11.28.2011
Despicable Me
Kick-Ass
The President & the Assassin
by Scott Miller, 350 pgs, hardcover
Overall Grade: B-
Which president? Not Lincoln, not Kennedy, not even Reagan.
President McKinley. Bet you don't remember who assassinated him (even if you've heard of him before)... it was Leon Czolgosz, self-stylized anarchist and social misfit.
Miller does a nice job laying the groundwork for Czolgosz's life and McKinley's presidency before their fateful encounter. You might remember the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine? The Spanish-American War? Yup, those were under McKinley's administration.
Labels: genre: biographical, genre: historical, genre: non-fiction, media: book
Hanna
Labels: genre: action, media: movie
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
11.10.2011
The Son of Neptune
by Rick Riordan, 513 pgs, hardcover
Series: The Heroes of Olympus book 2; parent series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Overall Grade: B
I was very delighted to see how Riordan was going to play out the Roman aspect of the gods and their version of camp. In a way it was sad to see that they had an idyllic little town tucked away where demigods could live in peace (or had up till now anyway). Like, sucks for you, Greek demigod, you'll be on the run and fighting against baddies your whole life. But I did like the introduction of the harpies, and the Amazons (despite the crazy long detour they had to take into the Puget Sound to get to Seattle -- Mr. Riordan, you need to do more geography research, have you seen how big the Puget Sound is?) Was the trip to Alaska overkill? Yeah, probably. I liked his portrayal of Hyperborean giants though.
Labels: genre: fantasy, genre: fiction, genre: mythological, genre: YA, media: book, series: Heroes of Olympus, series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
