Pride and Prejudice and Zombies // Jane Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith {Audiobook}

Wow, that freak pocket of thunder-lightening-downpour was pretty cool. Good thing I had my car windows down.

>:[ 

Why I'm reading
Fantastic work of literature that goes way beyond most of the romantic drivel it has inspired, in both form and depth? Check. Zombies? Also check.

Where I got the book
Audiobook, Greenwich libraries.

Expectations
Pride and Prejudice… and, uh, zombies. I’m not sure how they’re going to combine the two, but I’m guessing just added blocks of text in between chapters, probably involving the army that’s stationed near the town.

So how was it?

It’s a lot more absurd than I thought, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s also a lot more integrated into the book itself -- which is only possible because it’s absurd. I guess I was expecting a zombie outbreak happening just sort of… in the background. Like a romance during times of war. Nope, Grahame-Smith wove it right into the story by turning the Bennett girls into awesome badass ninja zombie fighters.

Despite the zombie spin, the romance is alive and well -- although by necessity lacking some of the wit and subtlety -- and where it survives, the underlying social commentary is wry and absurd.

Recommendation
Fans of Pride and Prejudice who can take a little bit a lot of absurdity; fans of cheesy zombie and/or ninja movies.

Feels
Tongue-in-cheek.

Favorites
Honestly, all of the best parts were from the original, and it just made me want to re-read Pride and Prejudice.

Least favorites
I did enjoy it, but it isn’t anything ground-breaking. Some of the action scenes were repetitive (which will work much better for the movie adaptation) and the absurd humor didn’t always hit the mark. I really hated that certain things were cut out of the original.

Some of the references to "Oriental" combat training got uncomfortably... uh... Victorian, i.e. racist. I'm not sure if I can call that a "least favorite," though, since it isn't entirely inappropriate to the era. 

Writing style
A shockingly good pastiche of Jane Austin’s writing style, although it sometimes gets a little too bombastic when talking about the “deadly arts.” A few subtle jokes about balls, too.

Etiquette & Espionage // Gail Carriger {Audiobook}

I listen to a lot of audiobooks (no way!) on the way to and from work, but at work I’m mostly limited to music, stand-up comedy, and whatever audiobooks I can find on Spotify or Google Play.

UNTIL NOW!

Overdrive sent an email out a few weeks ago that they would be adding an in-browser player, similar to their in-browser reader for ebooks. I just tried it out for the first time, aaaaand it’s fantastic. I haven’t tried it on my phone yet, but the phone app lets you download files to play, so that might be friendlier for my data plan.

Why I'm reading
I was just looking through Overdrive for something to test out the in-browser audiobook reader, and this seemed interesting.

Where I got the book
Overdrive, Greenwich library.

Expectations
Your standard YA fare, hopefully not too self-involved or full of tropes.

So how was it?

Set in a Victorian steampunk era, the Finishing School series follows the rambunctious Sophronia as she’s whisked away Hogwarts-style to Mademoiselle Geraldine's finishing school… except it doesn’t seem to be a normal finishing school. She meets a variety of friends, learns skills like eyelash-flutter manipulation and wafting poisonous perfume, and embarks on various little plots and adventures.

It's definitely meant for the younger side of the YA audience, but it's a nice guilty pleasure read you don't actually have to feel all that guilty about.

Recommendation
Younger YA readers or older readers looking for something quick and fun; fans of the “special school” trope (like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts); steampunk fans.

Feels
Fun, light-hearted, with somewhat believable characters (if not plot).

Favorites
Sophronia’s friends are extremely tropey, but they’re done well and don’t feel fake or forced. Some of the stuff they learn in class is hilarious, particularly anything having to do with their "decolletage"...

Least favorites
There wasn’t anything I particularly disliked. Everything is predictable and tropey, but the story isn’t trying to be anything it’s not.

Writing style
As far as the writing itself goes, I had no urge to pull out the red pen. The teenage characters and fairly simple action/spy plot make this clearly a YA book, but with not quite as much focus romantic sub-plots (although there are several), and Sophronia actually pulls off the “just a normal girl” trope by 1) actually acting like a normal, reasonably headstrong girl, 2) not making a big deal about how normal/not special/average she is, and 3) not describing herself every five sentences. I'm fairly certain I didn't even know her hair color until several chapters in.

Storm Front // Jim Butcher

I don’t think Connecticut knows how to spring -- which, hey, I’m not complaining that it warmed up so fast. After an extremely snowy winter, we had about a month of foggy, chilly ~20 degree weather, then one day hit 70, then another week of ~20, and suddenly early summer. One of my professors back in college said she’d never understood spring until she experienced it in England, where apparently the seasons don’t flip overnight. This is how you know I’m from Connecticut : talking about the weather is practically our national pastime.  

Why I'm reading
I watched a few episodes of the TV show, and it was pretty good.

Where I got the book
ebook from Greenwich Library, using the Overdrive app. Berlin-Peck lists both collections of the Dresden series, but weirdly enough the first set is “unavailable” -- not borrowed, just unavailable.

Expectations
Honestly? John Constantine.

So how was it?

I couldn’t finish this. I just couldn’t. I got a few chapters in, and gave up. Maybe if it was a short story I could have persevered, but even then, it didn’t have the infuriating unintentional humor of subatomic dinosaurs.

Harry Dresden is a wizard private eye -- yes, you read that right, he’s a wizard named Harry, in a book published three years after the first Harry Potter -- in a world run by shadowy wizard councils, mafia bosses, and good-cop bad-cop tough-but-also-somehow-feminine-hot-female-cop / annoying-ugly-skeptic-male-cop duos. Sounds pretty interesting, right? But the writing was just excruciating.

I can 110% understand how this would make an engaging TV show, because -- unless some very strange choices are made -- a TV scifi hero isn’t going to spend the entire first episode monologuing about himself as things happen in the background. Since the problem is bad characterization, even a minimally engaging lead actor could make the series actually interesting.

And yeah, a lot of long series take a while to get better -- to grow their beard, as it were. I have no doubt that the later books are better… but better than this still isn’t worth it for me.

Recommendation
I just can’t recommend this, but hey, I guess it works for a lot of people. If you’re looking for a quirky, noir, slightly humorous, slightly sci-fi, down-on-his-luck private detective that’s actually well written, check out Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently.

Feels
Self-involved. Lame. Unbearably, ignorantly, "look at the gams on that, uh... bossy strong female character who won't sleep with me" sexist. If a book can dwell on itself, that’s what it seems to be doing.

Favorites
I can't even.

Least favorites
He’s a pretty big Marty Stu, and a little bit neckbeardy, to be honest. Opening doors for women, with a couple of paragraphs explaining his old-fashioned philosophy, and dropping off-hand comments to the reader about all his Dangerous Wizarding Powers. He’s a super powerful, super impressive wizard -- we know this because he tells us, not because of context clues, or characterization, or even seeing him use his awesome powers. It’s just constant, constant talking about himself.

Writing style
It’s trying -- and failing -- to be noir. The fact that Dresden talks about himself constantly doesn’t just make me dislike the character; it’s bad writing, and terrible world-building. He’s constantly dropping hints about himself, which I imagine are supposed to build mystery and suspense, but it has all the subtlety of a bowling ball out a window. No, I take that back -- a bowling ball out a window has more intrigue than these books.

So what did I really think?

Click "read more"

The King of Comedy // Stephen Chow {Movie}

The story of an out-of-work actor / acting coach who sabotages himself by being a terrible extra, and the hostess club worker who goes to him for acting lessons.  

Why I'm watching
Movie night with friends… theoretically bad movie night, but more along the lines of confusing movie night. Plex pulled it in wrong, so Dan was pushing for it because he was expecting a different movie.

Where I got the movie
Sitting on Alan’s server for who knows how long.

Expectations
None, really. I was advised that it was something like Shaolin Soccer (same director).

So how was it?

Well, that was pretty random. It follows an aspiring actor who fails miserably at being an extra, teaches acting for free, and makes pretty much every wrong choice possible. He keeps getting kicked out of his extra roles when he “gets into his character” and tries to steal the spotlight. His love interest is a club hostess, looking to become a better actress for College Girl Night. She gets beat up ; he eventually makes it big, then fails. Then he’s briefly an undercover cop. They get together. Then… suddenly cans of Pringles, and a huge crowd outside their little theater for some reason?

Recommendation
If you’re looking for a little bit of recreational cognitive dissonance...

Feels
Satirical and random (no, no sporks involved).

Favorites
The Jackie Chan cameo, the main character nagging zombie-like extras, and the hugging gag.

Least favorites
They pretty clearly had no idea how to end it.

How Did You Get This Number? // Sloane Crosley {Audiobook}

Why I'm listening
I was just looking for something slightly humorous, and I liked the squinty suspicious bear on the cover.

Where I got the book
Greenwich

Expectations
Funny essays.

So how was it?

Honestly? Not memorable. I’m writing this a few months after listening (oops!) and I had to look up what it was about. And yeah, it really was just a bunch of amusing essays/stories from a young woman who lives in New York. But I liked it well enough.

Recommendation
Good background noise while you’re doing something mindless.

Feels
Amusing, but not laugh-out-loud funny.

Favorites
Her nature outing with a bunch of fellow bridesmaids.

Least favorites
Well, it wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny.

Writing style
Honest, not too much navel-gazing.

Mad Max // George Miller {Movie}

Ugh. Can I just say -- a plate full of edamame does not constitute “vegetables,” not even with the little bits of shredded carrot. We went out with some of Alan’s friends for this one, and I was not impressed by the Chinese (?) fusion place we went. I think it was supposed to be French/Chinese fusion, but it was just Americanized Chinese take-out with fancy plates and a few odd ingredients. It wasn’t bad, but… meh.

Anyway!  

Why I'm watching
Well, yes, partially Tom Hardy, but honestly the movie looks like great scifi dystopian action.

Where I saw the movie
Middletown. The theater was super tiny… I’m not sure why we went there for an action movie. Once we walked over to the parking lot, I realized I’d been here before with Abby to see that sort of magic-themed Ocean’s 13 bank robbery movie with Morgan Freeman, Ariadne, and the kid who played Zuckerman Now You See Me.

Expectations
Boom.

So how was it?

The entire thing is more or less a chase scene. 

It was pretty much everything you could ever want out of a dystopian action movie. Fantastic cinematography, high caliber actors, self-aware absurdity, engaging characters (heroes and villains!), crazy sets and wardrobe, world building, an impressive lack of spoon-feeding… just solid, awesome, and chock full of explosions. And on top of all that, a female-heavy cast (without making a point of it) and fairly feminist plot.

Mad Max is played by the gorgeous and increasingly non-verbal Tom Hardy, Furiosa by the badass Charlize Theron, and a host of excellent supporting actors rounds out the cast.

Recommendation
Action fans, scifi fans, and/or feminists.

Feels
Like a solid, classic 80s scifi flick -- and I'm not just talking about the visuals. Beautiful cinematography, fantastic world building, simple-but-solid plots and themes, absolute unapologetic absurdity, and none of the overly twisty-turny plot shenanigans that have been so popular in the last decade.

Favorites
I can’t choose. Doof (the guitar guy). The two lead actors, who were able to crunch so much into just one glance that the usual action movie dialogue tropes weren't necessary. The world building. The wives. How every single character was a solid, recognizable, individual personality.

Least favorites
Max was pretty quiet -- which I didn’t have a problem with at all -- but since they went that route, I think they should have made it a more deliberate character trait. There are a few scenes that make a point of how non-verbal he is, but several scenes just seemed a little unbalanced, like they forgot to write in his dialog.

Cinematography
I remember thinking about the cinematography in Blade Runner -- gorgeous, sure, but it was just rammed down your throat. HEY LOOK, STOP AND LOOK, LOOK AT THIS SET, LOOK AT HOW WE SET THIS SHIT UP, IT LOOKS LIKE A PAINTING LOOK LOOK LOOK.

This... was not that. There were a handful of incredibly gorgeous shots, but they always fit with the flow of the movie, had elements of movement and good timing, and told you something about the characters. They weren’t just pretty shots.

And yes, yes I did tag this as road trip.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy // Douglas Adams {Original radio}

Greenwich just got the complete set of the original Hitchhiker’s Guide radio plays (which were eventually re-written into the first book) and I snatched them up.

I don’t need to go through yet another explanation of why Douglas Adams is fantastic...

I’m loving the voice actors (except maybe the Vogons, and nothing beats Stephen Fry’s Zaphod) and everything is fairly familiar. It was fairly easy to pick out some parts that were copied verbatim in the first book, a few parts that were left out of the book, quite a few sections that were expanded upon in the book, and only one or two things that actually changed. In the first few chapters, for example, the Vogon ships are called “saucers.” No one ended up laying in the mud at all, and the entire “sleepy Arthur fails to notice the big yellow thing” opening scene doesn’t happen. And unless I heard this incorrectly, and I don’t think I did, Arthur suggests the bulldozer driver could cover for him while he popped off to the pub -- not Ford.

After the first book -- the “primary phase” of the radio show -- however, things seem to be quite a bit different, unless I’ve vastly underestimated my memory of the rest of the books. In fact, the later ones seem to be supplementary to books that have already been published: Arthur can fly, but I don’t remember that being explained; he knows about Stavromula Beta, but again, not explained, etc. Definitely a great read/listen, although I found it a little more confusing and less structured than the books.

Earth : the Book // Stephen Colbert {Audiobook}

I barely remember listening to this, and I’ve read it before, so… yeah. I probably won’t ever review it, but I promised myself I’d at least mention everything I read/write/see, so I’m trying to make a habit of it. And hey, just making this post reminded me of several movies I forgot to write up!