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I borrowed the paperback from the kid I babysit. The decision to review and all opinions are my own.
Title: Mr. Popper’s Penguins Author: Florence and Richard Atwater Genre: Fiction, Humor, Children’s
Series: Mr. Popper’s Penguins, 1 Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Publication Date: November 2, 1992
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I borrowed this from my Uncle a long time ago.
My Review:
The cover itself is humorous. It’s all about first-time parents and showing two confused parents with a crying baby is perfect – as is the title.
I first read this a long time ago when I was little. I remember my sister reading it at our uncle’s house so I ended up picking it up as well.
This is the first of many Baby Blues comics. Darryl and Wanda have just had a baby girl, Zoe. They’re first time parents trying to figure out the baby as well as other life things. Not that I’m a parent myself, but many of these strips ring true to life but put a funny spin on it.
Darryl and Wanda are quite the funny characters and it’s fun to follow their story. Wanda can be a bit crazy at times, but it’s always funny and never really annoying. Poor Darryl just tries his best to help her along.
There are many other characters in here that come and go like Wanda’s sister, and they’re all great and add a lot to the story.
This is, of course, a comic book, so the story is told in dialogue and drawings. Each “scene,” I guess you could call it is told in four panels. Or there can be sort of a mini-series and a longer story may be told me through a series of four panels. Everything makes sense and it makes for an easy read.
If you’re looking for something quick, humorous, and true to life, pick up Baby Blues. It was fun to revisit this one and I’ll be reading the rest of the series soon.
Baby Blues: This Is Going To Be Tougher Than We Thought (Scrapbook 1) by Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott gets… 5 out of 5 cups
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and if you enjoyed this post, please share it around!
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I bought the book on my Kindle.
Summary:
When the Santa Barbara art museum unveils its newest acquisition, the long-lost masterpiece by Dante Gabriel Rossetti isn’t the only surprise behind the red curtain-so is the museum’s curator. Dead. The case has everything Shawn likes: it’s bizarre, it’s baffling, and there’s a snack bar at the crime scene. But the investigation gets a lot less fun as he and Gus begin to realize that the clues are leading them towards a centuries-old cabal desperate to hide a terrible secret-and more than willing to kill the two detectives who are trying to reveal it.
My Review:
The cover hasn’t changed from 3 previous books or the season covers from the TV show. They’re all similar with Shawn and Gus posing. It works but doesn’t really convey what the book may be about.
I loved the TV show and when I discovered the books, I had to give them a try. It’s been a while since I’ve read the first 3 books, but it’s easy to pick up where I left off.
Shawn and Gus find themselves in their usual pickle when they take on a case bigger than they think. This plot is filled with a lot of twists and turns with the characters – and yourself – changing your mind about who did it and who didn’t.
The plot itself wasn’t bad and it was well executed. The wrap up felt abrupt, but that’s mostly because of the POV choice, which I’ll get to in a moment.
When a book is based off a TV series, it’s hard not to compare the book to the show. So, that’s what I’m doing. The characters all stayed true to themselves as they are in the show. I could hear all their voices in my head down to the correct tone.
My biggest problem was that three of the six main characters were barely in the book. Detective O’Hara, Chief Vick, and Henry, Shawn’s dad, barely had any parts. Even Lassie didn’t have many though a few chapters were in his POV. I missed them and wished I could have seen more of the whole team.
The book flowed well and the plot was executed at a nice pace. Nothing was too fast or slow and everything was easy to read and clear to follow. I just didn’t care for the POV.
The POV followed Gus’s thoughts, which is actually fine by me. I don’t mind seeing it through his eyes, but Shawn is the psychic. Shawn is the main one who solves the mysteries based on his hyper-observant skills. Being in Gus’s mind, there wasn’t much “psychic” going on that I saw because I wasn’t inside Shawn’s head. That’s the major premise of Psych so it was a little disappointing to miss out on that.
Overall, this wasn’t a bad book and it was a quick read. It’s just not my favorite.
Psych: A Fatal Frame of Mind (Psych 4) by William Rabkin gets… 3 out of 5 cups
Favorite Quote:
“Can you say that in English?” Shawn said.
“That was English,” Gus said. “In fact, it was more than English. It was specifically a point of English grammar, so you don’t get much more English that that.” –William Rabkin, Psych: A Fatal Frame of Mind (Psych 4)
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and if you enjoyed this post, please share it around!