Books I read in April!: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Persepolis, Riverkeep, Public Library, Lumberjanes

What this blog post isn't really late what are you on about?? Here are the books I read in April! I listened to Minding Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? on Audible, continued my Marjane Satrapi season with Persepolis, super enjoyed reading a review copy of Martin Stewart's Riverkeep (the full review of which you can read by clicking here), got Public Library by Ali Smith from my local public library, and also caved and bought Lumberjanes part 2!

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

I have a thing for listening to the audiobook's of funny ladies. In fact I'll do a blog post on that soon as I have pretty much exclusively listened to the audiobooks of funny ladies! This is funny lady Mindy Kaling's first book, and follows a similar pattern to the other funny lady books (funny lady funny lady funny lady), offering part memoir/part advice book. I just really love finding out how successful women like Mindy Kaling have mapped out their careers and it is especially entertaining when they are the narrator. I feel very comforted to know Mindy was a nanny whilst she was trying to break into comedy, as I'm currently nannying while trying to get other stuffs going! Read/listen to this if you enjoy the likes of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, watched and loved The Office (US), and want to know how to make it in the biz or to feel like you know some insider gossip.

Persepolis

I caved and bought a copy of Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel Persepolis after having watched the film a few times, and having enjoyed her other books in previous months too. This edition includes both previously published volumes The Story of Childhood and The Story of a Return. I just really love Marjane's narrative style, her wit and humour shine through even when she is retelling the horrors of war and her separation from her family. Persepolis follows the story of her childhood in Tehran during the overthrow of the Shah, the Islamic Revolution and the war with Iraq, and then her time spent in Austria as a teenager after she was sent there to school for her own safety. If you've seen the film, I definitely recommend reading the graphic novel. There are so many extra little details and scenes that really make it worthwhile. Now Marjane Satrapi just needs to write some more books so the season can continue!

Riverkeep

I was super pleased to receive a review copy of debut author Martin Stewart's Riverkeep. The cover of the proof copy lists things like The Wizard of Oz, Ursula Le Guin, Patrick Ness, so obviously I was pretty excited to read it too.



Read my full review here! Please! I mean only if you want to. Clicky click. 

Public Library and Other Stories

I am very pleased to say I got Ali Smith's Public Library and Other Stories out from my local library. I really enjoy reading short stories, there's something about just spending a short time with a character and getting a snapshot of their story that I really like. As well as being a collection of short stories related to books and reading and the impact of these on our lives and homes, it is also a call to action to save our public library, which are under threat from funding cuts and closures across the UK. So, get out to your public library and join the cause by taking this book out! 

Lumberjanes , Vol. 2: Friendship to the Max

I read and super enjoyed the first volume of Lumberjanes some time last year and ended up caving and buying volume 2 this month (I cave and buy books pretty often have you noticed?). The story of Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley at Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Hardcore Lady-Types continues in this volume, with even more mysteries and myths to discover and solve. Also there are raptors. Totally action packed and fun, full of colour and humour, if you haven't read any Lumberjanes yet then you really, really should. The third bind up volume is out now so I definitely smell another book purchase on the horizon... I'm just trying to support my local shops leave me alone!!

I'll try to be more on time with my May reads, I really will! So far this month I have read, Bullet Catcher by Joaquin Lowe, Sea Lovers by Valerie Martin, The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig, and also listened to another funny lady's audio book, Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body by Sara Pascoe! Gonna try to squeeze in another novel and a graphic novel too by the end of the month. Don't forget to go read my full review of Riverkeep!

I received a copy of Riverkeep from Penguin in return for an honest review. I really like it I promise! 

Graphic Novels of Feb and March: In Real Life, Skim, Embroideries, Fun Home, Chicken With Plums

This year I'm counting graphic novels in my reading challenge because they totally count and as I read 5 over February and March I thought I'd round em up here in this very post. It turns out my local library has a pretty good collection so I've been working my way through that!

In Real Life

I picked up this beautiful graphic novel by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang on my birthday. As usual I was drawn in by its beautiful illustrations but the story was worth staying for. Anda is a high school student who loves online gaming, specifically the massively-multiplayer role-playing game Coarsegold Online. Anda is REALLY GOOD at this game, and is part of a all-girl guild. Real life and online life collide as Anda makes friends within the game with another kid in playing in China. I loved the art, I loved the story. I feel like it has a really strong moral heart within it. Also the physical copy is a beauty. The colours are wow!

Skim
I found Skim in the library, and was drawn in by the authors Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki who also wrote This One Summer, which I read last year. I also remember reading excerpts of this in my Sequential Narrative class in Toronto. So I was happy to finally read this story of Kimberly Keiko Cameron, nicknamed 'Skim', a wannabe Wiccan at high school in the early 90s. There's a suicide storyline, when a classmates' boyfriend kills himself, and the school becomes obsessed with spotting depression in its students. Skim is secretly meeting her English teacher Ms. Archer during all this, while also figuring out her friendship with her best friend, finding dates for the formal, and generally navigating teenage life. A really nice coming of age story, encompassing all the complications of high school. Has the same kind of thoughtful nostalgia as This One Summer .

Embroideries
The beginning of my Marjane Satrapi season. I had recently rewatched the Persepolis film (of which I now have a book copy and will read soon!), and spotted Embroideries in the library. This is such a funny and truthful little book. It's only a hundred or so pages, but there is so much good stuff packed in there! Over an afternoon of tea drinking, we learn of the love stories and sex lives of several generations of Iranian women in Majane's family. Her grandmother, mother, aunts, neighbours, cousins, all have stories from their various marriages and romances. I absolutely love Marjane Satrapi's humorous narrative style and her artwork is just great, capturing the personalities of each character in simple ink. 10/10 definitely read this! If anything. it's super enlightening!


Fun Home
I listened to Fun Home being discussed on the SRSLY podcast and then, once again, spotted it in the library. I'd been looking out for Alison Bechdel work, so I was very pleased to find it. This is a longun, with Bechdel looking back over her childhood at her relationship with her father, who died when she was in college. His death came just a few weeks after she came out as a lesbian to her parents, at which time her dad also came out as gay. Bechdel looks back over events in her childhood to unravel the mysteries of her father and their relationship and come to terms with his death I guess. This was a really interesting graphic memoir, mostly set in the family's funeral home business. Thoughtful, unapologetic storytelling and detailed artwork. Definitely wroth reading.


Chicken With Plums
Continuing Marjane Satrapi season, the library also had Chicken With Plums! Set in November 1955, Nasser Ali Khan is a celebrated tar player, and Marjane Satrapi's great-uncle. The story takes place over the eight days leading to his death, after he has given up on life due to the breaking of his beloved tar. Satrapi tells stories of his past and of his childrens' futures too, again with the same humour and wit she is known for. Offering glimpses into Iranian culture pre-1950s, and handling issues of death, love, life, and music with humour and grace. Also now I want to eat chicken with plums mmmm.





Any graphic novel recommendations are most welcome! Lemme know!