Ocean City Free Public Library Book Blog

      Nimona  is the printed published version of a popular webcomic by Noelle Stevenson, who goes by the screenname Gingerhaze   online. While Stevenson dabbles in webcomic presentations of multiple types (stand-alones, multi-pannel, fanart, etc.) Nimona  was a serial webcomic that she started posting in June of 2012 while attending Maryland Institute College of Art. It doubled as her senior thesis. It was published as a book earlier this year, in May 2015.       Nimona  follows the story of a disgraced knight turned mad scientist, Lord Ballister Blackheart, and his feisty shape-shifting sidekick, Nimona in their quest to overthrow the government through the means of supervillany--all the while being pursued by Blackheart's former friend and now nemesis, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin. Through the course of the story the alliances and moral codes of the two men begin to warp as secrets, cover-ups, and conspiracies begin to come to light, ...

      If you are a fan of video blog style YouTube channels, then you probably have experienced Tyler Oakley at some point. One of the Internet's most active LGBT+ spokespeople, Tyler Oakley has collaborated with dozens and dozens of other YouTubers and actors including Jenna Marbles, Miranda Sings, Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig, John Green, Dan Howell, Phil Lester, Jim Chapman, Troye Sivan, Oli White, Joey Graceffa, Connor Franta, Darren Chris, and many many more. He has been nominated twelve times for Streamy Awards (and won seven), has a popular podcast which he cohosts with his best friend and fellow YouTubers Kory Kuhl, and since starting his YouTube channel in 2007 has gained over 7,700,000 subscribers. He has even been featured as a guest host on the popular MTV show Catfish.  Tyler Oakley uses his presence and online popularity to advocate for LGBT+ rights, especially those of LGBT+ youth, as well as social issues like healthcare and education. One of organisa...

      Welcome to Night Vale  is a recently published novel written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. It is a story set in the same setting as the #1 international hit podcast of the same name . Rather than being a novelisation of one of the story-lines that has already happened on the podcast, this novel presents an entirely new story-line that explores the origin and explanation for one of the background characters who was introduced in the early episodes of the podcast; namely: The Man in the Tan Jacket.       If you are unacquainted with the recurring twice-monthly podcast through CommonPlace Books, the first episode aired in June 2012. Source material and inspiration for the stories that happened in the early episodes were drawn from A Commonplace Book of the Weird: The Untold Stories of H.P. Lovecraft and What It Means to be a Grown-up , both originally published by CommonPlace Books. It began slowly gathering a somewhat underground fol...

      Career of Evil is the latest book published by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, and continues to follow the story of private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant, Robin Ellacott. This book is vastly different from the preceding two novels in the series, The Cuckoo's Calling  and The Silkworm , as the nature of the crimes and investigation is different.       In the first two books in this series, the crimes are highly sensationalised and highlighted by the media, pulling a heavy focus on the public side of crime investigation. In Career of Evil  the investigation is given much more of a personal element, as the killer is directly targeting Cormoran and Robin. In addition to this, we are given a much more in-depth backstory of Robin Ellacott and her relationship with her fiance, Matt.       For the most part, I enjoyed Career of Evil , because while both main characters are present and investigatin...

      Go Set a Watchman  is the recently published novel by Harper Lee that follows her classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird.  In this novel, the reader sees a grown-up Jean Louise (Scout) Finch visiting her hometown and discovering that her father, whom she idolised in the previous novel, is not as heroic as she grew up believing.       There was quite a bit of controversy surrounding the publication of this book--namely the time elapsed between Mockingbird and Watchman and the probability that it was not Lee's desire to publish this book, (Joe Nocera writes a good article for the New York Times about this controversy)--however, setting that controversy aside for a moment, let's focus on the literary merit of the story itself. What follows is purely the opinion of the librarian writing this post.       Was it a good book?       It was a well written book. It brought up controversial issues, it revisited idea...

      The Girl in the Spider's Web  is the fourth book in the  Millennium  series originally created and written by Stieg Larsson. As Larsson himself passed away in 2004, the popular trilogy, chronicling the adventures of computer hacker Lisbeth Salander and investigative journalist  Mikael Blomkvist, was originally published posthumously. However, there is still a large time gap between the publication of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest  in 2007, and the decision to continue the series under a different author. The announcement that there would be a fourth (and eventual fifth and sixth) book was not even announced until early 2015.       This time delay is only logical, as the process of continuing a series of this caliber is a daunting one. Getting the consent and permission from the Larsson's estate alone would have taken much legal negotiating. Even tougher still would be finding an author who could capture a...

      National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from September 15th to October 15th. It is a month dedicated to celebrating the diverse culture, the many contributions and accomplishments from Americans whose ancestors are Hispanics/Latinos. From the vast history of Spain to all the stories and histories from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, it is a month to celebrate all the people who are part of such diversified background and contribute to the ever growing and changing story of America.       It first began as a week long observance in 1968 by President Lyndon Johnson, it was eventually expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15.       "The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salv...

      This one isn't new. In fact, next year it will be ten years old. However, it is new to me. One of my favourite types of mystery/thriller books to read is forensic medical thrillers penned by people who have previous or current careers in the field about which they base their books. Kathy Reichs Bones  series and Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles series (both of which now have successful television series based upon them) are in this sub-genre of books. Another series in this sub-genre that I have recently discovered is the  Body Farm  series.       Dr. William M. Bass is the forensic anthropologist who founded the now well known "Body Farm" aka the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility , part of the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Founded in 1981, the facility is a place for the study of decomposition of human remains. Cadavers donated to the research facility are placed in different settings throughout...

      I've heard many different descriptions of Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train  while debating whether to put myself on hold for it. "Kind of Like Gone Girl , only British" was the most prevalent one that came up. However, after reading it for myself, I would liken it more along the lines of Rear Window  meets Gaslight.       A large portion of this book is spent questioning the motives of the initial character, Rachel, i.e. "the girl on the train." While she is presented as the central protagonist, she definitely does not (initially) come across as a necessarily a good person. I found myself less drawn to the actual mystery story happening, and more to the intricate writing style and the in depth addressing of the prevalence of gaslighting used by domestic abusers to gain dominance in their relationships. The way Rachel slowly and painfully unlearns all of her coping mechanisms is heartbreaking. Paula Hawkins' very Faulkner-esque wr...

           Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living  by Nick Offerman is the autobiography of, well, Nick Offerman. Most recently known for his portrayal of Ron Swanson on the TV sitcom Parks and Recreation . Lately I have been on a biography kick, and this seemed like the next logical one to read.       In this memoir, Offerman offers the reader a close-up look at his personal history and life leading up to his decision to transition between the theatre and the screen, and his choices that led him to make the move from Chicago to Hollywood, break into television, and pursue a relationship with the woman who would later agree to be his wife. It is by no means a memoir for the faint of heart: containing lewd humor, course language, and blunt honesty. But in addition to this, Offerman doles out life advice, romantic tips, and hysterical poetry that remind the reader that the stoic and straight-faced Ron Swanson...

      It is only recently that I began reading the Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series, but once I started I easily knocked out the first two books in one day. The second novel in the series, Hollow City  continues immediately where the first novel ends--with the peculiar children of the Cairnholm time loop fleeing from the hollowgasts, while searching for a way to restore their guardian, Miss Peregrine, back to her human form.       While the use of time travel was introduced in the first novel, it is a much more reinforced idea Hollow City . In Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children , the protagonist Jacob is taught how to travel effortlessly between his own timeline and a day during the second World War that continuously loops back each night--thus the people within the loop relive the same day repeatedly. However, in Hollow City, this time loop is nonexistent, and Jacob decides to remain in the past in order to...

      Trigger Warning is Neil Gaiman's newest collection of short stories addressing topics that question the boundaries of human capacity of disturbance and horror. True to Gaiman's usual style of writing, the stories contained in this collection are macabre in nature, at times bordering on terrifying, but never breaching the barrier into outright gory. They focus more on the building of suspense rather than the jumpscare value, in a truly H.P. Lovecraft style of story building.       What made this book stand out from Gaiman's other writings, and what made it interesting to me, was his explanation of his choice of title. In the introduction, Gaiman sets out to give a brief explanation of what the phrase "trigger warning" implies, how the landscape of storycrafting is evolving alongside social media, and how the personalisation of social media through user-tagging is changing the landscape of blogging and entertainment.       A "trigger...

      The beginning of March marks the beginning of Women's History Month, and specifically March 8th as International Women's Day. According to the official International Women's Day website , March 8th is " a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future."       This day is set to remember the  suffragettes worldwide who protested, campaigned, and made their voices heard in order that women everywhere in the world would gain the equality and rights they deserved in order to make their voices heard. In some countries, such as China, Vietnam, Russia, and Bulgaria, International Women's Day is an official national holiday.       It's not just a day to remember the past, though. It is also a time to call attention to the fact that despite the efforts and many accomplishments of our suffragette ancestors, that there are still issues that need addressing--wage gaps,...

" I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap"  Ida B. Wells       In honor of it being February, and therefore Black History Month, I wanted to do a special entry highlighting a major historical figure of note, both in the struggle for civil rights and the struggle for women's rights: Ida B. Wells.       Ida B. Wells was born in July of 1862, in Holly Springs, MO to James and Lizzie Wells. Ida and her parents, as well as the rest of the people still held as slaves in the Confederate states, were declared free by the Union six months after Ida's birth with the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation. Ida's parents were active in the Republican party during the Reconstruction, and her father helped to found  Shaw University (now Rust College) and served on the first board of trustees for this school dedicated to educating the newly freed former slaves. Ida recieved her early school...

       Landline is the latest novel by Rainbow Rowell, and author who has written both adult and YA romance novels. Landline follows the story of TV writer Georgie McCool as she struggles to balance her work life and her home life, while the state of her marriage declines. When she attempts to postpone a family holiday vacation as the result of an emergency at work, her husband, Neal, insists on taking their children home for Christmas anyway without Georgie. During the holiday week, Georgie tries to call Neal at his mother's house--however Neal's habit of never charging his cell phone leads to Georgie resorting to her parent's old rotary land-line phone to call Neal's mother's land-line. What Georgie soon realises is that this land-line connection allows her to call Neal in the past before they were ever married. Georgie now has an opportunity to either fix her marriage before it begins or to end it and see if they would have been better off never being marr...

      ***       The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters presents the story of Olivia Mead--a young suffragist in 1900 Portland, Oregon whose headstrong and determined ideas regarding women's rights cause her father to hire a performing hypnotist to hypnotize Olivia into being a more docile and submissive woman. Unbeknownst to her father, the hypnotist instead unlocks Olivia's mind to the ability to see people beyond their physical appearance and into their souls to see their true nature and intentions, while continuing her fight for women's rights.       I was drawn into this story right away with the presentation of Olivia Mead. She is the daughter of a dentist who is a prominent man in the city of Portland, and has to live up to her father's expectation that she be the perfectly well behaved and content with her place in society of being subservient to all the men in her life. Unfortunately for her father...

***       As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust is the latest installment in the Flavia de Luce mystery series by Alan Bradley. And is the first book in the series that takes place in a location other than the large English estate of the de Luce family. Set in a girls boarding school in Canada, 12 year old Flavia de Luce once again finds herself in the middle of a mystery after discovering human skeletal remains in one of the chimneys of her new home. The story follows her attempts to once again solve a murder, while also unraveling more of the mystery that surrounds her deceased mother's enigmatic past, and the secret government agency of which she was a part.       I was turned on to the Flavia de Luce series by a friend who knows that I enjoy all things science, as well as strong well written female characters. It has quickly become one of my favourite mystery series. This newest one is almost a complete reinventing of the series, come at jus...

      The Voices by F.R. Tallis is a horror story set in England in the 1970s. It tells the story of a young married couple expecting their first child, and the old Victorian house into which they have just moved. Chistopher, the husband, is a movie score composer and plans to use the spacious rooms of the house to set up his recording studio, while Laura is a former model who wants to step back from the fast paced world of fame in order to raise their daughter, Faye. Christopher soon discovers that when he plays back the recordings he makes in the house, he can hearvoices on the tape reels. Further investigation into the history of the house leads Christopher to believe that one of the voices on the tape belong to the former owner of the house, an illusionist who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Rather than be overly concerned with the fact that recording in the house seems to be picking up the voices of the dead, Christopher decides to use the ghostly re...

      Paper Towns by John Green was first published in October of 2008, and was his third novel. With the announcement that Paper Towns was going to be adapted for the screen, following the success of the film adaptation of Green's latest novel, The Fault in Our Stars, I decided it was a perfect time to reread the book.       Paper Towns follows the story of a highschooler named Quentin "Q" Jacobson and his friendship with an eccentric girl named Margo Roth Spiegelman. The bulk of the novel is Q following clues left behind by Margo after she runs away from home several weeks before they were to graduate. Along the way Q finds himself forced to reevaluate his perspective about his town, his friends, his classmates, and his idealised image of Margo. ***       Rereading this YA novel, I immediately remembered what it was about Paper Towns that set it apart from other YA novels. There are a lot of stories in the Y...

     What would you do if you could travel through time? Would you change the past or take a daring trip into the future?         The first book of the Trilogía Victoriana (Victorian Trilogy), The Map of Time is a time twisting, fantastic journey of the life of the famous author H.G. Wells and how his novel the “ Time Machine” influenced not only just the people of London but the world. The narrator, a time traveler perhaps or an all knowing being, guides the reader into three different stories that are all interwoven with each other. The snippets of Well’s life gives the reader a different dimension of the writer and the why he wrote the Time Machine. Also, it shows how Wells has gotten himself to be involved in all these lives, even if it was against his will  for some  of those moments.      This book has a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy including an alternate universe, a large dose of stea...

        Yes Please is a memoir self-authored by SNL actress, writer, and comedian Amy Poehler.        Sort of.       When I say it's sort of a memoir, I mean that it is autobiographical in nature and there are mentions of Poehler's personal life--however, she does not dive deep into detail about her life. The parts of her life that she talks about, she does so matter-of-factly and briefly before moving onto the next topic. In addition to this, there are sections that she hands over to other people in her life in order that they might weigh in on her ideas...or maybe just because she was tired one night and needed additional chapters, she she handed the reins over to Seth Meyers and Mike Schur who give some outside perspective about what working with Poehler and being her friend is like.  ***       But the autobiographical bits are not the focus of the book. I put myself on hold for ...