Twisted Librarian

Monthly Reading: May

Sun, 31 May 2009 15:15:23 -0400

One more monthly round up: this time plenty of range, with comics, knitting, and cultural history, as well as an honest to goodness SF novel. If you're interested in seeing a particular review earlier than I might otherwise get to, feel free to comment and request. To see other monthly posts like this, click on the Tag: monthly_reading

The Logogryph: A bibliography of Imaginary Books

Tue, 26 May 2009 15:36:09 -0400

The Logogryph: A Bibliography of Imaginary Books - Thomas Wharton.

I've been intrigued by the idea of this book ever since I stumbled onto it by subtitle: A bibliography of imaginary books.

Monthly Reading: April

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:50:29 -0400

Below find my April 2009 reading list. As usual, comment to request a speedier review of a certain title. You can find earlier lists by clicking on the Tag: monthly_reading

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 09:18:42 -0400

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist.

I remember being intrigued by the title and the glassine cover of this doorstop when it was first released. When I saw it some time later in a used bookstore, I decided to take a chance. And after reading a couple of chapters, promptly let it sit on my bookshelf. As the start of 2009 rolled around, I decided to give it another shot. The plot seemed very Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell meetsThe Somnambulist - a mysterious cult of the elite, obsessed with ritualistic sex and strange mechanisms of blue glass - what's not to like?

Bad Things

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:49:00 -0400

Bad Things by Michael Marshall.

I was lucky enough to snag an ARC from Library Thing's Early Reviewers program two months in a row. Unlike the mediocre Enemies & Allies, the latest Michael Marshall title showed up on my doorstep one rainy afternoon, and by the evening I had devoured it in pretty near one setting.

Enemies and Allies

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:22:27 -0400

Enemies & Allies by Kevin J. Anderson
(A selection offered via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program)

Let me start by warning of my bias: in the circles I frequent, Kevin J. Anderson has a reputation for mediocre prose and character sabotage. So much so, that when I finished this novel and offered it around to a few local readers groups, no one was interested. I requested the title in spite of myself, just to see what could be done with an old standby. Unfortunately, I didn't get anything new, or even a new take on an old idea.

Monthly Reading: March

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:12:37 -0400

Following on with the monthly reading lists, below find everything read in the month of March. As always, feel free to comment and request a speedier review of a particular title. To find other monthly lists, click on the Tag: monthly_reading at the end of the entry, or at the top right of the site.

Monthly Reading: February

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:35:20 -0400

Continuing on from January's list, below is the running tally for February. As before, if there's anything you'd like to see reviewed earlier, comment to let me know

Monthly Reading: January

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:06:14 -0400

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I'm a little behind matching my reviews to my reading. I've been keeping a month separated list over at my livejournal, and decided to move it here in pieces. The last day of each month, I'll post a linked list of titles I've read, with TL links as well, if applicable. If there's anything you're particularly interested in me bumping to the top of the review heap - comment here, and I'll see what I can do..

The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Others

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:34:13 -0400

The Baum Plan for Financial Independence by John Kessel. I was lucky enough to recently snag an ARC of John Kessel's The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and other tales, courtesy of Library Thing's Early Reviewer's program. The back cover copy promises witty intersections with classic literature like Pride and Prejudice, The Wizard of Oz, and A Good Man is Hard to Find.

Subversive literary mash-ups seem to be all the rage today, and Oz doubly so. The last few years have seen the release of a manga, Alan Moore's pornographic Lost Girls, the excellent science fiction Dorothy of Oz comic, and the lackluster SciFi channel's Tin Man. The title story (Baum as in L. Frank) is unfortunately rather middle of the road, as such things go. Dot, a liberated gal of the mid twentieth, takes our narrator on an underground ride to a strange dream space where wealth is theirs for the taking. It's rather unfortunate that "Baum Plan," like many of the other mash-ups, has a rather indecisive ending. Kessel has a knack for the entertaining, and the pages kept turning, whether I was reading about a time-travelling Orson Wells or Victor Frankenstein doing the dance of manners with the cast of Pride and Prejudice. I was particularly impressed an amused by the ultra-short "The Red Phone," which surpasses Nicholson Baker's Vox in humor and sexiness.

The high point of the collection by far is Kessel's linked shorts about life on a moon colony. The world-building is excellent enough to be nearly invisible, and his stories about men in a matriarchal society are compelling enough that I literally couldn't put it down once I started the cycle.
With this collection, Small Beer press further confirms its reputation for producing excellence in the science fiction short form. I'll eagerly look for more as Kessel as an author, and continue to seek out new releases from this charmingly otherworldly imprint.