Well hey, it's not like I'm really writing for anyone besides myself these days. I don't see anyone hanging on my every word, which is a little sad for me... but moving on. This is Bettina's Book Club. Even if Bettina is the only one in this club, I'm still going to post about these books, if only for her sake.I won't go into too much detail, but will just give you the basic idea and impression I got out of each book.
Bossypants, by Tina Fey ~ I read this so long ago, I hardly have anything to say about it. But I'll say a few things about it anyway. It was random, it was funny, it's a great representation of who Tina Fey is as a personality. It was a great reflection on her, snarky and sarcastic and clever writing. My favorite part, I think, was when she talked about being Sarah Palin for SNL. What an experience that must have been for her. I also liked that when she taked about how, in her teen years and well later on, she was/ s great friends with gays and lesbians. Whoo!
There are quite a few chapters where it's simply Tina writing jokes, making excuses to tell funny stories. Hey, I liked her stuff. She has a great sense of humor. If you like Tina, you should check out her story.
Button on Burton, by Mark Salisbury ~ It took me a while to get through this book. One reason was because my brother Adam was reading it at roughly the same time I was. He's a really huge fan of Tim Burton and his films. Really, though, I was probably just busy with other stuff. But whenever I wanted to relax and decided to pick up this biography, I enjoyed myself a lot and I always learned something great.
This book takes you through all of Burton's movies, from Pee-Wee Herman to Corpse Bride (The book was published in 2005, so yeah, it doesn't have a lot of his latest stuff), and how he felt working on each project. It was a good read, definitely something to pick up if you like Tim Burton.
The Only Ones, by Aaron Starmer ~ One of the only reasons I picked up this book was because right on the top of the cover, there was a blurb from one of my biggest author heroes of all time, James Dashner. He said, "One of the most unique, captivating books I've ever read. I was completely pulled into it's pages and they never let me go!" Hey, if Dashner says a book is that good, I HAVE to see what he's talking about, so of course I checked it out.
I wasn't disappointed either. The premise was fascinating, the characters were unique, funny, believable and relatable, and by the time I was done reading it I was thinking, "Whoa, this is some deep stuff..." I think what made me like it so much was that it felt a little like how James Dashner's Maze Runner books were written. It also reminded me of the book Gone, except the kids don't have superpowers. It's confusing at first how all the grownups disappear, but then the way they come back will really amaze you and throw you for a loop.
Half-brother, by Kenneth Oppel ~ I liked this book a whole lot, probably the best out of this bunch! Everything about it was engaging. The fact that it took place in the 70's, in Canada, and from the point of view of a teenage kid of scientists who wanted to see if they could teach a chimp, Zan, to act like a human and talk. No, not with his voice, but in ASL, American Sign Language. It was a very interesting experiment. I was quite convinced that the animal could talk.
What took precedence for me in reasons I liked it, though, was all the interaction with the kid, Ben, and the other characters. They felt real and organic. The boy's relationship with his dad, his crush on a girl at school, how he feels about having a chimpanzee, for all intents and purposes, as his little brother. By the end, you see just how much Ben loves Zan and how he changed as a character. This is a book I highly recommend.
Not that it really matters, but I also have read a couple of manga volumes from this series called Otomen. Basically it's a guy who everyone thinks is so cool, good-looking and masculine, but secretly he has girly interests, like baking, sewing, and cute things. I don't know how, but this doesn't mean he's gay. He has a crush on a girl, so he works hard to hide his inner-self and be all manly for her, but you know how those things work out in stories. It was an alright story for a while, but I don't think I'll read anymore.I know I keep threatening to shut down this blog and never come back to it again, but then I know I'll find a great book I want to recommend to the Internet and post about it. So I don't know... Perhaps I won't do full on reviews for single books anymore. I'll probably just keep much better track of the books I read in a notebook or something, and then maybe at the end of the month I'll do a report on my best findings. How does that sound to you?
*crickets chirp*
Awesome! Sounds like a plan to me!
