By Golly, Ollie!

💾 a blog about books, tea, & geekery

Category: Good Reads

Posts about books like reviews and books & tea pairings.

  • This One was a Real Nail-Biter | Dig Two Graves by Kim Powers

    Dig Two Graves Insta

    Look, I’m not proud of what I’m about to admit, but the truth is, I went in prepared to hate this book. I don’t even know why because when I read the summary, I was intrigued, but the day I sat down to read Dig Two Graves by Kim Powers, I felt like it was the last book I wanted to read at the moment. The first pages of notes I took on this book suggest this attitude influenced the way I read the book– nothing but scribbles filled with vitriol for one of the characters, Ethan Holt, American Olympian turned professor teaching the Classics. I thought he was pretentious, especially after his back-handed comment about Harry Potter. What can I say? I’m sensitive about that. And Skip, Ethan’s daughter? He says she is mature for a thirteen year old, but I didn’t see it at all. But then…a switch flipped in chapter two when a new character was introduced. This new person, watching Ethan and his friends and family, while cloaked in the night, created an atmosphere that I can only describe as ominous and macabre. In that moment, I was hooked.

    (more…)

  • Welcome to Celaena-mania! | Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

    Throne of Glass

    [Insert some tired quip about how I’m reluctant to read the books everyone else is raving about because more often than not I’m left feeling disappointed]

    But then Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas happened, and I’m sad that I didn’t read it sooner. Sad that I didn’t get to anticipate the release of the next books in the series with everyone else. Sad that I wasn’t swept up in Celaena-mania. Why do I have to be so stubborn? This was such a good book! (Oh, PS. SPOILERS)

     

    (more…)

  • I’m Disappointed…That it Took Me So Long to Read This Book! | The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

    Percy Jackson the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

    There were two reasons why I didn’t read Percy Jackson the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan when it was released:

    1. In January 2005, I was a junior in high school, and I considered myself too old for middle grade novels.
    2. Yet, I wasn’t too old for Harry Potter, which is the other reason I didn’t read this book. Someone said it was “perfect for fans of Harry Potter“, which is an instant turn-off. Nothing can compare to Harry Potter!

    So, I’m not sure why, at the age of 27, I felt compelled to buy this middle grade novel (other than, it was on sale, and I’m notoriously impulsive when it comes to buying and borrowing books). Once I brought the book home with me, it spent a few months sitting on the floor beside my bed before I even considered actually reading it. It was because of mentions on two blogs, Reviews and Cake and J.Bookish, that I took as a sign and decided to finally give the book a read. Right from chapter one, I was totally engrossed in The Lightning Thief. Normally I can’t read in bed because I get drowsy really quickly, but this book had me thinking just one more chapter before lights out, and before I knew it, the clock read midnight. I even read this book with the teevee on, and I wasn’t distracted at all.

    (more…)

  • At Least They Didn’t Die of Dysentery? | The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown

    At Least They Didn’t Die of Dysentery? | The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown

    I guess you could say I’m fascinated by the Oregon Trail. Like many youngsters growing up in America during the 1990s, I was in love with the Oregon Trail computer game. My knowledge of survival was poor, of course; In Independence, Missouri, often the main starting place for the Oregon Trail, I would always spend too much money on salt pork (that’s practically bacon, right?), and oxen—mostly for lugging a wagon full of salt pork, but that would eventually run out… I also treated every scrape, gouge, and disease with turpentine—good for runny noses, not so good for dysentery. It’s a miracle my party ever made it to Oregon (most of the time they didn’t).

    There was also that time in college when I would escape to the library on cold, blustery days and try to read the Lewis and Clark journals—not quite as engaging as one would think—wait, does anyone even think that?

    (more…)

  • This cozy mystery is spine-chilling | Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls by Victoria Laurie

    This cozy mystery is spine-chilling | Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls by Victoria Laurie

    I’m convinced there is a mystery novel for everyone– for cat lovers, for tea lovers, for book club lovers, for Florida Keys lovers, for baking lovers. The list goes on! So, I’m not really sure why I was surprised to discover a mystery series that followed ghost hunters filming for a TV show. It wasn’t even a question whether or not I was going to pick a book from Victoria Laurie’s Ghost Hunter Myster series; I knew I had to have it. It was however, a question of which book do I choose? Unfortunately, my library didn’t have the complete series, so I started with the first book they had, which was number five, Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls.

    (more…)

  • This graphic novel failed a saving throw | Welcome to Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl

    This graphic novel failed a saving throw | Welcome to Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl

    I’m wouldn’t call myself a passionate fan of Batman, but ever since Jon introduced me to some of his favorite graphic novels of the Caped Crusader, I’ve been hooked. I’ve only read five Batman graphic novels so far, but that number is ever-growing, so when, I discovered my library had the first volume of Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl, I couldn’t resist it.

    There were two really great things about Gotham Academy:

    1. The artwork. Yet again I’ve discovered a graphic novel with beautiful art, scenery rich with detail, and characters that were incredibly stylish.
    2. Maps Mizoguchi. She’s the Dungeons and Dragons-loving, kid sister of Olive’s (our main character) ex-boyfriend. She’s chipper and vibrant and she has all the best nerdy lines referencing her favorite table top game.

    (more…)

  • Book Blind Date | Shakespeare Undead by Lori Handleland

    Book Blind Date | Shakespeare Undead by Lori Handleland

    I’ve mentioned it before, but I go in “blind” with almost every book I borrow from the library. It encourages me to select books I never would have otherwise because of perceptions of a genre or a style. This was the case for Shakespeare Undead by Lori Handeland. I picked up this novel for two reasons:

    1. I needed spooky books for my October “horror” series, and well…this book does have “undead” right in the title.
    2. The book cover features Shakespeare with vampire fangs, and apparently that’s all the convincing I need.

    (more…)

  • A Spooktacular Coffee Table Book | Dead Inside: Do Not Enter: Notes from the Zombie Apocalypse

    A Spooktacular Coffee Table Book | Dead Inside: Do Not Enter: Notes from the Zombie Apocalypse

    Dead Inside: Do Not Enter: Notes from the Zombie Apocalypse from The Lost Zombies Community

    Released: September 2011
    Publisher: Chronicle Books
    Add to Goodreads
    ★★★★
    Synopsis: Post Secret meets World War Z in this chilling vision of the fallout following a global zombie pandemic. A gradual mutation of a virulent strain of super flu gives rise to millions of the undead, who quickly overwhelm treatment facilities and swarm cities around the world, leaving survivors on their own against a legion of the infected. This chilling story is told through the scraps of paper, scrawled signs, and cryptic markers left by survivors as they struggle to stay alive and find those they ve lost in a world overrun by zombies. Through these found notes and messages letters to loved ones, journal fragments, confessions, and warnings readers can uncover the story of what went wrong, and come to know the individual voices of those affected by the zombie crisis.

    My Thoughts

    When I was a pre-teen, I was a horror novel fanatic. Each trip to the library, I would bring home a stack of R.L. Stine’s Fear Street books or Give Yourself Goosebumps (a choose your own adventure series) and devour them in one sitting. I’m not sure if I burned myself out or what, but I drifted away from this beloved genre shortly after puberty, and I haven’t looked back since (with the exception of Rot & Ruin and Dearly, Departed). This season though, I felt particularly festive and brought home stacks of spooky novels and two bags of candy corn (mostly untouched at this point and no, I don’t know why I thought two bags of candy corn was necessary). Not all the books I read gave me the heebie-jeebies, but they all succeeded in making me feel excited to celebrate October. Of course, all the 31 days/13 days of Halloween specials on teevee help, too (ABC Family has Hocus-Pocus and Casper on heavy rotation at the end of October, in case you’re a fan).

    I was actually a little weary when I started this project. I’m such a moody reader, so I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to stick to my plan. Fortunately, my library book choices are usually a win. Plus, I had a diverse mix of novels/graphic novels/genres to keep me entertained. The first book I cracked open was Dead Inside: Do Not Enter. In my post title, I’ve called it a coffee table book, although I’m uncertain of the type of person that would feature this on their coffee table. I would say myself, but I don’t have a coffee table, so it just sort of sat on the floor until my next library visit. Goodreads calls it a graphic novel. It’s both? Anyone could be entertained as they flipped to random pages to find photographs of notes scrawled on napkins or cardboard scraps. Yet, the artwork in this book is sequential, and it does tell a grim and heartbreaking story about humanity falling apart one zombie bite at a time. This book contains artwork and inspiration from the Lost Zombies website– a social media site that encouraged users to set up a profile and upload audio, video, and photographs to contribute to the Lost Zombie timeline. Unfortunately, the Lost Zombies community is more dead than the antagonists in this book (ie. the website is defunct). Dead Inside: Do Not Enter was a fun read though, and although it is brief to the point where I almost felt guilty adding it to my Goodreads Challenge, it would be a spooktacular gift for the zombie lover in your life (even if they don’t have coffee tables).

    What are your favorite zombified books, games or movies?

  • Earl Grey Lavender Tea is a Fickle Fellow

    Earl Grey Lavender Tea is a Fickle Fellow

    During college, I had a waxing interest in the Steampunk subculture– not to the point where I wore Steampunk-inspired garb– but I did have a handful of Steampunk bands loaded onto my iPod. Abney Park was my favorite. I also frequented Steampunk blogs, and it was through them that I discovered a webcomic called Wondermark by David Malki !. The comic wasn’t really Steampunk, although it did make the occasional reference:

    (more…)

  • Halt You Villains! Unhand That Review! Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

    Halt You Villains! Unhand That Review! Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

    Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

    Released: October 2014
    Publisher: Marvel
    Age Group: Young Adult
    Add to Goodreads
    ★★★★
    Synopsis: Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren’t the heroes everyone thinks they are.But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona’s powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

    My Thoughts

    Nimona by Noelle Stevenson is one of those books that makes me questions my rating scale. I’ve been thinking all week about how fun this book was, how I wish I could trick Jon into reading it, how the artwork was fun and quirky, and how the characters in this book turn our hero/villain archetypes on their heads. It almost appears to be a book that has the qualities of a five-star read, yet…it’s not? What then is it lacking that prevents it from five-star status on this blog? Is it something that I cannot quantify in words? I mean, I can hardly think of a flaw! In fact, here is a list of why you should read Nimona:

    1.  Nimona’s got zest, she’s got spunk, she’s fearless, and I loved reading about a female protagonist (or is she an antagonist?) that embodied those characteristics. Nimona is such a force that she drove the plot forward instead of circumstance.
    2. Noelle Stevenson plays with the hero/villain archetype in her graphic novel, which was fun although it was a little predictable. This of course doesn’t diminish my hatred of the Institution for what they did to Nimona and Blackheart and Goldenloin.
    3. Nimona is a shapeshifter AND SOMETIMES SHE TURNS INTO AN ADORABLE CAT. I mean, isn’t that enough?
    4. Something about the artwork and the banter between the characters combined makes this book laugh out loud funny. I lost track of how many times this book made me gigglesnort.
    5. This graphic novel is a blend of fantasy and science fiction, which fascinates me. Weapons of choice are either big plasma guns or trusty swords. I don’t know how this works, it just does.

    The only downfall of Nimona is despite the origin stories and despite the scientific research about Nimona, I still don’t understand how she gained her shape-shifting powers or how they really work. Of course reasons 1-5 make up for this, but I still wanted to be able to close the book and be able to say, “Ooooh, so that’s how it happened”.

    In the end, Nimona was an excellent read– fast-paced, funny, and a rip-roaring adventure. It also convinced me I need more Noelle Stevenson in my life; during my next library visit, I’ll be searching for the Lumberjane graphic novels, another series Noelle Stevenson wrote/co-wrote.

    Have you read anything written by Noelle Stevenson? What did you think of it? Did you know that she illustrated the cover of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl? Awesooooome!