Graphic Novel Review: Goldie Vance

TITLE: Goldie Vance
NUMBER IN SERIES: Vol. 1, issues 1-4
AUTHOR: Hope Larson
ART: Brittney Williams
PUBLISHER: Boom!Box
SERIES START: April 2016
GENRE: Historical Mystery
PREMISE: Got a problem at the Cross Palms Resort? Goldie Vance and her friends can solve the mystery for you!
MY REVIEW: Welcome to the first of hopefully many comic book/manga reviews. I have always read comic books and manga, I've just never really reviewed them on here before. I decided that it was high time I started doing that. So along with a wide variety of books, you're going to get the occasional graphic novel or manga as well.
Goldie Vance is a new all ages comic that started last year and I've been hearing lots of great things about it. Basically Goldie is a kid living in a fancy resort that her father runs and she gets up to all kinds of mischief and adventure. It's sort of a cross between Nancy Drew and Suite Life of Zack and Cody with more diversity then both of those things had. Along with the cuteness is beautiful art that fits the series perfectly.
This particular volume only has issues one through four. So it cuts off a bit and goes into another story arc. If you want to leave it at four issues, you probably can with no problem. But I for one am looking forward to seeing what new adventures Goldie gets up too.
WHO SHOULD READ: Nancy Drew fans, Lumberjanes fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five (for this volume anyway)

Notable Books: 1/8-1/14

Here are some notable books/comics that were released this past week.

Middle-Grade Fiction:

The Silver Gate by Kristin Bailey

I've enjoyed this author's work before and between that and the cover, I'm very curious about this middle-grade fantasy.







YA

Roseblood by A.G. Howard

A retelling of Phantom of the Opera from the author of the imaginative Splintered.

Poison's Kiss Book 1 by Breeana Shields

Interesting looking start of a new series based around Indian mythology.








Adult Fiction:

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

An original adult fairytale with historical Russian setting? Yes, please.

Veronica Speedwell Book 2: A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn

Okay, this one is just a personal one I'm looking forward too. But if you love historical fantasy and mysteries, look into this fun series.






Some Notable Graphic Novels released this week:

Green Arrow Vol. 1: The Death and Life of Oliver Queen (part of the Rebirth arc)
Superman Vol. 1: Son of Superman (part of Rebirth)

Book Review: Difficult Women

TITLE: Difficult Women
AUTHOR: Roxane Gay
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Short Stories
PUBLISHED: January 3rd, 2017
PREMISE: A collection of some old and some new stories from the author of Bad Feminist.
MY REVIEW: I managed to get this book by pure luck. Hoopla already has it in their selection so I grabbed it (as well as a couple of other 2017 releases. FYI, I love Hoopla). As there was a day it was snowing last week, I sat and read this all in one or two sittings. It helps that it's fairly short to begin with and the stories go by quickly.
As always with story collections, this was a mixture in quality. Some were very good, others were so short I didn't really have time to form any feelings on them. They're all sort of quiet character study books that make you think about labels, particularly the labels and judgments we heap upon women. It's all done in Roxane Gay's always memorable writing style.
If you're like me and have been a fan of Gay's for awhile now, this is a great one to pick up. If you're not, it's a good intro to her writing (this or Bad Feminist). This is probably a book that won't be to everyone's taste, but luckily for me, it happened to be to mine. If this first book of 2017 is any indication, we're in for a good publishing year.
WHO SHOULD READ: Roxane Gay fans, literature fans, feminists
MY RATING: Four out of Five short and sweet stories

So You've Finally: Read all of the Rick Riordan books

Welcome to the new way of doing recommendation lists. These are basically the same idea as my thematic Sunday posts, but I am going to be doing them on Wednesdays now, so I thought I'd do rename them, as well as do them a little differently.

Now the title is So You've Finally. It'll be a variety of things from watching TV shows/movies to completing that it book of the moment. These lists are to help you get an idea of where to go after you've finally done the thing everyone's bugged you about doing (and presumingly enjoyed said thing).

The first one is in honor of me catching up on Rick Riordan this past year or so. Here's where to go after you've read all the Percy Jackson books, the Kane Chronicles, the Magnus Chase books, the graphic novels, everything.

So You've Finally: Read All of Rick Riordan's Books. Here's What to Read Next:

If you want another middle-grade series with snark and magical hijinks:

The Magisterium series by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

For more fast-paced magical hijinks with humor, check out this series about a boy who gets sent to a magical school, only he doesn't want to be there.







Annabeth was your favorite (as well she should be):

The Legend of Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Origins

Honestly, any of the Wonder Woman comics will probably please you. But this recent redo of Wonder Woman's origin is probably a good way to familiarize yourself with the iconic superhero who has many ties to the Greek myths.






You want to read the myths Riordan's books were based on:

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton

There are several versions of the myths out there, but for Greek myths, this is probably the most well known and widely used versions of them.

The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson

If you're looking for Norse mythology tales, this book is a great place to start.







You want more adult mythology oriented books:

Olympus Bound series Book 1: The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky

If you loved the idea of the gods still being around after all these years, this new series about Artemis now being a PI trying to solve a murder case is for you.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

A retelling of the tale of Achilles that actually remembers, Achilles liked men.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Not necessarily about Greek/Egyptian/etc. gods, but this book about old gods getting by in America should appeal to any Rick Riordan fan. Also check out his upcoming book, Norse Mythology.






You'd like some more YA mythology oriented books:

Mythos Academy series by Jennifer Estep

Love Veronica Mars along with Percy Jackson? This series, about a girl who goes to a magical academy and solves mysteries for people, is the perfect blend of those two things.

The Chaos of Stars by Kierstan White

For Kane Chronicles fans looking for more Egyptian gods wackiness, this short and sweet book by White should fit the bill.

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott

If you want another fast-paced adventure series to sink your teeth into, this series involving all sorts of historical figures and mythology and dealing prophecies should please.

Book Review: The Hammer of Thor

TITLE: The Hammer of Thor
Book 2 in the Magnus Chase series
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PUBLISHED: October 2016
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade/YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: Magnus has to search for Thor's hammer, which has been lost. Again.
MY REVIEW: The first book I finished for the year 2017 is a book I fully expected to like and did. Rick Riordan never disappoints. Even his average books such as the Kane Chronicles are damn entertaining. The latest Magnus Chase book is no exception.
One of the things I really loved about this book was Alex. We have an actual gender-fluid character in a major mainstream series. Like...that's pretty huge when you think about it. It shouldn't be huge. But it is and as far as I can tell, Riordan pulled off the representation well. Plus, Alex was just an awesome character.
If you loved the first Magnus Chase book and are just a Riordan fan in general, this latest installment will not disappoint you.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of the first book, Percy Jackson fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five lost magical objects

Notable Releases of the Week: 1/1-1/7

Instead of doing a release thing at the beginning of the month, I am going to be switching to a hopefully weekly format this year. As my tastes have widened and stretched, so have the number of books I've gotten interested in. So every Saturday or so, I will have a list of books/comic books being released during that week that I am interested in or think people should know about.

Passenger Book 2: Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken

Passenger was a big buzzy book from last year. If you've been waiting for the sequel, it's out now.

Witchlands Book 2: Windwitch by Susan Dennard

I wasn't as enamored with Truthwitch as apparently everyone else was. But I enjoyed enough that I'm looking forward to this sequel along with everyone else.

X-Files Origins Books 1 and 2 by Kami Garcia and Jonathan Maberry

Were you a big X-Files fan back in the day? Did you ever wonder what Mulder and Scully were like during their teen years? Well, this is your chance to find out in two YA books by popular YA authors.

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti

YA thrillers man, I'm weak to them.

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

On the adult fiction side of things, the one I'm into this week is this short story collection by the author of my favorite essay book: Bad Feminist.

Letters to a Young Muslim by Omar Saif Ghobash

On the non-fiction side of things, I have a feeling this book is going to make waves this year. The Daily Show did an interview with the author the other night that was great.






Manga available this week (in the US): One-Punch Man Vol. 10
Your Lie in April Vol. 11

Graphic novels: Star Wars-Han Solo mini-series by Marjorie Liu
Spider-Gwen vol. 2: Weapon of Choice
Secret Six Vol. 2: The Gauntlet

Book Review: The Boy is Back

TITLE: The Boy is Back
Book 4 in the Boy series
AUTHOR: Meg Cabot
CATEGORY: Adult
PUBLISHED: October 2016
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
PREMISE: A guy and girl rekindle their romance when he returns after years away.
MY REVIEW: The last book I read in the year 2016 was a quick light-hearted romp by a author who never fails to put a smile on my face: Meg Cabot. If you are familiar with Cabot, you probably already know what to expect from this one and yes, it is usual rom-com type predictable-ness. But honestly, after the crap-pile that was 2016, it was kind of what I needed.
For those that are unfamiliar with the Boy series, it is a light romance series told through various things like email or instant messaging. I highly recommend the early ones, which are more fun, if a tad dated by the tech used. This one uses more updated tech but still tells cute romances and has the hilarious character of Dolly Vargas, who kind of deserves her own book.
If you're in the mood for cute romantic comedy that is very fast-paced, this series is a good way to go and the latest installment is as fun as the others.
WHO SHOULD READ: Meg Cabot fans, fans of Rainbow Rowell's Attachments, romantic comedy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five good mood boosters

Book Review: The Bronze Key

TITLE: The Bronze Key
Book 3 in the Magisterium series
AUTHOR: Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
PUBLISHED: August 2016
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: Call and his friends try to discover who is attempting to kill Call at the Magisterium.
MY REVIEW: Oh Magisterium series, you are clearly Harry Potter fanfiction. Why can't I quit you? I blame the awesomeness that is Tamara. As well as addicting fast-paced plots. Both Black and Clare are masters at keeping readers coming back for more. This series (and the fact that I also can't seem to quit Mortal Instruments no matter how hard I try) is proof.
The latest Magisterium book is very much like the first two: snark and lots of things happening. There was one major thing that surprised me at the end. But if I know Clare...that thing is probably not going to stick. So I'm not getting invested in feelings until the last book. If it sticks THEN I'll give props to the series.
But it looks like we have two more books to go so I have awhile to wait and see how to feel about said thing. If you were a fan of the first two books, you will likely love the latest installment. Or you'll curse the authors for the cliff hanger. One of the two.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that have read the first two books, Mortal Instrument fans, younger Harry Potter fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five evil cliffhangers

2017 List of Book Goals/Things You Can Expect For the Blog

So I always have some bookish goals and I always kind of switch things around the blog because...I just do. There's no real reason to be honest. Blogwise...not much is going to change. I'm still going to do mainly just book reviews and book lists. I'm thinking of changing the format of the book lists. The main thing that is going to change is that I'm going to be including comic book reviews now, along with book reviews. I'll just be doing first volumes for long running series, such as Saga. But if there are mini-series, or separate story arcs, such as Rebirth and what not, I'll review those. I'll be continuing doing classics and this year I'm going to be starting to get dive into plays and possibly some poetry. We shall see how that goes. I will also be continuing to do the comic book guides for beginners. I just have gotten side-tracked and some characters such as Iron Man require research on my part because I don't really know them all that well myself.

For now though, here are the book goals for 2017:

1) Read 175 books.
I read 169 books this year. That was even with me ditching things right and left. So this goal is totally doable. As always, I'm not really strict about the number. If I don't make it, I don't make it. I just aim for this number to get books off the gigantic TBR list of doom.

2) Classics project of the year: Read all the Shakespeare plays I have not read yet and his poems/sonnets. This is not as ambitious as it sounds. I've already read around six of his plays. I just want to read others such as Tempest purely for bragging rights.

3) Stick to the one classic book a month thing I did last year.

4) Finish Flavia de Luce series

5) Finish the Harry Dresden Files series (I got up to book 10 this year, this is totally doable)

6) Get farther into Discworld books (I read 3 this year. Better then last year, at least)

7) Get North and South done (leftover goal from last year)

8) Get Gone with the Wind done (another leftover)

9) Genre focus of the year: feminist books. I have a bunch on the list I want to get done.

10) Complete the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. I always mean to do it, but then I get side-tracked. This is the year I'm doing it.

2016 List of Favorite Books

I meant to separate these into lists up until the new year. Unfortunately, my computer crashed last week before I could get the posts typed up. So this list is incredibly late and I have some reviews to catch up on because I managed to squeeze in some books into the last week of the year. So, here is a rather quick list of my favorite books that were published in 2016.

Middle-Grade Books:
Middle-School Princess Book 2: Royal Wedding Disaster by Meg Cabot
Trials of Apollo Book 1: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

YA:

Witchlands Book 1: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
The Girl From Everywhere Book 1 by Heidi Heilig
Charlotte Holmes Book 1: A Study in Charlotte by Bethany Cavallaro
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepytys
On the Edge of Dawn by Corinne Duyvis
The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters
Wrath and the Dawn 2: The Rose and the Dagger by Renne Ahdieh
We Are the Ants by Shawn David Hutchinson
Lois Lane Book 2: Double Down by Gwenda Bond
Conqueror's Saga 1: And I Darken by Kiersten White
You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
Winner's Trilogy 3: The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski
Jackaby 3: Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter
The Fixer 2: The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Raven Cycle Book 4: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
Illuminae Files 2: Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Monsters of Verity book 1: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

Adult Fiction:
Mediator 7: Remembrance by Meg Cabot
The Others: Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop
Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa
Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray
Broken Earth 2: The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
Queens of Renthia Book 1: The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Kate Daniels 9: Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews

Non-Fiction:
The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward and other authors
We Were Feminists Once by Andi Ziesler
Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin
You Can't Touch My Hair (and Other Things I Still Have to Explain) by Phoebe Robinson