Whoops! I forgot to do October. These past two months I've read some refreshingly empathetic narratives on psychoticism including Hello Sunshine and Sunflowers (a graphic memoir) by Keezy Young and Cry Wolf Girl by Ariel Slamet Ries. I've also read other graphic novel works by these authors in the last couple months.
 |  |  |
 | Turns out Cry Wolf Girl was originally a ShortBox Comics release! Full-circle moment! |  |
| ShortBox Comics is doing their last faire and for October and November I've been reading a haul of webcomics, though I'm not done yet. |  |
Last month I read 17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future, a multimedia novella by Jon Bois including text, gifs, video, and images as storytelling devices. I also read the novella To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers, which was a fun (and sometimes depressing) speculative biology work.
 |  |
I also read a nonfiction book in October! Polysecure by Fern Michaels. This is a book that looks at attachment theory and repurposes it in the polyamorous relationship model. I shared a few chapters with my partner and had some insightful conversations through it.
 |  |
This past month I also read Dreaming in Color by Natalie Andrewson (another nonfiction). It was both an artbook and an informative book on risographs. Very fun! And I liked how they revealed the layer process throughout the book.
I tried three different books and failed to get into any of them. Pretty sure it was me, not them. December is just too busy.
A relative sent me this book. As it was quite short I finished it. The book was comprised of "letters" from the different characters in the Nativity story.
The second book I bought for something different for Advent. And it was very different. Each chapter was like opening up an advent window only with a story about an animal and how it makes it through the winter--foxes, chickadees, turtles, fireflies, etc... Each animal was also beautiful drawn in black and white. Not particularly an advent meditation but more one on the sacredness and beauty of nature. Although I did skip the one on snakes. *shudder*
Happy New Year's fellow Book Club Members! Wishing good reads for all of us! 📚💗
For December I read mostly novellas and graphic novels again. Overall it was a good month for reading.
| Continuing my journey with Nghi Vo, I read the second book in the cycle, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain and Mammoths at the Gates. These were interesting to read one after the other because the world elements were so heavily related to each other. Of course When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain would provide context for any of Empress of Salt and Fortune too, but I felt sort of lucky to have read these two back to back at least. I liked the former more than the latter, mostly for the ending. |
| ||
| For my two graphic novels, Frizzy and A Frong in the Fall (which is a repeat author of mine). One is about a young girl who is forced to straighten her hair growing up and her wish to wear her hair curly. The other is about a little frog who goes an adventure to travel to the tropics before winter arrives. The binding for this book in particular was beautiful. It's cut long and its an open and threaded spine. The book's cover is made of thick board and it's all covered by a slipcase. It was a very stylish book. The little world notes at the end of it were very nice to read as well. |
A family member gave me this book for Christmas. I don't usually enjoy the books she gives but this one was an entertaining wish fulfillment book.
The other two books I read would not be of interest to most book lovers on this forum, but they are the other two I read this month and both were quite good.
 |  |
I tried a "thriller" that desperately wanted to be a "literary" work, but the language was so pretentious and convoluted I knew I wouldn't be able to finish 60 pp much less 600 so I put it in the give away pile. Dude also messed up historical facts in my country and the language of the people in a backwoods area as well as how children talk. Made me want to lash out irrationally.
This month I finished A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll and A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo.
I've read E.M. Carroll before in a horror anthology, so it was nice to return to her work. This was very beautiful as a graphic novel. Theres so much I love about it.
 page from A Guest in the House |  |
Of course, Nghi Vo's work is the latest in her Singing Hills cycle. It was fun. The current narrative was ok. I liked the worldbuilding elements of that timeline very much. But I really loved the stories surrounding the recipes, especially the one that goes into the mountains.
Two quick reads this month. I'm working through some bigger books now as well, but none finished yet.
Hello! This month I read two short books. The first was Lord Arthur Sevile's Crime by Oscar Wilde. The other was Medieval Girlfriends by Juliette Cousin.
This was my third work by Mr. Wilde. I liked it. I was surprised by how silly it was. I've read more darker and serious works of him until now.
 |  |
Medieval Girlfriends was a very cute lesbian romance between a monster hunting knight and a local serpentine monster girl! Forbidden romance for the win lol
Good and fun reading month ^_^
The Butterfly:
Just popping in to say "hi!" for the beginning of March. I didn't finish any books in February. I started a couple of books but couldn't get into them. My third book should have been my jam but I'm struggling with it. Don't mind dropping books, but can't drop three. Will try to finish the one I'm on in March.
I hope it turns out good!
Just popping in to say "hi!" for the beginning of March. I didn't finish any books in February. I started a couple of books but couldn't get into them. My third book should have been my jam but I'm struggling with it. Don't mind dropping books, but can't drop three. Will try to finish the one I'm on in March.
i had a very similar experience for february. it's been frustrating and disappointing :( good luck with pushing through, you can do it!! ...or drop it, i fully support either decision (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶), but here's to hoping march is an enjoyable reading month for all of us!
february was not a great reading month for me. i only managed to get through 4 books. one of my highly anticipated reads ended up both letting me down and pissing me off lmao i really wanted to drop, but i got to about 80%, so i pushed through and that sent me into a reading slump :') but here are 2 graphic novels and a manga i really enjoyed!
 |  |  |
