All posts by Mo Jayroe

Television’s Rising Star: Comic Books!

Whether you’re into the old school “floppy” comics or the new school graphic novel anthologies, we can all agree, 2019 is already becoming a great year to be a comic book fan. From Marvel & DC movies galore to Netflix picking up original series for the docket, we’ve got A LOT of binge-watching to do!

Here are 5 of our top faves that you can watch online or on TV to get your super (or not so super) hero fix!

Luke Cage by Archie Goodwin
A wrongfully charged inmate in Seagate Prison named Carl Lucas undergoes a scientific experiment. When a racist prison guard tampers with the machine, Lucas develops some supernatural side-effects! Namely, enhanced strength and bulletproof skin, Luke Cage is born. Netflix uses a surprising amount from the OG source while throwing in changes that are good to keep track of if you’re a MCU fanatic. The show also seems to stray away from the originals more commercial-minded roots and instead shows Luke as a man of the people and fights for the people.
Book to Netflix Rating 7.5/10

Lucifer by Mike Carey
Cast out of Heaven, Lucifer Morningstar has resigned his throne in Hell for Los Angeles. Emerging from the pages of The Sandman, the former Lord of Hell is enjoying retirement as the proprietor of L.A.’s most elite piano bar when an assignment from the Creator Himself threatens to change all that. While the setup and setting are the same, die-hard comic fans may find themselves disappointed by the loose adaptation in the show. You’ll find many of the supporting characters from the comics but the biggest change is Lucifer helping the LAPD solve mysteries with the help of an original character, Chloe Decker and her uptight ex-husband, Dan Decker. This addition almost makes the series feel like the Devil is playing Sherlock Holmes! While the show and comics may be totally different beasts, the show really captures the essence of Lucifer’s character and the themes within his lore.
Book to Netflix Rating 7/10

The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way
In an inexplicable worldwide event, forty-seven extraordinary children were spontaneously born to women who’d previously shown no signs of pregnancy. Millionaire inventor Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven of the children; when asked why, his only explanation was, “To save the world.” These seven children form the Umbrella Academy, a dysfunctional family of superheroes with bizarre powers. The show took more time to develop and play with the characters of this comic and while the plot is still the same some of the changes really brought out deeper meanings and a slightly shifted ending that leaves watchers on the edge of their seat!
Book to Netflix Rating 8/10

Daredevil by Frank Miller
The origin of Daredevil, Matt Murdock is blinded but gains super power abilities he uses to patrol Hell’s Kitchen. Netflix’s take on The Man Without Fear really manages to capture the essence of the comic earning it critical acclaim! It has been hailed by many fans as “the best adaptation of a Marvel Comic yet” as well as having three successful seasons. Unfortunately to many fans disappointment, Netflix rejected the offer of a fourth season, but you can still watch it or enjoy it in its original comic glory!
Book to Netflix Rating 10/10 

Jessica Jones by Brian Michael Bendis
After a decade, Jessica Jones is back in her own solo series! A lot has changed in the Marvel Universe and there are many secrets hiding in the shadows – secrets only a special woman like Jessica Jones can hope to uncover. Alias Investigations is open for business, and of all the many mysteries to discover, her new case may be the most dangerous one! This blistering new series is filled with haunting revelations from Jessica’s past, and answers to some of the biggest questions about the new Marvel NOW! universe! While Jessica Jones borrows the set-up from Alias, much changed on the road to Netflix. The comic’s climactic arc became the show’s first season. Characters were radically changed, while others were dropped altogether. The show on it’s own has wonderfully round characters but they way they fit into the storyline drops off in many ways.
Book to Netflix Rating 6/10

Happy reading and watching!

Stop Burying Your Gays – Breaking The Trope – PRIDE 2019

Have you ever gotten your hands on a great LGBTQ book, or got excited for a new tv show with queer characters, only to be let down by those lovely characters being killed off? Sometimes it’s to further the main character’s plot, sometimes it’s because of their identity, and sometimes…there’s just no reason. If you have then you have had the unfortunate run-in with the “Bury Your Gays” trope.

Originally, Bury Your Gays is a literary trope which originated in the late 19th century, gained traction in the early 20th century, and has continued to appear in novels, plays, films, and television series throughout the past one hundred plus years; it persists in western media in modern times despite changing social attitudes towards homosexuality and the LGBTQ+ community in general. In short, Bury Your Gays is no longer necessary, and its implementation is no longer the refuge it once was.

To help combat this trope, here are some of our favorite LGBTQ novels (with very much alive queer characters!) just in time for Pride Month!

Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal
When a birth defect wipes out the planet’s entire population of men, Woman World rises out of society’s ashes. Dhaliwal’s infectiously funny instagram comic follows the rebuilding process, tracking a group of women who have rallied together under the flag of “Beyonce’s Thighs.” Only Grandma remembers the distant past, a civilization of segway-riding mall cops, Blockbuster movie rental shops, and “That’s What She Said” jokes. For the most part, Woman World’s residents are focused on their struggles with unrequited love and anxiety, not to mention that whole “survival of humanity” thing.

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
Arguably Patricia Highsmith’s finest, The Price of Salt is the story of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose salvation arrives one day in the form of Carol Aird, an alluring suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce. They fall in love and set out across the United States, pursued by a private investigator who eventually blackmails Carol into a choice between her daughter and her lover.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer
Arthur Less will almost fall in love in Paris, almost fall to his death in Berlin, barely escape to a Moroccan ski chalet from a Saharan sandstorm, accidentally book himself as the (only) writer-in-residence at a Christian Retreat Center in Southern India, and encounter, on a desert island in the Arabian Sea, the last person on Earth he wants to face. Somewhere in there: he will turn fifty. Through it all, there is his first love. And there is his last. Because, despite all these mishaps, missteps, misunderstandings and mistakes, LESS is, above all, a love story.

The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle
Quinn Roberts is a sixteen-year-old smart aleck and Hollywood hopeful whose only worry used to be writing convincing dialogue for the movies he made with his sister. Of course, that was all before—before Quinn stopped going to school, before his mom started sleeping on the sofa…and before the car accident that changed everything. Quinn begins imagining his future as a screenplay that might actually end happily—if, that is, he can finally step back into the starring role of his own life story.

Girl Mans Up by M.E. Girard
All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? They think the way she looks and acts means she’s trying to be a boy—that she should quit trying to be something she’s not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty. But respect and loyalty, Pen discovers, are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and strong feelings for other girls drive Pen to see the truth–that in order to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to man up.

Let us know some of your faves!
Happy Reading and Happy Pride!

National Photography Month!

We’ve all heard a picture is worth a thousand words, so why not enjoy all those words in their natural habitat, a book! From the weird and macabre to the streets of New York, these books will bring you exciting new places and enchant you with new stories to tell.

The Photo Book; text by Ian Jeffrey
The Photography Book brings together 500 inspiring, moving and beautiful images of famous events and people, sensational landscapes, historic moments, ground-breaking photojournalism, insightful portraits, sport, wildlife, fashion and the everyday. Each image is discussed in detail, bringing it to life and offering us an understanding of this art form which plays such a large role in our everyday lives.

Vivian Maier: Street Photography; text by Allan Sekula
Vivian Maier, who from the 1950s until the 1990s, took over 100,000 photographs worldwide—from France to New York City to Chicago and dozens of other countries—and yet showed the results to no one. It wasn’t until local historian John Maloof purchased a box of Maier’s negatives from a Chicago auction house and began collecting and championing her marvelous work just a few years ago that any of it saw the light of day. Her photos portray urban life and feature subjects such as the elderly, African Americans, historical buildings, and the homeless.

Untitled by Diane Arbus
Untitled may well be Arbus’s most transcendent, most romantic vision. It is a celebration of the singularity and connectedness of each and every one of us. It demands of us what it demanded of her: the courage to see things as they are and the grace to permit them to simply be. For Diane Arbus, this is what making pictures was all about.These photographs achieve a lyricism, an emotional purity that sets them apart from all her other accomplishments.

Talking Pictures: Images and Messages Rescued From the Past by Ransom Riggs
With the candid quirkiness of Awkward Family Photos and the confessional intimacy of PostSecret, Ransom Riggs’s Talking Pictures is a haunting collection of antique found photographs with evocative inscriptions that bring these lost personal moments to life. Each image in Talking Pictures reveals a singular, frozen moment in a person’s life, be it joyful, quiet, or steeped in sorrow. Yet the book’s unique depth comes from the writing accompanying each photo: as with the caption revealing how one seemingly random snapshot of a dancing couple captured the first dance of their 40-year marriage, each successive inscription shines like a flashbulb illuminating a photograph’s particular context and lighting up our connection to the past.

Happy Reading!

Spring Cleaning: Ridding Yourself of the March Mess

It might still be snowing and below freezing but March is here and soon spring will be around the corner! This is the time when we can open our windows and let fresh air replace the stale winter chill as well as take time to tidy up our spaces as well as ourselves. We’ve compiled a list of 5 books to help you along!

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson
In Sweden there is a kind of decluttering called döstädning, meaning “death” and städning meaning “cleaning.” This surprising and invigorating process of clearing out unnecessary belongings can be undertaken at any age or life stage but should be done sooner than later, before others have to do it for you. In The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, artist Margareta Magnusson, with Scandinavian humor and wisdom, instructs readers to embrace minimalism. Her radical and joyous method for putting things in order helps families broach sensitive conversations, and makes the process uplifting rather than overwhelming.

My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag . . . and Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha by Jolie Kerr
Jolie Kerr has both staggering cleaning knowledge and a sense of humor. With signature sass and straight talk, Jolie takes on questions ranging from the basic—how do I use a mop? —to the esoteric—what should I do when bottles of homebrewed ginger beer explode in my kitchen? My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag proves that even the most nightmarish cleaning conundrums can be solved with a smile, the right supplies, and a little music.

Life’s Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets by Lisa Quinn
Life’s Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets is a crash course in Slacker Chic 101 that will have over-extended women everywhere laughing out loud and throwing in the towel, the dishtowel, that is. Full of shortcuts and tricks for cleaning, decor, and entertaining,such as: the top 10 things you have to clean if you have company coming in 30 minutes; interior finishes that hide the most dirt; 17 meals made from a deli chicken; and much more, this wickedly funny guide helps women create the life they want without all the hard labor and without compromising style.

Unf*ck Your Habitat: You’re Better Than Your Mess by Rachel Hoffman
Finally, a housekeeping and organizational system developed for those of us who’d describe our current living situation as a “f*cking mess” that we’re desperate to fix. Interspersed with lists and challenges, this practical, no-nonsense advice relies on a 20/10 system (20 minutes of cleaning followed by a 10-minute break; no marathon cleaning allowed) to help you develop lifelong habits. It motivates you to embrace a new lifestyle in manageable sections so you can actually start applying the tactics as you progress.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
Last but not least, Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international best seller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home – and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

Let us know if any of these helped you out or let us know some of YOUR tips and tricks! Happy Reading!

Binge Worthy Book to Netflix Adaptations!

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before Series by Jenny Han
This YA series turned Netflix movie tells the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters. Fans of the book series will be excited for the accuracy of casting and enjoy the subtle moments they were able to translate from book to screen. 
Book to Netflix Rating: 7/10

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
An unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. This episodic adaptation just finished it’s third and final season which was overwhelmingly a success. The showrunners translated the wit of Lemony Snicket almost perfectly and the episodes were funny, exciting, and just a little bit macabre!
Book to Netflix Rating: 9/10

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen. Season two is slated to premiere sometime this year and we can only hope it will be as fantastic as the first season!
Book to Netflix Rating: 8.5/10

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why. While the book and Netflix series create a discussion about mental health/suicide I’ve found the series does a lackluster job in bringing up suicide prevention and understanding warning signs. Jay Asher’s is a little more versed on the subject but unfortunately it’s one of those stories that’s started to become obsolete under newer and more educated stories about the same topic. 
Book to Netflix Rating: 4/10 (I’d also like to add a Trigger Warning for suicidal ideation and mentions of self-harm, depression, and suicide.)

#GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso
#GIRLBOSS” proves that being successful isn’t about how popular you were in high school or where you went to college (if you went to college). Rather, success is about trusting your instincts and following your gut, knowing which rules to follow and which to break. The Netflix adaptation is wickedly funny if not a little over the top at points. Sophia is quirky and abrasive but as the show progresses you see her true personality shine through!
Book to Netflix Rating: 7.5/10

Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Last but not least is the huge hit Bird Box! In a post-apocalyptic world, Malorie Hayes advises two young, unnamed children that they will be going downstream on a river in a boat. She strictly instructs them to not remove their blindfolds, or else they will die. Interweaving past and present, this story is a snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page or scene.  Netflix reported that Bird Box had the biggest seven-day viewership for any of its original films to date, with over 45 million accounts, with views defined by the company as the film streaming for over 70 percent of its time! From page to screen the adaptation if decently faithful even though the story type has been done to death. The ratings are lower than you would expect for the amount of hype it attracted.
Book to Netflix Rating: 6.5/10

Happy Reading and Watching!

The Rally Against All That Is Lovey-Dovey

February is in full swing and all the shops have put their Valentine’s products on the shelves and couples are as “couple-y” as ever. I think I’d rather have a good date with a book instead! Not a romantic as well? Would you rather throw candy hearts in the trash than send them to a special someone? Well here’s the book list you anti-valentines have been waiting for. Get ready for the cynical, the silly, and the downright angst!

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.

Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill
Powerful stories of dislocation, longing and desire which depict a disenchanted and rebellious urban fringe generation that is groping for human connection. (Or, more simply put, the angst of people-who-wear-black.)

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath’s shocking, realistic, and intensely emotional novel about a woman falling into the grip of insanity. Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational—as accessible an experience as going to the movies.

Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories from History—without the Fairy-Tale Endings by Linda Rodríguez McRobbie
You think you know her story. You’ve read the Brothers Grimm, you’ve watched the Disney cartoons, you cheered as these virtuous women lived happily ever after. But the lives of real princesses couldn’t be more different.  A fascinating read for history buffs, feminists, and anyone seeking a different kind of bedtime story.

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz
On a beach in the Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In the heat of a hospital laundry room in New Jersey, a woman does her lover’s washing and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a man buys his love child, his only son, a first baseball bat and glove. At the heart of these stories is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hardhead whose longing for love is equaled only by his recklessness and by the extraordinary women he loves and loses.

Steampunk: Science Fiction’s Up and Coming Star!

The term steampunk was coined in the late 80’s by author K.W. Jeter in a letter to Locus Magazine. “Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like ‘steam-punks’, perhaps.” With more steampunk stories becoming mainstream and movies being created with similar themes it seems like this is going to be the next big thing in the science fiction world!

But what is “steampunk” really? The genre usually consists of Victorian era alternative fashion, steam powered machinery, and magic intermingling with science! Steampunk stories almost always have an adventure driven plot with quirky and interesting main characters to help move the plot. Some of these traits can be found in early works such as H.G. Wells’ Time Machine and Edward Ellis’ The Steam Man of the Prairies.

Want to continue exploring the exciting world of steampunk? Here are some great reads to get you started!

Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices Series) by Cassandra Clare
The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them…

The Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles) by Philip Reeve
London is hunting again. Emerging from its hiding place in the hills, the great Traction City is chasing a terrified little town across the wastelands. Soon, London will feed. In the attack, Tom Natsworthy is flung from the speeding city with a murderous scar-faced girl. They must run for their lives through the wreckage–and face a terrifying new weapon that threatens the future of the world.

Leviathan (Leviathan Series) by Scott Westerfeld
It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet. Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure….One that will change both their lives forever.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials) by Philip Pullman
Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal–including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world. Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want–but what Lyra doesn’t know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.

Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century Series) by Cherie Priest
In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born. After the devastating failure of the machine sixteen years later, a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

The Aeronaut’s Windlass (The Cinder Spires) by Jim Butcher
Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace. Captain Grimm, who commands the merchant ship, Predator is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory. During this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come.

Happy Reading!