Coffee side reads

Slayers and Vampires The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized, Oral History of Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel by Edward Gross, Mark A. Altman ISBN 9780752266350 Publisher: Pan Macmillan Pub Date 05 Oct 2017  Blurb "In 1997 the first episode of a new show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired. It's fair to say that following the critically panned and commercially unsuccessful film of the same name five years previously, expectations were not high. However over the course of 144 episodes and the successful spin-off show, Angel, it produced some of the best and best-loved television of all time. And its creator Joss Whedon's subversive take on supernatural stories has shaped everything from Marvel to Star Wars. Before Buffy, if a girl and a monster went into an alleyway and there was no boy to save her, only the monster came back out. Buffy changed all that. Twenty years on, the story of the girl who saved the universe . . . a lot and the world's most

High Moon Vol. 1: “Bullet Holes and Bite Marks” by David Gallaher ISBN 9781629918419 Publisher : Papercutz Pub Date 24 Oct 2017   Buy it here Blurb  Bounty-hunter Matthew Macgregor investigates a series of strange happenings in the dusty Texas town of Blest where drought has brought famine and hardship to most of the town and surrounding ranches. Unfortunately, that's the least of the town's worries! While the summer heat pushes the mercury toward further unbearable degrees during the day, the nights are haunted by strange unnatural creatures roaming the darkness. Macgregor, a former Pinkerton agent, seeks to uncover the town's dark secrets and tries desperately to keep his own past steeped in witchcraft and the supernatural hidden. At sundown... they'll be a showdown at High Moon.  Review So I'm a western lover and also one for monster fights so put them together and I'm sure in for a fun night of reading. This graphic novel wasn't one

The MERCENARY The Definitive Editions, Vol 1 The Cult of the Sacred Fire by Vicente Segrelles Series: THE MERCENARY The Definitive Editions (Book 1) Hardcover: 64 pages Publisher: NBM Publishing; 2 edition (November 10, 2017) Language: English ISBN-10: 1681121247 ISBN-13: 978-1681121246 Buy it Here Blurb "In a lost and long forgotten valley high up in the mountains, The Mercenary has been contracted to save a woman from the mysterious and powerful Cult of the Sacred Fire." Review So I went in blind on this not having heard of the mercenary before but unfortunately it just wasn't my style of graphic novel. I found the art tried to fit in female nudity whenever possible which to be honest didn't actually do anything to the story, the characters could have been in snow suits and still the story would be the same so I felt it was just a little over the top.  I also felt there was no introduction to the story or characters so for most of the book I

The Ghost of Gaudi By El Torres (author), Jesus Alonso (artist) Publisher: Magnetic Press  ISBN: 9781942367161  Number of pages: 120  Buy it here Blurb Someone is committing barbarous murders throughout Barcelona, focusing on locations designed by renowned visionary architect Antoni Gaudi. The police have no clues, but a young woman is thrust into the investigation by a man resembling the late Gaudi himself, led to the scenes of the crimes before they even occur... could be a precognizant ghost? A visual tour through the beautiful streets of Barcelona on a true edge-of-your-seat thriller written by El Torres and illustrated by Jesus Alonso, both natives of the city. Winner of several awards in Spain. Review  The Ghost of Gaudi is a brilliant crime mystery which has you questioning who is committing the murders and is Gaudi's ghost coming back from the grave? The art does a incredible job of portraying the incredible architectural works of Gaudi and

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Big Lie by Anthony Del Col Buy it here Something terrible has happened in the nice town of Bayport, Frank and Joe Hardy's father has been murdered and they're suspected of the crime. Only with the help of Nancy Drew can the boys clear their names and find out who really killed their father. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys is a great modern take on the crime solving cast with a dark noir theme throughout. I felt the darkness in the art was a great take on the story bringing the duo into their more mature lights. I had never read any of the Hardy Boy or Nancy Drew stories but have really enjoyed this and would read further if this style of writing was a route that it went down again, it is defiantly worth a read for everyone who likes a crime solving graphic novel.

Noble V.1 God Shots by Brandon Thomas Publisher: Lion Forge Comics (October 31, 2017) Publication Date: October 25, 2017 Buy it here Blurb  "Astronaut David Powell was one of the team of five astronauts who took on the suicide mission of destroying the Icarus2 asteroid before it could collide with Earth and annihilate all life on the planet. The team succeeded, but as a result of the explosion, David gained the ability of telekinesis, the means of moving matter with one's mind. David also lost his memories. Now, back on Earth, David is travelling throughout the world, taking on different identities and jobs, helping people while his powers grow. Fighting to stay alive and out of the reach of the Foresight Corporation and its CEO, Lorena Payan. Hoping to one day remember his life, his name, and the mysterious woman and young boy in his memory flashes. His wife and son. David's wife, Astrid Allen-Powell, has been receiving secret messages from an inform

Disney Manga Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas By Jun Asuka Publisher: TokyoPop; 01 edition (27 Dec. 2017) Language: English ISBN-10: 1427857245 ISBN-13: 978-1427857248 Buy it here Disney Manga Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas brings us the beloved Christmas classic in the form of a manga graphic novel. Everything follows the same plot as the original movie, with Jack longing for something more until he finds himself in Christmas land where his plans start to take form. I felt this maybe wasn't the best portrayal of the story as things were a little condensed and dialogue from the movie which made it great was lost. I also felt certain points were a little confusing in layout which lost the fluidity of the story leaving the reader a little lost at points. Overall the story is good but it isn't anything new from the original but instead just a re written version that lost some elements that made the movie great. 

The Vegan Cookbook By Adele McConnell Publisher: Watkins Media  ISBN: 9781848993389  Number of pages: 176  Buy it here Adele McConnell teaches the reader that vegan eating is not about what you can't eat but about what you can eat and how easy it is to enjoy a plant based diet. The book begins with an explanation about what vitamins are provided from which ingredients teaching the reader how easy it is to get what you need from the easiest of ingredients. She teaches that vitamin B12 is not found in plants but can be supplemented from fortified Nutritional Yeast which she uses in an incredible vegan cheese sauce. I especially enjoyed that she provided a recipe to create your own nut milk which I have enjoyed making. Adele pairs wonderful recipes with beautiful images which will have your mouth watering and excited to get into the kitchen. This is not just for the vegan who is new to a pant based kitchen but even for the seasoned vegan who is looking for excitin

Sal by Mick Kitson Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: Canongate Books; Main edition (1 Mar. 2018) ISBN-10: 1786891875 ISBN-13: 978-1786891877 Buy it here Sal has a troubled life, her mother is an alcoholic who doesn't fill the role of mother, Robert her mothers boyfriend beats both her and her mother and in the night comes into her room for some horrible acts towards Sal. The horrible acts started when Sal was ten years old and now her sister Peppa is coming up for ten.  Sal knows what will happen to her sister if she does not act soon, and unfortunately for Robert she has had time to prepare.  Sal is a wonderful story between the bond of two sisters as Sal and Peppa strive to survive in the woods of Scotland living off the land with help from information Sal saw online and on YouTube.  I loved this story and was always excited to read what would happen next to the sisters and how they would survive. There are turns in the story which I did not

The Flash Vol. 4: Running Scared (Rebirth) by  Joshua Williamson Buy it here Published: 21/11/2017 Publisher: DC Comics  ISBN: 9781401274627  Number of pages: 144  Barry Allen is here again protecting the streets of Central City as the speedster The Flash, but as he enjoys a party with all his closest around him how much longer can everything stay calm before one of his villains decides to strike. This volume of The Flash is worth the read for any fan as along side the usual great stories in the Flash universe it focuses on the life and story of  Eobard Thawne and how he came to be the reverse flash and what is the basis to his hatred of Barry Allen. I felt the addition of Hal Jordan in this story made for a great team up and sent him away at the right moment as not to make things to easy in the conclusion so there was some struggle for Barry to fight. The artwork by  Carmine Di Giandomenico and Howard Porter is spot on and keeps you captivated by each

Hotel Transylvania Vol. 1: “Kakieland Katastrophe"  by Stefan Petrucha Buy it here Publisher: Papercutz  ISBN: 9781629918099  Number of pages: 64 released: 09/01/2018 Everyone's  favourite monster family is back with a new graphic novel featuring all the great characters from the movies.  Theme park boss Stephen Cling is out to undo all the good work Dracs has done and make the public think monsters are scary again by putting some misleading pictures on the internet. Unfortunately Dracs just isn't so good at showing that not everything you read online is true. This first volume of the Hotel Transylvania graphic novels is a great start to a new story line which looks like it may be aimed more at the kids but the adults will love it too. Stefan Petrucha has done a great job of bringing modern day problems such as not believing everything you see on the internet as truth into this story and manages to have it read as if it was right out of th

Taproot By Keezy Young Buy it here Publisher: Lion Forge, LLc  ISBN: 9781941302460  Number of pages: 128 Taproot is a colourful graphic novel following the lives of Hamal the kind florist who can see ghosts and Blue the lovable dead protagonist who is struggling to move on. When something strange keeps happening to the ghosts in Hamal's life Blue is put on a path to get to the bottom of it. Taproot is a lovely story with a great reason for being written. When the book ends a note is written about the author that explains she writes stories she wished she saw available when she was younger with "stories starring queer characters, brightness, a little creepiness and a lot of heart". This is brought perfectly and is a great read for anyone. 

The Little Red Wolf By Amelie Flechais Buy it here Publisher: Lion Forge, LLc, The  ISBN: 9781941302453  Number of pages: 80  The Little Red Wolf is an original fairy tale for children and adults alike (maybe more for the parents) with following the little red wolf as he is sent out to deliver a rabbit for his grandmother who is to old to hunt. Upon his travels the little wolf may face some problems along the way bringing an entertaining experience matched with wonderful artwork to be enjoyed by the reader. This was a wonderful tale with inspiration from little red riding hood. I went in thinking that was what I was going to see in the story and it split off into a whole new story of it's own with a wonderful lesson that things are not always what they seem, along side to listen to your mother, especially when she tells you to avoid the humans who hate wolves. I felt this was maybe more of a darker tale for children so it's probably aimed more at either the pare

The Hockey Saint By Howard Shapiro Buy it here Pub Date 14 Oct 2014 ISBN 9780991255016 publisher: Animal Media Group LLC The Hockey Saint is a story of friendship between aspiring hockey player and student Tom Leonard and world famous hockey champion Jeremiah Jacobson as the unlikely pairing explores that there is more to behind the life of a world famous sports star and the true meaning of friendship. Being an occasional fan of Ice Hockey I was excited to see a graphic novel based in the hockey world and was eager to start this, I did unfortunately have to push through finishing it as I lost interest as the story progressed.  I found that the story was just to easy and neat. I felt a lot of it had a nice idea and had hope but instead of character development and a plot, things just fitted into place to easy such as when a character needed to be investigated it is just our luck that the eighty year old grandmother has a degree in genealogy to find this

Lighter Than My Shadow By Katie Green Pub Date 03 Oct 2017 ISBN 9781941302415 Lighter than my shadow is an incredible autobiography chronicling the life and struggles Katie faced with body issues and eating disorders throughout her life. This novel is in the top five of any graphic novel I have yet read and after reading a previous publication I have thrust it on many people telling them they need to read it. The story follows Katie throughout her family life, her school life, and also some personal and very unfortunate events all of which have been affected by this disorder. The are works perfectly with the story, describing her condition as a black cloud that hangs over her so as she gets worse the cloud gets darker and larger. My favourite point is as she gets so bad that she blacks out, the cloud grows so large that the page is engulfed so all you can see is black, just as she had. This is a must buy for anyone, you will not regret it!

Lies We Tell Our Kids By Brett Wagner ISBN 9780997431513 Pub Date 20 Feb 2018  Brett Wagner has created a book with incredible art work which tells a story in themselves and matches them with sayings our parents warned us with as we were children showing us how dark and wild some of the things we were told really were.  This is a nice book to flick through and laugh at the sayings while admiring the art work, some of which would make a great tattoo! I especially loved the saying about how you should eat your vegetables or they will eat you accompanied with the image of a killer carrot. 

Fish Boy By  Vanita Oelschlager Pub Date 01 May 2018 ISBN:9781938164200 Fish Boy is an original beautiful children's book by Vanita Oelschlager following the tale of 'The Fish Boy' a tale passed down by a wise old Inuit. The story is set in the Arctic lands of North America following Fish Boy and his new father as their struggles against neighbouring villages teaches the reader why kindness is is always the better option to choose.  I am always excited to see books set in different cultures showing the reader a new perspective and especially in a children's book as you don't often read about the Inuit culture.  The art is beautifully drawn bringing great views to the open white planes of the Arctic and even as an adult I enjoyed reading this story which provided a nice lesson for the reader. 

Quiet girl in a noisy world By Debbie Tung Paperback 184  Pages / Published:  30/11/2017 Publisher:  Andrews McMeel Publishing   ISBN:  9781449486068   Quiet girl in a noisy world follows the life of Debbie Tung as she experiences the highs and lows of an introverted life. The book beautifully shows the experiences of an introvert struggling with social commitments and managing to work in a social workplace all while juggling friendships and relationships. The graphic novel compiles many short biographical stories over the range of three years in a loose narrative which leaves the reader relating with the writer as she exposes her perspective to these situations. As I read this I found myself in love with the story and relating to many experiences as everything went on and had to disturb my partner many times to show her what was happening. I would highly recommend this as it was such a pleasure to read and I think many people will relate to Debbie and her stories.

Kobane Calling by Zerocalcare Paperback 288  Pages / Published:  24/10/2017 ISBN:  9781941302491   Buy it here Kobane calling documents the experience of Italian cartoonist Zerocalcare  as he visits Turkey, Iraq, Syria, to document the life of Kurdish resistance and help those in need caught between the conflict. The book reminds me of a modern day 'Maus' and has a very important subject matter which should be documented and put to the mainstream media much more. Zerocalcare looks at the victims caught up in the war, the people trying to help out those in need and the difficulty involved in trying to bring aid. I went in really excited to read this but unfortunately it left me forcing myself to finish it due to the writing style. I found that the story line struggled to hold onto one thought and bounced between internal and external narratives which distracted and put me off as I read it. I really wanted to enjoy the novel but unfortunately the writing style

Animal Spy - Animal Welfare Behind Enemy Lines By Terry Spamer and Gordon Thorburn ISBN 9781910198827 By the book here Terry Spamer reveals eye opening and shocking experiences through his work fighting animal crulety travelling the globe from Ghana, the UK over to Scandinavia throughout this book which leaves the reader in shock at the actions of the people exposed within his stories. As I picked up this book I was captivated from start to finish hanging on Terry's every word. He looks at Monkey smugglers, the illegal ivory trade, reindeer abuse, dog fighting rings and so much more keeping his writing interesting and educational along side pushing his message of fighting animal cruelty. One note I would advise on is that within the book Terry gives a warning at the start of a chapter saying "if you are squeamish just skip this chapter", I then went forward thinking there will be nothing that bad but I was wrong. Now if you are squeamish then take his w

The Loney by  Andrew Michael Hurley .  " It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is." To buy from Watertstones The Loney is Andrew Michael Hurley's first novel fiction debut which was the winner of the 2015 costa first novel award and the 2016 British Book Awards Book of the Year.  " If it had another name, I never knew, but the locals called it the Loney - that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune where Hanny and I went every Easter time with Mummer, Farther, Mr and Mrs Belderboss and Father Wilfred, the parish priest. It was impossible to truly know the place. It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is.