Multi Media Books

[Adaleine Shuster]

I just finished YOLO Juliet, which is essentially a Romeo & Juliet retelling told in text messages. I am generally a huge fan of multi media books, as I find them much more fun to read, as well as easier to finish. The fun format of YOLO Juliet reminded me of some other multi media books that I've read and enjoyed. The first one that came to mind was Illuminae, which is told through diary entries, emails, images, etc. The next book that I thought of was Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, which I've yet to read, but I hear features some multi media aspects. From what I can tell, it is told primarily through text with some added bits such as entries, bill pictures, and music playlists.

What are your feelings on books told through things other than text? Are there any great books that come to mind?

[Emily Spencer]

I rather enjoy the multi-media format. At first, it felt a bit awkward, but once I got into the story, I really liked it. Granted, I've only read one, The Silent History by Eli Horowitz. Through Field Reports and Testimonies, the book tells the story of the Silents, a group of children born without speech or the ability to comprehend spoken language. It's dystopian science-fiction, with enough hint of supernatural to keep it really interesting.

As I said, I really enjoyed the format and will definitely be open to exploring more like this in the future. In fact, I am looking forward to starting The New World (another collaboration of Horowitz) soon. It's also dystopian in nature (Okay, I think I've found a trend in my reading habits here), so I am pretty sure I'll like it.

[Amy Darvill]

In trying to think of an answer to this, I've realized I've read much more journal/letter style novels then truly multimedia. The closest I came to was "Alison Hewitt is Trapped" where the Main Character is writing a blog account of her survival in a zombie apocalypse. At the end of the chapters (blog posts), there are comments from other people. One interesting thing is that the commenters actually disappear as the story progresses and their situation is worsening. Some say goodbye but some just disappear. There's also a semi-historical account at the end. So I think it's multimedia lite?

Regardless, I did enjoy the book and would love to read more in that style. I've been meaning to read World War Z which I believe is written in a similar manner.