Spaceman by Mike Massimino, Book Review

"If you work hard and get help from good friends, together you can overcome almost any challenge, no matter how great."

     Spaceman by Mike Massimino is a compelling narrative that tells the story of a young astronaut candidate trying to reach his dream of traveling to space. It features personal narration, witty humor, and inspiring messages as we follow Massimino on his journey. 

    Now, let me start off by saying math and science have never been my strong suit. I've always been interested in space, astronomy, and flight due to my participation in Civil Air Patrol, and individual followings of the latest in space news. However, I never wanted to be an astronaut. I knew writing and art were where my passions lie. So when I decided to pick up this book I honestly thought I would be bored out of my mind. Yeah, it's an astronaut and I love astronauts, but I don't need to be bombarded by science and math terms in my free time. Oh was I wrong. Mike Massimino does such a great job of introducing you to the formal scientific terms of things throughout the novel, but then provides an easy to understand description of what he means. I never even knew I was actually learning things until I put the book down and thought about it. Way to go for getting this artsy kid into science, Massimino!

    There was absolutely no room to be bored with Massimino at all in this book. Even from the get-go. The first few words in the book, I was already engaged and the writer had taken control of my attention. That's not something very many readers can accomplish. Never did he lose my interest. He talked about these strides in aerospace technology, and the less impressive life of a college kid trying to be apart of those strides. His humor and overall passion for the space program really show as everything he says just sounds interesting and fun.

    One of the elements that truly makes this book interesting is the detailing of not only his personal progress, but the progression of the space program. You see, Massimino was a man who grew with the program and that allows the reader to have a unique insight that we can't find anywhere else. As someone who is interested in astronomy recreationally, the detailing of the space program was a nice touch. I could honestly see this book being used in classrooms to teach kids about space travel and astronauts. (*cough* Hey Mrs. Miller if you're reading this *cough*) 

    Even if you're like me, someone who never considered aerospace as a possible career path, this book will speak to you. No matter what you want to do with your life, this book speaks to you. This book explores common themes of perseverance, camaraderie, teamwork, and of course, exploration (of science and of yourself). This book causes you to look inside of yourself. What do you want to achieve in your life? How bad do you want it? What are you actively doing to achieve it? No matter if you're five, or one hundred and five, Massimino shows how no matter who you are, you can achieve your dreams if you work hard (and boy do I mean hard). 

    To recap, Massimino's humor, and laid-back tone make this book easy and fun to read no matter the experience you have with science. This book does a very good job of keeping the reader engaged and on their toes. Additionally, you get a glimpse of not only the progression of an astronaut, but of the space program as a whole. And finally, no matter who you are or what you want to do with your life, this book will speak to you somehow.

This book was given to me by bloggingforbooks.com for an honest review. 
5/5 stars

   HEY GUYS BATSY HERE I DON'T KNOW WHAT BLOGGER IS DOING TO MY FORMAT. PLEASE BE PATIENT AS I TRY TO FIX THE FONT. 

Faith #1 Review

"Heroism is it's own reward, tiger." 

It's not often that I can find a comic in which the main protagonist is like me. Though I could easily say I identified with Bruce Banner, the Vision, Barbara Gordon, or even Harley Quinn, I had never found someone who really represented me both physically and mentally. This comic written by Jody Houser and designed by Francis Portela and Marguerite Sauvage had really struck me with it's compelling and likable main character. Faith shows a beautiful example of how plus size women could still be not only beautiful, but powerful and that geeks like me could achieve great things.

First off, I would like to talk about the narration devices and the overall plot quality of this comic. Faith takes place in modern times and it follows the life of Faith Herbert through her day job as a pop-culture article writer and her excursions as a crime fighting hero named Zephyr. Additionally, the comic starts with a mysterious scene of what appears to be escaped inmates running away in the woods. The plot overall is not as action-packed as many other comics, as it seems to be setting up for the future of the comic series. Despite this, the comic does very well in keeping the reader entertained. Faith Herbert has such a magnetic personality that you cannot turn away from. Her intense passion for pop-culture, her unstoppable optimism, and sarcastic narration throughout the comic provided for an interesting story in of itself. 

Drawing from Faith Herbert's personality, another notable aspect of this comic is her character in itself. I would like to start off with the way she is drawn. Faith Herbert is clearly a plus-sized woman and I love the fact that the artists don't shy away from that. They show her like a real life, average plus-sized woman. She has her double chin, her rolls, her chubby, stocky legs, her chubby fingers. It's all things that as a plus-sized girl myself, we face in real life. However, I love her unyielding confidence and the fact that the comic never puts her down or makes fun of her size in the same respect that the comic isn't about her weight. It puts emphasis on who she is as a person (the amazing butt-kicking, crime-fighting, pop-culture guru) rather than what she looks like. Finally, I enjoy the ode to girl power as she shows how independent she is especially after being faced with watching her ex-boyfriend Torque on TV. She never is bitter towards him and knows that she's still beautiful. I personally, would have to say that my favorite scenes would be those in which she is demonstrating her girl power by saving men and flipping the usual male-female relationship in the comic world, destroying the stigma of the need for a female damsel in distress. 

Overall, this comic is a wonderful ode to the plus-sized girls of the geek community. It's beautiful art, and compelling writing draw in the reader (Speaking of, I'm definitely purchasing issue #2!). Faith's magnetic personality really make this comic so spectacular. I would recommend this comic to many others and definitely re-read it again (although I already have read it about three times!). 5/5 Stars for Faith Issue #1. 

Star Wars: Darth Maul short review

“It is as we are. Powerful. Unseen. Deadly.” The Sith prepare to strike in the first issue of Star Wars: Darth Maul by Ron Marz, a free comic provided by Comixology. Though very short, the scenes are very compelling and make me want to purchase the second comic in this series. Additionally, because it is very short it’s hard to gauge the quality of the plot and story, but still, all things considered it’s well written. Another notable mention is the art. The art is beautiful and well detailed, showing the care and precision put into this comic. My overall favorite scene would be that in which Darth Maul exhibits his fighting skills due to the fast-pace of them and how well the artist Jan Duursema had drawn them. Notably, this comic seems to fit in very well with the cinematic universe, allowing for this already famous and well-known franchise to further expand even more. Overall, though short, the comic is well-written and beautifully drawn. It’s very good considering it is a free comic, ⅘ stars.