Reading Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog I learned that photographer Max Oppenheim has gone ahead and created yearbook photos based upon the illustrations that appear on the endpapers of Black Hole. They are impressive and haunting. (Click on the Commissions link on Oppenheim’s site to see the photos.)

I also learned that a Black Hole movie is in the works and that unfortunately it looks like Neil Gaiman will not be writing the screenplay, which is too bad because that would have been pretty awesome.

The other day at the library I was randomly perusing the graphic novel section, when I pulled out a copy of Fun Home by Allison Bechdel and read the following blurb on the back cover:

If David Sedaris could draw, and if Bleak House had been a little funnier, you’d have Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home.

- Amy Bloom author of A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You

Obviously the book went straight into my library bag.

Amy Bloom’s blurb is spot on and this graphic novel memoir is a must read for anyone who is a fan of the genre. It concerns the author’s early years growing up in a non-traditional family (the ‘fun’ in fun home by the way is short for funeral) and dealing with her father’s somewhat confused sexuality while also coming to terms with her own sexual identity. Good stuff.

In light of this, I think instead of trying to post a weekly summary, going forward I’ll just try to highlight what I’ve been reading one book at a time.

In the past two weeks I’ve read . . .

two very different graphic novels: French Milk by Lucy Kinsley which is a sort of travelogue done as a graphic novel and (Tammy Pierce is) Unlovable by Esther Pearl Watson which was based on a teenager’s diary from the 1980s that was found in a gas station bathroom, and that description alone was enough to make me pick this one up – I was glad I did;

two very different young adult novels Stop in the Name of Pants by Louise Rennison part of the ongoing Georgia Nicolson series which is loaded with hilariosity and Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin which is a much more serious novel about love and obsession that would make for a great book discussion. I also thought the bit about the blogger who bullies her classmate was very topical and lends itself to additional discussion questions.

Right now, I am in the midst of reading a short story anthology filled with post-apocalyptic stories, Wastelands edited by John Joseph Adams and listening to the audio book of Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.

This week I finished up a mystery novel Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan; read a graphic novel, Squirrel Mother by Megan Kelso; finished listening to the audio of An Abundance of Katherines by John Green and read a modern allegory Carmen Dog by Carol Emshwiller.

Bad Things Happen

I can’t remember where I first read a review for this debut novel by Harry Dolan, but wherever it was I remember thinking that the book sounded good, and I added it to by to-read list. I’m glad I did. Main character David Loogan has a mysterious past, who in a roundabout way ends up working for the small mystery magazine Gray Streets. Soon though, things are happening around Loogan, that makes him think he has stumbled into a real live Gray Streets story, as first one then another person associated with the magazine gets murdered. As the body count mounts it’s hard to put down this mystery novel, as each chapter seems to end in a new cliffhanger and the mystery behind who the murderer is and who David Loogan really is continues to deepen.

Squirrel Mother

This short graphic novel by Megan Kelso is a series of short graphic short stories, some on the usual themes of growing up as well as less conventional things like the Alexander Hamilton. Kelso’s stories rely mainly on her own engaging artwork to move things along, words are only there to help flesh out the stories a bit. It’s a quick “read” that can easily be completed in one sitting.

An Abundance of Katherines

I am now convinced that John Green is a bona fide master of writing about the teenage boy. Once again he takes the story of a socially awkward, somewhat nerdy teenage boy dealing with life and girls and turns it into an engaging poignant tale. His characters always feel like real people to me, people I would love to have as my own friends and maybe that’s what makes his novels so enjoyable. Colin’s a former child prodigy trying to come to terms with the fact that he is now nothing but an adult of above average intelligence as well as trying to deal with the fact that the nineteenth girlfriend he had named Katherine has dumped him. He goes on a road trip and winds up in Gutshot, Tennessee, and in that unlikely place makes some discoveries about his own life.

Carmen Dog

This novel by Carol Emshwiller is hard to classify. Unexpectedly all the women of the world start turning into animals while at the same time female animals start turning into women. The story mainly follows Pooch the family pet as she becomes a woman, dreams of singing in the opera and finds herself in one bad situation after another. It’s an allegorical tale that has the feel of something that would be read in a feminist studies course in college. The concept could be played for laughs, but the story is mainly a serious one despite the absurdity of the premise.

What’s Next?

Right now I am reading Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde and listening to Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr. I’m hoping to read Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin.

This week I read the awesome Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I also read The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon. At the moment I’m reading the very hard to put down Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.

Beautiful Creatures

This YA novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is described as Southern Gothic. Take everything you love about To Kill a Mockingbird stick the characters in a modern high school, then throw in some dark supernatural elements and you get a pretty good feel for Beautiful Creatures. It’s one of those books you just want to curl up on the couch with and lose yourself in its pages for a couple of hours. This book was recommended by several people, and I was not disappointed. If you haven’t yet done so, you need to read this book.

The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation

I remember when the original 9/11 Report came out being curious, but not curious enough to wade through the dense 600 and some pages of that book. Thankfully Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon came up with the brilliant idea of creating a much abridged graphic novel style adaptation of the report that presents all the essential points of the original report in a very accessible format. It’s still weighty stuff, and full of depressing information, not just the sad terrorist attacks that happened more than 8 years ago now, but the fact that it’s very likely our government hasn’t really learned from the mistakes that allowed the 9/11 attacks to occur. A report card at the end of the book asks the 9/11 commission to judge the country in how well they have followed through with the suggestions made by the commission, and it is pretty bleak.

What’s next

I’m nearly done with both of the books I am currently reading. After that it’s on to Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr and Squirrel Mother by Megan Kelso.

What about you? What books have been keeping you company this week?

I was side-lined by a flu at the end of last week, and as a result didn’t get quite as much reading in as I had hoped. I know that being camped out on the couch would seem to be an ideal time to get some reading in, but I find when I’m like this my brain feels too mushy for reading.

The Hunger Games

I did finally finish listening to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins on audiobook. Much to my surprise, I am not the last person on earth to read this book, though I am sure I must be close. The Hunger Games reminded me a lot of the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. Both are YA novels set in a dystopian future with people living in two very different worlds, in both cases one of those worlds is populated with vacuous pretty types and both books have hovercrafts. The Hunger Games also has a fight to the death reality television show. Think Survivor with far higher stakes. The second book in the series, Catching Fire, came out a couple of months ago.

The Ghost’s Child

I didn’t know what to expect with The Ghost’s Child by Sonya Hartnett. Billed as a modern fable, my library placed the audiobook in the young adult section. To me this very short book with fantasy elements, seemed like more of an all ages thing, and since the main plot point concerned a failed marriage and an elderly woman still coming to grips with the loss of her one true love, I think teenagers might not really be the target audience. It was an interesting tale in a magic realism vein that reminded me a bit of works by Haruki Murakami.

Stuck Rubber Baby

I was able to make it through one actual book with pages (as opposed to audiobooks) but this one did have lots of pictures too. Stuck Rubber Baby is a graphic novel by Howard Cruse that tells the story of a young man coming to grips with his own sexual identity set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement in the American South. In an afterward Cruse writes that it took him 4 years to complete Stuck Rubber Baby, and I am not surprised. The story is dense and complex, the artwork is detailed and this may be one of the wordiest graphic novels I have ever read. It’s a great book, and I highly recommend it to any adults looking for a graphic novel with some meat on its bones.

What I’m currently reading

I’m about halfway through an exciting science fiction novel, The January Dancer by Michael Flynn and planning on soon starting the audiobook of The Last Summer (of You and Me) an adult novel by YA author Ann Brashares.

That’s all I’ve got. What’s on your plate on this fine Monday?