Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu (Writer), Sana Takeda (Artist), Rus Wooton (Letterer and Design)

There are five races in the known world: Cats the oldest who are descendants of Ubasti; The Old Gods who were banished by Ubasti; The Ancients who wear the forms of animals and are blessed by their lunar goddess with magical abilities and immortality; humans who came forth from the sea and some of whom have mental abilities such as telepathy, telekinesis, and foretelling...the Cumaea witches seek these people out to join their ranks; and the Arcanics who are the offsprings of the Ancients and humans and are considered monsters by some as they do not, for the most part, look human and they carry the best and the worst of their forebearers.  A very bloody war broke out between the Arcanics and the humans that ended in a delicate truce which is about to be broken.

Maika Halfwolf has vowed vengeance against Lady Yvette Lo Lim. She leaves her best friend Tuya, who is against this, behind, and gets herself captured and taken to the slave market. The Cumaea claim her outright and take her along with a few other Aracanics for free.  Lady Sophia is worried about the symbol marked on Maika's chest that represents to her a demonic monstrosity.  But her lover and helpmate, Atena, does her best to reassure her that there is nothing to worry about.

Maika breaks free from the prison and lets everyone loose. A little fox named Kippa decides to stay with her rather than leave. Maika kills many guards and torches Lady Sophia and stabs Atena in the shoulder.  Then she heads up to Lady Yvette's chambers hoping for answers to questions she cannot form.  When Lady Yvette tries to use lilium on her like shining kryptonite in front of Supergirl it effects Kippa, but Maika is able to overcome its effects and kill Lady Yvette. She reaches through the lilium barrier and grabs the piece of the mask that is there that calls to her and frees the Arcanic that is there.  She grabs a photo of her mother and her with Lady Yvette and some other people that is on the mantlepiece and the three of them escape the castle in the city of Zamora and head for the forest.

The secret hunger she has has awakened again and she must eat and without thinking she eats what's left of the child from Lady Yvette's chambers, which terrifies Kippa.  Master Ren the cat meets up with them and gets them passage through the forest though they do not make it through unscathed.  Meanwhile, Mother Superior has arrived in Zamora to take care of things. Atena uses lilium to tend to Lady Sophia's wounds while the Mother Superior uses it to bring Lady Yvette back from the dead to find out what happened.

When Maika runs into a Cumaea witch in the forest while holding the mask her half arm grows into something wild and uncontrollable and the thing inside of her attacks the witch who flees for her life.  There is something very ancient inside Maika that with the whole mask would make her very powerful, indeed if she could control it.  But there are others who want that mask desperately for its power that they hope to wield.  This is amazing and fresh with new ideas comic.  The artwork is a bit steampunk-ish and while Lady Sophia is a scientist, the comic really isn't steampunk, per se.  It has way too much mythology and not enough technology to be steampunk.  I'm not a cat person, but I do love the talking, fighting, poetry-quoting cats.  And interspersed throughout the book are entries that explain the world written by cats.  Maika is a fierce warrior of only seventeen who has seen much and grown up way too fast.  The hunger inside her makes her want to eat anything in her path, the more intelligent the better and Kippa is often in her path.  She also has to deal with this ancient being inside of her trying to take control of her body and mind which will probably get her killed and leave him to try to find another host body if he can.  I have fallen in love with this series and cannot wait to read the next one.  I highly recommend this book. 

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Monstress-Vol-1-Marjorie-Liu-ebook/dp/B01DJOS93I/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530279172&sr=1-1&keywords=monstress+volume+1

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith

While told in the third person, this book is seen through the eyes of the character Francie Nolan, daughter of Johnny and Katie Nolan and older sister by one year just about exactly, Neeley Nolan and much later, Annie Laurie.  It is hard to describe what this book is about as it doesn't really have a plot. It is about the Nolan family who lives in Brooklyn from about 1906 to 1918.  They live in three houses, having to move for various reasons usually because a family member has embarrassed them to their neighbors and they cannot face them anymore.

The other characters in the book include Katie's sisters: Evy who likes to talk and do impressions and is married to an unhappy milkman whose horse hates him and who plays instruments; Sissy who has been "married" three times and is on husband number three and has a tendency between husbands to sleep around. Technically she never divorced husband number one because they are Catholic and don't believe in divorce so she is a bigamist. She also has given birth to ten dead children; Granma Mary Rommely who teaches Francie the old stories from Austria and worries over her daughters.

Francie and Neeley pick up scraps of metal and rubber as children to take to the scrap yard for pennies. They keep half for themselves and give the other half to their mother who puts it in this metal star bank she created that is collecting money so that they can one day own some land and have a house of their own on it.  This was something that Granma Rommley suggested that they do.  Katie scrubs floors to pay the rent of their apartment while Johnny sometimes gets work as a singing waiter. He brings home his wages but drinks away his tips.  Johnny is an alcoholic and a weak but handsome and charming man.  Katie is a strong, sensible woman who never falters and will die before taking charity, but loves Neeley more than Francie and Francie will figure this out.

Francie wants to be a writer but has doubts about her work being any good due to a teacher at the school.  She doesn't have any friends like Neeley does and spends her time lost in books reading one a day.  I really relate to Francie because I too didn't have many friends growing up and I escaped into the world of books. I also had a younger brother that I looked over as she does Neeley.

Katie believes in education and since the children were little she had them read two pages from the Protestant Bible because her mother said that it would be better for them to read and the complete works of Shakespeare.  Katie wants her children to stay in school all the way through college, but things get tight and they barely graduate eighth grade which is considered the end of elementary school.  She needs one of them to keep working and she chooses Francie because she believes that Francie will find a way to get to college while Neeley won't and must be made to go to school.

While this book is autobiographical thinly veiled as fiction, some people will say that this book exemplifies the immigrant experience and racial slurs and stereotypes of the time as well as a look at the poverty and socioeconomic levels of society at the time.  Perhaps it does that in its way, but mainly it's about a girl growing up in Brooklyn who is like the tree outside her house that they eventually chop down and try to destroy but it grows back. Nothing can keep Francie down for long she just continues to grow no matter what.  Her roots, like that tree, are in Brooklyn.  And maybe that's the real lesson to take from the story: to never give up, no matter what and keep hold of your dreams, they are something to reach for.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Quotes

 Francie couldn’t understand why the heroine didn’t marry the villain. It would solve the rent problem and surely a man who loved her so much that he was willing to go through all kinds of fuss because she wouldn’t have him wasn’t a man to ignore. At least, he was around while the hero was off on a wild-goose chase.

-Betty Smith (A Tree Grows In Brooklyn p 462)

“Someday you’ll remember what I said and you’ll thank me for it.”

Francie wished adults would stop telling her that. Already the load of thanks in the future was weighing her down. She figured she’d have to spend the best years of her womanhood hunting up people to tell them that they were right and to thank them.

-Betty Smith (A Tree Grows In Brooklyn p 680)

“Dear God,” she prayed, “let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry…have too much to eat.  Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere—be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost.”

-Betty Smith (A Tree Grows In Brooklyn p 876)           

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tree-Grows-Brooklyn-Modern-Classics-ebook/dp/B000FCK65W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530098961&sr=8-1&keywords=a+tree+grows+in+brooklyn+book

Sex Criminals Vol 2: Two Worlds, One Cop by Matt Fraction (Writer, Artist) and Chip Zdarsky (Writer, Artist)

In the previous comic we learned that Suzie worked at a library that needed money to stay open or the bank would foreclose on it and turn it into a parking lot.  At a book saving party she meets Jon, someone who is just like her, a person who when they have an orgasm time stops and they are able to walk around and do things during this time that she calls the Quiet Place and he calls Cumworld.  Jon works at the bank that is foreclosing on the library and he gets the idea to rob that bank to pay off the library's debt.  They are able to steal most of the money, but they run into the Sex Police, a group of unofficial people who police people like them.

So, they only owe $12,000 and the bank gave them sixty days to come up with the money.  Suzie is planning a fundraiser.  The two of them aren't having sex because they're afraid of the Sex Police. Though, eventually, they will masturbate.  They find a device that the Sex Police use to track them with when they're in the Quiet Place.  Things are tense between them and Jon's mental illnesses are coming into play especially since he stopped taking his meds.

Suzie runs into Rachael her old roommate that she left to move in with Jon and the two make up as Suzie explains to her about the Quiet Place and the Sex Police.  When Suzie goes to her gynecologist appointment her regular doctor is away and she gets Dr. Robert Rainbow, a young handsome doctor that she asks out to coffee.

Jon's new therapist tells him to exercise every day and to get a new friend and when he goes out jogging he runs into Suzie meeting up with Robert who turns out to be his old friend from childhood. Big coincidence? Hell yeah. Even bigger one is that Rachael shows up just then and things become more comfortable and Robert and Rachael hit it off.

Things don't look so good for the library and Jon gets really mad and does something drastic. He steals from one of the Sex Police's house.  They intend to go to war against the Sex Police.  This book explores Jon's mental illness and his childhood a bit and Jon's feelings toward Suzie.  It's great seeing Rachael again. She's such a tough-as-nails, sarcastic character and to pair her up with the sweet quiet Robert is just great.  She brings him to life.  And seeing that Jon and Suzie are having trouble in their relationship is great as it would be expected after what they went through.  As before, the art for the Quiet Place is just plain gorgeous to look at. It's magical as it's meant to be.  This comic is growing and becoming more interesting the further along I go.  I really can't wait to read the next one as this one left off on a cliffhanger.  I highly recommend this book.

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Criminals-Vol-Matt-Fraction-ebook/dp/B015YX9INC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529931749&sr=8-1&keywords=sex+criminals+volume+2

X-Men: Primer by Brian Wood (Writer), Chris Claremont (Writer), Oliver Coipel (Penciler, Inker), David Lopez (Penclier), Marc Sliverstri (Penciler), Mark Morales (Inker), Scott Hanna (Inker), Cam Smith (Inker), Norman Lee (Inker), Dan Green (Inker), Laura Martin (Colorist), Matt Milla (Colorist), Christina Strain (Colorist), Chris Peter (Colorist), Glynis Oliver (Colorist), Tom Orzechowski (Letterer)

Jubilee is returning from a mission in Bulgaria with a baby in tow. She plans on adopting the child and providing it a home just like the X-Men did with her.  The baby was in an orphanage and she felt that she just couldn't leave him there.  Someone is following her home.  His name is John Sublime and he has been on earth since its beginning. He can infect hosts since he is a bacteria lifeform.  His plan has been to take over the world.  He has been fighting the X-Men for a long time.  Once he figured out that Jubliee was headed for the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning he headed there as quickly as possible to talk to them.

He explained to Rachel Summers and Psylocke about his sister whom he kicked away from the earth at the beginning and how she is now back and being reborn in a host body and that she wants to destroy the Earth.  She has the power of mechanics and tech.  It turns out that she is hiding inside the baby that Jubilee is carrying on a train back to the school.  Rogue, Storm, and Kitty have all gone to pick up Jubilee from the train thinking she is in danger and they are pretty right as the baby sets the train on a collision course with another train. The three manage to save the day and get Jubilee and the baby back to the mansion where Sublime's sister, Arkea Prime takes the body of Karima Shapandar who was being held in stasis because no one was sure if she was completely dead or whether some part of her consciousness still lived on.

Arkea immediately gets into their computer and begins to go to work. She sets off the danger room protocol which locks everyone out of the room she is in with Beast, but Rogue is able to bust through. Arkea proves stronger than Rogue and completely cybernetic.  Kitty has a chance to end her but this is still the body of Karima and there's a chance that she is still in there so she doesn't take it and let's Arkea get away.

Now the X-Men must find and defeat Arkea while at the same time fixing the damage done to the computer system that is now attacking them at the mansion.  Also included in this book is Uncanny X-Men #244 the issue where Jubliee is first introduced.  It's interesting to see the old Rogue that was having problems with integrating Carol Danvers into her mind.  Also seeing the tough as nails Psylocke in a dowdy dress with her hair pulled back in a bun is hilarious.  This is an interesting storyline, though to be honest, Jubilee is not one of my favorite X-Men. I really don't like her. But in this comic, she's trying to act more grown-up than I've ever seen her. She really was an annoying teenager.  Hopefully, she'll be a less annoying grown-up.  It was pretty cool to read a pretty much all female X-Men comic for a change.  I really recommend this book.     

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/X-Men-Vol-Primer-2013-2015-ebook/dp/B00PSN2NWW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529669873&sr=8-1&keywords=x-men+primer

The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks by Amy Stewart

This book is broken down into different sections such as Part I: We Explore the Twin Alchemical Processes of Fermentation and Distillation, From Which Wine, Beer, and Spirits Issue Forth; Part II: We Then Suffuse Your Creations With A Wonderous Assortment of Nature's Bounty Herbs and Spices, Flowers, Trees, Fruit, Nuts and Seeds; Part III At Last we Venture Forth Into the Garden, Where we Encounter a Seasonal Array of Botanical Mixers and Garnishes To Be Introduced To the Cocktail In Its Final Stage of Preparation.

The shrub Damiana that grows in Mexico has long been believed to be an aphrodisiac.  In 1879 a doctor wrote that it could be given to female patients to "produce in her the very important yet not absolutely essential orgasm."  For decades people made imitation Damiana, sometimes made of strychnine and sold it as the real deal.  However, in 2009 a study on rats showed that sexually exhausted rats could perform again quicker if given Damiana.  No explanation was given as to how they exhausted the rats and no human trials have ever been given. The herbal liqueur is often sold in a bottle shaped like a fertility goddess.

"Beer is not made from hops. It is made from barley, and sometimes other grains then flavored with hops."  Hops make the beer last longer. It is said that the reason the Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock is that their beer had soured and they had nothing to drink.  The Hop vine is from the cannabis family and is closely related to the sticky cannabis flower buds.  Getting a harvest of hops in has always been a difficult task, though it is easier now than it used to be.  First, it only grows where there is sunlight for thirteen hours a day, so 35 to 55 degrees north and south latitude.  It is grown in Oregan and Washington, China and Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and of course, England and Germany.

Then you have to make sure the seeds set and reproduce.  The vines are grown on trellises. The vines have these little bristles on them that are abrasive and leave welts when you pick the hops by hand, which some people still do.  Hops are also highly flammable.  They can easily spontaneously combust and burn a barn or warehouse down.  Then they have to be bottled in dark bottles in order to keep the light from spoiling the hops. By the way, any beer maker that tells you to put a lime in your beer is trying to get you to disguise the skankiness of their beer from its spoilage. To grow them you go to a lot of trouble, but for beer drinkers, it does seem worth it.

Engineer, Amedee Francois Frezier was sent to Peru and Chile to make a reliable map of the area in 1712. The problem was it was under Spanish Control and he was French, so he went undercover as a traveling merchant.  While he made quite a few great maps, he also picked up some plants.  In Europe, they did have strawberries, but they were small, nothing like the large Chilean strawberries. So he grabbed some to sneak out of the country. Only five of those plants survived. He gave two to the ship's cargo master as a gesture of thanks for letting him use the limited supply of the ship's water on the voyage.  One went to his supervisor and one to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, which left one for himself. There was only one problem. The plants were sterile. Chilean strawberries are either male, female, or bisexual. He chose the ones with the biggest fruits and they were all females. They needed a male to reproduce.  Luckily they eventually discovered that the Chilean strawberry could be crossed with males from strawberries of other species. By the mid-nineteenth century, it was mated to the native Virginian species and the modern strawberry was born and put into all sorts of mixed drinks.

Stewert makes reading about plants and such fascinating. They all have such interesting stories to tell and most of them have been around for thousands of years, with some going back as far as the Jurassic period.  They've been used for all manner of things besides an alcoholic beverage too.  For example, the star anise has long been used in herbal liqueurs, but 90% of its production is used to make Tamiflu.  There is not much that people haven't tried to make alcohol out of including trees, which to me seems an odd choice.  This book also includes recipes for various intriguing drinks and additives, such as syrups as well as tips on how to grow your own plants, herbs, flowers, fruits, and trees.  Alcohol has been a part of humanity since the beginning of time.  This incredible book illustrates how this has come to be and how they are used today.  I really enjoyed this fun and delectable book that has inspired me to experiment in my home bar and truly appreciate what I've been drinking. This book is a must-read. 

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Drunken-Botanist-Amy-Stewart-ebook/dp/B00AFKIRGY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529504105&sr=8-1&keywords=the+drunken+botanist+by+amy+stewart            

Death Doesn't Bargain by Sherriln Kenyon

In this second Deadman's Cross book set in 1717, some time has passed and the evil Vine is loose and gunning for someone other than her ex-husband Devyl Bane the Captain of the Sea Witch.  The crew is made up of damned souls who have been given a second chance by Thorn, the Devil's son, who rebelled against his father and fights for the side of the angels who treat him like crap because when they see him they see his father.  Every one of them carries the deadman's mark which ties them to Thorn. Thorn can take them back to Hell at any time.  Otherwise, they can't die, though if their bodies are obliterated they will wind up in Hell again, or if someone else comes along with the power to send them back to Hell or if a creature comes looking for a host to live in they might lose their bodies and find themselves in Hell.  The idea is that they will do enough good that they will erase the deadman's mark and earn a real human life and a second chance.

Among those on board are Mr. Death, the proper quartermaster, Kalder, a merman, Belle Morte, the doctor, Sancha, the drunk surly woman at the wheel, Simon, a shapeshifter, and Roach, the wily Frenchman.  Also, there is the ship herself, Mara who is a Deruvian or one of the tree folk.  She can take human form as well as her tree or wooden form.  Vine is her sister who has gone bad. The Captain is a sorcerer supreme among other things who will do anything for his ship or his crew whose main mission has been to fight demons who have been escaping from the several gates of Hell trying to hold them in.

When we left off, Kalder, the merman had just given his life over to take Cameron and Paden Jack's place in Hell.  Cameron and Paden are Seraphim, creatures who are descended from the Archangel Michael and who fight demons.  Thorn manages to get Kalder out of Hell, and away from Vine, but not before Vine did her damage.  She brought Kalder's dead baby brother, Muerig, to Hell and tortured him.  Then she returns him to the Sea Witch only it's with the understanding that he'll have to choose between sending Muerig or Cameron, whom he cares deeply for, back to Hell.  The Captain won't allow anyone to be sent to Hell. Not on his watch.

To make matters worse, Kalder's old mentor Chthamalus, a demon, shows up to tell him that Kalder's brother and the woman he believes to be his mother, the one who killed him, is alive and ruling Wyneria, the Mermaid kingdom which he thought had died off.  They have learned of his new situation of being alive (when he sacrificed himself by taking The Jacks places he lost his mark) they believed that he was after the throne and are coming after him to attack using the powerful and crazy Malachai, a creature that can tear the world apart. Kalder has Chthamalus create a portal to send them all to Wyneria.

There is treachery in Wyneria and Kalder finally finds out who his mother is. Paden, meanwhile is still trying to take his head off for paying attention to his sister and Cameron and Kalder wonder, as they are falling for each other, how they can possibly be together as they are so different and want different things in life.  Cameron just wants to own the tavern she works in and Kalder feels he needs to continue to work off his debt aboard the Sea Witch. And what about their children? They'd be cursed with her Seraphim abilities and a mermaid like Kalder.

But first, they must contend with the Malachai and the people controlling him. This was an amazing book that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire way through. I was quickly flipping through pages and staying up late to finish it.  It holds many surprises that will keep you guessing what could possibly come next.  I've come to care a great deal about these characters since the first book. You can't help it. Each of the unique characters has their own compelling tale that draws you to them. Kenyon is a master storyteller and I can't wait to read the next book in this series especially since she left this one on a bit of a cliffhanger.  I can't recommend this book or this series enough.

Quotes

Out of death there is life. Out of devastation comes hope. Out of tragedy comes strength. Out of your pain comes wisdom. Out of sorrow comes insight. You will never know how high you can soar until you’ve learned to fly with wings that were broken by enemies and re-forged by your own determination to succeed and let no one hold you down ever again.  You show them all that their cruelty will not define you. That you will not live by their rules or dictates.  You are your own master and they will never have power over you again. Let nothing hold you back. Let nothing hem you in. You set your course and you fly to the heavens. A beautiful, imperfect creature, capable of love and trust, even after betrayal. Capable of mastering courage in the midst of utter terror.  And capable of delivering mercy even after all you’ve been through was cruelty. You will rise above the ashes of the future they attempted to burn to the ground a stronger creature, steadfast and more determined than ever to see this through. For there is mothing more terrifying in this universe that the Soul Determinator. For it will not be stopped and it will not be daunted. So go on and bring on your worst if you must, and I will deliver unto you me very best. For you will not defeat me. Not now. Not ever. I will not allow you to.

-Sherrilyn Kenyon ( Death Doesn’t Bargain p 239-40)

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Doesnt-Bargain-Deadmans-Cross-ebook/dp/B074DYY99S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1529326651&sr=8-2&keywords=death+does

The Mighty Captain Marvel Vol 1: Alien Nation by Margaret Stohl (Wrter), Emilio Laiso (Artst), Ramon Rosanas (Artist), Brent Schoonover (Artist), Ro Stein (Artist), Ted Brandt (Artst), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist), Marcio Menyz (Colorist), VC's Joe Caramagna (Letterer)

In previous comics, Captain Marvel used Ulysses an Immortal who can see into the future to predict future events and prevent catastrophic events. But then she uses him to arrest those for crimes they haven't committed yet, including Miles Morales who supposedly kills Steve Rogers. Tony Stark has long been against Ulysses and he seeks to take Morales back. Iron Man and the Avengers and Magneto and his X-Men go head to head with Captain Marvel with the Ultimates, Alpha Flight, Storm's X-Men, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Immortals seek to stop the fight after Ulysses has a dire vision, but when Iron Man goes after Morales Captain Marvel delivers a punch to him that nearly kills him and leaves him in a coma. The fighting ends and Ulysses goes off to become a cosmic entity. Captain Marvel is hailed as a hero by many.

Now they are making a movie about her and she has to put up with the invasion into her life it causes because they are funding the Alpha Flight Space Station which is in dire need of funds. Danvers is having nightmares of what happened to Tony and is seeing a mandated shrink to help deal with it.  Suddenly, she senses that a Kree child is in danger.  She flies to the settlement camp on Earth and finds her being kidnapped by a shapeshifter. She saves the child and brings her back to the space station.

She names the child Bean since she doesn't seem to have a name.  They find out that other Kree children have been kidnapped and someone, likely Hydra, is building a weapon of some sort using the Kree.  Captain Marvel is having problems though. Her powers have started becoming erratic and uncontrollable. She'll need help figuring this out, but she lost a lot of friends with what she did. Will any of them help her? This book goes aways to redeem Captain Marvel's reputation after the pretty despicable things she did in the other comics.  She's truly suffering for her bad decisions that I believe she regrets making. It will be interesting to see what direction this series takes the comic in.  I highly recommend this book.

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Captain-Marvel-Vol-2016-2017-ebook/dp/B072YQPM4N/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529065967&sr=8-1&keywords=the+mighty+captain+marvel+alien+nation&dpID=51gIyTiSeLL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=srch