Posts

Review: The Haunted House by Nicole Andelfinger, Knack Whittle & Francine Pascal

Image
Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are back in their fourth Sweet Valley Twins graphic novel. This time around the twins are divided when a mysterious new girl arrives at Sweet Valley Middle School. Nora Mercandy is quiet, slightly depressed and has a goth look about her. If that alone doesn't make her enough of a target in Sweet Valley, the world's capital of pointless and excessive schoolyard bullying, the fact that she is living in the old Mercandy house which is supposedly haunted and everyone thinks her grandparents are creepy certainly is.  This one was an interesting addition to the series. As is often the case in Sweet Valley, centres around Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, highlighting the differences between the twins. While Elizabeth takes the time to get to know Nora, and finds her to be a sweet kid who is grieving for her mother and has little support from her ailing grandparents, Jessica is more focused on outward appearances and the opinions of her snooty friends--...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: My Animals and Other Animals by Bill Bailey

Image
Acclaimed comedian Bill Bailey takes us well behind the scenes and into his other life as an animal lover in his memoir My Animals and Other Animals. (The title, of course, being a play on My Family and Other Animals. ) The stories are many, and mostly self-contained, telling the stories of beloved family pets (or should that be family members,) and various amusing encounters with animals as he travels across the globe. This book is a lot of fun. It is also fairly short and given the size of the font and spacing I'm a little surprised that publisher Hachette decided to print it as a trade paperback. The other unfortunate part of the book is that it isn't terribly memorable. I remember many of the stories made me laugh, but I actually remember very little of them. Still, it was a great way to spend an afternoon and one that I would recommend as a fun book to read between more serious reads or if you are in need of cheering up. Recommended. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Gold Rush by Olivia Petter

Image
What if, the most famous man on the planet and one of your heroes was also the worst kind of human being? That is the reality experienced by Rose, the twenty-something protagonist of Gold Rush by Olivia Petter. Chance and circumstance leads Rose to strike up a friendship with rock star Milo Jax, but things take a strange turn after he invites her to his home. Rose can remember a night of drinking and flirtation, but her body is telling her a very different story... Olivia Petter tells a convincing story of what happens when women and their bodies are treated as commodities. Rose's confusion over the events of that evening, denial and a search for evidence then answers, and questions of self-worth are entirely convincing. It is also a story of celebrity culture and how some celebrities are able to use their fame in the most vile way possible--and how that same fame allows them to get away with it. The story isn't easy reading, and nor is it meant to be. Olivia Petter creates a s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Funny Stuff No One Asked For by Jimmy Smith & Nath Roye

Image
Okay. Just as the title suggests, I did not actually ask for this book. (Well, technically I did. I went to my local bookshop and asked if they had a copy.) Anyway, the fact that I didn't ask for this to be published doesn't mean that I find it any less funny. In this book, Jimmy & Nath from the radio show of the same name share a curated selection of jokes from listeners and various celebrities. And well ... they made me laugh, which is all the book had to do now that I stop and think about it. In all seriousness, this was a fun read, with some great jokes and illustrations, and I found myself picking it up on a few occasions when I was having a bad day. I was a bit hesitant to write a review for a couple of personal reasons, but then I figured stuff it. The book is a lot of fun and it gave me a few laughs and I would like to think that it might make other people laugh as well. Recommended. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Karen's Grandmothers by DK Yingst and Ann M Martin

Image
DK Yingst's debut Little Sister graphic novel adaption, Karen's Grandmother's (and ninth in the series overall) is a winner. This time around, we see Karen participating in a programme at school where the kids 'adopt' a grandparent at the local nursing home. Karen is very excited at the prospect. Thanks to her status as a 'two-two' this means she will now have five grandmothers overall--two biological grandmothers, two step grandmother and now an adopted grandmother. She thinks it might even be a record. The only flaw in this plan is that her little house bestie Nancy Dawes isn't sharing in her excitement. Nancy doesn't have a grandmother, she is afraid of old people and she most defiantly does not wish to take part in the programme. Karen needs a way to show Nancy that old people are pretty cool, but what happens when she sets Nancy and one of her grandmothers up as pen pals, and Granny from Nebraska starts taking more of an interest in Nancy and li...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: What Does It Feel Like by Sophie Kinsella

Image
In April 2024 beloved author Sophie Kinsella, whose bestsellers include The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (titled Confessions of Shopaholic in the USA) and Can You Keep a Secret revealed that she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer and had been receiving treatment since 2022. What Does It Feel Like is a semi-autobiographical account of her experiences--of making it as an author, getting onto the bestseller lists, seeing a book made into a movie and then finding herself in hospital, unable to remember the past few months and being given a very scary diagnosis.  Evie, the protagonist in What Does It Feel Like is not Sophie Kinsella, but their experiences are very similar. Broken into small chapters we experience Evie's highs and lows, her success, her diagnosis, treatment and, ultimately, a sense of hope. I found myself reaching for the tissues on a few occasions while I became fully invested in Evie's journey. The ending is not a fa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Image
  I'm thirty. I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honour.  This quote, spoken by The Great Gatsby narrator Nick Carraway to his former love interest Jordan Baker sums up F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel of self-delusion perfectly. It is a hot summer in the midst of the roaring twenties when Nick Carraway takes up a residence in a small town just outside of New York. He soon becomes intrigued by his new neighbour, Jay Gatsby whose reputation for hosting the perfect party has stretched far and wide. No one knows exactly how Gatsby got his money, but people flock far and wide to his residence for a good time. A friendship between Gatsby and Nick develops, though it soon becomes increasingly clear that Gatsby wants a friendship with Nick so that he can access Nick's glamorous cousin Daisy, who also just happens to be married to the very wealthy brute Tom Buchanan. What follows is a story of utter self-delusion, selfishness and the perils of trying to rec...
Post a Comment
Read more