Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish for those who love doing lists.
This week's topic is selecting your favorite covers.

There are many beautiful covers out there, especially right now. If I could remember them all, this list would be much longer. I'd name the ones I could think of right now. Those are in no particular order.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
It's so creative and enchanting. I love illustrated covers the best. It made me want to grab the book right away. Fortunately, my brother got it for me ;)

Wither by Lauren DeStefano:
I won't be surprised if this cover made it to everyone's list. Just look at this thing!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith:
I love the creativity of this one. Honestly, it fits the book so well.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Of all the covers that have a person taking most of the space, this one is my favorite.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
One of my favorite covers. There are two versions of this one. Each with different color, red and blue. If you ask me, I prefer the red.

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
I wish I could draw like that. The picture is stunning.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Also one of my favorite covers. It is really its own thing. One of the best thing about a book cover is how it stands out. You don't find that a lot these days.

I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
This cover is so lovely! I haven't read the book yet, but I really hope this scene is in the book.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
One of my new favorite cover! I had no interest in reading this book before this cover was revealed. I thought it would be similar to The Daughter of Smoke and Bone for some reason. I love how this cover sets it apart from that book. I really want to read it now (as well as to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone)

Eon by Alison Goodman
This cover has a personality! I love how Mulanish it looks, if you know what I mean ;)


Tell me about your favorite covers.

Adaptation Releases: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

We only have one movie to talk about this week.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Based On: Salmon Fishing In The Yemen by Paul Torday

Directed by: Lasse Hallström (Other movies include Chocolat and Dear John)

Screenplay Written by: Simon Beaufoy (Other works include 127 Hours and Slumdog Millionaire)

Stars: Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt and Amr Waked

Release Date: March 9, 2012

A fisheries expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik's vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert and embarks on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible possible.

This looks like a sweet novel, even though I'm still not sure about the way it portrays Arabs though. I'm judging from the trailer. I haven't see the movie yet. I do however love Emily Blunt so I'm checking this movie out sometime. Besides, it does look really good. The concept is interesting.

2012 March TBR Pile

I'm positive I'm not going to get through all of these, but I'm definitely planning to get through as much as possible.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (currently reading)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (currently reading)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Solitary by Travis Thrasher
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (currently reading)
Spontaneous by Joe Harris and Brett Weldele
Who is Jake Ellis? Vol.1 by Nathan Edmondson, Tonci Zonjic

Dotter of Her Father's Eyes by Mary M. Talbot and Bryan Talbot
Ratfist by Doug TenNapel and Katherine Garner
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Of course!

Pic Book Review: Michael Recycle and the Tree Top Cops by Alexandra Colombo

Title: Michael Recycle and the Tree Top Cops

Author(s): Ellie Patterson (writer), Alexandra Colombo (illustrator)

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Release Date: March 20, 2012

Reading Group: Children

Source: NetGalley

Summery:

Even super-heroes need a vacation, so where better than one of the world's natural wonders, the great Redwood Forest! But disaster has struck and the forest is under threat...can Michael Recycle and his new friends, the Tree Top Cops, save the day?

Review:

If you have a child and you want to introduce him or her to superheroes, the Michael Recycle series is a good pick. Before you pick up Michael Recycle and the Tree Top Cops, I'd suggest picking up the previous titles first. This is my first time reviewing a picture book, so any feedback would be appreciated. 

I've loved picture books ever since I picked up Where the Wild Things Are. There is an innocence in them that bring you back to your childhood. This is the first Michael Recycle I read and I gotta say, it was entertaining. 


I love the idea of a recycling superhero. I think it's important to teach kids the idea of recycling at a young age, and what better example for them than a superhero? It's a brilliant idea! Who doesn't want to learn from their idols? So yeah, I like Michael Recycle's character. As for the dog, Tin Can Stan, I felt it was their to "cuteness" purposes, which I think it's fine, just not for me. The other characters, though none stood out, all added a colorful spin to the story. 

The art is beautiful. I love the coloring. Although sometime I felt there was too much green, it makes sense here. The only thing that annoyed me is a certain image of Tin Can Stan that keeps appearing again and again. I don't know if it was an artistic decision, but it didn't quite work for me. Although the illustrations was great, the writing wasn't. I think it's because of the rhymes. Sometimes, they were fun and other times they were off, I felt. The whole book felt like looking at a great painting, then realizng that something is not quite right.

The story was good overall. It's one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book. It's shows how it's like living a childhood dream. It's a good way of showing kids that they could do anything if they worked together, especially if it's for a noble cause. I like that message.

All in all, Michael Recycle and the Tree Top Cops was an enjoyable read. I think it's a very good pick if you want to introduce your child to superheros.

Final Rating

Graphic Novel Review: Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks

Title: Friends with Boys
Author: Faith Erin Hicks
Publisher: First Second
Release Date: February 28, 2012

Pages: 224
Reading Group: Young Adult
Buy the Book: Amazon
Source: NetGalley

Summery


A coming-of-age tale with a spooky twist!

Maggie McKay hardly knows what to do with herself. After an idyllic childhood of homeschooling with her mother and rough-housing with her older brothers, it’s time for Maggie to face the outside world, all on her own. But that means facing high school first. And it also means solving the mystery of the melancholy ghost who has silently followed Maggie throughout her entire life. Maybe it even means making a new friend—one who isn’t one of her brothers.

Funny, surprising, and tender, Friends with Boys is a pitch perfect YA graphic novel full of spooky supernatural fun.


Review

You may think it's weird, but I find it more difficult writing reviews for books I like. It's hard to point out the stuff you love in the book without gushing. It often comes out really messy and disjonted. Let's see how that goes. On with the review.

If want me to describe this book in one word, it's "Adorable."

Friends with Boys is a book that's charming, funny and tender all at the same time. I was enchanted from the very first pages.  

I always thought that sibling relationships are not portrayed enough in fiction. When I came across this book, I was pleasantly surprised that it were the main focus. This is a story about how life can make your relationships stronger or break them apart. Sometimes you'd like your life to stay the way that it is at the moment, but you can't help the fact that things will change. Sometimes these changes will prevent you from spending time with the people you love. That's what the main character is going through.

Maggie is a very easy character to love because you can't help but feel for her. She is facing a big change in her life.  After being home-schooled her whole life, she is going to high school, meeting new faces and facing new challenges. It's easy to empathize with her because when you live a life that you pretty much happy with, and there's a possibility of losing that, you feel scared and alone. I like how the illustrations added to that feeling of isolation. Maggie feels isolated even though she's in a place that's full of people. 

I may be making the story to be a bit dark, but really it's not. It's about teens and their challenges in high school. This book is kinda influenced by Japanese manga and you can tell if you've read manga before. It's not a bad thing, in fact, that's what made the story so charming. There is a sense of innocence in it that you feel when you read Japanese manga. What I mean is that these characters are not exactly realistic, and that's okay because they are so charming that you wish you were friends with them.

This is a really funny book. I found myself laughing several times. The dialogue in this book is great. The side characters are all incredible and they provide a huge chunk of the entertainment aspect of the book. They also each have their own unique personalities. There is the boy who love theater, the twin who tries to break apart from his brother, the friend with the wierd interests... I loved all of them. My personal favorite is Maggie's big brother. All the big brother figures are amazing. I wish I had big brothers like that.

When it comes to the art, I love it. The factual expressions are great and so is the character designs. I like how the transitions between the shoots flaw with the story. I wish I could dig deeper into the artistic aspect, but unfortunately I'm not an artist. I loved the writing.

If you can't tell by now, I loved this book. After I finished the last page, I was a little sad bacause I wanted more of these characters. I'd love it if Hicks considered writing a sequel.

I didn't feel the need to cover the paranormal aspect of the story because I fear that I may spoil things for you if I went into detail about it. You have to read the book to find out how it adds to the story.

All in all, Friends with Boys is a wonderful graphic novel. It had me laughing and "aww"-ing the whole way through. If you love coming-of-age stories or stories about sibling relationship in general, this book is for you.

You can read Friends with Boys here in the author's website till March 6. Don't miss the chance.

Final Grade: