The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, a review

Last week’s blog was about an uncommon well…misfire; I guess is a good word.  I couldn’t get into the book I was reading, and I tried a couple times.  This week, I decided to start with a rather short read.  It was like getting back on my feet (reading feet?) so-to-speak.

As I perused the library on my last visit, I happened upon this tiny book.  I thought that the book was an oddity; a lot of the others in my library are quite large in comparison.  I pulled it off the shelf to look at its cover.  Its title, The Pirates!  In an Adventure with Scientists and crazy cover (featuring a monkey, sea monsters, and a scantily clad woman) drew me in.

Another thing that caught my attention was a blurb on the cover.  Written by none other than former member of the comedy troupe, Monty Python, Eric Idle!  He said it was, “destined to become a classic of pirate comic fiction”.  I’d never read any other pirate comic fiction, so this absurd blurb sealed it for me.  I picked it up, and was eager to start reading.

Wow!  That sure was a lot to say about book discovery.

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The book I couldn’t read…

If I was sitting at a desk, this would be an accurate representation of how I felt, trying to read this book.

Last week, I promised I would write about a rare occasion for me: not being able to finish/read beyond the first chapter of a book.  Well, if you are expecting a book review, I am sorry.  There isn’t going to be one today.  I will have one for you next Thursday.  Since I feel like this post is a bit of a cop-out, I might write up something else this weekend.  Who knows?  I am a wild card.  Hah!

As I said, the time rarely comes where I can’t bother to read past the first few (in the case of this book, the first twenty—and the chapter still wasn’t done!) pages.  It happened with the last book I tried to read, though.  That book was Darkmans, by British author Nicola Barker.

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Everything Asian, a review

As a fan of Asian cultures, I enjoy reading books that are set in Asian countries/have an Asian point of view.  Some of my favorite books are those by Haruki Murakami (who is actually my favorite author, I think).  So when I saw Everything Asian by Sung J. Woo, I knew I had to pick it up and read it.

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Choke, a review

There were no women eaten in this story

I recently finished reading Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk.  While it wasn’t my favorite of his works—that distinction goes to Lullaby—I really did enjoy it.  Even though it was nothing like the past few books that I have read, it seemed to follow in the steps of those, being a story about character growth.

Choke, like just about all of Palahniuk’s other books that I’ve read, unsettled me a bit.  I think Palahniuk has a way of relating details that is all too real, and a bit creepy to me.  Like the way the main character, Victor Mancini, describes his malnourished mother.  The description of her yellowed, sagging skin was a major creep factor.  Palahniuk has a great and terrible way of describing even the mundane.

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The Book of Lost Things, a review

I hope you all had a good weekend.  It’s been a long, miserable week.  I say “miserable” because of the heat.  Our summers, this far north, aren’t usually so hot.  It has been 90 degrees or better ALL week, though.  Blah!

Anyway…I am here to review, not complain about the heat.  I am going to review The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.  It is a young adult novel (which I seem to be reading a lot of, lately) set in World War II era England. … Continue Reading

Good news, everyone! Futurama has returned!

I toyed with the idea of writing this on the night that Futurama began airing again.  I sort of forgot about it until this week, when Rufus commented on a Facebook post I had made using a quote from the most recent episode.  It was then that I decided to write a short piece on the return of Futurama to television.  It’s not super in-depth, because I don’t want to spoil any of the episodes.  I am probably naive in thinking that some of you might not have seen the debut episodes, but that’s neither here, not there.

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Going Bovine, a review

The cover, alone, is completely awesome!

The following review, a review of Going Bovine by Libba Bray, is actually a piece I wrote for Rufus as a writing sample.  I spruced it up a bit, and decided to post it.  I have family visiting that I haven’t seen in years, so I wanted today to be as free as possible.  I hope you enjoy this review.  The book was great!  If I don’t manage an odd post over the weekend, I hope everyone has a wonderful Independence Day/long weekend! … Continue Reading

The Case of the Missing Servant, a review

I am an avid reader.  Many of you who frequent this site might be avid readers as well.  I like to pride myself in finding entertainment in any kind of book, it doesn’t matter the subject.  Well, except for those silly romance novels.  You know the ones; the cover is like some sort of painting.  There are two beautiful people, usually standing at the edge of a cliff, or a boat or something.  That type of book, I will never read!  I don’t have anything against romance in the books I read though.  I am not anti-romantic.

One genre I never really got into reading, however, is one that is fairly popular: detective stories.  Until I picked up a copy of The Tattoo Murder Case, by Akimitsu Takagi (a great book, that I would love to review), I never really had the desire to pick one up.  While out shopping for something new to read, I came across The Case of the Missing Servant, by Tarquin Hall.

Hall’s protagonist is a Punjabi private investigator named Vish Puri.  Puri touts himself as “India’s Most Private Investigator”, and runs a detective agency known as Most Private Investigators, Ltd.  Puri is quiet an interesting character.  When Missing Servant takes place Puri is already renowned as a detective.  Mention is made of many cases that Puri and his hired hands have successfully solved.  I personally hope that these teases of past cases materialize into stories of their own, one day. … Continue Reading

Introductions

Hello, you wonderful readers (and writers!) of Paper Spaceships!  My name is John and…well…I am a new writer here at the site.  I am completely thrilled to be given this opportunity!  I love to read, and am always looking for someone to tell about the books that I have read/want to read/am reading.

Starting tomorrow, and on the Thursdays following, I will be posting on a regular basis.  My posts, for the most part, will be book reviews.  I have a couple books still fresh enough in my mind to write about!  Afterward, I plan on rereading a number of books that I haven’t read in some time, and writing about those as well.

I am planning to write my first review on the Vish Puri mystery The Case of the Missing Servant, by Tarquin Hall.  I look forward to writing about it.  I am also looking forward to new Top 7 Lists, and will chime in with some of my favorites when the time comes!

I hope you’re all as excited as I am about me jumping on board!  Until tomorrow, everyone!