Bibliobimbo

Read this back in high school. Hated it. Reread it thinking my perspective might have changed 15 years on. Not really. Still seems pretentious and maudlin.

Eh. I bought this for my dude, who was a big fan of the Tank Girl movie, and picked it up last night. Not my cup of tea. I found the artwork confusing and most of the in-jokes tired (although they were probably fresh when they were written.) So, wev. I probably won't read any more. But can I just digress here a minute to say that I don't get it when people go on about how Tank Girl is so feminist? Evidently violent and not prissy makes one feminist. You know, I get it. It's really enjoyable to see a character that's lewd, crude, and rude instead of a girly-girl, especially if girly-girls are all you see. But, and this is the same problem with that dumb movie Sucker Punch, women kicking ass is not default feminism. I mean, both this and Sucker Punch and a whole bunch of other crap I could name are basically male fantasies. Enjoy them if you want, but please don't tell me how feminist they are. You want a rude, crude, violent feminist? Try Hothead Paisan.

It's not often you can whip through a classic in one day. Marianne is really a novella rather than a novel. I have to say, my positive rating of this is probably more for George Sand, who's biography makes up the first half of the book, than for Marianne itself, which is a sweet but disposable little tale about romance in the French countryside. It does plug some of Sand's philosophies on nature, education, human nature, etc, but for the most part it will seem to modern readers like much-trod territory--man doesn't realize he loves woman until he has competition for her. Woman tries to make him jealous. Third party gets strung along. Happy ending! However,George Sand=Total Badass. I will be reading more of her work.

YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK.

Meh. Not his best stuff.

I hate to admit it, but this is one of those books that makes me feel stupid, because I think there's a whole layer of the story I'm missing. I got the references to Shakespeare, and the nursery rhymes, but who were the Dapper Men supposed to be? Why were there 314 of them? Why was 41 different? Why didn't Zoe talk? Argh.Anyway, the story about growing up, about remembering yesterday and looking forward to tomorrow, is good, and the art by Janet Lee is simply fantastic. My only quibble is what with what seems to be intentional obscurity on the part of the author. It is as if he set out to make the book mystifying in an effort to say "Look how clever I am!"

Well, this book did not turn out to be what I thought it was going to be about. I still read it, and "enjoyed" it. Hmm. Let's say I appreciated it instead. Anyway, there just seems to be a glut of fiction about serial killers and sociopaths lately, no? Especially in the YA section. I picked this up expecting something Dexter-ish, but, be warned. It's not. I had a very different reaction to this book than I did to the first couple of Dexter novels, and not just because SPOILERISH there is a definite supernatural element. Which I didn't guess from reading the book description. I should probably read more reviews on here, ha ha.Okay, exempting the whole supernatural horror part, what struck me most about this book is how sad and creepy it was. John Wayne Cleaver (that's a heckuva name for a budding sociopath) has serious issues. He knows he has serious issues, and he has spent his life studying serial killers in the attempt to avoid becoming one. Unfortunately, a serial killer shows up in John's town, and John is the only person to discover the truth about him.So, yes, back to sad and creepy. Wells does an excellent job of both making John relatable, but also making him alien. John is completely separated from everyone, and the only way he can connect with other people is by making them afraid. He realizes that this is not necessarily the healthiest thing in the world, and therein lies the sadness. John wants people to know who he really is, but he realizes what that would mean--probably a one-way trip to a mental facility. So he spends his life pretending to the best of his ability. Despite this, John is really really scary. I don't know if it was just me and my experiences coming into play on this, but I sometimes felt nauseated after reading parts of this book. Not from the gore (there's not too much of that) but rather from John's viewpoint. There's a couple of really good parts in the book where Wells shows how inhuman John is by contrasting him with the serial killer. The killer actually has emotions, can interact normally with others, and has a "good" reason for what he does. He is more "human" than John, despite the fact SPOILER he's not human at all END SPOILER. And this enrages John. You sometimes feel more sympathy for the killer than you do for the protagonist.There are two sequels to this book. I don't know if I'm up for them yet, but I probably will read them at some point. After this and My Friend Dahmer, I think I need a break from sociopaths. Overall, a good book if you can handle the freaky.

Competently executed and disturbing. Backderf, who attended high school with Jeffrey Dahmer, details his interactions with what he and his friends thought was just a weird loner. He is most intent on exploring how everyone around Dahmer missed the signs that he was a potential serial killer. The recollections are tinged with sadness and horror. The artwork is good, although I thought it more suited to the tone of Backderf's Punk Rock and Trailer Parks. The comic style adds a layer of distance--but that may be a good thing. I rated it with four stars, but it's hard to say you "like" something like this. Rather, it is well-done.

Beautifully executed. There's a lot going on in this book that I probably missed, but it really is a lovely work of art.

Two thoughts:Very useful for people in public serviceANDhe uses the word "pernicious" a lot. A LOT.

As a former children's librarian, I like to occasionally pick up a picture book and keep my hand in, as it were. Someone recently recommended this to me, and it's very good. It would make a great storytime book, with its repeating refrain of "Chickens to the rescue!" However, you really need to take a close look at the pictures to get all the humor from the story. For example, when the farmer loses his watch down the well, the chickens come rushing in wearing a variety of water gear, from scuba gear to bathing caps. Really cute! A fun story.

Nazis AND serial killers? This one should fly off the true-crime shelf at my library!Oh, and P.S. One lesson I learned from this book: when you suspect someone of being a murderer/sociopath/generally bad person, DON'T agree to meet them alone at their house and talk about it with them. Sheesh!

I figured out most of the mystery by the middle of the book, but I still finished it and enjoyed it. Horowitz did a good job channeling Doyle. It was nice to be back in the presence of the master detective. :)

Very interesting look at Roosevelt's early career as Police Commissioner in Manhattan, and his Sisyphean quest to reform New York, most notoriously by enforcing the city's Sabbath law against serving alcohol on Sunday. I found myself both impressed by Roosevelt's desire to clean up a police force built on graft and shakedowns, and appalled by the reformers' arguments about the limits of personal freedom.

Funny, fluffy, and extremely cute for a zombie how-to guide.

I may never eat again.