Graphic Novel Review: The Oracle Code

After a shooting incident, Barbara Gordon is left in a wheelchair. Her father believes the best place for her to heal is the Arkham Center for Independence, which is a place for teens for mental and physical rehabilitation. 

Barbara is not happy being there.

She's also not hearing anything from her best friend.

She's angry at the turn her life took. Other teens attempt to befriend her, but she's not interested. Not until one girl comes to her room in the middle of the night. That girl tells strange stories about people disappearing. 

Barbara doesn't believe any of it, but one day she wakes up and Jena is gone.

Barbara knows something is very wrong here. She's not going to rest until she figures out this puzzle.

My Thoughts: I really liked this graphic novel.  I loved learning more about Barbara Gordon. I loved her determination, her strength, and her love for solving puzzles. I love that she didn't back down when she knew something was wrong. My heart hurt for her as her best friend didn't answer her messages for the longest time.  I like how she confronts him and how things go from there. I loved the ending. I hope there are more graphic novels of the Oracle coming.

Cover Thoughts: Strong. I love how determined she looks

Source: Book sent for review

Library Recommendation: Grab this one for your school and public library. 

Movie Review: PS I Still Love You

PS. I Still Love You

Based off the book by Jenny Han

Second installment of the To All the Boys I've Loved Before trilogy

My Thoughts:

I loved it.

I think these movies are pretty faithful adaptations to some amazing books.

I loved the opening credit and how they were inspired by Adventures in Babysitting (one of my favorite movies)

I loved the first date between Lara Jean and Peter

I loved the addition of Stormy

I loved Kitty - I wish we saw more of her

I loved the relationship building between her father and the neighbor

I loved the moment between her and her former BFF

I love Peter

I loved the chemistry between Peter and Lara Jean

I loved the cameo from Jenny Han - always fun to see the author in the movie.

Basically as you can see, there are TONS of reasons to love this movie.

I can't wait to see the third one!

Review: House of Blood and Earth

* First in a new series *

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it. - summary from the publisher

I'll fully admit, I'm a Sarah J Maas fangirl. And if you like her, this book will blow you away. I loved it. It has all the classic traits of a Maas book - forbidden romance, friendship, death, secrets, lies, betrayals, banter, action, danger, and fighting for a cause. But it was so much more than that.  It was half a murder mystery and half a fantasy novel - the fight against good and evil. It was also half a romance novel.  The stakes were high. The evil was so very evil. And there's that one part that slayed me. Tears - laughter - happy sighs = this book gave me all the feels. And a book hangover

I can't imagine where the next book is going, but I'm here for it.

Library Recommendation: A must have fantasy book for your public library.

If You Like:

I really am loving romantic fantasy and need more recommendations. If you have a series or book you love, let me know in the comments! Thanks.

** copy sent for review
*** This is an adult book

On Your Radar: Four Days of You and Me (38)

Title: Four Days of You and Me

Author: Miranda Kenneally

Publisher: SourceBooks Fire

Release Date: May 5, 2020

Why It Should Be On Your Radar:

* Friendships

* Field Trips

* All of High School

* Banter

* Growing up

* Kissing!

* Graphic Novel Writer/Illustration

* Following Your Dreams

* Baseball

* Did I mention Kissing?

It's no secret that I love Miranda Kenneally's books. I loved how this one took places over four years, but mostly during the times of the school field trips.  I love how the timeline weaved in moments from the rest of the school year.

I couldn't put this book down - another fantastic novel from Miranda Kenneally!

A must have romance for your public libraries

** ARC sent for review

Picture Book Wednesday: Like a Girl

Like a Girl is no longer an insult.

We've embraced it.

This book celebrates all the girls and women who have shatters glass ceilings before today's children. It inspires kids to be like them. At the end of the book, there are mini biographies on all the ladies showcased. This is a wonderful book to share - the illustrations are great and the message is powerful!

Library Recommendation: A must have book for school and public libraries.

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors

This week's topic is all about social media and authors I enjoy following. To be honest, I follow a lot of authors. So it might be hard for me to narrow down, but I'm going to try.

Sarah MacLean - talks a lot about romance books.

Meg Cabot - talks about books and royalty and cats

Kristan Higgins - talks about romance books and life. She often makes me laugh.

Maureen Johnson - for bookish news, dog pictures, and funny moments about life

Rick Riordan for funny tweets and news about his publishing imprint

Carrie Jones for her animals' daily words of wisdom

Shana Galen (Facebook) for her historical clothing pictures

Tessa Dare for her chats about romance books and tweets about life.

Maya Rodale for her posts about awesome women from history and her romance book inspirations and about romance books in general.

Vashti Harrison for her art work and sharing of book news

Teen Summer Reading (5)

For the past month, I've been chatting about Teen Summer Reading Program ideas.

If you missed them, you can find them here.

But this week (my last week) I'll be talking about new fantasy books to purchase for summer.

I always like to have new books to share with my teens for summer. Summer is the best time of year for circulation stats. Teens come into the library and check out lots of books. 

It's important to have new items for them to find.

In my library, our teen room has a middle grade section. So these books will be a mix of middle grade and teen books.

They don't have to revolve around the theme, but these will.

Middle Grade:

YA:

 Nonfiction:

 What other new or upcoming books would you recommend?