Humor | Raging Biblio-holism

The Shepherd’s Crown

November 13, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: Changes are coming to the Disc. Trains crisscross the land, goblins are respectable (or at least respectable enough), and Granny Weatherwax’s time has come. It’s up to Tiffany Aching to fill her shoes – and to do so before a deadly threat returns to the world… The Review: Clichéd as it has maybe already become, I couldn’t help but think of Chris Jackson singing, “We’re gonna teach ’em how to say goodbye” in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s brilliant Hamilton while […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Discworld, Elves, Fairies, Fantasy, Fiction, Granny Weatherwax, Humor, Literature, Nac Mac Feegle, Reviews, Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown, The Wee Free Men, Tiffany Aching, Witches

A Night in the Lonesome October

November 2, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: October begins and so too does a strange and deadly game. Jack and his loyal canine companion Snuff scout, connive, magick, and otherwise prepare for the 31st – when either openers or closers shall win and the world will either end… or go on… The Review: What a delightfully unique novel. I’ve heard Zelazny touted by the likes of George R. R. Martin and Neil Gaiman but I’d never picked up one of his novels, until this […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: A Night in the Lonesome October, A Visit to October Country, Book Reviews, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Frankenstein, Gahan Wilson, Horror, Humor, Jack the Ripper, Lovecraft, Monsters, Reviews, Roger Zelazny, Satire, Sherlock Holmes, Werewolves, Witches, Wolfman

Helen & Troy’s Epic Road Quest

August 28, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: When Helen and Troy, two teenagers, are suborned by a Lost God into a quest, they have no choice but to hit the road and try to accomplish it without dying. Should be easy, seeing as Helen is a minotaur and Troy is a perfect human being… but road trips can be rough, even without the dragons and fates and the horde of orcs on your tail. The Review: I hope you were lucky enough to take a […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: A. Lee Martinez, America, Fantasy, Fiction, Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest, Humor, Quests, Road Trips

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The Rest of Us Just Live Here

June 24, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: Sure, we always follow the story of the hero or the Chosen One… but what about the other kids? The ones who also live in the town but are more concerned with cute boys/girls, friendship, finals, prom, graduation, etc? This is a story about what happens to those kids while the latest apocalypse happens to the Chosen Ones. The Review: Remember towards the end of the third season of Buffy when the student body gives her the Class Protector award and […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: Advance Review, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Metafiction, Patrick Ness, Reviews, Teen, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Young Adult

Lost for Words

May 18, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: Every year, the prestigious Elysian Prize committee must select a short list and winning novel from hundreds of submissions. Malcolm Craig, the chair of the 2013 committee, must wrangle his quirky group of judges into choosing a winning book while various hopeful novelists wait in anticipation and make a hash of their personal lives in the process. The Review: The cover for this book makes me laugh every time I look at it, because I always think, for […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Edward St. Aubyn, Fiction, Humor, Literature, Lost for Words, Prizes, Reviews

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Look Who’s Back

May 4, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: In 2011, Adolf Hitler wakes up in a vacant lot in Berlin. People assume he’s a satirist; he’s just doing his thing. Then he gets on TV – and hijinks ensue. The Review: While idly reading recent book reviews on The New York Times website, I saw a cover (that one just there) that made me burst out laughing. And by the end of the review, I had already decided that I had to read this book, a book about Hitler that the […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Adolf Hitler, Advance Review, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, Hitler, Horror, Humor, Literature, Look Who's Back, Politics, Reviews, Satire, Timur Vermes

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

April 20, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: Lelia Majnoun, a non-profit worker in Myanmar stumbles across… something weird. Suddenly she’s on the run from shadowy corporate interests. Meanwhile, former friends Mark Deveraux & Leo Crane (Mark now a self-help huckster and Leo a drug-addled trust-funder coming unhinged) are on an unseen collision course with each other, orchestrated by said shadowy corporate interests. The fate of the world and our freedom of information may be at stake. The Review: I remember the first time I read Fahrenheit […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Adventure, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Conspiracy, David Shafer, Fiction, Humor, Reviews, Science Fiction, So Many Damn Books, Speculative Fiction, Techno-thriller, Technology, The Biblioracle, Thriller, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

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The Model Millionaire

April 3, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: Packaged in an attractive little volume, Harper Perennial gathered together nearly all of Oscar Wilde’s short stories – some for adults, some for children, all in that distinctive conversational tone that could only be Wilde. The Review: For starters, I never knew Oscar Wilde wrote for children. When one thinks of Wilde, we think of his flamboyance and wit, his decidedly “adult” works like Dorian Gray or The Importance of Being Earnest – but it shouldn’t surprise me that […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature, Short Stories • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Classic Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Harper Perennial, Humor, Literature, Oscar Wilde, Reviews, Short Stories, The Model Millionaire

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Good Omens

March 23, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: The world was created. This is generally regarded as an only so-so idea – but the end is coming! The Antichrist is born unto… an utterly ordinary human family (thanks to a clerical mixup with the babies). And one angel & one demon, friends over the millennia, decide that maybe we don’t need the end of days to happen – but they’ve gotta find the kid first. Hijinks ensue. The world, such as it is, goes on. The […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Literature • Tags: Angels, Apocalypse, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Death, Demons, etc, Fantasy, Fiction, Good Omens, Humor, Literature, Magic, Neil Gaiman, Re-Reads, Religion, Reviews, Terry Pratchett, Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, The Devil, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, Witches

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Raging Biblio-holism

The overwhelming urge to collect, consume, and consider books

Tag: Humor

The Shepherd’s Crown

A Night in the Lonesome October

Helen & Troy’s Epic Road Quest

The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Lost for Words

Look Who’s Back

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

The Model Millionaire

Good Omens