The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Tim Conrad

While I don’t think this was the best adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it might encourage a younger reader to explore the classics.  The art is colorful and engaging but I found some of the drawings were not clear enough for my taste.

I just couldn’t connect to this story.  The characters never became real for me, I didn’t care if they lived or died.  I felt like I was reading a textbook.  Where was the development?  Where was the emotional connection?  Boy, I can so understand the need to attach to the characters. 

If you follow my blog, you know I read a lot of graphic novels.  So many of them have characters I connect with.  I can’t put my finger on why this particular tome just didn’t do it for me.  The Hunchback is a very sympathetic character but I couldn’t dig in.  I didn’t hate the villain and I didn’t like Esmeralda. 

A reluctant child might like this book but I won’t guarantee it.

Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster

Some stories will haunt you for a long time and this is one of them. 

Grace and her husband have moved into a cottage in the moors with their new baby.  It’s the start of a new chapter as Grace starts to come to terms with leaving London.  Christmas is coming and a new year promises great things, until Grace opens the front door to find her child sleeping peacefully in her pram and no husband. 

A year later, Grace returns determined to discover what happened to her husband on that cold winter day.  Filled with tales of ghosts and omens, Grace fights her fears to uncover why her husband was gone.  Everyone around her feels she should just move on but how can she when she has so many unanswered questions.

The story is frightening, sad and full of twists and turns.  It reminds me of Mary Stewart’s mysteries.  You just never know what dark secrets people harbor until you start digging.  Not everyone will come out of this alive but Grace won’t stop until she knows the truth.

I was captivated by Sara Foster’s book.  The life on the moors is enchanting and yet harbors its own secrets.  Are there ghosts on the moor?  What is up with the grandfather clock that stops when it wants and seems to still keep time? 

There’s a touch of romance and sweetness in this book.  Beneath the Shadows deserves a place with other gothic mysteries such as Rebecca and Wuthering Heights.  There are far more things to be frightened of than ghosts and they are all here.

Claws and Saucers by David E Goldweber

If you are a Science Fiction, Horror and/or Fantasy movie buff, like me, then this is a must have for you.  I can’t tell you if it has everything but I will say that I was impressed by how many movies are in this book.  I love horror – the worst ones are my favorite.  I want cheesy and I want lots and lots of blood.  I don’t care if the plot makes sense – makes the movie more entertaining in a MST3K sort of way.

I love talking to the characters and questioning their motives. 

This book spells it all out – which are the good ones and which ones you’re gonna love because they are so bad.

This is not a sit and read sort of book.  You peruse like you’re picking up a date in a bar.  You chat up the pages and ask them out.  You explore the movies and, perhaps, come back and make notes.  This is the sort of book that needs to be shared and passed along. 

The only problem I have is that the new stuff won’t appear magically.  I’d love it if the book stayed current but, alas, they don’t.

However, that’s not going to stop me from working my way through this book and some of the worst movie fests my family has ever seen.

Star Trek Legion of Superheroes by Chris Roberson

How fun does this sound – mixing Star Trek with DC superheroes. I just knew I had to sample this new comic series. I have to say I was disappointed. The story opens with the Imperial forces (is that really what they were called?) attacking a peaceful planet because they refused to pay taxes. Then the introductions to the Legion of Superheroes left me uninspired. Why are there no cool superheroes in the legion? Perhaps these are the flunkies that get the worst assignments but with names like Chameleon Boy and Brainy I can see why. I wanted something cool. I loved the description of this story – who could resist the mash up of superheroes and Star Trek? I just don’t think the end result was worth it. I found the whole thing far too cartoony. Maybe they are going for a sixties nostalgic feel – a combination of Hanna Barbara and the over the top Star Trek series. I’d believe it if Captain Kirk looked more like William Shatner. As it was the Star Trek characters resembled poorly drawn versions from the television show. This series was completely lost on me. Maybe it’s because I’m not the right audience. It’s always possible but I can’t tell you who would be the perfect audience. My dad might be the target but I can’t picture him even pretending to read a comic book, let alone the entire series.

Mr Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Having read so many juvenile and children’s books lately this was a real treat. Not only has Mr Popper’s Penguins been on my to read list but it comes highly recommended on many reading lists. Published in 1938, Mr Popper’s Penguins is a children’s classic. Last year it was made into a movie (I haven’t seen it yet and was waiting until after I read the book) and in turn was re-released as a book with a short biography of the writers at the end. The thing I noticed first about Mr Popper’s Penguins is the language. I know it’s a classic and the story is delightful but I think I’ve been kind of ruined for children’s fiction. There is such an expectation nowadays to have tighter more descriptive language. We want each word to have meaning so we don’t feel like we are wasting our time. Good stories are lost in a sea of expectations for language. It was actually a relief to read something that was just a good story. The story is horribly silly and that’s great. There’s no evil to be conquered and everything works out fine. There is a small moment when the group arrives at the wrong theatre but even then it’s all in good fun. I miss that. I miss just enjoying the ride. For those not familiar with the story – Mr Popper receives a penguin in the mail from a famous explorer in Antarctica. He and his wife make a home for the penguin in their refrigerator (with help from their two children). Soon, Captain Cook (as the penguin is named) becomes ill. Fearful that there is something terribly wrong with him, Mr Popper writes to a zoologist who in return sends him Greta, a penguin with a similar problem. Over the winter, Greta and Captain Cook become parents to 10 babies. In true fancy, they become performing penguins and everyone goes on the road. This is a great adventure for all. The book is simple enough for a young reader to understand. Middle grade and older students might find there is not enough action in the book but I still recommend encouraging them to try to read this book. It’s from a different time when kids weren’t force feed stimulation all day long. It reminds the reader that not everything has to be action oriented and sometimes a good story is just a good story.

New Girl by Paige Harbison

I read a review about this book which prompted me to request it from NetGalley. I’m so glad I did. New Girl is a re-telling of Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier. I have never read Rebecca nor was I familiar with the story so I thought it would be a fun way to discover a classic and I would have no pre-conceived ideas of how the plot should go. The other thing I knew about the book was there was a twist at the ending. I had expected more of a twist than I got. That’s not to say it was a bad ending or twist but my overactive imagination was sure there was something so unexpected going to happen like the “New Girl” turned out to be Rebecca and everyone was playing along with her fantasy but it was nothing like that. The only twist is that you find out what really happened to Rebecca and it’s not that much of a twist. The story was great. I could not put the book down. I devoured it in hours (which always leaves me unsatisfied because it’s over). The main character’s name is not revealed until the last page or so which makes describing the book a little tricky. The “new girl” is accepted to Manderley, a private boarding school in New Hampshire. She has spent her whole life in a small town in Florida and is stunned to learn she will be spending her senior year at a boarding school she had been interested in years prior. She’s not that excited to go. She gets to the school to find that she is “replacing” Becca who mysteriously disappeared at the end of the last school year. The book flips between the new girl’s story and Becca’s. There’s not a lot of “plot” in this book but it’s an interesting picture into the life of the New Girl. I enjoyed her journey through her senior year. It wasn’t easy and yet her character remained believable. The circumstances remained believable. Sometimes it’s nice to just experience someone else’s life and that’s what New Girl really is. She’s not perfect but she’s not overly flawed, just human. She’s in a bad situation but doesn’t let that stop her from succeeding. It was nice to see her struggle and the awkwardness she felt as she changed. I think it’s a great book for young women to read. It’s probably too “girly” for boys but it’s still a great story to experience.

The Bremen Town Musician by Brian Wildsmith

What happens when you get too old and useful, you head to Bremen to be a musician. That’s what a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster do. This book was so cute. It will delight and entertain even the youngest audience. The colors are so bright and fun in the illustrations that I can see them easily becoming decorations for a library or classroom setting. The book tells the story of finding your way when no one wants you. It made me a little sad to think that they were considered useless since they were old but then they wouldn’t have had an adventure. This is a great book to start a discussion on being a responsible pet owner and why being old doesn’t mean life is over.

Star Trek Volume 1 by Mike Johnson

It’s nice to see comics coming back into fashion. There are so many new titles this year and Star Trek is one that promises to keep on coming. (Okay the titles may not be exactly new since so many of the lines seem to be based on popular shows/movies/games but you know what I mean.)
Based on the latest Star Trek movie, Mike Johnson continues the story with the characters as we know them from JJ Abrams imagining of the popular series.
I have to say that I’m not sure I like James T Kirk in this one. There’s nothing wrong with him except that he’s an arrogant idiot who really needs to pay more attention but then again he may have always been that way.
Any reader is going to guess what is going to happen when the Enterprise comes across a distress beacon out in space. The reports on the beacon claim there’s something out there and what does Kirk do but ask the crew to pick up the beacon and move forward at full speed. (You know right now what’s going to happen, don’t you?) I hate stupid people.
Aside from that, this is a good start to a new series. Not sure I’ll be in a hurry to pick up the next one but I did enjoy it and will most likely enjoy future issues.

Archie’s Americana Volume 3

Darn it, I got a short sample again. I do prefer full graphic novels to samples but in this case it didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book.
Archie is one of those comics that has delighted readers, young and old, for decades. This particular volume is from the 1960’s. I think some of the jokes are lost but not enough that you don’t find them funny.
For me, it was an interesting peek into a time when my parents were young. I could picture them the age of the Archie gang and going through similar trials.
I think this is a great series to read for all kids. The humor is clean but there’s an understanding of what it means to be a teenager and growing up. The parents don’t understand. The kids make mistakes. They are all trying to find their place in this world. That’s the magic of Archie.

Dante's Divine Comedy adt by Seymour Chwast

Dante's Divine Comedy is one of those classics I've been curious about but not enough to actually read the original. Seymour Chwast's graphic novel adaptation was a perfect introduction to the story. And one I am grateful for.
I can't say this will be a book I will seek out because it was rather confusing and in the end not as interesting as I hoped.
However, it was interesting enough to carry me through the end of this book which seemed long enough.
Dante wrote his Divine Comedy around 1302 - 1321. He was not a happy man, having been banished from his home and forced to wander Italy. He had been political and outspoken which led to his banishment. This shows up in his work.
It's very political and religious in nature.
The plot is simple, Dante is invited to see what it is like to die and visit Hell, Purgatory and Heaven so that he may tell others about it. This was interesting because much of what he wrote shows up in pop culture these days.
Dante designed the seven circles of hell and came up with the seven deadly sins (which are actually the levels of purgatory).
He met many people on his journies but most of the names have been lost in history. I am certain that those he met were political figures of his day. I was shocked by all the accusations of corruption. Not because they were corrupt but that the themes are still heard today. The problems Dante spoke of are problems of our current government.
I do recommend this version of Dante's famous work. It may encourage to read the whole tome or just feel grateful you didn't.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

After watching the newest re-make of the movie (with Jim Carrey) I found myself wanting to read the story. I found it on www.literature.org, a free site for classic books (those no longer copywrited). I recommend the site as it has such a great selection of classics.
The story was amazingly short. I had envisioned the book being deeply detailed but it was quite reader friendly. I am not going to bore any one with the plot details since most everyone should know what the plot is. However, I was amazed at the imagary and simplicity of the story. There was so much story in so few words. To be honest, reading the book actually made little parts of each movie make sense.
I was surprised to discover that Scrooge's morning reaction to the Spirit's doing it all in one night did make sense. Originally, Scrooge was told that the Spirit's would be coming over the course of three nights. It may be mentioned in the movies but what isn't is the distortion of time. When Scrooge finally falls asleep it's after 2 am. When he awakes after the first Spirit he remarks that he thinks he slept well into the day since it's about 12. He's confused and unsure of the time. The second Spirit takes him on a journey that he remarks feels like weeks but he is sure that the Spirit has changed time so he has no idea how long he's been gone.
The other thing that I was sad to see not in the movies is that Scrooge really starts to feel bad right away. His life was so hard that it made him mean and greedy but when he's at his school looking over the young version of himself he thinks back to a young man he cursed at in the day and feels bad. He even mentions Bob Cratchet before he sees his Christmas. That sort of feeling didn't convey in the movies. Most of them kept Scrooge hardhearted until towards the end.
Such a great story and I see why Dickens is considered a great writer.