Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta favoritos 2016. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta favoritos 2016. Mostrar todas las entradas

sábado, 31 de diciembre de 2016

2016 Top 12 Review Books

1
5 stars 

Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/29396738-monstress-volume-1

2
5 stars

This exciting publication familiarizes readers of all ages with the many fascinating facets of Vincent van Gogh (1853--1890)—artist, correspondent, traveler, and modern explorer of Europe’s cities and countryside. Authors Nienke Denekamp and René van Blerk trace the artist’s route across Europe “from Z to A,” beginning in his birthplace of Zundert in the southern Netherlands and ending where he died, in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris. Each location is described with lively and accessible texts, comprehensive timelines, city and country maps, contemporary photographs, and related artworks by Van Gogh.


3
5 stars

After Elizabeth Bennet rejects his marriage proposal, Fitzwilliam Darcy finds himself in the most unusual of circumstances. At first believing the extraordinary turn of events has granted him an inexplicable boon, he is eager to put the humiliating proposal behind him.
He soon discovers that he is trapped in the same waking dream with no end in sight and no possible escape. All that he holds dear—his name, his home, his love—remains ever out of reach. How will he find his way back to his normal life? Will one mistake haunt the rest of his days? It will take all of his fortitude to weather the storms of his strange new fate, and all of his courage to grasp the promise of his future.

Review: http://aleph1984.blogspot.com.ar/2016/10/the-many-lives-of-fitzwilliam-darcy.html

4
4.5 stars

Brainwalker is a young adult sci-fi fantasy novel that turns the world of neuroscience on its head. If you like incredible fantasy worlds, fast-paced entertainment, and the human mind, then you’ll love Robyn Mundell and Stephan Lacast’s amazing journey inside the brain.

5
4.5 stars

Light is a silent graphic novel that follows a pair of adventurers on an epic quest to collect five magic gems from deep inside the earth and bring them to the surface to return color to the world. On the way they carry fire-lit torches through secret places and endless passages, swim in crystal-clear waters, encounter strange beasts and creatures, and meet strange mysterious hermits! 


6
4,5 stars


May, a young teenage girl, traverses the city streets, finding keepsakes in different places along her journey. When May and her kookum make these keepsakes into a necklace, it opens a world of danger and fantasy. While May fights against a terrible reality, she learns that there is strength in the spirit of those who have passed. But will that strength be able to save her? A story of tragedy and beauty, Will I See? illuminates the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women.


7
4 stars


Hollywood star, wife of Roman Polanski, victim of Charles Manson, and symbol of the death of the 1960s.
In addition to providing the first full-fledged biography of Sharon Tate, author Greg King finally gives a voice to the families of the slain, notably Tate’s mother, Doris. Her advocacy for victims’ rights was recognized during President George H. W. Bush’s 1992 “A Thousand Points of Light” ceremony. This is the true story of a star who is being rediscovered by a new generation of fans, a woman who achieved in death the fame she yearned for in life.

8
4 stars

The struggles and injustices faced by workers during the Great Depression spring to graphic life in this powerful wordless novel, which traces a middle-class family's downward spiral. Recounted in 128 striking black-and-white linocuts by artist Giacomo Patri, the story takes place between 1929 and 1933, from just before the stock market crash to the devastating years immediately afterward. The protagonist, an earnest young man with a promising career in advertising, descends into unemployment, debt, and homelessness. Desperate to provide for his family, he discovers common ground with blue-collar workers and the benefits of union organizing.
Because of its controversial depictions of class struggle, unionization, and abortion, White Collar was shunned by publishers, and the author was forced to print his own editions.


9
4 stars

In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely. 
It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.
And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.



10
4 stars

Ever noticed that women don't feature much in history books, and wondered why? Then this is the book for you. In The Trouble with Women, feminist artist Jacky Fleming illustrates how the opinions of supposed male geniuses, such as Charles Darwin (who believed that women have smaller brains than men) and John Ruskin (who believed that women's main function was to praise men), have shaped the fate of women through history, confining them to a life of domesticity and very little else.

Review: http://aleph1984.blogspot.com.ar/2016/09/the-trouble-with-women-el-problema-con.html

11
4 stars

Maire is a baker with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.


12
4 stars

Evie Boyd is desperate to be noticed. It is the summer of 1969 and the smell of honeysuckle thickens the air and the sidewalks radiate heat. Until she sees them. The girls. And at the centre, Russell. Russell and the ranch, down a long dirt track and deep in the hills. Incense and clumsily strummed chords. Rumours of sex, frenzied gatherings, teen runaways.
Was there a warning, a sign of things to come? 

2016 Top 16 Non-Review Books

1
5 stars 

 The story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community. The Giver is the first in a quartet of books that includes Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.

2
5 stars

A mission to Mars.
A freak accident.
One man's struggle to survive.

3
5 stars

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

4
5 stars

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

5
4,5 estrellas

La primera regla del club de la pelea es no hablar del club de la pelea. Cada fin de semana, un puñado de jóvenes oficinistas se quitan los zapatos y las camisas y pelean entre sí hasta la extenuación. Los lunes vuelven a sus despachos con los ojos amoratados y un embriagador sentimiento de omnipotencia.  

6
4.5 stars
"Ah, life- the thing that happens to us while we're off somewhere else blowing on dandelions & wishing ourselves into the pages of our favorite fairy tales."

A poetry collection divided into four different parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, & you. the princess, the damsel, & the queen piece together the life of the author in three stages, while you serves as a note to the reader & all of humankind. Explores life & all of its love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, & inspirations.

7
4.5 stars


Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school in Lambertville, Tennessee. Like any other girl, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret. There’s a reason why she transferred schools for her senior year, and why she’s determined not to get too close to anyone. Because the secret that Amanda’s been keeping? It’s that she used to be Andrew.

8
4 stars

Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace: he has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You'd like to get to know Grace better. But it's difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are never apart. Some might call this true love.
Picture this: a dinner party at their perfect home, the conversation and wine flowing. They appear to be in their element while entertaining. And Grace's friends are eager to reciprocate with lunch the following week. Grace wants to go, but knows she never will. Her friends call—so why doesn't Grace ever answer the phone? And how can she cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim?
And why are there bars on one of the bedroom windows?
The perfect marriage? Or the perfect lie?
9
4 stars

The Socs' idea of having a good time of beating up Greasers like Ponyboy. Ponyboy knows what to expect and knows he can count on his brothers and friends - until the night someone takes things too far. 

10
4 stars

March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis’ personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.

11
4 estrellas

Los cuentos de Silvina Ocampo configuran un universo complejo y personalísimo. La no inocencia, la transgresión, las relaciones humanas y sus misterios -los misteriosos resortes que las movilizan-, lo onírico metafísico, las ambigüedades, las metamorfosis, aparecen como elementos absolutamente integrados al mundo real, lo cual se traduce en una "falta de asombro" del narrador ante lo que llamaríamos la aparición de lo insólito, irreal, sobrenatural.

12
4 estrellas

Todo el mundo sabe que en Omnia, la gran tienda virtual, puedes comprar cualquier cosa. En su catálogo encontrarás todo lo que puedas imaginar, e incluso objetos que ni siquiera sabías que existían. Por eso, cuando Nico tira a la basura por accidente el peluche favorito de su hermana pequeña, no duda en buscar en su web uno igual para reemplazarlo. Pero un error informático inesperado lo conducirá hasta el mismo corazón de Omnia, un inmenso y extraordinario almacén en el que la búsqueda del peluche será solo el comienzo de una emocionante aventura.

13
4 stars



Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and for ever.

14
4 stars


Pop Art, an abbreviation of Popular Art, is a movement that found its origins in England in the 1950s but realised its full potential in New York in the 60s. The name referred to the interest of a number of artists, such as Robert Rauschenberg (born 1925) and Jasper Johns (born 1930), in the imagery and techniques of consumerism and popular culture. Pop Art, led by the cult figure of Andy Warhol, was probably the most extraordinary innovation of 20th century art. It put art into everyday terms and so helped close the gap between "high art" and "low art." The British artist Richard Hamilton defined Pop Art as: "popular, transient, expendable, low-cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, glamorous, and Big Business." Richly documented and clearly structured, this book provides an overall view as well as a new and insightful perspective on Pop Art and the works of the artists who were at the forefront of this movement.

15
4 estrellas
Matar a Borges es una novela de parodia donde el personaje de El Aleph, Carlos Argentino Daneri, se traslada de la ficción para vengarse de su creador por robarle la esencia de ese punto mágico, donde convergen todas las cosas del universo.

16
4 stars
In Carter Beats the Devil, Glen David Gold subjects the past to the same wondrous transformations as the rabbit in a skilled illusionist's hat. Gold's debut novel opens with real-life magician Charles Carter executing a particularly grisly trick, using President Warren G. Harding as a volunteer. Shortly afterwards, Harding dies mysteriously in his San Francisco hotel room, and Carter is forced to flee the country. Or does he? It's only the first of many misdirections in a magical performance by Gold. In the course of subsequent pages, Carter finds himself pursued by the most hapless of FBI agents; falls in love with a beautiful, outspoken blind woman; and confronts an old nemesis bent on destroying him. Throw in countless stunning (and historically accurate) illusions, some beautifully rendered period detail, and historical figures like young inventor Philo T. Farnsworth and self-made millionaire Francis "Borax" Smith, and you have old-fashioned entertainment executed with a decidedly modern sensibility. 

Will I See? - David Alexander Robertson




ENGLISH REVIEW
(scroll down to see the review in Spanish // Reseña en español debajo)

Coupled with magical realism elements, this beautifully illustrated graphic novel portrays in a heart-wrenching yet encouraging tone the empowerment of women that arises from overcoming gender and race violence and making their voice heard.
I don't want to reveal anything else because I want you to experience the same emotional ride I went through while reading this important story.
Dear women: we can do anything and united we are stronger.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Original language: English
Language read: English 
Publisher: Portage & Main Press
Illustrations: GMB Chomichuk
Edition: ebook (provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
Expected Publication; 12/31/2016

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31258104-will-i-see


RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL
(Scroll up to see the review in English // Reseña en inglés arriba)

A través de un tono desgarrador y alentador al mismo tiempo, esta novela gráfica con ilustraciones hermosas y elementos de realismo mágico retrata el fortalecimiento que surge tras haber superado episodios de violencia de género y de raza y haber logrado hacer escuchar su voz.
No quiero develar nada más porque quiero que experimenten el mismo remolino emocional por el que pasé yo mientras leía esta historia tan importante.
Mujeres: podemos lograr lo que sea y unidas somos más fuertes.

Estrellas: 4,5 de 5 
Idioma original: inglés 
Idioma de lectura: inglés
Editorial: Portage & Main Press
Ilustraciones: GMB Chomichuk
Edición: ebook (proporcionado por Netgalley a cambio de una reseña honesta)
Fecha de publicación: 31/12/2016

Por el momento solo disponible en inglés.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31258104-will-i-see

jueves, 3 de noviembre de 2016

Korgi Book 4: The Problem with Potions - Christian Slade


RESEÑA
REVIEW

Esta es la novela gráfica para niños más hermosa que leí este año. Definitivamente va a eestar en mi lista de favoritos del 2016.
¡Ahora quiero leer todos los libros de la serie!
Es ideal para aquellos a quienes les encantan los perros, las hadas y las criaturas interesanres.

Estrellas: 5 de 5 
Idioma original: inglés 
Idioma de lectura: inglés
Editorial: Diamond Book Distributors (Top Shelf Productions)
Edición: ebook (proporcionado por Netgalley a cambio de una reseña honesta)
Fecha de publicación: 01/11/2016
This was the most beautiful graphic novel for children that I've read this year. It will definitely be on my list of 2016 favorites.
Now I want to read them all!
Ideal for those who love dogs, faires and interesting creatures.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Original language: English
Language read: English 
Publisher: Diamond Book Distributors (Top Shelf Productions)
Edition: ebook (provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
Expected Publication; 11/01/2016


Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30278818-korgi-book-4

miércoles, 5 de octubre de 2016

The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy - Beau North


RESEÑA
REVIEW
¡Al fin llegó mi primera reseña de 5 estrellas al blog!

En esta versión de Orgullo y Prejuicio cuando el Sr. Darcy le propone matrimonio a Elizabeth Bennet ella lo rechaza. ¡¿Qué?! Sí, eso mismo. Pero la historia recién empieza. Él tiene que revivir ese  día nefasto e intentar descubrir una manera de cambiar el rumbo de su vida, y quizás el de otros también.

Debo confesar que, como fan de Orgullo y Prejuicio, dudé en solicitar este libro por miedo, pero me alegra haberlo hecho. Esa e una de las mejores versiones nuevas que leí porque se mantuvo el tono y la historia base, trabajando el giro alrededor de la historia original y no por sobre ella. Además, los diálogos y narración son muy parecidos a los de Jane Austen (algo muy difícil de lograr). Por lo tanto quiero ofrecer mis felicitaciones por lo antedicho porque no es fácil crear una nueva versión, especialmente cuando la obra original es un clásico.

Estrellas: 5/5 
Idioma original: inglés 
Idioma de lectura: inglés
Editorial: Beau North
Edición: ebook (proporcionado por Netgalley a cambio de una reseña honesta)
Fecha de publicación: 27/09/2016
Finally! My first 5-star review on the blog!

In this retelling of Pride and Prejudice Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth Bennet and she refuses. What?! Yes, you read right. But that's not all. He has to relive that ill-fated day and try to figure out a way to change the course of his life and perhaps other people's as well.

I have to admit that, being a hardcore fan of P&P, I was hesitant and afraid to request this book for review, but I am really glad I did. It is one of the best retellings I've read because the tone and main story are kept as is, and the twist is worked around it and not over it, thus being respectful to the original work. Moreover, the dialogues and narration felt considerably similar to Austen's, which is no easy task. So congratulations on all of the above because retellings are the hardest books to pull off, particularly those based on literary classics.

Rating: 5/5
Original language: English
Language read: English 
Publisher: Beau North
Edition: ebook (provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
Expected Publication; 09/27/2016


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31367314-the-many-lives-of-fitzwilliam-darcy?ac=1&from_search=true

viernes, 30 de septiembre de 2016

Brainwalker - Robyn Mundell & Stephan Lacast


RESEÑA
REVIEW
Mi impresión
No esperaba que este libro ocurrente, irónico, divertido y educativo se convirtiera es una de mis lecturas preferidas de este año.
Me encantaron las ilustraciones bosquejadas, que casi parecen salidas de un libro de texto. El mundo está muy bien creado. La historia me pareció cautivadora y llena de acción al mismo tiempo, llena de hermosos mensajes profundos que estimulan el pensamiento.

La historia
Bernard es un joven que vive con su padre porque su madre ya ha fallecido. Ella era un científica apasionada que abandonó una carrera prometedora en el campo de la Química para dedicarse a su pasión: la Alquimia. "No tenía miedo de probar cosas nuevas" y creía que "lo importante era experimentar". Su padre, por el contrario, cree que "la ciencia se trata de establecer hipótesis y probarlas", y que "todo tiene que ser firme y comprobable", lo que demuestra que él es una persona más lógica que se basa en hechos.
Luego de que tanto su padre como su maestra rechazaran su idea innovadora para el proyecto de ciencias, se ve forzado a pensar en una nueva. Mientras se está bañando, se le prende la lamparita: ¡agujeros negros!. Sin embargo, cuando se ve atrapado en uno que lo trasladada dentro del cerebro de su padre, no parecen tan divertidos. Allí dentro, nada se parece a como lo describió su maestra. Se trata de todo un Cerebriverso con criaturas, edificios andantes y transportes vivientes. Es ahí cuando comienza su aventura.

Conclusión
Es genial que los jóvenes lectores tengan como personaje a un niño que no teme pensar de manera diferente a la de sus compañeros y permite que el hecho de que su maestra de mente cerrada y su padre poco compasivo lo alejen de su amor por la ciencia.
Esta es la clase de libros que los niños de hoy deberían leer. Acerca de personajes e historias que les enseñan a no dejarse influenciar por lo que otras personas dicen o piensan, y a seguir siendo quienes son.

Nota: traduje las citas para poder incluirlas en la reseña en español.

Estrellas: 4,5/5 
Idioma original: inglés 
Idioma de lectura: inglés
Editorial: Dualmind Publishing
Edición: ebook (proporcionado por Netgalley a cambio de una reseña honesta)
Fecha de publicación: 01/10/2016
My impression
I didn't imagine this witty, ironic, funny and educational book would become one of my 2016 favorite reads.
I adored the sketch-like, almost textbook illustrations, the worldbuilding was incredibly well crafted, the story was compelling and action-packed at the same time, and  there were a lot of beautiful profound and thought-provoking messages here and there.

The story
Bernard is a young boy. He lives with his father because his mother has passed away. She was a passionate scientist who abandoned a promising career in chemistry to follow her passion: alchemy. She "wasn't afraid to try new things" and believed that "the important thing is experimenting." On the contrary, his father thinks that "In science, it's all about stating hypothesis, then proving it" and that "everything has to be solid and have proof", which shows he is a more logical, fact-driven person.
After having his original idea rejected by both his teacher and father, Bernard has to come up with a different idea for his science project. While taking a bath, it strikes him: wormholes! Yet, when he gets swallowed by one at his dad's workplace, they don't seem as fun, especially because he ends up inside his father's brain! In there, nothing looks like his teacher described it. There's a whole Brainiverse with creatures, walking buildings and living transports. And then, his adventure begins.

Conclusion
It is great for young readers to have a character who isn't afraid to think differently than his classmates and doesn't get put off of science because of being misunderstood by a narrow-minded teacher and a seemingly unsupportive father.
Kids should be reading these kind of books; those with characters and stories that teach them to be who they are and to not let other people change them.

Rating: 4.5/5
Original language: English
Language read: English 
Publisher: Dualmind Publishing
Edition: ebook (provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
Expected Publication; 10/01/2016


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30346601-brainwalker