Month: September 2022

The Watchmen-Review and Analysis (No Spoilers)

On By OLAF A.In Book Review, Comics, Highly RecommendedLeave a comment

The Watchmen is a graphic novel collection Written by Alan Moore

Alan Moore greatly shows the superhero genre in a way that has not been seen much before, most but one of the characters aren’t actually super, creating an interesting and human dynamic that allows readers to deeply connect with the characters.

Speaking of characters, the book has really greatly developed characterization as well, each character being unique and different from others in a very notable and memorable way, each with their own quirks and talents, covering each area of what a hero could be. There are those who are dark anti-hero vigilantes, those who inherited the act of heroism despite disliking the idea, and those who are treated as celebrities and famous icons.

It also captures the regular life aspect of the characters as well, featuring returning side characters who help to move the story forward without taking part in any heroic or villainous actions, such as the news vendor, who have a fair share of memorable moments as well. The book has no clear protagonist, rather it follows each character as they live in a large metropolitan city.

The book is regarded as one of the best current superhero comics of all time, and it certainly holds up to these standards. It feels memorable, has unique characters, a thematic art style, and well fitted cultural events that can be related to regardless of who the readers are.

8/10, have not finished it yet but am excited to see how it ends. Would recommend.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Long Haul

On By Matthew HIn Book Review, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Long Haul is a book written by Jeff Kinney. This book is about Greg Heffley and his family. After Greg’s mom sees an idea about going on adventurers in her parenting magazine she wants to make that a reality. Their journey starts off full of promise, then quickly takes several wrong turns. From a gas station bathroom, crazed seagulls and a runaway pig. This trip is not what Greg would call ideal. But even the worst road trip can turn into a great adventure.

Sweet and Bitter Magic Review

On By A CASSIn Book Review, Book Update, Feminism, Highly Recommended, NovelsLeave a comment

Novel written by Adrienne Tooley

Sweet and Bitter Magic was a book I planned to read for a long time, and I knew what to expect from the book, thanks to it being popular on ‘booktok’. My bars are set high for any book, but particularly queer books, especially fantasy and queer. There were many plot twists and it was very creative for a common prompt. The plot and characters created by Adrienne Tooley are amazing. Her work hooked me instantly, and inspired me to start writing my own books again. I really hope we get more books from Adrienne Tooley soon, especially with Tamsin, Wren and Marlena

The Hate U Give: Book Update

On By Hannah JIn Book Update, Highly Recommended, RaceLeave a comment

Author: Angie Thomas

In my opinion, the most compelling internal and external conflict in the book “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, is Starr’s conflict. Starr feels as she needs to “code switch” between Williamson Starr, her more kept away less “ghetto” version of herself, and her regular Starr, just her. Externally, Starr’s actions and the way she would handle things are very different when code switching. She makes a promise to herself to never ever let anyone see her as “ghetto” or “loud”.

Starr consistently claims that being cool as a black girl is different than being cool as a white person at Williamson, and since her school is dominantly white, she has to code switch. I believe that the internal conflict that connects with this is the way Starr didn’t really have the energy to code switch after the incident. She kept getting angry with people at school for making racist remarks and the subtle microaggressions. Usually, she would let it pass, but since shes been dealing with it so long internally and the incident, it all just came spilling out. Starr felt alone, embarrassed and confused because she felt as no one would understand her, she felt as she was betraying the black community, and she felt as all her hard work and energy she put into code switching was all for nothing because she had now been officially seen as “The angry black woman”. Stereotypical.

The book builds tension by explicitly describing the way Starr feels about her actions and code switching. The narrator is from Starr’s POV making the book more interesting and easier to connect with when her thoughts, emotions, and feelings are shared. Angie Thomas also leaves space for the reader to infer what she is thinking.

Book review: Binti

On By COLE STEWARTIn Book Review, Highly RecommendedLeave a comment

“Binti” by Nnedi Okorafor follows the story of the main character, Binti. Binti is about a 16 year old girl who gets accepted into a university named Oomza Uni. Her parents are pressuring her not to go and stay on her planet because of her culture and customs. She decides to do what she thinks is best for herself and goes against her parents wishes. On the way to Oomza Uni, she encounters challenges and conflicts that she could never imagine. In the beginning of the book it gives a tremendous amount of details and descriptions of the futuristic world they live in. I would definitely recommend this book because if someone doesn’t like reading longer books, this book is short, profound, and entertaining.

The Inheritance Games Book 2- Review

On By KATHRYN BIn Book ReviewLeave a comment

The Inheritance Games is a series that has a third book coming out soon. I recently just finished book 2, “The Hawthorne Legacy” that has a detailed and intriguing story line like the first book. It follows the story of The Hawthorne’s, a very wealthy family in Texas. When the uncle and keeper of all the money dies, an ordinary girl named Avery is called to the Hawthorne property for the reading of the will. The books follow Avery and the Hawthorne brothers as they try to solve mysteries that the old man left behind for them, and figure out why Avery is there in the first place. I recommend reading the books in order, as the 2nd book wouldn’t make sense without reading the 1st one first. The second book however, keeps the story going with new events that keep you interested.

Book Update: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

On By DONOVAN LAUGHLINIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve been reading the Hitchhiker’s Guide for the last few weeks, about up to page 155, and it is a comedy book without a doubt, there are a few jokes I don’t understand due to the characters being British and the author being British but other than that the book has been hilarious. So far the earth has been blown up to construct a galactic super-highway, the president of the galaxy stole the fastest ship in the galaxy, and two nuclear missiles have been turned into a sentient pot of petunias and a blue whale. The book is awesome and I’d recommend it 100%.

Rebound book update

On By LIAM MIn Book Review, Book UpdateLeave a comment

Rebound by Kwame Alexander starts with an immediate good time which takes a dramatic turn. Every year Charlie Bell and his family would make a trip to upstate New York. Until something tragic happened. Charlie Bell and his family have to adapt to this new change. This book shows real-life problems that occur to many families around the world when the families are going through a hard time and just lost a loved one. 

Reading Update:When Dimple met Rishi

On By NAANA S.In Book Update, FeminismLeave a comment

The book When Dimple Met Rishi starts of with a girl who is passionate about web developing, it shows the struggles of a women trying to accomplish things without being brought down and told “your job is to be a good wife”. Dimple struggles with this problem and constantly fights with her mother about this issue. Dimple is not seen to be an average girl because is feisty, wears glasses and wears traditional Indian clothing. It hooks you by talking about a character being passionate about something and arguing on how her life doesn’t revolve around getting a husband. other than that you have to read more to get hooked.

The narrative in a woman’s life that she can’t make anything of herself unless she has a husband is a really popular narrative which is bad to put onto anyone. It shows you what kind of things people do for their loved ones and how they care. She really cares about what she wants to do in the future and that makes you want to know what happens in that future. It shows commitment and dedication.

Batman Zero Year-Secret City

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Batman, Volume 4: Zero Year – Secret City by Scott Snyder

Wonderful art, great characters, smooth and dynamic storytelling, with a healthy dose of action. Very good book. Love the ways that it ties together with the rest of the Batman universe, featuring characters and teases that may not have had much performance yet, but certainly have much to come.

Reading Update: Last Night at The Telegraph Club

On By GRACE F.In Book Update, NovelsLeave a comment

Last Night at The Telegraph Club, by Malinda Lo, starts with a short prologue. The main character is thirteen, watching a Miss Chinatown pageant with her best friend. I think this worked really well at setting the scene for the rest of the book. We learn about the main character, Lily, and her relationship with her best friend. You can also get a good sense of how Lily thinks, and the themes for the rest of the book. The story is set in the 50’s, in Chinatown in San Francisco. The setting is set very well, for example, when Lily goes to a department store with her mom. The author doesn’t spend a lot of time describing the physical environment, but the mood is clear. You learn about how Lily’s Mom’s personality and views compare to hers, and how Lily acts around her mom compared to what she thinks.

The Secrets of Eastercliff by the Sea (update)

On By EMMETT L.In Book UpdateLeave a comment

So far the book The Secrets of Eastercliff by the Sea is about a family who gets invited to a dinner mysteriously and they must take their sock monkeys. Sock monkeys were given to them by their grandma at birth and she gave every grandchild one. So far the book is kind of slow and I’m starting to lose patience but I am trying to give the book patience to see if it gets better.

The Loop Reading Update

On By SEAN C.In Book Update, Highly Recommended3 Comments

The Loop, by Ben Oliver, takes place in the future where 1 man and the government control everything about people’s lives and even the environment. The book follows a 16 year-old named Luka Kane who’s been wrongly imprisoned in a nightmarish prison where the prisoners are tested on horrible experiments, brutally tortured, and in solitude everyday until they die.

So far, I have been really invested into this book because of the extreme setting that the main character lives in and it’s interesting how he is able to survive and keep going, even though he has been stuck in there for 2 years. I like how the author doesn’t tell the reader why Luka was falsely imprisoned in the first place, and instead takes time to introduce the setting and all the characters.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book if you are into the sci-fi genre.

The Depth and Lyricism in Giovanni’s Room

On By Clara LIn Book Update1 Comment

I am nearly finished with James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. This novel is very lyrical. The language the author utilizes is poetical, almost like food for the mind. This is a character-driven story, which I enjoy, and James Baldwin captures the human condition in such a way that it moves you. You see humans in their rawest portrayal, every emotion on the spectrum.

You might not necessarily identify with David, the main character, you might not approve of his decisions, but you’re left dumbfounded with the beautiful imagery and thinking that he describes. I, for example, do not relate to David in various aspects, but I understand him. You feel his grayness, his dull outlook on life. You feel his soul being stretched out between desire and morality, between choosing a life with Giovanni or choosing a life with Hella. The issue is that desire and morality begin to bleed into one another and we, as well as David, cannot seem to really distinguish them. As I mentioned before, I haven’t finished the novel.

The book is very raw and intimate in the sense that we feel everything. I could paint a picture of the setting very precisely, had I the artistic ability. The reader not only sees the physical location and the people, we see every light, every shadow, we see movement, we see expression. The beautiful depictions of Paris also enthralled me. To phrase it concisely, very lyrical and beautiful writing that makes one think of human behavior.

Why I dropped the book “After”

On By ABIGELA AGOIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The summary of the book caught my attention at first… Although, ever since I began the book, I was starting to get lost. I did not really understand what was going on. I just decided to drop the book because I couldn’t see myself get back on track.

Did he jump.. or was he pushed..?

On By Kaliyah. EIn Book Review, Class, Highly Recommended, NovelsLeave a comment

Harry Dolan, the author of Bad things happen, completely hooks you from the start with the first scene being the main character buying items from a store to conceal a MURDER. You are introduced to a cunning and calculated killing pair who will stop at nothing to not get caught. This is a very interesting book so far but takes a while to get into the plot because it starts out very messy and complicated. Although, this book definitely introduces you to a new world because it takes you into a perspective that many people never consider. The mind of a killer. These characters explore every single outcome until something sinister happens….

Reading Update: The Shining

On By FINN L.In Book Review, Book Update2 Comments

The Shining is a book written by renowned horror author, Steven King. The book is about a man named Jack Torrence, a complicated man who is a retired alcoholic. He is looking after the Overlook Hotel as his last chance for a good job. He brings with him his wife Wendy and his son Danny. Jack has had a rough past with abuse, with him being abused by his father when he was a child and assaulting his son while he was drunk. He was also fired from his last job for assaulting another child for popping holes in Jack’s car. While Danny is at the hotel, he envisions many horrible things, even one entity strangling him. After a few months in the hotel, Jack starts having strange envisions as well, and starts to go insane.

I have not finished the book yet, but I am deeply invested in the story. I have watched the Stanley Kubrick film adaptation of “The Shining” and it has become one of my favorite movies of all time, which inspired me to read the novel written years before the 1980 film. However, the book differs from the film from small moments to a huge twist in the many plots. There is much more backstory in the book about Jack, Wendy, Danny, and even the hotel itself. There is also much more time for the book to flesh out the characters and what they are like than in the film, even though the novel might feel slow at some points. Overall, The Shining is an amazing book and I cannot wait to finish it.

Paradise, WV

On By DANIEL CIn Book UpdateLeave a comment

Paradise, WV, by Rob Rufus, is a book about a family whose father is a serial killer, or at least, that’s what people say. His family doesn’t believe that he is a killer, and now they’re trying to prove that he’s innocent. And after a girl that Jane knows mysteriously goes missing, the family decides to investigate their dad’s case. While the main characters, Henry, Jane, and Otis (Otis is Henry’s friend), are investigating his case, the news reports Henry and Jane might have been behind the recent killing. This gets them involved in a police case investigating their dad’s case.

Reading Update: Wolf Hollow

On By CAROLYN R.In Book Update, NovelsLeave a comment

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk is a poignant novel that follows a 12 year old girl living in Pennsylvania during World War II.

The first line of the book hooks the reader in and makes you want to learn more about what is going on. There are a couple of unexpected turning points that make the book stick with readers. The main character is relatable because she goes through some of the same struggles children may face today.

The book is full of mystery which makes it difficult to put down. I have not yet finished this book, but I cannot wait to see how it ends.

Book Review: The Loop

On By Daniel R.In Book Review, NovelsLeave a comment

The Loop by Ben Olivers hooked the reader at the start with the obscure setting of a futuristic prison called The Loop being controlled by an AI called Happy and the world controlled by one government. Luka has been there for quite a while struggling to stay sane. But something is wrong…

It’s a really good book, I highly recommend it.