Hand Drawn Jokes for the Self-Indulgent

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of Matthew Diffee's (cartoonist for The New Yorker) collection of comics "Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People" in exchange for an honest review. 

It's not that I don't "get" Diffee's humor... I do. But perhaps I'm just not smart enough or attractive enough to really think that his stand-alone panels warranted enough attention for a full, published collection. I think I chuckled a few times while reading, sure, but overall I just couldn't wait to leave one over-wrought punchline behind and move on to the next one.

The collection is broken up into thematic chapters, which do add a feeling of cohesiveness to an otherwise random set of unrelated ideas, but I kept thinking, "what's the point of all this?" Aside from a specific few comics that really stood out to me as witty, relevant, and questioning convention, Diffee's artwork, while technically very good, is very reminiscent of caricatures of the 1950's or from the era of popart, which when paired with jokes that are occasionally bordering on racist and ignorant, gave an impression less of a self-aware hipster poking fun at everything and more of the impression that Diffee is being quite conventional in his self-indulgent and politically incorrect gags.

I didn't feel that this collection was a stand-out or special moment in visual art or comedy, and I feel like I wasted my time a little bit. Instead of continuing to give attention and publishing opportunities to established cartoonists who keep pumping out the same level of conventional giggles, I would much rather read comics from unknown artists who take risks and try to infuse their work with originality and inclusivity.

2/5 stars. Add me here on Goodreads to follow more of what I'm reading and reviewing!

"Who turned Bob's Burgers into a graphic novel?"

This is a question that no doubt keeps you up all night, tossing and turning. No fear, dearies. Thanks to the Advanced Reader's Copy I received from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review (that in no way influences my opinion), I can safely assure that this is NOT the worst thing to happen to our beloved animated characters.

I feel like the writers did a great job translating the subtle moments of humor from the show- things like awkward silences and perfectly timed puns- into the comic. The spacing and flow of the panels keeps the jokes from feeling rushed, and a lot of the elements of humor from the show are kept in through the action, or lack of action, in the panel sequences. The artwork is great and keeps the same bold visual cues that define the show.

The voice of the characters seem to stay true to the show, too, with one exception: Linda. Her letters to various companies are placed throughout the issues, but I just didn't feel like I connected with her in the way she's represented here as I do when I'm watching the show. Overall, there was just not enough Linda for me in these issues, because at the end of the day, what separates the show from other animated, sarcastic and irreverent shows like it that lack originality (I'm looking at you, Family Guy) is how this dysfunctional family actually has a healthy dynamic and that they maintain strong relationships with each other, despite all the crazy. So for me skipping out on a lot of the family-centric stories in favor of individual storylines for each of the kids lessened some of the appeal of what makes the series so great in the first place.

Overall, the gags are well above-par and I definitely had those laugh-out-loud moments that keep me hooked on the show. My only real complaint is how much of the storytelling is being focused solely on the kids, but with great characters like Tina, Louise, and Gene, that's not even a real complaint, is it??

4/5 stars. Add me on Goodreads to keep up with what I'm reading and reviewing!

Updates and Things

I have made some great "progress" this year with my Reading Challenge- I've finished 92 books out my goal of 100, and it's only the beginning of November! This sounds really impressive, but a lot of filler books and mindless books in series make up the majority of the list.

I have severe reader's guilt, though, that when I'm reading books about Percy Jackson or Sookie Stackhouse I should really be more interested with classic and modern literature, stuff that scholars all have under their belts by this point. I consider myself well-read, though, and I think part of being well-read and thinking critically about texts is the ability to do so in any genre and with a book from any time period. Symbolism isn't dead in YA fantasy, okay? Fantasy novels are ripe with metaphors and interesting ways of dealing with problems (mostly psychological/coming-of-age, but there's way more if you look), and even when I think I'm reading a "mindless" novel, I can never simply STOP thinking critically about it.

Interpreting art in modern forms is really done the same way as interpreting art classically. I mean, you can engage a current text with the same kind of checklists and questions which you use to analyze a respected or classic novel. I count music, video games, and movies with this category as well. I think analyzing video games and movies the way we do literature is a huge step that a lot of people in pop culture just aren't taking-- the consumer, of course, not the creators. The creators just layer all these ideas and metaphors in these under-represented forms of media and we just ignore it. Ask a 17 year old kid what he thinks the implications of the ending of BioShock Infinite are, and if they are indicative of any current political/social/economic crises, and he will probably look at you confusedly and try to explain to you the plot or something. NO, OKAY? THIS IS NOT OKAY! We should be teaching kids how to apply critical thinking to everything. Listen to your music like you would read a poem in English... I think all but the most shallow of songs have intricately woven stories behind stories, and metaphors that could potentially change the way you think. In life, things are scheduled into tiny, neat boxes that contain Science in one slot and English in another and History in another, although that's kind of how we are taught to think. Pop culture and the problem-solving and analytical skills we learn in school aren't ever presented in the same box, much as the separate subjects aren't every really taught compatibly. Life in no way reflects this, but it's really hard for people to get out of that mindset after 12 years of being trained to think that way.

How what I am experiencing right now will change me and allow me to percieve the world in different ways is my favorite part of watching movies and playing video games, listening to music and reading books, sitting through lectures and listening to educational podcasts, even learning foreign languages. I really hope that one day I can convince just ONE person to apply their analytical skills to their pop culture intake, and see how that changes their view on even one tiny detail. I would really consider myself a success if I could convince that one person that there is merit and even necessity to this way of thinking... I just really want to influence someone for the better. Can I be a teacher now if I promise to try and make one infinitesimally small slice of the world a more analytical and harmonious place?

Molte beine, Allons-y!

August Book Haul

To go nicely with the theme of summer (... books, of course!...) I spent quite a bit of time adding some books to my library that I have read and loved, and others that I intend to read soon based on recommendations. I scored some truly wonderful books this month at some astonishingly low prices- I didn't pay more than 2 bucks for anything on this list! I would love to include a small summary or note/review with each item, but because I bought SO MANY this month, I am just going to leave the list, as well as a link to the website of the store I bought it in. As always, I would love to hear from you on Goodreads, or at my blog on tumblr! Send me your recommendations and reviews!
* - denotes books I am reading in courses this semester

Once Upon A Time Books- Springdale, AR.

Friday Night Knitting Club- Kate Jacobs
The City of Falling Angels- John Berendt
Certain Girls- Jennifer Weiner
Bookends- Jane Green
Atonement- Ian McEwan
The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
Three Tragedies- Shakespeare
Death of a Salesman- Arthur Miller
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish- Adams
Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing- Melissa Bank
The Sound and the Fury- William Faulkner
I Know This Much Is True- Wally Lamb
Alias Grace- Margaret Atwood*
A Northern Light- Jennifer Donnelly*
Surrender- Sonya Hartnett*
The Book of Lost Tales- JRR Tolkien
This Side of Paradise- F Scott Fitzgerald
Reading Lolita in Tehran- Nafisi
Dogs of Babel- Parkhurst
Little Bee- Cleave
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister- Gregory Maguire
Queen of Babel- Meg Cabot
Twilight- Meyer
Eclipse- Meyer
Breaking Dawn- Meyer
The Bonesetter's Daughter- Amy Tan
Confessions of a Shopaholic- Sophie Kinsella
The Portrait of a Lady- Henry James
The Notebook- Nicholas Sparks
Dear John- Sparks
In Her Shoes- Weiner
Atlas Shrugged- Rand
The Fountainhead- Rand
The Moonstone- Wilkie Collins
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- Rowling
The Chamber of Secrets- Rowling
Prisoner of Azkaban- Rowling
Goblet of Fire- Rowling
Tales of Beedle the Bard- Rowling
The Red Pyramid- Riordan
The Last Olympian- Riordan
The Vampire Lestat- Rice
Vampire Academy- Richelle Mead
Oryx and Crake- Atwood
Room- Emma Donoghue*
Thirsty- MT Anderson*


The Friendly Bookstore- Rogers AR
Othello- Shakespeare
King Lear
As You Like It
King Henry IV Part I
King Henry IV Part II
King Henry V
The Taming of the Shrew
Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte*
Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte*
Beloved- Toni Morrison*
Sula- Toni Morrison
The Road- Cormac McCarthy
To The Lighthouse- Virginia Woolf*
A Room of One's Own- Woolf*

Goodwill- Fayetteville AR
The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
The Other Boleyn Girl- Philippa Gregory
Running with Scissors- Burroughs
The Psychology of Love- Freud

Hastings.com
Darkest Mercy- Melissa Marr

2013 Book Challenge- August

This month I read 8 books, so for the 2013 book challenge I am now at 82 books!

1. Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen (5/5 stars)
2. Clockwork Angel- Cassandra Clare (4/5 stars)
3. Clockwork Prince- Cassandra Clare (5/5 stars)
4. Clockwork Princess- Cassandra Clare (eight thousand/5 stars)
5. A Room of One's Own- Virginia Woolf (5/5 stars)
6. The Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman (3/5 stars)
7. Unnatural Creatures- Neil Gaiman (3/5 stars)
8. The Poems of Dickinson- Emily Dickinson (4/5 stars)

For reviews and more details about each of these books, you can add me on Goodreads!

July Book Haul

Yesterday I found a great used bookstore close to my house, and I was only able to spend a few minutes inside, but I am very impressed! If you live in the Northwest Arkansas area, I definitely recommend that you go over and check it out. It is called Once Upon A Time Books, and you can visit their website by clicking here. Their pricing is terrific- paperbacks are 25 cents, soft covers 50 cents, and hardcovers 75 cents to $1. Some of their vintage books are a bit more expensive, but from the general collection you won't find anything more than $3.

The very limited time I spent inside was amazing, and I was able to pick up some books that I've always wanted to read but never had immediate (or cheap) access to. I am planning on making another trip soon for some more additions.

Tender is the Night- Fitzgerald
Angela's Ashes- McCourt
Memoirs of a Geisha- Golden
The Hours- Cunningham
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil- Berendt
The Illustrated Sherlock Holmes Treasury- Doyle
Message in a Bottle- Sparks
A Walk to Remember- Sparks
Song of Solomon- Morrison
White Oleander- Finch
The Weight of Water- Shreve

July Book Challenge Update/ Sookie Stackhouse review

Hey guys! So, I haven't been doing too great of a job on reviewing, rating, and listing the books I've been reading lately... Honestly, I haven't been doing very much reading at all, anyway, thanks to life and the wonderfulness that surrounds it (in both a sarcastic, actually pretty horrible way and a cheesy, nonsarcastically I-am-very-blessed way). This month I read 13 books, and that brings my total for the 2013 reading challenge up to 74. (Whew! That's a big number, I'm actually really proud of myself! :D)

Recap: This month I mostly just got caught up re-reading the Southern Vampire Mysteries, popularly referred to as the Sookie Stackhouse books (If you're drawing a blank here, these are the books that the steamy, dreamy, kind of crazy HBO series TrueBlood was created from.) The series is great- hardly anything substantial or literary about the books, but as far as brain candy goes, you can hardly make a better pick if you are into supernatural, romantic, funny mysteries with plenty of sexy scenes, gory scenes, and some eye-rolling, completely cheesy scenes as well. I was born in Shreveport, LA and I love reading about the northern LA geography that I'm familiar with; every time a place is mentioned that I know well, it makes me feel like I'm right there immersed with Sookie and her supernatural entourage. Anyway, on with a recap: The plotlines don't always get resolved in a satisfying way, which is obviously pretty disappointing. Sookie is annoying, almost all of the time. There is no deniability in the success of the steamy bedroom scenes, however, and the sexual chemistry between most of the characters is tangible through the pages of an otherwise mostly boring series. There are several laugh out loud moments in each novel, though, and of course I was caught up with my own opinions of the gorgeous slew of men falling over their feet to jump Sookie and claim her as their property. The series ended disappointingly for me, but as I read all 13 books in less than 2 weeks, they are obviously very addicting and absorbing. I may need to bring myself to writing fanfiction in order to cope with (read: change) the outcome of Sookie's romantic encounters... but I cannot deny that I enjoyed reading all of these books! I gave most of them a 3-star rating for the sheer entertainment value -which sometimes feels cheap to me- but there were a few novels in the series that I enjoyed more than others, and they grabbed a 4 star each.

July 2013:
1. Dead Until Dark- Charlaine Harris (3 stars)
2. Living Dead in Dallas (3 stars)
3. Club Dead (3 stars)
4. Dead to the World (4 stars)
5. Dead as a Doornail (3 stars)
6. Definitely Dead (3 stars)
7. All Together Dead (4 stars)
8. From Dead to Worse (4 stars)
9. Dead and Gone (4 stars)
10. Dead in the Family (4 stars)
11. Dead Reckoning (3 stars)
12. Deadlocked (3 stars)
13. Dead Ever After (3 stars)


Send me a friend request on Goodreads at http://goodreads.com/beetle1211 or comment below and let me know what you think of the books I'm reading, or give me some suggestions on what to read and review next! I'm always looking out for good books and new characters to welcome into my life :)

Challenge update-June

1. Mr. Penumbra's 24- Hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan (4 stars)
2. The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern (5 stars)
3. The Virgin Suicides- Jeffrey Euginedes (2 stars)
4. Never Let Me Go- Kazuo Ishiguro (5 stars)
5. Ready Player One- Ernest Cline (4 stars)






Follow me on Goodreads, where I rate, review, and create lists of the books I'm reading! :)  http://goodreads.com/beetle1211

Le Cirque de Reves

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern


This book already holds a spot among my favorites. The writing is beautiful and elegant, and yet still grounded. The characters are deep and complex and yet still light hearted and fun. The intricacies of how the characters fit together, and the unique presentation of the timeline all resemble the cogs and gears of a finely tuned, extremely detailed and complicated machine- much like the clock commissioned for the circus that enthralls any who look upon it. And though it is hard to discern how the small pieces can fit together to create such a magnificently constructed machine, when viewed as a whole the final effect is breathtaking.

Two magicians pitted against each other without their consent or knowledge of how the contest works, who their opponent will be, or why they are competing. Two instructors who will do anything to provide their contestant with the advantage. And the night circus, the battlefield upon which they are meant to showcase their talents. 

When Celia finally realizes who her opponent is, and how in love with her he is, the contest becomes impossible for them to abide, and instead they collaborate and combine their talents to create beautiful enchantments and attractions. The contest, however, is not something they are able to opt out of, as they are magically bound to finish it in one way or another. And while both Marco and Celia are willing to sacrifice the victory for their lover, neither will allow the other to do so. 

This is a remarkable story of love, magic, skill, and dreams. It is phenomenal and quite unlike anything I have ever read before. I can say without a doubt that I will read this book again, probably several times.The "Circus of Dreams" will stay with me forever.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

- by Robin Sloan


This is a truly magical book. At first I felt like the reviews were exaggerated and generous... The story is interesting but certainly there are no earth-shattering insights or deep, provoking statements that cause you to question your entire existence. This book is actually more of an affirmation that your life is being lived right if you embrace friendships and try to remain optimistic. I like the message, and I enjoyed the story quite a bit. I love the mysterious plot that centers around books and letters and codes, and the hopes and desires of so many different people to discover a secret message about life within an ancient book is really beautiful. Overall, a phenomenal book, although sometimes the main character was a little complain-y and boring for my tastes. The writing style is also very plain, realistic, and choppy- I think this was a great choice for the style of the book now that I'm done reading, but while in the middle of the book I was kind of frustrated with it. The plain realism and the short choppiness are sort of the morals of this story, so the writing style reflecting that was magical in a completely different way. Overall, worth all the buzz and definitely deserves a spot on your to-read, and more than likely it will end up with a spot on your bookshelf as well.

4/5 stars