Jen reads... lots of stuff!

Mini reviews! Yayyy!

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

I picked this up after Laura from Devouring Texts pointed out on twitter that it was a kindle daily deal.. and I'm really glad that I did! It was very entertaining and perfect for a nice, fun, light read. I feel that this might be one that you either love or hate, so it might be worth seeing whether you like Jenny Lawson's writing style by reading her blog first, before trying the book. If you are one of the few people who haven't already read it! Obviously, I fell on the love side, but I can see her being a bit divisive.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

This is another daily deal book... I can remember people talking about this series and comparing it to Harry Potter, so I immediately went into NOOO IT CAN'T BE LIKE HARRY POTTER BECAUSE HARRY POTTER IS THE BEST THING EVER!!! mode, and completely dismissed it (this would have been back in 2001 when I was considerably younger and more closed minded than I am now!). That also left me thinking that it was exactly the same kind of story as Harry Potter, which it is not.

I enjoyed the book for what it was, and would have probably loved it had I read it when I was younger. But I can't see myself reading the other books unless they are also daily deals at some point.



Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Heminsley

I picked this up because I am trying to start running again (HOPEFULLY I will stick with it this time, because none of the reasons that I've quit before have anything to do with disliking the running part, and everything to do with inherent laziness, or life getting in the way), and thought it might inspire me to carry on. And I think it has, hopefully! I definitely felt better about the prospect of me running after reading it, because the author seems to have a body built like mine (we have almost the same bra size! too much information?), and almost all of the things about running I've seen that have been written by women who do not have a large chest to contend with. I don't think that my body is in any way built for running (or sports of any kind!) but I feel that if someone who is a similar build to me can do it, then I definitely can!

 For a more in depth review see Laura's post about it.

(I have now completed the first week of the couch to 5k programme. It's going well! I am really really determined to finish it this time, I bought proper running shoes at one of those shops where they watch you run on a treadmill and then find the best kind of shoes for you, and have barely used them, but I will!! I WILL!!!)



Saga volume 3 written by Brian K Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples

I already talked a bit about the first two volumes of Saga, but I have to say that much as I enjoyed them, it was volume 3 that has made me really love the series. It just seems to be getting better!
Still not good reading material to take on a train or anywhere else people might see you. Although Japan does have a good number of people who openly read erotic manga on the train, I do not want to be one of them (because they're mainly creepy men), especially when this series isn't really designed to titillate.

I want volume 4 to come out already!!!

Catch-up mini reviews! Part 3 - Graphic Novels

Graphic novels! Or comics, I guess! I don't know! Yayyy!

Saga volumes 1 and 2 written by Brian K Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples

I had a book token which I won at work for being awesome, and decided to try saga, as I kept on hearing it being recommended, and I find it hard to justify buying graphic novels normally. I also wasn’t entirely convinced that I would like it. But I did! It’s insane! I can’t be bothered figuring out a way to describe it, so here’s what it says on Wikipedia:

"(Saga) depicts two lovers from long-warring extraterrestrial races, Alana and Marko, fleeing authorities from both sides of a galactic war as they struggle to care for their newborn daughter, Hazel, who occasionally narrates the series."

What that description fails to tell you about is all of the side characters who make it really interesting – the ghost of a girl whose bottom half is missing with her guts hanging out of it, the giant cat thing which can tell when people are lying and says so (even when it gets their owner in trouble), weird spider lady… and so on. If you’re looking for something that’s insanely creative, and are not bothered by graphic (I really mean this. This is DEFINITELY for adults) depictions of things like sex, violence, etc, then you might like it!

This is the one of the few graphic novels that I’ve read which is not biography or sort of gothy, and I liked it! I need to get hold of volume 3 now.

(I could not find a good picture of the cover of volume 2, but maybe that's a good thing if anybody squeamish reads this!)

Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by David Aja and Javier Pulido

I bought this as a Christmas present for one of my colleagues who really likes the Marvel films… and he lent it to me once he’d finished reading it! Yay! This was my first foray into normal superhero type graphic novels, and I really enjoyed it! Even though I didn’t really care about Hawkeye in the Avengers film (I had no idea who he was, and kept on getting confused, hehe), I heard that this was good, and what I heard was right! It was very entertaining, and I slowly grew to like Hawkeye over the volume. I also liked the art! At the end, there was a Young Avengers story which lost me a little bit as I had no idea who anybody is (this is what puts me off superhero things – there’s waaaaaaaaayyy too much history for most of these characters for someone who has problems jumping in in the middle like I do). Still, it was all enjoyable! Yayy!

Must read more graphic novels!!!