Rachel Reads & Reviews

Sharing books for everyone

  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch Vol 2 Review

    So I absolutely loved the last issue of Sabrina and this continuation delivers more epic witch battles and displays the strength and growth that Sabrina quickly acquired during her hectic first month.

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  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch Vol 1 Review

    This delightful new iteration of everyone’s favorite teenage witch is sure to delight all her fans. At least I was sure delighted. In fact, I loved it. The first pages where Sabrina wakes up for her first day in her new school and banters with Salem about the use of her powers, you know exactly what you’re in for. Magical hijinks with a dash of supernatural danger.

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  • Author Highlight: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    I have heard about her from numerous sources but I finally read two of this award-winning, beloved Ted-Talker and author’s books: Purple Hibiscus and Half a Yellow Sun.

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  • George O’Connor Interview

    I think it’s a kind of kismet that my 100th post was a review of Dionysos: The New God. Now my 200th post was a lovely interview with The Olympians creator himself, George O’Connor!

    Here he dives deep into his thoughts on mythology, and his other works including the historical Journey Into Mohawk Country, nonfiction book, Unrig, collaboraation with Adam Rapp and his upcoming series, The Asgardians.

    1. Let’s start simple, when did you first get into graphic novels and comics?

    I grew up in a house where both my parents read comics, but thy weren’t super religious about it. They were a lot of comics in the house and we were also very into newspaper comics. I became somone who was collecting comics on a regular basis, and followed different titles each month some time around sixth or seventh grade.

    Some of the early comics were-my mom bought early Superman comics, my dad bought a lot of Marvel, I was into a lot of Conan and Indiana Jones. In sixth or seventh grade I got into superhero comics, especially The Mighty Thor. It’s a big reason why I tell mythology in comics because it struck me as a really great way to tell mythology with these visual images.

    2. What drew you to this medium instead of straight fiction or other?

    I was basically telling stories with my pictures before I knew how to write. The nice thing about comics as a medium to tell stories is that you have more than twice as many ways to tell a story. The standard way of telling a story is that you just write the words and that’s all you have.

    But with comics or sequential art, you can tell part of the story with words, part of the story with drawings and you can combine them to tell even more of the story just by the two of them playing off each other.

    It’s always been the most natural way of telling a story to me. If there’s an idea I can get across better through by writing I can do that, if I can do it by drawing it I can do that as well.

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  • My Favorite Archie Digest

    You must wonder how I could have a favorite out of the hundreds and thousands digests out there and the answer simply came about from sentimentality and nostalgia-fuel. So this is entirely my opinion.

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  • In the Country We Love Review

    Originally this was goung to be a review but how can you review a memoir. They’re personal, and heartfelt and also helpfully co-written so they’re usually articulated and well-structured.

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  • Interview with Jessica Burkhart

    Jessica Burkhart is the popular middle grade author of Canterwood Crest. Here, she talks today about her writing journey, connection to the equestrian world, growing representation in the publishing industry and her upcoming series.
    1. First off, for those who didn’t grow up in the early 2000s when Canterwood Crest first came out, how did you get started? 

    I started really, really young as a freelance writer. Like, I was 14 when I started pursuing writing for publication. Over the years, I did regular work for several different (many now out of print) magazines from quizzes to profiles to articles about health and wellness. 

    Initially, I started writing as an escape from physical and emotional pain from a spinal fusion to correct severe scoliosis. I’d been wearing a back brace for 23 hours a day for years, but it didn’t help. Post-surgery, I was left with some nerve damage that–on top of my spine needing time to heal–meant my planned career as an equestrian was over. Since I couldn’t ride anymore and I was flat on my back for months in bed healing, I started writing about anything but horses to pass the time. 

    I was depressed and heartbroken and trying to heal from major surgery and once I healed, I kept writing, enrolled early in community college, and distracted myself from thinking about horses. 

    Five years later, I was a senior in college and I learned about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) where the goal is to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. I couldn’t think of a single idea! I tried and nothing. But a couple of days before NaNo started, I got The Idea. TAKE THE REINS. I resisted it so hard, too. I did not want to write a horse book! But it wouldn’t leave me alone and it was in NaNoWriMo 2006 that the first draft of TTR was born. 

    2. With series like Unicorn Magic and Canterwood Crest, it’s clear that you love horses. What draws you to them and why do you think equestrian literature has become its own subgenre that connects with so many people? 

    I love them so much! It’s a magnetic pull for me. I don’t know how or why I’m drawn to horses, but I just am and always have been. I’d guess that there are many horse lovers like me who are now adults but started loving horses as kids. There’s something about the powerful relationship between a human and a horse that’s unlike anything else. I think people respond to that with awe and interest. 

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  • Interview with Tim Hanley

    Tim Hanley is an author and comic historian with a special focus on superheroines. Here, he kindly answered my questions to talk about his books, essays and sexism in the comics industry.

    1. Let’s start off easy, when did you first get into comics? What was the first issue you read?

    I don’t ever remember not being into comics! As far back as my memory goes, I’ve always had them around and loved them. My grandmother used to buy me stacks of old comics at yard sales, so I had a lot of great stuff to choose from. The first comic I read was probably an Archie comic, since that’s what I had the most of. The first comic I bought with my own money was a Captain Planet comic, though, when I was six.

    2. Why do you think comics have been so enduring over the decades? Why do people continue to connect with the medium and the characters?

    Larger than life characters have always resonated with people. Calling superheroes our “modern mythology” has become a bit of a cliche, but I think there’s a lot to that. We’ve always told stories about people who have abilities beyond our own that serve as morality tales for society. Superhero comic books fulfill that need in exciting and fun ways. Plus they appeal to readers young and old, so we grow up with superheroes as kids and they continue to resonate with us as we age.

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  • Ranking The Wallflowers

    Devil in Winter: This was my favorite as it is very Beauty and the Beast-esque. The shyest and richest wallflower, Evie Jenner enter a Faustian deal with the rakish Lord Sebastian St. Vincent. Marriage so she can escape her abusive relatives and he can have more finances to pump into his gentleman’s club. It’s just a beautiful romance as Evie melts his aloof, ladies-man demenour to become her most staunch defender. Evie also grows too, growing a backbone and some more self-esteem despite her stammer. Because that’s what love does, it brings out the best in both of them and makes them believe themselves to be better, braver people as their significant others see them to be.

    Also it’s just so sweet to see two people who think they’re alone in the world fill that loneliness with someone who understands and will work to make sure they don’t feel that way again. Plus this book is the intro to the dashing Cam Rohan from The Hathaways series and has such great scenes of female friendship among the Wallflowers, especially the scene where they’re revving up to protect Evie when they think Sebastian is blackmailing her into marriage.

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  • Book Highlight: Grandes Dreamers

    This heartfelt children’s book by Argelia Atilano with vivid illustrations by Anna Alvarado covers 12 inspirational Latinas that have broke barriers and changed perceptions of what Latinas can do in the U.S.

    Most of them are well-known like Rita Moreno, AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for those who don’t know the popular acronym for the representative), J.Lo., Sandra Cisneros, etc. so kids would be sure to pick up the book to learn more about these popular figures and maybe find one or two new ones.

    What makes this book very special (besides possibly being the only book solely on Latinas. At least from what I’ve seen) is that it is a bilingual book with three pages on each women in English, and then three pages in Spanish so kids can connect to their heritage or practice their Spanish skills.

    Furthermore, you can really feel the passion and emotion behind from the author as each profile ends with encouragement for girls to reach for their dreams, lead with integrity and dignity, and care for their community. Maybe it’s a bit didactic but the intention is genuine and is perfect book to share between mothers and their daughters.

    I do have two minor quibbles. The section with Selena obviously talks about her short life and that she died when she was only 23. It doesn’t mention how she died, that she was murdered. Maybe they didn’t want to get into the sensationalistic aspect of her stalker and untimely stabbing and focus more on the cultural impact, but I still think kids could handle it.

    The other is that someone made a typo with the dates in the Laurie Hernandez section. It states she was born on June 9, 2000 and that she won the US Junior National champion in 2015 when she was 12 years old. If you are born in 2000, you would be 15 in 2015 not 12. It goes on to say that four years later she made the US Olympic team for the 2016 Olympics when she was 16. So someone made a typo somewhere with the 12 in 2015 business.

    Anyway, perfect for those who want to learn more about some notable women and the latinas who helped pave the way-Si Se Pueda.

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