[BOOK REVIEW] Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh

Title:  Hyperbole and a Half:  Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem and Other Things That Happened 


Author:  Allie Brosh

Genre: Humor / Biography / Childhood


Year Published: 2013

Number of Pages: 371 pages

Date Read: 7/6/2014

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster


Source:  Library


Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language and Some Mischievous Behavior)

So, when I was looking through the illustrations of this book, I was thinking to myself:

“Hey, wait a minute... I seen these illustrations before!” 

It was then that I realized that Allie Brosh, the author of the book “Hyperbole and a Half” had actually made a blog called “Hyperbole and a Half” and she had turned the artwork from her blog into a book!  How amazing is that?   “Hyperbole and a Half” is one book that any fan of crazy and creative artwork definitely has to check out!

This book basically details both the adulthood and childhood events of Allie Brosh through comedic artwork (which includes an image of a blond headed stick figured woman with a pink dress running amuck throughout the book). We get to see Allie go through various situations such as eating a whole cake to get back at her mother as a child, dealing with a psychotic goose that sneaked into her and her boyfriend Duncan’s house and raising two dogs who seem to have mental problems.

Wow…

That one word pretty much summed up how I felt about this book!  When I saw the bizarre child-like artwork on the cover of this book, I knew that I was going to get into something crazy and creative!  Allie Brosh had done an excellent job at both illustrating and writing this book as the combined result ended up being something truly amazing!  Allie Brosh’s writing is witty and full of humor as I was seriously rolling on the ground with laughter at every comedic and embarrassing thing that happened in Allie Brosh’s life!  Probably my most favorite part of Allie Brosh’s experiences in this book was the incident where a psychotic goose sneaked into her and Duncan’s house and preceded to terrorize them!  Another experience that I really enjoyed in this book was when Allie’s mother took her and her younger sister out into the woods and they ended up getting lost in the woods!  I really enjoyed these experiences that Allie Brosh wrote about because they hit so close to home for me as I used to travel into the woods with my sisters and my father when I was younger (although we never got lost) and it was great seeing a similar experience pop up in this book.  I also loved the parts where Allie Brosh wrote about her inner insecurities with herself such as exploring about how depression works and finding her own identity.  I really enjoyed these parts of the book because even though as a whole, this book is all for humor, the parts where Allie Brosh explores how she feels about herself really brought so much depth to the stories and I often find myself agreeing with the situations that Allie Brosh had went through throughout the book.  But probably the best part of this book were Allie Brosh’s illustrations as they are drawn in a childlike manner with stick figures littering the pages and having wide grins on their faces whenever they are about to do something sneaky (something I always see appear on the pink dressed Allie Brosh figure throughout the pages)! I also loved the special effect feel of the artwork such as whenever the characters get extremely energetic, you can see the figures blur out whenever they are running around like crazy!

If there is a problem with this book is that there is some strong language littered throughout this book and anyone who does not like reading strong language in a book might want to skip over the words whenever they are reading this book.

Overall, “Hyperbole and a Half” is definitely one book that you must check out at all costs, especially if you are a huge fan of witty humor, crazy situations and cute stick figured drawings!

[BOOK REVIEW] It's a Book by Lane Smith

Title:  It's a Book

Author: Lane Smith

Genre: Humor / Reading / Animals

Year Published: 2010

 
Year Read:  2013

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press


Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 6+ (One Use of the Word "Jackass")

“Not a laptop, not a blog, just a book.”

After hearing so many awesome reviews about this book and after reading so many children’s books illustrated by Lane Smith, I just had to check out this book, “It’s a Book” and man, was it one children’s book that I thoroughly enjoyed!

The book starts off with a monkey reading a book when suddenly; a donkey comes by and asks the monkey what he has in his hands. The monkey tells the donkey that he is reading a book. But the donkey mistakes the book for a computer and keeps on asking the monkey throughout this story about whether or not the book can text, tweet, scroll or have wi-fi, while the monkey constantly tells the donkey that the book does not have all that.

Wow! Lane Smith has seriously made me realize just how important books are, especially in the technological age of our society!  I loved the fact that this book was trying to make a statement on how today’s society is so reliant on technology, such as the use of laptops and social networks like Twitter and the fact that the donkey in this story does not know how books really work was so hilarious and charming to look at!  Now, I will admit that I am one of those people who use technology to advance my lifestyle since I also enjoy blogging, tweeting and using wi-fi for my laptop whenever I can.  But, I also enjoy a good book every once in awhile and this book really made me see the importance of enjoying a good book, even if you also love using technology to enhance your lifestyle.  I loved the fact that the monkey was trying to tell the donkey that even though his book does not have all the entertaining advancements in a computer like social networks, the book can still be entertaining as long as there is a good story to be told.  Lane Smith’s artwork is so cute and hilarious to look at, especially of the images of the donkey, the monkey and the mouse themselves!  I loved the way that the donkey is drawn, as he has gray colored fur and wears a blue shirt and black pants which make him look so modern compared to the monkey.  I also loved the fact that the monkey wears a white polka dotted green shirt and a small hat which makes him look laid-back and the fact that his head is so large really makes his design so hilarious to look at!

Even though the use of the word “jackass” is being used as a way to describe a donkey, some parents might be worried that this word would be offensive to read to their children.  Now, personally I did not have a problem with the use of the word “jackass” since I knew that it was being used to describe a donkey and I personally thought that it was not use in an offensive way.  But, with the way the “a” word is being thrown around nowadays, I can understand a parent’s concern about the use of the “a” word in a children’s book. Parents should explain to their children that the “a” word also means “donkey” and that in this case, it is not used as an offensive way to call people names.

Overall, “It’s a Book” is a truly brilliant book that really points out the comparisons between a computer and a book and how they would affect the person using them. I would highly recommend this book to children and parents who love reading books that show the importance of books in society as a whole!  This book would be best suited for children ages six and up since the use of the word “jackass” might be controversial to some readers.

[BOOK REVIEW] Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros

Title:  Goodnight Tweetheart

Author:  Teresa Medeiros

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Year Published: 2010

Number of Pages: 222 pages

Date Read: 12/19/2012

Publisher: Gallery Books

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Some Sexual Discussions)

LOVE TWITTER STYLE!

After some urging from my friends and seeing a brief look at this book from one of the last books I had read from Teresa Medeiros, I just had to check out Teresa Medeiros’ latest book “Goodnight Tweetheart” and I was amazed at the concept of this book!  “Goodnight Tweetheart” is definitely a great book for romance novel fans of the “Twitter” generation!

Abigail Donovan is a struggling writer who is trying to finish her latest book, but she could never find the right things to say in her new novel!  However, when her publicist decides to give Abigail her own Twitter account, Abigail is amused by this as she had never used Twitter before.  Afterwards, however, as Abigail begins to get the hang of having a Twitter account, she meets a strange man online named Mark Baynard who claims that he is an English professor on sabbatical and it was then that she and Mark began twittering away with each other!  However, when things get really personal between Mark and Abigail, Abigail will soon discover some secrets about Mark that might destroy her relationship with him forever!

Wow!  I never would have thought that Teresa Medeiros would write a romance novel that deals with internet love!  Teresa Medeiros has done a great job at writing this novel as it deals with the trials of internet love and also tries to set up a love story where Twitter is a huge central point of the plot! I really enjoyed the way that the writing is set up as a way you would chat with a person on Twitter and some of my favorite dialogues in this novel included:

“MarkBaynard: Why? Thanks to me, you’re up to 1075 Followers!

Abby_Donovan: Followers…stalkers…predators…it’s all semantics.

MarkBaynard: Only when it comes to getting the restraining orders.

Abby_Donovan: Do you know how many people I’ve had to Block in the past two days?

MarkBaynard: 452?

Abby_Donovan: I’ve gotten dozens of dirty tweets, 4 marriage proposals & an exorcism chant from a voodoo priest who wants to drive out my sexual demons.”

I also really loved the characters in this novel, especially Abigail Donovan and Mark Baynard!  Abigail Donovan is a heroine that I truly can relate to as she is a struggling writer who is trying to finish her book except that her life has so many hardships including the death of her father and dealing with her mother’s mental illness.  I like seeing how Abigail can get really witty and funny whenever she is typing to Mark since it shows how hilarious and clever she truly is. Now, Mark Baynard was a hero that I truly felt sympathy for by the end of the book (I will not tell you about Mark’s character at the end of this novel, but you will definitely sympathize with his character!) and I loved the way that he chatted with Abigail as he is just as witty and hilarious as Abigail is and I found them to be a really cute couple!  I also loved the dialogues being shared between Abigail and Mark as they make some fun of the events going on currently in the world such as discussing about singers like Britney Spears and the Kardashians.

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating is because even though I thought it was really creative seeing this book being written in Twitter format, I am one of those readers who enjoy romance novels where characters are actually having a “physical” relationship with each other, rather than having a romance on the internet.  I guess I am not used to “internet love” type of books since I have been reading romance novels where characters are physically seeing each other for many years and this is a new subject for me to take in a romance novel.  Also, the book was a bit too short since I felt that the ending of this novel was a bit abrupt and I wanted to see more from Abigail and Mark.

Overall, “Goodnight Tweetheart” is a great romance novel for the current generation and anyone who loves Twitter and romance novels will definitely get into this book!