y: the last man

y: the last man
unmanned
cycles
one small step
safeword
ring of truth
girl on girl
paper dolls
kimono dragons
motherland
whys & wherefores
brian k. vaughan/pia guerra/jose marzan, jr.
graphic novels/science fiction/thriller
vertigo
published 2003

From Shelfari: When a plague of unknown origin instantly kills every mammal with a Y chromosome, unemployed and unmotivated slacker Yorick Brown discovers that he is the only male left in a world inhabited by women. Accompanied by his mischievous monkey and the mysterious Agent 355, Yorick embarks on a transcontinental journey to find his girlfriend and discover why he is the last man on Earth. With a gang of feminist extremists and the leader of the Israel Defense Forces hunting him, Yorick's future, as well as that of the human race, may be short-lived.

Like most good books, Y: The Last Man had its valleys and peaks.  Yorick was not my favorite person most of the time, especially in the first few books.  He was kind of irritating and single minded.  Stuck on this romantic fantasy that his girlfriend was waiting for him in Australia and he really just needed to get to her.

The books had their tense moments and, most definitely nearing the end, very technical kind of science moments (that I would tend to zone out on).  Many sad moments, with very few triumphs.  Even when it was over, when the journey could end and the worst had past, there were no smiling faces.

There were moments when the crazies made sense and other times when I was ashamed that I shared the same gender as some of these idiots, but then I guess both sides have them, right?

I don't want to give much away.  I want you to read for yourself, because it is worth reading.  It's dark at times, probing, forcing you to really think about what kind of world this would be.  Is it so much science fiction or more science future?  Not necessarily a plague such as this, but other aspects.

It was, in the end a series written by a man who was trying his best to get into the head of women.  Did he do it?  Sometimes.

bone

bone: out from boneville
bone: the great cow race
bone: eyes of the storm
bone: the dragonslayer
bone: rock jaw
bone: old man's cave
bone: ghost circles
bone: treasure hunters
bone: crown of horns
jeff smith
graphic novels/ya/supernatural
scholastic, inc
published 2005

Fone Bone and his cousins Smiley & Phoney have been run out of Boneville because of another one of Phoney's greedy plans.  After running into a swarm of locusts they are separated and Fone finds himself in a strange valley where the animals talk and find him odd.  They direct him to Thorn who knows everything.  He finally finds his way to Thorn and they become fast friends.  But what seems like a quiet valley is actually a world on the brink of war from a spirit that is more powerful than Thorn or Fone are ready for.

I really don't know how I never picked this series up before.  And I'm so sad that I didn't.  Bone is an amazing graphic series!  The story was fantastic & the art was engaging. 

There was humor, I mean how can you not have humor with Smiley Bone around.  There was action and sadness and elation and suspense.  The mystery was always there in the background and for once having to wait so long to know what is actually going on didn't bother me.  I loved the little crumbs of the background story that Smith would leave throughout the series.

By the time I got to the last book I was biting all of my nails off!  I had no idea what would happen and there were times when I gasped audibly.  So glad I finally picked up this series.

mistresses of the spaghetti mess

Spaghetti for dinner tonight and it would seem that we just don't have enough napkins!

I got a new phone yesterday.  Went from my iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy S3. Guess what that means? Blogger app!! Now I can post from my phone without having to use that horrid phone workaround! I don't know how pretty this is going to look, but maybe this will get me to post more often.

i've got your number

i've got your number
sophie kinsella
fiction/chick lit/idiotic ramblings
random house
published 2012

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill, but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

When it comes to Sophie Kinsella we sort of have this love/hate relationship.  I hate the Shopaholic books.  I loved Remember Me? and The Undomestic Goddess.  Twenties Girl was okay.  Unfortunately, I've Got Your Number falls into the 'hated it' category.  And the saddest part?  I only got to page 21.

Sophie Kinsella has a knack for writing the most asinine, bubbleheaded, idiot female characters.  At first, with Shopaholic it was endearing, but by the time I started in on the 4th book she was the same idiot she'd been before.  She didn't learn anything.  She didn't change for the better.  She was still making the same idiotic mistakes!  It drove me nuts.  So I picked up The Undomestic Goddess because my sister liked it and I was surprised to find I liked it too!  Then I read Remember Me? and decided it must just be that I have to take Kinsella's characters in single serving doses.

But then first I was annoyed by the footnotes.  Since I was reading this on my Nook it requires me to touch the footnote number, read the footnote and then go back to the page I was reading.  I couldn't just glace down to read the stupid footnote that she added because the character thought it was clever.  Uh-noying.

And then the character, Poppy is almost more irritating than Becky Bloomwood.  She finds a phone in the garbage and when she's called out that it's not her phone she uses the 'possession is 9/10ths of the law'.  Are you serious?  She continually does this thing where if she just ignores the problem it will go away or the solution will just fall into her lap.  She acts like she's a 5 year old who knows she's going to get in trouble.  Is this supposed to be cute?  Is this what chick lit has come to?

So I closed out of the book, removed it from my library and decided that was the last attempt I make at reading a Kinsella book.

The end.

locke & key: head games

locke & key: head games
locke & key series #2
joe hill & gabriel rodriguez
graphic novels/horror/supernatural
idea & design works, llc.
published 2009

*****Spoiler alert if you have not read the first volume*****

Following a shocking death that dredges up memories of their father's murder, Kinsey and Tyler Locke are thrown into choppy emotional waters, and turn to their new friend, Zack Wells, for support, little suspecting Zack's dark secret. Meanwhile, six-year-old Bode Locke tries to puzzle out the secret of the head key, and Uncle Duncan is jarred into the past by a disturbingly familiar face. Open your mind - the head games are just getting started! 

Now things are really starting to get meaty.

So we learn so many new things in this second installment.  And it takes a bit for things to get un-confusing.  Then all of a sudden Bode finds out what the key he found in the water does and things get nuts!  It really started to remind me of Koontz and so awesome in all color.

So many times I wanted to yell 'noooooooooooo!!!!!' but of course, I'm reading a book.  They wouldn't hear me.  Regardless, I've become invested in Tyler, Kinsey & Bode.  I loved Kinsey's experience with the head key.  I know plenty of people who would love the have that experience!

I'm extremely sad that I don't have the rest of the books in my hands right now.  RIGHT.  NOW.

locke & key: welcome to lovecraft

locke & key: welcome to lovecraft
locke & key series #1
joe hill & gabriel rodriguez
graphic novel/horror/supernatural
idea & design works, llc.
published 2008

Locke & Key tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them, and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all!

I loved this book.

One terrible day Tyler Locke's family's world is torn apart and they move from the West Coast to the small island where his father's family house resides.  When his little brother Bode starts talking about doors that can turn you into ghosts and how he made his echo come alive Tyler isn't sure if his little brother is cracking under all the stress or if there's maybe some truth to what he's saying.  But when they finally discover what Bode's talking about it might just be too late.

There's just something about color graphic novels that I adore, but this one had so much more.  It was like a good Dean Koontz novel.  A little gory, a little scary, a little sad and a whole lot crazy.  I thought it was insanely fun.  I surprisingly loved all the characters.  Usually there's a couple I don't care for too much, but I wanted to know ALL OF THEM.

Seriously, it was amazeballs.

you have killed me

you have killed me
jamie s. rich & joelle jones
graphic novels/thriller/mystery
oni press
published 2009

From Shelfari: Things just can't get any worse for Antonio Mercer. A private eye by trade, a dame from his past has re-surfaced in his life as a client along with all of the emotional baggage he thought he'd left behind forever. Of course, this unusual client doesn't have just any case - her family is mixed up with seriously dangerous people and the body count is just starting to pile up!

Your typical sort of noir story with the washed up detective, the powerful mobster and the beautiful 'dames'.  The art was good, the story was okay.  I liked it enough, but it wasn't something that I could sit and extol its virtue.  There just weren't that many of them.