These are two of the more random books I’ve been reading recently but they seem to go together well enough, at least in my head. And it’s always a bonus for me when things make sense in my head.
Shoplifter by Michael Cho was a bit of a disappointment. There’s not a great deal of story. The main character is unhappy with her job and romantic life (join the club) and occasionally shoplifts from a local convenience store. I did like the resolution but it was the art that really stood out to me. Specifically the cityscapes and the visions of the crowded city and too close buildings. There was just something in that which really brought home an almost claustrophobic within her life feeling of the main character so on that level it succeeded.
Fairy tale characters find success on-line but also think they’re failures when updates and new profile pictures don’t get an appropriate amount of likes.
I had to read Alice in tumblr-Land by Tim Manly the minute I heard it existed. This is an illustrated book and the stories are broken down into a page here a page and a half there but they all conclude in the end. It’s not a kid’s book. It was a fun little read but it was more like the original fairy tales updated for the digital age. There’s dating issues, politics, eating disorders, a depressed Sleeping Beauty and a gender transitioning heroine…
There’s not much new but it’s a fun read and if you’ve ever been sucked into either fairy tales or the on-line world you’ll understand it.
Recommend: Shoplifter for the art. Alice in Tumblrland if you like you’re fairy tales with a modern twist.