My career as a committed pleasure reader (are ranks are low but loyal) began as an eight year old. My pursuit of books continued and even grew through middle school and high school. Yet sadly, I was forced into remission as a college student. As each term break and summer arrived though, I would excitedly read as much as I could, all until classes resumed. Now, after graduating, I finally can rejoin the ranks of full-time pleasure readers.
Perusing Barnes and Noble around my last exam, I saw an over-sized novel on one of their 'new and notable' tables. With the requisite 'New York Times Bestseller' label (which seems to have been victimized by a sort of inflation). My interest was piqued.
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, by Reif Larsen is a fun, fast-paced and wholly engaging novel with illustrations and social commentary to boot. Without giving anything away, the titular protagonist is a 12 year old who translates his expansive perceptions of science, data and life into 'maps'. T.S.'s maps though aren't ordinary two-dimensional simplifications. They are artistic renderings of empirical evidence of the widest variety. An example below, T.S.'s bedroom, animated:
In addition to the beautiful illustrations and splendid protagonist, TSS(the book and boy) engage the reader in conversations of family, age, occupation and life, in general. Here is the Amazon link, and interview with the author,
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