Thumbs up for Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. Graphic novel.
A series of important days scattered throughout the life and (possible) deaths of obituary writer-cum-novelist Brás. Beautiful in both an artistic and metaphysical sense. Highly recommended. If you’ve never read a graphic novel, this would be a good place to start.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Literature/Humor/Science Fiction (sneakily—watch for it).
It’s always a dangerous business when you search out whichever classic it is that has almost the same plot as what you’re writing. Some authors refuse to read That Book (whatever it is for them), and I’ve sometimes fallen into that camp. This time, though, I don’t really care.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for An Almond for a Parrot by Wray Delaney. Historical Fiction/Fantasy/Erotica.
Sophisticated reason to read a book: I was intrigued by the title. But it turned out to be charming. Tully Truegood ends up as a courtesan accidentally (as one does), then in prison (quite intentionally). Here, she recounts events. A pleasing costume-drama confection. Light on the erotica, light on the romance, gently witty, very nice use of the heroine’s magical ability to turn ghosts manifest.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Heathen, Volume 1 by Natasha Alterici. Graphic novel.
Walking through Emerald City Comic Con, I spotted some art that made me stop on a dime and walk backward. The author/artist handed me the first volume saying something like, “it’s about lesbian Vikings who go on a quest to kill Odin.” I said, “Sold.” I read it that night and went back to Alterici’s booth the next day to get an art commission.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Prince of the Godborn by Geraldine Harris. Children’s fantasy.
By all rights I should have been bored to tears by this, the first volume in a series about a spoiled half-God prince and his warrior half-brother traveling the world in search of seven MacGuffins. It also suffers a slight lack of commas. Yet, somehow, the characters and the world charmed me.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for The Necromancer’s House by Christopher Buehlman. Horror/fantasy.
This is a messy book, but messy in a pleasing way: if magic were real, you can believe it would be this. A magician and his apprentice, who met in Alcoholics Anonymous. (They love each other, but she’s a lesbian; awkward.) The magician has a boobytrapped house, a bunch of Russian spell books, a wicker butler with the heart of a collie and the head of a Salvador Dali painting, and a very good reason to have a boobytrapped house.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Woodcutters by Thomas Bernhard. Literature.
A friend of mine who is a huge Bernhard fan loaned me this. It was both enjoyable, and the best soporific you can imagine: three pages a night were guaranteed to put me right to sleep. It is one long paragraph of the internal reminiscences of a man at a party as he contemplates the hosts, the other guests, his own history, the theater, and a friend whose funeral he attended earlier in the day.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Children’s.
I honestly don’t remember ever having read this before. It’s possible I read it as a kid and didn’t connect with it. As an adult, however, I loved it.
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