Chamber Four » reviews in haiku

reviews in haiku: January 2012

Sean Clark — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:00:42 +0000

We’ve been swamped lately, so January was a bit content-light. If you missed any of these reviews though, here’s their bite-sized samples.

Drinking Closer to Home

sprawling family tale

Great Read kicks off the new year

warm humour abounds

The Call

book about a vet

uncommon presentation

some great writing here

Live Free or Die

not a brain-buster

sometimes gets too housewife-y

but a pleasant read

Nocturnes

5blends King and Gaiman

ranging horror collection

stories spook, not scare

Robopocalypse

shallow, no diving

does what it sets out to do

like the title? read

The Big Sleep

hard-boiled sleuth book

seminal gumshoe novel

mystery fans: read

We The Animals

more a novella

love your family, and hate them

library check out

reviews in haiku: December 2011

Sean Clark — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:00:05 +0000

Happy New Year!

Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day

got a cool cover

many stories are quite good

too bad they’re the same

You Are Not So Smart

nonfiction Great Read

part psychology, part laughs

we are just machines

Damn Sure Right

book of flash fiction

lets you connect all the dots

look for Meg Pokrass

The Uninnocent

off the beaten path

dark humor is at work here

these stories are good

Wherever You Go

set in Israel

Jewish-American tale

lacks the needed spark

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories

pairs pictures with words

it is what it claims to be

small book, mini tales

420 Characters

stories from Facebook

could have used a good edit

art is the best part

The Darker Side

Catholic killers

kind of a Seven rip-off

fun diversion still

The Apothecary

who saw this coming

Maile Meloy goes for YA

strength can be weakness

reviews in haiku: November 2011

Sean Clark — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:00:18 +0000

2011 is almost over. Bring on the eggnog.

The Prague Cemetery

Eco is A-list

newest book, up to standard

deep as you can get

Bad Daughter

keeps you on your toes

sly, subversive poetry

potent themes at work

Low Town

fantasy thriller

concept better than result

fails to sync things up

He Took a Cab

don’t see this often

taxi driver poetry

smart and funny verse

Goliath

something doesn’t click

though all the pieces are there

lack something special

Love and Shame and Love

good ol’ family tale

multi-generational

very well crafted

reviews in haiku: October 2011

Sean Clark — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:00:44 +0000

Start dreaming about gorging yourself with turkey before the Halloween candy digests. Hooray for fall. Here’s one last bucket of fun-sized treats.

Super Mario

my dorkness on page

the history of a toy

insert toadstool joke

The Outlaw Album

cohesive linked themes

Woodrell a voice worth reading

strong set of stories

The Art of Fielding

such a hyped up book

but it’s just mediocre

starts strong then falls off

Jacob T. Marley

God-freak fare? Maybe

still, a decent Dickens clone

might be worth your time

Reamde

Stephenson’s new tome

holy dense novel, Batman

worth the time it takes

Show Up, Look Good

looks good indeedy

Holden Caufield parallels

love the cover art

Five Chiefs

Stevens’s memoir

let’s learn about Supreme Courts!

insightful stuff here

The Last Werewolf

despite all the hype

literary horror that’s good

rarer than you’d think

I Don’t Know the Author or the Title But It’s Red and It Has 3 Zombie Stories In It

good, solid stories

non-traditional zombies

uniqueness is good

The Iron Boys

robin hood, Luddites

turn of Industrial Age

dense novel Great Read

West By West

Hall of Famer and

the NBA logo guy’s

depression memoir

reviews in haiku: September 2011

Sean Clark — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:00:10 +0000

Welcome to autumn. Here’re some bite-sized reviews.

Ready Player One

big old dork opus

nerd stuff flows like Mountain Dew

but it’s not that great

Victory Chimp

chimpanzee blow jobs!

this book is really insane

audiobook rocks

Wildflower Hill

grandma’s boring farm

more like Forgettable Hill

story good, write bad

Jazz

excellent poems

space and time seemingly cease

topical and smart

The Book of Life

prose: simple, direct

longer than most short stories

great complexity

The Earth Chronicles Expeditions

Bible aliens?

paunchy Indiana Jones?

pretend it’s fiction

The Thin Man

great gumshoe noir

tons of style, also booze

Asta is the dog

The Keeper of Lost Causes

Danish crime novel

features hapless detective

Laarson wannabe

The Revisionists

muted time travel

just the right splash of sci-fi

excellent thriller

reviews in haiku: August 2011

Sean Clark — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:00:59 +0000

Just a week late, no big thang. Snuck in a secret haiku for you to make up for it all the same.

The Devil All The Time

“gloomy scum” in here

at least one character lives

Dave Duhr eats babies

The Night Train

best line of the month:

“You play this: do-do do-do…”

book: not great, not bad.

Hot, Shot, and Bothered

pretty weak sleuth fare

someone edit poor Nora

she does show promise

The Squirrel Machine

the art is quite good

Dave doesn’t eat any kids

before was a lie

Guadalajara

who is this author?

excellent set of stories

postmodernism primer

Jamrach’s Menagerie

almost a mash-up

very Beemonic review

can that be a word?

The Magician King

Fillory part 2

a sequel wasn’t needed

still, good adventure

A Death in Summer

solid mystery

by John Banville’s alias

literary fare

The Siege of Trencher’s Farm

this book really sucks

so little makes enough sense

would make a fine flick

Embassytown

Aliens, Language,

Mieville likes his ideas,

sacrifices plots

Stalin in Aruba

here are great poems

it’s brimming with dark humor

dancing skeletons

No Rest for the Dead

twenty-six authors

that’s a recipe for fail

but it came out win

Machine Man

began as a blog?

best sci-fi book of the year?

hands down a Great Read

We Others

a greatest hits plus

compiles new works with old

no excuse to skip

The Cape

based on young King’s yarn

not the lame NBC show

it’s fair; says a lot

reviews in haiku: July 2011

Sean Clark — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:00:26 +0000

Halfway through summer. Enjoy some haiku with your watermelon.

Flashback

cold case cop takes drugs

hacks and punches through the tale

memory cop, bam!

Leviathan Wakes

mostly grade-A stuff

politicized space opera

’tis a tad shallow

The End of Everything

little girl kidnapped

an inside out Lolita

well-constructed book

Dominance

solve crimes through charades?

I’m glad Nico reviewed this

I’d have killed myself

Fever: Little Willie John

grandaddy of soul

anyone heard of this guy?

died young and in jail

Supergods

comics are cool now

Superman: man’s greatest feat?

nonfiction action

The Map of Time

very clever plot

Victorian time travel

steampunk robot fights

Slow Fade

a good page turner

solid audiobook too

rock-and-roll type book

The Voyage of the Short Serpent

open is a slog

soon, plenty of gore and sin

old man’s debut book

Iron House

whoops, forgot the plot

House can’t support it’s own weight

Last Child it is not

Open-Eyed Sneeze

not being biased

superb self-published memoir

get it P.O.D.

reviews in haiku: June 2011

Sean Clark — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:00:56 +0000

First haiku of summer:

Retribution Falls

not original

swashbuckling space opera

still a good, fun read

The Extra 2%

AL East doormat

Tampa went from worst to first

Keri tells us how

See a Little Light

a Bob Mould bio

trail of rage and melody

A. Block gives thumbs up

Oil on Water

so much promise lost

what’s with the Waterworld stuff?

such a boring book

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

finely crafted tale

way back Pulitzer winner

what is life’s value?

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

hands down a Great Read

narratively a wonder

so much cool art too

They Could No Longer Contain Themselves

flash-fic chapbook set

accomplishes much with less

jab you with moments

The Wreckage

not a mystery

but a competent thriller

more hits than misses

Fun & Games

take it to the beach

pulp fiction by comic guy

a very fun read

Cambodia’s Curse

Sambath knows her stuff

Cambodia: a blessed place

let’s help the poor Khmers

Scattershot

odd couple road trip

great short story idea there

novel not so much

The Convert

slim, not too thorough

an atypical memoir

Convert sticks with you

Before I Go To Sleep

simple book, not good

a memory-loss thriller

hype unwarranted

reviews in haiku: May 2011

Sean Clark — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:00:22 +0000

Hooray for Memorial Day, hooray for June, hooray for haiku.

The Sisters Brothers

hell of a Great Read

Nico almost gave all tens

check out this trailer

Three Cups of Deceit

Jon Krakauer’s work

exposes Greg Mortenson

PS- Byliner

The Other Side

compelling stories

Finan has talent, craft lacks

watch for more from him

.
Us

six years to cross pond?

veggie-sitting braindead wife

Mike hearts adjectives

The Oracle of Stamboul

writing shows promise

magical flourishes were

too heavy-handed

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland

“criminally short”

Patton Oswalt is a troll:

funny one that writes

The Passage

the jury is in

all vampire novels suck

no exception here

21: The Story of Roberto Clemente

For Clemente fans

graphic novel’s a homerun

(Marcos bought a hat)

Behemoth

swashbuckling steampunk

who wouldn’t love flying whales?

set-up for book three

Irish Thoroughbred

Nora’s first romance

confusing creepy uncle

otherwise, bland sex

Pee on Water

debut story set

Glaser experiments here

and finds great success

You Think That’s Bad

well-written stories

a little too similar

lots of not talking

Salamandastron

long a Sean favorite

classic Redwall adventure

RIP, B. Jacques

Ablutions

deWitt review 2

Nico was not disappoint

addiction Great Read

Reviews in Haiku: April 2011

Sean Clark — Sun, 01 May 2011 22:30:41 +0000

Reviews for April books in snappy haiku. Happy May Day! (Don’t die.)

I’d Know You Anywhere

Lippman’s got some charm

doesn’t really serve this book

no Edgar for you!

Give Me Your Heart

a nice mix of tales

handles suspense expertly

Oates is prolific

The Tiger’s Wife

lives up to the hype

strong twenty under forty

all-around good book

The House That Ruth Built

not just Babe’s bio

tells one year in Yankee lore

McGraw steals the show

The Lock Artist

Nico did not like

but it stole the Edgar prize

suck it, Tana French

Townie

street fighting, boo yah!

of course it much more than that

memoir touches depths

Rabbit, Run

evokes On The Road

Updike has a way with words

no brainer Great Read

The Resurrectionist

sound little novel

gritty and atmospheric

the twist’s a let down

The Pale King

posthumous something

not a novel: artifact

bye D.F. Wallace

Moving Day

here’s a new Great Read

narrative poetry, woot!

Klein’s voice stands out strong

The Queen of Patpong

action scenes kick ass

not much else to talk about