Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, the Art, the Vision book review

Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, the Art, the Vision by Frank Thompson with a Foreward by Tim Burton

Hardcover, 192 pages

Read: Apr. 28

Rating: 5/5

Genres: Non-fiction, Art

Summery: On-screen, Jack Skellington leaps with joy, singing with wonder at his discovery of Christmas Town. He seems so real, so alive, that we believe both he and his fantastical world must somehow exist.
But in reality it is not Jack who is the star of the show; it is the over 140 artists and technicians who spent more than two years bringing Jack and all his cohorts to life on the screen. Every gesture Jack makes was created by a human hand, by an animator who moved the puppet in tiny increments from frame to frame. Every character, every set, every prop - even the candy dances - had to be designed and then actually fabricated by someone. This book tells the true story of the film, highlighting the art and the vision that make the movie so memorable.

Review: This book has not only the songs, and art from the film, it also has illustrations, and original sketches from Tim Burton. It also has behind the scenes pictures of the making of the movie, as well as the background on how they made the movie. I love the film, it's one of my favorites, so this is a very fun book to own. If you love the film, or you'd like to read how it was made, or you enjoy the art form the film, this would definitely a fun, and enjoyable book to have.

Hope everybody has/had a great day : )

Zombies Vs. Unicorns book review

Zombies Vs. Unicorns Edited by Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier with short stories by 12 Various Authors

Hardcover, 432 pages
Rating: 4/5
Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies, Humor, Horror, Short Stories
Summery: It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

Overall Review: Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier butt head, and minds to decide which is better, Zombies, or Unicorns, so they decided to make a book of short stories, with the help of other authors, for you to decide which is better. I love this book, it has some really fun stories. I love the banter between Holly and Justine at the beginning of each story to introduce them, I also love the reasons they give for why they love, or hate the stories. The banter was very funny, and made the book that much more enjoyable. Also if you're looking for stories that are Team Zombie they have a zombie on the outside upper corner of the story, and if you're looking for Team Unicorn stories they have a unicorn there instead of a zombie, which I also enjoyed. I also love the illustrations on the cover of this book.

On to the reviews of the short stories, I wrote each review after I finished reading the story.

The Highest Justice by Garth Nix (Team Unicorn)
16 pages
Pages 3 - 18
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: This story is about a princess, Jess, taking care of her mother, the queen's, last request. I enjoyed the fact that this story had both zombies and unicorns, I lilked Jess, and Piers. It was well paced, Garth Nix gave a good story with enough backstory to understand what was going on and why, in only 16 pages. I enjoyed it.

Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Johnson (Team Zombie)
27 pages
Pages 21 - 47
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: This story is about a boy infected with a disease, and falls in love. Though it wasn't one of my favorite stories, I enjoyed it. The characters weren't great to me, but they were still enjoyable. My favroite part of the story was the little bit of backstory about how Grayson got the disease, I also liked that there were two different way to take the ending.


Purity Test by Naomi Novik (Team Unicorn)
17 pages
Pages 51 - 67
Rating: 5/5
Review: This story is about a unicorn finding a "virgin" to help save baby unicorns. This was a very cute, and funny story I loved Belcazar, the unicorn, as well as Allison, the "virgin", the baby unicorns were also funny, I also loved the ending with the little part about the name of where they live, that kind of made me laugh out loud. This was probably my favorite out of the Team Unicorn stories.


Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan (Team Zombie)
37 pages
Pages 71 - 107
Rating: 3/5
Review: This story is about a girl named Iza, who lives on an island,Curacao, with her father, who is the Governor. The first half of this story was a little too slow paced for me to truly enjoy it, but the second half made me enjoy it more than I thought I would. I didn't really like Iza until the ending of the story, my favorite character was Beihito. There was also no explanation, nor background on how the Return, the Mudo (Slow-moving zombies), or the Lihemorto (Fast-moving zombies) came to be, which I would have like to know, and would have enjoyed reading about. Also the way that way the story jumped from Now to Before (even though it wasn't before the Return, which also slightly confused me) was a little confusing at one or two parts for me.


A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan (Team Unicorn)
34 pages
Pages 111 - 144
Rating: 2/5
Review: This story starts with a man trying to find a place to relieve himself that is not on the flowers in the field he's in, when he suddenly notices a unicorn. This story was so confusing, not because I couldn't understand what was going on, but more because there was no background, no real actual plot, and the story switched quite suddenly from the man to a handmaid (i'm actually not quite sure who she was, it wasn't really explained), then it suddenly switch to a Guard or another handmaid of some sorts (again I'm not quite sure who she was either). I can't say if I liked any of the characters, because I had no clue really who they were. This was probably my least favorite stories of the book as a whole, which saddens me because the stories before this one, mainly the Team Unicorn stories, were really enjoyable.


The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson (Team Zombie)
32 pages
Pages 147 - 178
Rating: 5/5
Review: This story is about a girl, Sofie, who gets hired to watch a famous actress's kids for the night. I loved this story, the idea of how these zombies, or re-an, as it's called in the story, was very neat, I loved the idea of it. I also loved the Lazarus "religion", and the way it seemed similar to some things that people follow in the real world. This is my favorite Team Zombie story, so far.


The Care and Feeding of You Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund (Team Unicorn)
55 pages
Pages 181 - 235
Rating: 5/5
Review: This story starts with a girl, Wen, and her friends at a carnival, and go to see a real live unicorn. I really enjoyed this story. It has quite a bit of religious undertones, I guess you could say, to it. I really enjoyed Flower/Flayer, the baby unicorn. Although there wasn't really any explanation for why Wen had the ability that she did, I enjoyed reading about what she could do, and what she did was very interesting. Honestly, I would love to read a full-length size story of this. (Edit: I found out this is in the world of a series by Diana Peterefreund, which I have the first book to.)


Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld (Team Zombie)
33 pages
Pages 239 - 271
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: This story starts with a girl, Allison going through drills. While I enjoyed this story I wish that it were longer, I would have like to read not only about how the zombies, or zees, came to be, but I also would have liked to read about what Allison, Kalyn, Sammy, and Jun do after the ending, I think it would have been a intresting full-lengh book.


Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot (Team Unicorn)
47 pages
Pages 275 - 321
Rating: 5/5
Review: This story starts with a girl, Liz, having a bad birthday. I loved this story, it was cheesy, in a hilariously good way. I loved Princess Prettypants, she was probably the best part of the story. I love the fact that it had a unicorn that farts rainbows, I liked the way Liz could communicate with Princess Prettypants, as well as the name Princess Prettypants. It was a very funny, and enjoyable story. Also, I loved the little conversation between Spank and hid dad.


Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare (Team Zombie)
24 pages
Pages 325 - 348
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: This story starts with a girl, Adele, in a town Lychgate, or as other people call it Zombie-town, on a date with her boyfriend, James, the soon to be Duke of Lychgate. I enjoyed the story. While I didn't like the romance, I liked the background plot with the Duke (James's Uncle), I would liked to have read more about the plot with the Duke, as well as the background on the curse. This story convinced me Cassandra Clare's writing is not my style.


The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey (Team Unicorn)
31 pages
Pages 351 - 381
Rating: 5/5
Review: This story starts with a unicorn looking for a virgin to do a favor for him. I really enjoyed this story, it had a more somber tone than the other stories. I really enjoyed the fact that it was told from the unicorns point of view. The way he could communicate with the virgins, and the way his healing could work were really interesting. A part of me wishes it was longer because I enjoyed reading it so much, but I liked the length and pacing of this story, Kathleen Duey did a very good job with this story, I've never read anything by her, but this definitely made me want to.


Prom Night by Libba Bray (Team Zombie)
31 pages
Pages 385 - 415
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: This story starts with a girl, Tahmina, and a boy, Jeff, on watch. Although I really enjoyed this story I wish it were longer. I really liked the banter between Tahmina and Jeff, I also enjoyed all of the characters. I really do wish it was longer so I could not only read a little bit more about the background of what happened before the story started, but also so I could read about what happened after the story ended.

Team Unicorn stories (from my favorite to least favorite):
1. Purity Test by Naomi Novik
2. The Care and Feeding of You Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund
3. The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey
4. Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot
5. The Highest Justice by Garth Nix
6. A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan

Team Zombie stories (from my favorite to least favorite):
1. The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson
2. Prom Night by Libba Bray
3. Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld
4. Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare
5. Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan
6. Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Johnson

Favorite to least favorite stories overall:
1. The Care and Feeding of You Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund
2. The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey
3. The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson
4. Purity Test by Naomi Novik
5. Prom Night by Libba Bray
6. The Highest Justice by Garth Nix
7. Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot
8. Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld
9. Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan
10. Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare
11. Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Johnson
12. A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan

I think Team Unicorn won, for me at least, overall


Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

The Unbearable Lightness Of Being Book Review

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Paperback, 314 pages
Read: Apr. 23 - Apr. 24
D.N.F. (Did Not Finish)
Rating: 1/5
Genres: Classic, Philosophy, Contemporary
Summery: A young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing; one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover—these are the two couples whose story is told in this masterful novel. In a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and by fortuitous events, a world in which everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. Hence, we feel "the unbearable lightness of being" not only as the consequence of our pristine actions but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine.

Review: While I enjoyed reading most of the philosophies/beliefs in the book I didn't really enjoy the romances or the characters much. It got to a part in the book involving Tereza that made me very uncomfortable, and made me feel very icky reading it, after a certain point involving that plot point I could not finish reading the book. I ended up giving the book to Goodwill.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Fahrenheit Book + The Authorized Adaptation Review

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Paperback, 179 pages
Read: Apr. 20
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Classic, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Summery: Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires ...
The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning ... along with the houses in which they were hidden.
Guy Montag enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs nor the joy of watching pages consumed by flames ... never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid.
Then he met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think ... and Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do!

Review: The story starts with Guy Montag walking home after a day of work and noticing a girl who has moved into the house next to his with her mom, dad, and uncle. This story comes in second next to Brave New World by Aldous Huxley as my favorite classical dystopian book. I really liked the plot and writing above everything else. while I liked Guy he seamed kind of rash, although given the world they live in, it's understandable. I liked Faber, and Clarisse the best out of all the characters, I also enjoyed Granger. I also enjoyed the relationship between Guy and Clarisse. The writing reminded me of Alice in Wonderland for some reason, I don't know why. The some parts of the reason given for why books are burned are things that could, in my opinion, become a possibility, as well as the simpleness of most of the people.

Next up!

Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton with an Introduction by Ray Bradbury

Paperback, 151 pages
Read: Apr. 20
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Classic, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Comic
Summery: “Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn ’em to ashes, then burn the ashes.”
For Guy Montag, a career fireman for whom kerosene is perfume, this is not just an official slogan. It is a mantra, a duty, a way of life in a tightly monitored world where thinking is dangerous and books are forbidden.
In 1953, Ray Bradbury envisioned one of the world’s most unforgettable dystopian futures, and in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the artist Tim Hamilton translates this frightening modern masterpiece into a gorgeously imagined graphic novel. As could only occur with Bradbury’s full cooperation in this authorized adaptation, Hamilton has created a striking work of art that uniquely captures Montag’s awakening to the evil of government-controlled thought and the inestimable value of philosophy, theology, and literature.
Including an original foreword by Ray Bradbury and fully depicting the brilliance and force of his canonic and beloved masterwork, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is an exceptional, haunting work of graphic literature.

Review: This is the illustrated version of Fahrenheit 451. It also has an introduction by Ray Bradbury, which I really enjoyed. There are a few scenes that are in the book that aren't in this illustration of course, but other wise I really liked it. I also liked the illustrations, and having a image to connect to some of the people and scenes in the book. If you have not read the book before you read this one you will get what's going on, but I suggest reading the book first, you will get a few more scenes, as well a bit more in depth understanding of how the world and the people in it are. So definitely read the book before reading this one.

I hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Moon Called Book Review

Praying for Mercy by Patricia Briggs

Hardcover, 710 pages

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson Book #1 of 9) by Patricia Briggs

Hardcover, 324 pages/Omnibus Version pages 1 - 232
Read: Apr. 12 - Apr. 15
Rating: 3/5
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Supernatural, Romance
Summery: Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy's next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy's connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water.

Review: The story starts with Mercy Thompson noticing a Werewolf in her repair garage. I really did enjoy this story, I liked the background on not only werewolves, but also the little bit on fae, and vampires, that was in the story. I also liked the notice of how the women are treated in this story, compared to how in other werewolf story it's normal for a relationship between a werewolf and someone to be abusive (physically, emotionally, or mentally), so I did enjoy that. However, I did not enjoy how practically every women did not like Mercy, and Mercy did not seem to like them, or really respect them in a way, there was no real reason for why either, which really bothered me. But besides that I liked the story and the plot, I  enjoyed Mercy as a character well enough, my favorite's were Adam, Warren (one of Adam's pack member), Jesse (Adam's daughter), and Zee (Mercy old boss, and a Gremlin). The romance was also very toned downed compared to other werewolf romance books, which I liked, I also enjoyed the romance. Although I enjoyed the book I very hesitant to read the other two books in this bind-up. (Edit 12/12/14: I have decided not to read the other two books in this bind up, I ended up find out what happens in the 3rd book in this series and how it was handled, and so I am not going to be reading the other two.)

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

The Book Thief Review + Thoughts on the book to movie adaptation

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Paperback, 552 pages
Read: Mar. 3 - Mar. 7
Review: 5/5
Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Summery: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

Review: The story starts in the prologue with introductions from Death, it then moves to Liesel, her birth mother and brother(Werner) traveling to Molching, her mother can no longer keep her children and is going to Molching to give them up for adoption. The train ride is when Death first sees/meets Liesel. From the first page I got pulled into the story. The story was very well paced, as well as very well constructed, I also loved the fact that Death was the narrator of the story. I really liked the personality of Death. I liked so many of the characters in this book, I also loved the relationships between Liesel, her mama(Rosa), her papa(Hans), Rudy, Max, and Ilsa. The characters, as well as the relationships were very well crafted. I loved this book, it defiantly had some sad moments where I had watery eyes, and shuttering breath. This is a book I would love to read again.

now onto my thoughts about the movie.
Book to Movie Rating: 3/5
Thoughts on the Book to Movie: the biggest thing I wish was different about the movie was that it was either longer, it's around 130 min., or that it was cut into two movies. There were not enough scenes even though it was around an hour and ten minutes, either that or the pacing felt a little too fast for me to really connect with, and like the characters as much as I did with the book. There are quite a few changes as well, a few I liked, but most of the changes I didn't really like. I really wish certain scenes were done like the book, the book burning scene, the marching scene with Hans, and Ilsa Hermann and her husband, just to name a few. I did enjoy the chemistry between the actors who portrayed Liesel and Hans, as well as the chemistry between Liesel and Max, otherwise the chemistry between the rest of the cast seem a little non existent, which I think had more to do with the very small amount of scenes they had together, rather then the cast themselves. If I had never read the book and had just seen the movie I might like it a little better, my mom has not read the book and watched the movie and really enjoyed it. It was an good movie on it's own, and It was and okay adaptation of the book.


I also went to see Captain America 2: The Winter Solider, It was defiantly my favorite movie of Phase 2 (Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger are my favorite movies of Phase 1). It got me excited for not only The Avengers 2, but it as got me excited for Guardians of the Galaxy, which looks really fun.

Anyway, I hope everybody had/has a great day : )

April T.B.R. List

Here is my April reading list

#1
Zombies Vs. Unicorns by Garth Nix, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Naomi Novik, Carrie Ryan, Margo Lanagan, Maureen Johnson, Diana Peterfreund, Scott Westerfeld, Meg Cabot, Cassandra Clare, Kathleen Duey, and Libba Bray, and Edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

I had seen this book reviewed on so many youtube channels, and I love the fantasy, and supernatural genres that I had to buy this book. Now finally after a year of having it I have time to read it. By the way, the illustrations on the cover are awesome.

#2
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I have had this book for two years, and my mom just bought the movie, I also have time to read most of my books now, so I decided to read the book, and then watch the movie, then review the book and the book to movie adaptation.

#3
Praying For Mercy (Mercy Thompson Book #1-3 of 9) by Patricia Briggs

I got this book in February (I have a book haul with it in), Like I said I love the supernatural genre, and some of the reviews I've read say that the first book is more world and plot building than romance, which tends to be right up my ally, I'm probably going to read the first book only this month, I'm not sure, we'll see.

#4
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

#5
Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tom Hamilton, with an Introduction by Ray Bradbury

I read Fahrenheit 451 about 2 years back and really enjoyed it, so when I seen The Authorized Adaptation I had to buy it. So I've decided to re-read the Fahrenheit 451 book then read The Authorized Adaptation and review both.

#6
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

I heard about this book from Meg & Dia's (I love this band) myspace blog quite a few years ago, and read the summery, then put it on my To Buy List and happened upon it at goodwill about 4 years ago.

#7
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter book #2 of 7) by J.K. Rowling

I, of course, had to continue reading the series, I really loved the first book.

#8
Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, the Art, the Vision by Frank Thompson with a Forward by Tim Burton

I loved the movie, so when I seen this book at a Goodwill I had to buy it. I'm a little sad that it doesn't have a dust cover, but otherwise I'm really excited to read it.

So that's all the books I have on my reading list this month, depending on if I read just the first book in the Mercy Thompson combined book or all three, it would be 8 books if I just read the first, or it would be 10 books if I read a three.

I have about 130 to 140 books that are on my book shelves that I have yet to read. I have not had time until this year to begin to make a dent in my whole T.B.R. list, It's probably going to get bigger because I have quite a few books on my To Buy List.

Happy April Fools' Day, I hope everybody had a great, and safe April Fools' Day : )