Nate is setting out on an intergalactic search. His mission?
š Find pizza. š Eat pizza. š Bring pizza back to his planet.
The tastebuds of his fellow Vegans are depending on him.
Soon after crash landing on Earth, Nate meets one of the locals, Fazel.
Eluding capture by representatives from the Men in Black Beige, Fazel manages to hide Nate at his house. Fazel introduces his new friend to more of Earthās delicacies, including donuts, and all of the other wonders Earth has to offer.
The Men in Beige arenāt going to give up their search for this purple alien easily though.
This is a cute story about the importance of friendship, teamwork and using your imagination, although the narrative felt a bit disjointed at times. While younger readers will probably really enjoy seeing Nate trying to fit in at school and discovering new things, some of the pop culture references are likely to fly straight over their heads.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.
āāāā
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Nate’s on a mission to Earth from the planet Vega. His goal: eat pizza! Luckily, soon after he crash-lands on Earth he meets Fazel, who helps him create a disguise, learn the ways of Earthlings and, most importantly, stuff himself with pizza! Nate quickly discovers there are lots of things to love about Earth and Earthlings besides pizza. He’s having a blast! There’s only one problem. Two Men in Beige (government agents) are desperate to capture him and bring him to their lab – and they’re starting to close in. Will Fazel and Nate manage to elude the Men in Beige while they find fuel for Nate’s spacecraft so he can head home? And will Nate have had his fill of pizza by then?Ā
Here’s a sidesplittingly funny graphic novel from multiple-award-winning writer, illustrator and cartoonist Dave Whamond. With its irreverent humour and high energy, it’s a perfect pick for emerging readers. Along with the fun, the lovable main character models an eagerness to learn new things and broaden his horizons and, together with Fazel, is able to look past surface differences to find friendship and a shared sense of adventure. There are terrific character education lessons here on adaptability, inclusiveness (even of “aliens”) and teamwork.
When I discovered my first glow in the dark item as a kid I was in awe. Unlike many other things from childhood, this wonder remains. Naturally I was keen to get my hands on a book that features glow in the dark illustrations.
Katy Flint has taken some of the most interesting light shows the world has to offer and explained how, why and where they happen. I found the explanations easy to understand and enjoyed the additional facts, especially those that mentioned what people thought was happening before science finally made sense of them.
While some of these phenomena can be seen worldwide if the conditions are right, others are location specific. My favourite facts were:
A double rainbow is where two arcs can be seen in the sky at once. The second rainbowās colors are paler, and in the opposite order to the first: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.
The auroras have confused many people throughout history. Vikings thought they were caused by the shining weapons of immortal warriors.
I really enjoyed Cornelia Liās illustrations. Because of my fascination with bioluminescence, my favourite illustration was of a glowworm cave in New Zealand.
The illustration that Iām most looking forward to seeing glow is the polar lights.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Wide Eyed Editions for the opportunity to read this book.
āāāāā
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Lightning! Rainbows! Auroras! Discover Earth’s most amazing natural phenomena in this adventure around the globe, including a glow-in-the-dark poster.Ā
Follow two intrepid explorers as they witness the Northern Lights, marvel in wonder at glow worm caves, go hunting for double rainbows, and dodge volcanic lightning. A perfect book forĀ youngĀ explorers.Ā Turn off the light to seeĀ theāÆāÆ 640Ā Ć 296 mmāÆĀ tear-out posterāÆglow, featuring the stages of a solar eclipse.āÆ (Be sure to charge itĀ in the light first.)Ā
Each spread features an enchanting illustration of a different natural phenomenonāÆ animated by a description of the science behind it, told inĀ excitingĀ prose.āÆ Fact boxes call out more information.āÆĀ
Iām sick of my mother controlling me. Sheās hacked into my life for too long, insisting on her āItās my way or the highwayā rules; on me having to follow her timetable, dressing the way she suggests; achieving the New Yearās resolutions she makes for me.
Mubla decides what her daughterās New Yearās resolution is going to be each year. Fig isnāt allowed to quit or fail, even if she hates the goal her mother has chosen. This year Mubla has signed Fig up for acting lessons. Fig doesnāt want to act and the idea of being on a stage terrifies her.
Fig has had enough of her mother controlling her. She decides to make her own resolution: Fig is going to swim the world! Thereās just one catch; she canāt swim. Oh, and sheās scared of swimming. And of plenty of animals that live in the water. And of being alone. And the list goes on.
Speaking of lists, Fig loves making them. She also loves maths. Both will come in handy as she plans her adventure.
āItās as much about the mental challenge as the physical. All you need is self-belief ā¦ā
I was looking forward to following Figās adventure around the world and when I learned of her struggles with anxiety I was even more invested in her success. I was keen to watch her learn to manage her anxiety, striving to achieve a goal that scared her. However, the more I got to know Fig the less I liked her. She was selfish and spoilt, and she annoyed me so much. The majority of the time Fig was more concerned with getting caught than with the impact her disappearance would be having on the people who love her.
Iāve disliked the main character in other books and still enjoyed the story though, so my frustration with Fig wouldnāt have been an issue for me if it wasnāt for my inability to suspend my disbelief. I read a lot of childrenās and YA books and usually donāt have a problem with this. In this instance though, I think it would have helped if I could have read Figās story when I was a child. Unfortunately, adult me kept getting distracted, having trouble believing Figās year would have transpired the way it did.
Although her parents are supposedly searching for Fig and thereās a social media campaign to find her, she manages to elude everyone for months when this should not have been the case. Why?
Fig used her motherās credit card to finance the travel portion of her adventure. Her mother and/or the Police could have easily tracked her every step of the way. Why didnāt her mother advise her credit card company that the charges were fraudulent and cancelled them? Fig couldnāt have continued travelling all over the place if her travel reservations were cancelled. If, as her mother claimed, she knew where Fig was then why didnāt she go and bring her home immediately?
Fig uploaded photos of herself to social media along the way. Yes, her account was set to private some of the time but surely someone could have done a reverse image search, figured out her alias and found her by checking the metadata on her photographs.
This family seem to have the kind of money I could only dream of. The swimming equipment that Fig purchased with a āleftover birthday gift voucherā would be equivalent to my income for about two months. Fig doesnāt understand why her mother wonāt trust her when sheās previously given her no reason not to, and I understand wanting to rebel against a controlling parent. However, the amount of money Fig must have stolen from her parents and her disregard for the morality of this decision got under my skin.
I had a particular soft spot for Jago, Figās younger brother. I wanted to get to know him better. I donāt know how Fig could leave Jago without really considering how her absence would affect him. I also didnāt think she was a good friend to Stella, who was supposed to be her best friend. I wish I could have spent more time with Sage and Myrtle; they were interesting enough to warrant an entire book dedicated to their lives.
Some scenes were too convenient for me and others quite predictable. It seemed awfully convenient for Fig to be seated next to an open water swimmer on a plane when she needed information and encouragement specific to this. The identity of one of the people who follows Fig on social media seemed obvious to me, yet she didnāt figure out who it was until near the end of her adventure. I expected the reveal about one of the minor characters, which happened late in the book, once the first clue was planted.
I admired Figās determination in facing her fears and achieving her goal, despite the anxiety she experienced, but I wanted to give her a good talking to whenever she felt the need to complain while she was doing exactly what she wanted.
I hate sailing! Iām sick of this trip!
Iāve loved all of the other books published by Little Tiger Group as much, or even more, than I expected to, so Iām really disappointed that this one didnāt work for me. If Iād managed to get out of my head early on when I was questioning the practicalities I probably would have been able to just keep swimming. Please read some other reviews before deciding if this is the book for you or not. I hope itās a five star read for you.
Bubble, bubble, breathe.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Stripes Publishing, an imprint of Little Tiger Group, for the opportunity to read this book.
āāā
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Fig Fitzsherbert is good at a lot of things: making lists, playing the piano, advanced mathematics. But it’s never quite enough for her high-flying mother, who every New Year’s Day sets Fig an impossible resolution. So one year, Fig decides to set her own challenge instead: she’s going to swim her way round the world. There’s just one tiny problem … Fig can’t swim. Taking it one length at a time, Fig embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. But with her mother closing in, will she be able to keep her head above water and complete her challenge?
Viktor Frankl, like anyone who endured the atrocities of the Holocaust, is someone I donāt have the vocabulary to describe. Iām in awe of the resilience and oftentimes almost unfathomable positivity of anyone who has lived through experiences I canāt even imagine.
Whatās even more extraordinary is that the lectures Frankl gave, which are the basis of this book, were presented only nine months after his liberation from his final concentration camp.
With an introduction by Daniel Goleman and afterward by Franz Vesely, Viktorās son-in-law, this book comprises three of Franklās lectures:
On the Meaning and Value of Life
On the Meaning and Value of Life II
Experimentum Crucis.
These lectures focus on suicide, forced annihilation and concentration camps respectively. With such difficult content I had expected this read to be quite depressing, but thereās hope running through even the darkest of themes. Given the authorās belief that we can find meaning regardless of our circumstances, this hope felt particularly appropriate.
This meaning, Frankl asserts, can come through āour actions, through loving, and through suffering.ā Meaning doesnāt only come from work. Illness, physical or mental, doesnāt necessarily equal loss of meaning. Suffering can be either meaningful or meaningless.
Some of the early text read the way some university philosophy lectures Iāve attended felt, where I was anxious for the lecturer to get to the point, but these sections were the groundwork for what was to come. Frankl gives examples of patients he treated and people he encountered in concentration camps, and these provided the answers to āhow does this theory apply to real life?ā, which is something I always seek.
The third lecture was the one that I found most insightful. Building on the two previous lectures, Frankl discusses his thoughts on the āpsychological reactions of the camp prisoners to life in the camp.ā Learning how this lecture specifically related to his own ability to find meaning was inspirational.
It can be tempting, when someone talks about the importance of your attitude or finding meaning in suffering, to get into āyeah, butā. Yeah, but how would they feel if they were in my situation? Yeah, but what qualifies them to speak to me about suffering? Itās hard to āyeah, butā when the person youāre hearing it from is Viktor Frankl.
While Frankl specifically says that no oneās suffering can be compared to anyone elseās I still find it difficult to think of any of my experiences, not matter how painful they are for me, to be comparable to those who have been subjected to concentration camps. After reading this book part of me wants to admonish myself for having a whinge about any problem I face. However, the overwhelming takeaway for me is if people like Viktor experienced what they did and still managed to find hope and meaning, then it is always possible for me, no matter what comes my way, to change my perspective.
To say yes to life is not only meaningful under all circumstances – because life itself is – but it is also possible under all circumstances.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Rider, an imprint of Ebury Press, Penguin Random House UK, for the opportunity to read this book.
āāāā
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Just months after his liberation from Auschwitz renowned psychiatrist Viktor Frankl delivered a series of talks revealing the foundations of his life-affirming philosophy for which he would become world famous.
Despite the unspeakable horrors in the camp, Frankl learnt from his fellow inmates that it is always possible to say āyes to lifeā. This profound and timeless lesson is amongst many in this remarkable collection now publishing in English for the very first time.
But every hospital, even with patients like these, has at least one inmate whoās weird even for the mental ward.
Patient name: Joe
Date of First Admission: 5 June 1973
Patientās Age at Time of First Admission: 6
Previous Treatments: Unknown
Current Treatments: Mild antidepressants and sedatives
Treatment Administered By: Nessie, Nursing Director
Diagnosis: Disputed; his āsymptoms seemed to mutate unpredictablyā
Patient Release Date: N/A
This type of patient is obviously insane, but nobody knows how they got that way. What you do know, however, is that itāll drive you insane trying to figure it out.
When Dr. Parker H ā begins working as a psychiatrist at Connecticut State Asylum heās young, arrogant and confident he will be able to cure the patient the rest of the staff believe is incurable.
āSo, tell me. Why do you want to attempt therapy on an incurable patient?ā
Joe has been a patient at CSU for over twenty years and no treatments have worked. Itās gotten to the point where heās almost entirely isolated due to the fact that the people who attempt to treat him either die by suicide or wind up admitted to CSU themselves.
Iāve also come to a conclusion: Whatever Joe has, Iām sure we canāt cure it. I donāt even think we can diagnose it. Itās obviously not in the DSM.
If it turns out that psychiatry isnāt the answer for this man, then who do we need to call instead?
A priest?
Mulder and Scully?
Moose and Squirrel?
(Hello, boys)
Dr H ā adds instalments of Joeās story on āa now-defunct web forum for medical professionalsā over the course of seven weeks, his own recollections interspersed with physicianās notes. Weāre told that all names have been changed.
The first instalment, where Dr H ā describes CSU, was interesting but it made me wonder if the narrative was going to end up fairly dry. I neednāt have worried. I soon became hooked, searching the pages for clues that would help me diagnose Joe. I love stories set in asylums so I was probably always going to enjoy this book but I was surprised by how compulsive this read became.
I planned to only read the first entry to get a feel for the book before tackling something that publishes sooner. However, this one ended up jumping the queue and I am already trying to figure out when I will have time for a reread. Iām very grateful to have had the entire story to binge on; it would have frustrated me so much if Iād had to wait for new instalments to become available.
Itās been a couple of days since I finished reading and I want to compare theories with someone. Since I donāt know anyone else whoās read it yet I need to blurt something out here. But, SPOILER AHEAD! I have a theory about the end of the book but itās based on a spoiler so PLEASE donāt read the next paragraph until youāve finished the book.
ā ļø I have my suspicions about Jocelyn. I could be entirely off base here but I think she was killed by āJoeā when he attacked her, and he then shapeshifted to become her. I want her pregnancy to result in a creepy human/whatever-Joe-is hybrid so I can hopefully find out more about what Joe actually is in a sequel (if there is one). ā ļø
Iām really hoping for a sequel as I have plenty of unanswered questions and need to know whatās next for Dr H ā and Joe. I also need some information about Joeās sister.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for the opportunity to read this book.
Bonus Content: A prequel to this book, I used to get letters from my nightmares, was available to read on Reddit at the time I wrote this review. While most parts are available to read on the Reddit website I needed to download the app to read parts 3 and 8 due to sensitive content. While the prequel answered some of my unanswered questions I would recommend you read The Patient first. Had I read the prequel first I would have had a better idea of where Joeās story was heading and this would have taken away some of the joy of discovery.
āāāāā
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
In a series of online posts, Parker H., a young psychiatrist, chronicles the harrowing account of his time working at a dreary mental hospital in New England. Through this internet message board, Parker hopes to communicate with the world his effort to cure one bewildering patient.
We learn, as Parker did on his first day at the hospital, of the facilityās most difficult, profoundly dangerous case – a forty-year-old man who was originally admitted to the hospital at age six. This patient has no known diagnosis. His symptoms seem to evolve over time. Every person who has attempted to treat him has been driven to madness or suicide.
Desperate and fearful, the hospitalās directors keep him strictly confined and allow minimal contact with staff for their own safety, convinced that releasing him would unleash catastrophe on the outside world. Parker, brilliant and overconfident, takes it upon himself to discover what ails this mystery patient and finally cure him. But from his first encounter with the mystery patient, things spiral out of control, and, facing a possibility beyond his wildest imaginings, Parker is forced to question everything he thought he knew.
It is a dark and stormy night and time for revenge of the nerd, Friday the 13th style. Teddy Bateman is Buzzy the Bee, Carville Hornetsā team mascot. He has a crush on Summer but has never had a girlfriend. This short, geeky senior is understandably angry about being the target of bullying.
Heās on the way back from a football game with the players, cheerleaders and coach that contribute to his misery. Good on him for being the one who finds the mask. Itās a pity the mask wearer usually winds up a corpse in this series. Jason himself is still a no show.
āYouāre going to dieā
The potential Voorhees victims in this book:
Carville Hornets (a school football team): Coach Wardell – if you donāt play sports then youāre of no interest to Coach, unless heās taking out his frustration on you. Russ Johnson – linebacker star on the field and boyfriend of Belinda off the field. Slick Chambers – top receiver and the fastest player. Heās a serial cheater and doesnāt say ānoā to drugs, so not even his āsexy eyebrowsā will be enough to save this player. Dave Myers – quarterback and captain of the team, who also does drugs. Dave has put a limit on the amount of times his ditzy but loyal girlfriend is allowed to tell him she loves him each day, so Iām not sure weāre cheering him on to survive. Billy Raymond – centre. He travelled back on the bus so, although weāre briefly introduced to him, heās irrelevant to this story. Tommy Bartlett – kicker. He took the bus as well. Therefore, heās irrelevant too.
The Cheerleaders (there are ten but weāre only introduced to four): Missy Lowe – cheerleading captain. Missy is tall and blonde. Sheās enthusiastic, especially about her love for Dave (who she knits for) but we constantly reminded how dumb she is. Summer Stone – has four older brothers and is a cynic. Sheās tall, with dark hair and blue eyes. Her weakness is Slick, who has no doubt cheated on her a lot more times than she knows about. Belinda Karras – a control freak, Belinda is short and pretty. Arlene Kerdell – the top girl of the cheerleading pyramid, Arlene takes the bus, so we didnāt really need to learn her name.
The Locals: The Trooper – for someone who plays a larger role in the story than I initially expected, I thought he had earned a name. I was wrong; heās the Trooper the entire time. Although law enforcement donāt usually fare well in horror stories he does warn some randoms about the townās history, so thereās a slim chance heāll survive. Tina – other than being the trooperās wife, the only other piece of information I have about this woman is spoilery in nature. Sheās unlikely to survive. Cliff – an architect and the trooperās best friend. His character is essentially only there to help tell Tinaās spoilery story so we may as well dig his grave now.
The Randoms: Donny Borelli – as far as I can tell, Donny and his friend, Stu Bergman, served their purpose in this book as soon as they introduced the trooper, the cave and the vampire bats. Mr Morrisey – bus driver. It appears they are smart enough not to take the Crystal Lake detour.
āYouāre going where?ā
While I wasnāt invested in any character enough to hope they lived (or died) I did have to give most of the characters some credit. Other than Donny, Stu and the locals, no one actually planned on spending any time in Voorhees-land. The Carville Hornets are actually the only ones in this series so far that didnāt reserve their death day in advance.
āBEHIND YOU!ā
With spelunking, strange hybrid vampire bats, cheating partners and too much time spent at the football game, this is definitely not my favourite slaughter fest of the series. The mask has once again added more magic to its repertoire, with a newly found ability to remotely operate a car, even before itās attached to someoneās face. The introduction of the cave, especially minus a backstory, felt like a weird choice although it did provide a semi-legitimate reason for the inclusion of the vampire bats.
A series of unanswered questions relate directly to the bats, the most pressing of which is: What is their backstory and why are we not told about it?
It took quite a while for the hockey mask action to commence. This is a short book, yet it wasnāt until page 96 that someone put the mask on and the first kill by the person wearing the hockey mask didnāt happen until page 116! Even then, one of my biggest disappointments of the third book was repeated here: the hockey mask guy wasnāt even directly responsible for about half of the kills.
The Death Toll: a spider, bat and somewhere between 9 and 11 people.
The spider got squished by a car in the prologue and then I had to wait around for a while before I got to the first human kill.
Of those not killed by the person possessed by the hockey mask, three people were shot (Tina, Coach and Cliff), Slick was sucked dry by vampire bats and Teddy got roasted. The hockey mask guy was only directly responsible for four deaths (unnamed trooper, Missy, Belinda and Dave).
I think one of our two spelunkers (Donny and Stu) was dispatched via vampire bat and the other was never heard from again, but I may be wrong about these guys. It didnāt seem overly specific at the time.
Best Insult:
āYouāre the worldās biggest fungus brainā
Kill of the Book: Missy, who was skewered with her own knitting needles, which were attached to the stinger on the mascotās head.
There are some racist, sexist and homophobic comments and enough discrepancies between the text and cover image to tell me that the artist didnāt read the book. The uniforms on the cover are blue and white but in the book theyāre orange and black. The kid in the hockey mask is supposed to have dark, curly hair and the blonde girl is supposed to have her hair in a whole pile of braids. The killer doesnāt wield a machete in the book, the van is supposed to be white and, as Iāve already said, the massacre takes place on a dark and stormy night.
If you are planning on reading this series you should probably read them in order. The second book follows on from the first and the events of the third book are mentioned in this one.
āāā
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
When the football team van swerves off the road and crashes after the big game, everyone blames Teddy, the class nerd and the teamās mascot. While his tormentors take shelter at Camp Crystal Lake, Teddy trades in his mascot suit for Jason’s hockey mask – and makes this a night his classmates will never forget.
I made faces like the faces on the rocks, and I twisted myself about like the twisted ones, and I lay down flat on the ground like the dead ones.
Iāve been trying to get my hands on this book for ten months and I couldnāt wait to enjoy the creepy. Unfortunately the gap between my expectation and reality turned into a chasm and I still donāt entirely know what went wrong.
Melissa (but you can call her Mouse) is about to undertake the potentially icky and smelly task of clearing out her grandmotherās house. Grandma, who Mouse hasnāt seen since she was seven, probably should have been nominated for Hoarders but no one really knew how bad the house had gotten.
Mouse could have said she wasnāt in the market for a creepy doll collection or a leaning tower of newspapers but her father asked for her help and in Mouseās family people donāt make a habit of asking anyone for anything, so when they do she tends to say āyesā.
So, here she is in North Carolina with Bongo, her redbone coonhound, who forgot to get in line when they were handing out brains. Heās adorable and faithful but not exactly guard dog material.
Bongo is an excellent watchdog, by which I mean that he will watch very alertly as the serial killer breaks into the house and skins me.
It turns out that Mouse and her family werenāt the only ones to find Grandma detestable. Just ask the Goth barista girl, Frank at the dump, Officer Bob, or Grandmaās neighbours, Tomas, Foxy and Skip. Then there was poor Cotgrave, Grandmaās second husband, who died nineteen years ago.
It turns out there are āNasty things out and aboutā and Cotgrave wrote about them.
āI bet itās aliens,ā I told Bongo. āItās always aliens.ā
Hidden somewhere in Grandmaās hoard could be the answers to whatās going on in the woods behind the house. Sure, Mouse could ditch the hunt and the clean up; she could tell her father itās too big of a job and never have to deal with any of it again. But then again, sheās an editor and thereās a book involved.
itās killing you to think thereās a weird book hidden somewhere and you might not get to read it.
Mouse and Bongo wind up involved in something thatās on āthe far side of impossibleā.
I find it almost impossible to believe that I didnāt fall in love with this book but thatās where we are. At page 80 I was wondering when the story was really going to begin. By page 180 I was only continuing to read because Seanan McGuire loved it and sheās my favourite author, so therefore I assume I must automatically love what she does.
On page 305 I was so glad that something besides taking trash to the dump and walking in the woods was happening (yes, this is an exaggeration but I was so bored up until that point that itās how I felt). I canāt believe a book that was supposed to be scary was making me want to clean my house, just so I could feel like I was accomplishing something.
I hate that I didnāt experience this book the same way all of the reviewers who have given it āļøāļøāļøāļøāļø did. I had planned on being one of them. I donāt know if it would have helped or hindered my enjoyment of this book if Iād read Arthur Machenās The White People first. Itās the book referenced in the authorās acknowledgements, where they confirm The Twisted Ones is āin dialogue with a letter written about a short story that was itself about a book ā¦ā
I want to read another book by this author because Iām convinced my failure to love this book is somehow about me, not the book.
āāā
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
When a young woman clears out her deceased grandmotherās home in rural North Carolina, she finds long-hidden secrets about a strange colony of beings in the woods.
When Mouseās dad asks her to clean out her dead grandmother’s house, she says yes. After all, how bad could it be?
Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but thereās more – Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfatherās journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants ā¦ until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself.
Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors – because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and theyāre looking for you. And if she doesnāt face them head on, she might not survive to tell the tale.
She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.
This book was my introduction to flash fiction. While I probably would have read this collection anyway, especially since itās currently free to download here, it was the inclusion of a Seanan McGuire story that sealed the deal for me.
I usually find short story collections a bit hit and miss, and this quick read was at various times, āI love it!ā, āIt was okayā, and āWhat did I just read?!ā Iāve marked the ones I loved with š and have included a short quote from each.
Our Faces, Radiant Sisters, Our Faces Full of Light! by Kameron Hurley š
They came to extinguish light, and hope. She was here to remind them they wouldnāt do it unchallenged.
God Product by Alyssa Wong
Caroline hated having been chosen by a small god, whose presence was so quiet that most people forgot she was there.
Alchemy by Carrie Vaughn š
(āYouāll never find what youāre looking for,ā they told her. āNevertheless,ā she replied.)
Persephone by Seanan McGuire š
I wasnāt supposed to see that. I donāt believe anyone was supposed to see that.
Margot and Rosalind by Charlie Jane Anders
āPlus you start to ask questions, and the worst thing about questions is that sometimes, they have answers.ā
Astronaut by Maria Dahvana Headley š
Miss Baker was on a mission to defy gravity.
More Than Nothing by Nisi Shawl
āBut you aināt gonna lemme keep you from doin magic. Is you?ā
The Last of the Minotaur Wives by Brooke Bolander
Once youāve been in the light for awhile, Blue finds, itās hard as hell to willingly walk back into darkness.
The Jump Rope Rhyme by Jo Walton
She was warned, and explained at, and patronized But persisted still, against their lies, For you, the future, she in the past Persisted, to make things good at last.
Anabasis by Amal El-Mohtar
A warning is the same as a threat. Television teaches this. Is that a threat / call it a warning. Call it by a different name, and it changes.
The Ordinary Woman and the Unquiet Emperor by Catherynne M. Valente
When he was a young man, the Unquiet Emperor had banned questions, inquiries, curiosities, rhetoric, and finally question marks entirely, for such things were surely the source of all the mistrust and isolation in modern society.
āāāā
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.
Three short lines, fired over social media in response to questions of why Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced on the floor of the United States Senate, for daring to read aloud the words of Coretta Scott King. As this message was transmitted across the globe, it has become a galvanising cry for people of all genders in recognition of the struggles that women have faced throughout history.
Three short lines, which read as if they are the opening passage to an epic and ageless tale.
We have assembled this flash fiction collection featuring several of the best writers in SF/F today, including Seanan McGuire, Charlie Jane Anders, Maria Dahvana Headley, Jo Walton, Amal El-Mohtar, Catherynne M. Valente, Brooke Bolander, Alyssa Wong, Kameron Hurley, Nisi Shawl and Carrie Vaughn. Together these authors share unique visions of women inventing, playing, loving, surviving, and ā of course ā dreaming of themselves beyond their circumstances.
This selection of Peanuts comics takes me back to my childhood, and even further. Alongside the usual baseball games, school reports and Peppermint Patty falling asleep in class, the kidsā thoughts on newsworthy occurrences at the time, such as the moon landing and Halley’s Comet, are also included.
While Snoopy prepares to be the first beagle on the moon,
Lucy considers the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Naturally it canāt exist; if it did it would have already made contact with her.
When heās not being an astronaut, Snoopy is either trying to figure out what type of bird Woodstock is or leading Woodstock and the other Beagle Scouts on adventures a little closer to home. When the round-headed kid Charlie Brown bails one of the Scouts out of jail (donāt ask!) and attempts to return her to the rest of the troop they get lost in the woods. Peppermint Patty and Marcie to the rescue!
Sally and Eudora prepare themselves for another summer at camp
and Sally plots revenge.
Thereās also time to celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Valentineās Day and Ground Hug Day,
and I saw some space comics from the archives for the first time.
While I love all of the Peanuts kids Iāve never been that big of a fan of Snoopy himself, especially the World War I flying ace comics. However, thereās plenty of variety in this collection and Iām looking forward to the next one.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.
āāāā
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Join Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang as he seeks new milestones in the space race!
Even though the first moon landing was 50 years ago, Snoopy has a bold new mission: to be the first beagle in space! Join Snoopy as he sets out on his ambitious quest, while also leading Woodstock and friends as a Beagle Scout and keeping the company of his owner, the round-headed kid Charlie Brown.
Nelson and Kenny are back and this time there are two of them! Their friends have started to get suspicious about their mysterious absences each time Ninja Kid and H-Dude battle evil Dr Kane so inventor extraordinaire Grandma has created Nelson and Kenny clones.
Now, whenever our heroes spring into action they will be able to activate their clones to stand in for them. That is, if the clones behave themselves. Dr Kane hasnāt been seen for a while but Nelson and Kenny take their clones with them to Camp Koala, just in case.
Strap on your jetpack and get ready for some cool dance moves, groan-worthy math puns
and an obstacle course worthy of a Ninja Warrior. Grandma is as fun as usual and her inventions still either work brilliantly or fail in a humorous way. Along with the usual assortment of heroes, school kids and baddie we are introduced to a new character, Ultimate Ninja.
Dr Kane still hasnāt figured out Ninja Kid and H-Dudeās not so secret identities, so I donāt think heāll ever be smart enough to win. Heās determined though and I admire his tenacity.
While I usually marvel at the sheer wackiness of Grandmaās inventions
I was disappointed by her clones. I would have thought having an antenna sticking out the top of their heads, an on/off switch on the back of their heads and a microchip attached to their necks would have been a bit of a giveaway but apparently the people of Duck Creek arenāt all that observant. Iām also not entirely sure how Nelson and Kenny are supposed to be able to focus on defeating Dr Kane and control their clones simultaneously.
This book has a new illustrator, Anton Emdin. I loved Jeremy Leyās illustrations in the first four books and had looked forward to them continuing to bring Anh Doās characters to life. Anton Emdin has done a good job of keeping the style consistent with the rest of the series though, a feat that I expect is quite difficult to accomplish. Had I not seen the new name on the title page I doubt I would have known the difference.
Iāve started to become suspicious of Dr Kaneās involvement each time a new character is introduced in this series and so far havenāt been wrong. I hope to be surprised next time and look forward to finding out more about Nelsonās father.
Iād recommend reading this series in order as spoilers for prior Dr Kane mischief are included in this book.
āāāā
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Nelson and Kenny have been CLONED!
Robot Nelson and Robot Kenny are faster, smarter and better dancers!
But when the clones spin out of control at school camp, can the REAL Nelson and Kenny SAVE THE DAY?
Schizanthus Nerd 