Category: Humour

Review: Venezia

Title: Venezia
Author: Lewis Trondheim, Fabrice Parme (illustrator)
Genre: Graphic Novel, Humour
Publisher: Europe Comics
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: November 20, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

After their first explosive encounter, Giuseppe and Sophia hate one another with a passion. As fate would have it, both have a secret identity permitting them to conduct investigations incognito. Once his false mustache and wig are removed, Giuseppe becomes “the Eagle.” And when her tights and black hood are donned, Sophia transforms into “the Black Scorpion.” The Eagle and the Scorpion feel an irresistible attraction for one another… but will they share their first kiss and track down the mysterious “Codex Bellum” before Giuseppe and Sophia tear each other into beautiful little pieces?

Review:

Two spies from two France and Spain are sent to Venice in the 16th century. The two spies are Giuseppe and Sophia, who also go by the alteregos “the Eagle” and “the Black Scorpion.” They hate each other, but they keep turning up at the same places on the same missions, so they have to figure out if they want to keep fighting or work together.

This was a funny graphic novel. It had a spy versus spy storyline, where they kept meeting each other and trying to foil each other’s plots. There was the added humour of their alter ego disguises, who didn’t know each other. They would change into their disguises at the same time, but they didn’t realize that they were still the same person.

I found the beginning of this story a little complicated because there were so many characters from different countries. I didn’t understand the politics of it at the beginning, because many characters seemed similar. The graphics were very detailed, but that meant that sometimes the jokes were subtle. There was one part where Giuseppe lost his fake mustache and it landed on another character, but I didn’t notice it at first because the illustrations were so small.

This was an entertaining graphic novel!

Thank you Europe Comics for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Bloodlust and Bonnets by Emily McGovern

Have you read Venezia? What did you think of it?

Review: That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story

Title: That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story
Author: Huda Fahmy
Genre: Memoir, Humour, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 10, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Chaperones, suitors, and arranged marriages aren’t only reserved for the heroines of a Jane Austen novel. They’re just another walk in the park for this leading lady, who is on a mission to find her leading lad. From the brilliant comics Yes, I’m Hot in This, Huda Fahmy tells the hilarious story of how she met and married her husband. Navigating mismatched suitors, gossiping aunties, and societal expectations for Muslim women, That Can Be Arranged deftly and hilariously reveals to readers what it can be like to find a husband as an observant Muslim woman in the twenty-first century.

So relevant in today’s evolving cultural climate, Fahmy’s story offers a perceptive and personal glimpse into the sometimes sticky but ultimately rewarding balance of independent choice and tradition.

Review:

This is a hilarious graphic novel memoir about Huda’s experience with an arranged marriage.

It starts with a disclaimer about her wearing a hijab in the illustrations. The character in the graphic novel is an extension of herself, so she is always drawn wearing a hijab. However, in real life, she doesn’t wear it to bed, to shower, or to get her hair done, even though her character in the book does. She made this disclaimer funny, because she said anyone who skipped that disclaimer would wonder why she was wearing it to bed. She drew the character with a hijab every time for consistency in the book, not because that is what she actually does.

I loved the way she compared the courtship of an arranged marriage to a Jane Austen novel. They both have nosy, older women poking their noses into the lives of young people. There were suitors who came to meet her parents, like in an Austen novel. She also had to be chaperoned on any dates, like Austen’s heroines. This was a great way to compare her situation to older novels. It shows how universal these ideas of courtship are, because Jane Austen’s characters were doing the same things hundreds of years ago as what Huda did today.

This is a great graphic novel!

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Yes, I’m Hot in This: The Hilarious Truth about Life in a Hijab by Huda Fahmy

Snug: A Collection of Comics About Dating Your Best Friend by Catana Chetwynd

Have you read That Can Be Arranged? What did you think of it?

Review: Snug: A Collection of Comics about Dating Your Best Friend

Title: Snug: A Collection of Comics about Dating Your Best Friend
Author: Catana Chetwynd
Genre: Comics, Humour
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: February 4, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Why bother getting out of bed when you could stay bundled up with that special someone and a book of cozy, cute comics. From the author of the bestselling Little Moments of Love comes Snug, a collection of comics that perfectly captures the honest, playful, and relatable snapshots of romantic life.

Chetwynd’s second book has the same charming and inviting style as her first and includes 50 percent new, never-before-shared comics. Snug is a celebration of the quirks and peculiarities of every one of us—and the magic that happens when we find our matching puzzle piece.

Review:

This is an adorable collection of comics about the author, Catana, and her boyfriend, John.

These comics show warm and fuzzy moments between Catana and John. These moments include things from their everyday lives, like eating and sleeping.

Even if you don’t have a partner, these comics were relatable. They talk about everyday things, like buying food or feeling stressed. I laughed out loud many times, and I could relate to so many comics.

I really liked this collection of comics!

Thank you Andrews McMeel for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Little Moments of Love by Catana Chetwynd

Herding Cats (Sarah Scribbles #3) by Sarah Andersen

Have you read Snug: A Collection of Comics about Dating Your Best Friend? What did you think of it?

Review: Gudetama: Love for the Lazy

Title: Gudetama Love for the Lazy
Author: Wook-Jin Clark
Genre: Graphic Novel, Humour
Publisher: Oni Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 14, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Gudetama: Love for the Lazy is inspired by the worldwide hit Sanrio character and animated series star!

Dating is exhausting, so let’s take a lighthearted approach to exploring it with Gudetama, everyone’s favorite grumpy egg! From navigating first-date smalltalk to recovering from being dumped, Gudetama is your guide to finding love…even when you’re lazy.

Sanrio is the global lifestyle brand best known for pop icon Hello Kitty®, and home to many other beloved character brands including Chococat, My Melody, Badtz-Maru, Keroppi, Gudetama and Aggretsuko. 

Review:

Gudetama is a character that was created by Sanrio, the company who created Hello Kitty. Gudetama is an egg yolk, who is extremely lazy. He doesn’t want to get up and he often doesn’t even want to speak. He would like to just go to sleep.

In this story, Gudetama gives relationship advice to people who need help. They all have different problems with finding love. Gudetama often accompanied these people on their dates, but he wasn’t much help. He is quite lazy and uninterested in life, so his advice didn’t always help.

This was an entertaining book. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you Oni Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Gudetama’s Guide to Life by Brian D. Clark

Have you read Gudetama: Love for the Lazy? What did you think of it?

Review: A History of Art in 21 Cats

Title: A History of Art in 21 Cats
Author: Nia Gould
Genre: Art, Humour
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: August 13, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Art history gets a fun feline makeover with 21 purr-fectly cultured cats in the styles of ancient and modern masters.

Become litter-ate in the basics of important art movements through a host of beautifully illustrated cats, each one inspired by a specific period in art hiss-tory: Surrealism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, Ancient Egyptian (of course), and many more. From Claude Meow-net to Jackson Paw-llock, these creative cats will introduce you to key themes and artists you won’t soon fur-get. Purr-haps even inspiring you to make your own version!

Review:

This book details different types of art, starting with Egyptian art and ending with modern street artists. Each section had an illustration of a cat, done in that particular style. Then, it broke down the image to show what each detail represents in terms of that art style.

This was a very entertaining book. I loved the pictures of the cats! I also learned a lot about those different art styles.

I highly recommend this book for art and cat lovers!

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman

Have you read A History of Art in 21 Cats? What did you think of it?

Review: Literary Starbucks: Freshly-Brewed, No-Whip, Half-Caf Bookish Humor

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Title: Literary Starbucks: Freshly-Brewed, No-Whip, Half-Caf Bookish Humor
Author: Jill Poskanzer, Wilson Josephson, Nora Katz
Genre: Humour
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Source: Purchased
Release Date: May 17, 2016
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

From the creators of the eponymous viral Tumblr comes a single day with your favorite authors in one Twilight-Zone-esque Starbucks…

Ever wonder which intricate, elaborately-named drinks might be consumed if your favorite authors and characters wandered into a Starbucks? How many pumpkin lattes J.K. Rowling would drink? Or if Cormac McCarthy needed caffeine, which latte would be laconic enough? Look no further; LITERARY STARBUCKS explores such pressing matters with humor and erudition. Set over the course of a single day, and replete with puns and satirized literary styles, the three authors go darker, stronger, and more global than the blog in book format, including illustrations by acclaimed New Yorker cover artist and cartoonist Harry Bliss.

Review:

When I heard about this book, I had to get it. I love Starbucks and I love books, so this is the best of both worlds.

In this book, many beloved authors and literary characters go into Starbucks and order coffee. Each order matches either their life, story, or writing style. These were so clever and accurate! Here are some of my favourites:

  • “Mary Ann Evans goes up to the counter and gives her name as George Eliot.”
  • “Jack London goes up to the counter with twelve sled dogs in tow.”
  • “Atticus Finch goes up to the counter and orders the one drink on the menu that no one else was brave enough to get.”

One negative thing about this book was that there were a lot of authors or characters that I had never heard of, or I didn’t know enough about them to understand the jokes. But the ones that I did understand made me laugh out loud.

This is a great book for book lovers!

Review: Literally Me


Title: Literally Me
Author: Julie Houts
Genre: Humour
Publisher: Touchstone
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: October 24, 2017
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

LIVE. LAUGH. LOVE. Or EXIST. SMIRK. LURK. 

Julie Houts has cultivated a devoted following as “Instagram’s favorite illustrator” (Vogue) by lampooning the conflicting messages and images women consume and share with the world every day.

A collection of darkly comic illustrated essays, Literally Me chronicles the exploits of “slightly antisocial heroines” (Refinery29) in vivid, excruciatingly funny detail, including:

-The beauty routine of a deranged bride who aspires to be “truly without flaws” on her wedding day

-What happens when Kylie Jenner has an existential crisis and can no longer “step out”

-A journey to Coachella by the Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse

-The true dating confessions of a fembot

-The terrifying description for Alice Staunch’s book How to Be a Perfect Feminist 

-The diary of Fiddle Ficus, a tree that lives inside a CÉLINE store, and much more

Review:

Well this was an interesting book. Some parts were really funny, but some were just strange. 

I really enjoyed the journey to Coachella. Four girls meet in an Uber Pool. They’re the most unlikely people to see together and they don’t get along. Let’s just say, the car ride ends in pee in the backseat. 

The pictures were very unique. I liked the way they were filled in with water colours. Some of the illustrations told an entire story. There was also an unusual mouse that appeared multiple times. 

This book was original and unconventional. At times I didn’t know what was going on, but some of the stories were very funny. 

Downward Dog: Very Serious Haiku From A Very Serious Dog


Title: Downward Dog: Very Serious Haiku From A Very Serious Dog
Author: Samm Hodges, Phinheas Hodges
Genre: Humour
Publisher: Animal Media Group
Release Date: June 6, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

This book is full of haiku poems by a dog. Yes, haiku poems from the perspective of a dog!

If you know me, you know I love dogs, especially my own bichon poodle, Skippy. These poems are hilarious! I can picture these poems coming from my dog.

My favourite one is about the “surprise” after “the ride in the car” which ended with being neutered. I laughed out loud at that one! Some of the other poems were about cuddling up with Netflix and a dilemma about his leash: friend or foe?

There are also pictures that go along with many of the poems. They’re just simple drawings, that presumably have been drawn by the dog.

I really like this book! It’s super short but it’s so funny! These haikus come from the dog from the new ABC show, Downward Dog. Check it out Wednesday nights!

Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No Bullshit Guide to World Mythology


Title: Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No Bullshit Guide to World Mythology
Author: Cory O’Brien
Genre: Humour, Mythology
Publisher: TarcherPerigree
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★

My favourite courses in university were my Greek mythology classes. I find those stories fascinating. Cory O’Brien loves myths too, so he retells a variety of world myths in this collection. He covers everything from Greek to Hindu to Chinese to Native American myths. He even discusses “American” myths, which are the stories of the founding of the United States.

This book is hilarious. He tells each story in a blunt way, though the general story is correct. He draws attention to the promiscuous acts of Zeus in Greek mythology and the gold loving dwarves in Norse mythology.

Though O’Brien makes fun of the absurdity of these myths, in the conclusion he is more serious. The mythologies of different cultures have a lot in common. They all have a creation myth and a myth where the gods destroy the humans on earth. It’s amazing how these cultures that are so distant in geography and in beliefs can have the same plots in their mythologies.

I loved this book. It is quite explicit at times, but the myths are very funny. I really enjoyed it!