blairconrad's Reviews (1.12k)

Surprisingly good. I was a little put off by the search for *ahem* purgation early on, but the overall Okrent's style won me over.

Her chronological survey of invented languages was a fun trip - I enjoyed the breadth of languages covered, as well as the background discussion on their reasons for existing, the motivation and actions of their creators, and how and why they failed as languages.

Good pacing, about the right number of examples, and a varied-enough selection of languages and language styles to keep me eagerly reading. I especially enjoyed learning more about Klingon, something that I would've written off as a toy language, but as it turns out one that's had as much thought put into it as many so-called serious invented languages.

Recommended, if you've any interest in languages (invented or not).

Not as earth-shattering as the previous two, but still very good. I thought the story was slightly more fragmented, with the goings-on on Path, and with the multiple plot points on Lusitania. Still, I’ve become invested in the worlds and characters (especially Ender), and the hook at the end left me wanting more…

This is not a bad book. It gives a general overview of many episodes in the history of science. I just found the science too light and the history too shallow for my taste. I wouldn’t recommend anyone away from this, but couldn’t in good conscience mark it as “worth consuming” when I didn’t bother finishing it.

A gritty take on the "how Batman and Robin got together".
Fairly unpleasant, with Batman being more of a jerk than usual, and the rest of the Justice League nearly as unlikeable.

The visuals didn't do too much for me, either - everyone was a little too muscular (okay, not Superman), with the shirtless Joker having larger arms than suited Joker.

Only three things even came close to redeeming this work - Alfred (Alfred's just generally the best), something at the end, and the line "Care for a glass of lemonade?".

Disappointing. I realize the source material is about 80 years old, and possibly suffers in the translation from the original Belgish, but that's not enough to make me forgive the book. Tintin roams about, generally getting into mischief, surviving highly improbable situations and escaping via even more improbable means. Repeat 8 times or so, and you have the first part of the book - [b:The Adventures of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets|87424|The Adventures of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (Adventures of Tintin)|Hergé|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171103379s/87424.jpg|1826874]. The second part, [b:Tintin in the Congo|490775|Tintin in the Congo|Hergé|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Pzf5WrSTL._SL75_.jpg|1752679], was shorter. There was no rhyme or reason for any of the characters' actions - it was just a series of unplotted accidents, fistfights, kidnappings, escapes, and wearing-of-freshly-hollowed-out-animals.
Snowy was kind of cute at times, but not enough to save the book, in my opinion.

A touching book about a boy's neglect in a dysfunctional family, the loss of his voice, and the path he finds for himself.
Strong visuals and a moody drawing style add weight to the poignant true story.

The latest in the continuing installment of somewhat disappointing Runaways. The kids find themselves working for the Kingpin of Crime and end up sent to the past. The story seemed a little muddled to me, without a strong sense of direction. I've come to realize that, despite the series' strong beginning, I don't really care what happens.
Still, the artwork wasn't terrible, and there were a few funny Whedonesque lines. The best part was probably the cool and inventive 1907 wonders characters - they felt like something Kurt Busiek would make up. Too bad they were probably throwaways.

Oddly-paced, with a lot of not much happening for a good long time. And I'm not sure about the placement of the climax, either.
The characters didn't seem to be particularly well-developed - a little flat, really.
Still, the underlying mystery was pretty interesting, and there was something about the writing that kept me going, even if the prose was kind of plain.

So, not bad, but definitely not worth the fuss being made over it...

Pretty skippable, but I did like the humour in the Jabberwocky story, and the art was the most interesting of the batch.