William Gibson, “Spook Country”

After reading William Gibson’s last book, “Pattern Recognition,” I was stoked to see his next was out really soon. Although “Spook Country” has its moment and is pretty well-developed, it didn’t grab me as much as his others have.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2007, 372 pp.
Obtained via: Library
Date started: 9.4.07
Date finished: 9.29.07
What I liked: I liked the cinematic structure of each chapter following a different quasi-narrators, whose stories eventually begin to intertwine. Hollis Henry is a indie-darling-turned-journalist working on a story about locative art for a magazine project headed up by Hubertus Bigend, who also played a big part in “Pattern Recognition.” Tito is a Chinese-Cuban messenger of sorts trained in secret Russian protocol to deliver sensitive information. Milgrim is being held captive by an on-edge mystery man who doles out the anti-anxiety meds he depends on in exchange for his Russian translation services.
What I didn’t like: I’m not quite sure why, but I had a hard time staying interested in this one. The concept of locative art is really interesting, but the mystery tying the three narrators together perhaps never was fully revealed.
What I learned: Structural prowess doesn’t necessarily translate into gripping reading.

Guy Delisle, “Pyongyang: A journey in North Korea”

In this graphic novel, Guy Delisle recounts the two months he spent stationed in North Korea for an animation company that was outsourcing production. He smuggles in a copy of “1984″ and hangs out with the few dozen other foreigners, who are all quartered in their hotels in the capital. Totally fascinating.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2005, 176 pp.
Obtained via: Kevin
Date started: 9.11.07
Date finished: 9.14.07
What I liked: I love the recounts of his trips outside the city, and when he eludes his guide and translator, who serve as cheerleaders for the regime as well as doing interference so Mister Guy can’t see anything the government doesn’t want him to see.
What I didn’t like: Nothing comes to mind.
What I learned: North Koreans do a lot of “volunteering.” Walking backwards is a traditional form of exercise. There’s no electricity at night, except for foreigners being put up in the hotels. Many North Koreans aren’t aware Kim Jong Il has children, let alone that one of them tried to escape to visit Tokyo Disneyland and got caught on a bad passport.

Margaret Mason, “No One Cares What You Had for Lunch”

“No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog”—its sounds like it’d be helpful and fun, right?

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2007, 128 pp.
Obtained via: Library
Date started: 9.8.07
Date finished: 9.9.07
What I liked: She uses some posts from herself and other bloggers as examples, so I found a few new-to-me sites that are pretty interesting.
What I didn’t like: A lot of the advice was directed to a “you” that seemed overly specific. It’s hard to explain, but I tripped up on it a lot. Tip 100—”Just write”—would have been a great introduction to blogging and this book on the whole. Also, Tip 99 entirely contradicts the title of the book. She says how amazing a blog was where a guy took a photo of everything he ate for a week.
The final word: This book’s helpful if you’re someone who wants to get into blogging but doesn’t know where to start and hasn’t, y’know, ever really read things on the internet before.

Jancee Dunn, “But Enough About Me…”

As you can see I’m getting serious about meeting my 50-book goal. I got behind while moving and moving again, but I am getting back on track!

You might recognize Jancee Dunn from her stint as a VJ for MTV2. Or if you’re a music mag junkie, you’ve likely seen her bylines in Rolling Stone. The book traces her path from down-home Jersey girl to big-time reporter. (She’s one of those MTV personalities who sticks in some cranny of your brain, resurfacing only when you come across something like an essay she wrote for Blueprint.) She’s an incredibly fun writer, but I do have some issues with this memoir.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2006, 276 pp.
Obtained via: Library
Date started: 9.2.07
Date finished: 9.3.07
What I liked: The setup: She intersperses biographical vignettes with how-to pieces on getting celebrities to tell you all sorts of things they’d rather not.
What I didn’t like: Unfortunately, skipping back and forth made me forget who she was talking about a lot of the time. And after the first few chapters, she stopped making clear references to what year the autobiographical stuff was taking place, which turned me around a little. Her early years are charming—who wouldn’t want to be snatched up by Rolling Stone? But later on, although I appreciate seeing what someone else’s 20s and 30s were like, the personal stuff just feels like it’s barreling towards the inevitable: She meets the man of her dreams, they live happily ever after, etc. I also felt like the book at first really jammed it down your throat that she’s just a girl from Jersey! Her palms get so sweaty! New York may as well be Canada! But the book shaped up, and on the whole, it was totally fun.
What I learned: How to turn down an offer of heroin from a rock star; that Loretta Lynn is a huge sweetheart; lots and lots of ways to keep the conversation going with a reluctant subject.

Gabrielle Bell, “Lucky”

I’ve found that I like pretty much anything from Drawn and Quarterly. “Lucky” was recommended to me a while ago, and it happened to be on the featured items bookshelf at my local library. It’s a collection of minicomics she did, with a few extra stories thrown in.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2006, 112 pp.
Obtained via: Library
Date started: 9.1.07
Date finished: 9.2.07
What I liked: Seeing how her style developed with each progressive issue. The first pieces are very much “what I did today” kinds of stories, and by the end they’re full-fledged narratives.
What I didn’t like: I felt like I was missing a little background information for some reason.
What I learned: The everyday things that go on can make for interesting reading.

The writers at Slate, “The Explainer”

For anyone unfamiliar with the awesome column “The Explainer,” every week or so, Slate.com has its staff research some question pertaining to one of the big stories of the day. It’s always something you didn’t even know you wanted to know, which makes it absolutely genius. This, appropriately, is a collection of those questions and the sometimes surprising answers.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2004, 250 pp.
Obtained via: Ben
Date started: 8.19.07
Date finished: 9.1.07
What I liked: I love the Explainer in general.
What I didn’t like: No complaints.
What I learned: Where to begin? What happens to recalled meat, who to call if you find a nuclear bomb, what health benefits congress members receive, what people who live in Niger are called, the difference between the WTO and the IMF, what exactly money laundering is, and how often prisoners escape.