The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

It's that time of year! There's only one short week until one of the happiest days on the geek's calendar: FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! Do you know where to go on May 7th to get your free comic(s)? The Free Comic Book Day Website has a store locator for your convenience, as well as a list of some comics you might see. (not all books are available in all locations) If you haven't read comics in a while, or don't think you're interested, this is your chance to give it a try, for FREE. I'm lucky, because in NYC the comic stores are very generous with their loot. Check out my posts about last year's haul: Part One , Part Two FCBD Comics I'm especially looking forward to this year: (Many of these issues have preview pages up on the FCBD site!) Avatar: the Last Airbender/Clone War s (A:TLA COMIC! WHOOO!!!) Darkwing Duck/Chip n'Dale (This will probably be a reprint of stuff I have, but if you're not reading this yet, pick up the freebie!) ...

This is Follow Friday, hosted by  Parajunkee's View Today's Question is: Q. Keeping with the dystopian and apocalypse theme that seems to be running rampant on parajunkee.com, I have one very hard question for you: If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten? Okay, I'm assuming we're talking about physical books, not digital. So, books I am willing to/enjoy reading ad infinitum: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Five Selections from The Vorkosigan Saga: Cordelia's Honor, Miles, Mystery and Mayhem, Miles Errant, Memory, Miles in Love My Husband's two novels, for sentimental reasons: For Love of Children, Facsimile So that's already eight. Let's cap it off with a giant tome on edible and medicinal plants, and a book I saw at the library but can't remember the name of about primitive living/survival techniques. I did in fact see this book and think: "Huh, if soc...

Favorite Issue this week: New Mutants #24 (Age of X Chapter 6) All books new in store on 4/27/11 Age of X Universe #2 Avengers (part 2) Written by Simon Spurrier, Penciled by Khoi Pham, Inked by Tom Palmer, Colored by Sonia Oback Dazzler Written by Chuck Kim, Art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta The second half of the alt-world Avengers story was both better and worse than Part One. I think it slipped over the line into too heavy-handed and obvious in its morality, but your mileage may vary. Some of the moments were still very nice, plus the art was great. The Dazzler story was fine in the writing, but it was a style of art I don't really like, so the issue was sort of a wash overall. American Vampire #14 (Ghost War Part 2) Written by Scott Snyder, Art by Rafael Albuqueque, Colors by Dave McCaig Mmmm, another tasty issue of American Vampire. I either read this first or save it for last, it's always good. The art, the tone, the dialogue, all good. Plus my girl Pearl...

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and The Bookish This Week's Prompt: "Top Ten Mean Girls In Books (all those snotty, annoying girls that you just want to punch)" Hmmm. Stereotypical "Mean Girls"? Who are impressive or iconic enough to make a Top Ten List? They don't tend to come up much in the genres I read... Besides, for me to want to punch a character, they usually have to be a lot more evil, cruel and (most of all) powerful than is generally encompassed by the term "Mean Girl". I need to take a moment here and break down this archetype. Such a character is usually: female, pretty, cruel about shallow concerns, set against the protagonist, manipulative, snarky, sarcastic or just bitchy, often considered popular. She takes pleasure in putting others down. She is usually not in a position of ultimate power, or out to conquer the world; she generally just wants to help herself out. Hmmm... Off the top of my head: 1: Classic: C...

The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood, 1985 I need a hug now. All I can say is Wow. Amazing. Breathtaking. Setting new standards for the word “wow.” They weren't kidding about the whole “instant classic” thing. But it's definitely depressing. I read this book over two days, and on the night in between I had nightmares. Premise: In a future spun off from the rising conservatism and backlash against feminism in the 1980's, human fertility is very low, and social unrest is very high. One conservative group has taken over the government, set up their own compounds, and upended American life. The narrator of this story, called Offred, is a Handmaid, a kind of limited concubine, who is assigned to a high-ranking figure because she is fertile, and his wife isn't. Her husband was taken from her. It was his second marriage, so they said it didn't count. Her daughter was taken from her. She herself was sent to a facility where they attempted to brainwash h...

This is Follow Friday, hosted by  Parajunkee's View Today's Question is: Q. What is on your current playlist right now? I've been having a showtunes sort of week, listening to a lot of tracks I haven't heard in a while. I just read Finishing the Hat (review coming eventually), and I've been listening to big chunks of Sondheim on random shuffle, particularly Merrily We Roll Along, Follies, Sondheim on Sondheim and Company. The Book Blogger Hop is hosted at Crazy-For-Books.com Today's Question is: "If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?" But of course! It's the quickest way to add to the reading list. I don't necessarily run right out and buy more books that second, but I'll put in a request at the library or check the pricing on my Kindle. I tend to go through phases either of a particular author or a particular genre, where I'll read a bunch of the same style books in...

Favorite Issue This Week: Arrgh! The three books I bought this week were all awesome, but so different in tone, it's almost impossible to compare them. My favorite might be Avengers Academy #12 , for the way the issue interacts with the continuing series, but it's very close. All Books new in stores on 4/20/11 FYI: Graphic Novel in stores this week: Darkwing Duck 2: Crisis on Infinite Darkwings (Collects Second Story Arc) If you were a fan of the cartoon show, you need to be reading this comic. Avengers Academy #12 Writer: Christos Gage, Penciler: Tom Raney Inker: Scott Hanna, Colorist: Jeromy Cox This was a fantastic issue. Carina (cosmic chick) has temporarily given the students the appearance and abilities of their older selves, and not everyone is pleased with what they learn about their possible futures. Everyone got some nice character moments, plus a brutal battle. Some of the best writing of teenage characters in comics is in this book, although the art...