Jordan Wellington Lint -- Graphic Novel

MAN, CHRIS WARE. What-is-up.

Chris Ware has a way of making you feel a person's entire life with so few words. I felt this way with "Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth", but that was a thick read, this one can't be more than 100 pages and yet I still feel emotionally exhausted from that. (In a wonderful way).

In this story, Jordan Wellington Lint follows one man's life from birth to death with all of its twists, turns and predictable melancholy along the way. Nothing crazy really happens, Jordan/Jason goes to college, is in a frat, graduates, gets married, has children, has an affair, leaves his family, starts a new family, goes to work, etc, etc. Pretty similar life to a large percentage of the population. Pretty boring. So why would I read a story about a privileged white male who is probably a huge dick. Because of Chris Ware's approach to illustration and the way he handles narration, or I guess, doesn't.

He's telling you a story, but instead of doing it with dialogue or chronological events, he uses the character's memories and emotions to portray feelings of certain things or feelings about certain things, and while many events aren't spelled out for you visually, you understand the characters mood and truth because you've gotten the story directly from them, not through a narrator. His approach is deeply exhausting, out of context and at times very unclear, but you feel a strong connection with these characters because you're in their head thinking with them.

Breaking down events to their very core, showing us their most simple form, Ware has a ware of speaking in a code of symbols but hitting the readers with some sort of unspeakable truth. It is really remarkable and GOSH DARN IT HE DOES IT SO WELL.

Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life -- Graphic Novel

Recently translated into English, this graphic novel tells the story of a young Ulli Lust; a 17 year old who is looking for adventure. Ulli and a new friend decide to travel together to Spain for the winter to experience a new city, see the sea and meet interesting people along the way.

I found myself feeling really sorry for Ulli, and getting really angry for her, because of how much trouble she was finding in her travels, all from men. It is frustrating for a woman who wants to see life, and experience something for themselves alone, but isn't able to do so in peace because of their gender. Ulli is constantly getting confronted by strange men in these different cities, claiming to be courteous and generous, giving her money for her travels, letting her rest in their spare rooms, but then expecting sex because of their "kindness" towards her. "I was nice to you, couldn't you be a little nice to me", says one of the creatures that she is pressured to pleasure in a back alley after she has been gifted a meal.

It is wild to me that someone as young as 17 was able to think with such clarity as to the treatment that was happening towards her. There were a lot of times where you could understand that she really was still just a young girl who was tired from her travels and after an incident was beating herself up for not seeing it beforehand, but through the story, you can see her really struggling with this reality that she has found herself in.

After reading this story I am touched by Ulli's courage and inspired by her sense of adventure and, like many days, disgusted with men and the leniency of sexism in this world !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still a very good read and also super important.

Amulet Book 1 -- Graphic Novel

After the tragic death of their father in the beginning of the story, brother and sister Navin and Emily move to the country with their mom. The house they now live in has been abandoned for years, along with the mystery of the sudden disappearance of its previous owner, Emily's great-grandfather.

Through a series of magical events, Emily, Navin and their mother find themselves in a fantasy world with adventure, mystery and danger. A necklace that Emily found in her great-grandfathers house gives her special powers and she must use these new powers to save her family from danger AND MORE.

This book is super crazy popular and I can definitely see why. I think there are 6 total books right now - gotta read em all. ALL AGES! Very cool!

Fun Home

Written by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home is the story of Alison's dysfunctional relationship with her father.

It is a very deep and intricate look at both of their lives, together and apart in order to learn more about the relationship they had with one another and the effect of that on the other person.

It starts out very loose but further into the story, you get sucked in because it is so beautifully written that its almost like you forget you are reading a coming-of-age graphic novel, and you are reading a very poignant, serious piece of writing about humans and their connections with each other.

Not a light read whatsoever. The story itself is really dense with very heavy themes of death, suicide and secrets, but it also is lengthy too and full of really great images so be prepared to spend some time with this book, while you are reading it as well as after. It will linger.

This One Summer - Jillian and Mariko Tamaki

Our current book of the month!! The story follows two young (12 y/o-ish) girls who are summertime friends because both of their families have summer cottages that they go to each year for a few weeks.

It is a classic coming of age story, zoomed in to viewing just a few weeks of this transitional period. This seems like their last summer as children, which is both heartbreaking and endearing to witness- there is a struggle with the girls because they are not quite old enough to do the things that they want to, want to be seen a certain way by an older teen crowd, but also aren't sure if they are too old for the things they did last summer or years past.

I read this book while at work, I could not put it down. Even though I didn't have the exact childhood as these characters, they are written in such an honest and relatable way, it was easy for me to reflect on my own time in those moments.

Such a wonderful, horribly nostalgic read. Funny, charming, honest and great.