September Dregs

okay, catching up on the last of my September reads... two graphic novels and a book of poetry.
The two graphic novels this month were Anya's Ghost and Y: The Last Man Vol3. 

Anya's Ghost starts light hearted enough, and then slowly adds on the creepy.   Without really trying to, the narrator addresses bullying, 1st generation immigrants trying to fit in with the pressure to honor the past, infatuation, teenage moral codes (or lack thereof), self acceptance and others.  At the same time, we have ourselves a ghost story with a 93-year old ghost 'girl' and the girl who befriends her.  The ghost really is a vehicle to offer some 'what would you do if...?' scenarios and it works well in this medium.   It's not world changing underground 'comix' but it's a fun and layered read.  I wish the author delved a titch more into the complex emotions that surround the betrayal of treating another the way you were once treated (and hated) out of fear of the past.  There is a lot of current (great) literature or movies out about this phenomenon of pursuing the frenemies in one's life rather than befriending those who need friends as much as oneself and who would prove far more loyal.  Anya's story had an opportunity to add more on the subject but really just touched it and moved on.  I'd still recommend this quick read.

As for Y:The Last Man, I'm on the third (of 5) compilations in these serial graphic novels but haven't yet discussed it much with the exception of my graphic novel rating entry.  This series keeps getting better as women decide if they want to recreate the conflicts that occured in a world with both sexes.  The majority of politicians, soldiers, pilots, violent criminals, and Fortune 500 CEO's have disappeared.  Where do we go from here?  And what do we believe about fate and faith now in the midst of the greatest apocalypse in earth's history?  And for Yorrick (yes, Yorrick - his dad was a big Shakespeare fan), the sole surviving male on earth - what is his responsibility to womankind... was he supposed to die as well or is he supposed to be the hope for a new mankind?  The trek across land and sea paces quickly while staying true to a time-scale of several years.  I can anticipate numerous take-offs of 'inspired-by' stories that follow or prequel other characters in this world instead of following the last man... because while his story is interesting, this is still at heart the story of a world of women reeling and coping with the remnants of human(and animal kingdom as well)-kind and a ticking clock for the expiration of life on earth.  Highly, highly recommended!

Finally, as a result of reading the slogged-through-it-and-can't-decide-if-I-liked-it-or-hated-it Hollywood by Charles Bukowski, I decided to check out one of his books of poetry to see what all the fuss was about.  In my mind, Bukowski seemed like a wanna-be Hemingway in the manner of self-destructive, womanizing, cerebral but soul-less jerk. 
I picked up Bukowski's post-humous book Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way…  (even his title irks me!) which was one of the few books available at the library and it didn't really help because it was written around the time that Hollywood was finished so any insights just compounded my I'd-rather-be-reading-Billy-Collins-than-this-asshole opinion.  I've spoken to a few women who obsessed over his earlier poetry in their adolescence so perhaps I should give him another shot... but then again, I'm in my 30's and will likely finding it just as tiresome since I know I would find myself as an adolescent quite annoying.

August Reads Borrows & Bought

August's runaway winner (although it was an all-over interesting and enriching month of reading) is The Forgotten Garden, a book our bookclub chose to read and that was a delight to dive into.  It is compared to The Secret Garden in reviews and with some reason... they both have gardens.  Forgotten starts a little slow like Francis Hodges Burnett's novel does and Burnett makes a brief appearance in the tale.  Otherwise though the main similarities are the great female characters (in this case several generations of women across continents) and the feeling of wonder as you fall into the magic of the tale.  It's not perfect, especially in laying out the foundations of the personalities of the characters, but its memorable and satisfying and I'll return to it for a second (or more) reading in the future!

Otherwise, I bopped all around genres - some due to recommendations or a 2nd book club (Fermata and Hollywood), and some due to their classical nature and a desire to keep spreading my tastes or due to it catching my eye at the local bookstore display  (The Great Impersonation and Angelology).

With Borders bookstores going out of business (for real this time) and a surprise Amazon giftcard, I've been hard-pressed to refrain from buying sprees so I'm sitting on my hands figuratively through September to balance out my banner month of new books in August!  Highlights from purchases are/were The Forgotten Garden which I first read from the library but loved enough to own and reread, and I, Claudius which is a bi-annual favorite read and which I lost by enthusiastically loaning it out in years past.  My used copy from Amazon.com looks almost exactly the same as my old copy!  I have a lot of reading and a lot less acquiring to do this next month!