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Archive for the ‘Short Books’ Category

César Aira–The Hare (1991) [translated 1998]

Posted in César Aira, Funny (ha ha), Nick Caistor, Romance, Short Books, Supernatural, Surreal, The Avett Brothers, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation, Travel, Violence, Yuck! on January 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

hare1SOUNDTRACK: THE AVETT BROTHERS-Tiny Desk Concert #18 (June 22, 2009).

avettI have recently become a fan of The Avett Brothers.  Indeed, my first review of one of their songs was very mixed.  But I have come around.  And this Tiny Desk show is a great example of the power they have in a live setting–especially one as personal as this.

For this set the two brothers (Seth on guitar and Scott on banjo) play a song from their then new album (the beautiful “Laundry Room” complete with amazing harmonies and beautiful cello) I & Love & You.  It builds slowly but after about two minutes, it turns into a big (upright bass is included, too) catchy song.  And in the last minute it becomes a huge stompin’ track (predating those other banjo bands by a few years).

Scott’s voice is really powerful (Bob Boilen asks if he swallowed an amplifier).

The second song is a the time not released yet, “Down With the Shine” (they joke that they’re then going to play a song they haven’t written yet).  It’s full of phenomenal harmonies.  And the commentary afterward about traveling with the brothers is very funny.

The final track goes back to their previous EP and is called “Bella Donna,” a pretty ballad sung by Seth–he seems to do the more mellow tracks.  It’s a pretty ending to this all too short Tiny Desk Concert.

Watch it here.

[READ: January 10, 2014] The Hare

The Hare was the first of Aira’s books to be translated into English (back in 1998 with this simply gawdawful cover).  It has recently been republished by New Directions Press with a far more tasteful cover.  The translator, Nick Caistor, is the same although I noticed in an online excerpt that while the English language is the same, the New Directions version has translated a Spanish newspaper (El Grito) into English (The Crap) when it wasn’t translated in the earlier version.  But aside from that, it all appears to be the same.

I had been putting off reading this book because it is his largest book (most of Aira’s books are barely over 100 pages, while this one is almost 250) and I’d also read some lukewarm reviews of the book, so I saved it for last.  Of course, now he has a newly translated book out, so I decided it was time to read The Hare.

Not the best attitude for a book an it definitely impacted my early reading of the story.  And I’ll sum up that impact as saying I thought that the book itself was strangely flat but that the ending was fantastic.  Had I been more open t0 the absurdity I think I would have enjoyed the whole thing a lot more. (more…)

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Maxwell Eaton III–The Flying Beaver Brothers and The Mud-Slinging Moles (2013)

Posted in Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Maxwell Eaton III, Recess Monkey, Short Books on January 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

flyingSOUNDTRACK:RECESS MONKEY-“Fish Sticks” (2013).

fishsticksOne of the best names for a kids band ever, Recess Monkey is three teachers who write funny songs that actually educate you.  Although this song doesn’t really have much educational value.

Rather, this is about a fish drummer (named “fish sticks” of course).  The guitar is cool and the bass is fun, but this song is all about the drums.  It’s a slight little ditty, but I love the way they meld all kinds of genres into the middle of the song.

I have to admit that the fish head drummer is a little creepy, but you don’t have to watch the video, right?

And, I do wish I had used this song for a different Flying Beaver Brothers book (the one that is all about Fish Stix, but oh well).

[READ: January 13, 2014] The Flying Beaver Brothers and The Mud Slinging Moles

Here’s another Flying Beaver Brothers book.  Although I enjoyed the premise of this book, I found it less satisfying to read to the kids, possibly because it had more visual jokes than wordplay.

Of course, one of the funniest things in the series is the blank looks that Bub and Ace give to the other characters when they do or say something foolish.  And those abound in this book.  Of course, it’s hard to convey that when reading aloud (although a good Huh?! often works), but it makes me laugh every time, and I’m not sure exactly why–I guess Eaton is excellent at blank looks.

So Bub wakes up to find that all kinds of things on Beaver Island are sinking–trees, rocks, even their house.  They naturally assume that Bob and Bob the evil penguins are behind it, so they go to see them.  There’s a very funny ladder joke that occurs just before the penguin house sinks. They are clearly not responsible either. (more…)

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Mark Tatulli–Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic (2013)

Posted in C., Children's Books, Dav Pilkey, Funny (ha ha), Kids Corner, Mark Tatulli, Short Books, Squirrel Nut Zippers, The Decemberists, The Plants on January 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

desmond SOUNDTRACK: THE PLANTS-“Aziphrale” (2013).

plantsThe Plants are Kids Corner favorites. And why not they are Philadelphia locals.  I have enjoyed several of their songs but I wasn’t familiar with this one.  And so I was surprised that it made the Top ten Kids Corner Countdown.

This song is another story song. It’s about a Chinese dragon called Aziphrale.  It has a cool horn sound, reminding me of some mellow ska or like the Squirrel Nut Zippers.  The song is bouncy and jaunty and has a kind of moral to it, which is always nice.

It even features a lengthy pirate section with people sailing a ship across the sea–(perhaps making future Decemberists fans?).

It’s an engaging story and a good song–a sea shanty about gold and dragons, what could be better?  And I actually thought it was quite different from their other song that I reviewed–Monster Under My Bed, but that song is also a story and features prominent horns and is bouncy and jaunty.  I bet they’d be fun to see live.

[READ: January 5, 2014] Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic

Although this book is about a sixth grader, C. loved it and encouraged me to read it.  Which I did.  And it is quite enjoyable.  It reminds me of Captain Underpants in spirit. But it’s very different in execution.

Desmond Pucket is a kid who loves horror movies and special effects.  And he is a great artist and creator.  Which doesn’t always fly in school.  So he gets an F on his math test but he draws a cool picture on the back.  The teacher tells him that if he spent as much time on his math as on his drawing, he’d get straight A’s.  Sigh. (more…)

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Mark Haddon–Boom (or 70,000 light years) (2009)

Posted in Children's Books, Fantasy, Kids Corner, Mark Haddon, Ratboy Jr., Set at School, Short Books, Technology, UFOs on January 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

boomSOUNDTRACK: RATBOY JR.-“Champion of the Universe” (2013).

ratboyRatboy Jr was also in the Top Ten of WXPNs 2013 Kids Corner countdown (and was also on the Kids Corner CD).  This is a fun song told in a story.  It opens slowly with acoustic guitars and tells the story of a young boy with a very big head who wants to be a luchador.

When the chorus comes around, it kicks into full Mexican style swing with horns and flamenco style guitars.  Young Santos goes to a store where he gets a beautiful red wrestling mask.  And we all sing “La Cabeza Grande, champion of the universe!” in full chanting chorus (complete with yips and yee hees!).

I actually wish the songs was about five minutes longer.  But at just under 4 minutes it tells a good story and is super catchy.

[READ: January 2, 2014] Boom

I’ve read one adult book by Mark Haddon (but not his famous Curious Incident…).  I didn’t know that he wrote kids books at all.  But when this came out I learned that this was originally published in 1992 under the title Gridzbi Spudvetch! (and yes it was in English).  He says in the Foreword that kids and teachers loved it, if they were able to pronounce it (and that with a title like that he was lucky that 23 people bought it).

So it went out of print.  But fans said he should get it back in print.  So he decided to rename it a more reasonable name.  He also says the technology in the book was horribly out of date (which shouldn’t really matter, but if you’re going to update it, you might as well do it all).  And as since he was updating, he decided to rewrite, as he puts it, “every sentence.”  So I gather the story is the same, but it’s a very different book (and me being me, I’m very curious to read the original).

But now with the simple name of Boom, we get this fast paced and very enjoyable story.  (And yes, gridzbi spudvetch is still in the book). (more…)

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Jeff Kinney–Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck [#8] (2013)

Posted in Babies, Children's Books, Death Cab For Cutie, Dogs, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Jeff Kinney, Kids Corner, Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, Parenting, Poo, Set at School, Short Books, Yuck! on January 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

hardluckSOUNDTRACK: LUCKY DIAZ AND THE FAMILY JAM BAND-“Thingamajig” (2013).

luckyThis song made the XPN Kid’s Corner Top ten.   When the played it on the radio, I was surprised at how ..quiet it was.  Even now listening to it, it just seems like all of the sounds are at the same level, it all kind of blends together, which is a shame because the song is really kind of fun.

Now that I’ve listened a few times I like it more.  It actually has a kind of Death Cab for Cutie feel.  The bass is particularly nice, but of course the fun part is the lyrics (a thingamajig, a whatchamacallit, who what where why).

So a couple of listens and I’m won over by the song.  I wish it was a bit more dynamic in the production, but it’s a catchy little number.  And I’m curious to hear what the rest of the album sounds like.

[READ: December 27, 2013] Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck

Clark was so excited for this book!  This is the first one that he knew about before I did.  We decided to save it for a Christmas present, and man was he chomping at the bit.  He even borrowed it from a friend (because there were 100 people on the waiting list a the library).  And yet, even though he had already read it, when it arrived on Christmas, he was still really excited.  And has already read it four times.

And what was sweeter was that he really wanted me to read it.  He thought it was the best one yet.

I was surprised by this as the whole first section is about how lost Greg feels now that Rowley has a girlfriend, Abigail.  I can’t really imagine how he related to that as it’s not an issue for an 8-year-old (in fact the whole series is skewed a little old for an 8-year-old, but he still loves it).  Mostly Greg isn’t so much jealous that Rowley has a girlfriend so much as he is jealous that she is keeping Rowley from being Greg’s slave, I mean, friend.  Normally, Rowley walks in front of Greg to look out for the (newly added, I think) Mingo kids who threaten anyone who comes close to their wood (which is on their way to school) or for dog land mines–the scene where the dog figures out how the electric fence works is so funny.  And speaking of dogs, Clark absolutely cracked up about the joke with the little dog Sweetie who sniffs herself if you make a raspberry sound near her. (more…)

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Maxwell Eaton III–The Flying Beaver Brothers: Birds vs. Bunnies (2013)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Adventure, Allan Sherman, Children's Books, Dan Zanes, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Kids Corner, Maxwell Eaton III, Ratboy Jr., Sara Hickman, Short Books, The Board of Education, The Doubleclicks, The Plants, Trout Fishing in America on January 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

bbbSOUNDTRACK: KIDS CORNER Top Ten of 2013 (2014).

kidsEvery year I’m curious to see what the kids who vote for Kids Corner music will pick as their top ten.  It is usually reliably silly.  But this year I have to say I was a bit disappointed in their selections.  Here’s the Top um, Eleven (two were tied of tenth) from 11 to 1.

  • Allan Sherman – You Went The Wrong Way Old King Louie
  • Dan Zanes – Turn Turn Turn
  • The Plants – Aziphrale
  • Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band – Thingamajig
  • Shine And The Moonbeams – Bully Bully
  • Trout Fishing In America – My Sister Kissed Her Boyfriend
  • Weird Al Yankovic – The Saga Begins
  • The Doubleclicks – Worst Superpower Ever
  • Ratboy Jr. – Champion Of The Universe
  • Sara Hickman – Radiation Man
  • The Board Of Education – Why Is Dad So Mad?

I am especially surprised by Allan Sherman as I can’t imagine that too many kids would enjoy that song (which is funny if you know your history, but not really otherwise) and while I love Dan Zanes, “Turn Turn Turn” is not exactly a rollicking fun Top Ten song.  I actually dislike “Bully Bully” and while I love Trout Fishing in America and like “My Sister,” it’s certainly not their best song (and this list isn’t just new songs obviously).  The rest of the list is quite good, though.

And it’s a great choice for number one.  But next year, kids, more silliness!

[READ: January 1, 2014] The Flying Beaver Brothers: Birds vs. Bunnies

We were unreasonably excited to see that there was a new Flying Beaver Brothers book out!  We loved the first two quite a lot, so any return of Ace and Bub is a good thing.  But to also have the return of a nasty villain is quite nice too.

Yet it’s not all the same faces, because this time there are birds and bunnies causing havoc with our heroes.

Bob and Bob (the penguins who get a brief cameo) are rebuilding Beaver Island and Bub and Ace are heading there in a boat.  But a storm rages and makes them crash.  They walk around an island where they are quickly captured by an angry bunch of bunnies who accuse them of being bird spies (those are real?).  Indeed, the birds have been playing a  very loud sound that hurts the bunnies ears and makes them go underground.  So the bunnies are fighting back with a wind machine that makes the birds leave the sky.  Both of these machines were funded by a mysterious fellow named Wally (unbeknownst to the others). (more…)

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Allie Brosh-Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened (2013)

Posted in Allie Brosh, Biography, Cake, Depression, Dogs, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Okkervil River, Shearwater, Short Books, Swans, Tiny Desk Concert on January 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

  hyperSOUNDTRACK: SHEARWATER-Tiny Desk Concert #9 (November 14, 2008).

shearwaterI didn’t really know Shearwater before this Tiny Desk Concert.  I’d heard of them but wasn’t familiar with their music (I assumed it was more countryish).  I was also really surprised to find that Thor Harris was in the band (he is currently playing with Swans–it doesn’t get too much more different between Swans and Shearwater (even if they are both birds).

Jonathan Meiberg is the singer–he was formerly in Okkervil River for a number of years before Shearwater became too big to be a side project.  The setting is perfect for the band as they get to showcase some really quiet insturments.  Like the Waterphone (designed by Richard Waters, although Thor Harris made the one they are using).  It is based on the calimba and they describe it as the sound you hear when something weird happens on Lost.  Thor also plays the clarinet (!).

Meiberg has a great voice, and it perfectly complements these delicate songs.  “Rooks” has melodies on xylophone and Hammered dulcimer (which also looks homemade).  “Leviathan, Bound” is based on the documentary “Blue Water White Death” about great white sharks and whalers.  They explain that this is a new version of the song with banjo.  And before they start the song they nearly knock something over (it is a Tiny desk after all).

“North Col” is the less commonly use approach to Mt Everest.  And this song is just as spare and pretty.  Before playing the final song, they show the album cover (of Rook) and talk about Kahn & Selesnick, the artists who made it (it’s quite striking).  Then he explains the origins of “I Was a Cloud” which he wrote when he was in the Falkland Islands.  They were birding and found a tiny bird living under the wreckage of a fighter jet.  It’s a beautiful image and a beautiful song.

And I definitely need to hear more Shearwater after this.

[READ: December 29, 2013] Hyperbole and a Half

The whole blogs-into-books thing is weird.  You can read everything in these blogs for free on the internet, so why do they come out in books?  Is the internet insecure when it comes to publishing?  Are these things more legitimate as books?  Is it just a way to make money?  Are they in print just in case the internet explodes?  It certainly undermines the concept that books are dead.  Well, whatever, some blogs translate very well to print.  Like this one.

I have enjoyed Hyperbole and a Half a number of times, but I never thought to check it regularly.  So I had no idea that Allie had taken a year off.  And I had no idea that she suffered from Depression so people were concerned about her.  I always just thought her strips were very very funny and didn’t read anything in them.  Of course, knowing she was Depressed (she admits as much in the book) makes the darker stories seem darker, but the funny ones are still really funny.

I mean, just look at drawings! No really, look at the drawings–they are so weird and creepy and so freaking funny.  It seems like she can’t really draw, because the pictures are crazy.  And yet she is so consistent with her lines and styles that I have to assume she is a masterful artist and has chosen this crazy style to accentuate her crazy stories.  And it is genius. (more…)

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Charles Dickens–A Christmas Carol (1843) [audiobook 1994–Patrick Stewart]

Posted in 19th Century, A Christmas Carol, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Death, Dreams, Ghosts, Marriage (Happy), Patrick Stewart, Short Books on December 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: December 29, 2013] A Christmas Carol

patAfter enjoying the play of A Christmas Carol, we decided that since we were on a longish trip for Christmas, that we’d listen to the audiobook and see what was different.  The kids were certainly less engaged than a more kid-friendly book, and that’s understandable—the language is pretty opaque from time to time.  But I was pleased at how they were able to tell where we were in the story (as compared to the place) most of the time.

I felt that the play was different, so i was listening for them.  I don’t know anything about the adaptor of the play and his choices to change things—I don’t even know if the version we saw is a standardized version of the play (I feel like next year we should see it somewhere else for comparison).  But there were more than a few things that were changed. (more…)

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David Petersen–Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Alex Kain, Alex Sheikman, All Songs Considered, Children's Books, Christmas Album, Craig Rousseau, David Petersen, Death, Fantasy, Fears, Garfunkel and Oates, Guy David, Jason Shawn Alexander, Jeremy Bastian, João M.O. Lemos, Karl Kerschl, Katie Cook, Lowell Francis, Mark Smylie, Military, Nate Pride, Scott Keating, Sean Ruin, Short Books, Ted Naifeh, Terry Moore on December 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

legendsSOUNDTRACK: GARFUNKEL AND OATES-“Year End Letter” (2010).

gandoGarfunkel and Oates are a wonderful comedy team.  I’ve enjoyed so many of their songs, but this was the first time I ‘ve heard this Christmastime ditty.

We always enjoy reading people’s year end letters with an eye towards the attitude in this song–slightly mocking and yet also thinking:

“You’re right, your family’s better than mine
And it seems you make a lot more money.”

But now with the advent of Facebook, people post their year end letter info every day.  And I am very sad to see that we got virtually no year end letters this year.  So even though we tease, now we miss what we once mocked.  At least G&O can remind us what they all contained.

And since I cannot figure out how to embed a vimeo video, you’ll have to click this link to watch it.

[READ: December 20, 2013] Legends of the Guard

This book is a collection of short pieces written and illustrated by some of the greats in independent comic books (with a shocking number of them being from Michigan).  Evidently many writers contacted Petersen and wanted to work with him.  He didn’t want to mess up the arc of his story so he devised this idea.  Set in June’s Ale House, all of the mice are tasked with telling a story.  The one who tells the best will have his bar tab erased (for some that is quite a deal).

And so, these stories or legends are set at any time in the past and do not impact the chronology of our Mouse Guards.  And man, are they good. (more…)

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David Petersen–Mouse Guard The Black Axe (2013)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Children's Books, Christmas Album, David Mead, David Petersen, Death, Fantasy, Fears, Garfunkel and Oates, Harvey Danger, Military, Short Books, South Park on December 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

blacaxeSOUNDTRACK: HAVE YOURSELF A SULLEN LITTLE CHRISTMAS–NPR (December 19, 2013).

charliebrown_wide-ac0b12e7fc8f83eb302cc221a37ba8592ccc2e63-s40-c85NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson and Travis Larchuk hop onto Morning Edition to talk about Christmas songs that are melancholy sad and downright sullen (which is quite a lot of them, if you really listen to the words).

They talk about some new(ish) songs that are depressing  Like David Mead’s “The Smile of Rachael Ray” (which would be bad enough, but that’s just a lead in to the bummer within), Harvey Danger’s “Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes),” Garfunkel & Oates’ “Year End Letter” (which is quite funny) and the song “Dead, Dead, Dead” from the South Park holiday album Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics.

Of course, dark Christmas songs are nothing new.  There are plenty of dour holiday standards that originate in the 1940s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “Blue Christmas”  are major downers.

When I try to compile Christmas mixes I try to leave off the bummer songs, but it’s really hard.

Stephen Thompson gives an excellent summary of the season: “Christmas is the one day a year when we’re all supposed to be happy, and so you’re hyperaware when you’re not.”  I hope everyone has a Happy Christmas this year.

[READ: December 10, 2013] Mouse Guard The Black Axe

This book features a preface by Terry Jones.  It doesn’t say a lot, but it’s worth a mention.

The Black Axe begins after the events of Winter 1152 (it is set in Spring, 1153), but the bulk of the book is a flashback to the origin story of the Black Axe.

As the book opens we learn that Lieam, one of the Mouse Guards has been missing for the last three months.  We also learn that even though the Winter was a dangerous time for the mice, the Spring proves to be equally treacherous as all of the predators are awaking from hibernation. But despite the current crises, Gwendolyn’s thoughts turn to Spring 1115 where the story of Celanawe begins.

We see Celanawe on an island building a house.  Suddenly a crow approaches.  On the crow is Em, a mouse who can communicate with the crows and who reveals that he she has been looking for him. (more…)

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