I am not the biggest Christopher Moore fan, but my sis reads the best bits aloud to me, and the line seems... well, relevant. Because this is heinous f**kery indeed. Amazon seems to feel that all books touching upon gay/lesbian/bi/trans/queer issues are, by nature, adult. So they have been removed from sales rankings in order to remove them from searches. Even young adult novels. Even classics. Meanwhile, explicit straight books, including Playboy Centerfolds and Penthouse have not been Amazon Ranked.
May I recommend www.Powells.com for your online bookstore needs? My experiences with both buying and selling books through them have been lovely.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Monday, March 03, 2008
Whatever happened to Geek Monthly
Geek Monthly, a magazine celebrating all things geeky, seemed to have been designed just for me when it initially hit the shelves. The covers featured celebrities who not only play geeks on TV but also, in some cases, are geeky themselves. The definition of geek, while broad, worked--and included girl geeks. The writing was witty, often snarky, but not insulting towards geeks nor towards women. And despite calling themselves Geek Monthly, they started off bimonthly and cheerfully unconcerned about the contradiction.
I subscribed immediately.
And I have to say, on the whole I loved it. I read snarky product reviews of video games and movies alongside reviews of art that plays along the dividing line between pop and fine. From their pages, I added collectibles to my "if I had unlimited funds" wishlist and bookmarks to my "online timewasters" tag. I loved that the editors were equally willing to devote time to 80s pop culture as to science fiction films.
I knew it was a new magazine--just starting out, as the editor's page often reminded me. The month they announced they actually were going monthly was very exciting: Geek Monthly was the little magazine that could!
But following that announcement, the mailings became even more erratic. Despite going 'monthly,' the next issue didn't arrive for nearly two months. Then Geek Monthly merged with Rocket, and to announce the new and improved magazine a special edition was produced-- which was exclusively available at Comicon. Lovely for those who had not yet encountered Geek Monthly, a major source of aggravation to subscribers who were left waiting, again. Fortunately, a friend who attended Comicon brought one back for me. Otherwise, it would have been a Geek-free summer (the release before Comicon arrived in June, and the one after came in September).
I received one issue after Comicon. I never received any sort of renewal notice, nor had I been sure when I needed to renew, as I had subscribed for "one year," but that had been under the bimonthly scheme. Today, as I was doing some housecleaning, I came across an old issue and wondered whatever happened to Geek? It simply faded from my mailbox.
After the briefest poking around online, I find that the magazine is still running, although they seem to have abandoned their MySpace page. (Bad form for a commercial blog, guys. Update it or pull it!) I'm not sure I'll be re-subscribing. Towards the end, some articles pinged me as not-so-girl-inclusive, and I get enough of the boys' club at the comic shop, thanks. But I'll keep an eye out the next time I hit the bookstore.
I subscribed immediately.
And I have to say, on the whole I loved it. I read snarky product reviews of video games and movies alongside reviews of art that plays along the dividing line between pop and fine. From their pages, I added collectibles to my "if I had unlimited funds" wishlist and bookmarks to my "online timewasters" tag. I loved that the editors were equally willing to devote time to 80s pop culture as to science fiction films.
I knew it was a new magazine--just starting out, as the editor's page often reminded me. The month they announced they actually were going monthly was very exciting: Geek Monthly was the little magazine that could!
But following that announcement, the mailings became even more erratic. Despite going 'monthly,' the next issue didn't arrive for nearly two months. Then Geek Monthly merged with Rocket, and to announce the new and improved magazine a special edition was produced-- which was exclusively available at Comicon. Lovely for those who had not yet encountered Geek Monthly, a major source of aggravation to subscribers who were left waiting, again. Fortunately, a friend who attended Comicon brought one back for me. Otherwise, it would have been a Geek-free summer (the release before Comicon arrived in June, and the one after came in September).
I received one issue after Comicon. I never received any sort of renewal notice, nor had I been sure when I needed to renew, as I had subscribed for "one year," but that had been under the bimonthly scheme. Today, as I was doing some housecleaning, I came across an old issue and wondered whatever happened to Geek? It simply faded from my mailbox.
After the briefest poking around online, I find that the magazine is still running, although they seem to have abandoned their MySpace page. (Bad form for a commercial blog, guys. Update it or pull it!) I'm not sure I'll be re-subscribing. Towards the end, some articles pinged me as not-so-girl-inclusive, and I get enough of the boys' club at the comic shop, thanks. But I'll keep an eye out the next time I hit the bookstore.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
A phone call with my sister:
In the hushed voice usually reserved for sharing guilty secrets, I reveal, "I've been reading the third Thursday Next book and... I don't like it as much."
"The third book," my sister replies, musingly. "Is that the one spent entirely in the Library?"
"In the Well, mostly, but yes," I confirm.
"Oh, yeah, it read like it was all set up for the Nursery Crimes series."
"I just don't like the world building," I explain. "It's like, he hadn't quite decided how the fictional world works, and it kinda shows."
There followed a pause, as we considered The Well of Lost Plots and the other Thursday Next books.
"It's still better than most modern fiction," she offers. "And the next one's good again."
Thus reassured, I return to the book and finish it. It remains something of a disappointment, compared to The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book--especially as The Eyre Affair is one I heartily recommend to all book lovers.
In The Well of Lost Plots, Thursday Next has retired to the BookWorld for a year to rest up, have her baby, and figure out how to un-eradicate her man. She's also still apprenticed to Miss Haversham and working towards full membership in Jurisfiction, as well as fighting off the pernicious Aornis Hades, who has taken up residence in her head and is attacking her memories, despite her defeat in the previous novel.
Unfortunately, BookWorld becomes an exercise in holding two contradictory ideas in one's head at the same time, and while a certain degree of 'handwaving' of how things work went into the other books, in this one the inconsistencies pile on without the many timestream/secretive SpecOps/intrusive fictional world elements disguising the inherent contradictions. By the end, I couldn't figure out how the BookWorld and the worlds of the books intersected at all, what with the multiple editions of books on the Great Library's shelves, and all the replacing of characters with Generics, and the issue of who 'has' the Narrative when multiple readers in the Outland are presumably reading the same book at different points simultaneously. (If you think that summary is confusing, well... try reading the book!) But it does have it's good moments, often in the form of clever literary allusions, and I will continue on to Something Rotten, on my sister's recommendation.
In the hushed voice usually reserved for sharing guilty secrets, I reveal, "I've been reading the third Thursday Next book and... I don't like it as much."
"The third book," my sister replies, musingly. "Is that the one spent entirely in the Library?"
"In the Well, mostly, but yes," I confirm.
"Oh, yeah, it read like it was all set up for the Nursery Crimes series."
"I just don't like the world building," I explain. "It's like, he hadn't quite decided how the fictional world works, and it kinda shows."
There followed a pause, as we considered The Well of Lost Plots and the other Thursday Next books.
"It's still better than most modern fiction," she offers. "And the next one's good again."
Thus reassured, I return to the book and finish it. It remains something of a disappointment, compared to The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book--especially as The Eyre Affair is one I heartily recommend to all book lovers.
In The Well of Lost Plots, Thursday Next has retired to the BookWorld for a year to rest up, have her baby, and figure out how to un-eradicate her man. She's also still apprenticed to Miss Haversham and working towards full membership in Jurisfiction, as well as fighting off the pernicious Aornis Hades, who has taken up residence in her head and is attacking her memories, despite her defeat in the previous novel.
Unfortunately, BookWorld becomes an exercise in holding two contradictory ideas in one's head at the same time, and while a certain degree of 'handwaving' of how things work went into the other books, in this one the inconsistencies pile on without the many timestream/secretive SpecOps/intrusive fictional world elements disguising the inherent contradictions. By the end, I couldn't figure out how the BookWorld and the worlds of the books intersected at all, what with the multiple editions of books on the Great Library's shelves, and all the replacing of characters with Generics, and the issue of who 'has' the Narrative when multiple readers in the Outland are presumably reading the same book at different points simultaneously. (If you think that summary is confusing, well... try reading the book!) But it does have it's good moments, often in the form of clever literary allusions, and I will continue on to Something Rotten, on my sister's recommendation.
Monday, July 23, 2007
One Night at the Call Center
I finished "The Book," as I've seen it called. I enjoyed it as much as the rest of the Harry Potter series, though JK Rowling is still not a top contender for my favorite author. What can I say - I read a lot of kids fantasy growing up, including most classics of the genre. I am more intrigued by the phenomenon surrounding the books than the books themselves. And for the sake of those who haven't finished it yet, that's all I'm going to say.
Before I was interrupted by the release of The Book, I'd started reading One Night @ the Call Center by Chetan Bhagan. I finished it today. It's... okay. I didn't dislike it, but I can't think of anyone to whom I'll be recommending it either.
The framing of the story was interesting - while on an overnight train, a mysterious, beautiful woman tells the author the story of the call center, but only after he agrees to the woman's terms: if she tells the story, he must use it for his next book. But despite the reality-blurring frame, the story itself is average. The characters, all of whom work at the call center of the title, go to work, gossip, take breaks, and worry about the impending 'rightsizing.' Their boss speaks in impenetrable business jargon, and his incompetence may be a leading factor in the upcoming layoffs.
Shyam, the narrative character of the interior story, apologizes at the outset for his plain speech. As well he should, honestly. I assumed that the apology would turn out to be false modesty or a foil to underscore the brilliance of his insights, but the language of the novel is straight-forward and workaday to the point of becoming boring and the brilliant insights never materialized. The flat language use may be a problem with the translation... but I somehow doubt it. Shyam is paralyzed with self-doubt and hung up on Priyanka, whom he works with and used to date. The night is broken up by his reminisces about dates with Priyanka and her phone conversations with her prospective groom from America. He hates that she's moving on, but he feels he doesn't quite deserve her. As a reader, he nearly convinced me that he doesn't.
Oh, and it's Thanksgiving in America. And God calls.
Although I've read much worse books, there are better books out there. Skip this one.
Before I was interrupted by the release of The Book, I'd started reading One Night @ the Call Center by Chetan Bhagan. I finished it today. It's... okay. I didn't dislike it, but I can't think of anyone to whom I'll be recommending it either.
The framing of the story was interesting - while on an overnight train, a mysterious, beautiful woman tells the author the story of the call center, but only after he agrees to the woman's terms: if she tells the story, he must use it for his next book. But despite the reality-blurring frame, the story itself is average. The characters, all of whom work at the call center of the title, go to work, gossip, take breaks, and worry about the impending 'rightsizing.' Their boss speaks in impenetrable business jargon, and his incompetence may be a leading factor in the upcoming layoffs.
Shyam, the narrative character of the interior story, apologizes at the outset for his plain speech. As well he should, honestly. I assumed that the apology would turn out to be false modesty or a foil to underscore the brilliance of his insights, but the language of the novel is straight-forward and workaday to the point of becoming boring and the brilliant insights never materialized. The flat language use may be a problem with the translation... but I somehow doubt it. Shyam is paralyzed with self-doubt and hung up on Priyanka, whom he works with and used to date. The night is broken up by his reminisces about dates with Priyanka and her phone conversations with her prospective groom from America. He hates that she's moving on, but he feels he doesn't quite deserve her. As a reader, he nearly convinced me that he doesn't.
Oh, and it's Thanksgiving in America. And God calls.
Although I've read much worse books, there are better books out there. Skip this one.
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Poor, semi-abandoned blog. I promise I've been reading, even though I've failed at writing reviews!
Most recently, I finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. And a very entertaining read it was, too. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to dig out my old Steven Brust and Roger Zelazny novels, because those were the books that originally gave me a taste for humorous fantasy antiheroes. However, both Vlad Taltos and Merlin were much more self-mocking than Locke Lamora. Locke is self-confident to an extreme - it is his only acknowledged character flaw. This confidence man is clever, bold, courageous in the face of physical danger, quick witted, and even self-sacrificing when the mood strikes. He's perilously close to too perfect.
But you know what? It works for him.
Locke Lamora's world is very intriguing - and intrigue-ridden. I thoroughly enjoyed what has been shown of it so far: a Renaissance-style society living among the ruins of a futuristic, perhaps alien, race. There's definitely room to explore in future novels - and there will be future novels. The second book of the series is due out this August. But for those readers who dislike incomplete series, this book does work as a stand-alone story, even where ground is laid for a sequel (particularly in the area of the off-page, unseen-by-readers love interest).
The abrupt switches between present time and backstory did not work for me, but I suppose they began to grow on me towards the end. It's not that the character's history was unnecessary or that it failed to inform the current action, because it did add quite a bit. Without the backstory, I'm not sure Locke would have been a sympathetic character at all. Entertaining, yes, but not sympathetic. No, the problem was that the inter-cut chapters of past and present tended to end on cliff-hangers, on the moment before the big revelation, and that quickly became annoying. I would much rather have read straight through Locke's formative years all of a piece.
The Lies of Locke Lamora is devious, swashbuckling, and entertaining. And a bit fluffy, despite the inventively crude language and occasional gory death. The readers are in on Locke's cons, which leaves the intrigues easy to see through, and the bad guys are downright bad and totally unsympathetic.
In other words, it's a perfect summer read.
Most recently, I finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. And a very entertaining read it was, too. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to dig out my old Steven Brust and Roger Zelazny novels, because those were the books that originally gave me a taste for humorous fantasy antiheroes. However, both Vlad Taltos and Merlin were much more self-mocking than Locke Lamora. Locke is self-confident to an extreme - it is his only acknowledged character flaw. This confidence man is clever, bold, courageous in the face of physical danger, quick witted, and even self-sacrificing when the mood strikes. He's perilously close to too perfect.
But you know what? It works for him.
Locke Lamora's world is very intriguing - and intrigue-ridden. I thoroughly enjoyed what has been shown of it so far: a Renaissance-style society living among the ruins of a futuristic, perhaps alien, race. There's definitely room to explore in future novels - and there will be future novels. The second book of the series is due out this August. But for those readers who dislike incomplete series, this book does work as a stand-alone story, even where ground is laid for a sequel (particularly in the area of the off-page, unseen-by-readers love interest).
The abrupt switches between present time and backstory did not work for me, but I suppose they began to grow on me towards the end. It's not that the character's history was unnecessary or that it failed to inform the current action, because it did add quite a bit. Without the backstory, I'm not sure Locke would have been a sympathetic character at all. Entertaining, yes, but not sympathetic. No, the problem was that the inter-cut chapters of past and present tended to end on cliff-hangers, on the moment before the big revelation, and that quickly became annoying. I would much rather have read straight through Locke's formative years all of a piece.
The Lies of Locke Lamora is devious, swashbuckling, and entertaining. And a bit fluffy, despite the inventively crude language and occasional gory death. The readers are in on Locke's cons, which leaves the intrigues easy to see through, and the bad guys are downright bad and totally unsympathetic.
In other words, it's a perfect summer read.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Legend of Chun Hyang by CLAMP
Legend of Chun Hyang
CLAMP
Complete in one volume
I love CLAMP. This is no secret to my friends and family -- I have entire shelves of CLAMP's works, some in the original Japanese. I can admire the drawings even if the meaning of the text escapes me.
CLAMP is a manga circle of five women, which has been together for twenty-five years now. They have written and illustrated manga for a variety genres and using a range of illustration styles. Although I usually know CLAMP's work when I see it, no single work can be said to capture their full range of storytelling or illustration skill. However, Chung Hyang, as it is only a single volume long, is a decent place for a new manga fan to start.
The story itself is based, rather loosely, on a Korean folk character. The introductory pages of each of the first two stories explain that the original Chun Hyang was a commoner who was betrothed to a nobleman, and that she remained true to him even once they were separated. She became a symbol for chastity. However, CLAMP's Chun Hyang is a far more action-oriented girl. This version of Chun Hyang is a burgeoning martial artist, the teen daughter of the town healer, and she has a strong sense of justice which regularly puts her in opposition to the town ruler and his 'idiot son.' After a goofy, yet mysterious and handsome stranger arrives in town, the conflict between Chun Hyang and the town authorities soon comes to a crisis.
The artwork is excellent, though not necessarily CLAMP's best (Try the currently running XXXholic or their more experimental Clover series for an idea of exactly what these ladies can do). Chun Hyang does have many markers of CLAMP's style: Chun Hyang herself has big eyes with thick lashes, slapstick panels with chibi characters are used to comedic effect, and the pages are well balanced, favoring strong lines and large areas of absolute black and white.
Although the Tokyopop release is 'complete,' in that there are no further volumes available in Japanese, the story does not have much of a denouement and hints of a larger, arcing story are threaded even into the final chapter. But as each chapter forms a complete episode, this is not a major complaint for me. Legend of Chun Hyang is one to borrow for the general manga fan, but one that CLAMP fans will want to buy, for without it no fan's collection could be complete.
CLAMP
Complete in one volume
I love CLAMP. This is no secret to my friends and family -- I have entire shelves of CLAMP's works, some in the original Japanese. I can admire the drawings even if the meaning of the text escapes me.
CLAMP is a manga circle of five women, which has been together for twenty-five years now. They have written and illustrated manga for a variety genres and using a range of illustration styles. Although I usually know CLAMP's work when I see it, no single work can be said to capture their full range of storytelling or illustration skill. However, Chung Hyang, as it is only a single volume long, is a decent place for a new manga fan to start.
The story itself is based, rather loosely, on a Korean folk character. The introductory pages of each of the first two stories explain that the original Chun Hyang was a commoner who was betrothed to a nobleman, and that she remained true to him even once they were separated. She became a symbol for chastity. However, CLAMP's Chun Hyang is a far more action-oriented girl. This version of Chun Hyang is a burgeoning martial artist, the teen daughter of the town healer, and she has a strong sense of justice which regularly puts her in opposition to the town ruler and his 'idiot son.' After a goofy, yet mysterious and handsome stranger arrives in town, the conflict between Chun Hyang and the town authorities soon comes to a crisis.
The artwork is excellent, though not necessarily CLAMP's best (Try the currently running XXXholic or their more experimental Clover series for an idea of exactly what these ladies can do). Chun Hyang does have many markers of CLAMP's style: Chun Hyang herself has big eyes with thick lashes, slapstick panels with chibi characters are used to comedic effect, and the pages are well balanced, favoring strong lines and large areas of absolute black and white.
Although the Tokyopop release is 'complete,' in that there are no further volumes available in Japanese, the story does not have much of a denouement and hints of a larger, arcing story are threaded even into the final chapter. But as each chapter forms a complete episode, this is not a major complaint for me. Legend of Chun Hyang is one to borrow for the general manga fan, but one that CLAMP fans will want to buy, for without it no fan's collection could be complete.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Shadow Family by Miyuki Miyabe
Shadow Family
Miyuki Miyabe
English translation by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Shadow Family begins as a Japanese police procedural. From the cover blurb, it seems like a standard murder mystery, with its particular hook being that one of the murder victims had been involved in a 'shadow family,' an on-line role play where he played the part of Dad to a group of strangers. The victim's daughter, Kazumi, is brought in to see if she can identify any of the 'family' as one of the several strangers she had remembered seeing with her father prior to the murders. The current main suspect in the case is a jilted lover who is not part of the shadow family; however, Kazumi's testimony may well change the direction of the investigation.
It's hard to talk about a mystery, especially one as short as Shadow Family, without giving too much away. What I am comfortable saying is that the story is not what I expected from the summary, but not in the way which makes me cringe and wonder if the blurb writer even read the same book. Rather, to have said too much would have dampen my enjoyment of the revelations made throughout the novel Slowly, the author pulls back layer after layer of stories and role-play, to expose the truth of the murder. I could almost say that the entire novel is the famous Parlor Scene, recast in an interview room, during which the detective stands up and announces that the murderer is here in this very room and explains how he solved the mystery.
But even that is inaccurate, as our detective, Desk Sergeant Takegami, is far too self-effacing to command the attention of a roomful of interested parties. He would, by his own account, feel much more comfortable pursuing paperwork than conducting interviews. The language itself is far more beautiful than I expect from literature of this genre, though I'm sure that's an unfair generalization. I loved the way characters' appearances were sketched in with a few clever turns of phrase and the beautiful use of metaphor and analogy, especially towards the very end.
Shadow Family is a good, fast read. My only trouble with it arose from the high number of unfamiliar family names introduced in the first chapters too quickly for me to get a good handle on which name belonged to which character. A reader more versed in Japanese names would probably not have the same problem, and I could have made my own life easier by cribbing a character sheet to refer to until I had the names down. Borrow this one from your favorite mystery fan.
Miyuki Miyabe
English translation by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Shadow Family begins as a Japanese police procedural. From the cover blurb, it seems like a standard murder mystery, with its particular hook being that one of the murder victims had been involved in a 'shadow family,' an on-line role play where he played the part of Dad to a group of strangers. The victim's daughter, Kazumi, is brought in to see if she can identify any of the 'family' as one of the several strangers she had remembered seeing with her father prior to the murders. The current main suspect in the case is a jilted lover who is not part of the shadow family; however, Kazumi's testimony may well change the direction of the investigation.
It's hard to talk about a mystery, especially one as short as Shadow Family, without giving too much away. What I am comfortable saying is that the story is not what I expected from the summary, but not in the way which makes me cringe and wonder if the blurb writer even read the same book. Rather, to have said too much would have dampen my enjoyment of the revelations made throughout the novel Slowly, the author pulls back layer after layer of stories and role-play, to expose the truth of the murder. I could almost say that the entire novel is the famous Parlor Scene, recast in an interview room, during which the detective stands up and announces that the murderer is here in this very room and explains how he solved the mystery.
But even that is inaccurate, as our detective, Desk Sergeant Takegami, is far too self-effacing to command the attention of a roomful of interested parties. He would, by his own account, feel much more comfortable pursuing paperwork than conducting interviews. The language itself is far more beautiful than I expect from literature of this genre, though I'm sure that's an unfair generalization. I loved the way characters' appearances were sketched in with a few clever turns of phrase and the beautiful use of metaphor and analogy, especially towards the very end.
Shadow Family is a good, fast read. My only trouble with it arose from the high number of unfamiliar family names introduced in the first chapters too quickly for me to get a good handle on which name belonged to which character. A reader more versed in Japanese names would probably not have the same problem, and I could have made my own life easier by cribbing a character sheet to refer to until I had the names down. Borrow this one from your favorite mystery fan.
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