i’m overdue for some book reviews, and will be posting reviews of 24 books this week. as i’ve done in the past, i’m posting two sentence book reviews. in each case, the first sentence is a summary of the book; and the second sentence is my thoughts on the book. i include a 1 – 5 star rating also. and occasionally, i’ll have an additional note.
today, five Fiction books:
One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories, by B.J. Novak
5 stars
a collection of mostly humorous essays–mostly fiction, but not all–from The Office writer and exec producer (and ryan, on the show). i found these wonderfully entertaining even when they weren’t laugh-out-loud funny.
The Serpent of Venice: A Novel, by Christopher Moore
5 stars
a hilarious, lusty, and fantastical mash-up of The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and The Cask of Amontillado (yes, you read that correctly). moore is my favorite comedic writer, and this one is absurdly over-the-top in the best possible way.
Worst. Person. Ever., by Douglas Coupland
4 stars
dirtbag TV cameraman gets an assignment on a tropical island for a ribald Survivor-type show, where nothing more could go wrong, and nothing can spare him from his a-hole self. reads more like chuck palahniuk than douglas coupland, but is biting commentary on our cultural obsessions.
Brutal Youth: A Novel, by Anthony Breznican
5 stars
4.5 stars
a lowly freshman makes his way through his first year at a parochial school full of systemic (even endorsed) bullying. great characters and wonderful honesty, with development and insight into teenagers.
*note: this is not a young adult fiction book, but a fiction book about teenagers. in my observation, one difference is that these teenagers talk like real teenagers.
Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?, by Dave Eggers
4 stars
a lonely and disturbed man shackles a series of captives on an abandoned military base in order to question them, to make sense of his life. more light-hearted (sort of dark comedy) that my summary would lead you to believe, this isn’t eggers’ best work (i believe eggers to be one of the 20 best living fiction writers), but it’s interesting and insightful.
on deck for tomorrow: six nonfiction books
A couple of these are on my tbr list already, I feel ahead of the game!! I recommend Robert Marcus’ The Far Side of Silence. A great read on Military/Political/Medical thriller. rbmarcus.com is his site for info.