A few years ago Stephen King wrote a little book called The Colorado Kid. The book was the first big book published through Hard Case Crime imprint which specializes in re-publishing pulp fiction novels as well as new stories. The Colorado Kid is the story of two newspaper writers who are old enough to use the phrase “back in the day” tell innocent intern the story of The Colorado Kid, a body that washed up in 1980 and the mystery of how he came to be dead in Maine. While in the end readers may not get the answers to the questions they’ve been asking for whatever amount of pages, the main theme put forth is the search of answers when there are none to be found.
It was an incredibly cruel trick on Mr. Kings part.
Anyway, recently the Syfy channel has adapted The Colorado Kid into a TV series called Haven. Three episodes in and the story has differed slightly but the possibility of finally finding out what happened to The Colorado Kid is there. Haven focus on an FBI agent who takes a temporary leave of absence from the FBI to serve as a local police officer in the town of Haven, Maine where strange things are constantly happening. Please be careful not to confuse this show with Syfy’s other series Eureka about a street-smart cop who relocates to Eureka, Oregon to investigate all the strange things that are constantly happening.
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Anyway.
In the first episode Audrey, the FBI agent, discovers an old newspaper article about The Colorado Kid and in the included picture is a person she believes to be her mother. It’s a bit of a stretch. Okay, it’s a huge stretch in my opinion. “Look, this women kind of looks like me and I was adopted. She’s probably my mother.” Really. That is the extent of the explanation we get from the show and what keeps her in Haven.
Another problem I have with the show is that all the episodes so far have followed the exact same format.
1) Weird thing happens.
2) Audrey accuses the most likely person responsible.
3) If the wrong person is accused, accused the next most likely person.
4) If Audrey is wrong yet again (and so far she has been), have it dawn on her that the person responsible is the person she least suspects.
5) Case solved!
Really, she made it in to the FBI with this type of deduction skills?
Is this show worth caring about? Probably not. I see a lot of potential in it. Haven could turn out to be really interesting if only is would drop this “monster of the week” format it’s following and take the time to build some solid mythology. They are only dropping hints right now as to what causes all these supernatural things to happen. It’s been made clear that there are characters who know something about what is going on, but it has not dawned on Audrey yet to ask them because she is too busy searching for this woman who she is convinced is her mother.
Whoohoo! I was tired of the old one and longed for a two column format that wouldn’t get in the way of Youtube clips. But ya’ll use the RSS feed anyway so it’s not like there was much of a point.
At least i’m happy and that’s what counts the most.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson (Hardcover)
by John Green and David Levithan
Dutton Juvenile, April 2010
310 Pages
This is the story of two characters named Will Grayson (hence the title) that do not know about the other. One Will Grayson is your typical high school student who has this mad crush on a girl and eventually they date. By his side his his best friend Tiny who is 1) not tiny at all and 2) a flaming homosexual. Tiny’s quest throughout the corse of the book is to put on a school musical about himself that he wrote and plans to star in. The other Will Grayson is a moody high school student who is so horribly in the closest that he’s nearly been granted legal residence there. One thing leads to another and both Will Grayson’s happen to wind up in the exact same porn store at the same time. Other Will Grayson starts dating Tiny and as with most gay relationships in high school, drama ensues.
Since the book is written by two author with John Green writing Original Will Grayson, David Levithan writing Other Will Grayson, you can expect it to be slightly untraditional. The chapters alternate between the two Wills. At first it can be slightly jarring but it’s easy to pick up on the changing of tone and voice. The chapters for Other Will are written without the use of caps and read like his internal thought process. It works because the main focus of this story, in my opinion, is Other Will Grayson and his conflict with being gay and his relationship with Tiny. The Original Will Grayson is kind of forgettable. I finished the book a couple of weeks ago but I can not remember much about what his whole plot was. Other Will was much more interesting and complex and you didn’t know how his story was going to end.
Tiny, who would I guess be the REAL main character, plays an important role in the lives of both Will Graysons. His quest to find love and to put on the musical play about his life is the thing that ties all the story lines together.
All in all I thought the book was enjoyable but not nearly a memorable as John Green’s previous work. His version of Will Grayson is forgettable and nearly indistinguishable from John Green’s other male leads in his previous books. I can’t speak about David Levithan’s books and how this compares because I am unfamiliar with his works. Interestingly enough Will Grayson, Will Grayson does not inspire me to check out his previous work.
It may sound like I didn’t like Will Grayson, Will Grayson, but I think my main problem with it was that there was nothing to make it stand out. It’s a story about the high school drama of two very different Will Graysons. Read it if you want, but this book doesn’t stand out in the piles of YA fiction. The only drawing power of this book comes from the two well established authors.
Did you know that Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides is based off the book On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers? Did you also know that On Stranger Tides is considered to be one of the main inspirations for the Monkey Island video game series? It was seem this book is highly influential. I should probably get around to reading it huh?
Anyway, books and pirates! Two of my favorite subjects. Did you see the teaser trailer yet? It doesn’t tease much other than the fact they are making a 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I loved the first, hated the second, and never saw the third. Who knows how I will feel about the forth.
Fish (Hardcover)
by Gregory Mone
Scholastic Press, June 2010
256 Pages
After the family horse dies, Fish, aptly named for his natural swimming ability, is sent from his family’s farm to the city to earn money as a delivery boy. But after some mysterious coins that Fish was tasked with delivering get stolen, he inadvertently joins the crew of the Scurvy Mistress. Reluctant at first, Fish soon finds himself more at home on the sea than on dry land. He befriends his fellow pirates and naturally makes a few enemies just by being there. Now Fish must help the pirate captain unravel the clues leading to Chain of Chuacar, a valuable treasure not seen in many years, and prevent the mutiny being led by the first mate.
I typically don’t think that young adult fiction and pirates are two things that go together considering that pirates aren’t the most ideal role models for kids. However, this book does a good job of trying to stay faithful to pirate mythology while not encouraging the less favorable aspects of it. For example, after Fish is forced in to a fight, he opts to take a pacifistic approach in combat. His friend Daniel begins to teach him “non fighting” skills that reads as a form of mixed martial arts of some sort that is unnamed in the book. Speaking of naming things, there were a couple of small references in the book that annoyed me. Nora, the ship’s cook, apparently invented the sandwich and the pirate named Jumping Jack invented a form of aerobics that he quickly named after himself. These aren’t big deals but they broke the flow of the story. Kids who read this book and are less fact snobbish then myself probably wont care and may even find it amusing.
In the end this is a fun read for kids/young adults who are fascinated by pirates. The chapters are the perfect length and full of action and adventure. This is not a boring book.
P.S. Have I mentioned that I like books about pirates?
In The Bucolic Plague, Josh Kilmer-Purcell’s latest memoir, he and his partner impulsively buy a farm in Sharon Springs, New York. Hilarity ensues.
I’m tempted to just finish my review right there, but I guess I should say more. Okay, so Josh Kilmer-Purcell wrote the book called I Am Not Myself These Days about his life as an alcoholic drag queen with a drug addicted male escort of a boyfriend. It still stands as one of my favorite books. I am pleased that he returned to memoir style writing after a brief forte into fiction writing with Candy Everybody Wants.
Like I said, Josh and his partner Brent buy a farm. It’s clear that they did not think the idea through because they have a really hard time getting the farm up and running. Not only that, but they must make the farm profitable if they want to keep it. Their solution, raise goats and grow tomato!
Overall I really liked the book and managed to read it over the course of a couple days. As I read it I liked the tension that builds as you wonder if they’re going to be able to pull this off and keep the farm. It has many ups and downs. It wasn’t all goats and giggles. There are parts that are not comical at all such as the deterioration of Josh and Brent’s relationship due to the pressure of running a farm. I started wondering if the farm was going to cause the end of their relationship.
I enjoyed reading this book and found it to be a very touching story about two gays guys who buy a farm and the troubles that come with it.
I got an e-mail earlier today from Tin House explaining their new policy regarding submittions. I felt compelled to share it with you because, well, it’s kind of awesome/funny.
Tin House Implements New Policy for Fall Reading Period. Unsolicited Submissions must be Accompanied by a Receipt for a Hardcover or Paperback from a Real-Life Bookstore
PORTLAND, OREGON (JUNE 30, 2010) In the spirit of discovering new talent as well as supporting established authors and the bookstores who support them, Tin House Books will accept unsolicited manuscripts dated between August 1 and November 30, 2010, as long as each submission is accompanied by a receipt for a book from a bookstore. Tin House magazine will require the same for unsolicited submissions sent between September 1 and December 30, 2010.
Writers who cannot afford to buy a book or cannot get to an actual bookstore are encouraged to explain why in haiku or one sentence (100 words or fewer). Tin House Books and Tin House magazine will consider the purchase of e-books as a substitute only if the writer explains: why he or she cannot go to his or her neighborhood bookstore, why he or she prefers digital reads, what device, and why.
Writers are invited to videotape, film, paint, photograph, animate, twitter, or memorialize in any way (that is logical and/or decipherable) the process of stepping into a bookstore and buying a book to send along for our possible amusement and/or use on our Web site.
I for one would enjoy seeing these videos. Tin House, will you be posting these on YouTube by chance?But of course, you can go buy a book regardless of your desire to submit to Tin House.
I normally dismiss historical-fiction because I fear that it will be really, really boring and that I might accidentally learn something. So when I got The Fiddler’s Gun I was conflicted. On the one hand I hate history and on the other, I love pirates. I was conflicted until finally my love of pirates won and started to read the book.
It was pretty awesome.
There was the initial culture shock from reading about people who didn’t know what a large hadron collider was but then I realized historical-fiction isn’t that much different from science-fiction and was able to continue reading with no problems.
Anyway, The Fiddler’s Gun (which takes place somewhere around 1755) is about a Fin, a tomboyish girl who lives at an orphanage in America. She in constantly defying the nuns and getting in to trouble. That trouble causes her to be banished to kitchen duty where she befriends Bartimaeus, the book with a mysterious past. One thing leads to another and Fin kills some English soldiers and is forced to run away. She is mistaken for a man and joins the crew of the Rattlesnake. Luckily she feels right at home aboard a boat full of men. Then they become pirates and fight people who don’t like pirates.
Like I said, it’s pretty awesome.
I know my description above probably wont sell you on this book. But it is a very beautifully written book that is chock full of adventure, drama, and romance.
My one complant, and it’s a major one, is that after 300-ish pages of rooting for Fin to get the happy ending she deserves, I find out that this is a two book series. And the second book, Fiddler’s Green, isn’t out yet. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Anyway, I don’t think I can recommend this book enough. I went in to it with low expectations (again, historical-fiction) and, like a ship being hit with a cannonball, I was blown completely away. You should pick up a copy at The Rabbit Room or even get the Kindle version for less than the cost of a gallon of gas.
Since January 2008 I have been using this blog to write about the books i've read and other book related news that I find interesting. I also find pirates interesting so from time to time I may blog about pirates. I see this as killing two birds with one stone.
A few years ago Stephen King wrote a little book called The Colorado Kid. The book was the first big book published through Hard Case Crime imprint which specializes in re-publishing pulp fiction novels as well as new stories. The Colorado Kid is the story of two newspaper writers who are old enough to use the phrase “back in the day” tell innocent intern the story of The Colorado Kid, a body that washed up in 1980 and the mystery of how he came to be dead in Maine. While in the end readers may not get the answers to the questions they’ve been asking for whatever amount of pages, the main theme put forth is the search of answers when there are none to be found.
≠
(Hardcover)
, Josh Kilmer-Purcell’s latest memoir, he and his partner impulsively buy a farm in Sharon Springs, New York. Hilarity ensues.
about his life as an alcoholic drag queen with a drug addicted male escort of a boyfriend. It still stands as one of my favorite books. I am pleased that he returned to memoir style writing after a brief forte into fiction writing with 
.
I normally dismiss historical-fiction because I fear that it will be really, really boring and that I might accidentally learn something. So when I got 
I was conflicted. On the one hand I hate history and on the other, I love pirates. I was conflicted until finally my love of pirates won and started to read the book.
for less than the cost of a gallon of gas.