52. Blue Monday

Blue Monday (Chynna Clugston-Major)

Vol 1: The Kids are Alright (2000)
Vol 2: Absolute Beginners (2001)
Vol 3: Inbetween Days (2003)
Vol 4: Painted Moon (2005)

I'm counting all four volumes of this comic as one book. I hadn't heard of Blue Monday until SJ included it in her two-part guide to women lead characters in graphic novels at BlogHer last month. Check out parts one and two.

It sounded perfect for me because it's set in the late 80s/early 90s and follows a group of kids into punk and new wave music. The musical references were great, and I liked the characters okay, but I got a little tired of it by volume four. I really think comics are best served up slowly over time. These collections make me gobble up the whole thing at one time because I have no self-control. But I liked it and will probably look for Clugston's other work.

51. Which Brings Me to You

Which Brings Me to You: A Novel in Confessions (Steve Almond & Julianna Baggott, 2006)

More Steve Almond. I tend to request several things from one writer at the same time, so my holds often come in as themed batches. I liked this a ton, and think the collaboration worked wonderfully. The story opens on a failed wedding reception hookup between Jane and John. The two, who live in different states, decide to get to know one another through confessions they'll send back and forth through the mail. Except for the first and last chapters, the entire novel is made up of this correspondence. The premise sounds too cute, but the execution was really interesting and unexpected.

This book was devastating. That's overly dramatic, I know. But several passages, especially from Jane's letters, could have been ripped from my head, word for word. It's hard to see thoughts and feelings exactly like my own, laid bare on the page. The confessions are wonderful and terrible, and I believed in these two broken, sad people trying to make a connection. The final chapter let me down just a tiny bit, but don't let that stop you from trying this one out.

50. The Discomfort Zone

The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History (Jonathan Franzen, 2007)

First off, I must confess I still haven't read The Corrections. I bought it when it first came out in trade paper because it was on ridiculous sale at the bookstore in Wallingford Center when I was buying my glasses, but have been resistant to starting it, probably because it was so hyped and can't possibly live up to expectations. Also it's fat and therefore sits unread on the shelf with its fellow weighty and intimidating tome, DeLillo's Underworld. I'm not too proud to admit this.

I ordered this for the library, and when it came in, something made me grab it up off the new books shelf. I was in a bit of a memoir phase at the time. Anyway, I really, really loved it. Franzen mostly sticks to his adolescence, which is of course a period rife with embarrassments and torments. This ground has been covered exhaustively by too many writers to list, but this is a pretty fresh take on a familiar subject. Also, I liked the way Franzen tells his stories in pieces, as interconnected essays. The deviation from a strict, linear narrative made so much sense. The point of memoir isn't to lay out a strict chronology, after all. I care about the feelings and experiences and how they fit together. Now that I've finished this, I think I might be ready for The Corrections in the next few months.

49. The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories

The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories (Steve Almond, 2005)

I fell in love with Steve Almond because of the genius that is Candy Freak and have long vowed to follow up and read more of him. I'm just now getting around to it. Perhaps it's unfortunate that I chose this collection to start with. First, I have trouble finishing short stories. Then I don't know how to talk about them as a collection. I started this while I was in Seattle and finished it up over the weekend, so it didn't drag on as long as some of the other collections still sitting half-finished on my night stand.

The stories here are really varied. I think I was expecting a theme to emerge, but there really wasn't one except maybe that all the stories dealt with relationships of some sort. One particularly strange one is "Lincoln, Arison," which is about a relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass. A page or two into it, I was really tempted to skip it, but I was drawn in by the characterizations of both men. A couple of pieces really didn't work for me, like "The Soul Molecule" and "Skull." But I really enjoyed the rest, especially the title story and "Wired for Life." Almond does well with the female voice, which I appreciate.

48. Dead Sexy

Dead Sexy (Tate Holloway, 2007)

A few pages into this, I realized it was a sequel. I hate reading things out of order, but it's okay. Most authors summarize what's happened before, so it doesn't take too long to get into the story. I can't remember where I heard about this book and why I thought I'd like it, but it came in on request at the library. I'm borrowing so much stuff that it's hard to keep track of it.

Basically, the Garnet Lacey books are chicklit romances with a magical theme. Garnet is a witch and both her boyfriend and ex-boyfriend are vampires. In the previous book, Garnet's coven was murdered by Vatican assassins. Lilith, the goddess who lives inside Garnet (and partially in her boyfriend--yeah, weird) slaughtered the assassins. A year later, the bodies surfaced and the FBI started investigating. I was not buying any of this for the first couple of chapters, but it was such a quick read that I thought I'd give it a shot. I ended up finishing the whole thing last night.

It's not a great story, really, but I ended up liking the characters. I'd like to call it a mystery, but besides the FBI agent, nobody's really investigating anything. It's more like Garnet and her boyfriends are trying to figure out how to keep themselves out of trouble. There's a subplot involving voodoo and zombies, but it doesn't amount to much besides a few extra action sequences. Dead Sexy is a fun, easy read, but I'm not sure I'll stick with the series.