Maple’s Theory of Fun by Kate McMillan
I was looking at an online review site that I can easily use, and I saw this brightly done cartoon cover. It was as if Lizzy McGuire and Diary of a Wimpy Kid had a book. It was Maple’s Theory of Fun. At first, I thought it was going to be about a girl trying to show us how to have fun. A “how to” so to speak, but then all crap breaks loose. Well, it is about how to do that, but the girl […]
Super Space Weekend: Adventures in Astronomy (Science Adventure Club) by Gaelle Almeras
I am not sure if Super Space Weekend: Adventures in Astronomy (Science Adventure Club) is a second (or at least not the first in a series) of titles, but there was some missing information for me. The book starts off with three friends who seem to have been introduced to us before. But I know I have not previously met Squeak, Orni, and Castor. Despite this “in the middle” feeling, I was getting a good feeling about Gaelle Almeras’ graphic novel. I was excited to learn […]
Saga (Volume 9) by Brian K Vaughan
Back again with another Saga installment! I can’t believe I’m almost finally caught up. What a roller coaster this series is. I saw that when this series first came out, it was billed as “Star Wars meets Game of Thrones” and I give two thumbs up to that comparison. The only thing I would clarify there is that it’s less “Star Wars meets Game of Thrones” and more “Game of Thrones set in a Star Wars-ish Universe” because every other volume has it’s own Red […]
Saga (Volume 8) by Brian K Vaughan
With a backdrop that is distinctly western, this volume starts with a wooden sign that says, “Welcome to Abortion Town!” And how you feel about that as an opening to a graphic novel (offended? jarred? intrigued) is a pretty good barometer for if you would like this series. I find it overall to be a jarring delight, but it’s not for everybody (she says, knowing she recommended it at work, and now someone she works with is reading it and she immediately had an OH […]
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Potentially unpopular opinion ahead: I did not especially like Harrow the Ninth. I loved Gideon the Ninth, but I don’t think all the narrative experimenting and the pacing worked out well here. After Harrow becomes a Lyctor and Gideon is gone, about 85 percent of the Harrow the Ninth is confusion. The narrative switches between second and third person (there’s also some first person but that is mostly later) and neither voice really knows what’s going on; on the one hand, this makes sense because […]
Dune by Frank Herbert
When the Atreides family is betrayed, the heir Paul and his mother Jessica are sent on the run – and into the path that leads to his ultimate destiny. About three quarters through this book, I texted my friend M, who loves this book, the following: Arrakis is the Middle East. Melange is oil. Is Paul a white savior? That’s a very flippant way of looking at a book that carries a lot more within itself than that. Dune is about environmentalism, about religion, about […]
