But the thing is that this kind of throws us into the middle of things.   Being number one, I expected at least Gambit's blindness to be explained, but nothing.  I was grasping at straws trying to figure out some things, and that dimmed some enjoyment as much of my attention was divided between the story and trying to piece things together. 

Furthermore, Rogue was incredibly depressed, didn't act well as she risked a girl's life to feel family herself, and was all 'I can't touch people so I guess I'll just think it isn't worth living.'  I guess I'm angry because I can't do a lot of the things she can - for different reasons - and yet I'm still struggling to find reasons to hope.  I probably hate her for this gloomy disposition as a reaction for hating myself even more when I fall prey to it. 

Or maybe it was just a sloppy first issue, without enough information for me to enjoy this although there was just enough for me to muddle through.   I'm unconvinced that Rogue can control the situation she claims she can: a child can get freaked out for many reasons, and I'm not sure she can just keep her calm because she says so after knowing her for five minutes. 

Basically, I felt like most of this was lackluster.  I was fooled by the beautiful cover and it was free on Comixology, but I was still disappointed. 

It was trying to set up a new team and did.   It seeded a lot for later, or so I suspect, but I'm not sure I'm interested enough to check the res of this out...

Ten Books That Will Make You Laugh (or at least chuckle)

(Top Ten Tuesday concept and topic thanks to The Broke and the Bookish)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide series by Douglas Adams

      The ultimate funny book. If you don’t laugh your way through these, we can’t be friends.

Emma by Jane Austen

      All of Austen’s works are essentially comedies. Some are lighter and funnier than others, but Emma wins for the best use of free indirect discourse to make us laugh at Emma’s cluelessness (see what I did there?). It's also the novel that contains both Miss Bates and Mrs. Elton, two of the most ridiculous—yet believable—characters I’ve ever seen in print.

Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg

      Ortberg takes literary figures, real and imagined, and creates a series of text conversations that capture each character perfectly. The humor is wry and so sharp you could cut yourself. It gives you the kind of chuckles that come from being in with the inside joke.

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

      Jim Gaffigan is one of my favorite comedians. Dad is Fat is mostly about adventures in marriage and trying to survive five (six? I forget) children. Cutesy family comedy is not usually my style, but Gaffigan nails it with his delivery.

Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen

      Maybe not laugh out loud funny, but if you’ve ever been young and anxious, Andersen’s cartoons will make you chuckle in recognition.

Moranththology by Caitlin Moran

      Caitlin Moran is not “classy” and that’s why I like her. She has a great eye for absurdity and a loud, unapologetic style that makes you laugh while you cringe at the embarrassing things she (constantly) does.

Bitch in a Bonnet by Robert Rodi

      Rodi captures all of the meanest, sharpest edges of Jane Austen’s writing and adds plenty of his own snark in this book dedicated to “reclaiming Jane Austen from the stiffs, the snobs, the simps and the saps.”

Rat Queens series of comics by Kurtis J. Wiebe

            This series about a fearsome foursome of badass lady mercenaries manages to be hilarious and unapologetically adult without sacrificing character for laughs.

The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger

            It’s touted as steampunk adventure, which is true, but at it’s heart it’s a British comedy of manners that just happens to be populated with vampires, werewolves, and steam-powered whatsits.

The Bertie & Jeeves novels and stories by PG Wodehouse

            The Classic of Classics in 20^th century British comedy. Just like with Hitchhiker’s Guide, I can’t deal with anyone who doesn’t laugh at Bertie Wooster and his faithful Jeeves.

New year, new ideas. In an effort to be more active as a blogger (and more engaged as a reader), I’m changing my usual Friday list post around a bit. Fabulous Finds Friday used to simply be an arbitrary list of cool finds from the week, which is fine, but kind of boring. Taking a hint from Top Ten Tuesday, I’ve decided to now do what I’m calling “Fabulous Five Friday.” The title isn’t terribly different, but the concept is more refined: each Friday I will create a curated list of books that are all related in some way—“best books about books” or “five favorite Stephen King novels,” etc. I know this can be similar to the Tuesday lists, but those tend to be broader, and I’ll be keeping an eye out to prevent topic overlap (or accidental theft of The Broke and the Bookish ideas). Maybe if I just run out of ideas, I will do top five best finds of the week/month, but those should be few and far between unless I somehow make five amazing finds all at once.

With that said, here is the first Fabulous Five Friday: Top Five Best Books About Jane Austen. (As the inaugural post, I had to go with my favorite topic.)

A Fine Brush on Ivory by Richard Jenkyns

The subtitle says that this is an appreciation of Austen and that is just what it is. It takes a thorough but non-academic approach to the various elements that Jenkyns finds most admirable and most deceptively complex for an author who worked at a self-professed "small" scale.

What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Mullen

A game of 20 questions in book form. Mullen interrogates Austens work, asking questions both literal (why does money matter?) and metaphorical (why is the seaside dangerous?). He explores topics I never considered, even after half a dozen readings of Austen's novels.

Searching for Jane Austen by Emily Auerbach

Why would we need to search for Jane Austen, one of the most well-known and continually adapted authors of all time? Auerbach's intent is to recenter our focus on Austen as keen observer of society with immense wit, irony,  and even meanness, moving away from the portrait of her painted by her family and many fans as a boring but saintly spinster obsessed with romance plots.  The book is publisheed by a university press, so it is academic in scope and intent, but not dry or littered with academese.

A Truth Universally Acknowledged edited by Susannah Carson

A collection of 33 essays from writers and scholars on why they appreciate Austen. The variety of voices and approaches gives a big picture view of how Austen's writing continually influences and brings joy to people of all ages, backgrounds, and tastes. And you are guaranteed to find a new perspective, regardless of how many times you've read Austen before.

Bitch in a Bonnet (volumes 1 and 2) by Robert Rodi

Rodi and I don't see eye to eye on all things Austen (we certainly disagree about Fanny Price, Henry Tilney, and Jane Fairfax), but his close-reading analysis of Austen's work is not only thorough, it is often hilarious. The book started out as a blog, with much the same intenet as Aurbach's book-- to reclaim Austen's "bitchiness" and liberate her from being stodgy Aunt Jane.

2.5 Stars, don’t bother

Don't know much about the xmen on Rogues team in this xmen universe. Rogue goes back to her home town to help contain a new mutant. She ends up learning more about her past. I”m not sure what to make of this. I kinda sorta like it but I’m not terribly impressed either. Somewhat interested but really don’t feel like finishing it.

After she and her gay BFF Go Go Fiasco are attacked by ninjas, Angela St. James discovers that her mother, the head of super secret spy agency G.O.O.D (Global Organization for the Obliteration of Dastardliness) has been keeping secret from her. Her father, who she believed was killed when she was little, is very much alive and is in fact the head of E.V.I.L (Extralegal Vendors of Iniquity and Licentiousness). Now both her parents are interested in recruiting her and Angela has to make a choice.

As a big fan of Modesty Blaise (both the books and the comics), this sounded like a fun read. My husband borrowed it from a friend and figured I'd think it was amusing. It does have a lot of things I find entertaining. Sexy super spies, gadgets, ridiculous rival organizations, exotic locations, dangerous missions, outrageous names and funny banter - this comic has it all. Angela St. James is a gorgeous bombshell and to explain why there has never been interested in her best friend and sidekick Go Go Fiasco, what better way than to make him gay? While living her jetset life, Angela discovers that everything she has believed about her parents is a lie, and now they both want her to become a valued agent of THEIR organization. I don't want to reveal which of the two groups she picks, not that it's a massive spoiler.

This trade paperback collects the first six issues of Codename: Knockout and it was a nice quick, if somewhat forgettable read. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if DC have collected the next issues of the comic, which makes me sad. I wouldn't mind reading the rest of the series, the writing is fun enough and the many different artists who portray Angela, Go Go and the other glamorous spies do a good job. Having to track down the rest of the series in individual issues is too much effort, however, so until it gets collected, I doubt I'll get to read any more.