Oct.16, 2009

I finished a book last night:
Dry Storeroom # 1: the secret life of the Natural History Museum, by Richard A. Fortey, 2008.
     Non-fiction. This book is about the British Museum of Natural History, apparently now correctly known as the Natural History Museum. The author is a long-time (and recently retired) staff member who specialized in trilobites. I've always loved museums and the idea of collections (especially natural history collections) in general. Although I've never been to the Natural History Museum, I've always had an interest, so this book got my attention.
     The book is an amalgamation of anecdotes, profiles of present (and mostly, past) personalities from the museum, and discussions of the collections owned by the museum. It is interesting, although a bit unfocused. The author occasionally seems to feel the need to stop down and try and convince the reader of the importance of museums and collections, and the taxonomy derived from these specimens. This often seems a little forced, and I think is probably wasted on the mostly already converted readers for this book. I just can't see someone who thinks natural history and museums are pointless ever picking this book up to begin with.
     Well, I enjoyed the book overall. Of course, I love the subject matter, so bear that in mind. I'd rate this a 3.
I also read a few Graphic Novel collections over the last two days:
The Umbrella Academy: Vol.1-Apocalypse suite, by Gerard Way. You might know this guy as he is from the band My Chemical Romance. Very cool concept, nice art, and an interesting story. An undercover alien gathers a group of superpowered orphans and they save the world. Very well done, lots of twists and turns. I'd recommend you give this a try- I enjoyed it alot. Rating= 4.  
Green Arrow: The Sounds of Violence; Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest, and Green Arrow: Straight Shooter. I've never been a huge fan of Green Arrow, but the Keven Smith written re-make was well done, just as his reworking of Daredevil was previously. I'd rate these all a 3.
Superman / Batman : Vengeance.
A weird story involving alternate timelines. The art was good, and portions of the story were well done. Unfortunately, the story involved Bizarro (and Batzarro...dohh), as well as Mr. MXYZPTLK. Nothing gives me more tired-head than these characters. I think Jeph Loeb is normally great, but I got worn out trying to wade through this. Previous books in the series were great; this one I give a 2.