The Poo Bomb by Vogel
It’s the slightly edited version of the first year of Irony Central’s Story About the Baby (I could only remember one thing that got dropped, but my favorite anecdotes are still there)– A little much to take in one sitting, but if you savor it, it’s excellent. Four stars for making me snort all over again about getting rid of his big pots.

Everything I Ate: A Year in the Life of My Mouth by Shaw
A compact little book, with glossy color pictures of everything Shaw ate, from meals to snacks, over the course of a year. This is a really neat book that FILLS ME WITH A JEALOUS RAGE! Tucker Shaw lives in New York City where every food fantasy you’ve ever had can be fulfilled, frequently also available late at night and/or as takeout. Four stars for making it really hard to take but hard to tear my eyes away.

Bad Cat by Edgar (Y)
Goofy cat photos with goofy captions. Not great. Local author. One star.

Working Fire by Unger
Autobiography on becoming a fire fighter. Very interesting, funny, and involving. Four stars for an engrossing read.

Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days by Vaughan et al
Graphic novel on a superhero who drops his masked avenger gig after realizing it’s not the best way to save the world, then runs for mayor of New York. Great characters, good political intrigue, great premise. I wish it had been longer to allow more plot development. Three stars for good political plotting.

World’s Worst: A Guide to the Most Disgusting, Hideous, Inept, and Dangerous People, Places, and Things on Earth by Frauenfelder (Y)
Is actually marketed for adults, but this is a great title for teens: interesting and very short chapters with eye-grabbing titles and horrific facts. Also, much higher quality than many similar titles: I found myself agreeing with many of the selections, finding out new things (very good, since I enjoy reading about the strange and odd, so I have heard of many such things before), and enjoying the supporting data. Four stars for excellent booktalk book.

Muzzlers, Guzzlers and Good Yeggs by Coleman
Biographicalish illustrated peek into the 1930 underworld. Like Carnivale, I could tell it was well-made, but I didn’t really get it. One star for cool illustrations.

The Burn Journals by Runyon (Y)
Autobiography of the year after Runyon set himself on fire in a suicide attempt at 15. It’s told in the voice of him at 15, very much not knowing why he did what he did. So raw it’s almost hard to read in spots, but well worth the discomfort. Four stars for a difficult read.

The Men Who Stare at Goats by Ronson
Like his previous (very enjoyable) book Them: Advenures with Extremists, Ronson takes you through his investigation of something that starts off seeming funny and offbeat (in this case, the US Army’s attempts to train soldiers to stop hearts at a distance by practicing on de-bleated goats) and ends up really spooky and thought-provoking (the fallout of secret programs with no oversight and no moral limits that can end up torturing people to death, even experimentally). Again, very good. Four stars for Ronson, and a hip, hip hooray for engaging investigation.

Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America by Almond
Fun and funny book, and I liked the research aspect a lot. The redemption at the end felt very tacked-on, but the book was otherwise well-structured. Almond’s editor needs to learn the difference between pallet, palate, and pallette. And how to spell agar agar. Four stars for making me go out to buy Abba-Zabba.

Little Green: Growing Up During the Chinese Cultural Revolution by Yu (Y)
Compact, descriptive, and emotional, everything a story in poetry should be. Doesn’t cover all of the background of the Cultural Revolution, but it is in poetry and told in the voice of the author from ages 2 to 10, so quite understandable. Three stars for poetry.