Review: Without Reservations: The Cartoons of Ricardo Cate

Without Reservations: The Cartoons of Ricardo Cate by Ricardo Cate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book. I enjoy humor from other cultures, even though this particular culture didn't seem that "other" to me.

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Review: The Ability

The Ability by M.M. Vaughan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one of those books that is a bit too dark for my personal tastes, but it really drew me in. And the sequel already set up. I almost wish I weren't looking forward to the next one.

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Review: Privacy Is for Wussies: Book 11 of the Syndicated Cartoon Stone Soup

Privacy Is for Wussies: Book 11 of the Syndicated Cartoon Stone Soup by Jan Eliot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You can tell I like these, since I have all eleven books in the series. Good family humor.

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Review: All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book. Perry is a very likable character and even Zoey. The reason for the somewhat lackluster rating is that I felt it dragged in the middle and should have been more tightly edited. Quite a few times, I just wanted to jump to the ending and finish it. I didn't, but I was very tempted.

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Review: The ACB with Honora Lee

The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate De Goldi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a bit of a disappointment. I have really enjoyed others of De Goldi's books, but this one was just a bit short in some respects. The biggest complaint I have is that the parents, while included in parts of the story, were really unsympathetic and unsupportive. Their parts in the story did little to advance the narrative, other than to make Perry seem neglected. If their neglect were the focus of the story, that would be a point that needed to be made, but here, it just seemed to be an annoying distraction.

The best thing about the book is the depiction of the various people in the nursing home. My mother was in a nursing home for her last few years and De Goldi really got many of those people right. I like that her grandmother never does really "get" that Perry is her granddaughter and keeps looking for her brother and husband who are both long deceased.

The idea for this book is charming and parts of it are excellent. It just doesn't quite come together to make a fabulous story for me.

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Review: Roger Dahl's Comic Japan: Best of Zero Gravity Cartoons from The Japan Times-The Lighter Side of Tokyo Life

Roger Dahl's Comic Japan: Best of Zero Gravity Cartoons from The Japan Times-The Lighter Side of Tokyo Life by Roger Dahl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy cartoons from other countries because they give me insight into the cultures. These cartoons are of interest, because they are cartoons done by Americans living in Japan. The advantage is that I can read them, because they are in English and I can understand at least half of the reference points - the perspectives of Americans. The drawback is that the culture is represented through foreign eyes, rather than through their own eyes. This makes them different in perspective than, for instance, Madam and Eve cartoons (from South Africa), since although those cartoons are in English, they are done by a South African.

The art work for the cartoons is good and I enjoyed the book.

I keep hoping that people who read these reviews will recommend other books similar to this or the Madam and Eve collection, but so far no one has.

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Review: Oddly Normal

Oddly Normal by Otis Frampton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Nice artwork. I had a little trouble following the flow of the words. Manga is still not a favorite for me, but I can see this would be appealing.

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