Swamp Thing: Twin Branches

By Maggie Stiefvater 

Illustrated by Morgan Beem

187 pages

Graphic novel

Paperback 

I never read much Swamp Thing before; this is a reboot. 

This was great! And a very quick read - maybe about an hour?

I love the art.

and the shifts in tone. 

The relationship between the various family members is interesting, relatable, and realistic. 

The protagonist has diabetes, and it's not a plot point. Just a characteristic. 

When I ordered from my local bookstore, I was able to get it personalized & signed! Shout out to One More Page Books! ❤

This was a cool origin story, and I'm curious to see where it goes next!

Horrid

By Katrina Leno

Hardback

322 pages

YA Fiction 

Owlcrate 

I read this book in just about 4 hours. 

Told in third person, it's the story of a teen and her mom moving to a spooky old house after the dad/husband dies. 

The prose in engaging, and it's set up kind of like a mystery novel in format - and mystery novels are featured in the story as well. 

And there are ghosts. 

Author letter.

Reverse of author letter with signature page.

Cool art on the inside of the dust jacket - I think this is an Owlcrate exclusive thing. 

First page. 

This was a really engaging book with a super dark ending. And it's a stand-alone! Not the start if a series or trilogy or duology. I really liked it. 

Starsight

By Brandon Sanderson

Hardback

Sci-fi

457 pages 

Library 

This is the sequel to Skyward. 

I picked it up on impulse at the library when I went to get the next book for my book club. I like this one far more! To be fair, I have enjoyed everything I've read by this author. 

Solutions and Other Problems

By Allie Brosh

Humor

518 pages

Hardback 

I was so excited when I heard that this was coming out! I loved Hyperbole and  Half - her previous book. 

The art style is weird but charming, and the stories she tells feel honest and true. 

There is no chapter 4. 

The book is listed as Humor for the genre, but I would have thought Creative Non-fiction? It's memoir, I believe. 

Allie Brosh did the words, and the pictures, and even the jacket design. 

It's a cute, and funny, and sad book. 

It weighs a million pounds. Seriously, I think this might be the heaviest book I've ever owned. It made sense when I thought about it, becuase they had to use thicker paper so all that ink wouldn't just bleed right through. 

I actually pre-ordered the book, and got a signed copy. I'm weirdly happy about having signed books. 

I loved this book.

Check out her website if you want a preview of one of the chapters: Hyperbole and a Half

Star Daughter

By Shveta Thakrar 

YA Fantasy 

Hardback

435 pages

Owlcrate 

First off, what a gorgeous book.

This is the Owlcrate exclusive cover. The regular one is more gold. The photo doesn't capture the shiny beauty of this.

Those purple dyed page edges! 🤩

So what's super cool about this book is that it is literally about personified stars. Which is really hard to conceptualize. 

But I think that the world created here is interesting and believable. 

Letter from the author.

Signed - in silver, of course!

Author bio. And I love her photo! The colors!

I love that it's a stand alone novel. 

I love that I didn't expect all of the things that happened, especially at the end. 

Will I read it again? Maybe? But I am glad I read it. It was a fun, interesting, and different novel.

Also, I did this for my students as an example of sharing their choice reading:

Cloak and Dagger: Shadows and Light

414+ pages

Paperback

Amazing Used Bookstore find

Cloak and Dagger has been one of my favorite comics since I was a teen. I write beautiful, poignant things about it, but Blogger crashed, and I lost them all. 

So, pictures instead.

synopsis 

Details about which comics are collected in this volume, starting with their first appearance in Spider-Man.

First appearance 

First page of this volume. 

Cloak and Dagger and Spider-Man don't always get along.

But they find ways to work together. Sometimes.

Angst and arguments.

She's so glowy!

Detective Bridget O'Reilly (eventually aka Mayhem)!

There's an art collection in the back of the book, hence the weird page count. Those aren't numbered.