Comics for Girls

Sometimes you read articles like "What Taking My Daughter to a Comic Book Store Taught Me", and it really gets to you. Granted, this might not be everyone's take on every comic store, but it's a sad fact that this can happen - you can take a girl to a comic book store, and she might ask for "the real comics", comics where all female characters are not scantily clad superheroes. If you know a girl who's interested in comics and would like to read about other girls they might more readily identify with, we have some comic suggestions for you!

We have tried to use some of Geek Dad's guidelines for finding titles, especially: titles must be female-led and titles should be more than a toy ad. All titles are from the children's section unless otherwise noted.

To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel by Siena Cherson Siegel

Captain Marvel Vol. 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue Deconnick
[School Library Journal rated this appropriate for grade 9 and above]

Lumberjanes: Beware The Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson & Grace Ellis

Cleopatra In Space: Book One, Target Practice by Mike Maihack

El Deafo by Cece Bell 

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch  

Phoebe and Her Unicorn: A Heavenly Nostrils Chronicle by Dana Simpson 

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier 

Chiggers by Hope Larson

Oddly Normal: Volume 1 written & illustrated by Otis Frampton

Bandette: In Presto! by Paul Tobin with art by Colleen Coover [YA]

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki [YA]

Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks [YA] 

Ms. Marvel, Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson
[School Library Journal rated this appropriate for grade 9 and above]


Links


12 Comics for a 7-Year-Old Girl: A Response [Geek Dad]

10 Great Comics for Adolescent Girls: Graphic Novels and Collections [Paste]

You Go, Girls! 7 Kick-Butt Comics for 7-Year-Old Girls [Brightly]

William Shakespeare's Star Wars

It's practically impossible not to know that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be in theaters in December 2015. Or are we just nerds? We confess to having downloaded the Star Wars app to our phone (there has been much selfie-taking - all the guys think it's funny to be Princess Leia, and hardly anybody wants to be trapped in carbonite; and the weather in Albuquerque mostly resembles Endor in the early morning and Utapau during the day, but the monsoon season is also bringing up comparisons to Kamino). Also, we were pretty excited about the behind-the-scenes reel from the San Diego Comic-Con and the pictures of Luke, Leia, and Han (um, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford) reunited.

So, you still have a few months to geek out and immerse yourself in the Star Wars universe. You could watch all the movies. You could refresh yourself with the visual dictionaries. You could amuse yourself with the clever cartoons of Jeffrey Brown. How about Star Wars Lego? Or, if you have literary inclinations, why not try William Shakespeare's Star Wars?

William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher

A retelling of Star Wars in the style of Shakespeare, in which a wise Jedi knight, an evil Sith lord, a beautiful captive princess, and a young hero coming of age reflect the valor and villainy of the Bard's greatest plays. 
 
William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher ; inspired by the work of George Lucas and William Shakespeare

A follow-up to the best-selling William Shakespeare's Star Wars:Verily, A New Hope returns readers to a galaxy far, far away, where a brooding young hero, a power-mad emperor and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for power and soliloquize in elegant iambic pentameter. 

William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher 

Han Solo entombed in carbonite, the princess taken captive, the Rebel Alliance besieged, and Jabba the Hutt engorged. Now Luke Skywalker and his Rebel band must seek fresh allies in their quest to thwart construction of a new Imperial Death Star.  

William Shakespeare's The Phantom Menace: Star Wars Part the First by Ian Doescher

Join us, good gentles, for a merry reimagining of Star Wars: Episode 1 as only Shakespeare could have written it. The entire saga starts here, with a thrilling tale featuring a disguised queen, a young hero, and two fearless knights facing a hidden, vengeful enemy. ’Tis a true Shakespearean drama, filled with sword fights, soliloquies, and doomed romance . . . all in glorious iambic pentameter and coupled with twenty gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations. Hold on to your midi-chlorians: The play’s the thing, wherein you’ll catch the rise of Anakin! 

William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Clone Army Attacketh by Ian Doescher  

In time so long ago begins our play, In clash-strewn galaxy far, far away. To Shmi or not to Shmi? Torn between duty to the Jedi, attraction to Paďm, and concern for his beloved mother, yeoman Jedi Anakin Skywalker struggles to be master of his fate. The path he chooses will determine not just his own destiny, but that of the entire Republic. And thereby hangs a tale. Alack the day! A noble lady in danger. A knight and squire in battle. And a forbidden love thats written in the stars. Once again, the quill of William Shakespeare meets the galaxy of George Lucas in an insightful reimagining that sets the Star Wars saga on the Elizabethan stage. The characters are familiar, but the masterful meter, insightful soliloquies, and period illustrations will convince you that the Bard himself penned this epic adventure.  

*all book descriptions are taken from the library catalog 

A Year of Reading

Who says reading challenges have to be limited to summer?

In my last post, I talked about how I'm burnt out on reading young adult books, and I touched on a reading challenge my sister suggested we do. When my sister texted me to tell me about "a GREAT idea" she had for reading, I was nervous, mostly because we have very different reading tastes, and we're different types of readers. My sister's idea was to pick a specific theme for every month, and we can only read books that fall into that theme. Her plan is to do this for a year.

I was hesitant at first, because that's not how I read. I tend to be a mood reader, and limiting myself the way my sister suggested is really hard for me. Any time I try to limit myself to something, I tend to want to read everything except what I'm limited to.

But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try it, primarily because I'm still burnt out on young adult books (and middle grade, and anything that's not aimed at an adult audience), but also because I thought it would be a fun way to extend my summer reading challenge and challenge myself with my reading.

Our challenge starts tomorrow, but I officially started it earlier this week. For the next year, our themes are:

August: Non-fiction
September: Classics/literary fiction
October: Horror/scary stories
November: History (both fiction and non-fiction)
December: Winter-themed books
January: Self-improvement
February: Young adult fiction (I couldn't help adding it in, just in case I want to start reading it again.)
March: Novels where technology plays a role, or non-fiction about technology
April: Poetry, short stories, and plays
May: Memoir/biographies
June: Summer-themed books
July: Childhood favorites

Then, a couple weeks ago, my sister sent me a text about "another GREAT idea" she had. She suggested that each month, we recommend books to each other from the theme, and we have to read at least one chapter of whatever is recommended to us. I'm not sure how this going to play out yet, since my sister can't seem to decide how many books we're allowed to recommend to each other, but I think it'll be fun.

Want to participate in your own reading challenge? Make one up, or try one of these!

2015 Reading Challenges
Novel Challenges
The Perch Book Club Summer Reading Challenge

And if you don't like those options, you can always do a Google search to find a reading challenge that works for you. Happy reading!

Forensic Mysteries

Who's fascinated by forensics?  We armchair detectives are! And so is mystery author Val McDermid, who just published Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime. Her familiarity with forensics is gleaned from research over the years for her fictional crime scenes, and allows her to "uncover the history of this science, real-world murders and the people who must solve them". For those of us interested in forensics, the use of scientific knowledge and/or methods (including DNA analysis, blood spatter, and entomology) to solve crimes, this book - employing true crime and scientific accounts - is gruesome (no pictures, though) but witty and intelligent, and tinged with a dose of both McDermid's sense of wonder and skepticism.

In honor of McDermid's book, we've compiled a list of some of the most well-known forensic mystery series from the library catalog:

Jefferson Bass
Bill Brockton, forensic anthropologist in the Body Farm series

Benjamin Black
Quirke, coroner in 1950s Ireland

Patricia Cornwell
Kay Scarpetta, chief medical examiner in Richmond, Virginia

Colin Cotterill
Siri Paiboun, national coroner in 1970s Laos

Ariana Franklin
Adelia, coroner in 12th century England

Tess Gerritsen
Maura Isles, medical examiner in Boston, Massachusetts (her partner is Jane Rizzoli)

Elly Griffiths
Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist

Iris Johansen
Eve Duncan, forensic sculptor

Sheila Lowe
Claudia Rose, forensic handwriting expert

James Patterson
Claire Washburn, medical examiner and founding member of The Women’s Murder Club, in San Francisco, California

Kathy Reichs
Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist in North Carolina and Quebec

Links

Forensic Mysteries [Stop You're Killing Me]

Popular Forensic Mystery Books [Goodreads]

New & Novel: Comedy Writing

Marc Maron just hosted President Obama on his WTF podcast last month (such a momentous event that Maron was still processing it during his next broadcast, which he called "The President Was Here", and he also created a special website to show pictures of the event). Every single episode of Seinfeld is streaming on Hulu, and Hulu celebrated by putting together a "Seinfeld Museum" for fans. Jon Stewart just ended his tenure on The Daily Show. Comedy and comedians - they are big news!

Comedians are not shy about putting pen to paper, either.  Here are some of the latest publishing ventures by some folks who regularly bring you the funny onscreen and on stage, with a couple of historical pieces thrown in for good measure.

Sick in the Head by Judd Apatow

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life From An Addiction to Film by Patton Oswalt

Happily Ali After: And Other Fairly True Tales by Ali Wentworth

More Fool Me: A Memoir by Stephen Fry

When The Balls Drop: How I Learned to Get Real and Embrace Life's Second Half by Brad Garrett

 

I Must Say by Martin Short

We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy by Yael Kohen

Hope: Entertainer of the Century by Richard Zoglin

Big Bad Book of Bill Murray: The Man, the Movies, the Legend by Robert Schnakenberg

Ann Rule, The Queen of True Crime October 22, 1935 - July 26, 2015

Ann Rule may be best known for her masterpiece The Stranger Beside Me which detailed her friendship with infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. Rule was a crime writer who got her start with True Detective magazine under the pen name Andy Stack.

Born Ann Rae Stackhouse, Ann Rule grew up among family members involved in law enforcement and even joined the Seattle Police Department, but left after failing an eye exam. She studied creative writing, abnormal psychology, and criminal justice, an education that made her true crime books exceptionally substantial and riveting. At the height of her career, Rule produced up to two books a year.

True crime aficionados will miss her contributions, but can be consoled by re-reading her books.

Practice To Deceive
Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors: And Other True Cases
But I Trusted You: And Other True Cases  
Mortal Danger
Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder: And Other True Cases 

In the Still of the Night: The Strange Death of Ronda Reynolds and Her Mother's Unceasing Quest For the Truth

Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer, America's Deadliest Serial Murderer
Bitter Harvest: A Woman's Fury, A Mother's Sacrifice

ABC Library also has the following true crime books to give you chills: 

Law and Disorder: The Legendary FBI Profiler's Relentless Pursuit of Justice by John Douglas 
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
While They Slept: An Inquiry Into the Murder Of a Family by Kathryn Harrison 
The Innocent Man by John Grisham
The Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt 
Every Contact Leaves a Trace: Crime Scene Experts Talk About Their Work From Discovery Through Verdict by Connie Fletcher 
For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago by Simon Baatz

The KonMari Method

Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest. By doing this, you can reset your life and embark on a new lifestyle.
~Marie Kondo

There's a little book making the rounds (currently 173 holds on the print book!) and getting lots of buzz.  Have you heard about Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo and the KonMari method yet, as explained in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up?

The KonMari method begins with one central tenet: "...the best way to choose what to keep and what to throw away is to take each item in one's hand and ask: "Does this spark joy?" If it does, keep it. If not, dispose of it."

There's more to it, a lot more. Marie Kondo does not recommending tidying a little at a time - it should all happen in one go. But don't let your family get involved - don't re-gift that T-shirt that doesn't quite work on you to your sister, for instance. You should tidy in order, by category. Clothes are first on the list, and she recommends placing every item of clothing on the floor to sort it out (and if you thought she sounded strict already, when she does this exercise with her customers, if they try to hide any pieces of clothing, she tells them that if they find any clothes after the big sort is over that they go automatically into the discard pile). How you fold your clothes, even your socks, is of the utmost importance, shows respect, and "we should put our heart into it, thanking our clothes for protecting our bodies". She does not approve of downgrading clothing that you'll never wear outside again to "loungewear", either.

Other categories get a similar treatment. Do your books give you "a thrill of pleasure" when you touch them? (Not when you open a book and read it - when you touch it.) Do you have a giant TBR pile?  Discard, discard, discard.  Her rule of thumb for sorting papers is "discard everything", because they will never inspire joy - this includes credit card statements, warranties for electrical appliances, and greeting cards that are more than two years old. And don't even get her started on "komono" (miscellaneous items) - those cosmetic samples you've hoarded, spare buttons, products from the latest health craze, and bedding for the guests you never have should be out the door already.

You might think that some of this seems odd or sounds exhausting (emptying your bag every day was an idea that we had difficulty imagining), and Marie Kondo is quite a character - she became interested in organizing in childhood (she started reading home and lifestyle magazines at age 5 and began surreptitiously discarding her family's "unused and unnecessary junk", until she got caught); she believes storage experts are hoarders, and indeed, has definite opinions about other tidying strategies, such as "clearly defined numerical goals...[are] one reason these methods result in rebound". But there is something about her quest for "ultimate simplicity in storage so that you can tell at a glance how much you have" that sounds so inspiring, and so...clean. Kondo promises that "[t]he lives of those who tidy throroughly and completely, in a single shot, are without exception dramatically altered". And her method does allow for a personal shrine in the top shelf of your bookcase and your closet to be decorated with "secret delights"!

What do you think?  Have you read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up?  Would you, or did you, try the KonMari Method, and how did it work for you?


Links

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

I Decluttered My Closet With The KonMari Method and Here's What Happened [HuffPost]

KonMari: How to Clean Up Your Home Once and Never Need to Do It Again [Martha Stewart]

Kissing Your Socks Goodbye: Home Organization Advice from Marie Kondo [New York Times]