The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure by Jack Pendarvis

Jack Pendarvis is a contributor to McSweeney’s, so I can only assume that’s how he ended up on my Amazon Wishlist.

This is a short story collection, and it’s okay.

It didn’t grab me and make me want to spread the news of a fabulous book, but it was amusing. It’s mostly short stories from the point of view of various dysfunctional narrators. He reminds me a bit of David Sedaris, though the largest piece in the book is reminiscent of John Kennedy O’Toole’s Confedaracy of Dunces, without being quite as good as either.

The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5) by Rick Riordan

This is the last of this “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series, though the same characters can be found in his new series, “The Heroes of Olympus”.

This is a fine bunch of books, neatly weaving the mythology into modern day. My only complaint is that they felt like books that were written to be made into movies, like treatments rather than novels.

I was wondering why I didn’t feel the same attachment to Camp Half-Blood as to, say, pick a random example, Hogwart’s, and I guess because not much really happens at the Camp. There’s some off-stage training and a chariot race or two, but other than that, the stories take place in the big, wide world, which is fine.

I’ll place these on my kids’ shelf, and wait for them to grow into them.

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4) by Rick Riordan

Book 4. One more to go in the embattled life of a young demigod.

The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3) By Rick Riordan

This was book 3. There are 5 books. This was like book 1 and 2, but 3.

Slam by Nick Hornby

This is Hornby’s first Young Adult novel, and it’s good. It tackles teenage pregnancy, and there’s some honest truths there but it doesn’t come across as an after-school special.

This is the story of a young skater (not skateboarder, that’s not what the cool kids call it) who knocks up a girl. The story is funny, and realistic, and it’s full of the stuff you’d want your teenager to know about having a kid.

Or an adult having a kid. Either one.

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)

The second in Steig Larsson’s The Girl series, continuing into the story of The Girl with a new mystery or two.

Purportedly, he had planned 10 books, but only three have been published, a fourth (or fifth) sits on his laptop, and sketches for one or two more exist.

It’s disappointing, because they’re engrossing, addictive books.

I would wish to ask him, were it possible… why the constant references to brand names? There’s an entire chapter where the main character shops at IKEA, and in it details what exact items she purchased. We always know the complete specs on whatever computer she’s using, and cellphone capabilities… it’s just a little strange.

Maybe he just felt it was important to promote Swedish products to the world.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)

I see this book on several desks here at work, and on chairs at the pool. Usually, this means I don’t have much of an interest, when you’re talking of Clive Cusslers and that ilk.

But I liked this book quite a bit, and I look forward to trying the other “The Girl with…” books. It had a decent mystery, smooth writing, and interesting characters. There’s no hint of oddness at being translated, which is a tribute to Keeland.

I note that I’ve read two books in a row about late-30’s men having relationships with an 18-25 year old. This is purely unintentional, and I wonder if I’m being demographically targeted in some way.

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

Okay, this is basically Brave New World, modernized.

Told through the medium of diary entries, emails (“globalteens”, a future FaceBook/MySpace), and IMs, a 39 year old book reader (an offensively smelly hobby in this dystopia) weathers the end of America and the wooing of a 20-something woman.

Some of his future-projections are a little hokey. He merges 7 or 8 current corporations into unwieldily named conglomerates, like ChaseBPMcDonalds or some such thing, which I get, but I think is weak world-building.

“Apparats” (copious umlauts excluded) are omnipresent iPhones; No one talks (or “verbals”) much, mostly they sit together and text. This seems right on.

All in all, this is a fine summer read, alternating between whimsical and believable futurism.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: A Novel by Michael Chabon

This is a fine novel to read on the heels of Making Comics, a little further back the book The Ten-Cent Plague and, even further back, Weird Comic Book Fantasy at Dad’s Garage.

I will admit, I missed the “A Novel” bit when I picked it up, I didn’t remember how it came to be on my wish list, or what it was about. When I started reading and realized it was about the Golden Age of comics, I thought maybe I had added it as another Ten Cent Plague history-of-comics sort of book. I thought “EC” publishing as a real place, but this turns out to be a novel, and the E.C. (Empire Comics) of the novel is different than the EC (Educational Comics) of the real world, though the latter was also in the end part of the novel.

At any rate, it is a terribly good novel, sporting don’t-want-to-put-it-down writing and stories. You get a lot of good flavor of the pre and post war eras, intriguing characters, amusing and believable situations and dialog. It’s written as a historical account, complete with footnotes about things that never happened¹.

Highly recommended, whether or not you’re into the comics scene.

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¹ In 2013, Michael Chabon came across this entry and wrote me a personal note thanking me for the kind words. Also, there was cake.

You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore

This is a sequel to his earlier vampire novel, Bloodsucking Fiends, which I’m pretty sure I’ve read, but can’t remember, even after having read the sequel with the same characters.

It’s typical Christopher Moore fare. Light, silly, brain candy.

I read this at the beach at the same time that steakums was reading Moore’s Fool, an account of King Lear from the perspective of the fool. At one point, she turned to me and said, “This book is great! You really need to read it.” “I’m sure it’s great,” I replied, “but does it have an un-dead smurf hooker in it?”

“No,” she admitted, “It does not. I guess you win.”

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ETA: I see that there is a third in the series, Bite Me: A Love Story, which stars a vampire cat and the best character from You Suck, Abby Normal, the would-be minion. Something else for the Amazon Wish List.