A Wizard of Earthsea, and why books for young people don’t have to be shit
After a few lukewarm readings of her short stories, I hadn't really bothered with Le Guin for a few years, but I'm trying to rectify that. The Lathe of Heaven…
Charles Burns’ “Black Hole”: Pretty Pictures of Disturbing Shit
Another wonderful comic book, published originally in 12 issues and collected together as a graphic novel in 2005. Like David Mazzucchelli (the man behind “Asterios Polyp”) Burns is both the…
Reading Log: Murakami’s ‘South of the Border, West of the Sun’ and Me Bitching About Nice Things Because They are Too “On the Nose”
Murakami writes great characters. His prose is solid, and the excerpt I read from ‘Kafka on the Shore’ in The Paris Review was great -both funny and unsettling. Neither of…
Bookhounds -Jr. High Edition:
I’m running a Jr. High Language Arts classroom until the end of the school year. Since I’ll be in there a while, I decide to invest in the youth a…
Steinbeck, The Pearl, and another rant on the internet about YA lit
The Pearl is a wonderful little novella that is easily devoured in an afternoon. The prose is simple and reads quickly, but surprises with vivid and powerful metaphors. It’s a…