Paige BraddockRecensioni

Paige Braddock's brief appearance as an assistant in the biographical graphic novel I recently read, Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schulz, put me in a open and welcoming mood when I saw one of her book titles pop up in the library catalog. Her "Jane's World" series didn't do much for me years ago, but I was curious to see how she'd fare when it comes to a kiddie book.

And she did okay, I guess, for the book's intended audience, but this little peek into how an established dog and cat react when a puppy is introduced into their household didn't do anything for me to make it stand out in a very crowded field.

It's so surreal to see the Peanus crew in Japan, but it's also fun. Believable for how the characters would act. So cute to see the crew in yukatas(?) and kimonos. But the kids (excluding Linus) are especially mean to Charlie this time around.

Forever’s Promise by Missouri Vaun

Intriguing, interesting, and informative look at two women who find one another and create a partnership in what I have found online to be a marriage with a “female husband”.

What I liked:
* Wesley “Wes” Holden: grew up in Tennessee hills, orphaned young, sister to Clyde, never interested in marrying and staying in Tennessee – wanted more
* Clyde Holden: quiet, supportive of Wes, taught his sisters skills she needed, taken advantage of and made a laughingstock, died too young
* Charlotte Rose: hard worker, lost her mother at 16, on her own working hard for at least three years, taken in by a conman, travels west wanting more
* Ben and Maddie: nearest neighbors to the Holden homestead, helpful, goodhearted, could be a support in the future
* The discussion of male-female roles and expectations in this era and how some people did not fit into those expectations easily
* The development of the relationship between Wes and Charlotte
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* That I cared for the two women and hoped they would find solutions to move forward

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about how difficult it would have been to be either Charlotte or Wes and making the decisions that they did

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and BoldStrokesBooks for the arc – This is my honest review.

4 Stars

Maybe good for a devoted reader of the comic. This book jumps around too much to get into any one plot thread, which I found disappointing. Unless you've read a lot of the series already, you won't get to know a lot of the characters, and the jumps are disconcerting.

Grayson Reeves, a wildland firefighter, blames herself for the death of her best friend and scaps to her hometown, Sky Valley, NC, a place she swore she’d never come back to when she was 17. She’s back and not much has changed except herself. Faith Owen has also returned in search of her artistic muse and to get over a bad relationship. While Grayson suffers in silence, Faith is too attracted to Grayson to back away.

Vaun has created two characters with such potential, but the reader will be sorely disappointed when the characters remain rather amorphous throughout the book. The author was almost there but, in the end, she didn’t produce. The nding was rushed and readers will be disappointed and/or feel cheated they weren’t present when the characters made the decision that netiher was going to return to her former life.

There are several books published recently with characters suffering from diagnosed PTSD or with PTSD-like symptoms who are suddenly healed by the love of a good woman. While love may have a role in healing, it cannot resolve the issues by itself. Vaun’s book is another book where PTSD plays a strong role in the book, but it is either not mentioned as such or is only hinted at and where the suffering character is miraculously made whole again by falling in love.

Vaun’s fans will undoubtedly love this book. Readers new to Vaun may enjoy this author for having crated the flawed Grayson.

My thanks to Bold Strokes Books for an eARC.

Stinky Cecil is in a bad place! The river bank is flooding and destroying houses! Cecil and friends g on a (minor) quest to find out why the river is overflowing it's banks and save the day.

This graphic novel was well enjoyed by my daughter and son. They really enjoyed the illustrations and learned a lot about diversity.and how different lifestyles can accommodate each other.

clever graphic novel

easy first graphic novel with a cat, a dog, and a puppy

This is the first book I've read from Missouri Vaun. I knew going in that is in part based on her family history, though I wasn't (and I'm still not) certain to what degree. I do know it's an engaging and believable tale with moments of joy and tension and longing and tragedy and a whole lot of love.

The story opens with Lovey recently widowed, moving in with her father (a preacher) in his new home. Royal is an 'out' lesbian (which I assume was unusual in smalltown USA in 1939) from a family of moonshiners. I liked that a lot of the drive in their relationship came from Lovey, who is slightly older and has no prior same-sex relationship history.

I've read in a couple of reviews that readers expected Royal to be living as a man. That is not the case, though she dresses in men's clothing as shown in the excellent cover artwork, by the author herself.

The prose is lovely, a little steamy in places but there's more romance than erotica here, and it works. The story includes some violence and racial bigotry perpetrated by minor characters.

Very recommended.½

Crackers, a perky blue dog who goes "crackers" when squirrels appear on HIS porch and Butter, a plump marmalade cat with a penchant for licking butter, have a good life. Until a puppy named Peanut shows up!

Crackers is not too thrilled with this know-nothing puppy that has shown up. He doesn't like sharing his water bowl, toys, or backyard and Peanut is noisy and needy and not house-trained! Butter is mostly different - she is, after all, a cat, but even she can't take much more of Peanut's annoying habits. So one night, when Peanut is being more annoying than usual, she leaves a gate open. Problem solved, no more Peanut. But Crackers has second thoughts. After all, he and Butter were once scared and alone, with no family. Maybe Peanut is annoying, but he needs a family too, just like they did - and they set out to bring a lost, lonely puppy back to a real home.

I am thrilled to see a new, easy graphic novel from Paige Braddock, although it doesn't quite hit the high notes of humor and science in Stinky Cecil, which will remain my favorite. An author's note at the end talks about family pets and her love of Peanuts comics, which she now writes. Her art does have a little of a Peanuts look to it, but it's all her own. This one is in blues and purples, with orange and green highlights. The night scenes are dark purple and the action focuses on the animals, with the occasional outside animal or pair of human hands.

Verdict: Readers moving on from Elephant and Piggie now have a wide and delightful range of choices and this is another that is sure to please readers. This would be just right for kids who aren't quite ready for Bad Kitty yet. Recommended.

ISBN: 9780593117439; Published September 2020 by Viking; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

Finn drives a limo. And one night she punches and drops on the side of the road a horrible jerk.

Iris is in Georgia (after a hellish plane ride) to do a final audition for a Sci Fi series. She winds up at Finn's family's motel/hotel, when after the audition the director makes a pass at her (and she rejects him) and suddenly she can't take the part.

But before they meet in the cabins, they do sorta have a meeting before that, and I thought that was one of the best scenes in the book. It was hilarious.

They both find themselves going to LA and so they go on a road trip there together, and it goes well. It's when they get to LA when it starts going badly for the couple.

I liked most of the book, the characters were fun (would have loved to see more Maggie), but as the end got nearer the conflict seemed a little forced and some of what the characters did seemed out of character.

Overall it was a fun read, and the very very end part of the end was cool.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books.

Fun story about Snoopy going to the moon.½

Surprises in store if you pick this book based on the blurb on the back cover and settle in for a regular romance. You’ll be magicked away into an unexpected world.

Read the full review @https://www.bestlesficreviews.com/2019/02/spencers-cove-by-missouri-vaun.html

Cecil the toad is back for another adventure. When a group of students visit the pond, one of them catches Cecil and the teacher allows him to bring him back to put in the terrarium. Cecil is scared at first but when he finds out that he is safe from predators and that he gets fed regularly he is quite content, until he meets Nesbit the chameleon. He is annoying and never stops talking. There is also a garter snake that stays in the fake log. When Cecil's pond friends find out he has been kidnapped they head off to rescue him. A delightful adventure written in graphic novel form with wonderful illustrations. The back of the book is full of information about the animals in the terrarium as well as how to build your own. The story also touches on the environment and how it is being ruined (plastic water bottles, humans). A good story that would be enjoyed by both young children and middle graders.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cecil the toad, Nesbit the chameleon, Jeff the hamster and Jeremy the earthworm are in for an adventure. When it rains for a long period of time, the pond begins to rise. When the rain stops, the pond continues to rise and the animals are losing their home due to the high pond. They set off to investigate what the problem is. It turns out that a pair of beavers have moved in and created a damn. This is a great way to teach about beavers and their homes. The side story has Nesbit learning about butterflies and their stages of life. When Evelyn the caterpillar's chrysalis is in danger of being destroyed by the rushing water, Nesbit climbs the tree and breaks off the branch she is hanging on and takes her back to the pond habitat. A delightful adventure written in graphic novel form with wonderful illustrations. The back of the book contains information about beavers and the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly. A good story that would be enjoyed by both young children and middle graders. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

Nesbitt the chamelon joins the gang after a life in captivity...and he has lots to learn abut living in the wild. Meanwhile, beavers have moved in next door and their dams are causing all kinds of mayhem.

pond friends cecil the toad, rayray the salamander, jeremy the earth worm, and geoff the free ramge hamster go head to head with bulldozers and a hungry hawk. Can cecil’s super power - incredible stinkiness - save their home from destructon?

LOVE LETTER TO JANE’S WORLD by Paige Braddock, who created the first syndicated comic to feature a lesbian main character, is a funny, goofy book with a ridiculously likeable cast of characters that I found myself enjoying more and more as I read about them. While not a progressive series of stories from the comic, this is more of a "greatest hits" collection of Jane & Co's shenanigans, paired with "love letters" from fans. I'm going to have to find JANE’S WORLD either online or in print and read this in order. It's a gem of a fun story.

I received an eARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

That was really cool. I've followed Jane's World here and there, but had never seen so many of the story lines in one place.

From Jane in space to all of the great Chelle/Jill kick ass stuff and so much more (so much Dorothy). I thought this collection gave a good look at a lot of different types of Jane stories.

And the comments both from the 'real' people as well as the well known names were sometimes hilarious and sometimes touching.

And this collection brought to mind one question over and over. Is Jane the first modern literary useless lesbian? Heh.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Lion Forge.