Book Review: Because You Love to Hate Me

TITLE: Because You Love to Hate Me
AUTHOR: Various
PUBLISHED: July 11th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A bunch of popular YA authors write stories featuring villains based on prompts given to them by popular Booktubers.
MY REVIEW: If you're part of the YA community, you've likely heard about this one. There's a big stink (yes, another one!) being raised because apparently people don't like Booktubers getting involved with this for whatever reason. A majority of it being, they just don't like Booktubers. For those that don't know what Booktube is, it's basically the corner of Youtube where people just talk about the books they read. For more context: some people think Booktubers are too involved with publishers are lying to them for...reasons, I guess (no one seems to know what exactly they're lying to us about...), and so on and so forth.
Me...I watch Booktube, I won't lie. Including some of the people involved with this book. I...have issues with it (it's too YA focused, there needs to be more variety in the reviewers/books talked about, the way they handle issues within the community leaves a lot to be desired, there's too much snobbery towards certain things, etc. etc). But I also kind of can't help but notice the people complaining about Booktube don't have any actual evidence of any wrong doing in the community, it mostly just seems to be people who are salty their own Booktube channel didn't take off overnight or whatever. So yeah...I've got issues, but I also think this idea that they somehow are doing something bad....is a little ridiculous.
Now, onto the book itself. It was...okay. It's like most short story collections: some are better then others. Some, I think calling them villain stories is....stretching it  to say the least. But there are some really interesting ones in here. For me, the favorites were the ones by Renee Ahdieh, Cindy Pon, and Victoria Schwab. The rest were all a little meh for me. I think I honestly liked the concept of this book more then the actual book itself. Because I love the whole practice of just taking a prompt and running with it. It's always so interesting to see what authors come up with.
WHO SHOULD READ: YA fans, Retelling fans, Once Upon a Time fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

Book Review: Windfall

TITLE: Windfall
AUTHOR: Jennifer E. Smith
PUBLISHED: May 2nd, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Romance
PREMISE: A girl's life becomes complicated when her best friend/person she's in love with wins the lottery...
MY REVIEW: Full disclosure: I've never read any of Jennifer E. Smith's books before. I know she's pretty popular. Her Statistical Probability book is on like a ton of recommendation lists. So I have no real idea if this story is typical of her writing or not. This mostly came on my radar because apparently it's already been optioned for a movie.
Personally...it was just okay for me. It's a pretty typical contemporary romance. There's just an added commentary on how money doesn't solve all problems and whatnot. The writing was passable, the characters were okay. I didn't really think much of the romance, but it didn't tick me off. Basically...this book was just kind of there.
I can see this doing well as a cute romantic movie for February, which is what I imagine Hollywood has planned. If you're in the mood for a sweet romance, this will probably suit you. Me, I just kind of can't help but shrug at it.
WHO SHOULD READ: Jennifer E. Smith fans, Romance fans, Kasie West fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five cute romances but that's about it

Book Review: Strange the Dreamer

TITLE: Strange the Dreamer
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Laini Taylor
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: March 28th, 2017
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A librarian joins a quest to find a mysterious town called Weep...
MY REVIEW: I confess I'm not terribly sure how to go about reviewing this book. I can tell you for sure: I loved it. It's the best kind of absorbing fantasy. But it's rather unlike anything I've read so I can't really do my usual "if you like this and this, definitely pick it up" thing. All I can say for sure is, if you liked Taylor's Daughter of the Smoke and Bone trilogy, you'll love this.
The writing is beautiful. The characters are all interesting and the plot and setting are all very unusual. I will warn: it's very slow to start. I promise, the payoff is worth it.
This is one of my favorite books that I read this year. I admit, I had high expectations because I adored the first trilogy Taylor did. But, Taylor met all the expectations. Again, this is an unusual book, so I imagine it's not one that would be to everyone's taste, but it was to mine. I can't wait to read the next book. About the only issue with this I have is...I think it should be marketed and sold as adult fiction instead of YA, as a majority of the plot centers on Lazlo, who is an adult and it has adult themes. But I'm not in charge of these things, so what can you do?
WHO SHOULD READ: Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy fans, fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five unusual fantasy books

Notable Releases: 8/20-8/26

Here are this past week's notable releases that you can expect a review of from me at some point in the future:

MG/YA

Ashes of Gold Book 1: The Tiger's Watch by Julia Ember

Fantasy series that looks really interesting. I'm intrigued that it has a gender-fluid main character.

The Rattled Bones by S. M. Parker

This one just sounds very interesting to me.

The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez

Cute looking middle-grade contemporary that's been getting some buzz.

Jackaby Book 4: The Dire King by William Ritter

One of my favorite series these past few years sadly comes to end.

Dress Codes For Small Towns by Courtney Stevens

Contemporary LGBTQA book that's been getting some buzz.







Adult Fiction

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo

Literary fiction debut that's been getting some buzz.

Girl Meets Duke Book 1: The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare

If you're into romance at all, you know Dare is pretty big deal so this book will likely wind up being very popular. I'm still making my way through the romance reads and haven't read her yet, but I've heard good things.

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

Lit book that's been making the rounds. It's Zevin so I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot about it in the future.







Comics/Manga

Clueless Vol. 1: Senior Year
Wonder Woman Vol. 3: The Truth
Beauty Vol. 3
xxxHolic Rei Vol. 4
X-Men Gold Vol. 1: Back to Basics

Book Review: A Crown of Wishes

TITLE: A Crown of Wishes
Book 2 in the Star-Touched Queen series
AUTHOR: Roshani Chokshi
PUBLISHED: March 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A young princess and prince with nothing to lose enter a tournament where the prize is you get a wish granted...
MY REVIEW: I'm going to be honest: a year later...I don't remember much about Star-Touched Queen. I remember some things like there was an amazing fantasy world in it, but like actual plot and characters? I've got nothing. So I frankly had to rack my brain trying to remember who Gauri even was at the beginning of this book. Luckily the book tells you, so it wasn't a big deal. But I do think it's rather telling that I can't remember many details from the book. Granted, I read a lot...but I usually at least remember basic ideas and plots of books I read awhile ago.
But stuff did eventually start to come back to me. It does help that this is more of a companion book then a continuation. So in the long run, my not remembering much didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book any. This still has the beautiful imagination of the world. I liked the relationship between Gauri and Vikram. It was very insta-lovey but at least it was a tolerable insta-love. The plot was fast-paced, the imagination of the world is as fantastic as I remember it.
So it was good. It looks like this is the last of the series and that's probably for the best. The author has some new books coming next year (including a new middle-grade series!) that sound very interesting. I'll definitely be giving them a look.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Star-Touched Queen, fairy-tale fans,
MY RATING: Four out of Five amazing fantasy worlds

Book Review: In the Great Green Room

TITLE: In the Great Green Room-The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown
AUTHOR: Amy Gary
PUBLISHED: January 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Biography
PREMISE: A biography on the author of Goodnight Moon and many other children's books.
MY REVIEW: There's really not much to say about this one. It's a pretty typical biography. It goes into her life and what she did basically. It's well organized and informative. If you're looking for a very thorough biography of Margaret Wise Brown, this is a good place to start.
The only issue I have is that the author kept offering up her opinion on the people in Brown's life and I just really hate when non-fiction authors do that. Look guys, if it's a subject like say science or something like that or something that has been disputed and you're offering your knowledge of what happened...okay. But I don't need you pass your judgement on people, okay? That is not what I'm reading biographies for.
Other then that issue (which sadly pops up a lot in these biographies), this book was okay. Brown was very interesting. I'm happy to have the knowledge I got, but this isn't like a ground-breaking biography or anything.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those interested in learning more about Margaret Wise Brown
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five informative biographies

Book Review: Project Nemesis

TITLE: Nemesis
Book 1 in the Project Nemesis series
AUTHOR: Brendan Reichs
PUBLISHED: March 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Er...Mystery and Dystopian...I guess?
PREMISE: Ever since Min was a kid, she's been killed over and over again, and then...just wakes up. As she finally starts to dig into why, conspiracies involving her town start popping up all over the place...
MY REVIEW: This book....is just weird. First, I feel like the author had two plots that he just decided to mesh together. One was the thing with the main character getting killed over and over again. The other was the big conspiracy stuff that came at the end. I suppose the author made it work...if I don't look too hard at all the plot holes.
Personally, I feel like this book was kind of an entertaining mess. It is fast-paced, it gets the job done. But if you sit and think hard...it doesn't make sense and you're also going "how did a mystery turn into a wacky dystopian Gone series scenario?" Because that's basically what happened. Personally...this was too gritty violent for my taste. I felt like the author was trying too hard to be edgy like Frank Miller. It didn't help that very little time was spent fleshing out characters so that when all the stuff designed to shock happened...I felt nothing.
So yeah...it's a decent effort. I just wish more time had been spent fine-tuning it so character motivations made more sense and things were better explained/handled. Also authors, quit using "it's a small town!" as an excuse for having no diversity in your books. I've lived in small towns in the US. Even here in my really white suburban Midwest town, we have a pretty sizable non-white population. So I'm sorry, your excuse is just that: an excuse. One that doesn't really fly in 2017.
WHO SHOULD READ: James Patterson fans, Gone series fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five meh shrugs

Book Review: Six Wakes

TITLE: Six Wakes
AUTHOR: Mur Lafferty
PUBLISHED: January 2017
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Science-Fiction/Mystery
PREMISE: A group of clones wake up to discover their previous clones were all murdered...by one of them. But no one has any memory of who and why it happened...
MY REVIEW: I went into this book completely blind. I've never heard of the author before this (though apparently he's been around the sci-fi world a while), haven't heard much buzz about it, nothing. But the idea sounded so interesting I had to at least give it a look. I mean, murder mystery...IN SPACE.
I will warn: it's a tad slow and is very science heavy on the science-fiction part. But the author did remember to have an entertaining plot along with all the science. Which is nice, because sometimes...sci-fi authors get so caught up in explaining their world and proving their science cred that they forget to have things like plot and characters. It's why I tend to be pickier when it comes to my sci-fi then I am with my fantasy.
This is a very nice blend of mystery and sci-fi. The writing is nice and the plot is very well-paced. The characters are nice and varied. It was a solid book. I think I'm going to look into this author's other books in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: Mur Lafferty fans, Becky Chambers fans, sci-fi fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five murder mysteries on a spaceship

Notable Releases: 8/13-8/19

Here are this past week's notable releases:

MG/YA

Things That Happened Before the Earthquake by Chiara Barzini

Really interesting looking book about a girl in LA during the years between the 92 riots and the 94 earthquake.

Hibiscus Daughter Book 1: Wicked Like Wildfire by Lana Popovic

First of all, lets all take a moment to appreciate that beautiful cover. Second, the premise sounds really unique and interesting. So I'm definitely giving this a look.

A Map For Wrecked Girls by Jessica Taylor

Contemporary that's been getting some buzz.








Adult Fiction

Broken Earth Trilogy Book 3: The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin

The sure to be epic finale to the Hugo nominee (and now winner!) series. Can't wait to get my hands on this one.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Apparently this one is so good, it got long-listed for the Man Booker Prize BEFORE its release date. I have to give it a look after hearing that.







Non-Fiction

Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music by Ann Powers

A critical look at pop music and how it shapes our ideas about things like sex, race, social issues etc.

Ladies of the Ticker: Women and Wall Street From the Gilded Age to the Great Depression by George Robb

I love history books that stomp on that myth that people like use about how women (as well as PoC, or LGBTQA folk) just like didn't do anything in history worth remembering so like that's why we don't need them in our historical movies/books etc. Seriously, I had a dude actually say something like this to me recently about WWII (he actually seriously thinks no women or black people were involved in it at all, which is so so false I don't know where to begin). I'm not making this shit up.


Comics/Manga

Batgirl: Stephanie Brown Vol. 1
Teen Titans Earth One Vol. 2
Unbelievable Gwenpool Vol. 3
Tokyo Ghoul Vol. 34

Book Review: Wolf by Wolf

TITLE: Wolf by Wolf
Book 1 in the Wolf by Wolf Duology
AUTHOR: Ryan Graudin
PUBLISHED: 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian/Alternate History
PREMISE: In a world where Hitler won WWII, a girl joins a dangerous race so she can dance with Hitler...and then kill him.
MY REVIEW: I can't believe I took this long to get to this book. It's one of those series I've been meaning to read for awhile because the premise just sounds amazing. But things happen, you know? But I'm getting to it now and I'm happy to say: it did not disappoint.
Graudin's writing is as fabulous as I remember it being in The Walled City. There is more then a bit of a Hunger Games-esque set-up, but the author makes it her own. I do wish we hadn't had the forced romance bit, but it's YA, what can you do? The ending is also a bit of a random cliff-hanger but it's a fitting sort of cliff-hanger if that makes sense...it probably doesn't. Sorry.
I personally, really loved this one. There are some issues, as there always are in YA, but for the most part, this book is a very strong and solid action-packed book. Will definitely be reading book 2 sometime in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: Hunger Games fans, fans of The Walled City, fans of alternate history
MY RATING: Four out of Five motorcycles

Book Review: Insane Clown President

TITLE: Insane Clown President-Dispatches From the 2016 Circus
AUTHOR: Matt Taibbi
PUBLISHED: January 17th, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Articles/Essays
PREMISE: A collection of articles that the author wrote during his time covering the 2016 Presidential campaign.
MY REVIEW: There's not really much to say about this one. If you kept track of the 2016 election, you likely read at least one of these articles, especially if you're a Rolling Stone magazine reader. It turned out I had read one or two of them when they had been released.
If there is one takeaway from all of these articles it is this: the 2016 election was like no other election I've seen. I mean, I've seen some nutty ones. The last election was pretty bad. I also can tell you stories about the Bush vs. Gore election (the first election I actually paid attention too, but sadly was not old enough to vote in at the time). But even those don't compare to this last one. If there's one thing I appreciate about Taibbi, it is that he calls out the BS on all sides of the aisle. Much as I voted for Clinton, there were several missteps in that campaign (as well as with Sanders, who I also voted for. Sorry Bernie Bros, he was not the perfect candidate you all make him out to be). It's sad to me that an entertainment magazine has some better reporters writing articles on politics then papers like the New York Times do.
I wouldn't really call this entertainment reading. The things that happened during that time and after are just frankly too depressing for me to enjoy remembering it. But there are some important insights here that I think are well worth reading. And worth remembering come next election cycle.
WHO SHOULD READ: Rolling Stone magazine fans, those who want a recap of the election
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five insightful articles

Book Review: Ramona Blue

TITLE: Ramona Blue
AUTHOR: Julie Murphy
PUBLISHED: May 9th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Contemporary
PREMISE: A girl realizes she's bisexual over an eventful few months...
MY REVIEW: Chances are if you've heard about this book, you've heard about the big stink raised on Goodreads by people going on about how this was lesbian erasure. I know I heard it and that made me hesitant to pick it up. Because lesbian erasure is a thing that goes on  in entertainment and it's gross. But after reading people's reasons for deciding it was lesbian erasure...I started to smell bs. Namely bs in the form of bi-phobia.
First, it didn't help people that they came to the conclusion that it was erasure because they read (the admittedly very bad) blurb. I'm sorry, if your basing your opinion on a blurb...I can't take your opinion seriously. Second, several bisexual people, who actually had read the book, started to clear things up and people just basically straight up said they were lying or tried to invalidate their experiences when some of them said they went through exactly what Ramona did in this book. That right there, ticked me off. Stop invalidating others' experiences just because that hasn't been your experience, okay? Not everyone figures out their sexuality the same way. No one's experience is universal.
So after that, and more then a few bi-phobic comments made by the people protesting the book (another big red flag for me), I decided to just check it out on my own and guess what: there was no lesbian erasure. Ramona makes it very clear she is still very into women, she's just now also into men. That's not really lesbian erasure guys. Ramona was always bisexual. She was just realizing it now and that is a thing that happens sometimes. If she dated Freddie and then decided oh, she just likes guys now, and did the gross it was just a phase thing, THAT would be lesbian erasure and I'd be right there protesting the book with you. But that wasn't what happened. Now, if we want to talk about the thing with her ex-girlfriend...that could also qualify, but the author also makes it incredibly clear that what that character said is all sorts of wrong and not okay. So I'm sorry, you all don't really have a case. Let this be a lesson: stinks raised on Goodreads about stuff are not always right. Read the book and form your own opinion.
That issue out of the way, onto the actual book: it was okay. I do feel Murphy could have handled some issues here and there better (like the thing with the ex-girlfriend). There are plots that are never fully resolved and issues brought up and then dropped as soon as they're brought up. The plot also stalled a lot in the middle. As a book, this is a pretty average contemporary. There are some good lines here and there though.
WHO SHOULD READ: Julie Murphy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five could have been better, but still good feelings

Book Review: Eliza and Her Monsters

TITLE: Eliza and Her Monsters
AUTHOR: Francesca Zappia
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: May 30th, 2017
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
PREMISE: A bullied girl makes friends with the new kid. A new kid who happens to be a huge fan of the popular webcomic series she actually creates.
MY REVIEW: This is one of those books that totally flew under my radar when it was released but then I got the book in my OwlCrate box (a monthly book box subscription that I highly recommend) and suddenly it was everywhere. After reading it, I definitely see why.
First, there's a very heavy Fangirl vibe to this. But whereas Fangirl was sort of a criticism of fanfic and fandom at times, this is a love letter to it. It doesn't sugar coat it, but it does show how it helps. I also loved that it showed a wide variety of people can be a part of a fandom. Far too often, I see this idea that only nerdy people are into fandoms and guys...that's really not true anymore.
For the most part, this is a typical contemporary. There's a meet cute, family drama issues, life lessons learned, a cute romance, etc. But it's so utterly charming you don't care. The art in between showing the webcomic itself was also a very nice touch. This is personally going on my favorites list from this year.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fangirl fans, Geekerella fans, geeks in general
MY RATING: Four out of Five webcomics

Book Review: The Book That Changed America

TITLE: The Book That Changed America
AUTHOR: Randall Fuller
PUBLISHED: January 24rth, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: History
PREMISE: An author goes into how Darwin's book The Origin of the Species influenced American history.
MY REVIEW: This review is going to be pretty short, because I really don't have much to say about this one. Its topic was interesting and full of potential...but I don't think the author lived up to the title's promise. He didn't really tell me how exactly The Origin of the Species changed America.
Oh, he gave plenty of tidbits on how people reacted to the book. But he didn't really give much detail on how exactly the book changed things. Influenced people who influenced history? Sure. But didn't give concrete evidence beyond his own speculation that this book is why that person did this etc.
So yeah, this was a bit of a disappointment. There was some interesting tidbits in here about authors and whatnot. I appreciated that. I just wish the author hadn't wandered so much in his subject and actually sat down and told me how exactly The Origin of the Species changed America.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those who like to read about classic authors
MY RATING: Three out of Five books that should have stuck to its subject more

Notable Releases: 8/6-8/12

Here are this past week's notable releases. Another rather busy week for books. ;sound of the TBR list growing in the distance;

MG/YA

In Some Other Life by Jessica Brody

I love books that play on the what if angle. Looks like this has that in spades, so I'll be giving it a look.

Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert

This author's debut book, Pointe was great. I can't wait to read this new one from her, which has been getting lots of buzz.

The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones

New book from the author of Illusive. This one looks just as interesting and unique.

The League of American Traitors by Matthew Landis

This one has it compared to National Treasure in the summary and if it's as campy and fun as those movies, it might be a good time.

The Authentics by Abdi Nazemian

Contemporary that I've been hearing some good things about.

Shimmer and Burn Book 1 by Mary Taranta

Interesting sounding new fantasy series that is hopefully good. I've been having bad luck with this year's batch of new YA fantasy sadly.

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F. C. Yee

This sounds like a combination of The Life and Times of Juniper Lee (an extremely underrated old Cartoon Network show) and Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (one of my favorite cheesy Disney Channel Original Movies). So I'm in.




Adult Fiction

The Amber Shadows by Lucy Ribchester

Historical mystery centering around Bletchley? Yes, please. I'm ignoring the so far low rating on Goodreads. Sorry, but I've read one too many really good books that have really low ratings there for me to take the ratings too seriously.

A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

Interesting looking historical fiction dealing with family drama, racism in the south and so on.






Non-Fiction

You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Trainwrecks, and Other Mixed Messages by Carina Chocano

Essay collection exploring female representation in popular media. Sounds right up my alley.

The Girl in the Show: Three Generations of Comedy, Culture, and Feminism by Anna Fields

A look at how feminism and comedy have effected each other throughout history. Looks interesting, I hope it goes outside the straight white feminist box though.

Life in Code: A Personal History of Technology by Ellen Ullman

Essay collection that has been getting some buzz.







Comics/Manga

Mega Princess Vol. 1
Over the Garden Wall Vol. 2
Angel Season 11 Vol. 1: Out of the Past
Drifters Vol. 4
Cyborg Vol. 2: Danger in Detroit

Book Review: Our Own Private Universe

TITLE: Our Own Private Universe
AUTHOR: Robin Talley
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: January 31rst, 2017
GENRE: Contemporary, Romance
PREMISE: A girl falls in love with another girl at camp.
MY REVIEW: This is my first time reading Robin Talley. She's been popping up on the YA scene for a while now. I've been meaning to get to her stuff, it just never happened until now. I do definitely see why she's gained fans. Her writing is good. She's not afraid to present teenagers as they are. Her characters are real.
I will say I was surprised by how explicit this was. I'm not judging the sex. I liked how it was regular awkward teen sex and probably one of the most realistic first times I've read. I'm just surprised that it was in a YA book because most of the time...the sex doesn't get that explicit. If there's sex at all. So...be warned about that if you're recommending this to teens. Maybe recommend it for older or at least teens who can handle sex scenes. But other then that surprise, this book was enjoyable. It was a little slow, and sometimes it felt like the author wanted to talk about lots of issues and so just crammed them all in there at once.
But for the most part I liked it. The story is average. But I am pleased that finally, we have someone talking about things like things like biromantics and pansexuality. That was nice to see and very important. But other then that, it was mostly just a cute romance with an average plot.
WHO SHOULD READ: those looking for cute LGBTQA romances, contemporary romance fans, Robin Talley fans, fans of Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit
MY RATING: ....I honestly can't make up my mind between Three and a half to Four out of Five.

Book Review: Norse Mythology

TITLE: Norse Mythology
AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman
PUBLISHED: February 7th, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction/Retellings....I think
GENRE: Mythology
PREMISE: Neil Gaiman retells the Norse Myths in his own way.
MY REVIEW: Full disclosure: I know nothing about Norse Mythology. My knowledge of it comes from Thor comics/movies and the Gods of Asgard series Riordan is doing. So yeah...I'm really not the best one to tell you if these are accurate retellings or not.
I can however tell you: they are delightful retellings. From what I've heard from people who know better, Gaiman basically did stick mostly to the original tales. He just added his blend of humor to them. Such as the one where he basically concluded everything is Loki's fault (this is totally true tbh, in the tales and in the Thor comics!).
I enjoyed these a lot. Again, I'm probably the last one to ask if these are good takes on the Norse Myths. But if you know a little about the myths and enjoy retellings, you might get a kick out of Gaiman's take on them.
WHO SHOULD READ: Neil Gaiman fans, Mythology fans, The Gods of Asgard series fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five Lokis causing mayhem

Book Review: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life

TITLE: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
AUTHOR: Benjamin Alire Saenz
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Contemporary
PREMISE: A boy navigates his life when changes start to abruptly happen.
MY REVIEW: I'll be honest with you: I had some pretty high expectations for this book. Because I've read the author's other book, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and pretty much loved it. For the most part the expectations were met.
Saenz still writes beautifully. There's still great family dynamics and all sorts of thoughtful moments in this book. Characters are fully fleshed out. I have two issues, one...I didn't care for the way the author wrote Sam. I never got a handle on her. Mostly because when she said stuff, I was pretty sure the stuff she said was not her opinion, but the authors and...authors, don't do that. We can tell when stuff is actually your opinion. There was also some ways he went about writing some stuff that...yeah, definitely could have been handled better.
But overall, this was very good. The good far out weighed the bad. Not as good as Aristotle and Dante in my opinion, but still, a very solid second book.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Aristotle and Dante, John Green fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five heart strings getting tugged

Notable Releases: 7/30-8/5

Sorry for how late this is. It was tax free weekend at work so, I haven't really been able to get here to post. If you don't know what tax free weekend is...I envy you. But here are last week's notable new books that are on the radar for various reasons:

MG/YA

Middle-School Princess Book 3: Royal Crush by Meg Cabot

Another installment of this very adorable series.

Mechanica Book 2: Venturess by Becky Cornwell

Remember Mechanica back in 2015? Well, we're finally getting a sequel. I remember liking the book...I think...

When I Am Through With You by Stephanie Kuehn

New thriller that's been getting some buzz.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds

I love the Miles Morales comics. This should make for a great YA book. I haven't gotten to Reynolds' books yet, but I've heard good things.







Adult Fiction

New People by Danzy Senna

Lit book that's been getting some buzz. Reviews have been fairly mixed but I've come to expect that from any novel that discusses race relations as this one apparently does.

The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson

Steampunk historical fantasy. What can I say, it's my weakness.

Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang

Short story collection that's been getting some buzz among the lit crowd.








Non-Fiction

The Hormone Myth: How Junk Science, Gender Politics, and Lies about PMS Keep Women Down Robin Stein DeLuca

Something to read and then think about the next time someone on facebook sends you that "science" article that sounds like complete BS.

Morningstar: Growing Up with Books by Ann Hood

I love books that discuss reading lives. This will be right up my alley I think.

Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea Ritchie

Book about a subject that we really need to discuss and do something about.







Comics/Manga

Legion of Super-Heroes Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 1
Superman Vol. 3: Multiplicity
Paper Girls Vol. 3
Attack on Titan Vol. 22
Captain America: Steve Rodgers Vol. 3: Empire Building