Book Review #764 - Road to Riverdale Vol 1 (Road to Riverdale) by Mark Waid, Chip Zdarsky, Adam Hughes, Marguerite Bennett and Fiona Staples

ROAD TO RIVERDALE is an entry-level collection featuring the first issues of all modern-day Archie relaunches. 

Featuring the top talents in comics, this graphic novel is perfect for those new fans of the CW's Riverdale TV series, debuting in January 2017. Timed alongside the first episode, it captures the New Riverdale that inspired the show and is a guide for new readers to explore the variety of Archie comics and graphic novels available.

READ THE STORIES THAT INSPIRED THE NEW CW TV SERIES!

In the past two years, the little town of Riverdale has changed in a number of amazing ways. The entire Archie universe has been given a fresh coat of paint and it's only getting bigger and better from here. Road to Riverdale presents to readers all of the first issues of each of our new series so far, including Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, Josie and the Pussycats, and Reggie & Me, timed to the release of the brand new CW series Riverdale. This graphic novel features riveting stories and dazzling artwork from superstar writers and artists like Mark Waid, Adam Hughes, Marguerite Bennett, Fiona Staples, Chip Zdarsky and much more. You won't want to miss out on this one-of-a-kind collection that shines the spotlight on the New Riverdale, and serves as the ultimate guide for both new readers and long-time fans.

My Rating: 2/5

I borrowed this book from my local library after I had been sick and spent a few days in bed binge watching Riverdale on Netflix.

There were quite a few different stories in this edition which was good because we got to see a variety of different characters but also bad because I would have preferred one continuing storyline.

Some of the characters were completely different to that portrayed in the TV show. This was not necessarily a negative thing but one in particular made me laugh. The teacher that Archie has the affair with in the show is portrayed as an elderly woman in this book.

Book Review #763 - Emma by Jane Austen

Clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work. 

My Rating: 3/5

I read this book as part of my quest to read all the books from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

This is my second Jane Austen book (the first being Northanger Abbey) and I really don't like how dialogue heavy her books seem to be.

Emma was a very hard character to feel any kind of warmth towards as I found her manipulative and selfish. She was also really unreliable as a narrator as she was really naive and only saw things how they related to her.

The amount of characters and how they all constantly connected to one another was something that I struggled to keep a hold of.

I also kept mixing up the Knightley brothers. One was referred to as Mr Knightley and the other as John Knightley.

Book Review #762 - Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell

Midnights is the story of Noel and Mags, who meet at the same New Year's Eve party every year and fall a little more in love each time . . .

Kindred Spirits is about Elena, who decides to queue to see the new Star Wars movie and meets Gabe, a fellow fan.

Midnights was previously published as part of the My True Love Gave to Me anthology, edited by Stephanie Perkins and Kindred Spirits was previously published as a World Book Day title.

My Rating: 4/5

I picked this book on a whim at my local library when I took my nephew there for our weekly visit and I ended up finishing it that night.

Each story was super short yet I felt invested in both the world, the plot and the characters. The illustrations added so much to both stories as well.

I particularly liked the second one and even though I am not a Star Wars fan, I related to it on the fandom level. 

Reading this book has reminded me just how much I love Rainbow Rowell's writing so I really need to read her other works because I have only read a couple.

Book Review #761 - Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

'I guess it started with the mothers.'

'It was all just a terrible misunderstanding.'

'I'll tell you exactly why it happened.'

Pirriwee Public’s annual school Trivia Night has ended in a shocking riot. One parent is dead. Was it murder, a tragic accident...or something else entirely?

Big Little Lies is a funny, heartbreaking, challenging story of ex-husbands and second wives, new friendships, old betrayals and schoolyard politics.

No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty turns her unique gaze on the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves every day and what really goes on behind closed suburban doors.

Let me be clear. This is not a circus. This is a murder investigation.

My Rating: 4.5/5

I decided to buddy read this book with my mum as I had two copies of the book and thought we could watch the TV show adaptation afterwards.

I have heard so many good things about Liane Moriarty and especially with her being a fellow Aussie I thought it was about time I picked up one of her books.

Out of all of the characters I definitely liked Jane the most as she was the closest to my age and her son Ziggy was the same age as my nephew who I spend a lot of time with.

Ziggy actually reminded me so much of my nephew especially as my nephew just started kindergarten this year as well.

This book has the main mystery and then there is another one thrown in there that I never even realised was a mystery until it became the plot twist of all plot twists. 

Book Review #760 - Mrs Rosie and the Priest (Little Black Classics #1) by Giovanni Boccaccio

Four hilarious and provocative stories from Boccaccio's Decameron, featuring cuckolded husbands, cross-dressing wives and very bad priests. 

Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.

My Rating: 3/5

This book is the first book in the Little Black Classics collection and contains four short stories taken from Giovanni Boccaccio's book The Decameron.

The first short story was entitled Andreuccio's da Perugia's Neapolitan Adventures follows a naive man named Andreuccio and his misfortunes in Naples where he gets scammed twice but recovers.

The second story is entitled Ricciardo da Chinzica Loses His Wife which follows a judge called Ricciardo whose wife leaves him when he doesn't pay her enough attention. Considering this book was written in the 14th century, I thought this story was rather modern.

The third story is entitled Mrs Rosie and the Priest and this is also the shortest story in the collection. This story follows a priest who acts nothing like how we expect a priest to act. I found this story rather crude and not at all what I had been expecting from a book from that time period.

The last story was entitled Patient Griselda and this story was one of the longer ones. This was a weird story about an old man who tests his much younger wife's patience in the most cruel and twisted ways.

I really enjoyed reading these short stories although not enough to pick up the entire book. It was enough to get a glimpse at 14th century Italian literature and life.

Book Review #759 - A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

My Rating: 5/5

I had no idea what this book was about before I picked it up which I am happy about because it hit me harder than I'd expected.

Conor was such a likable character and I loved his relationship with his mother.

When I picked this book up I expected a creepy, horror story and whilst there was a creepy tone to the story the overall plot is far from that and I am not even disappointed by this because I loved this book so much.

The edition I read (pictured above) didn't include any illustrations and now reading other reviews of this book makes me want to read the illustrated version.

The fact that another author had the idea for this book and gave it to Patrick Ness before she died adds to the overall feeling of the story and makes it more poignant. 

Book Review #758 - Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham

A charming and laugh-out-loud novel by Lauren Graham, beloved star of Parenthood and Gilmore Girls, about an aspiring actress trying to make it in mid-nineties New York City.

Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three-year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates - Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material - and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works. 

Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet. 

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.

My Rating: 3/5

This book has been on my radar for a while so when I saw it at my local library I grabbed it.

This book follows Franny on her quest to make it in acting in New York City.

I absolutely loved the setting of NYC and the book would never have worked had it been set anywhere else.

I feel like this book would make a really good TV show just because there are so many secondary characters that I would love to see explored more and the story felt really cinematic to me whilst reading it.

I'm not sure if this book is semi-autobiographical or not but it definitely felt like it. Franny had Lauren Graham's voice.

Book Review #757 - Postcards from the Boys by Ringo Starr

Whenever John, Paul, or George went on a trip, they would send Ringo a postcard. Now, for the first time, Ringo Starr is opening his private archive to share this delightful and very intimate correspondence. Whether it's John advising Ringo to record a "great & simple" song like Blondie's Heart of Glass, Paul and Jane Asher dropping a note from Rishikesh to report on their meditation lessons with the Maharishi, or George writing from the Great Barrier Reef to confirm plans for Christmas dinner, each postcard is a warm and personal snapshot of life in (and after) The Beatles. The 51 postcards -- many of which are covered in whimsical drawings -- are colorfully reproduced, both front and back. Ringo's droll commentary fills in the blanks, though he does confess that at times he had to consult the Internet for details! Often funny, occasionally bittersweet, and always revealing, Postcards from the Boys is a must for Beatles lovers.

My Rating: 3/5

I read this book in around 20 minutes and so if you're looking for something more insightful this isn't the book for you.

The main issue I had with this book was the lack of context. It showed the postcard without any explanation about it although granted at one stage Ringo said he couldn't remember what one of the references was about.

This was something that I loved about another Beatles postcard book I read this year The John Lennon Letters.

I also found it hard to read the handwriting on the postcards at times (especially John's) so it would have been nice to have had a translation included.

I loved that there were a few postcards from Australia (I think they were sent by George) especially as I had been to the places they were sent from like Tasmania.

Book Review #756 - Neverland by Margot McGovern

Kit Learmonth would rather die than grow up and leave Neverland …

When she was twelve, Kit Learmonth watched her parents drown in a storm as their boat sailed over the Tranter Sink Hole. Now seventeen, Kit doesn’t remember the incident, and she doesn’t want to. In fact, her only clear memories from before her parents’ death are of the fantastical stories of pirates and mermaids that she and her dad invented about the small island where she grew up, a place she calls Neverland. 

Following Kit’s parents’ deaths, her uncle and guardian, Doc, transformed the island into a boarding school for mentally ill teenagers and sent Kit away to school on the mainland. But when Kit tries and fails to end her life, Doc brings her home to the island and places her in the care of his colleague, Dr Hannah Ward. 

Resisting her treatment, Kit instead pulls her friends deeper into her world of make-believe. It’s only when Kit and her new boyfriend, Rohan, take the fantasy too far and land themselves in very real danger that her faith in Neverland is shaken, and Kit must find a way back to reality.

My Rating: 2.5/5

I had to read this book for a book club and it is not a book I would have likely picked to read myself.

First of all I have absolutely no personal knowledge of mental illness, depression, self-harm etc but I felt like this was not properly addressed in this book for example the protagonist Kit never really gets the help she desperately needs.

This was one of those books that the characters drive the story and I struggled with that style with this one because I never really connected with any of them. 

I loved the setting of the island especially the secret cave that Kit escapes to throughout. I also loved the sailing element although I know nothing about it, it felt like it was accurately described and well researched.

The mystery element was really slow paced but ultimately worth the wait as I didn't see it coming.

Overall, I felt like this book had similar elements to it as P is for Pearl another book I had to read for my book club but I felt that P is for Pearl was better written.