And so we’ve come to the second part of this book haul, which will focus on digital purchases and free things. Is it necessary for me to list all these things? Yes, lol, because these book haul posts sometimes help me to remember what I have. Ha! Ha! Anyway, I have fun doing them and that’s all that matters.
Well then, to the books!
Well, it’s been a while since I did a book haul, so I have a lot of stuff here. Surprisingly to me, I’ve been purchasing a lot more than I want to. My book buying slowed some over the past few years (or so it seemed to me), but it seems to be picking back up now (good thing I work in a book store and get discounts). I’ll try a bit harder to stop.
Anyway, here are the physical stuff I bought over the past two or so months.
For this batch of comic book reviews, I’ll chat about two fantasy comics, one for the middle grade crowd and one for YA readers. Both were silly, fun reads that I enjoyed and liked the art.
I read both for Wyrd & Wonder in May.
Wizard Beach by Shaun Simon, illus. by Conor Nolan with colors by Meg Casey
Genre
MG Fantasy
Series
n/a
Pubbed
2019
From Goodreads
What do wizards and witches do when they need a break from the cold, ice-capped mountains of their homeland? They go to the beach, of course!
When Hexley Daggard Ragbottom, a high-strung young wizard, wants to put an end to the frost of dark forests he calls home, he seeks out his Uncle Salazar the greatest wizard of all time. But Uncle “Sally” has abandoned his old life for one of leisure, surfing and napping. Sally’s permanent vacation doesn’t sit well with Hexley, but maybe the young wizard is on the wrong mission. Maybe what “Hex” really needs is to learn how to chill out. (Goodreads)
Continue reading “Comics Roundup #56: Wizard Beach & Moonstruck, Vol. 2”
I know nothing about the superhero stories, so I didn’t realize Angela was from the Marvel superhero universe when I got this. I picked up 1602: Witch Hunter Angela purely because of the cover, and the title — I like stories about witches. It wasn’t until I started reading the bonus story — Marvel 1602, #1 by Neil Gaiman — included in this volume that I realize it’s about superheroes but set back in the early 1600s.
1602: Witch Hunter Angela by Marguerite Bennett & Kieron Gillen, illus. by Stephanie Hans with additional artwork by Marguerite Sauvage, Irene Koh & Jordie Bellaire, Frazer Irving, and Kody Chamberlain & Lee Loughridge
Genre
Historical Fiction; Fantasy
Series
Marvel 1602
Pubbed
2016
From Goodreads
In the altered realms of Battleworld, Angela and Sera are Witch Hunters, the scourges of King James’ England, 1602. In a land beset by magic and monstrosity, they seek a new and seductive evil-not witchbreed, but deal-making Faustians, who bargain with ancient creatures for unnatural power! Moral ambiguity? Fancy allusions? Marguerite making the most of that English degree?
Collecting: 1602: Witch Hunter, Angela 1-4, 1602 (Goodreads)
I had to read this one twice, which I usually do with comics to refresh my memory before reviewing them but with this one, I had to do a double read because I didn’t get the story my first time through. The plot was too episodic, and I couldn’t tell how Angela and her companion, Serah, were able to quickly identify the Faustians. And although I liked some of the mini-stories interjected throughout, they didn’t help to ease my confusion about the main plot.
Continue reading “Comics Roundup #55: 1602 — Angela and Marvel”
I recently read a bunch of comics and managed to put a dent in my goal to read at least 20 comic books this year, so at the moment I’m pretty damn proud of myself. 😀
I’ve also gotten into reading comic books digitally, which I’m grudgingly loving because the illustrations show up a lot clearer onscreen, and I don’t have to worry about details getting lost as the page curves into the book’s spine. The colors also pop more when viewed on a device.
However, I do prefer to own physical copies of books, so the comics I tend to read digital versions of are ones I don’t own and probably wouldn’t buy physical copies of, like Deadpool: World’s Greatest, Vol. 1: Millionaire With a Mouth, which I recently read.
Deadpool: World’s Greatest, Vol. 1: Millionaire With a Mouth by Gerry Duggan, illus. by Mike Hawthorne, inked by Terry Pallot with colors by Val Staples (issues 1-2) and Guru-eFX (issues 3-5)
Sci-fi – superhero
Deadpool: World’s Greatest
2016
He’s annoying. He’s dangerous. He smells terrible. But the public loves him. That’s right-the Merc with the Mouth may make money for missions of murky morality…but he’s become the most popular hero in the world for it. Eat that, Spidey! The world belongs to…Deadpool. The fan-favorite team of Gerry Duggan and Mike Hawthorne return to bring Deadpool into his most successful adventures yet!
Continue reading “Comics Roundup #54: “Deadpool: World’s Greatest, Vol. 1””
Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.
This week’s topic:
(Recommend your favourite graphic novels!! Will also accept comic book series, webtoons and any other form of words and pictures.)
Instead of focusing solely on graphic novels I’ve read and loved, I’ve decided to mention here 5 graphic novels I don’t often see mentioned on bookish social media channels I use. These are listed by my rating (high to low). The lowest rating was a 2.5, which isn’t so bad.
It’s a fable about a man named Dave who lives on a neat and orderly island called Here. Dave is bald except for a single hair above his lip that one day begins to grow into a full-blown beard that doesn’t stop growing and ends up disrupting the orderliness of the island he lives on.
The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil was a great read that touches on people’s fear of the unknown, and the story is accompanied by beautiful simple, yet detailed, pencil drawings. I HIGHLY recommend it.
Continue reading “Top 5 Tuesday #52: Graphic Novels Not Often Mentioned”
The last book haul I did was supposed to be my last one for the year. *Sigh* I’ve been kidding myself. I always fail miserably whenever I try to limit my book buying, but I’m going to try again since my birthday is now out of the way and I can’t think of any book I feel the need to urgently get.
For the next couple months (let’s say 4 months), I’ll get my books from the library if I don’t have it (exceptions for book club/buddy-read books). So let’s try this book buying ban again.
In the meantime, here are some stuff I recently got!
Although I received a copy of this book from NetGalley, it does not influence the thoughts and opinions I share about my reading experience below.
My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noëlle Hébert (illus.), transl. by Shelley Tanaka
Genre
Nonfiction — Memoir
Series
n/a
April 1, 2021
A deeply emotional graphic memoir of a young woman’s struggles with self-esteem and body image issues.
All Marie-Noëlle wants is to be thin and beautiful. She wishes that her thighs were slimmer, that her stomach lay flatter. Maybe then her parents wouldn’t make fun of her eating habits at family dinners, the girls at school wouldn’t call her ugly, and the boy she likes would ask her out. This all-too-relatable memoir follows Marie-Noëlle from childhood to her twenties, as she navigates what it means to be born into a body that doesn’t fall within society’s beauty standards.
Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.
This week’s topic:
(Are there books out there that you loved the first time you read them but now not so much? Or maybe it’s the opposite and you didn’t enjoy a book the first time you read it, but later on you changed your mind?)
I’m pretty set on the ratings I give books. Well, to be more accurate, I’m pretty set on the ratings I give books once I’ve posted a review of them. I rate the books I read on Goodreads as soon as I complete them. But sometimes, once I start reflecting on the book to draft my review, I’ll end up changing the rating I initially gave it. This often happens with comics and picture books since they are short and I’ll read them quickly without giving them the time they deserve. That’s why I often read those a second time before starting on my review and finalizing my rating of them.
Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.
This week’s topic:
(Rereads are still great, but there is a kind of magic in reading a book for the first time.)
I decided to focus on some of my favorites. The first time I read these books was such a wonderful, magical experience that I’d love to experience it, feel it, again. But I’ve reread them too many times for that to happen now.
Continue reading “Top 5 Tuesday #50: I Want to Redo My First Time With These”
Zezee with Books 