Review: Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw (L)

Synopsis: A Religious book, subversive in its ideas about how the Modern Church does things.

Review: Pretentious but it made me think. I need to read it again to really figure out what I think about what Claiborne says.

Bookmarks: 3.5 of 5

Awards: None

ISBN: 978-0-310-27842-9
Year Published: 2008
Date Finished: 11-30-18
Pages: 362

Review: the Poppy War by R. F. Kiang (Poppy War, Book 1) (L)

Synopsis: When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

Review: With a heavy dose of Asian Mythology (particular Chinese) this story is actually a thinly veiled fantasy retelling of the Japanese Invasion of China during the 1930s, with particular reference to the Rape of Nanking. This is not a happy book. Taking its tone from this historical era has given this book a sharp, bloody, terrible tone. There is no happy ending, no joy. In the end, the characters emerge, broken and bloody, ready to move on to the next battle. I will be reading the next book, eve as this one broke my hear.t.

Bookmarks: 4 of 5

Awards: TBD

ISBN:978-0-06-266256-9
Year Published: 2018
Date Finished: 11-30-2018
Pages: 527

Review: Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty (Serafina, Book 1)

Synopsis: A brave and unusual girl named Serafina lives secretly in the basement of the grand Biltmore Estate amidst the splendor of the Gilded Age. Serafina's pa, the estate's maintenance man, has warned her to keep herself hidden from the fancy folk who live on the floors above, but when children at the estate start disappearing, Serafina and her friend Braeden Vanderbilt must work together to solve a dark and dangerous mystery.

Review: Feral Serafina spends her days sleeping in the sunshine and her nights roaming Biltmore Estate, catching rats and exploring the world of shadows and darkness. It is there that she sees something evil – a man in a black cloak….

Sadly, I figured out the mystery with the Black Cloak almost immediately, which made the first part of the book a bit slow for me.  But as the adventure picked up, the mystery wasn’t as important as seeing how the characters would evade the Black Cloak. It was the mystery of who Serafina was that kept me intrigued. That portion of the story turned out to be my favorite.

In the end, this is an excellent middle grade novel. With depth, humor, and though-provoking ideas, it’s an excellent book for young minds. But it has enough depth that adults will enjoy the story too. 

Bookmarks: 4 of 5

Awards: None

ISBN: 978-148470901-6
Year Published: 2015
Date Finished: 11-2-2018
Pages: 293

Review: Bitch Planet (Volume One) by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine de Landro (L)

Synopsis: In a future just a few years down the road in the wrong direction, a woman's failure to comply with her patriarchal overlords will result in exile to the meanest penal planet in the galaxy. When the newest crop of fresh femmes arrive, can they work together to stay alive or will hidden agendas, crooked guards, and the deadliest sport on (or off!) Earth take them to their maker?

Review: With bold, old-school style art, the author dumps you into a world with little preamble. Patriarchy rules and women who disobey men are sent to a penal colony off-planet.

It took me several pages to figure out the world-building, and the characters. I found myself angry, not with the characters, but with the story. It seemed tangled and preachy, as if the author is trying too hard to convince me of something I already know.

Having said that, I might read the second volume, if only to finish the story. 

Bookmarks: 3 of 5

Awards: TBD

ISBN: 978-1-63215-366-1
Year Published: 2015
Date Finished: 12-5-2018
Pages: 132

Ninjak: The Shadow Wars (Volume 2) by Matt Kindt, Clay Mann, Butch Guice, Juan Jose ad Deadside (Volume 3) by Matt Kindt, Clay Mann, Butch Guice, Juan Jose Ryp

Synopsis: Ninjak Does Shit.

Review: Bold Art, with lots of Good Color, but the story was choppy and tangled, and didn't speak about Ninjak as much as other people he interacts with. Recommended but with that in mind.

Bookmarks: 3 of 5

Awards: None

ISBN: 9781682151259
Year Published: 2016
Date Finished: Can't Remember
Pages: 132

Review: Saga by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan (Volume 1-9)

 Synopsis: Alana and Marko are deserters from opposing armies of a galactic war. While in hiding on the planet Cleave, Alana gives birth to their daughter, but the new family soon becomes the target for agents working for both sides of the war.

Review: I finally got around to reading this much talked about series. With bold art and a depth of writing that is often lacking in most modern stories, Saga tells the tale of two people from different sides of a war who fall in love and commit the ultimate treason – they have a child.

As they run from multiple entities, they work to keep their child safe and their marriage together. Through real struggles, small and large, they travel across the universe, encountering many different people and cultures.

Intense, comical, heart-reading, and profound, the story is worth reading and worth the hype for it. I would advise having all Nine Volumes with you when you start to reading. You will want to keep them close so you can read them one after the other.

Volume Nine ends on a heart-breaking note, and since Saga is on hiatus, we will be stuck drowning in our own sorry for a few years. But worth reading!

Bookmarks: 4 of 5

Awards: Too Many To List Here

ISBN: 978-1-60706-601-9 / 978-1-60706-692-7 / 978-1-60706-931-7978-1-63215-077-6 / 978-1-63215-438-5 / 978-1-63215-711-9 / 978-1-5343-0060-6 / 978-1-5343-0349-2 / 978-1-5343-0837-4
Year Published: 2013 / 2014 / 2014 / 2015 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2017 / 2018
Date Finished: 10-18-18 / 10-19-18 / 10-28-2018 / 11-30-18
Pages: 124 / 128 / 132 / 122 / 129 / 132 / 135 / 127 / 132

Review: I Should Have Honor: A Memoir of Hope and Pride in Pakistan by Khalida Brohi

Synopsis: From a young age, Khalida Brohi was raised to believe in the sanctity of arranged marriage. Her mother was forced to marry a thirteen-year-old boy when she was only nine; Khalida herself was promised as a bride before she was even born. But her father refused to let her become a child bride. He was a man who believed in education, not just for himself but for his daughters, and Khalida grew up thinking she would become the first female doctor in her small village. Khalida thought her life was proceeding on an unusual track for a woman of her circumstances, but one whose path was orderly and straightforward.

Everything shifted for Khalida when she found out that her beloved cousin had been murdered by her uncle in a tradition known as “honor killing.” Her cousin’s crime? She had fallen in love with a man who was not her betrothed. This moment ignited the spark in Khalida Brohi that inspired a globe-spanning career as an activist, beginning at the age of sixteen. From a tiny cement-roofed room in Karachi where she was allowed ten minutes of computer use per day, Brohi started a Facebook campaign that went viral. From there, she created a foundation focused on empowering the lives of women in rural communities through education and employment opportunities, while crucially working to change the minds of their male partners, fathers, and brothers.

This book is the story of how Brohi, while only a girl herself, shone her light on the women and girls of Pakistan, despite the hurdles and threats she faced along the way. And ultimately, she learned that the only way to eradicate the parts of a culture she despised was to fully embrace the parts of it that she loved.

Review: Having visited Pakistan in my early 20s, I eagerly requested this book from LibraryThing. I found story inspiring, but the writing a bit rough. Brohi is a strong, courageous woman who saw suffering and death in the lives of the women around her and chose to act, even against deadly opposition. Despite failures, Brohi forged ahead, and slowly saw change in her world. She started programs and created places of safety for women. She traveled the world, and grew as a person and an activist, learning from her mistakes, changing her ideas when they proved wrong, and growing as a person.
Despite the writing being simple and bit disjointed, the story itself is well worth reading. This will particularly be of interest to people who enjoy good news about the state of women across the globe and ways we can help each other.

Note: I received this book free via LibraryThing's Early Review Program, in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.

Bookmarks: 3.5 of 5

Awards: None

ISBN: 978-0-399-58801-3
Year Published: 2018
Date Finished: 10-16-18
Pages: 198