I Cans Read: Book Reviews 6/08/09

This is the first ever edition of "I Cans Read" on this blog. Woot!

In these features, I shall talk about books I've read somewhat recently. I like reading fiction, and my favorite kind are those with a humorous or interesting slant on life. I'm also really into mysteries. I'm not too big on fantasy books. I love a good science fiction book, but books taking dragons, goblins, trolls, and wizards so seriously just isn't my cup of tea. A fantasy book with some humor in it would be interesting though. I just think the majority are just too serious for their own good.

I went to Barnes and Noble to empty these gift cards I've had for an embarassing length of time. My friend Brittany was working there and I asked her to recommend me something. So she shoved this book in my hand.


Good Omens : The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch was a really great read. If you liked The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or any of Douglas Adams' other books, then you'll absolutely love this one. It has great British humour about it. The book is pretty much about the end of the world as we know it (I know that song just popped in your head. It's okay). However, someone misplaced the Anti-Christ, who is an 11 year old named Adam, who was raised by a normal loving family. Unfortunately, the boy he was switched with got the Satanist family. To make it worse, both heaven and hell want the apocalypse to happen. Caught in the middle of all this an angel and a demon who team up to save the world. The angel does so because he likes books too much, the demon because he likes cars too much. Then they find a book of prophecies by a witch named Agnes Nutter which details the whole book. Anyways, it's a funny book and a good read.



The Pleasure of My Company - Steve Martin

This was also a good read, and it was very witty. I mean you look at Steve Martin's recent movies and you don't really think he's the funniest guy anymore. His last great movie in my opinion was Bowfinger. Steve Martin, the Writer, is clever, witty, funny, and just really eloquent. The book is basically about an OCD man who barely gets out of the house eventually trying to become a better person to impress a girl. It's a basic story, but the glimpses we get into the main character's thought process, his difficulty with his OCD and women, obsessions over little details, and his witty narration make it very interesting. Steve Martin also wrote an autobiographical book about his years in stand up. I think I'm going to pick that one up sometime because it sounded pretty interesting.



The Boy Detective Fails - Joe Meno

The greatest boy detective this side of Encyclopedia Brown goes off to college. Shortly after, his beloved sister and partner in fighting crime commits suicide. He's devastated and is admitted to a mental institution. Ten years later he moves out into a halfway house with some of his old nemeses, takes a telemarketer job, takes meds, gets a crush on a pretty pickpocket, and tries to move on with life. He befriends two neighborhood kids who want him to find out who killed their pet. Soon he starts feeling the thrill of investigating again and starts finding clues to his sister's death. Why did she kill herself? It's the only mystery the boy detective is afraid to face. This was a pretty original book. I liked it. I could imagine it taking place in the same world as Pushing Daisies or any other whimsical place. The mystery in it was pretty good too. It seemed to drag down a few times in it but it would get back on track fairly quick. Overall a good book that talks about why we lose that spark we had when we were children, how we always try to reason and make sense of a world of chaos, and getting through grief and the things we can't let go of.