The Map Shop

Well, it's the end of the first month of my crazy reading challenge for the year. As I said before, I am doing both a personal TBR challenge where everything I read is either something I own but haven't read or something someone has recommended to me (or I received as a review copy and needed to get done). With a goal of 100 books for the year and a goal of eight books per month, I'm happy to say I achived this goal for January. If you are interested in full reviews of any of these books (which I might do anyway), please let me know. For my January Wrap-Up, I have read 8 books  this month. These include: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka-- A historical fiction/ group memoir about the Japanese women who were "picture brides" to men in America right before World War II. Told in eight short stories, everything is told from the collective "we" perspective, from their trip across the Pacific to their first nights with their husbands, to dealing wi...

  #notsponsored.  I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See link below. Locke & Key is written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, and published by IDW Publishing. I read the Master Editions which was published in 2017 and includes Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft issues 1-6 and Locke & Key: Head Games issues 1-6.   Hill has also written novels including Heart-Shaped Box (winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel), Horns—which was made into a film starring Daniel Radcliffe—and NOS4A2 and The Fireman.   Rodriguez is an artist and illustrator working with IDW Publishing. He has worked on The Great and Secret Show, Beowulf, and Land of the Dead to name a few. Locke & Key won the Eisner Award for Best Writer. IDW Publishing was founded in 1999. It now includes IDW Games, IDW Entertainment, Top Shelf Productions and the Sand Diego Comic Art Gallery. It is considered one of the top four comic book publishers in...

  #notsponsored. This book was a digital copy from NetGalley. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See link at the end of this post. I Am the Storm is written by Tash McAdam and published by Nine Star Press in 2018. This is a dystopian science fiction story aimed at young adults, though middle schoolers would also likely enjoy it. I was given a digital copy through Net Galley. This review is my opinion. I Am the Storm is set in a dystopian world where ten percent of the population has telepathic abilities. The government—called the Institute—uses these individuals by brainwashing or forcing them into using their powers for the betterment of the government. A rebel group—called the ARC-- uses these abilities against the Institute. This book follows two telepathic kids, Sam, who is fourteen and is the only known techno-path, meaning he can control electronics, and Serena, who is a telepath training in the ARC. When Sam goes for a doctor’s appointment, he is...

  #notsponsored  I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. See link below. Locke & Key is written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, and published by IDW Publishing. I read the Master Editions which was published in 2017 and includes Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft issues 1-6 and Locke & Key: Head Games issues 1-6.   Hill has also written novels including Heart-Shaped Box (winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel), Horns—which was made into a film starring Daniel Radcliffe—and NOS4A2 and The Fireman.   Rodriguez is an artist and illustrator working with IDW Publishing. He has worked on The Great and Secret Show, Beowulf, and Land of the Dead to name a few. Locke & Key won the Eisner Award for Best Writer. IDW Publishing was founded in 1999. It now includes IDW Games, IDW Entertainment, Top Shelf Productions and the Sand Diego Comic Art Gallery. It is considered one of the top four comic book publishers in t...

  #notsponsored. I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House; see link below. It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree by A. J. Jacobs was published by Simon Schuster in 2017.   Jacobs is a New York Times bestseller, previously publishing The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically.   It’s All Relative is his exploration into genealogy and his personal family tree and how it connects to the family history of the entire world, the concept of family, and our place in the world. It explains the basics of genealogy, the brief history and problems that have arisen from it, and how it fits into modern science as well as Jacob’s attempt to have the largest family reunion in the world. I read this for my library’s Science Book Club. I’ve already been a hobby genealogist for a few years but this book did respark my interest. Jacobs is a funny and informative narrator, easily shifting between detailed information about getting sta...