books finished in May 2010

After reading only seven books in April, I sort of half-heartedly challenged myself to double that number for May. Hmmmm...doesn't look like I made it, does it? ;) But you know what--I actually couldn't care less. Well, I guess that's not entirely true--I still wish I had managed to read more of the bazillions of wonderful books out there. But I'm not at all in a state of mind to complain about it, as I finished some of the most amazing books this month. Seriously. The. Most. Amazing.

*Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
This is one of those that falls under that The. Most. Amazing. status. Trying to talk about this trilogy is like having my tongue tied in knots that even sailors couldn't manage. It's simply too effing incredible for words. Intense. From beginning to end. But meaningful in ways that most people could never even dream of expressing. Patrick Ness is a true genius. I love him so much for taking me places that I didn't really want to go, for making me think about things I didn't really want to think about, for facing the tough questions. And for not supplying me with all the answers.

*A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Since I already talked about this one in a post of its own, I won't say much now. But I thoroughly enjoyed this book. More than I even guessed I would. Ursula Le Guin doesn't scare me anymore. No, she won me over not only with her writing, but even more so with her outlook.

*Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
The. Most. Amazing. Yeah, definitely applies here. In different ways than the Chaos Walking trilogy. Yet in ways, they have much in common. These are both books full of emotion and meaning. But Tender Morsels. Damn...I'm sitting here crying just trying to put into words what this book means to me. I can't do it. I just can't. I know how utterly ridiculous it sounds...but I swear Margo Lanagan wrote this book *for me*. Of course, she didn't...she doesn't even know I exist. But maybe for the broader me she did. For all those people who have been raped, abused, hurt in any number of ways, and who then "ran away" when facing it was just too much. Bottom line, this is a book of healing. It is a precious gift of healing. But I've made it all sound so simple, and there is nothing simple about this book. How many times did Ms Lanagan venture into realms that just took my breath away? I couldn't begin to count. For it wasn't just about the healing. There were these scenes that just left me shaken...a scene where Urdda can't fathom the idea of not being about to walk down a street by herself, a scene where Liga is first made to face the harm that overprotectiveness has caused, a scene where Branza gets to see a much loved friend only to face the fact that illusion doesn't hold up to reality. I don't think any book has ever felt this personal to me before.

*Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters
My first Julie Anne Peters book. And definitely not my last. I can definitely understand why she is so loved an author. I adored this book. It was so utterly readable...I'm guessing that makes no sense, huh? I just don't know quite how to say what I mean...it's just that I was so sucked into the story and so enamored with the characters. It was sweet and tender and harsh and realistic. And it was one of those books that had me so hooked that I got pissy when I had to set it down.

*William Shakespeare's The Tempest retold by Franzeska G. Ewart
My only disappointment of the month. I ordered this without knowing anything about it. I was hoping it was a retelling with a twist sort of book. With a unique perspective. Something that would make for fun reading and good essay assignment for Annie. But it wasn't that. And I fully admit it never claimed to be. It was honestly just a retelling. Told by Ariel, but with nothing new, nothing different to add to the original. Oh well, can't win 'em all, right?

*Water: The Drop of Life by Peter Swanson
A companion book to the PBS series of the same title. I've never seen the series, though I would now very much like to. Divided into twelve chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of water, the book told a multitude of different stories from all around the world.

*The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Rich, Annie, and I read this aloud together. My first time reading it. And I very much enjoyed it, though (don't hurt me Chris) I think I still like both MacBeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream better. It was much different than I expected, though I can't honestly pinpoint what it is I did expect.

*The Stuff of Legend Book 1: The Dark by Mike Raicht and Brian Smith
This was a total impulse buy. I just could not resist the artwork in this book--I had to have it. :) And don't just take my word for it--this quote by Brian K. Vaughan says it perfectly, "This is some of the loveliest artwork I've seen in a comic book in a long, long time, and a darkly beautiful story to boot." It's the story of a little boy living during WWII who is kidnapped by the Boogeyman. His toys come to life as they enter the dark to try to save him. While the art so incredibly gorgeous, and the idea of toys coming to life seems neither original nor dark, let me assure you this truly is not a "cutesy" story. And I'm very sad that I have to wait for the next volume to come out.

Well, I'm not sure if June will bring more in the way of quantity, but I find it impossible to believe that it could ever bring more in the way of quality.

reasons why i love local

I am so very tempted to just say "everything" and call it a day, but that doesn't make for much of a list, does it? (I'm talking about Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, btw.)

*I'm really coming to enjoy the whole concept of a series of short stories coming together to tell a larger story. This series of comics does that beautifully. In twelve issues, we get twelve distinct stories (well, in a way, eleven, as two of the issues fit together a bit more tightly).

*The essays! In the original comics, both Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly included an essay at the end of each issue. In the big compilation, the essays are included at the end of the book, but I read the essays for each issue as soon as I finished the particular issue they were written to go with. And really that was the way to go...I think I likely got much more out of them this way. Anyway, the essays were so interesting! They gave such insight into so many things: the process of writing comics, the way Local changed from Wood's original concept as the stories began coming out, the personalities of Wood and Kelly, etc. And they weren't just interesting--they were downright fun!

*The soundtracks. I love when authors let you in on their soundtracks. And both Wood and Kelly included their soundtracks with each essay. Now, to be truthful...I didn't know a lot of the songs or bands (Me = Unhip). And if I'd have read this a year or two ago, I'd have known even fewer (my wonderful friends Ana and Chris are slowly dragging me into the 21st century, so I did know few like Modest Mouse, Sufjan Stevens, and The New Pornographers). And there were even a few I knew all on my own, like Bob Dylan and Talking Heads. Anyway, I just loved the soundtracks, and I loved going and trying to listen to the songs I didn't know just so I could hear what they were listening to as they created each issue.

*The whole city concept. Each issue is set in a different North American city. And they went to great lengths to make them accurate. Both in the big picture cityscapes and in the details inside the stores, restaurants, etc. It's just so awesome the way the great local flavors just come shining through. The only one of the cities I was at familiar with was Toronto. The opening panel of that issue just made me smile enormously because I could see without question the hotel that Rich and I stayed at when we spent a few days there a couple summers ago.

*Megan. She's the thread that ties these cities together. She leads sort of a vagabond existence from the time she leaves home at seventeen (in the first issue). She figures prominently in many of the stories, but only appears in the periphery of some of them. But even in the periphery, the events of these stories affect her. I was shocked to read in one of the essays that a lot people told Brian Wood that they hated Megan. I don't get that at all. I really don't. Yeah, she does some pretty annoying things. Even some hurtful things. But god, she's so real. She's a hurting, authentic, flawed young woman. And one of those stories where she's sort of in the periphery...well, no one could go through that and not come out a little inwardly scarred. I related to Megan so much. Not that I ever led a vagabond existence. But shit happened as I was entering adulthood that really screwed me up. I maybe wasn't always the nicest person over the next few years. And trauma or not, few of us move smoothly through the process of "growing up." (And this really does cover the span of her "growing up," following her from age 17 through about age 30, about a year passing during or between each issue.) So anyway, I really don't get how people hated Megan. I loved her, flaws, immaturity, pain, and all.

*Picking up little bits of previously unknown info. Like the fact that Hope Larson and Brian Lee O'Malley are married. Who knew? (Yeah, probably everyone but me. :P But hey, now I know, too.) They happen to be the letterers for this book, btw.

*And last, but not least...The Art. (And honestly, it's only last because I need to get some other things done...I suspect I could go on with this list for quite some time yet.) Okay, The Art. Black and white. Bold, yet full of detail. Expressive. Truly, I just thought it was gorgeous.