#bestofmarch #marchintorreading

Ha, my initial plan for today's layout didn't really work, so now we have a crude doodle of a medusa jellyfish. 🙄

And even though I've read 15 books this month, it doesn't feel like much (prob bc half were comics). I'm working on trying not to be too hard on myself that my reading has slowed this year and just enjoying what I am reading. Radical, I know.

Three graphic novels I've really enjoyed on being young and figuring out your place in the world. #startswithuvw #marchintorreading

These have been sitting by my desk since I got back to work. They contain Summer Reading Club items. I am in denial. If I don't open these, I don't have to deal with SRC, right? 😭😭😭😭😭😭 #librarylife

Like any good book fanatic, I have a closet full of totes. I get enough wear and tear on them that I try to keep to using just one at a time. My bestie bought this souvenir for me...she also sent me a photo of the Brighton library and made up Nick Cave lyrics with my name in them because she is dutiful and I love her.

#bookbag #marchintorreading

#crazycovers #marchintorreading

It seems like everyone's divided on this one...you either love it or hate it. I personally love it and all the more after learning its context.

If you want to check out a truly unique and mind-blowing comic format, seek out Red: A Haida Manga. It gives classic Haida storytelling and imagery a manga sensibility. It is painted. AND its panels can be arranged to form a 13 FOOT mural. I mean, seriously.
#canadianauthors #marchintorreading

I can't decide whether I'm a chatty introvert or quiet extrovert, but there's something about conferences that really takes it out of me. Settling in with a glass of wine and ready to relax for a couple hours before hitting the hay in my lovely quietnoisy city apartment.

I won a signed copy of Prisoner B-3087 tonight! I've been eyeing it for a while, and after hearing Gratz talk about it this evening, I'm even more intrigued.

Got to meet Meg Kearney and EB Lewis today--they won our picture book award for Trouper--and I got to introduce Lewis for a session today (just floored to have that honor). However much I enjoyed Lewis's work before, hearing him talk about his childhood, craft, and body of work has garnered lifelong admiration from me.

Didn't realize my colleague got multiple shots...looka me being all fangirly. 😊

I confess: I've never read Lovecraft and have no desire to, so maybe what irked me about this is due to my ignorance. I really liked the fact that Vellitt is a woman in her 50s(?) going on a solo quest, but otherwise, how is this supposed to be so feminist? All knowledge keepers are men, she seems to want to uphold the complacency of women, and then there was a reference to rape like it was NBD. Language was too flowery. Kinda boring euro fantasy.

First day of conference was blessedly short, AND I got my two presentations out of the way. Returned home and put on my jammies ASAP for more novella reading! I finally got a good start on this at lunch today and apart from a little typical fantasy silliness, I think this is going to be fun!

And then Lois.

MY PUNK BAND

#marchintorreading #greatbandnames #maslsc

Def alt-country

#marchintorreading #greatbandnames #maslsc

Oh yeah, Red Queen is totally a goth band

#marchintorreading #greatbandnames #maslsc

Totally math rock

#marchintorreading #greatbandnames #maslsc

Forget Tomorrow is totally an emo band with a goth-y bent.

#marchintorreading #greatbandnames #maslsc

Why not do #marchintorreading, conference style! So many MG and YA #greatbandnames!

I imagine The Doublecross would sound like a ska-y Bad Brains.

#maslsc

Because today's Binti binge has given me a sudden urge to read down the Tor novellas on my TBR...

Can we take a moment to lament how crappy #mapsinbooks appear on a basic Kindle screen? It's just cruel!

#booknerdproblems

YAAAAAASSSSSSSSS. This book puts the first book into such perspective; really, the crux of the story actually seems to take off here. I was on the edge of my seat for most of it, and there is so much more magic and humor and mystery than the first Binti. In many ways, it has the feel of Okorafor's earlier MG & YA books. I love love LOVE getting into her magical worlds. Book 3 can't get here fast enough (September 12th?!?!?!!!)!

Kind of reminds me of Dr. Chef 💝💝💝

I loved this even more the second time around! Nnedi Okorafor creates some of my favorite world-building, frealz. I don't know why this didn't occur to me last year, but I now know my jelly needs to be named Okwu. (I find it somewhat entertaining that the critters in my Cannery Row sleeve are being named after characters in other books.🙃)

I am fed and ready to devour Binti: Home!

Snuggling with my kitties, waiting for a delivery truck, on this cool, overcast day. I have a 3-day conference starting tomorrow, so I absolutely MUST be a bum today!

I love being in Binti's world again. She is definitely a superhero in my book.

#femalesuperhero #marchintorreading

Time for a reread before I dive into Home!

I somehow missed the new cover!

Oh! I loved this tale of Jewish twin sisters whose lives take divergent paths--one becomes a dancer and prostitute, the other a protégé of an OBGYN who performs illegal abortions. The stark black and white was just perfect for the turn-of-the-century New York setting, and the use of Yiddish really puts you right into their community. This is SO SAD but SO GOOD.

Doing a little #porchreading on this gorgeous (if slightly stormy looking) evening!

I admit, I rarely buy books *right* when they come out, but here are authors I'll buy without reading the book first at the library.

💯Daniel José Older
💯Nnedi Okorafor
💯Becky Chambers
💯Louise Erdrich
💯G. Willow Wilson
💯NK Jemisin
💯Lynda Barry
💯Sherman Alexie
💯Erika Moen
💯BKV for Saga
💯KSD for Bitch Planet

#autobuyauthors #marchintorreading

Jealous of everyone's #nationalpuppyday photos... I hope to be in the position to own a dog one day. I did get to see one of my favorite dogs tonight for PAWS for Reading at the library. Here is a photo of King from sometime last year (sorry for the poor quality of the library's iPad).

I went into this with a lot of interest but without high expectations and was FLOORED by how much I loved it! The drama surrounding The Mamas & the Papas is just as juicy as you'd expect, but getting Cass's story is THE BEST. She was so talented and passionate and fought so hard against the haters in the best way she knew how. At first I wasn't thrilled with the art, but by the time I was about halfway through, I even loved that.

I am not long for this world. #catsoflitsy

Trying to see what I've missed on Litsy tonight, and Oskar's apparently very interested, too.
#catsoflitsy

It took me a long time to get accustomed to audiobooks. I'm still not always the best listener, but now I don't know what I'd do without them! Here are the reasons behind why these particular ones are #awesomeaudiobooks:
🎧BF: Bahni Turpin is my fave reader
🎧BaC: Noah's life in his own voice is a MUST
🎧BB: I missed my exit--TWICE--on the highway because I was so 🤤
🎧HtBB: It's hilarious, pertinent, & you actually hear the Black Panel speak.

Hung out with one of my good friends tonight from my rekkid sto days--this book was just hanging out on the coffee table, so of course I flipped through it and tried not to drool too much. Then I realized I needed to sneak in a #bookface obvs. 😂😂

Read this again, this time for my book club. I just...I can't. I feel like a spoilsport. I like that Rapunzel is set on rescuing her mother, in theory I like the pseudo Wild West setting, I like a diverse cast. But...the diversity felt like it was being used as a ploy because of the many stereotypes found throughout. I'm not a huge fan of the art. And for as inventive as it was in retelling this fairy tale, something about it just seems boring.

Oh what the heck. I've already got three books going right now. Let's just add a fourth!

Totally slacked on rereading this fractured fairy tale for my kids book club this Wednesday. I felt ho-hum about it the first time around, but my clubbers are suuuper into this stuff. Gotta please the masses. 🙄 At least it's 77° on this vernal equinox! #porchreading!

"No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to suppose they are like himself."

This entire passage contains some of the most beautiful, melancholy, loving thoughts I've ever read. ?????????

And #aseasoninthetitle adult books edition!
☃The Iron Tonic, or a Winter in Lonely Valley by Edward Gorey
🌱Arab Spring Dreams, ed. by Nasser Wedaddy and Sohrab Ahmari
☉Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne
🍁When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön

#aseasoninthetitle children's books I love edition:
☃Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen
🌱Aviary Wonders Inc. Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual by Kate Samworth
☉Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan
🍁Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley

I waited all day yesterday for inspiration on #setinthe1920s, which came only at bedtime. So maybe an art collection isn't the best use of "set in," but we're going with it. ?? Also, Man Ray ?????
#marchintorreading

"You know, when I was a girl, I used to read quite a bit."
"Oh, we all do strange things in our childhood."

I am losing a little momentum on the main Princeless thread--as pointed out in my previous post, it's feeling a little sloppy and I'm not terribly into the wolf/elf/princes side story. There are two discussions that bookend this volume that feel pedantic (being a 30-something reading an all-ages comic could be part of the reason). Still, there were really fun elements... I suppose it's a pick b/c I'm not giving up just yet.

HAPPY DANCE!!!! SUNDAY MORNING PRINCELESS BINGE!!

So excited to finally read an installment of the Science Comics series! I have a newfound interest in dinosaurs after listening to My Beloved Brontosaurus last month. This is a middle grade non-fiction comic (#ReadHarder all-ages comic!) that will surely appeal to tons of kids and adults interested in learning more. I loved the humor and the framing in this. Science is so freaking cool.

Littens. LITTENS. LITTENSSSSSS!!!!!! I have a couch!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to read and relax so hard tonight.

Check out this stunning photo anthology by the one and only Annie Leibovitz if you get a chance. Susan Sontag: "So this what women are now -- as different, as varied, as heroic, as forlorn, as conventional, as unconventional as this." #thebacksofwomen #marchintorreading

When China began to open up in the 80s, Xinran created a radio show to give a voice to previously silenced Chinese women. #thebacksofwomen #marchintorreading

Loved this collection of essays on the powerful bonds of Latina friendships. #thebacksofwomen #marchintorreading

I'm going for a more figurative interpretation. Louis Leakey had the backs of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Galdikas. When science was *particularly* dominated by men, these women became pioneers in their fields of research partially due to Leakey's initial support. Do you have an alternative to #thebacksofwomen? #marchintorreading
(And yes yes, good morning, Oskar. You may snuggle now.)

Oh yeah, I went to an orchid show today!

My mom set the bar high. These Boris Vallejo #bookplates were in all her books when I was a kid...whenever I saw one, I knew the book was serious business, and it instilled in me a love for the little boogers. #funfridayphot
@Liberty