Fangirl
Category: A
bulk3-07
Hyperbole and a Half
baz?
Fangirl
Cath hates new places, new people and new things. Which is a bit of a problem when she’s just moved away from home to study at college. Doubly so when she’s forced to share a room with someone other than her identical twin sister for the first time in her life.
Escaping into writing her popular serial fanfic she struggles to adjust to her new life and to deal with the problems that life throws at her.
This is easily the best YA book I’ve read since The Fault In Our Stars. I really enjoyed spending time in Cath’s head. I’ve read a ton of fanfic in the past year after going crazy for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and I really empathized with her, while recognizing that she’s young and frequently mistaken about how other people thnk and how the world works.
In fact I devoured the book in less than a day.
I recommend this to anyone but especially to those with an interest in YA books or the world of fanfic.
simple?
Hyperbole and a Half
This collection of posts and drawings from Brosh’s blog is the second funniest thing I’ve read all year (see Jenny Lawson’s biography for that).
It is also occasionally rather profound about the experience of being depressed and other mental health issues.
Highly recommended, especially if you love stories about stupid dogs.
squirrel?
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
Lawson’s autobiography is incredibly funny, occasionally moving and nearly always faintly disturbing.
I really don’t want to spoil anything for you. I wholeheartedly recommend this book unless you have no taste for dark humour or you’re incredibly squeamish.
mechanism?
Catching Fire
The latest trailer for the film version of this book was released at San Diego Comic Con and it got me slightly excited.
So I dug out my ebook and started reading and you know what? I think I like this book a whole lot more than I did the first time round.
The first person perspective is both the strength and weakness of this series.
It’s a strength because Katniss is such an interesting, damaged person and seeing the world via her naively cynical viewpoint skews the world in novel ways.
It’s a weakness because much of the really interesting stuff that happens – politically, culturally – are events that Katniss doesn’t attend or doesn’t understand.
It’s kind of wonderful that you have to piece together the back story by yourself but sometimes you really can’t tell what’s happened to place Katniss in whatever fresh hell she’s landed in.
What’s interesting about Catching Fire on a second read is how hard Katniss is trying to be empathetic, how much she’s learned from the horror of being in The Hunger Games about valuing the survival of other people.
Despite the many ways she’s been used and abused by the powerful, this is someone in the slow process of growing into a better person before fresh trauma is heaped upon her.
I really do recommend this series. It’s no masterpiece of literature but it is a very enjoyable and thought provoking read with a compelling central character.
wiggin?
Ender’s Game
It’s a long time since I last read this book – nearly nine years ago.
With the upcoming release of a film of this and the subsequent furore over Card’s ridiculous homophobia I took a notion to read Ender’s Game again.
I picked it up in the afternoon and next thing I knew it was nearly three in the morning and the book was finished.
It’s a brilliant piece of science fiction with themes still relevant today, vivid world building and a compelling central character.
Despite loving this book I have very deliberately never read another Orson Scott Card book. I can ignore his views when caught up in the story but purchasing his books makes me feel complicit when he funds organizations that pursue an agenda I cannot support.
Having said all that I still thoroughly recommend reading Ender’s Game – it is genuinely great.
monkey?
Blackout
The final book of the Newsflesh trilogy closes things off in spectacular fashion.
It would spoil things too much to reveal why and how it gets so good but I totally loved it.
I raced through this book, completely absorbed from beginning to end. I really can’t recommend it highly enough.
anarchia?
Pattern Recognition
This is one of my favourite books. I’ve reviewed it before on this blog (2007 and 2005).
This re-read was prompted by coming across a couple of chapters of the BBC adaptation of the story. While very well done it was, sadly, abridged. It really made me want to read the complete story again.
Talking about this book online I’ve discovered that some people don’t think it’s Science Fiction. While I’ve always read it as being a very subtle piece of alternative history I do recognize that it could be viewed as an entirely contemporary piece. However I would still argue that, if contemporary, it’s still Science Fiction about now.
harlan?
Outliers
I was watching a documentary about Bobby Fischer and at one point Malcolm Gladwell popped up to talk about the 10,000 hours it takes to become an expert in any given field. I’ve heard this idea before and though that maybe I should read this guy’s book and see what the story is there.
Outliers is about the stories we tell ourselves about success and successful people. Gladwell’s central point is that no-one rises to the top in any endeavour solely by their own effort. That is not to denigrate the effort, talent and drive of those who succeed, but to recognise that a specific sets of circumstances favour certain outcomes and some people are in the right time and right place with the right skill set, personality and background to take advantage of that. There is no such thing as making it on your own.
It’s a fascinating and convincing read. I’m sure there are flaws in his arguments that have been dealt with elsewhere.
All I can say is that I really enjoyed it and that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.