Who Broke the Teapot?!

author: Bill Slavin
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/04/28
date added: 2016/04/28
shelves: children-s
review:
'Who Broke the Teapot?' by Bill Slavin is a hilarious whodunnit that you'll want to read aloud with an ever louder voice.

In a chaotic household, tragedy has occurred. While brother is swinging from a ceiling fan, and the cats and dogs are occupied, and dad sits idly by reading the paper in his underwear, someone has done something terrible. Someone has broken mom's teapot and she is not happy. As mom gets more and more upset, will she be able to determine who broke the teapot?

The pictures are fun and the text of the book even finds itself on the newspaper that father is reading, or trailing down the page. Mom's cries of 'who broke the teapot?' get louder until they are covering two pages of big fonts. The book has a perfect rhyming meter and is the funniest picture book I've read in a while. When you find out who broke the teapot, you'll find it funny too.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Penguin Random House Canada, Tundra Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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D4ve2

author: Ryan Ferrier
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.05
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2016/04/27
date added: 2016/04/27
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'D4VE2' by Ryan Ferrier with art by Valentin Ramon takes place a year after the first volume of 'D4VE.' I think I liked the first volume better, but this one wasn't bad at all.

D4VE has saved the 34RTH, and now he's in charge of a defense force. He even has a huge statue that's been built in his honor. Despite that, D4VE is still D4VE. His son 5COTTY doesn't respect him. His ex-wife is dating another robot, and D4VE is still going through some kind of mid-life crisis. Now some mysterious looking spacejunk has shown up and threatens to overturn all the work that D4VE has done. Can he save the 34RTH? Can he get his son to respect him? Can he make everything right?

The satire is just great in the book. I'm not as much of a fan of the vulgarity, but the humor is spot on. I also love the art and all the visual jokes happening in the background. I really liked D4VE and I'm glad I got to read more.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, IDW Publishing, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.



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Hunt the Wolf (SEAL Team Six #1)

author: Don Mann
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2014/08/22
date added: 2016/04/27
shelves:
review:
The first book in the SEAL Team Six, 'Hunt The Wolf' by Don Mann and Ralph Pezzullo is a serviceable enough start to the series. I think the procedures are pretty realistic, but the story seems a bit stereotyped.

When a group of Middle Eastern bad guys starts kidnapping young women, Thomas Crocker and his team inadvertently stumble across it. He butts heads with his local CIA chief, but he has a strange ally with the king of Sweden. The book travels from icy mountains of K2, to an ambush in a French villa, and eventually onto a ship. The main character is battered and beaten and keeps relentlessly moving forward because that's what he's supposed to do. His team is loyal to a fault.

The characters could use a little more of something. The plot seems a bit rehashed, but that's not a complaint. The action is good, but the moments waiting for the action felt a bit long and drawn out. I don't think it needs more action. I think it needed more interesting drama to play into the action. Perhaps future books in the series will flesh the characters out and do more than present cardboard cutout villains. I'm planning on reading more in the series.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Mulholland Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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Best Poems of the Brontë Sisters

author: Emily Brontë
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1902
rating: 4
read at: 2016/04/25
date added: 2016/04/25
shelves: classics
review:
'Best Poems of the Brontë Sisters' introduced me to poems written by the three literary sisters. It's a short collection but was enjoyable to read.

The Brontë's famous for writing were among six siblings. They originally published the poems under the names of Currer, Acton and Ellis Bell, perhaps thinking the poems would sell better if buyers thought the authors were men. Perhaps it's fortuitous that the poems didn't sell well, because the Brontës moved on to writing novels. That's not to say the poems aren't good, but I think their prose is more enduring.

The poems are very much of the century they lived in. There are odes to nature such as places in the woods or windy days. There are also some darker poems written about the loss of their siblings. There is joy here, but much sorrow and darkness too. The poems are not something I would have thought of as something the Brontës would do well, but I thoroughly enjoyed this collection.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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The Shadow: Midnight in Moscow

author: Howard Chaykin
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at: 2015/09/30
date added: 2016/04/25
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'The Shadow: Midnight in Moscow' is a Story starring the Shadow as written and drawn by Howard Chaykin. While the story warmed up for me at the end, it just took too long for me to recommend it.

It's the early 1950s. The war is over, the world is recovering, and the Shadow is thinking about retiring. While he is enjoying time off, strange things are happening. A huge stack of gold appears to have been stolen by being miniaturized. Also, there are a pair of people up to no good who seem to be showing up everywhere Lamont and Margo seem to be at. The action takes place in New York, London, Paris and finally Moscow, where a catastrophic plot is uncovered. Who can save the day if the Shadow is truly retired?

It's a bit too wordy, and it's sometimes confusing because things are happening offstage. The characters look strange, like they all have mouths full of food. The colors were muddied in my review copy so that the whole thing came across as overly dark. When they get to Moscow, the font used for characters speaking Russian was a bit puz‌zling to figure out. The book includes the original art and in it's uncolored state, it looks so much better. The characters still have a chipmunk cheek look to them, but the lines are cleaner. I really like the character of The Shadow. I just wish this story had been better.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Dynamite, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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Johnny Boo Book 7: Johnny Boo Goes Like This!

author: James Kochalka
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.20
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2016/04/24
date added: 2016/04/24
shelves: graphic-novels, children-s
review:
'Johnny Boo Book 7: Johnny Boo Goes Like This!' by James Kochalka was my first Johnny Boo book, but I caught on pretty quick to what was going on.

Johnny Boo is a ghost with a cool cowlick. He's got a friend named Squiggle that looks like a comma. When they run across a large pencil, they can't figure out what to do with it. Eventually what they do is figure out how to draw things. They draw a tiger and crazy hair styles and ice cream. When the ice cream monster shows up, he ends up with Johnny Boo's hair. Then he ends up with a lot more than Johnny Boo's hair.

This comic is very creative, and I think it would be great as a read aloud comic to the young ones. Johnny Boo is pretty funny and the colors and drawings are appealing. The whole thing feels like something that the 3 to 5 year old crowd would love.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Top Shelf Productions, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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At War with Yourself: A Comic about Post-Traumatic Stress and the Military

author: Samuel Williams
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2016/04/24
date added: 2016/04/24
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'At War with Yourself: A Comic about Post-Traumatic Stress and the Military' by Samuel Williams is a personal story of PTSD told in a comic book form.

When cartoonist Samuel Williams meets Matt through their daughters, he finds that Matt has suffered from PTSD. To shed light on the issue, and with Matt's permission, their conversation is set to panel form. It's enlightening. Matt was a soldier and through the things he saw, he developed PTSD. It manifests in looking for exits when he enters a coffee shop or smells certain things. It's also explained that what triggers one person may or may not trigger someone else who experienced the same thing. The brain science is lightly touched upon.

It's a good recounting of a personal experience. The comic book format is unusual, but makes the story accessible. The art isn't the best I've ever seen, but the story benefits from the style. I'm glad I read Matt's story. It helps me understand more about people around me that have told me they have some form of PTSD.

I received a review copy of this comic book from Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Singing Dragon, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this comic book.


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