Friday, March 30, 2018

Comic Mash Up Review - Superman & Lumberjanes

In the past year or so I've made an effort to read more comics. I've always been worried about starting in the wrong place with comics. Recently though I've talked to a friend who is a avid comic reader. They suggested to just pick a spot and go. So that's what I've done and they also suggested to try the DC Rebirth Series. So I've done that too. Because my reviews are often short for these, I've combined a few. Look out for more comic mashups soon! 

Superman, Volume 3: Multiplicity

Lumberjanes, Vol. 6: Sink or Swim


Superman Vol. 3 - Multiplicity (DC Rebirth)
by Peter J. Tomasi (Writer), Patrick Gleason (Writer, Artist)
Trade Paperback: 144 pgs
Published: August 2017
DC Comics 

Rating: 3/5

An enjoyable installment in this series. Personally, I liked the issues within this volume about Superman's inner struggle and the ones about his son's adventures. There were issues within the volume about the Multiverse that I didn't find as interesting and no matter how many times I come across the Multiverse I find it confusing. It also interrupted the overall arc of this series in my opinion. I'd rather focus on Clark and his son's struggles and how they parallel one another. 


Lumberjanes Vol. 6
by Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson (Creator), Kat Leyh, Grace Ellis (Creator), Carey Pietsch (Illustrations), Maarta Laiho (Colorist), Brooke A. Allen
Ebook Trade - 112pgs
Published: April 2017
BOOM! Box
Add it / Buy it

Rating: 3.5/5 


After a disappointing volume five I hoped this would blow me out of the water. Unfortunately, though we are once again focused on the mysterious lake, the girls are mediating someone else's problem once again. The sheer number of misunderstandings between the last volume and this one started to wear on me. Everything was a little bit better, but I still want more from this series

Thursday, March 29, 2018

March Wrap Up (pt 1/2)

This month I read quite a lot of stuff I read novels and graphic novels. I borrowed a lot of books from my library and didn’t read much off my own shelves. I was really stuck on romance books this month like I have been for the past few months. Hopefully next month I’ll read more from my TBR shelf.


Reviews:

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Waiting on Wednesday (April Edition)



Dread Nation (Dread Nation, #1)
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature originally created by Breaking the Spine. It has since evolved into Can't-Wait Wednesday and is hosted by Wishful Endings


Today I wanted to talk about the releases I am anxiously waiting for in April! Though I've been trying to keep my preorders to a minimum, these two books have been on my radar for a while. I'll be watching to see what others think of them before I pick them up. I hope the reviews are positive!

 Description:
Suitors and SabotageJane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

Why I'm Excited: This is a diverse alternate history of the American Civil War. I'm super excited to check it out. All reports have been positive and so many people have been talking about it. Justina has an amazing twitter presence and I'm always finding new authors, books, and stories on her site. It also has zombies. 

Description:
Shy aspiring artist Imogene Chively has just had a successful Season in London, complete with a suitor of her father's approval. Imogene is ambivalent about the young gentleman until he comes to visit her at the Chively estate with his younger brother in tow. When her interest is piqued, however, it is for the wrong brother.

Charming Ben Steeple has a secret: despite being an architectural apprentice, he has no drawing aptitude. When Imogene offers to teach him, Ben is soon smitten by the young lady he considers his brother's intended.

But hiding their true feelings becomes the least of their problems when, after a series of "accidents," it becomes apparent that someone means Ben harm. And as their affection for each other grows—despite their efforts to remain just friends—so does the danger. 

Why I'm Excited: I've wanted to read one of Anstey's books for ages. Her covers are always beautiful and the concepts always appeal to me. Hopefully I can pick up at least one, if not this one, in the near future.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday - Books That Take Place In Another Country

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out her site for future topics.

Phew! This week I had a difficult time picking ten book. Whenever I do lists like this I realize how much fiction I read that is set in America and how much fantasy I read. I tried not to pick any high fantasy worlds this week. Instead I focused on books set in real places for the most part. If you have any suggestions for books set outside the US that aren't fantasy, let me know!

Middle East/Asia


Pride of Baghdad Fruits Basket Collector's Edition, Vol. 1 Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)

Europe/UK


 Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin, #3) Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1) Outlander (Outlander, #1) 
The Magpie Lord (A Charm of Magpies, #1) The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Guide, #1)

Elsewhere: 

Zita the Spacegirl (Zita the Spacegirl, #1) The Martian 

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Library Haul (March)

Once again I've visited the library and I think I've been a little over ambitious. I browsed the graphic novel and manga sections. I actually found quite a few titles I've been anxious to read so it was hard to leave without them. Hopefully, since they will all be quick reads, I'll make good progress and read most of them before I need to return them. Wish me luck!


Friday, March 23, 2018

Comic Mashup Review - Lumberjanes & Paper Girls






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In the past year or so I've made an effort to read more comics. I've always been worried about starting in the wrong place with comics. Recently though I've talked to a friend who is a avid comic reader. They suggested to just pick a spot and go. So that's what I've done and they also suggested to try the DC Rebirth Series. So I've done that too. Because my reviews are often short for these, I've combined a few. Look out for more comic mashups soon! 

Lumberjanes Vol. 5: Band Together
by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Carolyn Nowak (Illustrations), Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen (Illustrator)
Ebook Trade - 112pgs
Published: December 2016
BOOM! Box

Rating: 3.5/5 

Thus far this has been my least favorite of the Lumberjanes volumes. The plot line of this story didn't appeal to me as much. As always the core group of campers are funny and jump into the adventure. Though April's character development was really well done, this volume was less focused on the entire group of girls which wasn't as interesting to me. The artwork wasn't quite as good as the other volumes have been either. Overall this volume wasn't as good as what I've come to expect.
Even so, I will always recommend this series because it is fun, exciting, and full of adventure. 


Paper Girls Vol. 1
by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang (Illustrator), Matthew Wilson (Illustrator)
Ebook Trade - 144pgs
Published: April 2016
Image Comics
Add it // Buy it 

Rating: 4.5/5

After hearing this series described as Stranger Things meets Saga, I was intrigued and excited to check it out. I haven't found a better way to describe it either. I loved this. I was glued to each page of this graphic novel. The girls have a great dynamic and I am really excited to check out more volumes of this series. The art style is vibrant and it really pops. Though the storyline is a little confusing, I expect that was part of the point. The girls are confused and travel through time. They don't always understand exactly what is happening. At least I understood all the references from the 80's and today! Very fun and fast paced.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

T5W - Favorite SFF in Other Media - Booktube SFF Award Crossover

This week on Top Five Wednesday the topic turned out differently than I was expecting. Personally, I thought it was going to be really difficult to find favorite SFF things outside of books to recommend It turned out to be more difficult to narrow things down once I discovered a large portion of my favorite things in other media are SFF anyway.





Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday - Books On My Spring TBR

Here we are again! Every season I make a list of books that I hope I'll read soon. It doesn't usually work out, but I keep trying! I looked back at my Spring TBR from 2016 (I didn't have one last year) and there were a few I still haven't read. I excluded one book, Lady Midnight, because I'm working on rereading TMI Series before I pick that up. I've included the three I haven't read at the top of this TBR in hopes I can prioritize those. The rest are books I'm excited about and hope I can read this spring. Let me know if you have a TBR for the Spring and if you can stick to TBRs or if you struggle like I do.


A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2) All the Light We Cannot See


Uprooted The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy, #1) Imprudence (The Custard Protocol #2) A Thousand Nights (A Thousand Nights, #1) 

Tempests and Slaughter (The Numair Chronicles, #1) Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics, #2) Sweet Evil (Sweet, #1) 

Friday, March 16, 2018

Review - Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs



Spider Bones (Temperance Brennan, #13)
Series: Temperance Brennan #13
Genre: Mystery
Age Group: Adult
Source: Purchased used
Hardcover: 306 pgs
Scribner (2010)
Add it // Buy it

Rating: 3/5

John Lowery was declared dead in 1968—the victim of a Huey crash in Vietnam, his body buried long ago in North Carolina. Four decades later, Temperance Brennan is called to the scene of a drowning in Hemmingford, Quebec. The victim appears to have died while in the midst of a bizarre sexual practice. The corpse is later identified as John Lowery. But how could Lowery have died twice, and how did an American soldier end up in Canada?



Tempe sets off for the answer, exhuming Lowery’s grave in North Carolina and taking the remains to Hawaii for reanalysis—to the headquarters of JPAC, the U.S. military’s Joint POW/ MIA Accounting Command, which strives to recover Americans who have died in past conflicts. In Hawaii, Tempe is joined by her colleague and ex-lover Detective Andrew Ryan (how “ex” is he?) and by her daughter, who is recovering from her own tragic loss. Soon another set of remains is located, with Lowery’s dog tags tangled among them. Three bodies—all identified as Lowery.

And then Tempe is contacted by Hadley Perry, Honolulu’s flamboyant medical examiner, who needs help identifying the remains of an adolescent boy found offshore. Was he the victim of a shark attack? Or something much more sinister?


It has been a few years since I read a Temperance Brennan novel. It surprised me just how long it has been. I was a big fan of the show based on these books, and I think the show ending spurred me onto picking up this book. I've missed the murder mystery aspect even though the characters are very very different from the ones I know and love on Bones.

To me the focus of this book on POW and MIA soldiers was fascinating.  Knowing JPAC, the organization that helps recover these soldiers for their families, was real connected me to the story in a way I wasn't expecting. In the middle of reading I looked up this organization and looked at the numbers of still missing soldiers. It made me rather emotional about their work and those sections of the book. The mystery wasn't the strongest one in Reich's arsenal, but I couldn't pin it down and figure it out either.

Though I found the mystery and forensic anthropology aspects of these novels intriguing, the characters seem to spin their wheels. Katy, Brennan's daughter, is in the same position as she was several books ago. Tempe seems to be stuck since her marriage fell apart. Ryan is in and out because things with Tempe have gone bad, but he still works the cases. I'm just unimpressed with the character development over the books. I'd like some growth and change. Hopefully this holding pattern will break in the next few books!

Hopefully I'll check out the next book in a more timely fashion. Three years was too long. 

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Top Books on my TBR

Though I am excited about a lot of the books on my TBR, there are ones right at the top of the list even if they aren't the ones I've had the longest. These are just a few of the books I'm really excited to read, in theory, and hoping to get to soon. It doesn't mean that I will get to them tomorrow though. In fact, the way my book moods have been lately I'll be surprised if I pick up anything other than romance for a long time. I've been on quite the romance/paranormal kick.


Sunday, March 11, 2018

February Book Haul

This month I picked up quite a few books! I didn't mean to pick up so many, but the universe worked against me (or for me) and there were a lot of sales going on. I'm very excited about these new books and I'm hoping to read them soon. Of course, I always say that. This group though had some very exciting new releases and books I've been excited for a long time.


Friday, March 9, 2018

Review - Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson


Rebel Mechanics
Series: Rebel Mechanics #1 
Genre: Alternate History/Urban Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adult
Paperback: 320 pgs
Published: Square Fish 
2016 

Rating: 4/5

A sixteen-year-old governess becomes a spy in this alternative U.S. history where the British control with magic and the colonists rebel by inventing.


It’s 1888, and sixteen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family—but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister—but it seems like the children's young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family’s life. She soon realizes she’s uniquely positioned to advance the cause—but to do so, she’ll have to reveal her own dangerous secret. 


Recently I feel like I'm using the word delightful to describe all the books I've been reading. However, I don't think I can use anything else to describe Rebel Mechanics. I loved this first book in this series and I'm so glad I took the plunge and picked this up.

Verity is a feisty character who I really enjoyed following through her adventures in this first book. She does what she thinks is right even though she knows she is risking her job. I like how she is unique and integral to the rebellion, but she isn't a "chosen one." Even though she can be a bit naïve about her new surroundings, Verity is smart and quick to figure out problems. She uses her knowledge and her skills to help her though. I love her as our main character and her journey through this book was fun to follow.

There are several threads of romance in this book as well, but none of them are the main focus of the novel. Romance takes a backseat to revolution and activism for the most part. The writing might be the weakest part of the novel. It is a tad immature even for a young adult novel and I’m hoping things will improve in the next two books. I’m very excited to see where the story goes in the future and how the author balances the plot and the romance.

Overall this was a strong start. Even though there are some parts that follow tropes and are predictable, it is very enjoyable and fun to read. I’m completely engaged and ready to read the next book. (Good thing I’ve already picked it up, huh?)

Thursday, March 8, 2018

February Wrap Ups

February was a rough month for me so I'm glad to say it is over and move on! I had planned to post my first wrap up in the middle of the month, but it didn't work out that way. So they both went up this week. The first is a traditional wrap up. The second part of my wrap up is the reading vlog I made for the month. I hope you enjoy the vlogs. With my surgery in the middle of the month, things got a little messed up so I hope it still makes sense.




Friday, March 2, 2018

Prudence by Gail Carriger


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Series: Custard Protocol #1 
Genre: Historical Paranormal Fiction
Age Group: Young Adult
Paperback- 357 pgs
Orbit - March 2017 

Rating: 4/5

When Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama (Rue to her friends) is given an unexpected dirigible, she does what any sensible female would under similar circumstances - names it the Spotted Custard and floats to India in pursuit of the perfect cup of tea. But India has more than just tea on offer. Rue stumbles upon a plot involving local dissidents, a kidnapped brigadier's wife, and some awfully familiar Scottish werewolves. Faced with a dire crisis and an embarrassing lack of bloomers, what else is a young lady of good breeding to do but turn metanatural and find out everyone's secrets, even thousand-year-old fuzzy ones?

Once again Gail Carriger kicks of a delightful series with a delightful set of characters and adventures. In this first book we follow the next generation as we pass the torch from Alexia to her daughter. International travel is once again on the table as Prudence takes on India and the perils of travel. Prudence is a little more reckless than her mother (I know I was surprised too) and she takes on the world in a whirlwind fashion. There is a lot going on, but it happens at a leisurely pace for the most part.

One of the things I like best about Carriger's series is her ability to integrate real history and her paranormal elements. India and Britain had a difficult relationship to begin with, but Carriger adds her own flavor to things. We also see some of the results of the bargains from the end of the Parasol Protectorate Series sixteen years down the line. The continuation and consistency is excellent. I really enjoyed the small glimpses of the old guard, but we never dwelled on them and jumped into the new story very quickly.

I imagine there are Easter Eggs in this story for the careful reader, but I am still trying to puzzle them out. I read this book in chunks that were spaced very far apart so in my mind the start of the story is a little fuzzy. I would have liked a little more clarity in regards to the resolution though in honesty I don't know if my confusion was because my gaps in reading or the author's text. Even so, the whole thing is delightful, entertaining, and fun. I can't wait to read volume two.