nomadreader

As I've been home for more than two months, I've found myself (finally) reading through my backlog of comics I've checked out from the library (thank you extended due dates!) It's fun to dip into a book I can read in a single sitting, and it helps keep my reading momentum going. Here are three I've read this month: Stepping Stones  by Lucy Knisley Y'all know I love Lucy Knisley's graphic memoirs and comics, so I was excited to read her debut middle-grade graphic novel, which is inspired by her childhood. When Jen's parents get divorced, she has to leave New York City and moves to an upstate farm with her mom and her mom's boyfriend. His two daughters only live with them every other weekend. All three help sell at the farmer's market. As always, Knisley's art is lovely. I struggled with this graphic novel because I found it to be very sad. Because we only see things from Jen's perspective, and she's so young, the wisdom and persp...

The basics:  "This vivid graphic novel delves into his pioneering physical approach to making art, highlights the key characters surrounding the New York mid-century art scene, and reveals the intriguing relationship between Pollock's painting and the covert activities of the Cold War."--publisher My thoughts: I majored in Art History in college (and Journalism and Women's Studies), and I have a particular fondness for Abstract Expressionism and Jackson Pollock. I will never forget the feeling of seeing my first Pollock in person. The scope and scale and texture took my breath away and made me understand art in new ways. I was curious to see how this graphic novel (it is fiction, albeit very closely tied--for the most part--to history) told his story. I read this fascinating graphic novel in a single sitting. It has it all: history, art, drama, romance, politics, spies, and death. The visuals are stunning and capture the scale of Abstract Expressionism well. It...

book quickie: when I want to talk about a book, but I don't have much to say Here's the description for this book: "America’s favorite recluse just got a life! With her distinctively funky drawing style and insightful wit, artist Rosanna Bruno presents a cross-generational Dickinson for the 21st century." This book is a collection of different things, some of which shine brighter than others, and some of which I'm certain I didn't fully understand the references because of my limited knowledge of Emily Dickinson. It's fun, funny, and clever. It's also pretty short and could be read in a single sitting. It left me wanting more. Rating: 4 out of 5 Length: 96 pages Publication date: March 7, 2017 Source: publisher Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy The Slanted Life of Emily Dickinson  from Amazon ( Kindle edition .) As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping ...

After enjoying the first volume of Ms. Marvel: No Normal ,  I was eager to continue with the series. Ms. Marvel Vol. 2: Generation Why If  the first volume had a weakness, it was a necessary one: Wilson had a world to build. Generation Why  is able to pick right up where the action left off, and it covers a lot of ground. These collections feature several issues of the comics bound together. As someone who has never read traditional comics, I find the pacing interesting. Many of the issues end of cliffhangers, as the first volume did, but I was pleased this collection's ending felt like a satisfying end for a volume that's part of a continuing series. Readers familiar with comics will find many familiar faces (I confirmed some with Mr. Nomadreader), but as relative Marvel neophyte, I never felt lost. Wilson manages to write for new and old fans simultaneously. Wilson also packs a lot of action into this volume. Thankfully, there is also a lot of character developme...

The backstory: Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel  was a 2014 New York Times  Notable Book . The basics:   "After fifteen years of marriage, Lena Finkle embarks on a string of online dates and receives a brutally eye-opening education in love, sex, and loss while raising her two teenage daughters."--publisher My thoughts: I heard about this graphic novel when it was released last summer, but I was a million months pregnant and cranky. Then I forgot about it until it was named a 2014 New York Times  Notable Book. It's still a big deal for a graphic novel (or graphic memoir) to make the list, and I was curious to dive in. I managed to read this lengthy (by comics standards) book in a single afternoon (it would have been a single sitting, but as happy as Hawthorne is to play by himself, he still likes to play with me too.) As I read, I was struck by the rawness of Lena as a character. Although fictional, it reads like a memoir. I had to keep reminding myself that...

The backstory: G. Willow Wilson is the opening keynote speaker (tonight!) at the Association of College and Research Libraries conference . After enjoying Ms. Marvel: No Normal , I grabbed her other books from the library. The basics: Cairo is the story of a drug runner, a journalist, an American expatriate, a student, and an Israeli soldier in contemporary Cairo. My thoughts:  As the characters are introduced, it is not initially clear how they relate to one another, but Wilson weaves their storylines together in intriguing ways. While this graphic novel starts firmly planted in reality, it soon incorporates elements of fantasy. While I found those turns visually stunning and intriguing, in some ways I thought they distracted somewhat from the social and political commentary. I'm certainly not an expert on Cairo, and the book taught me quite a bit. I imagine I did not understand each reference, but I never felt as though I couldn't follow the story (in fact the fantasy...

The backstory: G. Willow Wilson is one of the keynote speakers at next week's Association of College and Research Libraries conference in Portland, Oregon , and part of the conference marketing campaign was designed around Ms. Marvel, so I knew I wanted to read it before seeing Wilson speak at the conference. The basics: The titular Ms. Marvel is Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager living in Jersey City. My thoughts: I don't read many traditional comics, and while Ms. Marvel  is clearly a subversion of the genre, I knew there were references I wouldn't understand. I even wondered if I would get all the things it was trying to do, so I enlisted the help of a veteran comic book fan, Mr. Nomadreader. He explained a few things to me that gave the book more depth, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I did get  just from my own reading. There's a lot of set-up in this comic, but that didn't detract from the plot. Kamala's family and friends a...

The basics: Spanning hundreds of thousands of years, Here  is the non-linear story of one piece of land (and its inhabitants) over time. My thoughts: Here  begins with a smaller scope than my synopsis. It begins inauspiciously compared to its journey. I read all of this graphic novel in one sitting, and I read much of it with my jaw open in delighted surprise at what McGuire does in this novel. I expected this novel to be the story of the house and those who lived in it over time, as well as how its decor changed. It  is  that, but it also goes into the future (near and far) and into the past, long before there was a house. I live in a 102-year-old house, and I love to think about the lives of those who lived there before us, particularly as its the only home Hawthorne has ever known. But now I can't stop thinking about our plot of land long before it was a plot, or how long it will stay a plot. Admittedly, the story is a fascinating one: snapshots of life, hum...

The basics: Halfway Home  is a graphic journal of Christine Mari Inzer's trip to Japan, the country where she was born. My thoughts:  I'm a huge fan of travel writing, so I was eager to read Halfway Home , the debut from Christine Mari Inzer, a teenage graphic memoirist. Inzer was born in Tokyo in 1997. Her family moved to the U.S. in 2003. In the summer she turned sixteen, she returned to Japan by herself to visit family and explore her roots. Halfway Home  transported me to Japan along with Inzer. It made me feel sixteen again, in the sense that she captures the good and the bad parts of being that age. Inzer's trip to Japan is unique, in that she is exploring both by herself and with family. As she explores alone, however, she also has advice from her father about where to go and what to see. Like so many travel journals, food is a big part of Halfway Home , and I quite enjoyed Inzer's depictions and descriptions of her meals. As I read her travel journal, I ...

The basics: Sally Heathcote, Suffragette  tells the story of the British suffrage movement through the story of (fictional) Sally Heathcoate, who begins this graphic novel as a maid for the (real) Pankhursts. My thoughts: I have long had a fascination with the U.S. and British women's suffrage movements, and I was excited to see the British suffrage movement depicted in a graphic novel. Perhaps because I was so familiar with the key public moments depicted in this graphic novel, I was quite drawn to its art. There's a beautiful intentionality to Charlesworth's use of color. As depicted on the cover, Sally's red hair is often one of the few bursts of color in early panes. Yet as the story develops, and the different groups fighting for suffrage argue, their different colors shine brightly in the often otherwise black and white panels. The ruse of inserting a fictional character into an otherwise factual tale is typically a device I adore. In this case, Sally's ...

The backstory: Lucy Knisley is perhaps my favorite graphic memoirist. I've thoroughly enjoyed her first two graphic memoirs: French Milk  and Relish . The basics: In An Age of License, Knisley recounts her European book tour. My thoughts: An Age of License  is somewhat reminiscent of French Milk , as it's a travelogue and takes the form of her travel diary. While food is a frequent theme in this graphic memoir, as it is always is in Knisley's work, the emphasis here is more on life and reality. Even as Knisley enjoys her trek across Europe, there's a seriousness, and even a darkness, to this memoir. Knisley's most recent long-term relationship recently ended. She still loves him, but she wants kids (one day), and he doesn't. As someone who didn't want kids for many years, and then was ambivalent about having kids for many more, I fully appreciate this tension. Disagreement about children trumps love. As Knisley rebounds from the end of this relationshi...

The basics: The Amateurs , the debut graphic novella from Conor Stechschulte, is the story of two butchers who arrive at work to find an empty shop and have no memory of how to do their jobs. My thoughts: I'm still not quite sure what to make of The Amateurs  in its entirety. As a reading experience, I quite enjoyed it. It's dark and funny, a winning combination for me, and I was enchanted with the hilarious attempts the butchers made to try to fill meet orders when there was no meat, only one cow and one pig. Along with their memory, these two also lost their common sense. Over all, The Amateurs  is bizarre. There appears to be much more going on, and while I enjoyed and appreciated the horror and humor, I wanted more of a resolution, even an ambiguous one. The ending came abruptly in my opinion, and I felt myself saying, "that's it?" The verdict: While I enjoyed the experience of reading The Amateurs , I wished for more of a finale than it had. Still, Stec...

The basics: Over Easy is a partially fictionalized graphic memoir of Mimi Pond's experience as an art student and diner waitress in Berkeley, California in the 1970's. My thoughts: I spent years working in restaurants. I never worked in a diner, but the wine bar in Atlanta where Mr. Nomadreader and I met, had an eight-hour brunch every Saturday and Sunday. Given my history (and Mr. Nomadreader's continued work) in the service industry, I'm drawn to books about the restaurant business. When I read Mimi Pond wrote a comic for Seventeen  in the 1990's, I immediately remembered her, and I also knew she wrote for The Simpsons . Over Easy  may be a debut graphic memoir, but she's an accomplished and experienced artist and author. Pond captures the essence of 1970's Berkeley well. I was eager to explore that world, and the level of detail helped me immerse myself in it quickly. She also captures the naivete of her former self well. As is still the case, resta...

The backstory: Thumbprint  is a graphic novel adaptation of Joe Hill's short story. The basics: Mallory Grennan is back from the Iraq War, where she took part in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison abuse. She's tending bar and trying to forget the past, but signs keep popping up that someone is here and trying to remind her. My thoughts: When I picked up Thumbprint , I didn't know anything about it, and I was immediately pulled into its narrative. Mallory Grennan is a haunting and fascinating character. Admittedly, part of my fascination with her stems from her gender (and Hill's treatment of it.) In the flashbacks to Iraq, it seemed inconsequential, yet when she's home bartending, the one male patron in particular sees her only as a woman, rather than as a person. Her story is grim, and the graphic novel's tone follows suit. In this sense, the graphicness of the illustrations force the reader to see the horrors of war rather than simply imagine them. It's ...

The backstory: After loving all three of Audrey Niffenegger's earlier graphic novels, The Adventuress , The Three Incestuous Sisters , and The Night Bookmobile ,  I was eager to read her latest, Raven Girl . The basics: When a postal carrier falls in love with a raven and takes her to live with him, they're both surprised her baby turns out to be human, but still birdlike. The Raven Girl longs to be a raven, as she feels on the inside. My thoughts: Audrey Niffenegger's graphic novels tend to include elements of magical realism, and Raven Girl  is no different. I'm not a fan of fairy tales, per se, but those elements in Raven Girl worked well for me. Niffenegger quickly builds a world in which it makes perfect sense for a postal carrier to fall in love with a raven and build a life together. That sense of magic dissipates somewhat when Raven Girl grows up and goes to college. A darker magical realism emerges, and it wasn't as captivating for me. Niffenegger's...

March: Book One  by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Nate Powell The basics: Civil rights icon and long-serving Congressional Representative John Lewis recounts his life in this graphic memoir, the first in a planned trilogy. Book One  covers his childhood through the Nashville Student Movement, as well as flashbacks of a young family visiting Lewis's DC office today. My thoughts: I was proud to live in Lewis's Congressional district in Atlanta for many years, and I have long been fascinated by his life, both past and present. (And, yes, I still wish everyday I still had him as a Representative.) The events in March: Book One  will be familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of Lewis (and the second half to those who have seen Stanley Nelson's excellent documentary Freedom Riders .) What March  does best is provide context for the omnipresent and harrowing racism. By having two children asking questions (there visit poetically coincides with Barack Obama's inau...

Agent Gates  by Kyle Hilton and Camaren Subhiyah The basics: What if fan favorite valet Bates were a secret agent with a bionic leg protecting the royal crown? Agent Gates  takes that idea and runs with it. My thoughts: Agent Gates  is escapist fan fiction at its best. The characters will be familiar to any fan of Downton Abbey , and the writers keep them just close enough to their fictional counterparts to be fabulously believable. It's a fun fun, preposterously awesome adventure that is the perfect thing to tide me over until January when season four makes its way stateside. Rating: 4 out of 5 Length: 128 pages Publication date: January 1, 2013 Source: library Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Agent Gates from Amazon ( Kindle edition .) Blue is the Warmest Color  by Julie Maron The basics: Fresh on the heels of the film adaptation of this French-language graphic novel winning the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, an English translation is f...