Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Favourite Bookmarks, but I decided to make my own topic of the Holiday Books on My TBR. Here’s my list:
1. A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan
2. Royal Holiday (The Wedding Date #4) by Jasmine Guillory
3. 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
4. Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
5. One Day in December by Josie Silver
6. One Week ‘Til Christmas by Belinda Missen
7. Christmas at the Second Chance Chocolate Shop by Kellie Hailes
8. Christmas from the Heart by Sheila Roberts
9. Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas (Jane Austen Mysteries #12) by Stephanie Barron
Title: The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel Author: Renée Nault, Margaret Atwood Genre: Graphic Novel, Fiction Publisher: McClelland and Stewart Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: March 26, 2019 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Everything Handmaids wear is red: the colour of blood, which defines us.
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships. She serves in the household of the Commander and his wife, and under the new social order she has only one purpose: once a month, she must lie on her back and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if they are fertile. But Offred remembers the years before Gilead, when she was an independent woman who had a job, a family, and a name of her own. Now, her memories and her will to survive are acts of rebellion.
Provocative, startling, prophetic, The Handmaid’s Tale has long been a global phenomenon. With this stunning graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s modern classic, beautifully realized by artist Renee Nault, the terrifying reality of Gilead has been brought to vivid life like never before.
Review:
It has been years since I originally read The Handmaid’s Tale, so I read this graphic novel as a refresher before I read the sequel The Testaments. This graphic novel is a great way to read the story.
I really enjoyed this story. It’s a dystopian, but it seems a little too close to a possible future. It was relatable when Margaret Atwood wrote it, and it still is today. It’s an unfortunate aspect of the book, but it shows how cyclical history can be.
The illustrations were amazing in this book. It was mostly in black and white with lots of red. There were a few other colours when certain characters appeared, such as the wives in blue, which highlighted the distinction between the different types of women. The story was condensed to Offred’s main plot, but it gave a full picture of what was happening.
I highly recommend this graphic novel!
What to read next:
The Testaments (The Handmaid’s Tale #2) by Margaret Atwood
Have you read The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished Well Metby Jen DeLuca.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Heart of the Moors: An Original Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Novel by Holly Black.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading Raven Lane by Amber Cowie.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading Well Met by Jen DeLuca.
Goodreads Synopsis:
All’s faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.
Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?
The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?
This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.
Title: Guardians of Magic (The Cloud Horse Chronicles #1) Author: Chris Riddell Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy Publisher: Pan Macmillan Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: November 5, 2019 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
In Guardians of Magic the award-winning, 2015-2017 UK Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell weaves together a stunningly illustrated magical quest in which three ordinary children, with extraordinary gifts, come together to defeat the enemies who threaten the mysterious cloud horses. This is the first title in The Cloud Horse Chronicles series.
The Kingdom of Thrynne is a place where fairy tales don’t behave, and magic can be found in unexpected places. But magic brings danger to Zam, Phoebe and Bathsheba, because it is forbidden. Now, the future of magic itself is under threat from powerful enemies: those who fear it and, worse, those who want to use it for their own ends. What can three ordinary children do to protect it?
Review:
This story follows three different narratives. Zam is a baker who discovers a magical spoon. Phoebe is a musician with a talking cello. Bathsheba is the daughter of a giant-slayer, who thinks giants shouldn’t be killed. They all come up against enemies who want to steal their magical items.
There were many common elements of fairytales that I liked in the story. Zam baked gingerbread people and Phoebe is a musician in a cat orchestra. There were also evil princesses, which defied the usual princess narrative.
I loved the illustrations that went along with the story. They were detailed and showed everything that was happening in the story. It also gave visual representation to some unusual creatures, such as the goat people and the giants.
This is a great story!
Thank you Pan Macmillan for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse (Goth Girl #1) by Chris Riddell
Have you read Guardians of Magic? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from HMH Books for Young Readers:
Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things by Jacqueline Firkins
Thank you HMH Books for Young Readers for this book!
Title: Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Missing Adults Author: Scott Bryan Wilson, Bob Solanovics Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: November 5, 2019 Rating: ★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Eating candy nonstop and watching TV all day sounds great . . . until you actually do it, as the kids of Bayport High find out when all the adults vanish, and the world’s greatest (high school) detectives–the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew!–have to team up to solve the mystery! Whether it’s going under cover, sneaking out at night, chasing weird buses, or following a strange smell, they know it’ll take all their wits and smarts to get their parents and teachers back . . . that is, if Joe and Frank don’t kill each other first. Oh, and there’s also the matter of the skeleton that can walk. And a major feud with a rival high school. And a koala-in-a-diaper costume. And lawlessness in the hallways. And an unrequited crush . . .
Review:
I love that there are so many new adaptations of Nancy Drew happening right now. I have enjoyed many of them, but this one didn’t really work for me.
The characters were quite exaggerated in this story. Joe was lazy and excitable. He got furious anytime anyone called him something other than Joe. His outbursts became quite repetitive after a while. Nancy was very secretive about her past life. It was strange and the reason was not explained in the story. Perhaps the reason will come out in future books, if this becomes a series.
I also thought the illustrations didn’t match the characters. Nancy looked like the main character from the cartoon Daria, but Nancy is nothing like that character. She didn’t look like any version of Nancy Drew I’ve ever seen before. The Hardy Boys looked like opposites, with Frank in a button down shirt and Joe sporting a mohawk hairstyle. We didn’t even get to see some of my favourite characters, George and Bess. George was illustrated once and Bess was mentioned in dialogue but they didn’t do anything in the story. I wasn’t familiar with the supporting characters that were in the story.
This graphic novel didn’t really work for me. The characters were too extreme and not true to the originals.
Thank you Dynamite Entertainment for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Demon of River Heights (Nancy Drew: Girl Detective Graphic Novels #1) by Stefan Petrucha, Sho Murase
The Ocean of Osyria (The Hardy Boys Graphic Novel #1) by Scott Lobdell, Lea Hernandez
Have you read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Missing Adults? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“I didn’t choose the wench life. The wench life chose me.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… Well Met by Jen DeLuca.
Goodreads synopsis:
All’s faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.
Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?
The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?
This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.
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