Review: Tomboy

Tomboy
by Liz Prince

Zest Books

Synopsis

Growing up, Liz Prince wasn't a girly girl, dressing in pink tutus or playing Pretty Pretty princess like the other girls in her neighborhood. But she wasn't exactly one of the guys either, as she quickly learned when her Little League baseball coach exiled her to the outfield instead of letting her take the pitcher's mound. Liz was somewhere in the middle, and Tomboy is the story of her struggle to find the place where she belonged.

Tomboy is a graphic novel about refusing gender boundaries, yet unwittingly embracing gender stereotypes at the same time, and realizing later in life that you can be just as much of a girl in jeans and a T-shirt as you can in a pink tutu. A memoir told anecdotally, Tomboy follows author and zine artist Liz Prince through her early childhood into adulthood and explores her ever-evolving struggles and wishes regarding what it means to "be a girl."

From staunchly refuting anything she perceived as being "girly" to the point of misogyny, to discovering through the punk community that your identity is whatever you make of it, regardless of your gender, Tomboy is as much humorous and honest as it is at points uncomfortable and heartbreaking.

Review

When I first read the synopsis of this book, I knew...I just knew I was going to love it. My experiences growing up mirrored Prince's so much and the evolution of her thinking was much like my own. 

The book is about Prince's experiences growing up as a tomboy - one who didn't "grow out of it." It involves her experiences with others and their view of her as well as how that shaped her view of them. There are some hilarious moments, but there are some heartbreaking ones as well. Prince does a wonderful job of showing the reader how innocent we truly are growing up until someone shares their view of us - which just causes us to shape how we feel about ourselves. I couldn't read this book all in one go - not because I was unable to (it's really easy to get into this book), but because so much of Prince's struggle was my own. I had to let that sink in. 

What I loved the most about this book is Prince's introduction to feminism and her understanding that it wasn't womanhood that she hated, but rather society's expectations of womanhood. 

As a major plus, Liz Prince is a "geek"! I loved the Ghostbusters talk as well as Prince's introduction to zines and such. 

Verdict

Buy this book for yourself and for those growing girls in your life who may be feeling outside the norm because they're not into dresses, dolls and the color pink. Buy this book. Do it. Now. Go. I'll wait. 

Review: The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1)

The Kiss of Deception
by Mary E. Pearson

Synopsis

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

The Kiss of Deception is the first book in Mary E. Pearson's Remnant Chronicles.

Review

I started this book awhile ago and only just finished it yesterday. Why did it take me so long? I don't know! I really don't. I enjoyed the story and the same thing is happening to me with The Shining, which I'm also enjoying. I don't know what happens to me - I get 3/4s of the way through and then I just get distracted by all the other books and I start another one. 

Anyway, as I said - I really enjoyed this book! It was a mix of fantasy, romance and adventure. I was quite happy that the romance didn't overshadow everything else in the book. Also - it was really interesting how we read more than just Lia's point of view. We have chapters on Rafe, Kaden and even Pauline, Lia's friend. What I loved the most was not knowing who the prince and assassin were (you have to try and guess between Rafe and Kaden). I wanted so badly for a certain someone to be the prince (I'm not telling you who!) and I won't be telling you if I was right or not. 

BUT I was left wanting so much more :( I can't believe I have to wait for the second book - the end of this one left me completely NEEDING the next book. That's all I'm going to say. 

Verdict

Read it. If you're anything like me, however, you will get frustrated lol

Review: The Seed & Other Fairy Tales

The Seed & Other Fairy Tales
by Joseph Hillenbrand

Synopsis

How do you measure yourself? By family, friends, enemies? By what you fight for? Or what you fight against?

Follow the tales of those struggling to find an identity of their own. A little girl with a ghost as a best friend. A woman who hates wishes. A man lost in the secret kingdom of frog people. A girl at war with her god. And a pair of soldiers on a deadly mission of peace.

The seeds have been sown. The storm is coming. Who will grow and who will drown?

Review

Let's get one thing out of the way (cuz I'm kinda going to geek out in a bit), I enjoyed this book. 

Now, let's get to the why. 

I am a huge fan of fairy tales. Classic ones, retellings, modern ones, etc. If there's a fairy tale out there, I want to read it. What I enjoyed most from this collection was that it wasn't a direct retelling. The tales were written in a way where you understood where the inspiration came from, but it was not a direct repeat/retelling. This was definitely refreshing. 

The stories were incredibly well-written and included great illustrations. What's a fairy tale book without illustrations, am I right? 

There is incredible description - such detail goes into the author's writing. 

And the icing on the cake? It's creepy. It reminded me of Grimm's fairy tales - not too shabby!

Verdict

There is creepiness folks. Read at your own risk. 

Read anyway.

About the Author

I was born, raised and still live in the outskirts of Chicago. Every few years a move a little further west. Slowly inching my way to California. I love the big sky, the vast plains, the harvest moons of the Midwest.

I grew up reading comic books and playing G.I. Joe. Watching wrestling and listening to Led Zeppelin. I drew, I wrote, I strummed. I learned Stone Temple Pilots and I read Beckett. I grew and I withered.

I have spent the majority of my time in software - from support to development to management. And with my first book out now, I'm trying to get back to my roots: telling stories. 

Social Media Links:

Website: www.undertowstories.com

Blog: www.undertowstories.com/wordpress

Twitter: Xtapalapaquetl (twitter.com/xtapalapaquetl)

 Purchase:

  a. Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Seed-ebook/dp/B007OBXRNA/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335481825&sr=1-5

  b. Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-seed-other-fairy-tales-hillenbrand-joseph/1119448186?ean=9780615885803

  c. Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-seed-other-fairy-tales

   Also available from the iTunes store

Reading Thought of the Day: Motivation

I am hopelessly addicted to books. 

It seems that with blogs and YouTube, a lot of people are saying that, but I can only pull from my own experience as a bibliophile. 

I love books. Not just to read, but to own, read about, and simply look at and touch. It almost doesn't matter what kind of books I'm around - as long as I'm around books. Book stores and libraries feel like home and they seem to have an instant remedy for whatever is bothering me.

I am hopelessly addicted to books.

So - if I'm hopelessly addicted like I say I am, why is it so difficult to have motivation to actually crack one open to read?

Reading book after book like a runner runs a marathon used to be so much easier when I was younger. My favorite days were cloudy ones in which I would grab a stack of "scary" books, sit by the window and just read. I miss those days. 

Now, however, I am an adult (whatever that means) and I have things to do. I go to work; I cook; I go out on dates with my husband; I run errands. As much as these are fun (well, some of them), they are also tiresome. I am getting older and my bedtime is starting to resemble what it was when I was a child...

Anyway - I try to read whenever I have the chance to: during lunchtime while I'm eating, late night when I have nothing to get up early for the next day, and the odd lazy Sunday. Perhaps my lack of motivation is coming from the fact that I simply cannot just SIT AND READ. 

But SIT AND READ I must - for it is my therapy. 

When you enjoy someone or something, you will try and try to have it in your life - and such is my love of reading. It is the constant struggle to read and live in new worlds at the turn of a page because I can't be the person who lets that type of experience go.

And so - I am hopelessly addicted to books. Now and always.