REVIEW: Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon

John August's first novel, Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire, was my most anticipated book of last year. This year's sequel was no different. This middle-grade fantasy series imagines scouting as training for surviving the both the wilderness and the supernatural world. Campfire songs and canoeing meets spirit tracking and monster fighting. In this year's sequel, Arlo wanders through a doorway no Ranger has ever gone before.

REVIEW: C-3PO Does Not Like Sand

I first got in contact with Disney Books after attending NYCC in 2017 because I was interested in reviewing their Star Wars and Marvel books. It’s been over a year and a half and so far they haven’t sent me much related to those two franchises, or anything particularly on brand with The Modern Gafa. But this? Well...It’s Star Wars.

REVIEW: Star Wars Alien Archive

Discover hundreds of aliens from the Star Wars galaxy in this follow-up to Star Wars: Galactic Maps. Featuring detailed illustrations of the fascinating aliens and creatures that fill the Star Wars universe, this collectible gift book is a must-have for fans across the galaxy.

REVIEW: Bone Hollow

How is this only the first book I’ve finished reading this year? It’s at least the third one I’ve picked up. I’ve been in sort of a funk with novels lately and haven’t been really grooving with the ones on my TBR. After realizing I was way behind on my reading goal for the year, I organized all of my books by length and grabbed the shortest one. So check out my review of Bone Hollow after the jump.

My 10 Favorite Books of 2018

Last year, I read so few books that I had to lump a Top 5 list in with my Top 5 comics. This year, I have read more books than probably any other year of my entire life - definitely enough for a standalone Top 10 list. Check out my favorite books of the year after the jump.

REVIEW: Culture's Skeleton

Adam P. Knave is a comic book writer and a novelist who has written books with hilariously bizarre titles like NYCWTF, Stays Crunchy in Milk, and I Slept With Your Imaginary Friend. His latest book is Culture’s Skeleton. It’s… yeah, it’s weird. Full review after the jump.

How We Organize Our Bookshelves

There are approximately seven media shelves in our apartment. One has my manga collection, another my PS2 collection and other games, and some just store random books. There is one shelf in our living room, a super nice one, where we put just our best and favorite books. Come along for a tour of the books on our main bookshelf!

Saturday Morning Update #85

Go figure I start taking these updates less seriously because no one reads them and all of a sudden I start getting comments in them. Hi, Mariah!

This week I realized that I have read more than 10 books released on 2018, enough to make a Top 10 list at the end of the year. That's all pretty wild since the year is only half over and I barely read 5 books released in 2017. That's probably because I mostly was reading for fun last year while this year I've mostly only had time to read if it's for a review.

So should I spend the rest of the year reading stuff I want or should I keep trying to read more 2018 books? I've pretty much tapped everything I'm interested in but to be fair there are so many books every year and it's hard to find out about all of them. I also want to finish the Harry Potter series but after the first three I can't carry those heavy things on the train so they all have to be read at home. Not to mention my comics reviews do way better than my novel reviews so is it even worth it?

Let me know in the comments below what you think I should be reading for the rest of 2018. Recommendations always welcome!

REVIEW: The Con Artist

This was a book I didn’t know I needed. I have always been into geek culture and I have been getting more and more into comic books over the past couple years, so a mystery novel set at the biggest convention in the world with a plot revolving around the comic industry had my name written all over it. Hit the jump to check out my review of The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente.

REVIEW: The Thousand Year Beach

Did you guys know that Viz Media, the biggest publishers of manga in the west, also do novels? The latest book in their HAIKASORU imprint is a sci-fi thriller called The Thousand Year Beach by Tobi Hirotaka and translated by Matt Treyvaud. Check out my review after the jump.

REVIEW: Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire

When I was in film school, the first podcast I ever listened too was Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. It was hosted by Craig Mazin, writer of comedies such as Identity Thief and the Hangover sequels, and John August, writer of many amazing films such as Big Fish and The Corpse Bride. Once upon a NaNoWriMo, August announced he was working on his first novel. He didn’t finish it. A couple years later he got a publishing deal, moved to Paris, and finished the book. That book is Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire.

REVIEW: Geekerella

Originally published last year, Geekerella is a YA romance novel by Ashley Poston. It’s something I heard a lot about from other book bloggers. I’ve heard of a lot of YA books tackling the fandom scene lately. I picked up one such book a few weeks ago but had to put it down. So how does this one fair? Hit the jump to find out if Geekerella is fantastic or fanservice.

REVIEW: The Boy Who Went Magic

Originally published last year in the United Kingdom, The Boy Who Went Magic by A. P. Winter is a middle-grade fantasy adventure that follows the adventures of a young orphan boy named Bert who gets caught up in a plot involving an evil prince, a sky pirate with metal limbs, and a whole lot of magic. Check out my review after the jump.

REVIEW: The Serpent's Secret

Sayantani DasGupta is a team member of We Need Diverse Books, an organization that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. In her new fantasy middle-grade novel, DasGupta has crafted an adventure that allows Indian children to see themselves on the page, and teach other kids about Indian culture and mythology. Read on to check out my full review of The Serpent’s Secret.

Saturday Morning Update #58

This week I walked into my local Barnes & Noble store looking for a copy of Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire. I already pre-ordered one, I just wanted a nice Instagram post of it on the shelves at a book store.

They didn't have it. Lame. But it's a campus Barnes & Noble, what do you expect? It's at least a dozen times better than the one on my college, I don't think I ever went there for a book. Anyway while I was there I saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on clearance. 75% off, and the picture above doesn't adequately show just how many rows of books were there.

Is it really that bad? I wonder how many I have to buy until they have room for Arlo Finch. Not that I plan on buying one, but still.

Also, holy cow I posted 4 days in a row this week, five if you count this Update. And guess what, I have at least 3 reviews planned for next week.I've been trying to do every Tuesday and Thursday, but I think I'm going to have to be a "whenever" kind of blogger. That doesn't mean I'll be posting less often, but actually more often.

What have you been up to this week?

REVIEW: The Hazel Wood

This was one of my most anticipated reads. I’ve seen bloggers talking about Melisa Albert’s dark fantasy for over a year. The line to get a free ARC at New York Comic Con was insanely long. I’ve seen it on all the lists; must reads of 2018, favorite new books of 2018, most anticipated books of 2018. It’s honestly the first time I’ve experienced hype for a novel since The Deathly Hallows. So then, does The Hazel Wood live up to the hype? Find out after the jump.

Favorite Books & Comics of 2017

This was the year that I got back into reading in a big way. Last year I didn’t even have a comic shelf and it’d been ages since I picked up a book I wasn’t being forced to read at school. Usually, there would be a single month out of the year where I got really into the idea of being a novelist and would read five random books and then give up. But this year I read more novels than I did in four years of college combined and discovered new characters like Kamala Khan and Miles Morales who got me interested in regularly reading new comics. And so, having read dozens of books and hundreds of pages this year, here are my favorite books and comics of 2017.

REVIEW: Crash Course #1 (Project Terra)

A whole universe of animated entertainment came into my life when Cartoon Network became a part of our basic cable package. Everyone remembers Dexter’s Lab and The Powerpuff Girls. But even I barely remember the obscure series called I Am Weasel. A spin-off of the slightly more memorable Cow and Chicken, there is only one episode of I Am Weasel that sticks in my memory: the titular weasel went to space and transformed the environment into a habitable new world in a process called terraforming. I thought this was a totally impossibly imaginary science fiction concept. Today, terraforming is the subject of a new middle-grade series that sees students from across the galaxy learning the art of this bizarre science at a super cool boarding school. Check out my review of Project Terra: Crash Course after the jump.

REVIEW: Warcross + Giveaway

Ever since I started getting into the book side of geek blogging, I’ve known about Warcross by Marie Lu. I had just finished Ready Player One and Warcross sounded so similar, I was ready for another adventure into a virtual reality game world. After leaving New York Comic Con, where I discovered a bunch of new books, Warcross was still at the top of my list of books I wanted to read as soon as possible. Once I got my hands on a copy, I couldn’t put it down.

After the jump, check out my full review of Marie Lu’s Warcross and stick around to find out how to win your own copy!

REVIEW: The Magic Misfits

This was one of the first freebie books I picked up at New York Comic Con. It came in a box with a small art print. There was so much going on that day that I didn’t think much of it. Until I got back to my room and noticed the name of the author: Neil Patrick Harris. He is an awesome and hilarious actor and part of me knew, hidden in the back of my mind, that he was a great magician too. Not to mention he is known to be an awesome father. In short, Neil Patrick Harris is the perfect person to write a middle-grade novel like this.