Early Reader Review: Gronk Volume 2 by Katie Cook

Gronk: A monsters Story by Katie Cook
Series: Gronk Volume 2
Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment, Diamond Book Distributors
Publication Date:  March 31, 2015

 

Format: ebook
Source: From Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review. This in now way effects my review or opinion of the book.

Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis: 

In this second volume of Katie Cook's popular series Gronk, Gronk is learning to adjust to OUR world through the teachings of Dale, a woman who probably shouldn't be teaching anyone how to adjust to the real world.

Join Gronk, Dale, Harli, and Kitty for another year of fun!

 Review: 

These graphic novels are adorable. Each page is a short and snippets from Gronk and Dale's lives. They are hilarious and fun. In this volume Gronk has been living with Dale and is more human-like than in Volume 1. The overall nerdy theme in these comics are a lot of fun and I like being able to spot them - some are plot related in the comic others are a logo here or there. I really enjoy these. I found myself laughing out loud as Gronk is coloring on walls or ordering everything off of Amazon - and what I think is even better is that this is stuff that a kid would do (sometimes accidentally). Since it is relateable I think it makes the comic/ graphic even better.



 

Building the Book Pile #132

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!  A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

What's Happening?! 

How was your week ? Let me know in the comments.


So... as you may have noticed nothing has really bee going up on the blog -- SO sorry, these past two weeks I have been gearing up/ participating in Bloggiesta and also gearing up for all the awesomeness that will be Armchair BEA this year :)

AND work has been crazy since I am going on vacation VERY soon (In less than a week **SQUEE**)

So not really much reading/reviewing but I have done a good amount of cleaning, packing, and general cleaning of my house :P Also we have had some warmer weather and the melt has begun and I am super excited about Spring! I have my seedlings going and they are sprouting well already :D Do you garden? If so what do you like to plant?
and ... How was your week?

Giveaways Going on NOW

 

Coming up on the Blog...

Early Reader Review: Gronk: A Monster's Story (Volume 2) by Kate Cook (GN)

      

Books Received this Week

 

  The Little Sentinel of The Sierra Nevada by Paul Williams from the Author for review consideration

Amelia's Middle-School Graduation Yearbook by Marissa Moss from the Author and Creston Books for review

 

Have you missed anything lately?

• Recent Reads: Princess Ugg #8 by Ted Naifeh (Comic) - 4 stars 

• Recent Reads: Courtney Crumrin and the Tales of a Warlock by Ted Naifeh (GN)- 5 stars

• Recent Reads: Part-Time Princesses by Monica Gallagher (GN) - 3 stars

• Bloggiesta To Do List/ Progress/ Wrap-Up  

• Bloggiesta: Best Blogging Advice

  

Comment and leave me a link to your Round-up/ STS/ Weekly...anything post and I will happily stop by and say hello!

 Happy Reading!

Recent Reads: Part-Time Princesses by Monica Gallagher

Part-Time Princesses by Monica Gallagher
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication Date:  March 25, 2015

 

Format: ebook
Source: Oni Press in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this book in no way effects my opinion or review.

Rating:




 


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Working as costumed princesses at the local amusement park is a nice gig, but it’s not what Courtney, Amber, Tiffany, and Michelle want to do with their lives. These queens of high school have their own plans for life post-graduation, and they do not involve fixed games and fried pickles.

But when all their plans fall apart, what are the girls to do? Left with no other options, they decide to keep their part-time jobs as princesses–for the moment. But even that plan is threatening to fall apart, thanks to the sudden and increasing muggings plaguing the park and chasing away customers.

With their back-up jobs in peril, the girls have no choice but to take matters into their own hands and fight back. But the more they work to save the park, the more their part-time jobs become full-time, and the more their carefully-planned futures get pushed to the wayside. Will these princesses ever get their lives back on track?

Will they even want to?

 Review: 
This was an interested theme for a graphic novel. Four popular girls work at the local amusement park as princesses and their lives are falling apart. 

These are the girls that I hated in high school, popular, snarky, name-calling, rude girls - they know they are popular so they don't have to care about acting like people. So reading this graphic novel was cringe-worthy for me...and I kept thinking that these girls would become better people through their hardships Slight spoiler: they don't get much better.

The story focuses on them trying to help the park because it is all they have left, and yes they become friends with the 'nerds' but it never really seemed sincere to me...

The drawing was imaginative and the park looked cool, but there was some variations with the girls sizes and in some frames they looked squashed and chubby and in others taller and leaner - it was a bit weird - whichever body type they were supposed to have, I would have liked that consistency. So a three out of five for this one. It was a cute story but I didn't really like the characters.


 

Bloggiesta 2015: Best Blogging Advice

This week is Bloggiesta and the wonderful moderators have asked us to write up our Best Blogging Advice.

So here is my advice...hopefully it will be helpful.

 

1. Blog what you love: 

I happen to love reading and I needed a hobby and so Cover2CoverBlog happened. If you aren't passionate about what you are blogging about it gets hard - there is a lot more work here than you imagine  (trust me, I had NO IDEA what I was getting into).

2. Keep it fun!: 

There are so many bloggers that get overwhelmed about their blogging life - I figure, I am doing this as a hobby, for FUN :) so I can stop whenever. Do I feel bad when I slack on the posting? Yes, but it is still something fun for me and I do it for me... so keep it light and fun and blog when you can .... which brings me to ->

3. Don't stress it, blog when you are able: 

Yes, that means that sometimes you will have the same post sitting on your blog for a week, but you need you time too - so take it! 

4. Make it your own: 

You are blogging because you love something right? Well make it yours. Be yourself and do what feels good to you. You want pictures of kittens all over the place, go with it :P

Just Have Fun! 

Recent Reads: Princess Ugg #8 by Ted Naifeh

Princess Ugg by Ted Naifeh
Series: Princess Ugg #8
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication Date:  February 25, 2015

 

Format: ebook
Source: Oni Press in exchange for an honest review. This in no way effects my opinion or review of the comic.

Rating:




 


Synopsis from Oni Press:

The Grimmerians abandon their fight against the frost giants after learning Ülga’s being held in captivity. Using what little she’s learned of diplomacy, Ülga tries to find a way to end the threat of war before the kingdoms destroy each other, but she’ll need the help of the other princesses.

 Review: 
This was a good episode in the Princess Ugg series, we see her really coming into herself and learning a lot from her time with the more civilized population. I like Ulga's gusto in these books, she is a strong female who knows what she wants and is able to use her traits to help herself and the other princesses. 

Without giving away too much, the princesses are all together in this installment working to get back at Julifer's father for snatching them and Ulga finally realizes that they are her friends, all of them. Another great comic in this series.




 

Recent Reads: Courtney Crumrin and the Tales of a Warlock by Ted Naifeh

Courtney Crumrin and the Tales of a Warlock by Ted Naifeh

Series:Volume 7
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication Date:  March 18, 2015

 

Format: ebook
Source: Oni Press in exchange for an honest review. This in no way effects my opinion or review of the graphic novel.

Rating:
 


 



Google Books Synopsis: 

At long last, Courtney Crumrin Tales returns... in full color! Though the Witches and Warlocks of Hillsborough keep to themselves under Ravenna’s Law, there are outliers who are a danger to others. The Anti-Sorcery Society, headed by mortal Horace Crisp, seeks to destroy these individuals, and Aloysius Crumrin, an eager young man, offers his assistance–keeping his magical ancestry to himself, of course.
But he doesn't count on Alice Crisp, Horace’s tenacious daughter, accompanying him on missions, or on trusting her with his secret… or on falling in love. Which proves more dangerous than anything when Horace becomes his enemy…

 Review: 
It is safe to say that this series can do no wrong in my eyes. I love everything about it, the world, the characters, the art and the plotlines. This volume is no different.

In this volume we get a background story for Aloysius Crumrin. As a young man he engages with a group of sorcerer hunters in an attempt to find out what they know about his group and along the way he is able to actually help them do away with some of the rogue sorcerers that are out there.

I enjoyed this volume very much, I liked Uncle Al in the Crumrin series and it was nice to learn more about his life before Courtney arrived. If you like the Crumrin series this is a great addition to it.

  Other Books in the Series

~~ Read My Reviews Here ~~

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things Volume 1

Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics Volume 2
Courtney Crumrin and the Twilight Kingdom Volume 3 
Courtney Crumrin and the Monstrous Holiday Volume 4
  Courtney Crumrin and the Witch Next Door Volume 5
Courtney Crumrin and the Final Spell Volume 6

Click covers to go to Goodreads

Spring 2015 Bloggiesta TO DO list

It is Bloggiesta time again! This time around we are running a full week! Do you have a to do list? You should join us! (see the info below)

The Cover2CoverBlog To Do List:

• As always - Update my 'Reviews by Author' tab
• Comment on ALL the participant to do lists :)  -- YUP ALL of them! [If your link-up goes to your to-do list - I noticed some don't (sadface)] Pants heavily- DONE (108/108 on 3/28 - I will keep checking the linky tho)
• Do as many Mini Challenges as possible 
• Added Disqus for commenting to my blog - I hope it makes it easier to comment :)
• Joined Trello to see if it helps with my TBR organization.
• Back up my blog
• Attend @ least 2 Twitter Parties - Attended 3.25 chat :)
• Update my TBR Spreadsheet
• Plan some posts/ write some reviews -- Planned a few :) and reading to have reviews to write
• Clean up my email and blogging calendar 
• Update Sponsor post for Armchair BEA

 I will be adding items as the week goes on and I find goodies on other peoples lists :) Happy Bloggiesta -ing Everyone!

  Some Info (Borrowed) From Bloggiesta:

But just in case you are new to  Bloggiesta, first let me ‘splain.  Bloggiesta is a blogging marathon (sometimes over a weekend, sometimes four days and this time one week!) where we as bloggers gather together to help each other work on all sorts of blogging tasks, stuff that we often put off and avoid. Or stuff that we’re scared of trying. Or stuff that we haven’t had time for. But during Bloggiesta all that stuff suddenly becomes fun! There are others doing the same thing ! So, it becomes a party! Wait, no. It’s a FIESTA! (To learn more, see our about page.)

There’ll be a list of Mini Challenges to work on, so stay tuned for those. They’ll be posted here next Sunday, the day before the event gets officially rolling. In the meantime, you can get ideas for your lists by checking out the past challenges here. Also, you can use this basic To Do List to get you started.

There’ll be a Twitter chat party every day of the event, each one geared toward a different blogging theme.  Thanks to a brilliant idea from The Book Vixen and with additional help from The Bluestocking Society, we’ve come up with themes that match our mascot’s acronym: PEDRO. . . People, E-presence, Display, Reviews and Organize, plus two miscellaneous themes for the weekend.

Here’s the schedule (all times in Eastern Daylight Time):

• Monday March 23rd at 4:00 p.m. Eastern: PEOPLE: Giving and Getting Comments and Followers
• Tuesday March 24th 7 p.m. Eastern: E-PRESENCE: Social Media Savvy
• Wednesday March 25th at 12 p.m. noon Eastern: DISPLAY:  Side Bars and  Page Layout
• Thursday March 26th at 9 p.m. Eastern: REVIEWS and Other Content Ideas (guest hosted by Jessica from The Bluestocking Society)
• Friday March 27th at 9 p.m. Eastern: ORGANIZE: No Stress Allowed (guest hosted by Amanda from On a Book Bender)
• Saturday March 28th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern: Books and Reading (guest hosted by Rachel Noel from Purple Owl Reviews)
• Sunday March 29th at 3 p.m. Eastern: Feedback and Free for All

Building the Book Pile #131

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!  A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

What's Happening?! 

How was your week ? Let me know in the comments.


Nothing super exciting happened this week except that I got books 1-3 of The Lost Imperials series and I am so excited to start reading them! Work was less crazy but still busy and I had some overtime (which is both a blessing and a curse). 

I am just trying to keep up with my reading and still trying to take control of my ever growing TBR list... oh and I read my first Murakami book last week - so weird but in a good way. I loved it.

How was your week?

Giveaways Going on NOW

 

Coming up on the Blog...

Recent Reads: The Hit by Melvin Burgess (YA)

Recent Reads: The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination (Adult) -- if I finish it

      

Books Received this Week

   

 

I got these great books :)

Extracted by Tyler H. Jolley (one of my most wonderful blog followers - shout out and thank you!) and Sherry D. Ficklin for review for Prodigal/ Riven Blog Tour

Prodigal by Tyler H. Jolley and Sherry D. Ficklin for review for Prodigal/ Riven Blog Tour

Riven by Tyler H. Jolley and Sherry D. Ficklin for review for Prodigal/ Riven Blog Tour

I am super excited about this series and have been meaning to get into it. I can NOT wait!

Bob's Burgers Volume 2 from Netgalley and Dynamite Entertainment for review

Edward Scissorhands Volume 1: Parts Unknown from Netgalley and IDW Publishing for review

Courtney Crumrin: Tales of a Warlock (Volume 7) by Ted Naifeh from Oni Press for review [not on Goodreads yet]

  Princess Ugg #8  by Ted Naifeh from Oni Press for review [not on Goodreads]

Have you missed anything lately? 

• Recent Reads: Head Lice by Eliza Gravel (MG) - 4 stars

• Recent Reads: A Promised Fate by Cat Mann (NA) - 5 stars

• Early Reader Review: My Little Pony: Friends Forever Volume 3 (Graphic Novel) - 5 stars

• Recent Reads: The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami (Adult) - 5 stars

• Friday-Monday: TBR Taking Control Read-A-Thon :)

  Comment and leave me a link to your Round-up/ STS/ Weekly...anything post and I will happily stop by and say hello!

 Happy Reading!

Recent Reads The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
Publisher: Knoph
Publication Date: December 2, 2014  

 

Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed from a friend.

Rating:


 


 



Goodreads Synopsis: 

From internationally acclaimed author Haruki Murakami—a fantastical illustrated short novel about a boy imprisoned in a nightmarish library.

A lonely boy, a mysterious girl, and a tormented sheep man plot their escape from the nightmarish library of internationally acclaimed, best-selling Haruki Murakami's wild imagination.

Review: 
What a strange and wonderfully creative story. I have heard a lot about this author and the crazy marvelous things he does in his writing and I was not let down by The Strange Library. This short story only took me about 30 minutes to read through while having lunch and it was beautifully illustrated. Murakami's story is one of a library that holds secrets in its depths, and not just secrets of learning but of the more sinister.

A boy goes to the library for some books and is held captive by a strange old man. During his imprisonment he meets a few other unlikely characters and then the twists and turns are more pronounced.

I had a lot of questions after reading this book - mostly about how this poor boy can now never go into a library without feeling fear and entrapment. And that is NOT what you want to feel in a library (at least it isn't for me). The joys of knowledge are a wonderful thing and this story takes a macabre turn with them instead. 

I really enjoyed this book in all its weird, convoluted events and will be picking up more books by this author.


 

Early Reader Review: My Little Pony Friends Forever Vol 3

My Little Pony: Friends Forever Volume 3 by Christina Rice, Ted Anderson, Barbara Randall Kesel. Illustrated by Tony Fleecs, Agnes Garowska, Jay Fisgitt, Brenda Hickey, and Amy Mebberson

Series: My Little Pony
Publisher: IDW Publishing, Diamond Book Distributors
Publication Date:  March 17, 2015

 

Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley and Diamond Book Bistributors in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this copy in no way effects my opinion or review of the book.

Rating:




 


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Four tales of friendship and fun! Contains stories involving Granny and the Flim Flam brothers, Fluttershy and Iron Will, Rainbow Dash and Wonderbolt Spitfire, and Pinkie Pie! Collects issues #9–12.

 Review: 
I love the ponies, I think they are cute and each of them have fun personalities. This volume collected issues 9-12, which I have not read before, nor have I read the previous volumes/issues. I have watched all of the pony episodes though so I know about many of the characters that made cameos in these tales. We get four stories and almost all the ponies in this volume, all but Rarity who only has a very small part in these tales. 


Granny and the Flim Flam Brothers is about family sticking together and was a lesson that everyone should read about all the time. Fluttershy helping others is the norm for her story, but it was done in an adorable way - with Iron Will a minotaur who is overly aggressive. Rainbow Dash's story was about finding your strengths and acknowledging that it is possible for great people or ponies, to have weaknesses as well. And lastly, Pinkie Pie's tale was about friendship and self control - her tale was the funniest, but it is Pinkie and she is always a spazz waiting for a good laugh.

The illustrations in this volume were all wonderful and vibrant and I think any My Little Pony lover will enjoy this compilation.