Lucas Blogs About Books

It's a drum head, just like on Star Trek: The Next Generation . That's right, I decided that since my birthday is this week, I don't have to do a full post. Is it really an OOPS if you decide to prepare it in advance? Sure, it still involves deploying the inOpportune cOntent rePlacement proceSs. You just like bad acronyms. Yes, I do. I also like Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea . So you're not even going to attempt a natural segue? Nope. Although, speaking of natural segue, this album's chock full of 'em. Most of the tracks blend seamlessly together with only a few moments of silence on the entire record. Notably separating off the title track from the songs around it. Hmm, the lead singer's voice is an acquired taste, I take it? Yeah, but if the vocals were more polished I don't think the album would work as well as it does. It's clearly in the lo-fi genre, and Jeff Mangum's ...

Drunken monkeys? Tell me more. So, what's this book's deal? Well, do you remember Robert Evans from cracked.com ? He's the guy who did stuff like go into active war zones to talk to people about their experiences ? Yes, yes he did. He's not with Cracked anymore, but when he was he wrote a book called A Brief History of Vice: How Bad Behavior Built Civilization. How would you describe the genre? Oh, um, I guess this is loosely, a popular science book, although it does also have a lot of stuff about history and sociology, so maybe it's more of a hodgepodge. It's maybe more of a collection of essays exploring various things that are considered vices in modern society: drugs, prostitution, and being an asshole. It doesn't necessarily advocate for or against any of those things, Evans is more interested in exploring the ways in which these behaviors (and society's reaction to them) has shaped our modern world. He also includes instructions fo...

You're a witch, Agott! So, what's this book's de—oh, you're onto the second volume of this manga already? Yep! That's right, this is Volume 2 of Kamome Shirahama's fantasy manga, Witch Hat Atelier . There will of course be some SPOILERS  for Volume 1, so consider yourself warned. Proceed. So, at the end of the last volume, Coco and her fellow witch apprentices, Agott, Richeh, and Tetia, found themselves transported into a labyrinth stalked by a fearsome dragon. Fortunately, they're able to use their wits and personality quirks to come up with a spell to tame the beast. Meanwhile, their master, Quifrey, is trying to figure out what caused them to disappear in the first place. Could it have anything to do with that the witch in the fringed cap who shows up from time to time ominously talking to himself? Your guess is as good as mine (J/K it totally has something to do with that guy). Anyway, once everyone's safely back to the atelier, they f...

Hmm, more information about corvid migratory patterns than I had anticipated. Happy 13th of the month, readers (both hypothetical and otherwise)! You know what that means: it's time for me to revisit another entry in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events! Sticking with that intro? Yes. All right. SPOILERS  ahoy! Do you wanna talk about Daniel Handler some more ? No. I mean, I'm still somewhat incredulous that he could be that lacking in self-awareness. But at least he has acknowledged that his behavior was inappropriate and hopefully in the future he'll endeavor to be less of a jackass. Anyway, we're here to talk about. . . Book the Seventh – The Vile Village So what did you remember about this book before re-reading it? So I don't remember a lot of plot particulars, but I do remember that Olaf disguises himself as a private eye who has apprehended Count Olaf. Is this "Count Olaf" actually someone else in a transparent ...

I'm certainly not holding this book in front of my face to hide the tears streaming down my cheeks! What would give you such a ridiculous idea? So, what's this book's de—Oh for cryin' ou— That's right!  It made me cry!   We talked about its author's merits—and demerits!  It's also one of my favorite books of all time. I just finished re-reading East of Eden  by John Steinbeck. The deal is exceedingly simple to explain: it's a genuine, goddamn masterpiece of Modernist and Naturalist prose exploring such topics as the American Dream, the Old Testament, racism, mental health, good, evil, family dynamics, war, peace, moral obligation, how to start a Ford Model T, love, sex, betrayal— OH. MY. GOD! Stop, just stop! I can't be here for this. Sorry, I already started this as a Hypothetical Reader formatted post. The novel starts with a loving description of the Salinas Valley then quickly splits into two tracks that only rejoin hundreds of pages l...

Well, she is wearing a witch hat. So, what's this book's deal? Well, Witch Hat Atelier  is a manga about a young girl who discovers that she can do magic. Wait, isn't that like the plot of any "child discovers that they were secretly magical" story? Yes, but this time around, the twist is that Coco doesn't discover any special innate ability, the secret she uncovers is that anyone can do magic. See, the witches have been keeping the whole thing under wraps because they're worried that it might be dangerous or something. And how does Coco make this discovery? Well, she spies on a witch who fixes a pegasus drawn carriage in her family's dressmaking shop. Then later that evening, she practices drawing magic seals from a mysterious book that was given to her by a masked witch and accidentally turns her mother to stone. So. . . then the witches have a point about it being dangerous for everyone to know about magic. Yes. Yes, they do. Alth...