Look at that clickbait-format title! Moving up in the world! And by moving up, I mean slowly becoming a Buzzfeed article.
But April did indeed blow the Reading Slump That Is 2015 out of the water, mostly due to graphic novels and middle grade fiction.
Here's what I read:
1. Aquarium by David Vann. REMEMBER HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS BOOK because it was a lot. A girl and her single mom and how much she loves fish. So much srsness and it's so great.
2. Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Man. That was a long ride. What a very emotionally complicated novel.
3. For Queen and Country by Margaret Drabble. Ah-ha! This is a brief overview of Victorian England and talks about important artists, inventors, social reformers, etc. Did you know that the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury was really, really into fixing the lunacy laws and advocated for child labor reform and safe factory conditions and was just all-around an apparently great guy? Yes.
4. Sex Criminals, Vol. 1 by Matt Fraction. So....I get why people would like this. It was not so much my jam. The weird thing that stuck out to me as annoying was the main girl going "This guy. This fucking guy" about the guy she's in love with OVER AND OVER AGAIN and it's like "yes, we get it, you are saying a lot with a little, but do it one more time and I rip the page you're on in half."
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This book is killer. Read it/re-read it now. Or wait until December if you're one of those "seasonal" people.
6. Fables, Vol. 1 by Bill Willingham. I like Fables! I'm looking forward to more of it. I'm in love with Snow White and kind of wish she had a less cliched love interest than the grizzled detective, but I'm trusting the actual stories in the successive volumes will be good.
7. Sandman, Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman. Man. I don't know where my line between "This is just dark enough and I really really love it" and "This is too dark and I hate it" is, but it's somewhere between Sandman and Batman Begins. Because Batman Begins can suck it with its emo angst and darkness for darkness's sake, but Sandman is damn great. I reeeally liked the scenes in Hell, and Doctor Destiny's whole thing in the diner and fight with Morpheus. The Scarecrow shows up in his storyline and I liked him enough to look up other things about him, but Wikipedia essentially said "The Scarecrow in Neil Gaiman's story is much different than he usually is," so I guess I'm abandoning that quest. I will read more Sandman!
8. Locke & Key, Vol. 1 by Joe Hill. I...like Locke & Key. I'm not sure what's going on with it. But I'm on Volume 2 and I'm gonna see where this is going. For those unaware, there're some murders and a family has to move into a big, creepy old house and it has ghosts and random keys that unlock doors BUT THEY ALSO UNLOCK OTHER THINGS.
9. Half Upon a Time by James Riley. I'm gonna review this one with the other two in the series, because I immediately started the second when I finished the first. It's middle grade fiction, but it's funny, and it has Jack, whose father is of beanstalk fame, and Prince Philip, and a girl named May, and they go on quests and oh, I love it very much.
And now we're in May! The month when I turn what is seemingly a terrifying age, meet Megs, and generally indulge my love of the movie Vertigo. GONNA BE A GOOD MONTH.
But April did indeed blow the Reading Slump That Is 2015 out of the water, mostly due to graphic novels and middle grade fiction.
Here's what I read:
1. Aquarium by David Vann. REMEMBER HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS BOOK because it was a lot. A girl and her single mom and how much she loves fish. So much srsness and it's so great.
2. Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Man. That was a long ride. What a very emotionally complicated novel.
 |
| My feelings about a lot of Villette |
3. For Queen and Country by Margaret Drabble. Ah-ha! This is a brief overview of Victorian England and talks about important artists, inventors, social reformers, etc. Did you know that the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury was really, really into fixing the lunacy laws and advocated for child labor reform and safe factory conditions and was just all-around an apparently great guy? Yes.
4. Sex Criminals, Vol. 1 by Matt Fraction. So....I get why people would like this. It was not so much my jam. The weird thing that stuck out to me as annoying was the main girl going "This guy. This fucking guy" about the guy she's in love with OVER AND OVER AGAIN and it's like "yes, we get it, you are saying a lot with a little, but do it one more time and I rip the page you're on in half."
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This book is killer. Read it/re-read it now. Or wait until December if you're one of those "seasonal" people.
 |
| I'm just sayin' it might be too much during actual Christmas |
6. Fables, Vol. 1 by Bill Willingham. I like Fables! I'm looking forward to more of it. I'm in love with Snow White and kind of wish she had a less cliched love interest than the grizzled detective, but I'm trusting the actual stories in the successive volumes will be good.
7. Sandman, Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman. Man. I don't know where my line between "This is just dark enough and I really really love it" and "This is too dark and I hate it" is, but it's somewhere between Sandman and Batman Begins. Because Batman Begins can suck it with its emo angst and darkness for darkness's sake, but Sandman is damn great. I reeeally liked the scenes in Hell, and Doctor Destiny's whole thing in the diner and fight with Morpheus. The Scarecrow shows up in his storyline and I liked him enough to look up other things about him, but Wikipedia essentially said "The Scarecrow in Neil Gaiman's story is much different than he usually is," so I guess I'm abandoning that quest. I will read more Sandman!
 |
| Ooh, so neat. |
8. Locke & Key, Vol. 1 by Joe Hill. I...like Locke & Key. I'm not sure what's going on with it. But I'm on Volume 2 and I'm gonna see where this is going. For those unaware, there're some murders and a family has to move into a big, creepy old house and it has ghosts and random keys that unlock doors BUT THEY ALSO UNLOCK OTHER THINGS.
9. Half Upon a Time by James Riley. I'm gonna review this one with the other two in the series, because I immediately started the second when I finished the first. It's middle grade fiction, but it's funny, and it has Jack, whose father is of beanstalk fame, and Prince Philip, and a girl named May, and they go on quests and oh, I love it very much.
And now we're in May! The month when I turn what is seemingly a terrifying age, meet Megs, and generally indulge my love of the movie Vertigo. GONNA BE A GOOD MONTH.
Comments
Post a Comment