Showing posts with label 13th Annual Graphic Novel/Manga Reading Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 13th Annual Graphic Novel/Manga Reading Challenge. Show all posts

Thursday, December 10, 2020

Wrap Up of Graphic Novel/Manga Reading Challenge

One year ago I signed up to read 12 books for this challenge.  I surpassed the challenge by reading 27 comics. The books that I read include:

Cub by Cynthia Copeland

Catherine's War by Julia Billet

British Ice by Owen Pomeroy

This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews

Something New by Lucy Knisley 

Green Lantern Legacy by Minh Le

Becoming RBG by Debbie Levy

I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider

Saga by John Allison

Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna

Creation by Sylvia Nickerson

Dragon Hoops by Gene Lien Yang

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

Fever Year by Don Brown

The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp

Preacher, Book 1 by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon

The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown

Windows on the World by Robert Mailer Anderson

Notes on a Thesis by Tiphane Riviera

Filmish by Edward Ross

Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley

Creation by Sylvia Nickerson

Shanghai Dream by Phillipe Thirault

Drawing the Vote by Tommy Jenkins

Wicked Things 1-2 by John Allison

Mozart in Paris by Frantz Duchazeau

Paying the Land by Joe Sacco

Favorite Book:  Green Lantern Legacy

Second Favorite Book:  British Ice

Least Favorite Book:  Creation

Honorable Mentions go to half of the books that I read!  Dragon Hoops, Windows on the World, The Oracle Code, Almost American Girl, Catherine's War, Paying the Land and This Was Our Pact.  Frankly, everything I read was fabulous with the exception of two books:  Creation and Mozart in Paris.   I didn't include Saga in my favorites because it was published several years ago.  Of course, it would be the best book of the year. 

2020 was a great year for comics.  Let's hope that 2021 is just as good.

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Fever Year

Fever Year is a history of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic told in a graphic novel format.  Don Brown published this book in 2019, the newest addition to his disaster novels. Brown has previously written about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Great American Dust Bowl, and about Syrian refugees.

Fever Year is a short, 51 page, book on the 1918 flu pandemic.  It is written as a straight history book.  There are no characters or plot.  The author tells the reader how the pandemic began,  how it worked its way around the globe and how people reacted to it.  It is eerily similar to our current COVID-19 pandemic. With governments arresting those who violated the quarantine it provides some details concerning what may be next for us today.  This quarantine was a real quarantine.  It was not a stay-at-home order where you could leave your home to buy food and prescriptions. People had to do without. Those who needed medication for pre-existing illnesses died. Masks were required to be worn and there were several health care hucksters pedaling drugs that did not ease the symptoms of the flu.  Sound familiar?

I liked this book.  It gives us a history of an event that we should know about and inside are clues to what can happen again.  Humans being humans, it does not matter how technologically advanced society is. We will act in desperate ways.  5 out of 5 stars.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

13th Annual Graphic Novel/Manga Reading Challenge

I am continuing this challenge in 2020 by signing up to read 12 graphic novels by the end of the calendar year. Since I already have 5 books in my Amazon wishlist waiting for my next payday for purchase, I thought about signing up at the next highest level. However, for me it's always best to lower my reading expectations or I get anxious and stop reading. I am looking forward to getting started on this challenge. It's one of my favorites.