Tag: graphic novels

Series I love

Series I Love: Lumberjanes

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Happy Friday everyone, the sun is out, we’ve had the longest day and in the US the summer break is underway and children are heading off to Summer Camp, which means that it’s an ideal time to write about the Lumberjanes series.

The Lumberjanes are a group of girls spending their summer at a scout camp, which is presumably somewhere in New England, and though they never really say. The camp looks like any other camp you might have seen in American popular culture, but its environs turn out to be inhabited by various magical and mythical beings and across the course of the twenty volumes they meet them and battle some of them.

I’ve finally finished reading the series – for some reason the final two didn’t turn up at on my order at the comic book store when they first came out and I’d got so distracted that I’d forgotten about it until a month or so back when I looked at the shelf and saw it only went to 18. I can’t quite explain why I love the series so much – except that it mashes up loads of the stuff I loved as a child with great art and some jokes. It’ll make you smile – and if you’re actually the age it’s aimed at, it’ll teach you some valuable life skills for navigating the world. I guess that’s why it won a tonne of awards.

You can get these really easily – any good comic store will have them, as will any bookshop with a graphic novel section. They are in eformats too, but I find graphic novels really hard going on e readers so your mileage may vary on that too.

Have a great weekend!

books, series, Series I love, Young Adult

Series I Love: Fence

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So this week I’m adding the the graphic novel series that I’ve written about in my series posts – with Fence – a series I’ve been reading for years and hope goes on for more years to come.

Fence is the story of the members of a fencing team at the prestigious Kings Row boarding school. The main characters are Nicolas – the illegitimate son of a legendary fencer but keeping that secret, at the school on a scholarship and having had very little formal training but with bags of potential – and Seiji Katayama a hugely talented but deeply mysterious fencer whose presence at Kings Row is a bit of a surprise to the fencing world, who thought he would be at a better school. Because Kings Row is good – but it’s not championship winning good at the moment, so could this year’s team be the ones to change that? There are other members of the team and we see their stories too, but the Nick and Seiji strands are the main ones.

We’ve got to six collected editions now – and we’ve see the guys at school, at practice, in matches and most recently at a training camp with all of their main rivals. The boarding school element is what drew me to it originally – my love of Girls Own boarding school stories is well known here, but the rivalry aspect and the art just spoke to me. And the art has been consistently really good through the whole series so far – there are various different people doing different things here and there and although the styles vary, like with Lumberjanes they’re consistent in their own way and all really nice too look at.

There’s also a couple of novels now – I’ve read the first but not the second and they get more into the other members of the team and away from Nick and Seiji and I’ve enjoyed that as well. My only gripe really is that there is so long between each book. But then that’s a fairly common gripe for me with graphic novels – but I know they take a long time to draw and that they come out in single editions first so I cope!

You should be able to get Fence from any good comic book shop – they’re on Kindle as well and the first one is at a really reasonable price – although my experience with reading graphic novels on Kindle is distinctly mixed so your mileage may vary.

Happy Weekend everyone!

Series I love

Series I Love: Heartstopper

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I’ve been saving writing about this series until after Volume five – because at the end of the fourth book it said five would be the last. Except that it’s not – and as there was a two year gap between four and five because Alice Oseman was working on the Netflix series, I’m not going to wait until after book six!

Heartstopper is the story of Charlie and Nick. They both attend the same grammar school but they’re in different years and their school experience has been very different. Charlie is an anxious over-thinker who has been bullied because he’s openly gay, while Nick is the star of the rugby team and friends with everyone. But when they meet they become friends and both of their lives start to change.

And I don’t really want to say much more because: spoilers ahoy and it all takes a while to develop, but over the course of the five volumes so far we’ve seen the gang experience first love, navigate relationships, deal with school bullies, take exams, go on school trips and in Volume five it’s time to look at universities. I love the art, I love the characters – and I recognise some of their experiences from when I was at school – and I definitely wouldn’t want to be back in a secondary school. And as I mentioned, it’s also been turned into a Netflix series – so here’s the trailer for the first series if you want more of an idea about what’s going on:

I’m not going to lie – I haven’t watched the show yet, because I wanted to wait for the books to be finished first, but that was when I thought it was one book to go. So now who knows what I’ll do – there are two series and series three finished filming at the end of last year. One of my friends *loves* the series and I know he’ll be waiting anxiously for the next one. But if you’ve watch the series and haven’t read the books I can recommend them too. You should be able to buy the books pretty much everywhere – I get mine from the Comic Book Store because I like to support them, but they’re in all the bookshops – and as I discovered the other week the new one is in The Works too!

Have a great weekend!

Book previews

Out today: Heartstopper Vol 5

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It’s finally here – the fifth volume of Heartstopper is out today (in the UK) and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m hoping that the comic book shop will have it for me when I go in this weekend, because I only ordered it… well it feels like years ago but it might only be six months. And this is meant to be the final volume of Nick and Charlie’s story too so I’m hoping for a happy ending but with Nick due to go to university I’m not going to lie, I’m a little worried. But if this doesn’t all tie it up with a nice bow, then Alice Oseman has to come back and write us more then right? Right?

Recommendsday

Recommendsday: November Quick Reviews

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Well as you could probably see from the lists it was a bit of a re-read heavy month last month, but I’ve still got a couple of books to tell you about in the quick reviews before I go full on Christmas for the rest of December..

Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue by Cat Sebastian

Cat Sebastian’s latest novella is a sports one and came out just as the baseball season was ending at the start of October. Luke and Billy have been team mates for years, but as the story opens Billy is worried sick about Luke who has gone awol after suffering a concussion during a game. But then Luke turns up at Billy’s cabin in the mountains and a storm rolls in trapping them there together. This is 100 pages of low peril romance as two people figure out that they’re both into each other. I wanted it to be longer, but that’s about my only complaint!

Captain Marvel, Vol 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue DeConnick et al

Making a rare foray into superhero comics, I read a Captain Marvel this month because it was in Kindle Unlimited and obviously there’s been another film featuring Captain Marvel come out recently and she’s on of the Marvel Universe that I know very little about. This is actually nearly ten years old (!) and sees Captain Marvel leave earth to try and return an alien woman to her home world and finding herself in the middle of the conflict with the Galactic Alliance. Not going to lie, I felt like I hadn’t read enough other Marvel comics to really understand all of the background to this – but the Guardians of the Galaxy showed up so that gave me enough context to be going along with. I did love the art though.

Fancy Meeting You Here by Julie Tieu

Cover of Fancy Meeting You Here

And finally, I gave this a mention in release week so I wanted to circle back around with an update now I’ve read it. And this has a people pleaser florist heroine who is basically incapable of saying no and setting boundaries with her friends and who ends up biting off way more than she can chew, and a hero who is her best friend’s brother and also a caterer. As you might be able to tell from that first sentence, I got a little annoyed that Elise was letting her friends put so much on her – and that they didn’t notice how over stretched she was – but the romance was actually pretty fun. I just wish people would have actual conversations sometimes because it would make life so much easier. But then it would also take away a lot of plot in books…

And that’s your lot, but a quick reminder before I go of the Books of the Month in November – which were Next Door Nemesis, Silver Lady, Devil in Winter and Somebody at the Door.

Happy Humpday!

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: Chef’s Kiss

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And it’s a rare graphic novel pick for this week’s BotW because it was what I needed last week and the art is great.

Ben is freshly graduated from college with his English degree. He and his friends have got a flat share and are starting out on their working lives. The trouble is Ben can’t get a job in the areas he’s looking at because he doesn’t have any experience. Running out of money and downhearted, he sees an advert for jobs – no experience necessary – at a restaurant. He goes in and gets a chance to land a full time job in the kitchen. He’s always like cooking, but can he take it to the next level and impress the owner – and his pet pig? And what about his crush on Liam, one of the other chefs at the restaurant…

This was exactly the sort of low stakes story I needed last week. The drawing is lovely with a great aesthetic, and it’s quirky and charming and has the best looking food I’ve seen in a graphic novel in ages. I think it needed a little bit more resolution about Ben’s parents at the end, but in the main it was a very satisfying read.

Chef’s Kiss is in Comixology at the moment – which is bundled with Kindle Unlimited. I’ve tried to find it in comic stores previously but without much luck. However, I may just have been looking in the wrong places.

Happy Reading!

Book of the Week, graphic novels

Book of the Week: Death of a Necromancer

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So the first BotW of the new year is the last book that I finished in the old one. Which is sort of cool I think. Anyway, this is a slightly more obscure pick too so that’s fun as well.

Death of a Necromancer is a graphic novel that follows the town of Tibbin and their resident Necromancer Dr Victoria Hedgewood. At the start of the story we see Ralph resurrected after a work place incident and then we jump ahead to a town that seems to be almost more zombie than living. But what do the newly living dead lose in the transition? And is it worth is? Ralph is becoming less and less sure, but Victoria and the town seem dead set on going full steam ahead.

I loved Nick Bryan’s Hobson and Choi mystery novels a few years back and have been watching his graphic novels ever since. Death of a Necromancer is a really engaging read – the story is clever and the art is really, really attractive and (this may sound weird) I love the lettering. This was the subject of a kickstarter campaign to get published – which I backed and that’s how I got my copy (and some extra goodies) – so I don’t actually know how easy this is to get hold of. I know Nick is selling it at conventions he goes to, but beyond that, I’m not sure. But if it does come your way, it’s worth a look.

Happy Reading!

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: The Last Hero

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A bit of a different direction for this week’s pick. In fact I had plenty of options to chose from, so as there aren’t a lot of Terry Pratchett things I haven’t already read and even less of them in the Discworld, I’ve taken a rare opportunity.

This is a graphic novel about Cohen the Barbarian’s final quest – and the efforts of the wizards of Ankh Morpork to stop him before it leads to the end of the world. Cohen first appeared in The Light Fantastic and is leader of the Silver Hoarde – a band of elderly barbarian heroes. At the start of the Last Hero, Cohen and his friends are fed up of the infirmities that come with their advancing age so decide to climb to the top of the highest mountain on the Discworld and meet the gods that live there. Of course this isn’t all they want to do when they get there and therein lies the problem.

This isn’t long, but it is a lot of fun – partly because story features so many the side-ish regular characters that it’s always a delight to see again. It’s hard to say too much without giving the plot away, but obviously there is Vetinari, and also some of the key figures from the Unseen University, including Rincewind. And of course it is beautifully illustrated. I do love Paul Kidby’s Discworld art – I mean I have a print of his Errol the Dragon artwork on my wall at home – and there are some lovely extra touches here as well as the illustrations that tell the story. Basically it’s a lovely way to spend some time.

I bought my copy in paperback form, because that’s how I like to read stuff with illustrations, but it is available on Kindle and Kobo, although your experience with that may depend on what sort of reader you have to read it on.

bookshelfies

Bookshelfie: Modern (mostly) Middle Grade

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We’re getting to a point now where there aren’t a lot of nice neat and tidy shelves for me to show you before we get to what I think of as the Chaos Shelves. But then as I’ve been promising all year that I’m planning to reorganise some of the shelves and show you the results, then at least you’ll have seen the before and after when it happens. Anyway, I don’t imagine that this shelf will change much in any reorganisation. This is the bookshelf in the back spare bedroom. This has mostly been my office over the last nearly two years, but it’s also where any young people who might stay with us would sleep, so it made sense to use the shelves in there (left by the previous owners, who used it as their kids bedroom) for books suitable for any young people who might stay, and it also tends to be where the graphic novel end of my book collection ends up. And there are quite a few familiar books on here – recent BotW Piglettes, Bloodlust and Bonnet and The Unforgettable Guinevere St Clair and less recent BotWs The Good Thieves, Carry On and Pumpkinheads. There’s also various series that have come up at various points – like the Wells and Wong books that I own in paperback, the Lumberjanes and Fence graphic novels and the Tiffany Aching novels from the Discworld series. It’s starting to look a little full, but I’m not sure there’s anything here that I’m prepared to get rid of, so when it gets full it’s likely to be a case of moving stuff to other places rather than a rationalisation situation…

book round-ups, Recommendsday, reviews

Recommendsday: July Quick Reviews

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I’ve already written about so much this month and there were so many re-reads that I was worried I wouldn’t have a lot to write about that I liked and hadn’t already. But I’ve managed to pull three books out of my hat so well done me!

That Woman by Anne Sebba

My interest in the Abdication crisis is well known at this point. This has been on the list for a while as it is meant to be one of the more definitive ones and I picked this up second hand in the nice charity shop near work a few weeks back and got to it promptly so that I can lend it to mum! It’s interesting, but there’s not a lot of focus on her post war life. I think Andrew Lownie’s Traitor King has more on her post war life than this does – and that’s focussed on him! But it is good on her childhood and pre-duke life as well as her potential motivations.

Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy by Chynna Clugston Flores et al

My love for Lumberjanes is also well known, and well publicised on here, so I’m not quite sure how I’d missed that there had been a Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy crossover book. But there was and it came out in 2017 so I’m well behind the times as I filled in the gap in the series. I haven’t read any Gotham Academy, but that didn’t matter as this is essentially a two schools run into each other, are rivals and then have to work together to defeat a baddie story. And it’s got a possessed house and 1980s theme so it’s a lot of fun.

Shipped by Angie Hockman

And finally a quick mention for this one. It was billed as “The Unhoneymooners meets the Hating Game” with a marketing manager for a holiday firm forced to go on a cruise with her work arch-nemesis and I love an enemies to lovers romance, but didn’t quite work for me as well as I wanted because it hit some of my “why are you acting like this” buttons and the heroine really, really annoyed me. But I know that a lot of that is a me thing, so people with a higher (lower?) embarrassment threshold will probably love it. However, if you want a book with a cruise ship and a romance (even if the romance is a bit secondary) then try The Unsinkable Greta James.

And finally, a reminder in case you need it of this months Books of the Week: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow; Mendelssohn and Murder; The Incredible Crime and the aforementioned Unsinkable Greta James, which I actually read right at the end of June but was reviewed in July. The series posts were: the Affair of… series; The Grantchester series, Vicky Bliss and a revist of the Phryne Fisher books. And finally the Recommendsdays were novels about Friendships and mysteries with Vicars.

Welcome to August everyone!