Many Mini Reviews

Forever playing catch-up with reviews it seems, so today I bring you a whopping 5 mini-reviews!

Judging A Book By Its Cover: Effin’ Birds

This is my weekly post where I highlight beautiful books from my collection. We all judge book covers to some extent (don’t lie, you totally do!) I created this feature to showcase and admire the art and design elements of some of the books I own. If covers didn’t matter, publishers wouldn’t make so many wonderful editions!

Book Review: The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge
By M.T. Anderson
Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

My Edition:
Hardcover, 532 pages
2018, Candlewick Press
ISBN: 9780763698225

I won a copy of this book from LibraryThing in exchange for my honest review.

Brangwain Spurge is an elfin agent, sent to spy on the goblin empire under the guise of being an emissary delivering an ancient goblin artifact. Werfel is the goblin archivist tasked to hosting the elf, and while he looks forward to sharing historical knowledge, he’s also been advised by the secret police that he will be spying on Spurge. Determined to be a gracious host despite his seedy orders, Werfel does his best to deal with his guest’s…peculiarities. What neither agent nor archivist suspect is the true plans of their superiors.

I had zero idea what to expect when I requested this book from LibraryThing – I just love M.T. Anderson and I’m a sucker for illustrated novels. This book blew my non-existent expectations out of the water!

Book Review: Hyperbole and a Half

Hyperbole and a Half
By Allie Brosh

My Edition:
Paperback, 369 pages
2013, Touchstone
ISBN: 9781451666175

Do you like funny stories about dogs, goose attacks, lies about how much someone enjoys hot sauce, identity, depression, getting lost in the woods and more dogs? Then you will probably like this book. Allie Brosh, from the blog Hyperbole and a Half, gives readers cleverly worded and charmingly illustrated anecdotes from both her childhood and adult life.

This was recommended to me by a friend when I asked her for a humor suggestion for my genre switch-up challenge. When I added this blog to my list I hadn’t ever read Brosh’s blog (and it doesn’t appear to be active anymore? And as funny as her work is, I’d prefer to read it in a book than stare at a computer screen for hours) though I had heard of it and seen her self-portrait before. Boy, am I glad I picked up this book.

Book Review: Bossypants

Bossypants
By Tina Fey

My Edition:
Paperback, 250 pages
2011, Reagan Arthur/Little, Brown
ISBN: 9780316056892

“You’re nobody until somebody calls you Bossy.” This wonderful memoir has jokes, anecdotes and unsolicited life advice from the hilarious Tina Fey. 

Book Review: Ready Player One

Ready Player One
By Ernest Cline

My edition:
Paperback, 372 pages
2011, Broadway Books
ISBN: 9780307887443

5/5 stars

Ready Player One takes place in 2044 – the world is suffering from an energy crisis, a food shortage, and an economic decline, all creating a dystopia for all but the wealthy. But for anyone who has access, the virtual world of OASIS can be just that – an escape from reality – where you can create an avatar and be anyone you want, hunt for treasure, and even attend school. When the founder and creator of OASIS dies, he sets up a Willy Wonka-esque challenge – the first player to find his easter egg wins complete control of his company and fortune. Wade Watts wants nothing more than to escape his real life by winning the prize, but the contest is more dangerous than he ever imagined.

Book Review: The Serpent of Venice

The Serpent of Venice
By Christopher Moore

My Edition:
Hardcover, signed first edition, 326 pages
2014, William Morrow
ISBN: 9780061779763

4/5 stars

Let me be a little vain and talk first about the physical appearance of this book. I love it! The pages are nice and thick and the edges are a rich blue that matches the cover.

April Wrap Up

So I keep a little notebook and I write down each book I read, how many pages it is, and any quotes I like and at the end of the month I total up my numbers for some nerdy statistics! My goal is to read at least 100 books each year (to try to catch up my overwhelmingly massive ‘to be read’ pile!) and I use a neat little Excel file that a friend created for me to total up all my numbers.

Book Review: Fool by Christopher Moore

Welcome to my blog! Lately, I’ve really started working on a review format and trying to come up with more detailed, thoughtful reviews than I normally write. I’ll be posting reviews here, along with pictures of the books I read, pictures of books I own, little surveys, and really anything I can think of that’s related to books! Hopefully, you enjoy! I’m always interested in hearing what others think about the books I’ve read, what they recommend, etc. Feel free to leave comments!