two more books...

i must be in a reading zone right now.

it may also be called "avoidance" but you know, let's just call it a reading zone.

i finished this week reading An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories editited by Ivan Brunetti. 4 Stars. this was a great collection. i had already read even more of these pieces than in the Best American Comics 2006 collection, and some of my favorites (Jeffrey Brown!) were happily collected here. i can't put my finger exactly on why this collection speaks to me a little more than the Best American collection, maybe because of the way in which it was organized...there was a fluidity to it in Anthology that i didn't feel in Best. Best just seemed to be a collection of great pieces, whereas Anthology feels more like a history of work - which makes sense i suppose since Best of has to be work from 2006 and Anthology can collect anything. i guess it is unfair to punish Best of for having limitations put on it, but i couldn't help enjoying the Anthology a little more. that said, they are both great books and i am happy to have read (and own) them both. again, i felt incredibly inspired to pick Shiksa back up again. however, that too could just be considered avoidance :)

i also read over the last two days Judy Fong Bates Midnight at the Dragon Cafe. it was quite good. i'm going to say 4 stars. i read her short story collection China Dog last year and enjoyed it even more than i had suspected and the same was also true here. she has a very easy way of writing that kind of sends you through the pages without even realizing it. and she also has a very fluid way of sneaking plot twists in on you. i was a third of the way through the book, finding it enjoyable but fairly predictable, when she threw a twist in there that really changed my whole perception of the novel. and not a cheesy out of nowhere twist, it just arrived very naturally, as life does. i really enjoyed it.