Tag Archive for: Illustrated

,

Tress Of The Emerald Sea

Tress Of The Emerald SeaTitle: Tress of the Emerald Sea
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Audio
Pages: 369
Length: 12h 27m
Narrator: Michael Kramer
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’m glad I had a chance to read TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. I enjoyed the book, but I didn’t love it. Part of the issue for me was Hoid, the narrator. I didn’t like his way of telling the story. I’m not a huge fan of 4th-wall-breaking, unless it’s in movies or TV shows, because it usually takes me out of the story and I want to be immersed.

I did like Tress and most of the other characters. I also liked the overall story of her defying the king’s order to not leave her little island to search for her lost love and travel through the dangerous spore oceans. I also liked the ending and the fact that Sanderson left it open so he can write more stories about Tress and her planet.

After doing some research, I’ve now realized that this book is part of Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. While TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA is a standalone novel, it has connections and some shared characters to his other series and books.

Dune, The Graphic Novel

Title: Dune, the Graphic Novel
Author: Frank Herbert
Genre: Science Fiction
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 552
Rating:

My Thoughts

DUNE is my all-time favorite book and I was very excited when I found out graphic novels were being written for it. I enjoyed reading all three graphic novels as I enjoyed seeing my favorite story come to life in a different way than the movies. The artwork was awesome, but I missed the detail and richness of the world and character building of Herbert’s masterpiece. I missed being in each of the characters’ heads or reading Herbert’s beautiful descriptions. Still, I think the graphic novels have their place and can give more insight into the story.

,

How To

How ToTitle: How To
Author: Randall Munroe
Genre: Humor, Non-Fiction
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 320
Rating:

My Thoughts

Corey turned me onto the xkcd webcomic about a decade ago. I’m not the most religious follower, but I do like his humor. I was really excited to read HOW TO and I wasn’t disappointed. I loved it!

I loved all the crazy things Munroe thought of doing using absurd, over-the-top scientific methods. Accompanied by his typical stylistic stick figure drawings made it a delight to read. I also loved that since I was in a physics class last semester, a lot of the physics he used and talked about were things I had just learned, albeit on a much simpler level. One of my favorite chapters was “How to Throw Things” because he has an interactive element on his website with the physics built in. I think it’s hilarious that Thor and Chris Hemsworth are available throwers.

,

They Called Us Enemy

They Called Us EnemyTitle: They Called Us Enemy
Author: George Takei
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction
Format: Kindle
Pages: 212
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’ve only ever read one other book about the Japanese Internment Camps during World War II. I don’t remember what it was called but I know it was fiction. I was in middle school when I read it and it was how my teacher taught our class about this part of U.S. history. Reading about Takei and his family’s experience in THEY CALLED US ENEMY was very eye-opening and heart-wrenching. Even with what I was “taught” or read about, I didn’t know most of what Japanese Americans went through in these camps. It’s so disheartening that humans are capable of treating other humans like this simply because of their race and nationality.