Mike > Recent Status Updates

Finally, we're taking about Cal/Caliope in their lifetime. Is the book finally going to get good now?

Lungewater by Joan Aiken: 2/5. Man, that was boring as shit. The idea wasn't interesting in the first place, but the execution was even worse.

Morgan Roehmar's Boys: 2/5. I guess I can't say this was predictable, but it was pretty cliched and dull.

A note to authors writing scary short stories: Please stop writing about ghosts haunting the area where they died. It's really boring.

I hope this picks up.

This is so, so good. I haven't read many critical essays of this length, but this is definitely a really good one.

The cover is a really great example of the points Sontag is making here. This is making me excited for my review.

Man, this is awesome. Sontag certainly knows her stuff.

I really do struggle to figure out why so many fans hate this arc. This is some of the most suspenseful stuff in the series.

Brynn is the only interesting character here. I guess that means In Too Deep won't be as bad as this book, thank god.

This just isn't going to interest me, I guess. That's too bad.

I'm quite bored. All of these voices are exactly the same, and these stories are similar enough that I'm getting them confused.

I want this book to go on forever...

Alan Moore is a genius. The artwork could be a little better, but the writing makes for probably the best graphic novel I've read. (Not that there's much competition, but still.)

This is really, really good. I see a lot of 1984 influence here; I'm surprised this is talked about less in the context of modern dystopias.

This mostly seems like an excuse for McVoy to was nostalgic about going to summer camp. Nothing of substance has happened so far.

All three voices sound identical. Wonderful.

This isn't bad, overall. I've read better, but this isn't bad.

Too much telling, not enough showing.

I'm not sure what I think of this. I need to read more first, I guess.

Sadness. And awkward exposition. But mostly sadness.

We seem to be approaching the main plot, if it's coming at all. I'm bored.

I'm starting to think we'll never get to the plot.

Dammit, this isn't going to be as good as Virgin Suicides. It's still got a while to pick up, but I'm not sure I can forgive such a huge writing mistake as opening with over a hundred pages of backstory.

There had better be a good reason we're getting all this background information. It had better not just be completely extraneous.

How does Cal/Calliope know their family's history in so much detail? They weren't there, and this isn't the kind of thing that a family would tell them.

This is starting off with a lengthy backstory, which usually isn't good news. But it's the author of The Virgin Suicides, so I trust there's some sort of reason behind this.

That did not go at all where I expected it to go. Anderson might save this book yet.

This seems to be Anderson's attempt at writing a boy book. It's a bit cringe-inducing, but it's still Laurie Halse Anderson, so it's not that bad.

This is a little disappointing. His crush is his bully's twin sister? I mean, really?

No matter how bad the majority of my literature is, Laurie Halse Anderson will always make it okay.

So, what's this book supposed to be about? Because I'm seriously not sure.

The good news: Yesterday, I got a brand new Kindle! It is far more advanced than my old one, and I'm very excited about it.

The bad news: Boy, does the GoodReads app ever suck. I mean, complaining about GoodReads in status updates has become such a cliche here, but still... it SUCKS.