This was a really weird year for me. Two of my favorite series released books that made it onto this list and two books that I thought I was going to like also made it on the list. 2020 was a weird year for many reasons. If you check out my Top Ten Books of 2020 post, you'll see that I read some amazing books last year, but the bad ones are still worth talking about.

5. Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

This hurts my heart. The Dresden Files is my favorite book series of all time. It got better and better with each installment. Then Skin Game came out in 2014, which was a great book, but it took 6 years for the next book to come out. Unlike Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Butcher made it clear he had good reasons as to why it took so long but when two books were announced in one year, I was so happy.  Then Peace Talks came out and I picked it up and.... almost put it down.

Here's what I think. I think Jim Butcher wrote one big book. He wrote one book that was over 700 pages and either he decided or his publisher decided to break it into two books. Because when put together Peace Talks and Battle Ground make for one epic book. But when you separate them Peace Talks is a boring mess with no point to it and Battle Ground is exciting but mostly all action. Peace Talks is the literary equivalent of Ben Stein's voice while Battle Ground is a coked up Tasmanian Devil.

If Butcher had released Peace Ground or Battle Talks in one big volume, we wouldn't have having this conversation. But two separate books were released and Peace Talks was not only the lesser of the two, but it was slow, boring, and pointless. 

4. The Genesis Game: Vol 1 by Andrew O'Kelley

I love LitRPG books. They're my guilty pleasure. They're so nerdy that even I hesitate, briefly. Then I own it. I also love Net Galley because thanks to that service I've read a lot of books for free before they even come out! This was one of those books.

This books is about Seraph, a tyrant known as the Angel of Genocide. He is the strongest person in the world dungeon, a powerful place that's coming marked the end of humanity. Seraph finally reaches the Altar of the End but is cursed and sent back in time with his powers sealed away. This time he's forbidden from hoarding the power for himself and must help humanity survive.

I wrote a full review on Goodreads but to give you the Cliff Notes version, this book had terrible pacing. The story moved so fast that it felt like O'Kelley was too excited to get to the next part that he rushed the plot. A downside of everything moving faster than The Flash with his ass on fire is that you don't get to know the characters so I didn't care about a single person.  To quote my review: “Seraph is supposed to come across as some dark and broody bad ass but he's just an a-hole. We meet his father but we get so little of their relationship that I think the Lindbergh baby would have been closer to his father than Seraph and his dad.”

Seraph and his dad's relationship is supposed to be his only hope to not turn out like the villain he was. But I never once cared. This book was bad.

3. My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

Talk about a bait and switch. If you look at the cover of this book it sets you up for something light hearted or even comedic. If not that, then it hints that it's not super serious, something along the lines of Stranger Things. But no, this isn't a comedy, this isn't even slightly humorous. It's considered horror fiction and not only is it not scary in the least, it's so slowly paced that it could be cut down by half and it would only make it better.

Almost every character is unlikable and the two main characters Gretchen and Abby, are idiots. Gretchen is possessed for most of the book, so she mostly gets a pass, but even before she's possessed, she's simply boring. Abby is an idiot who has less personality than Katniss Everdeen. 

This book is boring and a waste of time.

2. The Land: Monsters  by Aleron Kong

This is another one that hurts my heart. The Land is another one of my all time favorite series. I stumbled upon the first book thanks to a sale on Audible and fell in love. The Land: Founding is a great book and a wonderful introduction to the LitRPG genre. If you like the first one, then dive right in because the first seven books are great and the 7th book is epic and is 2202 pages long (or 48 hours for the audiobook) but the 8th book is when it hits it's first hiccup.

There was no point to this installment. Nothing really happens. It's pointless and you hardly see any of the side characters as it mainly follows Richter as he tries to escape the underworld or wherever he is. But it feels like Kong took what could have been 2 -3 chapters and turned it into it's own book. 

You know what this felt like? This felt like something mindless Kong wrote that should have been released as a freebie to his fans or as a reward on Patreon. That would have been fine. I wouldn't have minded this if it was sold to me as a mindless add on and not an actual part of the story. But for the 8th book in a series I loved? It's terrible.

1. The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin.

I hated The Big Bang Theory. It was just a group of aholes who were gross stereotypes of nerds. MG, the main character of this book, could have fit right in with that group of dicks. 

This book follows MG, a comic writer who realizes a recent string of crimes are just copies of crimes from her favorite comic series. So she takes it upon herself to help the cops track the killer, but can a geeky comic nerd really help stop crime

The story for this was more basic than a “ripped from the headlines” episode of Law and Order. It's a story that's been done before and done by better writers. Also, MG was horrid. She hates it when people put her in a box and assume they know who she is but she turns around and does the same thing to most people she meets.

What's worse is that there's at least one “nerdy” reference on each page and even worse than that, they're not all correct. I really should have written down some examples but at the time I was too pissed off to care, but there were quite a few times that  the nerdy stuff Molin was referencing, was completely wrong. Also, the constant nerdy references got super old. 

I also feel like Molin must have some huge chip on her shoulder because it came across in the book. MG is one of the most hateful and judgmental characters I've ever read and it feels like Molin was using her book as an outlet. 

This was a true waste of time. This is the first book in a series and if I ever read the second one it's because someone paid me a lot of money to do it OR my life was threatened.

So there you have it. My worst books of 2020. There were others that I didn't like but these were the ones that actually got a reaction out of me. What books from last year did you hate? And if you're not the type to hate, which books did you seriously not like? Let me know by leaving a comment!

2020 allowed for a lot of reading for most of us. Can't go out because of a pandemic made worse by idiots not following the rules? Then stay inside and read a book instead! So since I've read more books than ever this year, narrowing it down to a ten could have been hard, but I've read some pretty outstanding books this year, so it wasn't a difficult decision. Here's my top ten which I painstakingly put in order. Some of these have been around for a while and others were released this year, so you'll find a nice mix here. Enjoy!

10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This is a heavy book that follows young Leisel Meminger who has a history of stealing books. It all started when she steals the Gravedigger's Handbook at her brother's funeral. Leisel then goes to live with the Hubermann family, but not all is well as WWII is in full swing and Leisel and the Hubermann's don't drink the Nazi Kool-Aid but must survive by pretending they do.

I listened to this as an audiobook and I can't imagine it any other way. It's narrated by Roger Allam and he did a fantastic job. The narrator of the story is Death and Allam's smoky storyteller voice was perfect.

The Book Thief was everything I expected. You don't go into a WWII book expecting things to be happy. But what I didn't count on was being charmed by the characters, especially Liesel's foster father Hans Hubermann and his ornery wife Rosa. The characters are what set this story apart from others like it. It took me a while to read it and I'm glad because 2020 needed to be a good reading year.

9. Red, White & Royal Blue

This was a popular YA book from last year the follows First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz and his relationship with Prince Henry of Wales. The two met once and Alex has considered them mortal enemies ever since, but after a snafu at a White House Christmas party, the two are sent on a PR tour to fix it. But what Alex doesn't know is that his feelings for the Prince are going to grow.

I love love. You've heard the saying “Love is Love” and it's true. I love love stories. I love romance be it straight or any color on the LGBTQ+ rainbow, I can dig it and I'll get all sorts of warm feelings reading it. But it's more than just romance. The book has to be well written too. It needs characters who have more than one dimension. It's needs to have a realistic relationship even if the circumstances are extraordinary. It needs to be exactly what Red, White, & Royal Blue was.

If you're in the market for a solid romance with a touch of politics, this is for you. This may be labeled as YA, but like a lot of YA books, it's for everyone.

8. The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert

This was published back in July and it's about two high school students, Marva and Duke. Marva is very passionate about politics and voting as she understand People of Color need to vote if anything is going to change. After she votes for the first time she runs into Duke who is having trouble voting. So she takes it upon herself to ferry him around town, skipping school, to get his vote to count. Marva is having some relationship issues but will Duke be the answer.

I expected a basic YA romance book. Something good. Something fun. But also something I've read before. What I got instead was a YA romance that was perfectly balanced with commentary on important political issues. Brandy Colbert expertly discussed these issues while making it part of the story. The book does stand on a soapbox at times about issues like the systematic inequality for African Americans in the American political system and it does so while never letting the story of Marva and Duke get lost in the process.

Brandy Colbert's expert touch is what set this book apart from other YA romances. 

7. Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Xiala is a captain who is promised a ship of her own if she completes one job. She's tasked with ferrying a young man named Serapio to the holy city of Tova in time for the Winter Solstice. In the holy city the Sun Priest, a woman named Naranpa, prepares for the solstice celebration but finds that some of her so called political allies may be plotting against her. 

I had read Rebecca Roanhorse's Sixth World series and loved it. So when I heard she was starting a new series I preordered the book. But lucky me, I got an ARC on NetGalley and got to read this before my physical copy came.

Rebecca Roanhorse is a fantastic world builder. I had no trouble understanding the setting, the politics, and the magic of this new series. It's a vast world that doesn't get too confusing. The characters are all unique and as the story jumped between the two (3 at times) points of view I never once felt lost.

The story was enthralling and Roanhorse as an amazing way with words.

6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus is a magical thing. It appears without warning, capturing the imagination of all the locals and then disappears just as fast. Celia and Marco were both trained by famous magicians and are pitted against each other in a very odd contest and the circus is the stage.

If you've heard about this book and you think it's about two magicians doing battle, I'm going to have to put a stop to that. This isn't a battle. There's no magic duel. Whoever wrote the premise to this wanted to try and make it sound more epic than it is.

What this book really is, is a beautiful story that revolves around the setting. The characters are still very important but the main character is the circus. Erin Morgenstern used some beautiful flowery language and if you listen to the audiobook you have the benefit of Jim Dale's voice which makes the whole thing feel like a bedtime story.

5. Becoming by Michelle Obama

I shy away from books about politics. But here's the great news, this isn't a political book. This is the life story (so far) of former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama. It follows her from her upbringing on the South Side of Chicago and follows her up and up and up all the way to the White House. 

This book showed that she's more than just the wife of a president. She is a powerhouse of a person who uses her abilities and fame to advocate for women and people of color. This was also an entertaining memoir full of anecdotes that made me smile, stories that made me cringe or get teary eyed, and it was a wonderful way to relive the historic moment Barack Obama was elected.

What's more is that I put the book down and felt hopeful. Even if the last four years have been bad, there's hope that good people are out there who want to help.

4. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

To shamelessly steal the first paragraph of the synopsis: A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

I had no idea what to expect with this book. But that's just Fredrick Backman's style. He is a true master of characterization. This was full of characters who shared the spotlight equally and not once did I get confused because I knew who everyone was.  This was a page turner but not because it was exciting or fast paced. It was a page turner because I cared about what happened to everyone and I NEEDED to know how everything went down. 

Each character had their own wonderful arch and by the end I liked everyone. Even the people I started out hating, I even grew attached to them. Is this the reading version of Stockholm syndrome? Or is Fredrik Backman a master at what he does? Or maybe it's both.

3. The Only Good Indians By Stephen Graham Jones

Four American Indian men made a horrible mistake when they were but young boys. Now, decades later, those boys are men and that event is coming back to haunt them in the form of an entity bent on revenge.

Writing a premise for this book wasn't easy. I know. It was only two sentences, but I read the official premise and it's just not quite right. I think the official premise is slightly misleading. 

Enough about that though. Jones is an amazing writer. I would compare him with Stephen King, not because they both do horror, but because they're both masters of the written word. But Jones has the benefit of getting to the point, which King can sometimes forget to do. The Only Good Indians is an amazingly written book. This is the only book of his I've ever read so all I can say is this book, at least, is a masterpiece. This is also an own voices book as Jones is Blackfoot. 

2. Punching The Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

2020 was a very volatile year. The Black Lives Matter movement exploded onto the tips of everyone's tongues due to the demonstrations caused by the rampant police violence. Due to that, Punching The Air was an unfortunately perfect timed YA Fiction piece loosely based on real events. Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five (aka The Central Park Five) used his own life experience to help Ibi Zoboi craft this truly powerful story.

This revolves around Amal Shahid, a young artist and poet who was on the wrong end of a biased system and the victim of systematic racism. Due to events that wouldn't have happened had he been born White, this sixteen year old is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. But can he make the best of a horrid situation or will he fall victim to a system designed to make him fail?

I say this book is powerful. That's not just some meaningless critic buzzword that can be slapped on the cover of the book. It's the truth. This is a fictional tale with it's roots based in horrifying reality. But this story isn't just doom and sadness. There is hope. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. But it's going to be a fight getting there and Zoboi and Salaam were the two best authors to tell the tale.

This next book needs a trigger warning for sexual assault. There's no graphic detail but it is discussed. 

1. Know My Name by Chanel Miller

This is a story of survival and about the woman formerly known as Emily Doe, now openly known by her true name of Chanel Miller. She was made famous by her victim impact statement that went viral after the trial of convicted sex offender Brock Turner. This book shines a light on not only Miller's experience but how the horrors of sexual assault continue even after the heinous act is committed. 

I'll be honest. I was going to let this book pass me by. I was familiar with the Brock Turner case and followed it as it was going on. I, along with the rest of the world, was left dumbstruck by the light sentence the judge gave as well as the horrid statements made by Turners parents.  I read the impact statement by Miller written when she was still keeping her identity a secret. So I knew this wasn't going to be like any other memoir I've read. I tend to read memoirs by comedians and actors, people who tell funny stories and make me laugh, but after my wife read it and loved it, I new I had to read it too.

I'm so glad I did. It's a super tough subject but it's so very important to read. It's very eye opening to the court process and how unfair it is. How Miller had to defend herself even though she was the victim. She had to prove that she didn't want it or deserve it which is outrageous. Also, if her family wanted to testify they had to put their lives on hold and risk their education and jobs. It'd disgusting and Miller's story helped bring light to something I never knew.

A bonus to this book is that she has an amazing way with words. She's a fantastic writer, but even if she wasn't, this was still an important and necessary story to tell. 

So what were your favorite books of the year? Let me know! 

It's time for another Net Galley Wrap Up! Yay! This time, instead of audio book or graphic novels, we're talking about regular books. So check it out and you may just find a fun future read.

Coffee Days Whiskey Nights by Cyrus Parker

This is a collection of poetry, prose, and aphorisms that juxtaposes the hopefulness a brand new day can bring with the lingering thoughts that keep us up into the late-night hours. This book takes a look at the way a single day can change our outlook on everything from relationships with others, to our relationships with ourselves, and everything in between. (Net Galley Synopsis)

I didn't expect to be blown away. I didn't expect to love it. I expected to read a bunch of lofty poetry that I'd only understand a smidge of but I got it as much as someone who is not Cyrus Parker can get it.  It was beautiful. It was sad. It was happy. I related to some of it while I can never understand some of it but I can still appreciate the words and emotions. 

This is my first modern poetry book and it will be on my favorites list. 

This was great. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did.

Coffee Days Whiskey Nights gets a 10 out of 11

I Hope This Helps by Tommy Siegel

Tommy Siegel's debut book collection includes 200+ pages of comics, essays, and extremely helpful guides to coping with 21st-century panic. With comics titled “Choose your social anxiety coping mechanism” and “What your coffee drink of choice says about you,” I Hope This Helps offers clever and sardonic commentary on our phone-obsessed, social media-driven culture, as well as a series of devastatingly funny relationship comics starring his popular Candy Hearts characters. (Premise from Net Galley)

I had no idea what to expect going in as I had never heard of Tommy Siegel before. But I like comics so I figured, why not. This is a collection of 

The full title is I Hope This Helps: 500 Days of Comics and Extremely Helpful Guides. The comics were hit and miss. Some made me laugh so hard I was shaking. Others just missed the mark.

An ongoing theme is the difference between younger and older millennials as well as social media and phone addiction. The goal felt like it was aiming for sarcasm but it comes across as super cynical. 

This was going to be a 3 star book but a handful of comics really made me laugh. A great honest belly laugh that just makes you smile and that alone upped the rating by one.

If you're a fan of comics like The Oatmeal or anything with a vague resemblance to old Far Side, than this is for you.

I Hope This Helps gets a 7.5 out of 11

Dead Dudes by Christopher Sebela

Dead Dudes by Christopher Sebela and Ben Sears is a goofy little graphic novel about paranormal investigators that become ghosts and want to prove to the world that ghosts exist when their rivals show up to the place their haunting. 

The Ghost Bros, which is what the protagonists call their team, are quite clearly modeled after the Ghost Adventures crew while the rivals give off a Ghost Hunters vibe.  

The art is just okay. Not great but not awful. It seems to be purposefully messy. The plot is interesting but gets a bit too odd and convoluted at the end. There's no character growth. Everyone stays the same. The author has bleeps instead of actual swearing which gets quite annoying. Either swear or don't swear. Don't try and be cute and live in the middle. 

This was fun but could have been a lot better. The story tried to do to much and it didn't have enough going for it to make up for the shortcomings.

Dead Dudes gets a 3 out of 11

Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World's Most Infamous Prison by Sarah Mirk

This is the heaviest graphic novel I've ever read. I've always known that Gitmo was just one gigantic war crime, but the stories of those involved were shocking, i think this graphic novel attempts to bring to light some of the stories that people need to know. 

Sarah Mirk and the various artists who worked on this did a fantastic job.  The art was good and the stories ranged from intriguing to horrifying and it captured my interest right away. 

I think this should be required reading in high schools and even in college because I never knew a lot of this stuff. Even some of the facts like there are 40 inmates still there was completely new to me. This is something we should know. Since this is all from first hand accounts the stories bypass the talking heads and spin doctors who always make things all muddled. 

I'm glad I read this and I'll recommend this to anyone willing to read it.

Grumpy Cat Awful-ly Big Comic Collection by Various Authors

This collection of Grumpy Cat comics would be great for kids.  This isn't one of those all ages comics where the parent would get just as much enjoyment as the child would. The jokes were basic, perfect for someone young. But for anyone able to tie their own shoes? This is an easy one to skip. Grumpy Cat, may she rest in peace, had her moment of fame and was a funny internet meme for a while but the fad is over. Sure, a good grumpy cat meme is still fun, but this doesn't feel like it's trying to capitalize on Grumpy Cat herself as opposed to just a cute topic for a kids book.

So if you want something fun for a child in your life, this could be worth a look. If not, skip it. My friends and fellow adults, we are not the target audince.

Grumpy Cat Awful-ly Big Comics Collection gets a 5 out of 11

 Hi friends. It's time for another Net Galley wrap up. This one is graphic novels and manga again because, well, they're the easiest thing to read and rate on Net Galley. So sue me! But I digress, here are the next five graphic novels I've read.

Cagaster Vol 1 by Kachou Hashimoto

Manga is funny. Not funny haha, but funny in the sense that 

Cagaster vol 1 is set in the year 2155 after (back in the year 2125) a plague called "cagaster" turns one in a thousand people into man eating bugs which are also called "cagaster." Now a young expert exterminator naked Kidou has been tasked with protecting a helpless girl named Ilie and finding her mother. 

This is a basic action manga. A 17 year old boy is somehow an expert and he meets a helpless girl and the two form an instant and inseparable bond even though Kidou is a huge jerk. In fact, he's really mean to Ilie and gives her no reason to actually like him, but she does because she's an manga heroine and she has to like the main character because of reasons. 

The story is weak and the characters are huge tropes. There is nothing new, challenging, or even remotely interesting about this. I've read so many others that are better. Skip this.

One of it's selling points is that there's an anime on Netflix based on it. But don't waste your time. Watch One Piece or Food Wars or literally anything else.

Cagaster Vol 1 gets a 3 out of 11

The Wizerd! And The Potion of Dreams by Michael Sweater and Rachel Dukes

This is about The Wizerd who's a recluse and is very happy to stay at home not going on adventures. One day the brash and foolhardy Princess Wallace attacks the Wizeard out of nowhere and tries to convince them to help them  make a wishing potion. The Wizeard agrees and the two start an adventure. Along the way they meet an archer who they help get out of a sticky situation and together the group goes on their quest.

This is at least a YA graphic novel if not even a middle grade.  I think it's very important to keep that in mind when you read because it's not a very challenging story. What it is, is cute. It's perfect if you just want a fun and enjoyable story or you want something to read along with your kids.

This is a very positive, very innocent, and very pure story. There may be swords, explosions, and fighting, but never once did I think anyone was actually going to get hurt. So if you're reading this to a very young child, maybe just do the good parent thing of reminding them that hitting their friends with swords is a no no. But other than that, there's no reason that even very young kids could enjoy this.

If you have read any other reviews for this graphic novel, you have have seen others compare the art style to Adventure Time. I too will add that comparison but also add in some inspiration from Dr. Seuss. The art isn't bad or lazy. It's very purposeful in it's whimsical cartoon style.

If you're looking for a quick and fun read. This is your book. If you're looking for something to read with your children or as a gift for a young relative, this is your book. If you're looking for something that's boundary pushing and progressive, then look elsewhere. But for just plain enjoyability, this is for you.

The Wizerd! And The Potion of Dreams gets an 8 out of 11

The Tea Dragon Tapestry by Katie O'Neill

This is the third book in the Tea Dragon series and it's still just as cute and adorable as the first. It still follows Greta and Minette with the Tea Dragons but this time they have different problems. Greta struggles with her future and a potential apprenticeship with a renowned blacksmith. Also, she can't seem to help her Tea Dragon Ginseng deal with its depression because of the loss of its former owner.  All the while, Minette is dealing with problems of her own.  She is suffering from some deep dark homesickness and lack of purpose. Together and with the help of their friends, Greta and Minette can find their way. 

I love the Tea Dragon series and I'm so thankful that my wife discovered this series AND that Net Galley had this ARC. This is a truly wonderful children's book that had some beautiful illustrations and had a very open and positive story.  

This is what a kids book should be. It's beautifully inclusive and makes the inclusivity look like an everyday normal thing which it is and should always be.  There are different races getting along, There are characters of color. There is LGBTQ representation. There's a disabled character and it even deals with mental health. The story normalizes all of it without coming across as preachy.

I plan buying this series for my children because it's the type of book I want them to read. As a bonus, I would love to reread our myself.

The Tea Dragon Tapestry gets an 11 out of 11

Kusama by Elisa Macellari

I was only mildly familiar with Yayoi Kusama before reading this graphic novel. I knew who she was due to taking an art history class as well as my own Grandmother's interest in all things Japanese since she herself was Japanese. 

What I expected going into this was a biographical graphic novel. But what I ended up with was a beautifully illustrated cliffsnotes version of Kusama's story.

Don't misunderstand. I liked this. The art was beautiful and I learned quite a bit more than I knew previously. To be honest my level of knowledge went from almost nothing to a little bit of thanks to this book.

This was pleasant to read thanks to Elisa Macellari's wonderful art. Kusama herself had (has) a life that ranged from sad to somber but the vivid colors and style of Macellari's art was the perfect vessel for Kusama's story.

I would still like to know even more about her life but outside of a full biography, this was a good start. If you buy this, do it for the art. Do it for a taste of a larger story.

Kusama gets a 7 out of 11

Haiku Illustrated translated by Hart Larrabee

I remember this

The counting on my fingers

And making haiku

But all joking aside, this is a well done book. Just like I was taught from Dead Poets Society,  I don't critique poetry. But what I can do is tell you that I did love the Haiku and thought they were quite beautiful. Are they good? Well I liked them and that's as much as I'm going to say about the poems.

There was artwork in this book as well and it ranged from beautiful Japanese woodblocks to a photo of a tree. The pictures were my only issue. The woodblocks were nice and topical but the random other pictures or small drawings felt out of place and it messed with the flow of the theme.  Hopefully in the final product they'll change it.

But a few of the pictures being less than topical was truly my only issue. This was a great book and perfect for a coffee table conversation piece or as a thoughtful gift.

Haiku Illustrated gets a 7.5 out of 11

 This time around, my friends, I'll be reviewing audio books I've had the opportunity to listen to thanks to Net Galley. Quick reminder for those who don't know, each of these books was provided free of charge by Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

The Genesis Game by Andrew O'Kelley

This is a LitRPG book about The Black Seraph who rose to power in the World Dungeon. The World Dungeon was the herald of the end of humanity and because of it, Seraph

Never before has a book taken me through such a roller coaster of interest. At first I found the narrator and the audio effects to be too cheesy. Then I started to like the story and the narrator. But each time I started to really get into the story, something would happen to make me loose interest.

I almost DNFd this a few times, though I am glad I saw it through to the end just so I can give a review saying that i finished it.

The story moves way too fast. So fast that I don't care about any of the characters. If Seraph died I would not have cared. If Seraph's dad died, I wouldn't have cared. The characters were bland and boring.

Seraph is supposed to come across as some dark and broody bad ass but he's just an a-hole. We meet his father but we get so little of their relationship that I think the Lindbergh baby would have been closer to his father than Seraph and his dad.

As a LitRPG book, it was woefully lacking. Other books like The Chaos Seeds series or The Rogue Dungeon series are better examples. At times it felt like Andrew O'Kelley forgot what his genre was and that maybe, just maybe, the rules should be explained just a little.

Despite all the negatives i still kind of enjoyed it, but not nearly enough to finish the series unless I can get it through Net Galley

The Genesis Game gets a 4 out of 11

Blood And Ash (The Jezebel Files #1) by Deborah Wilde

Ashira Cohen takes pride in being the only female private investigator in Vancouver. With her skills, her missing persons case should be a piece of cake. She wasn't counting on getting bashed in the skull, revealing a hidden tattoo and supernatural powers she shouldn't possess.

The first book in the Jezebel Files feels like if Jim Butcher or Patricia Briggs decided to take on a new magic system based off Jewish folklore. The bare bones of this book is very typical of the genre. A wise cracking PI who is usually in over their head, has a love/hate relationship with an authority figure, is barely making ends meet, is somehow both weak and strong in terms of special powers, and they just have to do the right thing.  If you change a few details this could easily be a Mercy Thomoson or Harry Dresden book. But as typical as it is,  its also very interesting and unique. A cool power system and a great magic world come together to make this a good book.

Blood & Ash is typical in the ways you'd expect of the genre but different in the ways that count. Its a fun book that's good for anyone who is either already an Urban Fantasy fan or even new to the genre. This is an adult book as there is both sex and swearing. The narration by Hollie Jackson is solid. Each character has a unique voice and i never struggled to follow who was talking. Blood & Ash by Deborah Wilde is a fun book.

Blood & Ash (The Jezebel Files #1) gets a 7 out of 11

By Sea & Sky by Antine Bandele

Writing a premise for this book seems difficult as the one provided by the publishers seems to give away a big part of the story. I’ll try my best to come up with my own. 

Zala is a pirate. Her and her husband are pirates by necessity as they need money and resources to brew a remedy for an affliction her husband has. When the ship is attacked, Zala’s life is thrown into the biggest upheaval ever and she’ll need to use her wits to get her husband, her friends, and herself out alive. Karim is the second-in-command on the first even naval airship. Their mission? To test out the ship by hunting pirates. He knows he can do a better job than his captain, but has to sit back and watch as more and more bad decisions are made. Can he help the ship and crew complete its mission?

 This book captured my attention and it did so fast. I’ve never been a huge fan of pirate stuff but I love me some airships so I decided to give this a shot. I’m glad I did. This book could have easily been sucked into a downward spiral of pirate tropes and Jack Sparrow rip-offs, but author Antoine Bandele knew what he was doing. The original premise for this book says that it’s “inspired by the West Indies, The Swahili Coast, and Arabia,” and these inspirations are easy to see. The greatest part is that Bandele may have taken inspiration, but he’s made his story and the world it takes place in, his own.

 Zala is a great main character but there were times where she frustrated me. It seemed like she didn’t know how life on a pirate ship should work. Maybe, just maybe, don’t continuously question the captain and disobey orders. That could be mutiny. The good news was that each time Zala did something dumb or made a mistake, she was either called out for it, or it didn’t go well and she had to learn from her mistakes. A main character that’s not perfect AND learns from their mistakes? What more could I ask for?  I could ask for Karim. A character who has a little in common with Zala (They’re both exceptionally smart, smarter than their captains and want to prove so,) but is more than just a passing thought. Karim and his story was just as fleshed out as Zala’s so we get two stories that intertwine at certain points but can each carry the story when their apart.

 Bandele did a fantastic job with this story. He created wonderful characters and put them in a colorful world. I never felt overwhelmed with information like some books can do when they infodump everything you need to know at the beginning and hope you remember. The knowledge came fluidly as the story progressed. My only gripe is that I still don’t know much about how the magic works and I would gladly have read (or listened to) a slightly longer book if I got a better grasp at how it works, but that was really the only down side. Well, that and the pirate songs were a bit cringy.

 I experienced as an audiobook and the narrator, John Rogers, did a great job. Each characters voice was unique and the accents were fantastic.

By Sea & Sky gets a 9 out of 11

 Recently my wife and I have signed up for and became huge fans of Net Galley. If you're not familiar, Net Galley is a site where people can get free advanced reading copies of books (and audiobooks) in exchange for honest reviews. You get a score on this site which is a representation of how many books you've reviewed versus how many you have yet to review. So in an effort to get that score up, I requested a ton of graphic novels knowing that I can read and review them faster than a typical book. So here's my first ever wrap up of my Net Galley reads. This one is all graphic novels. Enjoy.

Moon Lake by Dan Fogler

       Moon Lake is like a weird baby between Twilight Zone and Castle Rock. It takes place at the fictional Moon Lake. Think Camp Crystal Lake, but weirder. This graphic novel is basically a short story collection, but with pictures! Yay for pictures! There are a total of seven stories each with their own author and illustrator and each story has a horror theme. But this isn't a graphic novel for kids. Why, you may ask? Because there are things like nudity, sex, blood, gore, murder, and even bestiality. Yeah, not for kids. So what did I think of this? Here's my review.

This was.... interesting, to say the least. I definitely have a favorite tale and I definitely had some I didn't like as well. Black Bear Blues by Stef Hutchinson Illustrated by Jim Daly and Lizzy John and Moon Wars by Blake Leibel illustrated by John Finney and Kat Rocha stood out as the better of the tales. But some of them, like Camp Sasquatch by Tim Seeley illustrated by Robbie Rodriguez and Mark Englert and Desensitized Deirdre by R. H. Stavis illustrated by Jeffrey Zornow were so overtly grotesque that it left me cold.

The stories revolved around things like a werebear, an orgy gone wrong, a girl who goes on a murderous rampage, and the whole thing is told by a man who lives on the mood, growing fat from eating moon cheese which gives him excess gas.

Some of the tales came across as so tryhard that I felt like it was entirely disingenuous. It felt like the goal of each of those writers was to, first and foremost, do something shocking. I got the feeling that they focused so much on doing something over the top that they failed to write a good story. This graphic novel had more ups and downs than a roller-coaster in an earthquake and I'm sorry to say that the lowest lows out weighed the highest highs. 

I  wanted to like this a lot more than I did. A horror themed graphic novel taking place in a world that allows for wonderfully unique stories to be told sounds like a great idea. Plus Dan Fogler, an actor I quite like, helped put it together and even wrote for it as well, so that's just a bonus! But in the end, Moon River's  good stories couldn't keep pace with the bad ones and it left me wanting something better.

Moon Lake by Dan Fogel gets a 4 out of 11.
Release Date: 9/1/20

There Are Things I Can't Tell You by Edako Mofumofu

I love romance stories. When I was younger two of my favorite manga were Fake by Sanami Matoh and Gravitation by Maki Murakami. So when  I saw There Are Things I Can't Tell You by Edako Mofumofu, I jumped at the chance to read it.

This story is about Kasumi and Kyousuke, two guys who are best friends but quite an odd couple. Kasumi is more reserved and quiet while Kyousuke is more outgoing and is quite often at the center of attention. The two have feelings for each other but can't quite find a way to express them. Can these two, who have been friends since elementary school, ever work it out?

So I may not be the target audience for a boys love manga, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it too. There Are Things I Can't Tell You is super cute and exactly what I expected from something in this genre. Two cute guys with an equally adorable meet cute form a tight friendship but secretly harbor feelings for each other.

I learned that it's part of a popular genre of books written about gay love by women and for women. Here's where it gets tricky. There are those who have issues with this genre saying that it oversexualizes homosexuality for the purpose of turning it into a kink. But on the other hand, would judging it in such a way be kink shaming?  I'm not qualified to have an opinion on any of these topics since I'm not part of either of these camps, it's just something to keep in mind when you read this.

That aside, this is a cute, short read that's well worth your time if you're a fan of the genre. The characters were realistic and relatable. The hurdles in the way of the romance was realistic too. It even briefly touches on an important topic or two but in the end this isn't anything other than a boy's love manga. So if that's what you're looking for, you found a good one.

There Are Things I Can't Tell You by Edako Mofumofu gets a 7.5 out of 11
Release Date: 7/20/20

Karmen part 1 by Guillem March

The cover is what drew me in. A woman in what looks like a skeleton costume with psycho pink hair who looks like she's a character from the game Catherine. The premise also sounded interesting. This is about a woman named Catalina who kills herself after getting her heart broken. An angel named Karmen comes to help her and takes her on a journey where she just may learn important life lessons... now that she's dead. 

I really liked the art in this graphic novel. I thought it was beautiful, vivid, and eye catching. Early on I was a bit worried at the direction it was going because for most of the story Catalina is naked. My worry was that this would just be a booby comic with little focus on story but I'm happy to report that it's not. If you have a dislike or aversion to nudity then this isn't for you. The nudity is never crass and it actually makes sense to the story. But for some, it's a deal breaker. 

This is just part 1 and I think it's only going to be two parts but I can only speak for the story in this volume. It was part sad and part cute. Catalina is a good character who grew on me as the story unfolded. She could have been fleshed out a bit more but I was happy with what I got. Karmen is just a mediocre character thus far. She's one note and she doesn't get much in the way of a story of her own, but there's a lot of promise for her and for her growth in coming volumes.

This was a good comic that came out of nowhere and I'm really glad I got to read it. It's good, but not great. A solid graphic novel.

Karmen part 1 by Guillem March gets an 8 out of 11
Release date: 7/17/20

Quantum and Woody: Earth's Last Chance by Christopher Hastings

Quantum and Woody are heroes. They are brothers. And they may just be earth's last hope. They have a problem though. They tend to get in trouble just as much as they save the day. But when they capture the attention of a group of super villains, they need to work together more than ever if they want to save the day.

I've never read anything by Christopher Hastings before but after reading this, I see why he was put in charge of Gwenpool.

Quantam and Woody: Earth's Last Choice is about two heroes named... wait for it... Quantam and Woody. They are brothers who got quantam powers and now use their powers to save the day. Quantam has always wanted to be a hero and Woody sees it as a way to fame and fortune. The two find themselves getting in hairier situations and battling more formidable foes.

If you like anything that can be described as "zany," then this is for you. It's a superhero story but also a comedy. There is a story and it's quite easy to follow as there's not much to it. It's not bad. It's just simple. This is vol 1 of an ongoing series and this first volume was enough to get me interested.

There were some downsides though. At times the art by Ryan Browne inconsistent. It would go from really good to super cartoony from one panel to the next. How cartoony, you may ask? Think Mad Magazine level. Not bad, but not what I was expecting.

All in all this was fun and entertaining. I enjoyed what I read even if it didn't suck me in like I would have hoped. Read this for some goofy superhero fun.

Quantum and Woody: Earth's Last Chance by Christopher Hastings gets a 7.5 out of 11
Release Date: 10/13/20

Fangs by Sarah Andersen

Like many others, I'm a fan of Sarah Andersen's other comic, Sarah's Scribbles. But this one is a completely different monster. (Get it? Monster? Vampires and Werewolves? I slay me. Get it! Slay?)

Fangs follows Elsie the Vampire and Jimmy the werewolf and the romantic relationship they form.

This is a collection of short comics that do have a small, easy to follow, ongoing story but can technically still be read out of order and still be enjoyable.Fangs is a lot of fun and it's really cute. It relies on vampire and werewolf tropes but not in a lazy or contrived way. The tropes are used for a wonderful amount of jokes ranging from cute and easy to quite clever (and still cute).

The art in Fangs still has a style that's quite clearly Sarah Andersen, though it's much cleaner than Sarah's Scribbles which has a very purposeful scribble style.

Fangs is a fun, cute, and enjoyable romance. There is enough of an ongoing story to endear the characters to me but it's not so in depth that if too much time passes until the next volume, I won't get lost or confused. It's good. Read it.

Fangs by Sarah Andersen gets a 10 out of 11
Release Date 9/1/20

I decided to try and read more graphic novels and comics in 2020. This was because I had quite a few boxes of comics that have been sitting, unread and unloved, in my parents garage as well as a few boxes of comics I received as a parting gift from a friend that moved away. Some of these jaunts into my backlog have been fruitful in the case of comics like Paper Girls or revisiting Saga. Others haven't like being more than a little disappointed with Fatale. But since then I've dived into quite a few more. So here's my first graphic novel wrap up. Enjoy!

Superman: Red Son By Mark Millar

If you had asked me a year ago if I had ever read Superman: Red Son, I'd have scoffed and tried to change the topic or maybe even lied (gasp!) because I was embarrassed and felt like some sort of filthy casual for never having read it. So I got around to it and boy am I glad I did.

If you've never heard of it, Superman: Red Son is a speculative story that doesn't take place in official Superman cannon. This asks the question, what would happen if, instead of landing in backwater Kansas, his pod landed in the USSR?

I thought this story was really well done and it manages to work in members of the Justice League and how they would have reacted to this version of Superman. Superman isn't an old fashioned bad guy and neither is Lex Luthor a good guy. Even though Luthor is on the “right” side of things, he's still an asshole and Superman still tries to do good despite lacking the Kent up bringing that made him the Man of Steel we know and love. This is a fun and quick read that dives into no only the idea of nurture versus nature, but how history could have played out if a few key things went differently.

Superman: Red Son is very good but I think it falls just a little shy of being great. The last act of the story suffered from some pacing issues that kept this from being perfect.

Superman: Red Son gets an 8 out of 11

Market Day by James Sturm

Mendleman’s life goes through an upheaval when he discovers that he can no longer earn a living for his growing family doing the work that defines him—making well-crafted rugs by hand. A proud artisan, he takes his donkey-drawn cart to the market only to be turned away when the distinctive shop he once sold to now stocks only cheaply manufactured merchandise. As the realities of the marketplace sink in, Mendleman unravels. James Sturm draws a quiet, reflective, and beautiful portrait of eastern Europe in the early 1900s–bringing to life the hustle and bustle of an Old World marketplace on the brink of industrialization. Market Day is an ageless tale of how economic and social forces can affect a single life. (Premise from Goodreads)

I randomly found this at a library book sale. We paid five dollars and you get a back and can fill it with as many books as you want. You should look for some in your area. It's really cool. But we were wanting to head home but we still had room in one of our bags so we just started grabbing stuff that we could sell or donate. This was one I grabbed, and I'm glad I did.

I wasn't overly wowed by this graphic novel. It was just okay. But it's something truly random. A book that I had never heard of before that I truly had no idea what to expect. The art in this nice. There are quite a few panels that are quite beautiful that I found myself gazing at longer than I needed to. But the story was just okay. It was a sad tale and something that probably really happened so some poor craftsman. But unfortunately it wasn't enough to wow me. It was just okay.

Market Day gets a 6 out of 11

Prince Of Cats by Ron Wimberly

Prince of Cats is the B side to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, played at an eighties block party in a NY where underground sword dueling blossomed alongside hip-hop, punk, disco, and no wave. It's a deconstruction of Romeo and Juliet's romantic meta narrative focussing on the minor players with Tybalt at the center.(Premise from Goodreads).

This graphic novel was brought to my attention thanks to my friend Figbar. He was promoting comics and graphic novels by Black authors and I was excited to jump right in. I was very lucky my local library had a copy of this. I was shocked by it's size, if you've ever seen an issue of Variety magazine, then you'll know what to expect.

A lot like Superman: Red Son I liked this a lot but I felt like the ending fizzled out. Since this follows Tybalt we know how it's going to end, unless somehow you've never seen or read Romeo & Juliet, but what happens before then is the fun part. It's especially fun when we see scenes from the play and the familiar biting of thumbs. But when the story starts to cover the happenings of the play, I feel like the greater story, the fun one that Wimberly created, dissipates in favor of The Bard's work. Nothing wrong with Shakespeare's original, but I was having fun with Wimberly's new story so I was a tad disappointed when his story got lost near the end.

All in all this was a really well done story with wonderful art. The punkish 80's New York style is great. The colors are vivid, and I even like Wimberly's vision of Tybalt.

Price of Cats gets a 8.5 out of 11

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (Vol 1 + 2) by Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder

Lunella Lafayette is a preteen super genius who wants to change the world- but learned the hard way that it takes more than just big brains. Fearful of the monstrous Inhuman genes inside her, life is turned upside down when a savage, red-scaled tyrant is teleported from prehistoric past to a far-flung future we call today. The pair is many things, and together the most amazing Marvel Team-Up. Marvel presents...Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur! (Premise from Amazon)

I've had this series on my TBR list for a while and on a whim I checked my local library for it and guess what? They had the first two! So I got them and dove right in. As I read both volumes I had to actively keep in mind that this is a series aimed at kids. There are plenty of references and small jokes for older readers but this is for a younger audience. The good thing is, this comic doesn't talk down to kids. What makes it kid friendly is that it's a little less violent and has a bit of a goofier tone.

Luna Lafayette is a genius but that doesn't mean she gets everything and that's what makes her so endearing. Her parents, while loving, are at times oblivious to what makes Luna tick. Bullies still get to her. And she's not above a kid sized tantrum. As extraordinarily fictional as this is, she's also a very real character.

Devil Dinosaur is cute and is basically just a big dog. He's may more intelligent than a dinosaur should be, which helps him, you know, not just eat people willy-nilly. His presence helps Luna get out of some tight scrapes but also delivers some nice comic relief.

This is a fun and family friendly comic. It's not great or outstanding in any sort of way. It's just fun.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur gets a 7.5 out of 11