February 2019 – Looking For a Good Book

February 27, 2019

LAST DESCENDANTS – Matthew J. Kirby

I just reviewed another Matthew J. Kirby book not too long ago and enjoyed it, wrapping up that I looked forward to another one of this books. I picked this book out of my ARC pile and noted that it was also by Kirby. How fortuitous! But whether it’s because this book is following the Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, Uncategorized, YA

2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

February 25, 2019

MISSISSIPPI ROLL – George R. R. Martin, editor

The story takes place on the Riverboat Natchez which is captained by Wilbur Leathers … who happens to be a ghost (though he was the captain before he died). An alien virus has devastated the planet and many people have been transformed …either into “jokers” (people with deformities) or into “aces” (people with super powers). Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, SHORT FICTION, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Short Stories

February 22, 2019

IN AN ABSENT DREAM – Seanan McGuire

Is there anyone who writes a more beautiful, poetic prose than Seanan McGuire? In an Absent Dream is the fourth book in McGuire’s Wayward Children series. The concept is that children who find their way to the door to a different world then find a world that is perfectly suited to them. And the lesson Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

5 Stars, SF/Fantasy, YA

February 21, 2019

SPACE CAT MEETS MARS & SPACE CAT AND THE KITTENS – Ruthven Todd

THROWBACK THURSDAY: REVIEWING REISSUES Space Cat is back in the third volume of this 1950’s era children’s book! Flyball is now a seasoned ‘space cat’, flying regularly between the Earth and the moon and having now visited Venus as well. So when the rocketship is caught in the gravity of an asteroid, Flyball trusts his Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized

3 Stars, 4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews

February 19, 2019

BERSERKER – Emmy Laybourne

Imagine reading a Willa Cather novel with occasional flashes of raw violence like a Quentin Tarantino movie, and you get a feel for Emmy Laybourne’s Berserker. Siblings Knut, Stieg, and Hanne Hemstad are a dying breed. They’ve been cursed with a gift – to be from a family with ancient powers. Hanne is a Berserker. Continue reading

HISTORICAL FICTION, YA

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Historical Fiction, Reviews, Young Adult

February 18, 2019

HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS

What is it about He-Man and the Masters of the Universe that it manages to have a lasting appeal? I was not aware that there had been a newspaper comic strip (daily and Sunday). 1,674 days worth of comic strips. So when I saw that Dark Horse gathered as many of these strips as possible Continue reading

GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, comic book superheroes, Graphic Novels, Reviews, superheroes, Television, Young Adult

February 15, 2019

FRAMING FAN FICTION – Kristina Busse

I have a tremendous interest in fandom and fan interests having been one of the early participants in fandom (mid-1970’s). I’ve been interested in other books published by the University of Iowa that have been about fandom and fan interests, and those that I’ve read have been quite interesting. Unfortunately I can’t say that about Continue reading

NON-FICTION

2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, non-fiction, Reviews, Sex, Television

February 13, 2019

THE LOST KINGDOM – Matthew J. Kirby

Take an adventure story from Jules Verne, give it a Young Adult set of characters, and toss in a pinch of Steampunk and you get something very close to Matthew J. Kirby’s The Lost Kingdom. Bill Bartram and his father, along with scientists and members of a secret society of philosophers adventure into the American Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Action/Adventure, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

February 11, 2019

THE BIG GET-EVEN – Paul Di Filippo

There is really nothing wrong with this book. But there’s nothing special about it, either. The plot is exactly what you might expect, given the title. A group of people want to ‘get even’ with someone who never seems to get his comeuppance. Does this plot sound familiar? Think The Sting; think Ocean’s 11; think any Continue reading

MYSTERY

2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews

February 9, 2019

quotes – Feb 2019

“Sex can kill you dead. To show a woman love is to ask for trouble…” Peter Wolfe, quoted in Hard-Boiled Anxiety “I like smooth shiny girls, hard-boiled and loaded with sin.” Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler, quoted in Hard-Boiled Anxiety “A good woman gives sex to get love.” Karen Huston Karydes – Hard-Boiled Anxiety Continue reading

Thoughts, Uncategorized

quotes

February 8, 2019

A CIRCLE OF ELEPHANTS – Eric Dinerstein

Just over two years ago I read and reviewed What Elephants Know by Eric Dinerstein. It was a tremendously beautiful novel. Now Dinerstein is back with a follow-up … A Circle of Elephants. Thirteen-year-old Nandu works for the Royal Elephant Breeding Center – a newly established program that houses and protects the royal elephants. The Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized, YA

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Nature, Reviews, Young Adult

February 6, 2019

SCARLETT HART: MONSTER HUNTER – graphic novel

Ummmmm… no. I’ve tried to be a little pickier about the graphic novels I request and review, but since I’m not really familiar with a lot of the authors and artists working in the graphic novel industry today, occasionally one slips by me that doesn’t appeal on any level. Such as this one. Scarlett Hart Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized, YA

2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Graphic Novels, Reviews, Young Adult