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marlowe129. Invader Zim vol 1 by Jhonen Vazquez & Eric Trueheart - Upon reflection, Invader Zim was never really about the plot so much as excuses to get Zim to scream while Gir acts cute. Doom Doom Doom Doom Doom Doom Doom. This book has five separate stories of Zim and Dib fighting it out. A couple of them were in the Netflix movie including Dib getting greasy and fat as he watches Zim's house frustrated that Zim seems to be doing other things. There's also Zim killing the tall ones. There's also a part where Zim hurtles the earth into the sun. With a "next issue" where Dib is telling Zim that he shouldn't have done that. And Zim doesn't remember it.
But really it needs screams and whacky facial expressions.
30. Backflash by Richard Stark - This was a recommendation from Man Carrying Things which is my new favorite youtube channel (besides Miriam Anzovin and her Daf Yomi vids) who is usually doing funny little skits about other youtube videos (the best one being the "all video essays begin like this" where he sits down, looks around, pours whiskey into a glass, drinks half of it and then leans in the microphone to say "capitalism" and that's it) but also sometimes goes back to his roots as a booktuber and recommended these books as some of the most hardcore heist books. Distinguished from other heist books because Parker never becomes a nice guy or grows a conscience. it's always about Parker getting one over on the people who are trying to stop him.
In this one, the heist is on a gambling boat but the weird part is the political operator who is hiring him to rob the boat. He seems weird and Parker doesn't know what to do about him. Also there's a cop who got a whiff of what is happening and wants to rob them after they rob the casino.
What's interesting is how the boat heist is actually carried off well but everything starts going wrong - or weird when Parker gets to the cabin and there are a bunch of dead bikers. And then things get crazy. The last part of the book is Parker trying to outwit everyone involved in trying to screw him and trying to figure out who he has to kill.
Really a tight narrative. Fun stuff.
Also I listened to this as an audiobook from the library which is neither here nor there but I usually don't count these books in my list of books that I've read in a year. I think it might be because I read them so sporadically that by the time I finish a book I've returned it to the library and checked it out again about 10 times. This was a short one so I even finished it mostly all at once.
31. Weathering With You by Makoto Shinkai & Wataru Kubota - This is the second act, the act where the tragedy of the story comes to the forefront. Hina is not "the sacrifice" yet but she's starting to fade and as she's on the run with Hodaka she shows him that she's not all there anymore. I saw this movie so I know where it's going (also I saw Your Name which has set the pattern. If I see Suzune on Tuesday, I'm sure I will see the same three act structure) but it's a sweet story and these are likeable characters. Oh man, I've said that about a lot of books but I think that I appreciate sweet books with likeable characters. I tend to write nasty stories about nasty people so it's nice to see these people who care about each other.
But really it needs screams and whacky facial expressions.
30. Backflash by Richard Stark - This was a recommendation from Man Carrying Things which is my new favorite youtube channel (besides Miriam Anzovin and her Daf Yomi vids) who is usually doing funny little skits about other youtube videos (the best one being the "all video essays begin like this" where he sits down, looks around, pours whiskey into a glass, drinks half of it and then leans in the microphone to say "capitalism" and that's it) but also sometimes goes back to his roots as a booktuber and recommended these books as some of the most hardcore heist books. Distinguished from other heist books because Parker never becomes a nice guy or grows a conscience. it's always about Parker getting one over on the people who are trying to stop him.
In this one, the heist is on a gambling boat but the weird part is the political operator who is hiring him to rob the boat. He seems weird and Parker doesn't know what to do about him. Also there's a cop who got a whiff of what is happening and wants to rob them after they rob the casino.
What's interesting is how the boat heist is actually carried off well but everything starts going wrong - or weird when Parker gets to the cabin and there are a bunch of dead bikers. And then things get crazy. The last part of the book is Parker trying to outwit everyone involved in trying to screw him and trying to figure out who he has to kill.
Really a tight narrative. Fun stuff.
Also I listened to this as an audiobook from the library which is neither here nor there but I usually don't count these books in my list of books that I've read in a year. I think it might be because I read them so sporadically that by the time I finish a book I've returned it to the library and checked it out again about 10 times. This was a short one so I even finished it mostly all at once.
31. Weathering With You by Makoto Shinkai & Wataru Kubota - This is the second act, the act where the tragedy of the story comes to the forefront. Hina is not "the sacrifice" yet but she's starting to fade and as she's on the run with Hodaka she shows him that she's not all there anymore. I saw this movie so I know where it's going (also I saw Your Name which has set the pattern. If I see Suzune on Tuesday, I'm sure I will see the same three act structure) but it's a sweet story and these are likeable characters. Oh man, I've said that about a lot of books but I think that I appreciate sweet books with likeable characters. I tend to write nasty stories about nasty people so it's nice to see these people who care about each other.
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