I don’t read much cozy sci-fi (though this is my second one this year), but there’s something about Automatic Noodle that grabbed me. I want to say that it wasn’t just marketing, but it kind of was. From the colourful cover art, to the cute title, to the low-stakes story premise of a ragtag group…
Category: (2.5 out of 5)
The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh — Book Review
Since I have a history with Chinese folktales from my childhood, I am always interested in reading new retellings of Asian stories. It’s also cool how they have kind of become a subgenre of their own recently. Because The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (I’m not going to keep repeating this charming yet over-long…
Ararat by Christopher Golden – Book Review
Christopher Golden first came to my attention in association with one of my favourite author-artists, Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy. They collaborated on a Hellboy universe title, Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire, which I enjoyed. I expected that Ararat, written by Golden alone, would also carry some of that creepy supernatural…
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – Book Review
Unfortunately, this book taught me a lesson about falling for the premise of a book without knowing how it would be handled. The idea of a woman who was magically cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets was a very enticing one, mainly because I related very strongly to it personally. I’ve felt similarly…
The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy, Book 1) by Katherine Arden – Book Review
This was the perfect story for the season as we approach midwinter: even the beautiful cover and title of this book promise an enchanting tale, full of magic and infused with Slavic folklore. The story of a country lord, Pyotr Vladimirovich and his family, starts out with a recounting of the legend of the Frost…
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones – Book Review
Having seen the beautiful and fun movie adaptation from Studio Ghibli, I went into reading Howl’s Moving Castle with the expectation of finding a twee, charming, quaint, light-hearted children’s story with a lot of magic and a little adventure, something in the vein of Peter Pan or Mary Poppins. The story began with a young…
What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier, Book 1) by T. Kingfisher – Book Review
One of T. Kingfisher’s “scarier” Gothic horror stories (a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of User) is not too scary — even for my delicate nerves — but unfortunately I didn’t find it very engaging or compelling either. I had not expected to read another T. Kingfisher story so soon,…
The Electric State (by Simon Stålenhag) – Book & Movie Review
After I stumbled upon the unique and provocative sci-fi series Tales From the Loop on Prime Video, I wanted to keep an eye on the artist whose haunting art and ideas inspired the show. But when I heard of the new Netflix film adaptation of The Electric State, another sci-fi art book by Simon Stålenhag, I was…
Oscar (Animated) Schmoscar 2025
Some years I like to give my takes on the Oscar nominees that I’ve seen, but since I’ve barely seen any this year (sadly I saw very few movies in 2024) I decided that I am not going to bother catching up. Disappointments over the last few years have convinced me that perhaps some hope…
