October Reads Borrows and Bought

October Reads
The Male Brain - by Louanne Brizendine
Please Look After Mom - by Kyung-Soon Shin
Graphic Design For Non-Designers - Tony Seddon
Habibi - Craig Thompson
The Walking Dead Vol2 - Robert Kirkman (graphic novel)

October Bought & Borrowed
(Borrowed from the library)
Wild at Heart - by Barry Gifford
The Walking Dead Vol2 - by Robert Kirkman
(Purchased from Amazon and Powells)
The Male Brain (3 copies!) - by Louanne Brizendine
Habibi - by Craig Thompson
(Purchased from Friends of the Library sale - I'm an addict!)
Running with Scissors:A Memoir - by Augusten Burrows
Lies My Teacher Told Me - by James Loewen
Peony in Love and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - by Lisa See
Outlander - by Diana Gabaldon
Foucault's Pendulum - by Umberto Eco
How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents - by Julia Alvarez
Into Thin Air - by John Krakauer
The Witches of Eastwick - by John Updike
Reading Lolita in Tehran - by Azar Nafisi
Loving Frank - by Nancy Horan

September Reads Borrows and Bought

September Reads
Blade Runner or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick
Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale by Carolyn Turgeon
Sifting Through the Madness for the word, the line, the way by Charles Bukowski
The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Male Brain by Louanne Brizendine
Y: The Last Man (Book 3) by Brian Vaughan and others (Graphic Novel)
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol (Graphic Novel)

September Borrowed & Bought
(Borrowed from Library)
Blade Runner by Philip K Dick
Sifting Through the Madness for the word, the line, the way by Charles Bukowski
The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Male Brain by Louanne Brizendine
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
How to Discipline Kids without Losing Their Love and Respect by Jim Fay
Graphic Design for Non-Designers by Tony Seddon
(Purchased from Amazon & the death of Borders)
Y: The Last Man Vol 3 by Brian Vaughan
Blackout by Connie Willis
The Wolverton Bible by Basil Wolverton
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
American Dream by Norman Mailer

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Ok, I seem to be too verbose on my summaries monthly so I'm going to break up the books from now on as (or as close to as my schedule allows) they are finished.  Today starts the back-log of Sept reads... one of which was Blade Runner formerly known as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but redubbed due to the amazing Ridley Scott movie of the same name.  I read this as a part of Portland's FIRST RULE OF BOOKCLUB group which reads a book, discusses and then watches the movie in one of our lovely local (and locally-owned) theatres!  I'm SO glad this was a pick because I might not have read the book otherwise (I rarely read sci-fi as I prefer it in the movie medium!)

I'd seen the movie already so I had a visual feel in my head that starts and ends with the eerie lighting & shadows, cool filters and a futuristic cityscape that Scott does so well.  But the book was so much more of a philosophical experience than a visual one really... which I loved.  The opening scene between husband and wife (Harrison Ford's character is married here and not remotely an android as the movie hints he might be)was as much humorous and familiar as it was frightening and reminded me of Farenheit 451.   Our hero doesn't wonder if he's actually human but he DOES wonder who holds humanity between humans and androids in this tale... and he increasingly questions his loyalty through the story despite moving forward with his profession of "retiring" rogue androids on earth. 

The moral decisions and issues of faith that are faced were so compelling and thought-provoking.  The book & the movie are so unique in theme and voice that Ridley Scott has really created something completely new which I have to admire for its own sake.  However one is missing something if one doesn't also experience the book.   I found the shared experiences that are part of the global religion both creepy and profound and sharing the journey of our hero/anti-hero matched that experience.

I highly recommend this story for all readers - not just genre lovers.  It is a stimulating and complex read.

Graphic Novel Top 10 (ish) Part 1

For my list, I am only considering ‘original graphic novels’ much like original screenplays in which there was not a book or movie in existence first…. For instance, the Matrix graphic novel, while beautiful and excellent, does not count as the movie preceded the graphic novel’s release. My one exception is Genesis because the origination has been in existence FOREVER and I would also like to encourage all books of the Bible to be turned into a graphic novel!  I tend to be really picky about visuals as well so you won't see the Sandman listed here (though it tops most lists) because, while complex, I HATE the graphics and can't get past them.  So these will all have reasonably 'pretty' graphics from my point of view.

In Order (Top rated first):

#1 (&2-3) Marjane Satrapi’s memoirs… I already mentioned Persepolis I & II, Chicken with Plums is my next favorite and Embroideries is in the top ten, so I’ll group them together for 1st-3rd place. Chicken with Plums tells Satrapi’s uncle’s history as a romantic, a musician and a family man surrounding the premise that he has chosen no longer to live after his wife breaks his favorite instrument in a fit of rage. It is soon to premier at the Venice Film Festival (Persepolis was made into a film as well). Embroideries is an Iranian version of the “Sex and the City” martini conversations… this time around tea with the Iranian matrons and daughters. It’s a great reminder that there is more alike than different between the Persian and Western cultures.

An added bonus:the graphics are delightful.

#4 Genesis as portrayed by R. Crumb.   This celebrated underground comix artist (depicted by James Urbaniak in “American Splendor” with Paul Giamatti) takes the entire book of Genesis, every chapter, and graphically portrays the stories, ‘begots’ and characters therein.  I’ve never cared much for his stylized humans (they’re usually somewhat grotesque and unlikable) but it works well to engage the reader here and remind one that the book of Genesis, far from being a morality tale, is about humanity and our hit-and-miss relationship with God.  I’m hoping he carries on with Exodus and the rest of the gang!
 

#5 Watchmen by Alan Moore (I know, I know… EVERYONE says this! (at least it wasn’t #1!!).  Considering that this is an incredibly familiar yet complex and fantastic world and that it was written during the age of Star Wars (the counter Mutually-Assured-Destruction Reagan program, not the space-cowboy trilogy), corrupt politicos, gang and drug problems on the rise and the dwindling of the comic-book genre, this story is a true coup.  Alan Moore has produced some other works (Promethea is often mentioned for example) and is a big hero in the graphic novel space but I haven't found anything as creative or rigorous as this in his repetoire.  Instead of the laziness of superheroes with unlimited powers, we're following fairly normal people who once took it upon themselves to become superheroes and are now obsolete and even marginalized.  It captures the sense of an era and people let down by their power structures and facing the real possibility of the end of their world.  The superheros struggle with whether they even want or should try to salvage humanity and the world.  Lovely. (or dark, whatever)
#6-8   These three sort of tie for me as they each have amazing graphics, amazing dialogue and amazing philosophies to contend with.  I'll start with the most familiar and end with the most foreign (to me). 

Blankets by Craig Thompson is the graphic novel answer to the film "Saved" which fundamentalists called 'meanspirited' and I saw as a revelatation for my friends who thought the film was a satire until I told them it was my adolescence.  It's essentially the author's memoir about growing up as a fundamentalist Christian striving to be worthy and faithful to his God, parents and faith and struggling in the face of ill-conceived small-town morality, peer Christian's horrendous behavior and the misunderstanding of his own poetic soul and artistic talents.  It would be the fundamentalist Christian version of Chaim Potok's The Chosen - drawn with beauty and artistry.  I saw myself, my other now-jaded friends and those we left behind in our home town(s) in this tale.  The particular struggle of trying to honor one's parents while rejecting their dogma especially hits close to home.  I'm not sure if mainstreamers are as touched by this story, but I would recommend it anyways and evangelize it to those who grew up in the far right.

The next is the Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar which I chose as less foreign than the third selection because it takes place in a foreign place so the strangeness feels right  ('right' not being the adequate word by any means but it'll do).  This book has it all: 1930's historical Algeria and Paris, Judiaism, Arabic-Jewish relations, anti-semetism, philosophy, struggles with faith, love and family tensions.  And the narration of the cat who learns briefly how to speak and uses his speech to take on the resident head rabbi in Talmudic debate is truly a delight.  The follow-on book (same name + "2") is beautifully drawn but more of a set of connected short-stories with an historical backdrop rather than the depth of the first book.  (Note: the third has yet to be translated to English from its original French)  I'm a fan of Joann Sfar's work anyways since whatever he writes tends to be beautifully drawn (either from his own hand or in collaboration) and full of a sense of whimsy.  His other works are worth checking out.

Finally: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang blew me away as one of the best works out there addressing second-generation Americans searching for their identity in the only country they've ever known as home while straddling parental and familial expectations of respect and duty to where their ancestor's originated.  Honestly, it would probably be at the top of my list (after Persepolis) if not for the sometimes comical graphics which annoy me.  Granted, when they're used, the PURPOSE is to annoy -- they usually crop up when the central character is showing his view of his 'backward' origins that cause the wanna-be-cool Chinese youngster to cringe.  Ultimately the narrator comes to terms with his Chinese-ness as a critical component of his identity and embraces it as part of his coming-of-age as yet another awkward teenage American.  Everyone can identify with these feelings and yet the specific struggles of non WASP-raised adolescents are unknown to WASPs which makes the book terribly relevant and eye-opening.  I think I'm unable to really read memoirs anymore unless they're in this type of format now!

#9 Robot Dreams by Sara Varon.  I'm perhaps cheating a bit here by including this one because there are actually no accompanying words in this book.  However, I think words would take away from the emotion and depth the 'reader' attributes to the story from their own interpretation.  This is not a child's picture-book.  It is a tale of love and loss that happens when one party outgrows another despite one's belief in a committed, unending relationship contract.  Spielberg/Kubrick's "A.I" doesn't even come close to the depth (and tears wrought) of this story. 
While I'm at it, I'd like to sneak in another no-words special-mention here which is sort of a child's book.  If you ever have the opportunity to see The Arrival, check it out as it really brings home a picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words by telling the tale of immigrants looking with fresh eyes at a foreign world (food, plants, people, signs).  It's incredible and incredibly drawn.  Sorry, I digress.

Finally - #10 - Whiteout by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber.  The artist mention is critical here because the story wouldn't make it without the amazing use of negative space by the artist to depict Antartica as it's own character.  (Actually, it went through a different artist for each edition for awhile and they were each amazing - Lieber was just the final one & the one who continued on Whiteout 2 which is also great).  Once feels notes of familiarity with the recently popular Scandinavian mysteries that are flooding the English market now and introducing their bare, cold, unforgiving Scandinavian landscapes as the vehicle for mood, foreshadowing and characters' internalizations.  I've heard the movie doesn't even come close. 

The last one on my list points out a theme to me about why each of these hit the top 10... I felt like I learned something or changed somehow with each example.  Either it helped me understand an era, place or demographic better, or it helped me get in touch with pieces of my own past and growth.  And this is perhaps what further separates graphic novels from serialized stories or comics for me... they can achieve as much as any literary masterpiece in the library.
Honorable Mentions coming soon....  (I just can't stop at 10!)

Connie Willis

She's a new-to-me author but she's been winning awards for decades (more Nebula awards than any other) for her science fiction. Her's is the kind of sci-fi I can't get enough of - witty, human, comic and relatable and I don't consider myself much of a sci-fi reader. I've read 3 of her books in the last 4 months and am eagerly awaiting the return of a too-soon-lent-out 4th title. Since I've greatly appreciated each of them, I thought I would gather the reviews in one total homage to Ms Willis.

I started my foray into Ms Willis' work with Bellwether which can barely be considered science fiction as its more about scientists researching scientific ideas and topics than about anything imagined. It is also the slimmest book I've found of hers so considering her other hefty tomes, it's a great intro for falling in love with her dry humor and love of the ludicrous. One of my male friends was upset to be surprised to discover a love story in the midst and one of my female friends was upset that she 'figured it out' from the start but I thought the love story was obvious and just a vehicle for the real story of the book which was about order and discovery amidst chaos. Don't be fooled by the main character, the love story or the research in the story: the real heart of the book is the annoying, impossible, sullen and opposite-of-helpful interdepartmental-aide Flip. In my mind everything revolves around her, particularly the finale.

I started To Say Nothing of the Dog almost immediately after finishing Bellwether. This book was the reason I discovered Willis in the first place: Book Lust had mentioned and recommended it though I mixed it up with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime when haunting Borders one day. The book has a special quirky following likely due to her many allusions to classic literary sources, the smart science and 'serious' Englishmen tossed into completely ludicrous situations. Our futuristic hero tries valiantly to undo potential damage to the space-time continuum originating in Victorian-age Britain and meets many a beautiful, silly, austere, scatter-brained, rogueish character. To Say Nothing... reads to me like a sci-fi Midsummer Night's Dream due to its situational comedy. I found it light, silly, fun and witty.

To Say Nothing of the Dog set me up for another comedy of errors when I started Doomsday Book (Willis' Nebula and Edgar awards winner) and it was nothing of the sort. Dry humor was abundant and the world is the same as the Dog irritatingly obtuse characters abounded but this is really a tragedy of errors if anything. While I found the irksomeness of some silly or stupid characters in the Dog amusing, they were too plentiful and the stakes too high in Doomsday. They didn't bother me so much while I was still expecting everything to work out well and conclude with the smart happy ending, which is what the Dog taught me to expect. Instead the tale turned to a serious look at how humanity deals with the seeming absence of God in terrible climes, here the Dark Ages of Europe during the plague. I was oblivious to the outside world as I stayed with the last 150 pages to find out what was going to happen and they are what finally won me over with their deep sadness and despair and my identification with the main character struggling to understand her purpose amidst such a state of affairs.
 
All in all, I'm a converted fan of Ms. Willis and I look forward to reading more - particularly her 2-part series during WWII of which the sequel was just released.