Finished reading Saga, Volume 1
Edited 87d ago
book
A quick read about the communities that have formed around two very different music acts - Insane Clown Posse and Phish - that seem to occupy their own distinct universes, outside the music industry proper. It's also a book *about* the process of writing a book about ICP and Phish. While there's a lot of insight about what these two acts are all about and how they've built their own subcultures, there's also a ton about the emotional states that occupy the author as he tries to explore these subcultures; you see the ostensible subject of the book only darkly through the glass of Rabin's personal turmoil and the heroic amount of drugs he encounters along the way, so if that's the sort of thing that annoys you as a reader, this book isn't for you. You come away from the book with a weird empathy with the people who wind up in the ICP/Phish world, many of whom are very much on the outside fringes of society.
Wants to read Gene Kelly: A Life of Dance and Dreams
Wants to read Choupette: The Private Life of a High-Flying Fashion Cat
Rated The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 10/10
Edited 87d ago
Rated How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You 8/10
I love The Oatmeal. He takes a normally amusing but mundane event and dials it up to 11. I own his previous compilation, "5 Very Good Reasons to Punch A Dolphin in the Mouth," and he rarely disappoints. This one being close to my heart because I've almost always lived with a cat and they are a nutty species. The only part I found not very funny was the pages placing 2 cats in an office setting like they're employees. Meh. Otherwise, loved it. Thanks to Andrew for lending it to me. :)
Rated In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox 8/10
Carol Burnett is one of my favorite comedians. Even though this book was about the original 11 year run which ended in 1978 when I was probably still being potty-trained, it was one of my favorite shows as a kid because that's when it started to run in syndication. Reading this book was a real trip down memory lane. Carol, Harvey, Vicki, and Tim getting together was lightning in a bottle. Even though what I watched was the stripped down to the skits "Carol Burnett and Friends," I can appreciate the sections covering the parts of the show I never saw, the musicals and mini-musicals. What an amazing list of guest stars!<br/><br/>As I read this I came to one realization, something of this show that would never happen today. A lot of their satire and parodies were send ups of films and shows from a much earlier time, many as old as 30 to 40 years before the original run. Today's sketch shows, if it's not retreading for the millionth time what's currently going on, it's not considered good or a good idea to do. My guess is it's mainly because the collective general knowledge base is so ridiculously tiny that the audience wouldn't understand what's going on. And that's sad.<br/><br/>I have to say that of the stars written about, I don't remember seeing a show with Lucille Ball. Talk about favorite comedians! Burnett and Ball in the same bit?? I'm going to have to track that down! The closing essays made me kind of sad and wistful for those shows, but glad they got such a run and so many accolades. I'm also glad Burnett did a little calling out of sorts of what sounds like caddish behavior from Bob Barker. Studio 33, where the show was recorded, was also where "The Price is Right" was recorded and had since been renamed The Bob Barker Studio. A few years ago CBS had wanted to add a plaque to the stage reading The Carol Burnett Stage. Apparently Barker kicked up a fuss, so that particular idea got shelved. What a jerk! However, CBS instead renamed the Artist Entrance the Carol Burnett Artist Entrance. She says she was thrilled because that's where she always entered the stage to do her show, but still. Sharing a commemorative name in the studio would've been a privilege for Barker. Carol Burnett is a legend.
Rated The Annual Migration of Clouds 10/10
Very good but I certainly hope there's a sequel. Interesting slowpocalypse and main character -- feels mostly YA.
Rated People We Meet on Vacation 8/10
An enjoyable romance easy-to-read book. I picked this up as part of a local book club's June read and once I had it and reading over the summary I thought: this sounds very familiar... I mean, romance books often have very common plots, but that wasn't the case here. Turns out only a month or 2 earlier I'd watched the film adaptation! It even had the same title and somehow I'd not connected the 2 until I was reading that summary. Usually if I know a movie is a book adaptation I try to read the book first, but in this case I didn't know.<br/><br/>I really enjoyed the book and appreciated how much the film was fairly faithful to it. Some things got moved around and some locations were, let's say, more glamorous with that Netflix cash. All enjoyable either way. The core of it was the relationship and the places were just the backdrop against which everything happened. I will say that with the book and the internal thoughts of Poppy I found her more irritating than I did in the movie, but not overly so. I did come away thinking, before the ending, more negatively of the character from the book than I had from the movie.<br/><br/>I also appreciated the back and forth time changes leading up to what caused all the problems that are slowly revealed as past and present come to a head. It's good the movie stuck to that too.<br/><br/>All in all, an easy romance book that even if you're not that into the genre doesn't go into too many tropes nor gets too soapy or, not an issue with me but, too lurid as some people object to that.
Finished reading 地縛少年 花子くん 2
Edited 101d ago