These Books Among Us

Hey, y'all, So sorry I haven't been updating lately, it's been crazy hectic, but remember when I said I would be making a YouTube channel? Well. I did it!! My first video is up, and I posted the link on here! Check it out and let me know what you think!! https://youtu.be/LgcY1mpg8ek XO Dana

Arkham Asylum: Madness by Sam Kieth (112 [ages) My Rating: 3 Stars Date Read: 5 January 2017 Synopsis: It is the most feared house in all of Gotham. It contains the worst that the city has to offer. It is the place where the Dark Knight's most dangerous and psychotic foes call home. Writer / artist Sam Kieth, the creator of THE MAXX, invites you to spend 24 hours in the most haunted house in the DC Universe, Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane in this original Batman graphic novel. My Review:  While I enjoyed this comic, it was not as good as the others I have read recently. This one focuses more on the fact that these villains are cruel with not much reasoning behind their actions. They torment the staff because it is fun and they get off on it. The story itself was weak to me, but it was still entertaining for what it was. Like I said, it was not my favorite, so I don't have much to say about it.

Batman: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (216 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 5 January 2017 Synopsis: In this groundbreaking, painted graphic novel, the inmates of Arkham Asylum have taken over Gotham's detention center for the criminally insane on April Fools Day, demanding Batman in exchange for their hostages. Accepting their demented challenge, Batman is forced to live and endure the personal hells of the Joker, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two-Face and many other sworn enemies in order to save the innocents and retake the prison. During his run through this absurd gauntlet, the Dark Knight's own sanity is placed in jeopardy. This special anniversary edition trade paperback also reproduces the original script with annotations by Morrison and editor Karen Berger. My Review: I have not read too many of the DC Comics, but this one was really good. Batman is one of the few DC heroes that I like, so it was cool to see this side of him through the J...

The Killing Joke by  (50 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Read: 5 January 2017 Synopsis: For the first time the Joker's origin is revealed in this tale of insanity and human perseverance. Looking to prove that any man can be pushed past his breaking point and go mad, the Joker attempts to drive Commissioner Gordon insane. After shooting and permanently paralyzing his daughter Barbara (a.k.a. Batgirl), the Joker kidnaps the commissioner and attacks his mind in hopes of breaking the man. But refusing to give up, Gordon maintains his sanity with the help of Batman in an effort to beset the madman. My Review I really enjoyed reading this comic. We get the Joker's origin story. He was in a robbery gone wrong and fell into acid because his wife and unborn child died in an electrical fire accident right before the robbery. He was poor, down on his luck, trying to get a job as a comic, and needed some money fast to keep them from losing their apartment. He started off...

Annihilation: Conquest Book One Kieth Giffen (272 pages) My Rating: 3.5 Stars Date Read: 5 January 2017 Synopsis: The next sci-fi epic blasts-off here! In the grim aftermath of the Annihilation War, a devastated universe struggles to rebuild. Gripped by fear and paranoia, civilizations have collapsed and entire worlds are now smoking ruins. What is next for the battle weary heroes known as Nova, Peter Quill and Quasar? What are Ronan's plans for the once-mighty Kree Empire? Which cosmic characters of the past are about to return? Who is the new hero approaching on the horizon? And what is the new threat that no one suspects? Collecting: Annihilation: Conquest Prologue, Annihilation: Conquest: Quasar 1-4, Annihilation: Conquest: Starlord 1-4, Annihilation Saga My Review These guys can't catch a break, can they? So, plot summary: Sentinals are destroying the Kree empire. Starlord (aka Peter Quill), Heather (aka Moondragon, Drax's daughter) and Quasar (aka Ph...

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (260 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Read: 4 January 2017 Synopsis: The Princess Diarist is Carrie Fisher’s intimate, hilarious and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time, the first Star Wars movie. When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager. With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. And today, as she reprises her most iconic ro...

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis (376 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 30 December 2016 Synopsis: Grace Mae knows madness. She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum. When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own pas...

Heartless by Marissa Meyer (456 pages) Date Read: 29 December 2016 My Rating: 3.5 Stars Synopsis: Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love. Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love. Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen. Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, ma...

Annihilation Book Three by Keith Giffen (304 pages) Date Read: 27  December 2016 My Rating: 4 Stars Synopsis: The epic collection of the cosmic event concludes! One empire has fallen. Two heroes are dead. It all comes together here! Individually, the Silver Surfer, Super-Skrull, Ronan and Nova have faced down the Annihilation Wave...and lost! Now, they must unite those who remain or die by Annihilus' hand! The Annihilation has only begun! Plus: Get caught up on all of the players in the Annihilation event - Annihilus, Nova, Ronan, the Silver Surfer, the Super-Skrull, Thanos and more - courtesy of the Xandarian Worldmind files of the Nova Corps! Collecting: A nnihilation 1-6, Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus 1-2, Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files My Review Again, this review will probably be quite short because I have already stated a lot of my thoughts on these characters. I really enjoyed what they did what this series. The story line was well thought out, thou...