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No, I never write, I know.
Feb. 27th, 2011 05:52 pmI've just had a week of not having to commute, and my mum and brother have been here. I think I need another week to recover, actually, but hey! Back to work tomorrow.
Here are the books I've read lately, from picture books through to theory (albeit in comic form). Children's and YA books dominate, obviously:
Liv Strömquist - Prins Charles känsla
Sue Mongredien - Headmaster Disaster
Eoin Colfer - The Legend of the Worst Boy in the World
Clara Vulliamy - The Bear with Sticky Paws
Giles Andreae and Sarah McIntyre - Morris the Mankiest Monster
Helen Ward - Unwitting Wisdom: An Anthology of Aesop's Fables
Philip Reeve - Larklight
Philip Reeve - Mortal Engines
Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Jackie Kay - Trumpet
Takemiya Keiko - Andromeda Stories v3
Alison Bechdel - Fun Home
Joyce Carol Oates - Foxfire
Bernard Ashley - The Bush
Scott Westerfeld - Uglies
Eva Ibbotson - The Beasts of Clawstone Castle
Ama Ata Aidoo - Our Sister Killjoy
Heller Cresswell - A gift from winklesea
Dick King-Smith - The Roundhill
Wilson, Fine, Morpurgo - Three for tea
Liv Strömqvist - Einsteins fru
Sandra Dahlén - Hetero
I know I've talked about some of these already, but sorting through the list feels vaguely beyond me somehow!
More detail on the highlights:
Liv Strömqvist is still amazing. Einsteins fru (Einstein's wife) is a fairly miscellaneous collection of strips - about feminism, racism, heteronormativity and animal rights, to name just a few. But one of the things she does which I find really wonderful is that she lifts out really cool women and tells their stories. Some of them I actually hadn't even heard of before. And her comics have references. You guys, I can follow the footnotes to biographies and theory books. Many of them! More comics should be like this. Her other collection that I've read, Prins Charles känsla, is more focused, examining modern ideas of love and romance as well as the history of those ideas. (Liv Strömqvist is doing a comics workshop for 15-20 year old girls in a couple of weeks as part of Bang's 20 year anniversary celebration. If there was ever a reason to actually wish one fell into that age group...)
Jackie Kay's Trumpet is a book about a jazz musician who is discovered on his death to have a female body. I probably had some actual thoughts on it at the time, but I've been working like a maniac and about what I can remember is that it felt really interesting and that I spent a lot of time thinking about it afterwards but that I don't know if I actually loved it. I'm glad I've read it though!
Alison Bechdel's Fun Home was absolutely spectacular and felt like a revelation in terms of the things one can do with comics as a medium. And I already knew that one could do damn great things. I loved it as a story and as a work of art both and also it dealt with a lot of things that I felt were really, really useful for me in some way.
Foxfire is Foxfire. It pushed a load of my buttons, basically. I actually picked it up to read for work, but decided quite quickly that it wouldn't work. Female gang! Lesbians! Mad schemes! Nom.
Sandra Dalén's Hetero is amazing, you guys. (And in Swedish. Sorry.) It's the handbook for hetero people! What does it mean to be heterosexual? What are the problems? What's the history of the whole idea of heterosexuality? How do you know if someone is heterosexual? Interviews with famous heterosexuals! etc etc. Also really well put together and easy to read. God I am a bit in love with this book and I hope loads of teenagers (and other people) read it.
Most of the rest was work reading, which doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it/get anything out of it, but I read it in a different way. Our Sister Killjoy I enjoyed but don't think I can use for work, I thought Uglies was really good YA, and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist was pleasant for being het romance. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I have an allergy, but it does help that in that particular world non-het people do exist omg. I haven't forgiven Norah for her comments about Patti Smith, though.
Here are the books I've read lately, from picture books through to theory (albeit in comic form). Children's and YA books dominate, obviously:
Liv Strömquist - Prins Charles känsla
Sue Mongredien - Headmaster Disaster
Eoin Colfer - The Legend of the Worst Boy in the World
Clara Vulliamy - The Bear with Sticky Paws
Giles Andreae and Sarah McIntyre - Morris the Mankiest Monster
Helen Ward - Unwitting Wisdom: An Anthology of Aesop's Fables
Philip Reeve - Larklight
Philip Reeve - Mortal Engines
Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Jackie Kay - Trumpet
Takemiya Keiko - Andromeda Stories v3
Alison Bechdel - Fun Home
Joyce Carol Oates - Foxfire
Bernard Ashley - The Bush
Scott Westerfeld - Uglies
Eva Ibbotson - The Beasts of Clawstone Castle
Ama Ata Aidoo - Our Sister Killjoy
Heller Cresswell - A gift from winklesea
Dick King-Smith - The Roundhill
Wilson, Fine, Morpurgo - Three for tea
Liv Strömqvist - Einsteins fru
Sandra Dahlén - Hetero
I know I've talked about some of these already, but sorting through the list feels vaguely beyond me somehow!
More detail on the highlights:
Liv Strömqvist is still amazing. Einsteins fru (Einstein's wife) is a fairly miscellaneous collection of strips - about feminism, racism, heteronormativity and animal rights, to name just a few. But one of the things she does which I find really wonderful is that she lifts out really cool women and tells their stories. Some of them I actually hadn't even heard of before. And her comics have references. You guys, I can follow the footnotes to biographies and theory books. Many of them! More comics should be like this. Her other collection that I've read, Prins Charles känsla, is more focused, examining modern ideas of love and romance as well as the history of those ideas. (Liv Strömqvist is doing a comics workshop for 15-20 year old girls in a couple of weeks as part of Bang's 20 year anniversary celebration. If there was ever a reason to actually wish one fell into that age group...)
Jackie Kay's Trumpet is a book about a jazz musician who is discovered on his death to have a female body. I probably had some actual thoughts on it at the time, but I've been working like a maniac and about what I can remember is that it felt really interesting and that I spent a lot of time thinking about it afterwards but that I don't know if I actually loved it. I'm glad I've read it though!
Alison Bechdel's Fun Home was absolutely spectacular and felt like a revelation in terms of the things one can do with comics as a medium. And I already knew that one could do damn great things. I loved it as a story and as a work of art both and also it dealt with a lot of things that I felt were really, really useful for me in some way.
Foxfire is Foxfire. It pushed a load of my buttons, basically. I actually picked it up to read for work, but decided quite quickly that it wouldn't work. Female gang! Lesbians! Mad schemes! Nom.
Sandra Dalén's Hetero is amazing, you guys. (And in Swedish. Sorry.) It's the handbook for hetero people! What does it mean to be heterosexual? What are the problems? What's the history of the whole idea of heterosexuality? How do you know if someone is heterosexual? Interviews with famous heterosexuals! etc etc. Also really well put together and easy to read. God I am a bit in love with this book and I hope loads of teenagers (and other people) read it.
Most of the rest was work reading, which doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it/get anything out of it, but I read it in a different way. Our Sister Killjoy I enjoyed but don't think I can use for work, I thought Uglies was really good YA, and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist was pleasant for being het romance. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I have an allergy, but it does help that in that particular world non-het people do exist omg. I haven't forgiven Norah for her comments about Patti Smith, though.
