Nintendo Book Tag

I wanted to take a little break from reviews with a fun little book tag. Saw this book tag, from Katytastic, and I thought it would be tons of fun. I provided a link to the tag above. Enjoy reading.

QUESTIONS
1) NES (Nintendo Entertainment System): A classic you want to read

After my adventure with Jules Vern in Around the World in 80 Days, I am a bit Classic out. However, I do need to complete Treasure Island before the end of this week, so I do believe that can be counted. To be honest, I do have some classics that I want to read. The two classics that I have at the top of my list are not books but plays. I would like to read A Midsummer’s Night Dream and Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
2) SNES (Super Nintendo): A sequel you liked more than the 1st (can be a 2nd book in a series)

I generally label good sequels as the second book being better than the first. At least I have the expectation that the continuing books be better than the first. The first book is going to be a bit slow. You are learning about the world, the characters and about the main problem. The rest of the series you will not be focusing on such details.

Just to put some series in this section, I would say Eragon, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and The Heroes Of Olympus. These are a few of the series in which I know that the following books are better than the first.
3) Nintendo 64: A book that revolutionized the way you look at the world
4) Gamecube: A popular book that did not go over so well with you

I must admit that I did enjoy this book, however the reason why it is in this category is because I am still trying to see why it got the hype that it did. The book that won this category is Blankets by Craig Thompson.
5) Wii: A new favorite book

I do not believe in playing favorite with my books. I either like the book or I don’t. However, I must say that this year my new favorite book has been I Killed the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora.
6) Nintendo Power: Favorite graphic novel series or a series you want to start

So far, this has been the year of the graphic novels. I have been reading so many of them. I am glad that I tried something new this year. This was an easy pic. I have really loved the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi. I just love the artwork.
7) Super Mario: A character that you’d love to squish like a Goomba

I read this question and it took me three seconds to pick a character. It might be because the book is still fresh in my mind, but at the same time it was the easiest pick, even if the character gets to die. The character that I wanted to squish like a Goomba is Dr. Caldwell in The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey.  I don’t care how smart this woman is, she made some pretty stupid choices that almost resulted in some deaths. Again, I am left to question this person’s “brilliance.”
8) Zelda: A newer fantasy that you consider to be a modern classic

We all know that I was going to put this here. I am actually proud of myself for not having it in so many different categories. I do count Harry Potter as a modern classic. I not only feel like the story will be relevant throughout time, but its popularity and morals will last throughout time.

The other book that I do count as a modern classic is Eragon. Even though it is not as popular as Harry Potter, it still shares a lot of the traits that Harry Potter has, and it too will last throughout time.
9) Samus-Aran: Favorite sci-fi novel or one you want to read

A Sci-fi novel that I want to read is Ready Player One. I have heard so much about this book, that I just want to get a hold of it and read it.
10) Pokemon: Book editions that you want to collect

This is why I stick to the library. If I collect editions of the same book over just collecting stories, I would be in trouble financially. There are a couple of books that I do want to personally own in physical form. I do want to own Fangirl, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, Harry Potter (I don’t know what happened to the family copies), and The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica.  That is just a list of a few.
11) Donkey Kong: A book with original characters

I am picking Unenchanted by Chanda Hahn. I do love these characters and feel that they are different and unique. I am enjoying our young heroine and how she doesn’t fit into the mold of the typical super hero, male or female. On top of that, using the Grimm Fairy tales to tell the story and to save her family is a great and original twist.
12) Nintendo Fandom: Favorite Nintendo game(s) or game you really want

My favorite Nintendo game is Mario Cart. I have always loved Mario Cart and enjoyed playing Princess Peach since I was  seven. My favorite level was always the one with the snow and penguins because it was the one that I could beat my brother at the best. In addition, I did enjoy rainbow road for the colors and the view.

Blankets Review

I do hope that your week is going great. So far it is going a little slow. It is hard to start the week after a short little break, but the break was needed and I am all rest up to begin some new adventures.

The graphic novel that I will quickly talk about today is Blankets by Craig Thompson. It is a memoir focusing on life growing up and first love.

I ended up giving this book four out of five stars on Goodreads. I loved the artwork and the story, but not enough to have a desire to shove it in your face and make you read it.

There were only two points that I did not enjoy about the book. The first problem that I had with the story is that it took me a while to get into.  I was several pages into the book and I was trying to figure out what all the hype was about. In fact, I do believe that the book has been over hyped. The other problem that I had with the book was the depressing theme of the book. I realize now that it is mostly a personal problem, but I felt that the book was making the theme of first love and the idea of growing up a very depressing and it sucked. There are a lot of other themes throughout the book, but my first reaction about the tone of these themes was just depressing.

However, there were many things that I enjoyed about this graphic novel. the first one is the artwork. I am not a huge fan of black and white, but I loved the style and how Thompson made the panels powerful and dramatic. It really fit in being able to tell the story, and I could not have image another way to tell this memoir. I also enjoyed how Thompson put layers into his story so that the past and the present were together in one scene connecting each other. There were many scene in which he would talk about high school and show his childhood or just explain a part of the story just like he was there. In addition, I also liked how the book ended. Being a memoir, there was no final ending, but he did ended it upbeat with new possibilities and possible new stories to tell and share in the future. Finally, I also enjoyed the many themes that played throughout this book. I also enjoyed how he showed both sides of the sword and not played certain themes that are usually light, as dark and how it can affect a person. I know that I mentioned that I did not like the negative tone in the book, but I did enjoyed the fact that Thompson did not sugar-coated either, with also played a powerful part in telling his story.

In the end, I do recommend this book to everyone. It is a good story to read, but I don’t want to thrust the book into your hands and make you read it right now. It is one of those book that is good to have and to read it eventually, like on a rainy day. I will post some pictures of some of the pages below to give you a sneak peek of what you will see when you read the graphic novel.

I do hope that you enjoyed this review, and that your week is going great. I cannot wait to see you again. Happy Reading!