Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Malice In Ovenland by Micheline Hess

Title: Malice in Ovenland

Author: Micheline Hess

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Kids

Release Date: 17 Aug 2016

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

This is an 'all-ages' graphic novel - aimed at kids, but enjoyable for big kids too ;)

I would say this is appropriate for ages 8+, depending on the kid; it's definitely ok for ages 10+.

Premise:

Lily Brown is your typical Brooklyn kid. But she's about to have a big adventure.

Because the simple, everyday, chore of cleaning the oven is about to take Lily to a fantasy land - just not your average fantasy land... this one's a little... greasier.

Best bits:

Lily rocks. She's strong and no-nonsense while still being a relatable hero.

Lily's a normal kid - but one who can rise to the occasion and do what needs to be done. As heroines go, she's pretty great :)

The whole book is fun. There's no two ways about it. I definitely had a grin on my face while reading - just for the whole enjoyable-adventure-ness of it all!

The artwork is fun and bright without seeming condescendingly 'childish' - quite a feat to be honest, artists don't always get the balance right.

And crumb? One of the grease-dwelling fantasy creatures? Weirdly cute!

Not so great bits:

I wasn't a big fan of the gross bits.

Don't get me wrong, kids'll probably love it, because kids are weird gross monsters entertained by gross stuff.

I, being older than 12, could have done without some of the ickier parts that involved grease, vomit, etc.

As we say here in Wales: ych y fi!

Other than that? Not really anything to argue with here.

Verdict:

A strong and relatable heroine, with a fun and light-hearted story. Hess is definitely one to watch out for.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

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Reading Roald Dahl in Welsh (Part 1)

If you read this blog a lot - firstly, you're an awesome person and I love you! But secondly, you may be aware of my New Year's resolution to read 5 books in Welsh in 2016.

I'm first-language English (due to, y'know, history, politics, etc.) but I think it's really important to at least attempt to improve my Welsh-language skills.





I can now tell you, my dearest nerdlets, that I have completed part 1 (of 5, obviously) of my goal!

I have now finished reading Moddion Rhyfeddol George  - a translation into Welsh of the much-loved Roald Dahl book, George's Marvellous Medicine.

Roald Dahl, of course, was a fab author from the Welsh capital, Cardiff. He wrote in English, but it's great to have his books available in Welsh - especially since so many kids love them.

Plus, for me, there was the added bonus of already being familiar with the story of George's Marvellous Medicine, so I could get my bearings even when the language was more difficult to me in places.





But, what about Roald Dahl's famous skill with language?

Well, obviously, things are different in translation.

The things George's grandmother says (or 'Nain,' as she is in this version,) seem much more sinister, somehow, when said yng Gymraeg (in Welsh,) but a lot of the fun is still there too.

A lot of Welsh words are pretty funny to start with, without the help of a Roald Dahl story behind them, but I have to say that the translator (Elin Meek) did a good job of keeping the flavour of Dahl's original.





My plan for the other 4 books I want to read in Welsh? To read more Roald Dahl wrth gwrs (of course.)

One day I'd love to graduate to books which were actually written in Welsh, but as things stand, this means I have a frame of reference for the story I'm reading - which helps me get less lost along the way!

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Month In Review(s) - July 2016

Ahhh, July - funny old month, some good things, some not-good things.

But, y'know, I'm still standing, and blog-wise things are looking uber-awesome if I do say so myself! :)

This is me this month. #TrueStory ;)

This month has been rockin' as far as blog-stats are concerned:

I hit over 20k page-views in all, with over 5k views just this month.

A lot of this was due to my most popular post of the month - my review of Luna the Vampire, which hit over 2k page-views all on its lonesome! (Honestly, I don't know why that post was so popular, but I'm not complaining!)

Diary of a Reading Addict now has 50+ followers on BlogLovin'.

I now have 900+ followers on Twitter!

I reviewed some awesome-a*s books this month - stand-outs for me include Nina Is Not OK by Shappi Khorsandi and Monstress, Vol: The Awakening. But honestly, I reviewed a lot of rockin' stuff this month!

And yes, before you say anything - I realise that of the 8 books I reviewed this month, 4 were graphic novels *shrugs* - there's nothing wrong with that!

As July 2016 faffs off into the sunset, I'm going to shamelessly point you at my post for The Diverse Books Tag.

I will also point you at Naz's awesome Read Diverse Books blog - check it out :)

And without further ado, here are the book reviews I wrote this month:

Kids

Thor: Dueling with Giants by Keith R A DeCandido - Fantasy, Media Tie-In

Young Adult

Panic by Lauren Oliver - Contemporary

New Adult

Nina Is Not OK by Shappi Khorsandi - Contemporary, LGBTQ+ (M/F and F/F)

Adult

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson - (Modern) Classics, LGBTQ+ (F/F)

Graphic Novels

 

   

Disney's Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland Vol 1 by Jun Abe - Manga, Fantasy, Media Tie-In

Luna the Vampire, Vol 1: Grumpy Space by Yasmin Sheikh - Humour, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Vampire

Monstress, Vol 1: The Awakening - Fantasy

Mythic, Volume 1 - Fantasy, Mythology

Comics Wrap Up - If You Change Your Mind, You Know Where I Am

Graphic Novels

This week I reviewed the fantabulous, amazing, OH SO FREAKING AWESOME Monstress, Vol 1: The Awakening (UK - US)

IT'S A FANTASTIC BOOK!!!!!!

You can see my review for Monstress here.








Other Stuff

On Saturday, I reviewed the kids tie-in novel Thor: Dueling With Giants by Keith R A DeCandido (UK - US)

And you can see my review of that here.

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Jessica @ Rabid Reads also reviewed the awesome Monstress, Vol 1 - check out her review here.

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Kory Cerjak at Panels wrote a pretty decent list of 'The Best Comics of January-June 2016.'

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Allen Thomas, also at Panels, wrote an excellent post about the need to increase diversity in comics.

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In #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend news:

You can vote for Stucky as the Ship of the Year for the MTV Fandom awards. I think that'd be an awesome way of showing Marvel where the heart of the fans is.

Unfortunately, the Civil War porn parody has decided to spam the hashtag with explicit pics.

As I've said before, I don't have a problem with porn as long as it's safe, sane, consensual, and non-exploitative, but as far as I'm concerned it doesn't have a place on this hashtag.

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The new Iron Man is a 15-year-old black girl!

While this rocks, (out loud!) it does beg the question, can we still keep calling her Iron Man?

Apparently so, but I agree with the fan who pointed out the missed opportunity to call her Iron Maiden. (In the tweets at the bottom of the linked article.) Because that's just great :)

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Review Time! - Thor: Dueling With Giants by Keith R A DeCandido

Title: Thor: Dueling With Giants

Author: Keith R A DeCandido

Genre: Kids, Fantasy, Media Tie-In

Series: Tales of Asgard Trilogy (#1)

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

This novel is a media tie-in to Marvel's Thor, but it's based more on the comics than on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU.)

Now, that doesn't mean there's huge differences between the Thor of the film and the Thor we find here, but there are differences - it's widely accepted that Loki's adopted, and Frigga is not Thor's biological mother, to name a few.

Premise:

Loki is bored. Which of course spells mischief for Asgard and The Mighty Thor.

Prepare for frost-giants, trolls, and a bunch of fighting.

Best bits:

This is one of those books for when you just want some derring-do and stabby action.

(And who doesn't want some stabby action occasionally?)

Loki manages to steal the show (again!) and add just a dash of emotional heartache/feels parental-wise (again!)

This is a skill that Loki has.

This book may be handy for tempting the reluctant aged-9-or-10-plus reader (especially boys, given that it can often be a struggle to get them to read) into reading.

Because we all know that the little monsters angels like some stabby action adventure.

And 10 year old me was a stabby-books kinda gal. I would've loved this book as a kid.

LOOK AT HIS MAJESTIC PLASTIC COUNTENANCE MORTALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Note to self: less coffee.)

Not so great bits:

In places, the level of language and vocabulary felt maybe a little advanced for the target audience.

I think maybe the author struggled with the balance between a formal Asgardian dialect, and the audience, and while it's largely OK, it does slip in places.

Also - the women in this book? Either saintly mothers, and a stand in for damsels-in-distress when needed, or Sif - who is essentially 'one of the boys' and resents any reference to her being, y'know, (*whispers*) female.

While I understand that Norse mythology (where all the Asgard Marvel stuff essentially stems from) isn't exactly resplendent with complex female characters, I would've liked gender stereotypes to be just a little less rigid here.

And, of course, some parents will never be OK with violence and battles and the like (though the kids will love it!)

Verdict:

I would've liked more Loki and less gender stereotypes, but I can't lie (unlike a certain trickster,): I enjoyed the hell out of this book!

(Yay stabby-ness!)

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads – Author's Site

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Month in Review(s) - June 2016

We're half-way through the year folks! Which is kind of rocking, really, because it means we're that much closer to Christmas.

(I love Christmas!)





Anyway, back to the summer-ish-ness of June, and I can honestly say I read a little bit of everything this month.

Plus it was a pretty fab month blog-wise: I reached over 750 Twitter followers, over 15k blog page-views (ARGH!!!!!) and over 30 Bloglovin followers.




AND JUNO DAWSON LIKED MY TWEET!!!!!!

(I'm a massive Juno Dawson fan - so this was kind of a fantabulously big deal to me.)

So catch up on all my reviews this month with this handy link-list (and I've added cover images, because I spoil you.)

Kids

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - Fantasy

Young Adult

Say Her Name by Juno Dawson - Horror, Ghost Story

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly - Historical Fiction, Crime

Adult

Life Blood by V M Black - Romance, Paranormal, Vampires, Novella

Landline by Rainbow Rowell - Contemporary, Chick Lit, Magic Realism, Romance* (*ish)

Graphic Novels

Codename Baboushka, Vol: The Conclave of Death - Spy, Gangster, Thriller, Crime

Klaw, The First Cycle - Young Adult, Fantasy, Superhero*, Paranormal* (*ish - there are shifters of various types and somewhat of a superhero origin story.)

Mini-Review! - Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Title: Inkheart

Author: Cornelia Funke

Translator: Anthea Bell

Genre: Kids, Fantasy

Series: Inkworld #1

Amazon: UK - USA

Verdict:

You know all the books you loved as a kid? All the magic and wonder that seemed unique to places like Narnia, Hogwarts, and Neverland?

This book is that feeling. This book has that magic.

Inkheart is a book about magic, and a book about books.

It has a woven enchantment to the language that manages to shine through even in translation (props to Anthea Bell, the translator.)

Meggie, the 12-year-old daughter of a book-binder, is about to find out that her father has secrets, and that some people have such a talent for story-telling that they can actually bring the story to life.

I've wanted to read this one for a while, having seen the film (UK - US) starring Brendan Fraser more than once. (Because... Brendan Fraser! Man, I love him.)

I wonder now why I put off reading this book for so long - probably just slipped to the back of my mind. I'm glad I've read it now though: it's awesome! :)

If you have ever loved fantasy, or books in general, then read this.

Yes, it's a kids book (the author's website recommends ages 9+,) but who cares? You'll love it.

And if you don't absolutely adore Dustfinger, I'm not sure we can be friends any more (just kidding - but I'll totally pout and stamp my foot.)

I've already added the next book in the trilogy - Inkspell (UK - US) - to my TBR - seriously, this book rocks.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads – Author's Site

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Graphic Novels

This week I read Malice in Ovenland, Vol 1 (UK - US) - a graphic novel due out in August 2016 from Rosarium Publishing.

Rosarium are a growing, and relatively new, publishers who focus on sci-fi, fantasy, graphic novels, etc., with an emphasis on multiculturalism.

Malice in Ovenland is semi Alice in Wonderland inspired... only there's magical world in Lily's oven. Yeah... just go with it.

It's target audience is clearly kids (which makes a change from the stuff I normally read) and it's pretty entertaining (and more than a little gross in the way that kids like.)

I'll be writing a review nearer to the publishing date, so keep your eyes peeled.






Other Stuff


Two fans showed Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan (and the world,) what real heroes look like when they cosplayed Captain America and the Winter Soldier at the Wizard World Con in Philadelphia.

They brought #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend (the social media campaign to do just that,) back into the limelight by kissing in front of Chris 'n' Seb.

Well done guys, you're true heroes.

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Marvel Super Heroes, What The--? rocks. Just... just watch the thing and all of the randomness. So very, very, random.

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