Note to self: next time, read more than 20 pages per day.

GR Executive: I could take a look at all these accessibility and glitch complaints that a lot of people seem to have and fix those. But why would I do that, when there are still so many changes that nobody asked for I can make?

There are aspects I like about this. It is genuinely atmospheric, and often funny. I like that one of the protagonists in this book aimed at young people is a middle-aged woman of color whose character arc is about learning to be a better parent. There is plenty to like here, especially if you already like the podcast.

Another thing I like and wish there was more of is Haskell talking about our place in nature, and the extent to which we're similar to or different from animals. I don't always agree with him, but these sections feel the most personal to me - they most deliver what this book's premise promises.

Being a vet in the 30s sounds awful. I wonder if it's any better today.

This reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events, in how unusual the writing style and humor is, and how things are supposed to be eccentric and not make sense. Except that Snicket was better at creating engaging stories with coherent structures than this.

There are a few introspective bits that do stem primarily from Haskell's experiences. And those are by far the best parts of this book.

I'm not really sure what else there is to say about this, given how many status updates I've made. It's entertaining enough to sustain 200 pages, not entertaining enough to sustain 400. That's about all I have to say.

There's really not a ton here that you couldn't get from just listening to the podcast. Fink and Cranor just don't seem to understand how novels work very well - they seem like they'd rather be writing more podcast episodes.

I think I would like this a lot better if I read it in the context of a biology class or something. As it stands... eh. I don't have much use for this.

Having read so much of this, Herriot's style is getting a bit predictable. This wouldn't be a problem if this were released as two books, like it was supposed to be, but I guess there's nothing I can do about that.