The Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous : Book Review

Title  :  Diary of an Oxygen Theif

Author  :  Anonymous

Format  :  Paperback

Length  :  151 Pages

Rating  :  ★

Hurt people hurt people. Say Holden Caulfield was an alcoholic and Lolita was a photographer's assistant and somehow they met in Bright Lights Big City. He's blinded by love. She by ambition.

The Princess Saves Herself In This One by Amanda Lovelace : Book Review

Title  :  The Princess Saves Herself In This One

Author  :  Amanda Lovelace

Format  :  Paperback

Length  :  156 Pages

Rating  :  ★ ★ ★ ★

"Ah, life- the thing that happens to us while we're off somewhere else blowing on dandelions & wishing ourselves into the pages of our favorite fairy tales."

A poetry collection divided into four different parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, & you. the princess, the damsel, & the queen piece together the life of the author in three stages, while you serves as a note to the reader & all of humankind. Explores life & all of its love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, & inspirations.

Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine : Book Review

Title  :  Killing and Dying

Author  :  Adrian Tomine

Format  :  Hardback

Length  :  121 Pages

Rating  :  ★ ★ ★

"One of the most gifted graphic novelists of our time." —Wired

Killing and Dying is a stunning showcase of the possibilities of the graphic novel medium and a wry exploration of loss, creative ambition, identity, and family dynamics. With this work, Adrian Tomine (Shortcomings, Scenes from an Impending Marriage) reaffirms his place not only as one of the most significant creators of contemporary comics but as one of the great voices of modern American literature. His gift for capturing emotion and intellect resonates here: the weight of love and its absence, the pride and disappointment of family, the anxiety and hopefulness of being alive in the twenty-first century.

“Amber Sweet” shows the disastrous impact of mistaken identity in a hyper-connected world; “A Brief History of the Art Form Known as Hortisculpture” details the invention and destruction of a vital new art form in short comic strips; “Translated, from the Japanese” is a lush, full-color display of storytelling through still images; the title story, “Killing and Dying”, centers on parenthood, mortality, and stand-up comedy. In six interconnected, darkly funny stories, Tomine forms a quietly moving portrait of contemporary life.

Tomine is a master of the small gesture, equally deft at signaling emotion via a subtle change of expression or writ large across landscapes illustrated in full color. Killing and Dying is a fraught, realist masterpiece.

Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow : Book Review

Title  :  Girl In Pieces

Author  :  Kathleen Glasgow

Format  :  Paperback

Length  :  412 Pages

Rating  :  ★ ★ ★ ★

Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.

Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.

Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth by Warsan Shire : Book Review

Title  :  Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth

Author  :  Warsan Shire

Format  :  Paperback

Length  :  37 Pages

Rating  :  ★ ★

This short book is actually a collection of different poems which are incredibly vivid. Now before anyone judges me of my harsh rating hear me out...

I understand that these collection of poems are no doubt, beautifully crafted. There is also no doubt that this book makes you feel crazy amount of emotions. However it made me feel uncomfortable!! Don't get me wrong, I totally understand that it's supposed to make you feel almost uncomfortable and with that it shows great skill in writing, but I just didn't enjoy it.

These poems failed to leave anything with me other than the un-comfortableness of what I was reading. I'm not one to become uncomfortable when reading any type of book and this is actually the first time it's happened. Regardless of my harshness of this I would still recommended it to anyone who is even remotely interested in this simply because I would love to know if there are others who think the same as me. 

Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine : Book Review

Title  :  Shortcomings

Author  :  Adrian Tomine

Format  :  Paperback

Length  :  112 Pages

Rating  :  ★ ★ ★ ★

Just like the other two books in this series/collection of short stories I really enjoyed this one. However this book is based on one particular character, Ben. 

So Ben is a character most people would dislike. I am definitely one of those people. However disliking the book due to that is something I frown upon. I have read a lot of negative comments about this short graphic novel that lead to the obvious outcome of that they just didn't like the main character. I get that you should like the main character due to them being the MAIN part of the story, of course. However this was still a beautifully written story with amazing art work, therefore that one significant problem of not liking the character becomes not so significant anymore. 

However it's not something you can completely overlook. Of course it does become annoying how dishonest and selfish and up his own arse Ben actually is. There are also times where this book kind of got a little boring. 

Although, I have never read anything like this before therefore it made it unique to me which I particularly enjoyed.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie : Book Review

Title  :  We Should All Be Feminists

Author  :  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Format  :  Paperback

Length  :  52 Pages

Rating  :  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I was delightfully surprised by this book as I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. This very short book talks about the authors experiences , thoughts and feelings of gender and feminism.

I read the first half of this book whilst in the bath and then the other half as soon as I got out and into bed. It was so short yet so powerful. I've never thought as myself as a feminist as such but reading this made me realise how important gender equality is and how in different places around the world woman and men are treated a lot different to what I expected.

To say the least, this book really opened my eyes and I can't wait to read more books like this. Incredible!!

Exit, Pursed by a Bear by E. K. Johnston : Book Review

Title  :  Exit, Pursed by a Bear

Author  :  E. K. Johnston

Format  :  Paperback

Length  :  248 Pages

Rating  :  ★ ★

This book follows Hermione who is the captain of a cheerleading team in Palermo Heights. Every year Hermione attends camp and this year is her last year. But when everything turns black she ends up living a nightmare she feels isn't her own. 

This book wasn't that great for me. I think the idea was great but it didn't pull through in this particular book. I didn't feel like I was connected to any of the characters as such and personally there was a little too much about cheerleading within this book rather than what actually happened to our main character. Hermione was sexually assaulted which is what this book is supposed to be about (this happens really early on in the book so this isn't a spoiler), however I think the book was more driven by the knowledge of cheerleading than the event that took place.

There were a few things I enjoyed such as the way Hermione dealt with it. She had an interesting view on relating the assault with herself which really made me think. I'm not sure how realistic this would be but I think it makes sense.

I wouldn't recommend this book if you can't deal with reading about sexual assault. It's not particularly graphic but it's obviously meant to be the main premise of the story.

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately it just didn't click with me which is a shame as I have been waiting to get my hands on it for months.

Let me know if you e read this book and whether you enjoyed it or not, I'm curious to know what other people think.