September 1, 2014

Recent Reads

116. Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1)
I've struggled with this book for the past two weeks, and cannot seem to bring myself to pick it up again, so about halfway through I am calling it quits. It has an interesting premise, and it could just be that I am in not the right mood to read it, but there you have it. As an aside, the names of people and places in this story seem like names you'd get if you let your cat walk across your keyboard - and I mean that in a good way. Rating: 1 star.

117. Fortunately, the Milk
On a recent camping trip, I decided to introduce my nephews (9 and 11) to audiobooks, and started with this one. While I have read aloud to them from an early age, this was a different and fun way for us to experience a story together. 

This short story (an hour) is a fantastical tale of the (mis)adventures a Dad has while going out to get some milk for his kids breakfast. The story was action filled, and Gaiman adds little nuggets to entertain adults as well. The boys loved it, and we had fun discussing the plot and our fave parts. Rating: 3 stars.


118. Guys Read: Will: A Story from Guys Read: Funny Business 
Another short story on audio that we listened to with my nephews recently. This story is about 30 minutes long and explores the notion of heroes. All the kids that Will knows have superpowers, but he seems to be just a normal boy. When a super villain attacks their school, can Will save the day?

In these days where most of the kid books have stories where problems are solved using magic, or super powers, or some other fantastical device, I loved the notion of a story where a kid uses his noggin. My nephews and I had an interesting discussion of what makes a hero. Rating: 3 stars.


119. Darth Vader and Son (Jeffrey Brown's Star Wars)
I am one of those people who confuse Star Wars and Star Trek, you can close your mouth now, so I am sure I missed all the insider jokes. Still, this children's comic (targeted at the 5+) is a quick and cute read. Each page is a vignette into the life that Luke might have had if he was raised by Darth Vader. Rating: 2 stars.

120. Vader's Little Princess (Jeffrey Brown's Star Wars)
I am one of those people who confuse Star Wars and Star Trek, you can close your mouth now, so I am sure I missed all the insider jokes. Still, this children's comic (targeted at the 5+) is a quick and cute read. Each page is a vignette that explores the relationship between Darth Vader and his daughter Leia, and it clear that he is more comfortable with his son. Rating: 2 stars.

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