Graphic Novel Review of Fables Vol. 6: Homelands by Bill Willingham

Read for: Graphic Novel Challenge

 

Synopsis: "Collecting issues #34-41 of writer Bill Willingham's Eisner Award-winning creation, Homelands follows Boy Blue on a mission of revenge as he uncovers the Adversary's true identity! Plus, the two-part story of Jack's adventures in Hollywood and the one-shot story of Mowgli's return to Fabletown."

My Review: I haven't been a fan of Jack, and probably won't ever be, so it was a little discouraging when I had to trudge through his little story at the beginning of this novel. I was relieved though that it wasn't all about him (as I am sure he would prefer it to be). I really enjoyed Boy Blue's adventures, he always seemed like such a minor background character and it was great to see this secret and powerful side to him. I hope we get to have more adventures with him. It was also interesting to see the other side of this story, the whole series so far we have been hearing about this mysterious Adversary and Empire and we now know a little more.

 

My Rating: It was fun to get some more backstory on who everyone is so afraid of but again there was a lot of stuff to sludge through first. I do like this series but I am considering letting it fall by the wayside. I give it a rating of Three Paws.

Bedtime Story: When Will it Snow by Kathryn White

Read for: Children's Book Challenge

 

Synopsis: "When Little Bear’s mother tells him it is soon time to hibernate for the winter, Little Bear hides. “If I go home, I’ll have to sleep for the whole winter. And I’ll never know what snow is like.” Little Bear is sure he’ll miss his friends Squirrel and Mole too who are already making snow angels. But they prove to be real friends in the spring-time."

My Review: I was hoping this would be a good story about the transition from fall to winter. While Little Bear's friends did use fall objects to show him what snow was like, you only briefly get to see the snow and then spring is back. I was hoping it would be a little bit more of a countdown to winter. Munchkin still did enjoy the story.

 

My Rating: I think this might have been a great book with a different title, it is a little misleading. It does have cute illustrations. I give it a rating of Two Paws.

 

 

Good Night! Sweet Dreams!

Beginning Reader Review of Mittens at School by Lola M. Schaefer

Read for: Early Reader Challenge

 

Synopsis: "Mittens is visiting Nick's school, and he wants to see everything. But exploring the classroom while everyone is away might get this little kitty into big trouble!

Emergent readers will share Mittens' curiosity about school and relish the happy ending to his newest adventure."

My Review: These Mittens stories are absolutely perfect for those beginning readers. The words and sentences are short and familiar. Anything that they don't understand can be gotten from the cute illustrations. This one was also a fun introduction to things that can be found in a school classroom.

 

My Rating: This book was full of so many great things for young readers and a fun story to go along. I give it a rating of Three Paws and Stump Wag.

Audio Book Review of The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Read For: Mount TBR & Reading Across the States

 

Synopsis: "Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step....

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't."


My Review: I see now why so many people were raving about this book for the past few years. I am glad I finally got a chance to read it (or rather listen to it). The audio version is fantastic with several narrators for the different voices of the book, they worked brilliantly together and I feel I don't even need to see the movie (but am looking forward to it). I greatly enjoyed the concept of the book and how it was executed. It was enjoyable, yet eye opening. I must say though the ending really left you hanging without any true conclusion, some of the storylines are left a little open to interpretation.

 

My Rating: I really don't see how I could ever give this book a rating less than Four Paws and a Stump Wag!

Monday Reading List

Its Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Shelia at Book Journey. Share what books you have finished in the last week, are currently reading and what might be coming up next!

Reviews Posted Last Week:

Links will take you to my review

 

Rikki Tikki Tavi by Rudyard Kipling
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz (Bedtime Story)
 

 Books Finished Last Week:

Reviews will be posted at a later date

The Right Hand Rule = 3pts
Highlander's Homecoming = 5pts
Healing the Highlander = 5pts
Highlander's Curse = 5pts

 

Currently Reading:

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl - Audio - 16%
Gearteeth by Timothy Black - Kindle - on page 56 of 347
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas - Nook - on page 32 of 562




 Books to be Read Soon:

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas - Mount TBR/ Series Challenge

 

Total Points Earned
 91 Points + 18 points + 5 Points finishing a series +10 Bonus Points (10K pages)= 124

Pages Read/ Time Listened
50,618 pages read (1,335 read this week)
183:46 listening time

Books Added to Shelves



Interesting Tidbits on the Web:



 



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I ended up having to go into work much earlier than expected and it really wore me out. I didn't get quite as much reading done as I would have liked but I did really enjoy the reading I did get in. I am back to regular hours again now (even though I am not supposed to be). Thankfully my job is a lot of sitting at the desk and the time I spent in the office last week kept me relatively on track at the office so I can spare some time for reading this week.  Can you believe we are already in November?!

Wishing you a great first week this month!

Blog Ahead Wrap Up

 

 

 

 

 had joined the Blog Ahead Challenge hosted by Anna at Herding Cats and Burning Soup. With the goal to pre-schedule 30 extra posts by today. It was a challenge at first since I was scheduling posts that were going live throughout the month, but then I got started on November and Decembers posts and things really got going.

 

Here are my Updates:

 

Midway-ish Update (October 20, 2015):
Starting Scheduled Posts: 0

Posts that went Live: 0
Posts Scheduled: 33
Current Scheduled Posts: 33
Goal for next update: schedule 10 more posts by the end of the month
Thoughts: Gosh what an insane month this has been, I have spent more time away from the computer than at it. I have scheduled far more than 33 posts so far this month but they have all gone live while I was away. Now I am going to be away for most of the rest of the month. Of those 33 posts currently schedule only 24 will count towards the final number, the rest are scheduled in October. I do have at least 5 more that I can post today and tomorrow. Let's cross our fingers that I can squeeze out those final posts before the end of the month!

 

 

Final Update (October 30, 2015):

 

Starting Scheduled Posts: 33

Posts that went Live: 13
Posts Scheduled: 17
Current Scheduled Posts: 37
Goal for next update: We are at the end but I hope to stay at least 15 posts ahead in the coming months.
Thoughts: I managed to squeak them all in at the end. I was out of the office for the past week recovering from surgery, but I did manage to bang out the last few posts yesterday and today. It if a relief to nearly have the full month of December/ Advent Reads posted and much of November as well!

 

 

 

 

Well how about that, some how this month I have managed to schedule posts for all of this month but also a good chunk in November and almost all of the December Advent Reads posts! Thank you Anna for hosting this kick in the butt again, it really was motivational and I hope to keep it up (at least until the mini one or next year)!