Posts Tagged ‘Humor’
Monday, January 4th, 2010
Pros: Great job balancing demon hunting and mom/wife responsibilities; sense of humor is wonderful.
Cons: Some of the character’s justifications for her actions felt like a stretch.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Kate Connor is a typical suburban mom, taking care of her kids and supporting her husband’s run for county attorney. She’s put aside her career as a demon hunter, and is thoroughly enjoying life. But when a demon crashes into her house trying to kill her to pave the way for his master to carry out an evil plan, Kate has no choice but to come out of retirement. Will she be able to keep work and family separate? And can she solve the mystery of why demons have showed up in this formerly safe town?
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Tags: demons, Humor, Julie Kenner, Kate Connor, paranormal
Posted in Horror & Paranormal, Humor | Permalink | No Comments »
Friday, November 13th, 2009
Pros: Hilarious topic and some truly standout stories
Cons: A couple of shallow stories; as always in anthologies, variable quality
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
I’m growing rather fond of the anthologies edited by Denise Little—The Trouble With Heroes
is the third one I’ve read, and I’ve definitely enjoyed all of them. Of course they still have the typical anthology issue: since the stories vary by topic, theme, and author, you’re pretty much guaranteed not to love the entire selection.
This time, the topic is the all-too-unknown down-side of heroes. We see them as mythical, wonderful figures. But what do their loved ones and helpers see them as? Who gets to see them when they’re cranky, or do their laundry because they’re always off saving the world? And what happens when a hero’s PR makes them out to be something rather different than he really is? This is a theme both hilarious and poignant, as the tales in this book reveal…
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Tags: anthology, Denise Little, Fantasy, heroes, Humor, short stories
Posted in Fantasy, Humor | Permalink | No Comments »
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Pros: Original; touching; incredibly creative; tragic; wonderful!
Cons: None
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review copy courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
In his “Princess Novels,” author Jim C. Hines explores the truth behind the fairy tale, and what comes after the “happily ever after.” The Stepsister Scheme followed Sleeping Beauty (Talia), Snow White (known simply as Snow), and Cinderella (Danielle) when Danielle’s husband, Armand, was kidnapped. In order to get him back, the three princesses were forced to face some truly perilous foes. What ensued was a wild blend of both the gripping and the hilarious—Hines has a wonderful grasp of the ridiculous without having to sacrifice either beauty or tragedy to achieve it.
In The Mermaid’s Madness
, it’s time for Queen Beatrice to welcome the undine (mer-folk) home from their migration, and Danielle must accompany her in order to start learning her future duties. It all goes horribly wrong, however, when it turns out that there’s a new leader of the undine—and Lirea has a serious grudge against the queen. Beatrice has a habit of taking in princesses with problems, and this time is no different—she’s been sheltering a young undine princess named Lannadae.
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Tags: fairy tales, Fantasy, Humor, Jim C. Hines, Jim Hines
Posted in Fantasy, Humor | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Pros: Funny, hysterical, and lots of other synonyms for hilarious; plenty to make it valuable beyond the website
Cons: Obviously it would be cool if all the photos could be pro-quality, but by nature they can’t, and this has its own sort of charm
Rating: 5 out of 5
[This is one of those rare books that is not a review copy.]
Also posted on Epinions.com.
The Cake Wrecks Blog began when Jen Yates decided to post, for the amusement of herself and a few friends, photos of professional cakes gone “hilariously wrong.” Of course, as occasionally happens on the internet, she’d hit on something that had a far wider audience than she’d imagined. Soon she was getting thousands of hits a day and submissions of “cake wreck” photos from all over the globe—and eventually she even got a book deal. The result of that deal is Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong
, a wonderful organized collection of both best-of-the-blog photos (with snarky commentary) and additional material that never made it into the blog.
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Tags: cake decorating, cake wrecks, cakes, Humor, Jen Yates
Posted in Other Nonfiction | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Pros: Laugh-out-loud tears-in-your-eyes funny and highly educational!
Cons: …
Rating: 6 out of 5
Also posted on Epinions.com.
NOT a publisher- or author-provided review copy. (Purchased).
If you ever thought that romance novels were just “chick porn,” the Smart Bitches (Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan) are here to set you straight. Their blog is wonderful, intelligent, hilarious, frank, and a joy to read, and their book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels is every bit as amazing, if not better. Within pages I was laughing out loud, and it didn’t take long before I had to start reading quotes to the other women in the room so they didn’t strangle me. By chapter two or three they were all asking if they could borrow my copy; not long after they were writing down the book information so they could get their own. Yes, it really is that good!
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Tags: erotica, Humor, nonfiction, romance, smart bitches
Posted in Writers' Books & Tools | Permalink | 4 Comments »
Monday, April 27th, 2009
Pros: Delicious, easy recipes! Full of character, humor, & history
Cons: Strong personality that won’t appeal to everyone!
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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Tags: cookbook, Humor, memoir, offensive, recipes
Posted in Chef & Restaurant | Permalink | 4 Comments »
Friday, January 30th, 2009
Pros: Deliciously vulgar and offensive; sarcasm paired with darling vintage illustrations
Cons: Deliciously vulgar and offensive
Rating: 5 out of 5
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Tags: booze, Chocolate, coffee, Darren Wotz, Ed Polish, food, Humor, vintage
Posted in Gourmet, Other Nonfiction | Permalink | 5 Comments »
Friday, October 3rd, 2008
Pros: Entertaining, quirky, insightful, fun
Cons: Downright depressing at a few points
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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Tags: Ad Hudler, fiction, Humor
Posted in Humor, More Fiction | Permalink | 3 Comments »
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
Pros: Hysterical drawings and quotes; the perfect gift for cat lovers
Cons: Not everyone wants to pay full book price for a little gift book of art and sayings
Rating: 5 out of 5
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Tags: art, Cats, Humor, Jane Seabrook, Purry Logic
Posted in Cats | Permalink | 3 Comments »
Friday, August 15th, 2008
Pros: Fun, fun, and more fun!
Cons: …
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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Tags: erotica, Humor, Jennifer Estep, paranormal, romance, superhero
Posted in Horror & Paranormal, Humor, Romance & Erotica | Permalink | 1 Comment »
