Shadow of the Batgirl

Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn, Nicole Goux
on February 4, 2020
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
four-half-stars

Out Spring 2020.

Hey!
I’m here with yet another book review. I might actually be catching up with my reading goals for the year, but we will see if that actually happens. It has been hard year so far so I hope that things are beginning to look up.

Today we are here to discuss a graphic novel that I have read recently. If you followed me for the last year, you will know that I have gotten into the graphic novel series that DC began publishing. You can read a review of a few of the other graphic novels here, here, here, and here. This is another graphic novel in the series though none of the books are connected, so feel free to read them in any order you want.

In this novel, we meet Cassandra Cain and she struggles to identify who she is and her role in society for most of the novel. It takes her a while but she identifies with the stories of Batgirl and wanting to save people though she might not know who Batgirl is.

I love that in this graphic novel you get to see Cassandra Cain portrayed as asian and to see how that adds to her struggles with her identity. I also loved the illustration throughout the novel being a little more sketchy and the panels a little more disjointed at times as it appears that Cassandra’s thoughts are also disjointed.

I would recommend this novel if you like any of the DC characters and are a bit familiar with Gotham City. I would also recommend this book if you are familiar with any of Sarah Kuhn’s work in literature. I definitely think that this is a fun read and adds to the beautiful work that DC is creating in their ink series.

I hope to see you soon in another post.

All Fall Down

6 / 16 / 206 / 10 / 20

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner
Published by Atria Books on June 17, 2014
Pages: 384
Goodreads
three-half-stars

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner
Allison Weiss got her happy ending—a handsome husband, adorable daughter, a job she loves, and the big house in the suburbs. But while waiting in the pediatrician’s office, she opens a magazine to a quiz about addiction and starts to wonder…Is a Percocet at the end of the day really different from a glass of wine? Is it such a bad thing to pop a Vicodin after a brutal Jump & Pump class…or if your husband ignores you?
The pills help her manage the realities of her good-looking life: that her husband is distant, that her daughter is acting out, that her father’s Alzheimer’s is worsening and her mother is barely managing to cope. She tells herself that they let her make it through her days…but what if her increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all?
With a sparkling comedic touch and a cast of unforgettable characters, this remarkable story of a woman’s slide into addiction and struggle to find her way back up again is Jennifer Weiner’s most masterful work yet.

Hello!
I’m finally back with another book review. It has been a hot minute since I posted a book review here in real time. Lately, I have been doing more posts prepping for Scaretober, which is coming in October. I fully intended on being WAY more prepared than I have been in years past. Let’s get back to real reason that you are here.I recently finished Jennifer Weiner’s All Fall Down .

You can read from the synopsis what the book is generally about. As an older fan of Jennifer Weiner I thought that this book was about average, but not as good as some of her older books. I found that this book was good and I could get into the storyline because it was a big deal at the time. I wasn’t impressed at some of the character development in the book, I felt that it could have been better and deeper. It seemed that the majority of the plotline was rushed and at times a bit un-relatable. It seemed a bit unrealistic to introduce that Allison’s mom was an alcoholic to the story at one point and yet never continue with it. It was also a bit unrealistic that her daughter would immediately begin behaving better after Allison got back from rehab and that they moved away from suburbia.

If you like Jennifer Weiner books it was good to get back to her writing, but this book was definitely a more borrow book than a buy book. While I still love Jennifer Weiner as an author I wouldn’t rank this book very high in the books that I would recommend you to read from her though it would still be read.

I hope that you enjoyed this review and that you will come back again for more reviews and more posts. Hope to see you soon.

Review: How I met Your Mother

6 / 11 / 206 / 10 / 20

Hey!
I’m back today to do a review of a show I had to re-watch during Quarantine. I also wanted to take a moment to say that with all the craziness that have been going on in the world , please know that I will always try to keep this space about life and what’s happening. I’m still working on finding the words to address all that has been happening in the world, but please know that I am taking to educate myself in various ways on how to make the world a better place and where I stand in it all.

Now to the real reason why we are here, How I Met Your Mother. I won’t say that I was in on the fan base from the beginning of the show, but I will say that I did jump into watching the show toward the end of its run mostly because of my co-worker at the time.

If you haven’t heard of this show before here’s the premise of the show a guy named Ted Mosby is recanting to his children how he met their mother. In a rather long winded story that mostly involves the antics of him and his friends living in New York. In the final season of the show we finally are able to meet the mother and Ted explains that the whole story has been the little events that have been leading up to meeting this woman all along. His children have other thoughts as expressed in the last episode.

Arguably you can say that the final season and last episode are good or bad depending on which camp you fall in. Overall, I find the show to be culturally iconic. Barney’s single line comedy paired with the many jokes on Canada based on Robin’s country of origin, to the coupledom aspect of Lily and Marshall to Ted’s quirks. You will find yourself laughing at every episode and finding a reason to watch more.You will finding yourself wanting to watch specifically for one actor/ actress and yet continuing to come back to the series just to see the chemistry between all the actors over and over again.

So if you haven’t watch the whole series already I would highly recommend that you find sometime to binge the series. If you have already watched it, I would recommend watching it again. Besides that “Have you met Ted?” You will still find yourself quoting lines and making friends just based on your opinion of the show.

I hope that you enjoyed the review of this show and that you will continue to stick around for more reviews and thoughts from my brain. See you again soon!

Rich People Problems

4 / 3 / 203 / 31 / 20

Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians, #3) by Kevin Kwan
Published by Doubleday on May 23, 2017
Pages: 398
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
four-half-stars

Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians and China Rich Girlfriend, is back with an uproarious new novel featuring a family driven by fortune, an ex-wife driven psychotic with jealousy, a battle royal fought through couture-gown sabotage, and the heir to one of Asia's greatest fortunes locked out of his inheritance.
When Nicholas Young hears that his grandmother, Su Yi, is on her deathbed, he rushes to be by her bedside—but he's not alone. The entire Shang-Young clan has convened from all corners of the globe to stake claim to their matriarch's massive fortune. With each family member vying to inherit Tyersall Park—a trophy estate on sixty-four prime acres in the heart of Singapore—Nicholas' childhood home turns into a hotbed of backbiting and intrigue. As Su Yi's relatives fight over heirlooms, Astrid Leong is at the center of her own storm, desperately in love with her old sweetheart Charlie Wu but tormented by her ex-husband—a man hell-bent on destroying Astrid's reputation and relationship. Meanwhile, Kitty Pong, married to China's second richest man, Jack Bing, still feels upstaged by her new stepdaughter, famous fashionista Colette Bing.
In this sweeping tale that takes us from the elegantly appointed mansions of Manila to the secluded private islands in the Sulu Sea, from a kidnapping at Hong Kong's most elite private school to a surprise marriage proposal at an Indian palace that is caught on camera by the telephoto lenses of paparazzi, Kevin Kwan hilariously reveals the long-buried secrets of Asia's most privileged families and their rich people problems.

Hello!
I’m back with another book review. One good thing about being stuck in quarantine times is that I now have uninterrupted time to read which is great for my book reading goals for the year.

I’m glad that I finally had a chance to finish this book, since I had started the series at the end of the year. This series was recommended to me, by my best friend who said that she has read the series multiple times last year. If you haven’t read my reviews on the other books in the series feel free to read the reviews here and here.

As you can read from the synopsis, we catch up with Nick Young and his family a few days before his grandmother Su Yi Young passes away. Luckily, his mother and Rachel convinced him to make up with his grandmother before she passed. In this book, we also see what happens to Nick Young’s family home Tyersall Park in the later chapters and what happens in the coming year.

I loved how the series came to an end and how each of the characters ended up. It seemed that nearly everyone seemed to end up with their own happy ending, which was a lovely way to end the book. I would highly recommend this series if you loved the movie and would like to follow the characters for a bit longer. I also found that I related to this book on as a person of Asian decent and I am glad that someone from that background wrote a book series that got such recognition.

I hope that you are doing well and staying safe. I hope to see you soon in another post!

China Rich Girlfriend

3 / 12 / 203 / 9 / 20

China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians, #2) by Kevin Kwan
Published by Knopf Doubleday on June 16, 2015
Pages: 378
Goodreads
four-stars

Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians, is back with a wickedly funny new novel of social climbing, secret e-mails, art-world scandal, lovesick billionaires, and the outrageous story of what happens when Rachel Chu, engaged to marry Asia's most eligible bachelor, discovers her birthfather. On the eve of her wedding to Nicholas Young, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in Asia, Rachel should be over the moon. She has a flawless Asscher-cut diamond from JAR, a wedding dress she loves more than anything found in the salons of Paris, and a fiance willing to sacrifice his entire inheritance in order to marry her. But Rachel still mourns the fact that her birthfather, a man she never knew, won't be able to walk her down the aisle. Until: a shocking revelation draws Rachel into a world of Shanghai splendor beyond anything she has ever imagined. Here we meet Carlton, a Ferrari-crashing bad boy known for Prince Harry-like antics; Colette, a celebrity girlfriend chased by fevered paparazzi; and the man Rachel has spent her entire life waiting to meet: her father. Meanwhile, Singapore's It Girl, Astrid Leong, is shocked to discover that there is a downside to having a newly minted tech billionaire husband. A romp through Asia's most exclusive clubs, auction houses, and estates, China Rich Girlfriend brings us into the elite circles of Mainland China, introducing a captivating cast of characters, and offering an inside glimpse at what it's like to be gloriously, crazily, China-rich.

Hello!
I’m back with yet another book review. These past couple of weeks have been a rather slow reading period for me, partly not wanting to read, but me also reading slowly and also in the midst of doing a million other things. Recently I did finish the second book in the Crazy Rich Asians series China Rich Girlfriend.

As you can probably deduce from the synopsis this book picks up a few years after the first book in which Rachel met Nick’s family and then Nick became estranged from his family due to his engagement with Rachel. Rachel also in the first book discovered the truth about her father and who he could possibly be. This book also shows off another side of the wealthy Asian population and not only how they live in Singapore. We meet some new characters in this book as well as catch up with a few of my favorite characters from last book.

I would recommend this book if you have already read Crazy Rich Asians or have seen the movie and would like to keep up with Nick & Rachel or someone who is looking for a fun series to devour in a weekend or longer.