The Greatest Books Post Ever Posted (at least in this room)

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085) Room by Emma Donoghue, finished November 30


Holy crap, people. All the praise I'd heard about this book failed to make one important point:

It contains the most exciting scene in all of literature.

This is not mere hyperbole. I cannot ever remember being so stressed out by a book that my brain was unable to process the words as quickly as my eyes were scrambling over them, desperate to see what would happen next.

And that was about a third into the book! Further emotional climaxes to follow! Including a surprisingly just-right ending.

I don't want to say too much --- I'm glad I had forgotten most of what I read before I began --- but I would like to say that you should not let the idea of a five-year-old narrator make you cringe and you should not let the zeitgeisty buzz put you off and you shouldn't let the awful founding conceit push you away. This book is for all taste levels; it's for fans of thrillers and fine-lit alike. No matter your final opinion (mine is still percolating, though certainly positive overall), you won't regret reading it.

Ma is a heroic, educated young ma. Jack is a complicated child who is a child. And you are the one now clicking my Amazon link or logging onto your library's website to meet them.

This is one time the masses are right. Enjoy it.

three days



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084) The Armed Garden and other stories by David B. (translated by Kim Thompson), finished November 27


David B. is an indie French cartoonist I've heard of but never read. Why oh why did I take so long?

This book contains three stores, "The Veiled Prophet", "The Armored Garden", and "The Drum Who Fell in Love". The last two share a character and the Czech countryside. The first takes place in Baghdad (and environs). All take place a long long time ago. Say, six hundred years.

And the stories feel very much of their time. Not only in their confusing and violent and ambiguous natures (which feel, yes, very medieval), but also in the images. Their flatness and details and the layouts of certain set-piece moments all feel like art of the time. Yes, sure, it's clearly a modern cartoonist, but clearly this cartoonist did his research.

Highly recommended. (Note the sex and violence though.)

two days



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083) The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, finished---was it November 26?


Ugh. No wonder comics had a bad reputation if, twenty years ago, after over a half-century of Superman, these were the best stories every told. I've been working on reading this book to the kids for over three years and they have been as underwhelmed as me.

Sorry Supes fans.

over three years



Previously in 2011 . . . . :

78-82

082) Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov, finished November 13
081) Variant by Robison Wells, finished November 12
080) Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain, finished November 10
079) The Devil Colony by James Rollins, finished November 9
078) Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol, finished November 7



75-77

077) The Best American Comics 2011 edited by Alison Bechdel, finished November 5
076) The Complete Peanuts 1977-1978 by Charles Schulz, finished November 3
075) Ghost Story by Peter Straub, finished October 27



71-74

074) Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines, finished October 23
073) Poem Strip by Dino Buzzati, finished October 15
072) No Arm in Left Field by Matt Christopher, finished October 18
071) Hamlet by William Shakespeare, finished October 18



70

070) The Canterbury Tales adapted by Seymour Chwast, finished October 12


65-69

069) A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born by Harry Harrison, finished October 4
068) Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett, finished September 27
067) Modern Masters Volume Sixteen: Mike Allred by Eric Nolen-Weathington, finished September 19
066) iZombie: uVampire by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, finished September 15
065) Knight and Squire by Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton, finished September 12


64
064) Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment by Bryan Talbot, finished September 21


59-63
063) Blacksad written by Juan Díaz Canales and drawn by Juanjo Guarnido, finished September 5
062) 21 by Wilfred Santiago, finished September 4
061) Bone by Jeff Smith, finished August 29
060) Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: Race to Death Valley by Flody Gottfredson, finished on a date that's a little hard to identify exactly
059) Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby, finished August 18


58
058) Take Time for Paradise by A. Bartlett Giamatti, finished August 11

53-57
057) The Shining by Stephen King, finished August 9
056) I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells, finished August 6
055) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, finished August 2
054) Moneyball by Michael Lewis, finished July 12
053) Madman New Giant Size Super Ginchy Special by Mike Allred et al, finished approximately July 9

51-52
052) The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld, finished July 8
051) Wilson by Daniel Clowes, finished July 6

46-50
050) Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut, finished July 1
049) Housekeeping vs. The Dirt by Nick Hornby, finished June 25
048) The Light Princess by George Macdonald, finished June 22
047) Half a Life by Darin Strauss, finished June 17
046) Babymouse: Cupcake Tycoon by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm (siblings), finished June 16

42-45
045) Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card, finished June 10
044) Writings from The New Yorker 1927-1976 by E.B. White (edited by Rebecca M. Dale), finished June 7
043) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, finished May 31
042) Unnamed book by unnamed client (MS POLICY),
finished May 27

33-41
041) Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley, finished May 14
040) Scott Pilgrim Versus The Unverse by Bryan Lee O'Malley, finished May 14
039) Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley, finished May 13
037) The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse, finished May 11
036) Scott Pilgrim Versus The World by Bryan Lee O'Malley
035) Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley
034) The Complete Peanuts 1975-1976 by Charles M. Schulz, finished May 1
033) Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli finished approximately April 27

32
032) Golden Gate by Seth Vikram, finished April 20

27-31
031) Batman: Year 100 by Paul Pope, finished April 18
030) The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby, finished April 9
029) iZombie: Dead to the World by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred, finished April 2
028) A Sense of Order and Other Stories by Jack Harrell, finished April 1
027) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, finished March 30

26
026) The Black Dogs by Ian McEwan, finished March 21

23-25
025) Stitches by David Small, finished March 20
024) Arkham Asylum: Madness by Sam Kieth, finished January 19 or 20
023) Hamlet by William Shakespeare, finished March 18

21-22
022) Red Rocket 7 by Mike Allred, finished March 10
021) Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3 by Jake Parker, finished March 10

20
020) The Hotel Cat by Esther Averill, finished February 28

18-19
019) Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew, finished February 21
018) Redcoat by Kohl Glass (MS POLICY), finished February 18

14-17
017) Best American Comics 2010 edited by Neil Gaiman, finished February 12
016) Little Bee by Chris Cleave, finished February 10
015) Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck, finished February 2
014) Cursed Pirate Girl: The Collected Edition Vol. I by Jeremy Bastian, finished January 31

13-9
013) Sweet Tooth: In Captivity by Jeff Lemire, finished January 30
012) Sweet Tooth: Out of the Woods by Jeff Lemire, finished January 30
011) Essex County: The Country Nurse by Jeff Lemire, finished January 30
010) Essex County: Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire, finished January 29
009) Essex County: Tales from the Farm by Jeff Lemire, finished January 29

8
008) Magdalene by Morah Jovan, finished January 27

7-6
007) Knightfall Part Two: Who Rules the Night by a slew of DC folk, finished January 23
006) Bayou by Jeremy Love, finished January 17

5-1
005) Mr. Monster by Dan Wells, finished January 10
004) The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, finished January 6
003) The Mystery of the Dinosaur Graveyard by Mary Adrian, finished January 5
002) Batman - Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham by John Wagner and Alan Grant and Simon Bisley, with lettering by the famous Todd Klein; finished January 4
001) Batman: Venom by Dennis O'Neil et al, finished January 2