| 12/27/16 |
Riichiro Inagaki & Yusuke Murata
Eyeshield 21: Volume 26 |
Great continuation of the Oujou/Deimon game, leading to Monta developing the Devil Backfire move. |
| 12/15/16 |
Rebecca Sugar, Josceline Fenton, Chrystin Garland
Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems |
The trade paper version of the individual comic issues I read earlier this year! Great to have, especially since there's a cover gallery at the end. |
| 12/10/16 |
Spider Robinson
The Free Lunch |
The nice balance between plot and character that Spider Robinson delivers is always pretty nice, and this one's no exception. I didn't care for the ending of this book but I liked some of the ideas and the main characters' relationship. |
| 10/25/16 |
Jhonen Vasquez
Invader Zim: Volume 2 |
The first couple issues weren't that great, but I liked the latter half of this trade. When Zim is in the groove it's just hilarious. |
| 10/20/16 |
Norton Juster
The Phantom Tollbooth |
Really not my kind of book. I'm afraid I wasn't entertained by the wordplay. At all. |
| 10/15/16 |
Louisa May Alcott
Little Women |
This book about the March sisters was worth reading, but not one of my favorites. I liked Jo the best because she was a writer and didn't like being expected to marry a boy just because they'd been good childhood friends. Some of it was difficult to relate to and there was some casual, uh, non-PC stuff obviously, but the characters feel real. |
| 10/8/16 |
Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko
Avatar: The Search, Part 2 |
All the sibling relationship talk is stellar in this series. I hope we get to find out what happened to Zuko's mom in the final chapter. |
| 9/24/16 |
Gregory Maguire
Three Rotten Eggs |
Fun, off-kilter kids' book I kinda accidentally ended up owning and finally read. Fire-breathing chickens! |
| 9/17/16 |
Francesca Lia Block
How to (Un)Cage a Girl |
Another poetry book by Ms. Block. I thought it had some nice images, but the obsession with physical beauty and body image stuff has gotten really tired for me I think. |
| 9/6/16 |
Rebecca Sugar, Tiffany Ford, & Elle Michalka
The Answer |
Another Steven Universe book--this time about Ruby and Sapphire's relationship. Incredible! |
| 9/5/16 |
Sandra Kynes
A Year of Ritual |
This book for Pagans who want to celebrat Sabbat and Esbat rituals was pretty much exactly what I expected, and even though I don't really do this kind of thing anymore, I liked peeking into it and evaluating what it had to say. |
| 9/3/16 |
Jay Asher
Thirteen Reasons Why |
A mystery with a brave premise about a girl who killed herself and left behind thirteen stories on tape for the people left behind to listen to. I felt a little lost and not too invested reading it, but I respect what it was trying to do. |
| 8/27/16 |
Julie Murphy
Dumplin' |
A pretty good book about a plus-size girl in a small town who enters a pageant because it shouldn't be weird for her to do so. I really liked all the relationships in this. |
| 7/9/16 |
Jhonen Vasquez
Invader Zim: Volume 1 |
Great trade paperback of five Zim issues--I love the cartoon and it was great to visit with these ridiculous characters again. |
| 7/2/16 |
Susan Daniels & Michael M. Piechowski
Living With Intensity |
Interesting perspective on giftedness, overexcitabilities, and the theory of positive disintegration. I am not sure how much I learned, but I did get to see some valuable comparisons and thoughts. |
| 5/12/16 |
Octavia E. Butler
Fledgling |
I kind of had a disconnect with the characters of this book, and was kinda bothered when I realized this is like the fourth work I've read by this author where humans get ensnared by nonhumans to be sexually attracted to and dependent upon them through a process they did not initially agree to, but other than that it was a good plot and a good concept. I didn't love the book but I liked it. |
| 4/16/16 |
Faith Erin Hicks
The Nameless City |
My friend Eric asked me to read this and I did. Nice comic set in fantasy Asia with emphasis on misfit "outsider" characters trying to find stability and trust in a volatile political situation. It was a little tropey but quite enjoyable to read. |
| 4/6/16 |
Rebecca Sugar, Ian Jones-Quartey, & Jeremy Sorese
Steven Universe: Too Cool for School |
Another Steven graphic novel, this one a full story about Steven going to school. Very cute but I hate nonsensical adults and this had a couple. But there were many cute moments. |
| 3/28/16 |
Rainbow Rowell
Carry On |
The weird Chosen One story adapted from Rowell's character's fanfiction in a previous book. I loved the romance in it, and sometimes it's hard to make me do that. |
| 3/25/16 |
Rebecca Sugar, Jeremy Sorese, & Coleman Engle
Steven Universe Volume 2 |
This was a great collection of individual issues 5 through 8, plus bonus content. |
| 2/22/16 |
Joan Slonczewski
The Wall Around Eden |
Interesting post-doomsday science fiction concepts, but I didn't care for the storytelling style and didn't really like the characters. |
| 2/14/16 |
Cartoon Network/Ian McGinty
Steven Universe: Live From Beach City! |
This sheet music and musical trivia book was fun to flip through, though it had some glitches and I don't realistically think kids can learn music notation from it well enough to write songs to the prompts provided. Cute idea though. |
| 2/14/16 |
Cartoon Network/Jake Black
Steven Universe: What in the Universe? |
Really adorable trivia book that didn't tell us anything we didn't already know, but colorful and fun! |
| 2/2/16 |
Julie Anne Peters
How Do You Spell G-E-E-K? |
I went back to read some of this author's earlier work because I liked her later stuff addressing LGBT teens. I couldn't stand this book. Everything about it was contrived and read like a grown-up faking her way through talking like a teen. Nobody was likable or believable. |
| 1/30/16 |
Douglas Adams
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency |
Silliness by the man behind the Hitchhiker's series. I tried to read this a few times when I was younger and couldn't get into it, but though it has kind of a convoluted, slow beginning, I'm glad I stuck with it. It was quite a fun read, with that great Adamsesque narration that I love so much, featuring silly phrasing mixed with surprisingly poignant truths about being alive. |
| 1/16/16 |
Alison Bechdel
Are You My Mother? |
Another incredible graphic novel about family, self, artistry, and love. I related a lot to the author/character, which is weird considering her relationship with her mom isn't much like my relationship with my mom. But there was so much I recognized and so much that felt so authentic. I adored it. |
| 1/1/16 |
Paul Zindel
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds |
The stark violence of the characters in this play and the desperation that was pervasive throughout made this a tough read for me, but also an emotional one. |
