Black-Eyed Suzie

My dad checked this book out from the library when I was probably six, read it in one sitting, and made me swear that I would never, ever read "that dreadful, dreadful book".  Now, my dad has never been very good at forbidding me to do things, and I've never been very good at obeying orders, so you can probably see where this went.  When he checked it in, I grabbed it off the "to-be-shelved" rack and read it, right there in the library.  And now, almost ten years later, I read it again.

My dad was right - Black-Eyed Suzie, by Susan Shaw, really isn't appropriate for a six year old.  That being said, I would recommend it to practically everyone else.  The narration is full of personality, and the characters (a few of them, at least), are developed surprisingly well for such a short little book.  Suzie is a dark-eyed twelve year old whose only job is to sit on her golden chair, knees tucked up to her chest - silent.  It's how she avoids her mother's abuse and her father's neglect.  But when Uncle Elliott comes for a visit, Suzie and her family are in for some big changes ... Always touching but sometimes aggravatingly overdone, it's a highly original take on domestic violence and a child's need for love.  It ends perfectly, with a few loose endings - but that's life.  Very nice book.

Hungry Lionel gives this:

3.5/5

Lucky

As you probably know, I'm not a great fan of the graphic novel genre.  I guess this means I'm not the best equipped to review them - Lucky, by Gabrielle Bell, just wasn't my cup of tea.

I've come across some absolutely fantastic graphic novels in my time: Blankets by Craig Thompson and the recently-reviewed Asterios Polyp to name a few.  I'd like to think I know the good ones when I see them.  If that's true, then Lucky just isn't that great a novel.  Yes, it's filled with simple, attractive drawings, but the plot is practically non-existent.  It's meant to tell a story, but to me it felt like a collection of anecdotes, none of which flow.  The book is divided into three parts: Lucky #1 (her first "book", discarded in favor of) Lucky #2 (which she left at an airport), all culminating in the book I just finished reading, Lucky #3.  I mean, there were some very nice sections, like when Gabrielle (did I mention it's an autobiography?) discovers why a pair of ex-roomates began feuding.  In general, it's a story about Ms. Bell and her artsy friends/boyfriend apartment-hunting and trying to make enough money to deal with life.  Which is fine, it just creates a book that reads more like a rather boring diary than anything entertaining.

It's pretty short (just over 100 pages) so if you have some time to kill, I might suggest browsing through it, but if you're looking for a creative, quirky little book in this genre, turn to Passionella and Other Stories, by Jules Feiffer.

Hungry Lionel gives this:

2/5

One last quick post ...

 .. before I get into some reviews.  I promise.

I'm still working on some coding (making sure every book has the right link, and each post credits an author, etc), but I've made a few changes you might find useful.  First off, I made a new page (you can find it on the top bar of  the blog), just to describe my purpose, and deleted the Book List page, because it was too difficult to keep updating.  If you're looking for a list of all reviewed books to date, just look in the archived posts (towards the bottom of the right hand side).  I also made links a bit easier to spot - instead of being almost invisible, they're now dark green and turn blue when you hover over them.

More new features to come, including advertisements (on other people's pages for THIS blog, not the other way around) to drum up some followers, and even some book giveaways (probably every other month after we hit twenty followers, to keep the odds in everybody's favor:)  I also am working towards a custom domain (I hate the little hungrylionelbooks.BLOGSPOT.com thing).

Hope you're having a great summer, stay hungry for some new reads, coming up soon!

 - Hungry Lionel

Let's welcome a new reviewer, and a few new summer reads

So, I've finally convinced my little sister to *possibly* stick up some reviews this summer, of books I read ages ago [too long ago to be able to accurately review, but not long enough ago that I want to read them again].  On her list include such great titles as Zombie Blondes, Never Slow Dance With A Zombie, and, eventually, The Forest of Hands and Teeth (about zombies!) :D  She reads a lot of fantasy, while I read more realistic fiction.  Yeah.  Except for my next review, Beatnik Rutabagas From Beyond The Stars, which is probably one of the most obscure books ever (a used copy sells for a penny on Amazon).  It's so obscure, I actually sent the author fan mail (something I never do) because I felt like he should get something for his efforts.  He seems pretty cool, though - check out his website for new books and some interesting photos.

That's about it for this update - prepare yourself for some new zombie books, if I can bribe my sister into posting, and keep an eye out for an incredibly creepy page-turner called Gentlemen I'll be finishing up soon.  Plus, of course, Beatnik Rutabagas.  Gotta love them Beatnik Rutabagas.