Thursday, April 30, 2015

Archie Archives Volume 5, 223 pages

It's kind of disturbing to see the very early days of Archie, the characters are similar but different enough to be off-putting at times.

After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn, 304 pages

This was a fantastic book. Imagine growing up the child of two superheroes, but with no powers of your own. Basically going through life as Hostage Girl, living in the shadows of  your parents. To what lengths would you go to get your own life?
This was a great take on the superhero genre, very well-written and intriguing. I finished it in less than a day, couldn't put it down.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Archie Archives Volume 4, 227 pages

I was very glad to have something light-hearted and humorous to read after my last book.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, 218 pages

My kids had raved about this book and I had heard many other people talk about how amazing it was, so I finally picked it up. WORST BOOK EVER! Not because it was badly written, or anything like that, but because it totally pulled me in and then gut-punched me at the very end. I'm not going to go into plot details in case anyone else hasn't read it, but this is a book I won't soon forget.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

World War Moo by Michael Logan, 309 pages

The zombie apocalypse started by cows, what's not to enjoy.

Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn, 231 pages

Read because of Night Owl Reviews, I enjoyed it. I'm thinking about picking the other mysteries by this author.

Old School by Tobias Wolff, 195 pages

A read because of Readers Without Borders book club. 1960s boys boarding school, meant to be intellectual, not my favorite read.

Archie Archives Volume 3, 229 pages

Some of the issues from the early 40s were a little racist.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Beauty by Kerascoet and Hubert, 150 pages

This was a very interesting graphic novel. Beauty as a curse and a weapon.

The Rocky Horror Treasury by Sal Piro and Larry Viezel, 48 pages

A look at one of the movie that stands as the top cult movie of all times. I loved the little musical song clips buttons on the side. I hadn't realized that Tim Curry played Dr. Frank-n-Furter in the original play production.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Esther Royal Beauty by Angela Hunt, 348 pages

A new look at an old Bible story. The author did a great job of bringing the story alive, using researched historical details. An interesting aspect is that the story is told from the perspective of "Esther" and a palace eunuch.

And So It Goes Volume 2 by Dan Trogdon, 128 pages

Another collection of cartoons by a local author. They were pretty funny.

And So It Goes by Dan Trogdon, 128 pages

This was an author at JPL's latest local authors book signing. His book is cartoons that remind me of Far Side. I really got a kick out of them.

The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood, 192 pages

I may have to slow down on these books, otherwise I'm going to finish them all and then have to wait for the author to write new ones.

Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood, 164 pages

My new favorite obsession.

Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood, 151 pages

Another fabulous entry in a great series. This is one of those odd occurrences, where the television show is just as good as the books.

Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood, 156 pages

I'm totally hooked on these books. I love the writing (the costume descriptions make me drool), the characters are fantastic, the dialogue is witty, and the plots are wonderful. I love discovering a series after there are several written, gives me lots to look forward too.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Beasts of Burden Animal Rites by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson, 182 pages

A graphic novel for my Comics and Cocktails book club. This was dark and humorous, well written and drawn. A great read, all in all.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Prudence, The Custard Protocol by Gail Carriger, 357 pages

A fun continuation of the steampunk Regency romance series started with Soulless. It's interesting to see the children grownup and having their own adventures.

Friday, April 10, 2015

A King's Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman, 694 pages

I got a chance to review this for Night Owl Reviews and jumped at it. I loved anything that covers English history, and had read the first book by this author covering King Richard the Lionheart up to him finishing the Crusades. This was an outstanding book, very well-researched, with characters that were brought alive on the pages.

Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg, 226 pages

Texts between literary characters, I enjoyed the Hamlet ones but the others were just eh, okay.

Death of a Liar by M.C. Beaton, 261 pages

Another solid entry in the Hamish Macbeth series. I always enjoy Beaton's books, she writes a funny, solid mystery every time.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Comics by Bob Montana, 301 pages

I hadn't realized that Archie ran in the newspapers ever day starting in the 50s.

Archie Archives Volume 2, 226 pages

This collects the Archie comic books from the very earliest appearances. Jughead looks like a gangster from the early movies and Betty and Veronica are drawn like pin up girls. It's interesting to see how the artwork has changed.

The Wilde Album by Merlin Holland, 192 pages

This looks at Oscar Wilde's life through photos. He was a fascinating man, and a pretty much a self-promoted celebrity, almost a Kardashian but with talent and a better fashion sense.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

One for the Books by Joe Queenan, 244 pages

This is a basically a love letter to books, explaining one person's obsession with books. Joe Queenan is a much more high-falutin' reader than I am, but no less of a voracious reader. I especially agree with his thought on how much of our love affairs with reading and books are tied up in the physicality of books, it's not the same with a Kindle. I myself have books that I have more than one copy of because of where I got it, or what I was doing when I read it, or the appearance of the book itself. I've referred to a copy of a book as "my reading copy" when talking about multiple copies. I do have to disagree with his dislike of libraries or borrowing books. I realize he's an author and depends on royalties from books sales, but considering I read 300+ books a year generally, I can't afford to buy all the books I read. I also thought the author should have cut about 44 pages or so from the book because anything over 200 pages is fluff (inside joke.)
Because I found myself nodding and agreeing in some sections, and getting upset and almost vocally disagreeing in other sections, I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who considers themselves a bookaholic. I would start a support group but it would cut into my reading time.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The King's Marauder by Dewey Lambdin, 355 pages

My husband is a big fan of the Dewey Lambdin books and we were lucky enough to get to meet him a few years ago. So when I had a chance to review one of his books I took it. I've only read his first book so I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy reading book 20, but there was enough background given so I didn't feel completely lost. These are good solid reads, with lots of historical detail mixed with humor and adventure.

Murder and the First Lady by Elliott Roosevelt, 227 pages

A murder mystery featuring Eleanor Roosevelt written by her son? I was fascinated to discover this series. The first one was well done and I didn't see the ending until pretty much the last chapter. I'm definitely planning on picking up the next one in the series to see if I enjoy it as much as the first.