If February was a lighter month, March was pretty good. I read seven books total which, given I also finished and edited a 60,000 word YA manuscript, is pretty good.
Probably my favorite of the lot was Matt Fraction's Hawkeye. I'm a pretty big fan of Fraction generally and had the crazy awesome chance to meet him at Brisbane Writers Festival back in 2013. He's such an intelligent and funny writer, and he's very good at writing action packed stories with compelling characters who don't fall into the typical hero mold. It makes for some pretty terrific reading. My favourite part of the first two volumes was definitely the chapter told through the dog's point of view. The art that accompanied was insanely creative and a really unique reading experience.
I also really, really loved Dare Me by Megan Abbott. I'd heard mixed things about this from a few people who found that Abbott was too involved in the story to be able to tell it compellingly to readers, but I respectfully disagrree. I found this story of competitive cheerleaders desperate for connection charged and thrilling, an interesting story beautifully told.
It's a shame I can't say the same about A Small Madness or The Great Zoo of China. Neither are bad books at all (in fact, I enjoyed both), but I found them to be a touch superficial in very different ways. A Small Madness, while compelling, and while I do think Dianne Touchell is a talented writer, never quite hit the mark for me as a reader. I found she told instead of showed a lot of the time, and the relationships never came away fully formed for me.
The Great Zoo of China was fun, but similarly didn't quite hit the mark. Matt Reilly is doubtlessly terrific with action sequences, but I had trouble telling characters apart because there wasn't a whole lot to hold onto in them and, to be frank, the book didn't seem to want you to care too much about them.
That can't be said for Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay, which is one of the most moving essay collections I've read in recent memory. She has a wonderful propensity for ripping out your heart when you least expect it. I inhaled this collection after seeing her at All About Women at Sydney Opera House earlier in the month, and found myself tremendously affected by it. Wonderfully written by a wonderful writer.
And Perfume (which I haven't actually finished yet). Also terrifically engaging. It was our book for book club this month, and I think other people liked it more than me, but it's still an engaging read. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts when I finish it.
And that's it from me for March. What about you? What have you been reading?
No comments:
Post a Comment