Dinara Tengri

Title: Marvel's Black Widow: from Spy to Superhero Author: Sherry Ginn (editor) Expected publication: April 1st 2017 Publisher: McFarland & Company Source: I requested an advanced reader's copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.  First appearing in Marvel Comics in the 1960s, Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, was introduced to movie audiences in Iron Man 2 (2010). Her character has grown in popularity with subsequent Marvel films, and fans have been vocal about wanting to see Black Widow in a titular role. Romanoff has potent appeal: a strong female character who is not defined by her looks or her romantic relationships, with the skill set of a veteran spy first for the KGB, then for S.H.I.E.L.D. This collection of new essays is the first to examine Black Widow and her development, from Cold War era comics to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Getting to know Natasha Romanoff  Black Widow was "born" in 1964, in the ...

Last year, I made ten New Year's resolutions, and I wrote about them on this blog. The trick was to keep every resolution as realistic and doable as possible. Did it work? Well, today I want to find out. So last year, I promised that I would... 1. ... not stress myself out with silly unnecessary challenges. Done! As far as reading challenges are concerned, I have kept my expectations realistic and started off 2016 with a goal of twelve books. I soon updated that goal to forty nine books, because why the hell not? In conclusion, in 2016 I read a total of fifty books, short stories and comic books, not counting all the medical literature.  2. ... spoil myself with more books. This was my favourite resolution of all. Last year I bought thirty books and comic books (give or take). I might cut back on my book hauling this year. Might,   3. ... read more new books. While I didn't read as many new releases as I was wanted, I did discover a number of...

Title: Love: The Dinosaur Authors:  Federico Bertolucci, Frédéric Brrémaud (Illustrator) Year of publishing: 2015 Publisher: Ankama Source: I requested this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was combing though the "read now" section on NetGalley, looking for some easy reads, when I stumbled upon this comic book. The first thing that got my attention was the cover art. Obviously. I mean, look at it! I was also intrigued by the title. Why was a comic book that was evidently about dinosaurs titled "Love"? I didn't know, but I intended to find out.  Love is by far one of the most unusual books I have read. No, scratch that. It's one of the most unusual books I have seen, because you cannot technically read it: there is not one line of dialogue or any written word in it, if you don't count the info page in the beginning.  How do you create a story with no dialogue or narration? How do you create a story if all of your charact...

Title: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Author: Rebecca Skloot Year of publishing: 2010 Published by: Crown Publishing Group Henrietta Lacks, as HeLa, is known to present-day scientists for her cells from cervical cancer. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells were taken without her knowledge and still live decades after her death. Cells descended from her may weigh more than 50M metric tons.  HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks was buried in an unmarked grave. The journey starts in the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s, her small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia — wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo. Today are stark white labora...

Happy New Year, everybody! I hope you had a great time last night. I myself was watching Die Hard with my family. So it was a very good time had by all. Then the power went out in our neighbourhood (kind of like in the last act of Die Hard), and out came the candles.  Cozy  It's now 2017, a new year for schooling and for blogging. And I have some big plans for this baby right here. My fingers are just itching to start typing down all the ideas that have been brewing in my head for the past few weeks. Anyway, here are some of the reviews that I'm planning on posting in the not so distant future:  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks This book I finished a long time ago, and the review is already in the works.  Marvel's Black Widow Downloaded this non-fiction anthology on NetGalley. It's gonna be fun! (I hope)   Love I can't say that I read this comic book, because there are literally no words there. Just pictures....

Last week I went through a list of best books, movies and TV- shows that I had the pleasure of discovering in 2016. This week, I'm going in the opposite direction. But rather than making a list of the worst books etc, I want to list all the pop culture stuff that left me disappointed. For instance, there's only one book on this list that I gave a one star rating. It's also why you won't find the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on this list. Sure, the movie was a piece of bubble gum garbage, but I didn't expect it to be anything else. The titles featured on this list I did have high hopes for. Books 1. Dawn of Rebellion , by Michelle Lynn Here's an example of a great premise that has been poorly executed. 2. Hurricane Moon , by Alexis Glynn Latner And here's another one. 3. Binti , by Nnedi Okorafor Here's an example of when a book doesn't live up to its hype. 4. Lords of the Sith , by Paul S. Kemp Wh...

Merry Christmas! I hope you're all having a great holiday season. My holiday season consists of long hours spent in my school library, reading up on stuff like oral mucosa, tooth eruption and a cute little germ called S. streptococci. That doesn't mean that I don't get my fair share of Christmas joy. Just last night I watched Home Alone again for the hundredth time and, turns out, I still love it. Despite the fact that this movie is basically torture porn. And now it's time for some annual lists. Some of the best and some of the worst stuff that I read and /or watched this year. We'll start off with the Best list. Now, some of these picks may seem confusing, because they're definitely not from 2016, but I'm listing the best books, movies, and TV-shows that I discovered in 2016. Some of these titles have links to my reviews. You can also check out my list of Top Ten New to Me Authors of 2016 for some of the great books that didn't make the ...