Top Ten Tuesday: Picture me this

 

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

TOP FAVORITE GRAPHIC NOVELS

I discovered Graphic Novels last year and turned into an addict. Oh well!!

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Touching story set during the Islamic Revolution.

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Holocaust account. Considered a classic in the Graphic Novel genre.

Blankets by Craig Thompson

I'm about to review this book. It's well-drawn and retells the pain of a first heartbreak from a dude's point of view.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Growing up means learning how to love yourself no matter where you come from. 

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

One of my all time favorites. I can't count how many times it has made my top ten. 

Are you my Mother by Alison Bechdel

I was grateful that the writer exposed so much -- past the wound, the hurt, the pain.

YKids Collection

Collection also includes Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Einstein and Marie Curie. Depicts their life from birth to death. Well-illustrated. 

Review: Hollow City

Who's to say a sequel can't be better than the first?

Jacob and the peculiar children find themselves stranded on an island. This time with a quest on their hands: to find a way to bring Miss Peregrine back to her physical form. If Miss Peregrine doesn't change soon, she will remain a bird forever and Jacob will never be able to see his parents again.

Ransom Riggs placed a lot more action into the plot this time, introducing Gypsies and a war; making certain to keep us on our toes. Somewhere along the lines, I didn't really feel the lust between Jacob and Emma. Did their feelings start to fall apart, I wondered? Then I realized their relationship went deeper than that. Even Emma doesn't know what to make of it anymore.

In fact, the chaos of the situation brought a lot of changes to the peculiars. Forcing them to use their powers. To understand just how special they all are.

Looking forward to book number three.

Review: Cloaked

One day my princess will come -- yeah, one can safely say that this a great modern plot twist from the original boy romances girl fairy-tales. Victoriana is beautiful and loaded with royal money. She could have any other boy, but wants shoemaker Johnny to be her savior and search the town for her lost brother who's been turned into a frog. If he succeeds, she will marry him and make him prince of Aloria. Johnny doesn't really want to marry the princess, whom he's never met before, but agrees for the money. And so begins his magical quest. 

I love Alex Flinn for books like Beastly and A Kiss in Time. For her ability to take fantasy fairy-tale elements and give them a modern take. But alas, in this book she took the tales too far. I could barely recognize the human world at all. Even the characters kept changing, developing powers when it suited them, falling in and out of love at will. 

Sadly, kissing a frog would be more entertaining. 

Top Ten Tuesday: This is my confession

 

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

TOP AUTHORS I'VE NEVER READ

Nothing personal. I'm certain that one day this post will be old news as I update my to-read list.

    Jane Austen   Dan Brown      Lewis Caroll    J.R.R.Tolkien

  Jennifer L. Armentrout  

Who made your list?

Review: Grim

I'm not one to name drop, but Hawkins, Smith-Ready, Kagawa and Hopkins, are all authors any YA lover would instantly recognize. Grim contains 17 stories in all, each one by a different writer. Although the fairy-tale theme is always present, you will find paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, romance and even humorous tales throughout the anthology, maintaining a pleasant diversity.

Some stories were very short and lacked the tension and twisted endings the others shared. But most did stand out, such as Key (psychic intuitions), The Raven Princess (transformation), Better (cyborgs), Sharper than a Serpent's Tongue (curses.)

Retelling also took place in The Twelfth Girl, reminiscent of the Twelve Dancing Princesses except this time around they escape to go clubbing and drinking. Hansel and Gretel become Hansen and Greta in Light it Up as the siblings face a torture cabin in the woods. Thinner than Water retells Peau D'Ane with an ending worth reading twice. But the most intriguing retell goes to Julie Kagawa with The Brothers Piggett or as most know them, the three little pigs.

A fast and amusing read.