Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Guest Post & Giveaway: Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks!


Welcome to the Human Body Theater, where your master of ceremonies is going to lead you through a theatrical revue of each and every biological system of the human body! Starting out as a skeleton, the MC puts on a new layer of her costume (her body) with each "act." By turns goofy and intensely informative, the Human Body Theater is always accessible and always entertaining.
[aka: welcome to one of the quirkiest blog tours I've ever been part of! =D ]

Now: onto the Organ o' the Day...

LUNGS

Take a deep breath. Now exhale. (Also, keep breathing after you’ve done those first two instructions.) Breathing is one of those things that we must do to survive, but we rarely think about it. That’s because it’s one of our bodies’ many involuntary actions. Our heart beats, our stomach digests, our armpits sweat, all without us telling them to do so. Breathing pulls air into the lungs, were oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide. The oxygen is absorbed into the blood and carried throughout the body to give energy to cells, and the carbon dioxide (leftover waste from the body) is carried up out of the lungs and out into the air. It’s not all oxygen and carbon dioxide though! The air that we breathe is only about 21% oxygen with the rest being 78% nitrogen and 1 to 2% other gases. The nitrogen goes into our lungs as well, but it’s just along for the short ride, and is exhaled back out, along with the carbon dioxide! Whew!


****GIVEAWAY****
To celebrate the release of Human Body Theater, FirstSecond has offered up a copy of the book to one lucky winner! 
To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter below. 
Entrants under 13 require parents permission.
US ONLY.


ABOUT THE BOOK:
Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks
Get It | Add It
Graphic Novel, 240 pages
Published October 6th 2015 by First Second
Welcome to the Human Body Theater, where your master of ceremonies is going to lead you through a theatrical revue of each and every biological system of the human body! Starting out as a skeleton, the MC puts on a new layer of her costume (her body) with each "act." By turns goofy and intensely informative, the Human Body Theater is always accessible and always entertaining.

Maris Wicks is a biology nerd, and by the time you've read this book, you will be too! Harnessing her passion for science (and her background as a science educator for elementary and middle-school students), she has created a comics-format introduction to the human body that will make an expert of any reader -- young or old!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Maris Wicks lives in Somerville, Massachusetts. She has harnessed the power of her various biological systems to draw comics for Adhouse Books, Tugboat Press, and Spongebob Comics, and written stories for Image and DC Comics. Wicks is the illustrator of the New York Timesbestselling Primates, with Jim Ottaviani. When she's not making comics, Wicks works with New England Aquarium. She's especially proud of her pulmonary system.




Thursday, October 8, 2015

Creepy October Reads | The Next Five Books

It's time for my next stack of 5 books from my TBR, and I'm fully in eerie October-mode. =D



THE BOOKS:

Disclosure: These books were sent to me for review purposes. This is NOT a sponsored video.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

A Peek at Fable Comics! | blog tour


Fable Comics is a collection of graphic novel adaptations of various fables by a whole host of amazing illustrators and graphic novelists, edited by Chris Duffy (whom some of you may remember from the similar take on Fairy Tales, which obvs I need to get my hands on). I'll be talking about Fable Comics pretty soon in an upcoming video (woot!), but until then, I'm very happy to be part of the very unique blog tour, in which a laundry list of awesome bloggers and talkers-of-books are each featuring one tale from the book, in the order in which they appear!

The story I'm sharing a peek at today comes from an old Russian fable in which a group of cluelessly jealous animals debate why Elephant always seems to get ahead; it's been adapted by Corinne Mucha to very humorous effect, as you'll see below. And though it may amuse no one but me, having worked in the crafting industry, the idea of Elephant tediously and meticulously (an elephant, of all things! With clumsy elephant-feets!) felting tiny mushrooms . . . well, the image just gives me lols.

Check out the sneak peek of the story below, and a bit of each tale on the Fable Comics blog tour, and make sure to keep an eye out for my next The Last Five Books video, where I'll be telling you all about what I thought of this fun anthology!

ABOUT FABLE COMICS:


From classics like "The Tortoise and the Hare" and "The Grasshopper and the Ants" to obscure gems like "The Frogs Who Desired a King," Fable Comics has something to offer every reader. Twenty-eight fables from different cultures and traditions are wonderfully adapted and illustrated in comics format by twenty-six different cartoonists. Edited by New York Times bestselling Fairy Tale Comics' Chris Duffy, this jacketed hardcover is a beautiful gift and an instant classic.

Fable Comics is:

James Kochalka and ‘The Fox and the Grapes‘
Tom Gauld and ‘The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse’
George O’Connor and the ‘Hermes’ fables
Sophie Goldstein and ‘Leopard Drums Up Dinner’
Charise Harper and ‘The Belly and the Body Members’
R. Sikoryak and ‘Lion + Mouse’
Jennifer L. Meyer and ‘Fox and Crow’
Eleanor Davis and ‘The Old Man and Death’
Jaime Hernandez and ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’
Simone Lia and ‘The Crow and the Pitcher’
Graham Chaffee and ‘The Dog and His Reflection’
Maris Wicks and ‘The Dolphins, The Whales, and The Sprat’
Vera Brosgol and ‘The Hare and the Pig’
Kenny Widjaja and ‘The Demon, The Thief, and the Hermit’
Corinne Mucha and ‘The Elephant in Favor’
Liniers and ‘The Mouse Council’
Mark Newgarten and ‘Man and Wart’
Israel Sanchez and ‘The Milkmaid and Her Pail’
Ulises Farinas and ‘The Great Weasel War’
R.O. Blechman and ‘The Sun and the Wind’
Graham Annable and ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’
John Kerschbaum and ‘The Grasshopper and the Ants’
Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline and ‘The Thief and the Watchdog’
Gregory Benton and ‘The Hen and the Mountain Turtle’
Roger Langridge and ‘Demades and His Fable’

Friday, October 2, 2015

Makeup Book Tag | #TagWeek

Sorry for the delay in Tag Week, guys! I was having technicaly difficulties and couldn't upload, BUT ANYWAY, onto today's tag! Day 4 of Tag Week brings us a combo-version of the Makeup Book Tag.
I was tagged by LizzzzzzZ and the tags were created seperately by Beth Anne & lifeloveandbooks.



Mentioned:
More tags!
Betwixt review
Instagram

THE QUESTIONS
(I picked only those that interested me from each tag, and combined them into one)
Questions from Beth Anne:
1. FOUNDATION: pick your favourite book that is the first book in a series
2. EYESHADOW: pick a book that has your favourite colours on the cover
3. EYELINER: pick a dark & mysterious book
4. MASCARA: pick a loooooong book
5. BLUSH: pick a book that had some cringe-worthy romance
6. LIPSTICK: your favourite book kiss
7. FINISHING POWDER: pick your favourite book that is the last book in a series

Questions from lifeloveandbooks:
Acne Remover- What book would you "remove" from your memory?
Moisturizer- What book "covers all" of the things you look for in a book?
Eyebrow Pencil- What novella really "filled in the gaps" that the novels left?
Eye Primer- What is your favorite world "building"?
Eyeshadow- A book cover that perfectly reflects the book, and a book that does not
Eyeliner- A book that took you a few tries to get into?
Lash Primer- The "longest" book on your shelf?
Mascara- Your favorite villain?
Bronzer- A "highlight" of your reading career?
Lip Stain- A book that "stained" you?
Lipstick- A fun story about a book that has nothing to do with the actual book

MUSIC: "Sleepy Jake" by Silent Partner, from Youtube Creator Library lifeloveandbooks   Beth Anne