Tag: Book Review

The Best Damn Answers to Life’s Hardest Questions: A Flowchart Book – Tess Koman

Am I a nerd? ✔️
Do I like flowcharts? ✔️
Do I like gift books? ✔️
Do I like laughing? ✔️

I found The Best Damn Answers to Life’s Hardest Questions: A Flowchart Book and thought I’d hit the quadfecta. It turns out that just because something ticks all the right boxes it doesn’t always mean you’ll find the gift book of your dreams.

I wouldn’t need a flowchart for a lot of the questions anyway:

  • Room for dessert? – Duh! Always!
  • Do I need a vacation? – See above.
  • Do I need more coffee? – Again, see above.

I’m too nerdy to fully appreciate the carefree look of these flowcharts. They don’t have different symbols for each action type and without arrows a messy flowchart can be kinda difficult to navigate in sections. Also, some of the questions don’t result in a flowchart, just a rant or a pros and cons list, which didn’t make sense to me as it’s a Flowchart Book.

Maybe we can chalk it up to the fact that this book is asking questions of millennials when I’m too old to even pretend to be one, if I actually wanted to. However, regardless of my age, I doubt this ever would’ve been the book for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Workman Publishing Company for the opportunity to read this book.

Once Upon a Blurb

A hilarious and utterly relatable collection of flowcharts, rants, and lists about adulting.

A humourous guide to adulthood in a collection of 54 charmingly illustrated flowcharts and pros-and-cons lists that each address an all-too-real question, from the mundane to the life-changing. Will I survive this hangover? (Probably not.) Should I cancel my plans? (YES! Cancel immediately.) Am I having a quarter-life crisis? (Probably.) Do I even like this person? (Nope, nope, nope.) This inspired book of humour disguised as invaluable advice is a gift to make anyone feel better, proving that every question, thought, and decision, no matter how ridiculous or irresponsible, is completely valid. 

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The Snitch, the Witch, and the One Who Was Rich – Joe Spraga

After Dorothy learns she’s not in Kansas anymore, she follows the yellow brick road in the magical Land of Oz to find the Wizard of Oz, who she hopes will be able to help her return home. Along the way to the Emerald City she meets the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, all of whom could also benefit from the Wizard’s help. After a long journey and some drama concerning flying monkeys and a meltable witch, the new friends are either granted their wish or learn they had the magic within them all the time.

Oh, wait. Wrong story. Let me start again.

Snitch lives in town and follows the purple moonlit trail on their way to see Father Time, who they hope to get help from. Along the way to Father Time’s place, Snitch meets the nasty old Witch. The two then form a line to wait for Father Time to open the door and help them. The One Who Was Rich then joins the line, followed by a good portion of the townsfolk, who make their needs known. While the nasty old Witch does look a lot like meltable witch from Oz, unfortunately there are no flying monkeys in this book. Finally the Wizard Father Time opens his door, offers some sage advice about the value of time and grants some their wishes. Others learn they had the magic within them all the time and make the necessary changes to their lives themselves.

So, totally different story. Sort of.

Ignoring the fact that this story is essentially a reboot of a classic that’s over a century old and wasn’t ‘broke’ in the first place, the rhymes are quite cute and the townsfolk learn valuable lessons or get what they want given to them. The Celtic font looks nice but I’m not sure it’s the most sensible choice for young readers who may have trouble with the legibility of some letters.

The clock goes backwards between the Candlestick Man arriving and the Drummer who arrives later when it’s significantly darker. There’s also a picture where the clock is missing entirely. Father Time opens his door at midnight and then he starts his speech with “It’s nearly midnight”. To emphasise this point the next illustration shows him pointing to the clock that was midnight previously and it is now almost 11:55pm. It looks as though the midnight illustration of the first half of the line up has been recycled which would have worked if the time had been changed. Harry, who was a shy guy and didn’t speak (probably because he had no mouth) is no longer a shy guy after seeing Father Time, possibly because Father Time gave him a mouth. Yes, I know I’m being picky about the attention to detail but kids pick up on stuff like that.

I was interested in this book because of the inviting cover design. I still love it, I liked the design of most of the characters and I enjoyed the rhyming. Overall though, it just wasn’t for me. There were other whinges I had as I went through the book a second time but I’m sure you get the idea by now. It did make me want to watch The Wizard of Oz for the billionth time though.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to read this book.

P.S. I’m in the minority with this one. There are a number of 4 and 5 star reviews for this book so please don’t just take my word for it. Check some of those out too before you decide if this book is for you or not.

Update

It turns out if you post a review on Amazon that this author doesn’t like they feel free to spew paragraphs of abuse at you. There was so much more I could have told you all that was negative about this book but I tried to find positives instead, like the fantastic front cover art. I guess the fact that I explicitly stated that I was in the minority and encouraged people to check out other reviews means nothing.

Once Upon a Blurb

Welcome to Moonwood, a modern day nursery rhyme about how to use your time wisely and be a better you! 

Follow these quirky townsfolk in a beautifully illustrated picture book, as they gather outside the clock tower and seek Father Time’s wisdom on achieving personal goals, and getting along with each other in their magical community. 

What will they discover? Time is the only true commodity. This story shows both children and adults, that we must use what little time we all have to be good to each other. 

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Comics for a Strange World: A Book of Poorly Drawn Lines – Reza Farazmand

I read some of the comics twice to try and figure out what I was missing. I find most things funny including things that aren’t supposed to be, yet I didn’t even feel the beginning of a smile while reading this book. I tried really hard. Sorry, this one wasn’t for me.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Plume Books, Penguin Group for the opportunity to read this book.

Once Upon a Blurb

Absurd comics for our absurd times, from the artist behind the wildly popular webcomic Poorly Drawn Lines.

In his follow up to the New York Times bestselling Poorly Drawn Lines, beloved webcomic artist Reza Farazmand returns with a new collection of comics that hilariously skewers our modern age. Comics for a Strange World takes readers through time, space, and alternate realities, reuniting fans with favourite characters and presenting them with even more bizarre scenarios. A child is arrested for plagiarism. A squirrel adapts to human society by purchasing a cell phone – and a gun. And an old man shares memories of the Internet with his granddaughter (“A vast network of millions of idiots. Together, the idiots created endless shitty ideas. It was a true renaissance of shit.”). In the world of Poorly Drawn Lines, nothing is too weird or too outlandish for parody.

Featuring 50% brand new content alongside some of the most popular comics of the past year, Comics for a Strange World is the perfect antidote to life’s absurdities.

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Dollface Volume 2 – Dan Mendoza

Spoilers Ahead!

Disclaimer for this review: I haven’t read the first volume of Dollface and I hadn’t checked out its reviews prior to reading this graphic novel so my interest in Dollface Volume 2 was based solely on its blurb and the image on the cover.

Emily and Ivan are the students who made Lila. Emily’s girlfriend Paige attends school in California while Emily is studying at M.I.T. Emily wants to visit Paige but can’t afford the travel cost or time because of mid-terms so Ivan, a ghost, creates a portal and the three of them whoosh through the portal to L.A. Once in L.A., Lila’s witch alert system activates so she and Ivan go check it out while Emily catches up with Paige. Then all hell breaks loose.

I like the concept of a 17th century witch hunter being transported to present time into the body of a doll that a couple of students created with a 3D printer. Also I generally love all things relating to witches, ghosts, tattoos, people with brightly coloured hair and blood spatter, so I figured this was a pretty safe bet for me. This time I was mistaken. Not much offends me but I personally found this graphic novel quite disgusting and wrong on so many levels.

Had I not committed to reviewing this graphic novel I would have stopped reading as soon as I turned the page and saw the woman eating babies in the basement of a medical clinic that offers abortions.

I’m sure there’s an audience for this type of graphic novel but it’s definitely not me. I take full responsibility for not doing enough research before I requested a review copy of this one. Had I done my research I would have known I wasn’t part of the target audience. Lesson learned.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Once Upon a Blurb

The adventures continue as Lila, Emily and Ivan set off to sunny California in search of the next witch on Lila’s list. In this story, Emily meets up with her long distance love, Ivan learns more about his ghostly form and Lila exhibits what she’s capable of when pushed to the limits. Get ready for California carnage in Volume 2 of Dollface: Tales of the ball jointed witch hunter!

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