Book Clubs:: Persepolis done, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? going forward

Over at the Legendary Book Club of Habitica, we've just finished some amazing discussions on The Complete Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. If you missed my review, you should check it out. Next, we'll be reading Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, by Edward Albee. If you're interested in reading along with us and participating in discussion, make sure to join HabitRPG and check out the guild "The Legendary Book Club of Habitica."

Hope to see you there!

Review:: Agent to the Stars, by John Scalzi

Title: Agent to the Stars

Author: John Scalzi

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Skiffy, especially self-aware skiffy, is one of my favorite genres, and John Scalzi does it well with Agent to the Stars. Unfortunately, there's a point where the humor's charm wears off. Up until then, it's a fantastic book. It's the last bit that drags it down.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter, #6

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Still good?
Yeah...

Previously:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I'm of two minds about Half-Blood Prince. There were some parts in it that were rather well done, and other parts that made me roll my eyes. It's just so frustrating to read a book and go, "Ugh, it was so close to being good!"

Review:: Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

Title: Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell

Author: Susanna Clarke

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★★

I didn't think I knew what I was looking for in a fantasy book, but apparently this is it. Susanna Clark manages to write a story that doesn't rely on superfluous action, has interesting characters with real struggles and flaws, and worldbuilds without overwhelming the reader. Yes, Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell is long, but it doesn't feel like it goes on too long. In fact, I was rather sad to depart from its world.

Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat for President, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat for President

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: Stainless Steel Rat, #5 (Publication Order)

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still good?

Hella!

Previously:

The Stainless Steel Rat

The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!

Harry Harrison making fun of politics? Yes, please! The hijinks in this Stainless Steel Rat book poke at the way democracies end up not being so democratic. He probably could have used a less stereotypical backdrop than Space Latin America to show off his "democratic" dictator plot, but because the setting isn't the joke, it works better than the issues in the last book.

Nostalgia Review:: Wizard at Large, by Terry Brooks

Title: Wizard at Large

Author: Terry Brooks

Series: Magic Kingdom of Landover, #3

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still good?

...sigh.

Previously:

Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!

The Black Unicorn

So, here's the thing. These books are better than I'd expect them to be (considering the Shannara books) but really aren't great. And they keep declining in goodness. The first was better than the second was better than the third. Probably because the protag can't learn.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter, #5

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still good?

...meh.

Previously:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I don't remember liking this one that much. I do remember being oh-so-sad about Sirius' death. This time, I was just like, "Oh, you dropped a bridge on Sirius to try and make us feel bad. That's poor writing." Most of the plot is that Harry is a stupid git (I know he's a teenager, but come on...) or that Umbridge is oh-so-evil. Consider 870 pages of this, and I'm just left bland.

Review:: Fables: Animal Farm, by Bill Willingham

Title: Fables: Animal Farm

Author: Bill Willingham

Series: Fables, #2

Format: Paperback

Rating:  ★★☆☆☆

Previously:

Fables: Legends in Exile

I definitely read Fables at some point in the past because I totally remembered this plot. It wasn't as good as the first book, to be entirely honest, but the art is better in some ways. And I do love Goldilocks in it. Spoilers later on.

Review:: Timeless, by Gail Carriger

Title: Timeless

Author: Gail Carriger

Series: Parasol Protectorate, #5

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Previously:

Soulless

Changeless

Blameless

Heartless

With Timeless, the Parasol Protectorate books come to an end. (It is not, however, and end to the world...) Unfortunately, I think it kind of overstayed its welcome. The series went good, better, better, good, and now just okay. Maybe it's that I'm not a big fan of neatly wrapped up Happily Ever After endings. Or pretty much any of the last third of the book. Spoilers in the review.

Review:: Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

Title: The Complete Persepolis

Author: Marjane Satrapi

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

This month, my bookclub on HabitRPG (soon to be remaned Habitica) voted on reading Persepolis. If you want to check out our further discussion on it, join Habit, check out the guild "Legendary Bookclub of Habitica" and you'll find a link to our Goodreads group. Anyway, now that that's covered, my review:

Persepolis was almost everything I ever wanted from it. And it would have been, if it had only quit whilst ahead. Instead, there was a point where it lost its footing for a bit. While that's sometimes not enough to knock off a star, in this case it was... partially because of how strong the book is at the start.

Review:: Pride of Baghdad, by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon

Title: Pride of Baghdad

Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Niko Henrichon
Format: Graphic Novel Paperback
Rating: ★★★★★

Apparently I just need to read everything Brian K. Vaughan has ever written. Pride of Baghdad is beautiful, painful, and everything I could have wanted out of this story.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Still Good?

No...

Previously:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I'm really sad. I remember sitting down and reading Goblet of Fire on our kitchen table. I remember liking it so much. Being so excited.

And missing all of the really gross racism. Now, as I pointed out, The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You! had some racism problems, but not to this extent. And what makes it sadder is that without that subplot, Goblet of Fire would have been fine... and quite a good book that didn't make me feel gross.

Review:: Marsbound, by Joe Haldeman

Title: Marsbound

Author: Joe Haldeman

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

No, you're not going to see me rip apart this book. This one wasn't entirely awful; I just didn't like it. Trite is a good word for it. Uninspired. Thrown together using a random plot generator as necessary. Okay, maybe I'm in denial. It was pretty bad.

Review:: Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk

Title: Fight Club

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Format: Trade Paperback

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Confession time: I have (had) never seen or read Fight Club. The only problem with reading it now, though, is that it's so heavily saturated into pop culture that it kind of destroys the book's charm. I feel like it would have been a lot better if I'd gone in without knowing some things I already did. As it was, it felt very much like Catcher in the Rye 2.0. Spoilers in the review that probably aren't spoilers for anyone.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter, #3

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still Good?
Yup!

Previously:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I remember as a kid thinking that Prisoner of Azkaban was much better than Chamber of Secrets. Of course, that's really not saying much, as I didn't like it as much. In my other re-reads of the series, I felt like this was a turning point for J.K. Rowling, where she really started to get a handle on her writing. This re-read, I felt that way as well.

Review:: Polystom, by Adam Roberts

Title: Polystom

Author: Adam Roberts

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

I'm not really the type to feel sorry for an abuser, especially an abuser who's just a fucking shitty person in general. So when a book is clearly showing him in a sympathetic light, I'm going to be annoyed as fuck. On top of that, the science in it is just inconsistent and awful, which might be fine if it wasn't justified in the last 10% of the book.

To put it in a simpler way: I was literally allergic to this book and misplaced it three times. I think my subconscious really, really wanted me to stop reading it. Spoilers for the ending after the cut.

Review:: The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling

Title: The Casual Vacancy

Author: J.K. Rowling

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The Casual Vacancy suffers from some of the same problems Deathly Hallows did, which isn't surprising, all things considered. I also felt at times like J.K. Rowling was trying to pull at my heartstrings with obvious manipulation, rather than actually writing something heart-wrenching. All of that considered, though, it was an interesting take on small-town politics (literal and not), class warfare, and coming of age in screwed up families.

Review:: Saga, Volume 4, by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

Title: Saga, Volume 4

Author: Brian K. Vaughn

Artist: Fiona Staples

Format: Collected Comics Paperback

Rating: ★★★★★

Previously:

Volume 1

Volume 2
Volume 3

I only had one minor quibble with Volume 4: not enough lying cat. But oh, oh, oh, when she showed up... Volume 4 is a bit of a time skip. We get to see Hazel as a toddler and Sophie as a kick-ass 8-year-old. The time skip felt like the right thing to do for the plot at this point. Oh, and Volume 4 made me literally cry.

Review:: Signal to Noise, by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

Title: Signal to Noise

Author: Neil Gaiman

Artist: Dave McKean

 Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I'm not entirely sure what turned me off of Signal to Noise. Maybe it was the fact that it was a couple of artists waxing on about how important art is to artists. (Yes, I know how factual this drive is personally, but it's such a tired subject for art.) Or maybe it was the fact that the art style really didn't add anything to the story for me. If anything, it pushed me away. I don't know. It felt pretentious.

Nostalgia Review:: The Black Unicorn, by Terry Brooks

Title: The Black Unicorn

Author: Terry Brooks

Series: Magic Kingdom of Landover, #2

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still Good?

...meh.

Previously:

Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!

In this book, everyone holds the idiot ball! And so a lot of bad things happen! Somehow, that's not entirely enjoyable! There are mild spoilers in this review! Look! Exclamation marks!

Review:: Saga, Volume 3, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Title: Saga, Volume 3

Author: Brian K. Vaughan

Artist: Fiona Staples

Format: Collected Comics Paperback

Rating: ★★★★★

Previously:

Volume 1

Volume 2

You know what I love? Volume 1: three stars. Volume 2: four stars. Volume 3: five stars. Saga started off a little shaky but good, then decided to up and run with it, getting better by the second. I actually love the protagonists now, and the side characters? They've come even further. Volume 3 managed to hit my heartstrings harder than any other so far.

And it didn't even seem like it was trying.

Review:: You are Here: A Portable History of the Universe, by Christopher Potter

Title: You are Here: A Portable History of the Universe

Author: Christopher Potter

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

That moment when you're reading a non-fiction science book and you realize the author isn't a scientist. Lemme put it this way: the first moment you make a glaring error in a non-fiction book, I'm going to start giving it more scrutiny. The second? I'm upset.

News and Stuff:: Non Spec-Fic Incoming!

Wait, what?

That's right. I'm going to be reviewing a bit more non-specfic coming up. There's yet another challenge on HabitRPG. This one is in one of my favorite guilds not related to books: the Short-Term Goal Accountability guild. Basically, it's a group of people working to keep each other accountable.

This challenge is to read a book a week, and I went, huh, I can't join that. I'd be cheating! But then one of my biggest book-enablers came up with the idea of making it harder. Harder for me? I'm going to be reading a book that's not specfic every week.

Look forward to other things. I'm not sure what other things. But I'm starting with Fight Club. It totally counts.

Review:: A Spell for Chameleon, by Piers Anthony

Title: A Spell for Chameleon

Author: Piers Anthony

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Usually I love ripping apart the books I hate. But no, I've been avoiding writing this review. Why? This is the most sexist fantasy book I've ever read. That's saying something. Merely thinking about this book makes my skin crawl. Below the cut, you'll hear more, there will be spoilers, there will be a lot of gross talk about rape culture, and a shitton of sexism will be unveiled.

Nostalgia Review:: Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!, by Terry Brooks

Title: Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!

Author: Terry Brooks

Series: Magic Kingdom of Landover, #1

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still Good?

...meh.

I loved Terry Brooks as a teenager. I ate up the Shannara books. Thank god I haven't re-read them and can remember enough to realize how awful they are. However, there were a couple other Terry Brooks series I read (...there are only two other rather short series Terry Brooks wrote. Shannara = cash cow). I thought this one might have been better, from what I recalled. And it's true! It was. But not a lot better.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter, #2

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still Good?

meh.

Previously:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I remember reading this shortly after it came out under a tree in a park in Denver, Colorado. Our teacher had just read the first to us in school, and I devoured this one almost in one sitting. But I also remember being slightly disappointed with it. And going forward, I remember it being one of my least favorites. Welp, yes. It certainly is not that great in comparison.

Review:: Exit Wounds, by Rutu Modan

Title: Exit Wounds

Author: Rutu Modan

Format: Graphic Novel

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I really don't have that much to say about Exit Wounds. I really didn't find it that impactful. And it's not that Israel is too far away; I've read plenty of Israeli stories that hit me really hard. It's just kind of meh.

Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: Stainless Steel Rat, #4 (Publication Order)

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Still Good?

...yes?

Previously:

The Stainless Steel Rat

The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World

If you've read any of my other Stainless Steel Rat reviews, you'll know the drill: this is larger-than-life, over-the-top pure skiffy goodness that's a self-aware parody of Golden Age Science Fiction. Needless to say, though, they have their problems. This one is one of the more problematic books in the series due to the way it's handled, however, it didn't ruin the enjoyment... at least for me.

Review:: Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente

Title: Deathless

Author: Catherynne M. Valente

Series: Deathless, #1

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

I really do love fairy tale books, but only if they're well done. The modern adaptation needs to add to the story, while still holding onto what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale. Catherynne M. Valente managed to do that and more, creating a rich and complex book that stayed true to its roots.