Friday Reviews 1: September 1st- 8th, 2017

🍂 Friday Reviews Week 1: September 1st- 8th, 2017 🍂

Book 1: How to Be Perfectly Unhappy

 by Matthew Inman, The Oatmeal- Read Sept. 2nd, 2017

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I have liked The Oatmeal books that I have read. They have always had a peculiar sense of humor with the illustrations and what Matthew Inman discusses. This book also had great humor throughout and I enjoyed it for the most part. A good short read for those that like The Oatmeal books. 

*I received this book for free for an honest review*

Book 2: The Wendy Project- Read Sept. 2nd, 2017
by Melissa Osborne

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Wendy Davies crashes her car into a lake with her two young brothers Michael and John in the backseat. After she wakes up in the hospital and her parents tell her that Michael is dead. She keeps insisting though that a flying boy has taken Michael away. Her therapist gives her a sketchbook to try and work through what has happened, that Wendy begins to draw in. Throughout the graphic novel, Wendy tries to work through her grief and to try and figure what really happened that night. The graphic novel blends the story with an impressive art style that plays with colors and imagery to create a very moving story. It blends together fantasy and reality and makes the reader question what is real. 

I have been waiting to read this book since I first heard about it a few months ago and now I finally have it. First of all, I want to talk about the illustrations. This is a stunning graphic novel and is one of the best that I have ever seen visually if not the best. The illustrations/art by Veronica Fish are incredible and I just want to keep looking at them. The story is also great. I love retellings or stories that take a twist on original tales and this one was definitely very good. Melissa Jane Osborne takes the tale of Peter Pan and twists it into a story of grief and how to overcome great obstacles. The notebook like design is not only clever and beautiful but it also goes perfectly with the story that Melissa is telling. I recommend this book to anyone that loves the original tale of Peter Pan and graphic novels. This was a great take on a classic story that I cannot get enough of. Also, it looks absolutely stunning and has a great texture to the cover. I could gush about it forever. Please, if the premise of this book sounds even a bit interesting to you, pick it up. You will not regret it. 

🐢 Book 3: Equal Rites (Book 3 of the Discworld Series) 🐘

 by Terry Pratchett- Read 8/31/17- 9/7/17

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Before I start to review the actual novel, I first want to take a brief moment to explain Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. First, there are forty-one novels that make up the series and also many other companion books. There are seven sub-series that make up the actual series: Wizards/ Rincewind/ Unseen University, Witches (also Witches/Tiffany Aching), Death, Ancient Civilizations, City Watch, Industrial Revolution, and Moist von Lipwig. There are over one hundred key characters. 

Many of the Discworld Characters 

One of the major questions that many ask is, where should I start this series? Many pick a sub-series and just stick with that. Others will start at the very beginning, at The Colour of Magic (which was first published in 1983). I will say that I decided to go with the second way of reading, I want to read each of the books in publishing order. Some other readers just pick the books that interest them. Many of the books in the Discworld series can be read separately but some follow a continuing plot such as The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. Also, I will say that many of the characters show up in other books even from other sub-series. The character of Death is almost in all forty-one of the novels. 

Previously this year, I read the first two books, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. I quite enjoy Terry Pratchett's way of writing. He has a great use of wit throughout his novels and so many lines that stick out as favorites. 

"Granny, meanwhile was two streets away. She was also, by the standards of other people, lost. She would not see it like that. She knew where she was, it was just that everywhere else didn't." -Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites

Equal Rites is the third book in the Discworld series and the first book

in the Witches sub-series. This is the first novel that introduces one of the influential characters of the series, Granny Weatherwax. Granny has become one of my favorite characters in all literature. She's hilariously funny with her bluntness with anyone that she meets. Her dry way of talking and her expressions make this book.Granny's full name is Esmerelda Weatherwax but is known as Granny by everyone. She's not someone you would want to mess with even with the nickname Granny. 

"The second problem was that a bear had found it (the staff) first. In fact, this hadn't been too much of a problem because Granny, already in a bad temper, hit it right between the eyes with the broomstick and it was now sitting as far away from her as it was possible to get in a pit, and trying to think happy thoughts." -Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites

Eskarina (Esk)

The novel starts with an explanation that a wizard has never been a woman. The first character that we meet is an older wizard that is trying to find a newborn boy to give his powers and magical staff. The eighth child of an eighth son is given the power, but the wizard makes a major mistake. He wanted to give it to the eighth son of an eighth son but instead, the child is a girl. 

Years, later when the child Eskarina, Esk for short is around eight years old, the town witch Granny wants to train her as a witch. The girl's power does not suit well to what a witch is able to do so her only real option for power is to become a wizard. So Granny decides to bring the girl to the Unseen Univesity to learn to become a wizard. 

Terry Pratchett's humor shines in this novel and he has so many different gems of writing throughout (like I have shown above). The Discworld is this fully mapped out world that I am enjoying getting immersed in whenever I pick up one of his books. This book takes some time to get into but trust me it is worth it. The world building and the intricate way that Terry weaves his story is wonderful to experience. I have never been so impressed by an author as I am of him. 

I completely recommend reading this series and if you get the chance, listen to the audiobooks of them also. They are great. I will be reading Mort sometime next week and I cannot wait.