Humour

Review: My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord by David Solomons

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My Gym Teacher Is An Alien Overlord by David Solomons (ARC edition)

Title: My Gym Teacher Is an Alien Overlord (My Brother is a Superhero, 2)
Author: David Solomons
Illustrator: Laura Ellen Anderson
Genre: Humour, Middle Grade
Publisher: Nosy Crow (7th July 2016)
Blurb:

Zack and Lara have superpowers. Luke has new school shoes and a burning sense of resentment. He KNOWS that aliens disguised as gym teachers are about to attack Earth but will anyone listen? No. So one dodgy pact with a self-styled supervillain later, and Luke is ready to save the world. He just needs to find his trainers.

‘My Gym Teacher Is an Alien Overlord’ is the action-packed sequel to the bestselling ‘My Brother Is a Superhero’, winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the British Book Industry Awards Children’s Book of the Year.

(Blurb taken from Nosycrow.com)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 stars)
Review:

MY GYM TEACHER IS AN ALIEN OVERLORD is the second book in David Solomons’s My Brother is a Superhero series. The book follows the story of Luke whose elder brother Zack is a superhero. One of Luke’s best friends Lara is also a superhero. Luke is frustrated that his brother has gained superpowers, whilst he lover of comics has not. When he discovers that his gym teacher is an alien set to attack the Earth, he tries telling his brother and Lara but they dismiss him. Frustrated, Luke finds himself allied with a self-styled supervillain on a quest to save the world.

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Review: Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran

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Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran

Title: Moranifesto
Authors: Caitlin Moran
Genre: Autobiography, Essays, Feminism, Humour, Non-Fiction
Source: The publisher via NetGalley
Publisher: Ebury Press (9th March 2017)
Blurb:

Review: You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

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You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

Title: You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)
Author: Felicia Day
Genre: Autobiography
Publisher: Sphere (13th August 2015)
Blurb:

From online entertainment pioneer, actress and ‘queen of the geeks’ Felicia Day, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is a funny, quirky and inspiring memoir about her unusual upbringing, her rise to internet stardom and embracing her weirdness to find her place in the world.

When Felicia Day was a girl, all she wanted was to connect with other kids (desperately). Growing up in the Deep South, where she was ‘home-schooled for hippie reasons’, she looked online to find her tribe. The internet was in its infancy and she became an early adopter at every stage of its growth – finding joy and unlikely friendships in the emerging digital world. Her relative isolation meant that she could pursue passions like gaming, calculus and the 1930s detective novels without shame. Because she had no idea how ‘uncool’ she really was.

But if it hadn’t been for her strange background – the awkwardness continued when she started college at sixteen, her mother driving her to campus every day – she might never have had the naive confidence to forge her own path. Like when she graduated as valedictorian with a maths degree and then headed to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting despite having zero contacts. Or when she tired of being typecast as the crazy cat-lady secretary and decided to create her own web series before people in showbusiness understood that online video would be more than just cats chasing laser pointers.

Felicia’s rags-to-riches rise to internet fame launched her career as one of the most unfluential creators in new media. Now Felicia’s world is filled with creativity, video games and a dash of feminist activism – like her memoir.

Showcasing Felicia’s hilarious and unique voice, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is proof that everyone should celebrate what makes them different and be brave enough to share it with the world, because anything is possible now – even for a digital misfit.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST) is an autobiography by Felicia Day. It tells the story of her childhood and growing up in the Deep South up to when she was doxxed during the #GamerGate mess.

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Review: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

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Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Title: Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things that Happened
Author: Allie Brosh
Genre: Biography, Humour, Illustrated
Publisher: Square Peg (31st October 2013)
Blurb:

Hyperbole and a Half is a blog by a twenty-something American, Allie Brosh. Her debut book – half new stories, half favourites from the blog – chronicles her ‘learning experiences’ and character flaws. It includes stories about her rambunctious childhood; owning a mentally challenged dog; and a moving account of her struggles with depression.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

HYPERBOLE AND A HALF is Allie Brosh’s first book, based on her blog by the same name. The book is made up of stories about Brosh’s life; stories about her childhood, how she sees herself, life at home, and what depression is to her. Each tale has illustrations which bring the story to life in Brosh’s unique style.

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Review: The InComplete Book of Dragons by Cressida Cowell

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The InComplete Book of Dragons by Cressida Cowell

Title: The InComplete Book of Dragons (How to Train Your Dragon)
Author: Cressida Cowell
Genre: Fantasy, Humour, Middle Grade
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books (12th June 2014)
Blurb:

Long ago, the world was full of dragons. This book is packed with dragon profiles, tips on how to ride and train them and, most importantly, how to deal with dragons if they attack.

These pages are taken from the notebooks of Viking Hero and Dragonwatcher, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third when he was just a boy . . .

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

THE INCOMPLETE BOOK OF DRAGONS by Cressida Cowell is made up of the notes and journal entries of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. In it he details notes on the dragons he himself has encountered with helpful tips and tricks, and he also notes the dragons that he has had to rely on other vikings for the details of.

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