BC Bookshelf Update: Gotta love free books!

BC Bookshelf Updates features my latest bookish and BookCrossing (BC) activities including book trades, RABCKs, book rings/rays, challenges, and all things BookCrossing.  Enjoy!

Miraculously, I won two book giveaways recently!  This is the first time I've ever won a giveaway hosted by another book blogger...so I'd like to send out a big THANK YOU to Lizzy at Cornucopia of Reviews, where I won a copy of Deception by Lee Nichols. Paranormal YA is awesome and I'm excited to start reading the Haunting Emma series.

 

Then I won Heather's giveaway over at Fire and Ice for a copy of River Secrets by Shannon Hale.  I'm a huge fan of Shannon Hale.  I loved Goose Girl and can't wait to read all the Books of Bayern.  Thanks Heather! Check out Heather's blog for awesome jewelry giveaways. Her Little Red Reads shop on Etsy features adorable bookish inspired items.

In other news, I received three new ARCs in the mail. The King's Mistress by Emma Campion was released on July 6th and it's on the top of my TBR list. Dracula In Love by Karen Essex releases on August 10th, but I have to read Dracula first.  I own a copy and I've read the first 1/3 of it before but got sidetracked for some reason. The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart will also release on August 10th.

Last Sunday, I attended the monthly Audubon BookCrossers meeting at Panera Bread in Audubon, PA. I left the meeting with less books than I brought with me...which was my goal.  So I now have a volume from a new (well, new for me) vampires series and a handful of manga.  I've never read manga before.  My first graphic novel (The Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa) was awesome so it'll be fun to experiment with manga. 

Hunted: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Crescent Moon, Vol. 1  by Haruko Iida
Tokyo Mew Mew, Vol. 1  by Mia Ikumi & Reiko Yoshida
Kodocha: Sana's Stage. Vol. 1  by Miho Obana
The Prince of Tennis, Vol. 1  by Takeshi Konomi

I should finish reading Pray for Dawn this weekend and try to post the review soon.  Well, that's it for now. Happy Friday!

The Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2010

GraphicNovelReporter.com compiled a list of the Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2010. It's divided into the categories of kids, tweens, teens, adult non-fiction and adult fiction.  Plus there's a printable list of all the catagories, which might be useful on the next trip to the comic book store.  Here's a few that look really cool to me.

In the TEEN category...

Legends: The Enchanted

by Nick Percival

Radical Publishing
On sale June 29

Reinventing the popular Grimms’ Fairy Tale characters in a fantasy action-adventure that mixes elements of X-Men and Sleepy Hollow, this book is set in a post-industrial steam-punk backdrop. Supernatural immortals live in a dark, creature-infested world where nature, technology, and foul magic are in constant conflict. When the twisted, burnt remains of the half-wooden, half-mechanical warrior Pinocchio are discovered, wolf hunter Red Hood and giant-killer Jack realize the fragile rules of their existence have been shattered. With the help of other powerful Enchanted (the mercenary Goldilocks and psychic exterminators Hansel and Gretel), Jack and Red team up on an adventure to stop whatever, or whoever, is destroying their powers and murdering their kind.

Stuff of Legend

by Mike Raicht, Brian Smith, and Charles Paul Wilson III

Random House Publishing Group

On sale now

Originally published by indie publisher Th3rd World Studios, this gorgeous comic will make you rethink everything you ever thought about the Boogeyman and your childhood dreams and nightmares. On the outside, it looks like a child’s story: A child is kidnapped and pulled into The Dark by the Boogeyman, and his beloved toys try to rescue him. On their perilous mission, they will confront the boy’s bitter and forgotten toys, as well as betrayal in their own ranks. Can they save the boy from the forces of evil, or will they all perish in the process?

In the ADULT FICTION category...

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel

by Jane Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith; adapted by Tony Lee and Cliff Richards

Random House Publishing Group
On sale now
Based on the New York Times bestselling monster mashup! Who doesn’t love gory zombie mayhem with a dash of English manners?

 
 
 
 
18 Days
by Grant Morrison
Dynamic Entertainment
On sale August 10

From superstar creator Grant Morrison (All Star Superman, Batman & Robin, The Invisibles) comes 18 Days, the story of three generations of superwarriors, meeting for the final battle of their age. 18 Days is a reimagining of the great eastern myth Mahabharata and follows the course of the climactic war that concludes the age of the gods and begins the age of man. It is the prototype for every war ever fought. The scale is epic, wherein the biggest armies ever conceived of face one another across the ultimate battlefield to decide the fate of the future. This hardcover illustrated script book allows readers a first glimpse into the mythic animated series being developed by Morrison.

My First Graphic Novel & Review: The Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa

Last month my husband and I went to our local comic book store on Free Comic Book Day.  He used to collect comic books as a kid, so we figured we'd go over and check out what they have.  Besides the few comics-turned-movies I've seen, I didn't know anything about comics, comic book stores or graphic novels.  I was pleasantly surprised by the visit because it was a lot of fun!  I spent most of the time browsing the graphic novel section and I found several intriguing choices (Castle Waiting, Twilight, Pride and Prejudice).  After a while I finally decided to buy The Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa. Why did I choose this one?  (1) It's colorful artwork is beautiful, (2) it has a fairy tale premise (and I'm a sucker for that), and (3) it's geared to a younger audience (a.k.a. it looked G-rated).  So here's my first take on a graphic novel:

The Courageous Princess

by Rod Espinosa
Publisher: Dark Horse edition, April 2007


Princess Mabelrose lives in New Tinsley, a small kingdom in the vast Land of a Hundred Kingdoms. She's a humble, kind-hearted young woman with loving parents.  One day Mabelrose is kidnapped by a ruthless, powerful dragon named Shalathrumnostrium (it's a mouthful so I'll refer to him as the dragon) who commands an evil army of creatures. The dragon routinely kidnaps and ransoms princesses throughout the kingdoms.  But Mabelrose is different from other princesses who wait for princes to come to the rescue.  When she sees the opportunity, Mabelrose escapes from the dragon's castle. So begins her journey back home crossing the Land of a Hundred Kingdoms. Along the way, the courageous princess makes friends, helps strangers, and dodges the dragon's many minions. Meanwhile, her father King Jeryk travels to find out who took his daughter and bring her back home safely.

From the very beginning, I really love Mabelrose. She has no airs and uses all her ingenuity to prevail over challenges. Even though she's a little clumsy, she's gutsy and her adventure is fun to read. Faith plays a big role in this story. She regularly prays before bedtime for the strength and courage to get out of her situations and to bless her parents and friends back home. It's refreshing because I haven't read much lately where characters embrace faith in this way.  The story doesn't end in this volume and I look forward to finding out what's next in store for Mabelrose.

Bottom Line: Charming fairy tale + beautiful artwork = a graphic novel that shouldn't be missed!

My Rating: 4/5

Reading a graphic novel was fun.  I loved the details of the artwork---the castles, the dresses, the characters' expressions.  It's a different experience from reading novels and imagining the entire world in my head. I'm definitely going to incorporate graphic novels into my TBR list.