Progress: 2 down, 38 to go (list)
Which: Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick
When I first flipped through Wonderstruck at the store, the combination of text and full-bleed drawings almost had me plunked down in the aisle to read. Somehow I did the grown-up thing, bought it, and brought it home.
Wonderstruck’s a great lesson in pacing: even when you spot the next reveal, Selznick’s in no hurry to get you there, but he never drags his feet. It’s a hefty book at 600+ pages, but somehow it reads fast without rushing you along.
…action scenes are often like sex scenes — they are just hanging there, an exclamation point on the end of a sentence that we’ve already read.
Maggie Stiefvater writing five things about the book The Lock Artist.
Progress: 1 down, 39 to go (list)
Which: How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming, Mike Brown
Well, I finished it this year, so…
You should read this book. Whether you think SPACE IS RAD (hi) or you have only a passing interest: you should read this book. Brown, I think because he’s not just a hardcore astronomer but also a teacher, tells a great story and in 257 pages is never dry about it. A feat, if you ask me (I’m pretending you asked).
The final count for books read in 2011: 24 of 40. Fewer than 2010 by 5! Tsk.
I will try again for 2012 (3rd time lucky, right?) without choosing books ahead of time; my hope is to not end up with a months-long lull again. In 2010, the second half of the year saw very little reading and 2011 had almost a full quarter of …nothing.
My books-to-read shelf is, no surprise, still jam-packed. Perhaps this year I’ll make a significant dent in it! Whether I’ll stop buying new books before the ones I have are read is the real que—hahah, no of course I won’t.
Okay, here goes!
FOX gets points for the Christmas-light time-out indicators today. (:
Progress: 22 down, 18 to go (list)
21. A History of the World in 6 Glasses, Tom Standage
Another survey class-like book. Lots of good and interesting stories, but after Salt (Kurlansky), I expected similar enthusiasm and never really found it. Still: it’s a fast read and I may be the last one on the planet, but now I know cola (kola) was/is an actual ingredient!
22. Lost in a Good Book, Jasper Fforde
Oh, Thursday: you will get into trouble, won’t you. I think what I like about Fforde so far is that he doesn’t provide (or indeed ever promise) tidy endings. That bothered me a tiny bit with Lost in a Good Book at first, but after a few days of thinking about it, it makes total sense—not least because now I’m on the hook to read the rest of the Thursday series. (:
The Highlands
I am an unapologetic sucker for well-done hand-drawn signage. Look at that “g”! And the ampersand, are you kidding me? Wonderful.
So, how long until Michael Shannon signs on for a Chet Baker biopic? Right?
