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For prompt 5 of the #hauntedshelf book cover scavenger hunt I‘ve picked one of my absolute favourite graphic novels dealing with the night sky - depicting it on the cover and full of it all the way through. I can‘t even tell you how much I love this gorgeous strange surreal queer sci fi kind of quiet space opera.

#skeletoncrew

This was ok, beautiful artwork/drawings though.

Read for reading prompts.

Library book 📖

3.75/5

On a Sunbeam is a sci-fi, coming-of-age, queer love story about found family told in two different timelines. Tillie Walden drew and wrote the whole graphic novel in a smaller panel manga format. Muted colors accentuate the minimalist illustrations. My only issue is the slight lack of character development for the secondary characters.

The 3 books I bought today at Gay‘s the Word! The Graphic Novel is huge and extremely heavy. Let‘s hope they‘re worth it. 📕 📕 📕

#newbooks #london

This beautifully imagined, queer sci-fi graphic novel follows MC Mia in two timelines, in her early teens & as a new adult, through a complex universe of only female and nonbinary characters. The blurbs from Becky Chambers, Martha Wells, & Brian K. Vaughan hyped me up maybe too much…On a Sunbeam is gorgeously rendered, impressively told, and gently moving…but the lack of the warmth and humor I expected based on those blurbs left me a little cold.

Yes, Vermont has a Cartoonist Laureate and Tillie Walden has been awarded the title this year. If you're a fan, here is an audio interview with her on Vermont's VPR. Some great lines about Vermont in the VPR interview.

https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2023-03-16/tillie-walden-star...

Glorious. Gorgeous. I feel like if Hayao Miyazaki storyboarded a queer space adventure/coming of age, this is what it would look like. I love the non-binary inclusion, the vibrant almost-all-female crew(universe?), the clash of personalities, the found family, the important conversations, the world-building, both blatant and bits just hinted at. Will definitely be reading more from Tillie Walden.

Remember to use a person‘s preferred pronouns. #LGBTQ

Awww!

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/r3Mw-8x-Jy0

Enjoy!

Currently reading

Wow...you, you really don't get it, do you?

Have you ever even considered that something that's trivial to you could mean...so much more to someone else?

You don't get to take the easy road out and just respect the parts of people that you recognize.

And, pro tip: If you find yourself in a similar situation in the future where you're surrounded by people you don't understand--

Try listening. It'll work a lot better for you than talking.

This queer science fiction comic is epic. It follows 14-year-old and new adult Mia in 2 timelines: at boarding school falling in love with a mysterious outsider & joining a spaceship crew. The connections between timelines gradually emerge. I loved the dark colour schemes but at times I found it difficult to tell characters apart or figure out what was going on. I didn't have much emotional connection to the characters. Still, overall beautiful.

"Why are adults so stupid?"
"Hmm?"
"It's like the older you get the more you forget that you can change things."
#Comics #QueerBooks

Another day, another #BeerAndABook. Today the colour doesn't match, so I will have to try better next time! #QueerBooks #LGBTQBooks #LGBTQ #Comics

This was one of the best books I‘ve read in a while! The images were stunning and added so much to the incredible world building. I loved all of the characters (seriously, all of them) and to top it all off- the story itself was also great.

If you love graphic novels, you MUST read this. And if you don‘t love graphic novels, you WILL after reading this!

@GatheringBooks is celebrating 10 years blogging. #GB101020
My list of 10 great #graphicnovels:
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters -Ferris
100 Nights of Hero -Greenberg
Dead Dead Demons -Asano
Park Bench -Chabouté
On a Sunbeam -Walden
This One Summer -Tamaki & Tamaki
Essex County -Lemire
Stitches -Small
Sabrina -Drnaso
Saga -Vaughan & Staples
#comics

I can‘t believe I waited this long to read this graphic novel. The artwork is unbelievably gorgeous, the characters are impossible not to fall in love with, and the story is woven together like a tapestry. Found family, queer romance, and amazing redemption stories equals a very happy Ru. This may be in my top ten of all time, honestly.

Which #GraphicNovel / #Comic should I read next? #QueerBooks

Sped through this beautiful and lovely lgbtq+graphic novel! An epic love story full friendship and love! Thanks for the recommendation @Branwen and here is a shelfie of one of my bookshelves I tidied up because you inspired me! 💕🙏🌙

I really enjoyed the art work in this graphic novel. The story was good and kept my attention. I just wish the author had more into depth about the culture for the world she built. You are left guessing for a lot about how things work.

I finished this one today. I don‘t think there has been a Tillie Walden graphic novel that I haven‘t liked.

Started this on my lunch break today and I‘m about a third of the way done.

#graphicnovel

#Februarystats #Februarywrapup #monthlywrapup #readingstats #comicsgraphicnovels
Comics I read in February!! Favorite was On a Sunbeam
✨📚

Completely on brand this Saturday, on the couch with a dog and a graphic novel. And biathlon on TV. It's a bit stormy and very rainy outside but I am COMFY ❤️

I loved a LOT about this book (Found family in space! Diversity! Pretty art! Found family in space!), but it was marred by erratic pacing and a number of characters looking too similar to each other, leaving me floundering in parts as to what was going on.

Needed a good graphic novel editor. It's still worth reading though, and her other books are amazing.

Sunday vibes...

I enjoyed this graphic novel. It is one of those stories where you don't know exactly what is going on or how everything works in the story's world but the author let's you in on just enough information to follow the story. The author's take on space travel and civilization is interesting. At the core it is a love story and a story about finding your 'family' and place in the universe.

New (to me) Tillie Walden! I love her. (Crochet WIP is the Flight of Fantasy blanket by Nickie Chapin)

Book 5 of #boutofbooks is ON A SUNBEAM. The text is so tiny (my eyes are getting old) so I'm taking off my glasses (I'm nearsighted) and just holding the book really close to my face. 😂 This book is goooooood so far, totally worth it.

#graphicnovel #scifi #sciencefiction

On a Sunbeam is a graphic novel about an alternate universe. The storyline is split between two time periods that explain the past and present. The story follows the main character as she struggles in school with grades and getting in trouble, until she falls in love with a student and they start dating. The other timeline follows the main character as she begins a new job and starts making new friends. The story ends in an epic journey.

"On A Sunbeam" was such a fantastic graphic novel to read! I really loved the way the art, while not being as detailed as other graphic novels, was still able to fulfill what was happening in the story. The colors also seemed to play a role in telling the story, which is amazing! This book has a special place in my heart, because it was an exact reflection of my best friend and I. Look for this book looking for a heartwarming but futuristic read

it's a sad sapphic sci-fi evening 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩💫

This was a slow burn epic sci-fi romance set partially in space and at a boarding school. Really intriguing concept with the all female society and tons of diversity but I guess I found it a bit too slow, at over 500 pages. Lovely artwork though!

Enjoyed this graphic novel-it has romance, adventure, and great friendships and relationships all set in outer space. Awesome diversity and representation. #SummersEndReadathon

Reading through as many Hugo nominated works for 2018 so I can vote for the first time. This graphic novel floored me in the best way. Completely recommend and I‘ve been sick with one cold after another and haven‘t felt in the mood to read at all, so this is saying something!

Also dog cuddles when sick are the best. Right Pedro?

I made it 20% into this library book, but I‘m bailing. The characters are hard to differentiate and the story is slow to develop. It‘s just not a book for me. 😕

An interesting story and universe with a nice connection between the timelines. I enjoyed the art for the most part, but I wish that the characters were more distinguishable from each other. They are mostly androgynous and waify with short hair and have few distinctive facial features. I would have liked an explanation for why this is a female-only universe. Seems odd to complain that a 533 pg book needs to be more fleshed out, but there you go.

Picked up this sweet little graphic novel from work today. I wanted something fun and fairly easy to read because I‘ve been stressed the heck out lately. It delivered! A very cute sci-fi, lgbtq, boarding school plot line with a very diverse set of characters. Will definitely read again.

After the crazy work on my patio over the past two days, I claimed today as a #BFC rest day. 😊
I hit my upped goal of 6,500 steps/day 5 out of 7 days this week — I missed it today and a day when I spent 7 hours in the car. 🚙
I‘ve read 6/6 books since the #BookFitnessChallenge started, but I was really aiming for 6 audiobooks, of which I‘ve finished 1. 📚

Had to read this book real quick bc someone has it on hold in the library system, so I can't renew it! It had a decent plotline, and some pretty good LGBT+ rep, but it didn't carry me away like I had hoped. I wasn't crazy about the storyline or the artwork. I liked Mia, but I wasn't overly fond of any of the characters. Not a bad book, but a little forgettable, I think.

Beautiful and mystifying and touching. I‘m going to need to reread this at some point to sort out a few plot questions #librarybook #scifi #graphicnovel

Oh wow this book is absolutely stunning. I don‘t normally read graphic novels but I saw this on the Barnes and Nobel shelf and fell in love. First of all, diversity points? Asian main character!! And of course the rest of the cast came in no less colors, shapes and sizes. Also the entire book is populated by females and should be an LGBTQ+ icon if it isn‘t already. Throw in gorgeous settings and a beautiful and engaging storyline and it is magic.