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bookblogging
May. 13th, 2008 08:32 pmNovels/Prose books:
Heyer, Georgette: Pistols for Two
(I was wondering why the plot was proceeding at such a breakneck pace until I reached the end of the title story, and realized I was in fact reading a book of short stories. This was nowhere indicated in the cover text, back cover blurbs, art, or anywhere else that I could find; though there was a table of contents listing the stories, those pages were quite stuck together when I began reading. They're decent stories, but too breezy for real satisfaction; I like the layered plots and slower-paced emotional arcs of Heyer's novels better--her novels are tiramasu; these stories are cotton candy).
Graphic novels/comic books/cartoons:
Norrie, Christine: Cheat.
Addams, Charles: Homebodies, Charles Addams and Evil, Nightcrawlers, Black Maria
(Charles Addams was a brilliant cartoonist with what can be inadequately described as a twisted sense of humor and also an unfortunate penchant for really racist cannibal cartoons. Read his work with qualifiers. Life is just full of things that need qualifying).
Mack, David: Kabuki, vol. 1 : Circle of Blood
(Um. There are so many directions I could go here. Let's start with the art is impressive, and the writing is adequate, but I am leery of the violence and the...I do not feel up to the task of processing the implications of the cadre of female assassins who go around in masks and fetish wear, being very professional and efficient at assassinating people, but always posing in sexy ways and mostly being naked while they do so. Because if I do get started on Mack, I owe it to everyone to excoriate Addams for the racism, which leads me to questions of racism in Mack, and my head hurts. So I'm going to let it go and just not read any more Mack. I will read more Addams, though, because he's funny and Mack overwrites to the point of making my eyes cross).
Manga:
Kuroda, Iou: Sexy Voice and Robo
(highly recommended on all counts. The art and writing are excellent and support each other; the chapters are more like a series of short stories about the same person, but they are not disconnected from each other. It is different than most of the manga you're likely to have read if you're reading this LJ entry, which in my mind is a plus. It features one of the more interesting and cool female characters I've read lately, although you should be warned that she gives herself the codename "Sexy Voice" because she makes money as one of those women who flirt with lonely men on dating hotlines (it's not a throwaway thing; I could dig very deep into that aspect of her character, were I attempting to write a real review). Anyway, Nico, aka Sexy Voice, is clever and unconventional and capable; I think you will like her, so apart from all its other merits, I recommend this to manga readers who are feeling a lack of good female characterization).
Shaman King vol. 1.
Heyer, Georgette: Pistols for Two
(I was wondering why the plot was proceeding at such a breakneck pace until I reached the end of the title story, and realized I was in fact reading a book of short stories. This was nowhere indicated in the cover text, back cover blurbs, art, or anywhere else that I could find; though there was a table of contents listing the stories, those pages were quite stuck together when I began reading. They're decent stories, but too breezy for real satisfaction; I like the layered plots and slower-paced emotional arcs of Heyer's novels better--her novels are tiramasu; these stories are cotton candy).
Graphic novels/comic books/cartoons:
Norrie, Christine: Cheat.
Addams, Charles: Homebodies, Charles Addams and Evil, Nightcrawlers, Black Maria
(Charles Addams was a brilliant cartoonist with what can be inadequately described as a twisted sense of humor and also an unfortunate penchant for really racist cannibal cartoons. Read his work with qualifiers. Life is just full of things that need qualifying).
Mack, David: Kabuki, vol. 1 : Circle of Blood
(Um. There are so many directions I could go here. Let's start with the art is impressive, and the writing is adequate, but I am leery of the violence and the...I do not feel up to the task of processing the implications of the cadre of female assassins who go around in masks and fetish wear, being very professional and efficient at assassinating people, but always posing in sexy ways and mostly being naked while they do so. Because if I do get started on Mack, I owe it to everyone to excoriate Addams for the racism, which leads me to questions of racism in Mack, and my head hurts. So I'm going to let it go and just not read any more Mack. I will read more Addams, though, because he's funny and Mack overwrites to the point of making my eyes cross).
Manga:
Kuroda, Iou: Sexy Voice and Robo
(highly recommended on all counts. The art and writing are excellent and support each other; the chapters are more like a series of short stories about the same person, but they are not disconnected from each other. It is different than most of the manga you're likely to have read if you're reading this LJ entry, which in my mind is a plus. It features one of the more interesting and cool female characters I've read lately, although you should be warned that she gives herself the codename "Sexy Voice" because she makes money as one of those women who flirt with lonely men on dating hotlines (it's not a throwaway thing; I could dig very deep into that aspect of her character, were I attempting to write a real review). Anyway, Nico, aka Sexy Voice, is clever and unconventional and capable; I think you will like her, so apart from all its other merits, I recommend this to manga readers who are feeling a lack of good female characterization).
Shaman King vol. 1.