Recently Read: Back Widow: Forever Red

Author: Margartet Stohl
Genre: Young Adult/ Super Hero/ Comic Character
Release Date: 2015
Page Count: 400
Rating: 3.5/5

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Natasha Romanoff is one of S.H.I.E.L.D's biggest names and deadliest assets, going by the name of Black Widow. Trained in the art of fighting, survival, and espionage as an orphan child in Russia, Natasha has joined the Avengers in an attempt to protect the world. When she hears word that Ivan the Strange, the man who abused and trained her in the Red Room is still alive and looking for her and another girl she saved from the Red Room years ago, Natasha is forced to attempt to save the girl and the world from the destruction of Ivan the Strange.     

I love Black Widow and have been dying for a Black Widow movie just like the rest of the world. I won't get into the sexism that's very obvious in the Marvel movie franchise, but I thought this book would help to fill the void a little for me, and it did. I thought this book was a lot of fun; it was fast paced and set up exactly like a Marvel movie. The book fit in with the already existing movie timeline, which I thought was a nice touch, and the characters were pretty true to their movie and comic book personalities. 

This is not a novel about Natasha's origin and transition into the Black Widow, which is kind of a bummer, as I would have loved to read that. However, I did enjoy the other two main characters who are teens, Ava and Alex. I also really loved the parts of the novel set in Russia and it really made me want to do more research on Russia and their traditions and legends because I love the dark twist they always have.

I thought Stohl did a really great job of capturing Natasha's personality and hard exterior for the novel. There was lots of action and kicking butt, which made the pace quick and exciting. I'm really excited about the events that took place at the end of the novel to set up the sequel, and I will be picking it up for sure when it comes out. This book wasn't mind-blowing by any means, but it was a lot of fun to read and just what I was in the mood for after seeing Civil War. 

I plan to pick up some Black Widow graphic novels or comics next, so let me know if you have any recommendations. I'm really glad to see the large number of female comic book characters that are getting their own YA novels, as that means someone has finally recognized that there is a willing and excited audience for female superheros.   

Next Up on My Watch List: Classic Movie Haul

I have purchased quite a few new movies at great prices lately and I'm glad it's summer so I can finally watch more movies. If you have read any of my posts on movies before, than you know I love old movies and Leonardo DiCaprio and these purchases won't be surprising. Let me know if you have seen any of these and leave me your recommendations for movies you think I might like.

The Way We Were 1973

This one was mentioned on Gilmore Girls quite a few times, and I love Robert Redford so I'm really looking forward to this one. It's a love story, so I will have to wait until I'm in the mood for it.

The Maltese Falcon 1941 

I have been looking for an inexpensive copy of this one forever, so I was really happy to find it for a good price as a combo with another Humphrey Bogart movie Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Not too long ago I watched The Big Sleep and really enjoyed it so I have been wanting to watch more classic crime.  

The Barefoot Contessa 1954

Another classic Bogart mystery that I have yet to see. I know nothing about the plot of this one so it will be fun to go into it blindly. 

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958

I just watched Tennessee William's A Street Car Named Desire (brief thoughts here all the way at the bottom) and I enjoyed it. It was pretty thought provoking, and I'm thinking this one will be pretty similar because the main male and female characters sounds a lot like the characters in Street Car. I haven't read the original plays for either of these, but I would love to so I can compare them to the movies. 

The Beach 2000

I LOVE Leo, especially young Leo. I'm a little nervous for this one because I think it's a thriller and I don't usually go for thrillers, but I will sacrifice for the viewing pleasure that it 2000 Leo.

Reflections on Comic Con, Loot, and Reflections on Women in Comics

This past Saturday, I went to my third Comic Con which is always a lot of fun. If you aren't familiar with comic con, it's basically an event to celebrate all things fandom and comic. People dress up in amazing quality costumes, actors from T.V. shows and movies (usually minor actors and actresses at my state's comic con) sign autographs and take pictures with fans, people are selling comics and tshirts every where, and artists sell all kinds of art. The comic con in my state is much smaller than say the San Diego Comic Con, but it's still a lot of fun.

I thought I would show you what I picked up this year for art and comics because I'm pretty excited about my finds.

I got two small art pieces this year, both by the same artist. I was really excited to see this Ms. Marvel art, as this was the only time I had come across her on any art at the convention. Oddly enough, right before I saw this art, I saw an actual girl dressed up as Ms. Marvel and I was so happy to see that because I love this new series and the way women are represented in the comic. I was on the hunt for Wonder Woman art that day, but everything I saw was pretty generic and was just copies of original artwork, so I decided to go with this smaller piece until I found a larger one I really like in the future. I also picked up this metal Rey bookmark with a print of someone's original art, and I am soooo excited to use it in my next read!

These are the Wonder Woman comics I picked up (featuring my sleeping cat.) I used to read and buy comics all the time as a kid because my dad was (and still is to some extent) a huge comic collector, but it's been years since I have read one or picked one out. I just picked these up pretty randomly, I have no idea of their place in a bigger series or timeline, but I'm not really too worried about that as I'm just picking them up for fun. I would have loved to spend more time at the comic booths and get a ton more, and I think next year I will! These comics have quite a range of dates, and I would love to display the covers of a few of them because I love the art. I will be displaying the top right and bottom left corner covers for sure.

I also picked up this Robin collection in hardback for five dollars (the original price on the back is fifty dollars) with original comics from the late 40's. These should be a lot of fun to read, as the premise of some of them are so cheesy (for instance, the atom bomb gets stolen and must be recovered by Robin in one issue.)

Being at a comic convention made me do a lot of thinking about women in comics, particularly as I was skimming the cover of hundreds of Wonder Woman comics. Obviously male superheros dominated the comic selection, white, male superheros that is, and they also dominated the art work at the vendor booths, but many of the Wonder Woman comic covers were quite interesting to me. Even though Wonder Woman is the main hero of her comic series and kicks some major behind, many of the covers portrayed her at moments of weakness while fighting an opponent, I found that quite interesting when placed side-by-side with say Batman and Superman covers where they almost always appear to be concurring evil with minimal effort. I think comics have come a long way, and the New 52 does a great job with the woman characters, the ones I have read anyways, and that's really great to see. Here's a couple example covers that I saw at comic con and thought were quite interesting.

1968 Text bubble on both: "Next to these Wonder Men-- I'm not a Wonder Woman"

1975 bubble: "Take a look at your beautiful face Wonder Woman. In a moment, I'll have it."

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on women in comics, comics in general, (where do you buy them, do you read them in order, etc,) and Comic Con! I really want to start building a collection of recent comics in graphic novel form and older comics in single issues.

Reading Update, Life Update, Summer Plans, Oh My!

For the last few months of the semester I had ZERO time to do anything beside school so I took a little blogging break. I didn't stop reading, but my reading slowed down a lot. I thought I would just update you with the reading I've done in the past few months, the end of my semester, and some things I want to get up on the blog this summer. 

Reading Update:

So since my last review on the blog I've finished four things: a play, a middle grade novel for school, a murder mystery, and a reread. I'm way behind on my Goodreads challenge, so hopefully I can catch up this summer but I'm not too worried about it. 

 

I listened to Lady Windermere's Fan on audio while driving back to my apartment from my parents house and of course I loved it. I have written about my love for Oscar Wilde many times. This play is witty, laugh out loud funny, and a great social commentary. I highly recommend picking up one of Wilde's plays if you have not yet. I gave Lady Windermere's Fan 5/5.
I picked up The Opening Night Murder because I knew I needed something light I could read for ten minutes and then put down for two days because of school. This one takes place in the reconstructed Globe Theater and revolves around a single mother main character. This one started off a little slow with a lot of set up, but it was enjoyable and the characters were likeable so I didn't mind. I have another one in this series on my shelves that I might get to this summer. I gave this one 3/5.

 

I read One Crazy Summer for my teaching literature class and thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the historical setting, 1968 America, and the Civil Rights themes in this one along with the humor and mother- daughter and sister relationships. Highly recommend you check this one out. I gave this one 4/5.

Lastly, I reread Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because I have been itching to ever since reading the illustrated first novel in December. I picked this one up when I was feeling a little down and it was the perfect pick me up. I love these novels and it has been a very long time since I have reread them, particularly the first few in the series. I cannot put into words how excited I am for all of the illustrated editions coming out. Of course, this reread got 5/5

End of the Semester Chaos:

The end of the semester was packed with papers and projects and I am so glad to have it all done! If you remember earlier I mentioned I was writing a paper on women codebreakers in WWII at Bletchley Park (for more on these ladies see the interesting links post and interesting books post) and I am happy to say that my paper won the best 300-level history paper for the 2015-2016 academic school year! That was a really great honor and I loved studying this topic and learning more about these amazing women. I know I will be reading everything I can about them for the rest of my life. 

Summer Plans:

I am taking a summer class and have three certification tests to take this summer, so it will be a working summer for me. I'm still thinking (and hoping) that I will have lots of time to read and blog. I would like to get up an average of three posts a week, it's just a matter of me getting organized and scheduling ahead. I have lots of posts that I have been wanting to write up for ages but haven't had the time to. I want to get up more of my lengthy series posts including poetry spotlight and literary look, and of course I want to read and post more for the Classics Club's Women's Literature Event as I haven't had much time to do anything with that this semester. 

What have you guys been reading? Are you on summer break? How was the last few weeks of the semester for you?  Any posts you want to see?

Just Added (15)

It's been quite a while since I did a Just Added post so I thought I would catch you guys up on some of the newest additions to my TBR.

Just Added (14)
Just Added (13)

Bohemian Gospel by Dana Chamblee Carpenter 

Summary from Goodreads:

Thirteenth-century Bohemia is a dangerous place for a girl, especially one as odd as Mouse, born with unnatural senses and an uncanny intellect. Some call her a witch. Others call her an angel. Even Mouse doesn’t know who—or what—she is. But she means to find out.

When young King Ottakar shows up at the Abbey wounded by a traitor's arrow, Mouse breaks church law to save him and then agrees to accompany him back to Prague as his personal healer. Caught in the undertow of court politics at the castle, Ottakar and Mouse find themselves drawn to each other as they work to uncover the threat against him and to unravel the mystery of her past. But when Mouse's unusual gifts give rise to a violence and strength that surprise everyone—especially herself—she is forced to ask herself: Will she be prepared for the future that awaits her?

Why I added it: I really enjoy historical fiction and I was drown to the unique setting of this one. I don't read a lot of books that take place that far back in history so it will be a nice change of pace. 

Wicked Like Wildfire by Lana Popovic
Release date: 2017

No Cover Yet!

Summary from Goodreads:
All the women in the Iris and Malina's family are born with a gleam—a unique way of experiencing and manipulating beauty through magic. Seventeen-year-old Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns her kaleidoscope visions into glasswork, her twin sister Malina interprets moods as music, and their cold, distant mother bakes scenery into decadent treats at her confectionery in Old Town Cattaro. But when a mysterious, white-haired woman attacks their mother and leaves her hovering between life and death, the sisters must trace their way back to the ancient curse that haunts their line. To break the curse and save each other, the sisters must untangle a thousand years of lies and come to terms with their own secrets. Pitched as the sensory magic of The Night Circus meets the Eastern European flavors of Uprooted. 

Why I added it: This one sounds really magical and atmospheric. I really enjoyed The Night Circus which it's compared to, so I think I will enjoy this one too. I will be keeping my eye out for this one's cover. 

The Muse by Jessie Burton
Release Date: July 26, 2016

Summary from Goodreads:

From the internationally bestselling author of The Miniaturistcomes a captivating and brilliantly realized story of two young women—a Caribbean immigrant in 1960s London, and a bohemian woman in 1930s Spain—and the powerful mystery that ties them together.

England, 1967. Odelle Bastien is a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in London. When she starts working at the prestigious Skelton Art Gallery, she discovers a painting rumored to be the work of Isaac Robles, a young artist of immense talent and vision whose mysterious death has confounded the art world for decades. The excitement over the painting is matched by the intrigue around the conflicting stories of its discovery. Drawn into a complex web of secrets and deceptions, Odelle does not know what to believe or who she can trust, including her mesmerizing colleague, Marjorie Quick.

Spain, 1937. Olive Schloss, the daughter of a Viennese Jewish art dealer and English heiress, follows her parents to Arazuelo, a poor, restless village on the southern coast. She grows close to Teresa, a young housekeeper, and her half-brother Isaac Robles, an idealistic and ambitious painter newly returned from the Barcelona salons. A dilettante buoyed by the revolutionary fervor that will soon erupt into civil war, Isaac dreams of being a painter as famous as his countryman, Picasso.

Raised in poverty, these illegitimate children of the local landowner revel in exploiting this wealthy Anglo-Austrian family. Insinuating themselves into the Schloss’s lives, Teresa and Isaac help Olive conceal her artistic talents with devastating consequences that will echo into the decades to come.

Why I added it: I haven't read Burton's first uber popular and praised historical fiction novel yet, but it's on my list too. This one sounds really interesting as well. I tend to enjoy historical fiction novels with two cross-over time periods and I love the sounds of the art world featured in this novel. 

Summer Reading Priorites

Hi all! I thought I would start off my return to the blog with a quick post about my top priorities for summer reading. I have stacks of unread books everywhere in my room, and they are taking over. So here's some of the books that are highest of my TBR. If you have already read them, let me know what you thought about them!

 

 

 

 

Update: I'll be Back Soon!

Hey guys,
Today is the first day of finals week, so I will be done with the busiest semester of my life in a few days. I will hopefully be back to reading and blogging after my finals finish on Wednesday.
Thanks for sticking around, and I'm really looking forward to having reading time again!

Let me know what you guys are reading, or how your semester went if you're in school!

See you soon!