Let's Get Literate! Goodbye August 2017; Hello September!

[renay]

Last month I decided to read a bunch of the graphic novels I had been collecting. I didn't read all of them, but I did make some headway!

• Monstress by Marjorie M. Liu & Sana Takeda — I am still mulling over the second volume of Monstress but it continues to be one of the most gorgeous comics I've read. I want to write some more thoughts on this later.


• Hawkeye: Kate Bishop by Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero, & Jordie Bellaire — NOT A SPOILER: I loved this so much. I talked about it here.


• Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Promise & The Search by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gurihiru, & Dave Marshall — The Promise was generic, worked really hard to create artificial conflict, and failed my five minute rule. The Search was an excellent storyline that balanced the different medium to tell a story that felt like Avatar. I missed Toph, but in this medium it's a little harder to do groups that are larger and still give everyone something to do, so I didn't mind they subbed her out so we could learn about Zuko and Azula's mom. The art was so beautiful, too.


• Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, & José Marzán Jr. — I read the first two volumes. The opening volume is great, but I was right that it wasn't going to age well. The writing is often sexist and transphobic and it really bums me out because I love the main team and get booted out of the narrative every time the writing is casually bigoted and doesn't examine itself. The most accurate part for me was when GOP representatives who died (because of course, Congress is full of men), their wives broke out the guns and demanded to be seated in their place. This is also a fascinating series to read in light of the Lord of the Flies debate pinging around Twitter.

My 2017 reading goals so far:

• Read 110 items
• Read 30 new women writers — 21/30
• Read 10 nonfiction titles
• Space Opera Challenge: read 15 titles — 5/15
• Read 10 books I own purchased before January 1, 2017 — 2/10
• Read 5% of my anticipated 2017 titles — 10/56
• Read some graphic novels — 6/16

September Reading Goals

Now that my main reading goal is finished, I'm focusing on the other goals I have perhaps ignored a little too much. Like the goal that tells me to READ THE BOOKS I HAVE IN MY HOUSE STOP GOING TO THE LIBRARY BUYING BOOKS BORROWING FRIENDS BOOKS LOOKING AT REC LISTS FOR NEW BOOKS. I have a problem, but everyone who reads this has the same problem and can't help.



Ms. Marvel, Vol. 7: Damage Per Second by G. Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa, Mirka Andolfo — I don't blame the creative team for Ms. Marvel Vol. 6, the Civil War tie-in, because what can they do when the Marvel executives decide they want to relive the glory days of the first Civil War? I'm excited to move on.

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden — It's never wrong to buy things for the cover and the promise of robots.

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi — My wonderful friend Jenny recced me this book and I got halfway through before life exploded, so I am determined to finish.




Buried Heart by Kate Elliott — I am suffering from "too excited for this book"/"after this it's over" syndrome. :( But I'm still gonna do it! This month!

Provenance by Ann Leckie — This is an ARC, so please do not feel like you've missed something. I was very excited to get it and now have time to read it. *_*

The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire — I planned to read this as soon as it came out, but then life reminded me of ten responsibilities I needed to deal with ASAP. TORTURE.




The Empress Game by Rhonda Mason — Another book I started that was bumped due to life explosions! I liked what I read of it, though.

Taste of Marrow by Sarah Gailey — HIPPOS. HEISTS. QUEER FOLKS. AND NOW BABIES????? SIGN ME UP.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones — I'm rereading this for Fangirl Happy Hour as part of our patron-sponsored Vault series. :D




Defy the Stars Claudia Gray — This is another book featuring robots that I'm Very Excited for.

Grace and the Fever by Zan Romanoff — Let's talk about my wonderful friend Jenny again, who sent me this book after it was hyped up to me by Twitter pals. She's so great, y'all.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer — Another gift book I'm finally going to read, this was a present from Jodie who loves me and sent me the most beautiful set of the Southern Reach trilogy from the UK. Seriously, these books are gorgeous.

(Spoiler: when I returned my library books to the library yesterday, even though I gave myself a hearty pep talk before I went in, I still came home with two books. #PREDICTABLE)