I mean, the matter that you read, my lord.

.

127) Nat Turner by Kyle Baker, finished November 10

This is an impactful book. It spends a long time establishing the horrors of slavery so when the brutality of Turner's revolt happen, no matter how awful it gets, you can't get those opening sequences out of your mind.

The book is largely wordless, but the pages with words are filled with Turner's own words. And there's a seriousness and an honesty---almost,
at times, a holiness---to his language that it's not hard to view him as a peculiar amalgamation of Joseph Smith and genocidal Joshua

The result is beauty in ugliness.

I'm in the middle of Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story" and his explanations of how to tell these stories seem appropriate here.

The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in
truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can’t help but gape at the awful majesty.... Like a killer
forest fire, like cancer under a microscope, any battle or bombing raid or artillery barrage has the
aesthetic purity of absolute moral indifference---a powerful, implacable beauty---and a true war
story will tell the truth about this, though the truth is ugly.

To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace. Almost everything is true.
Almost nothing is true.

This comics recreation is a true war story.

two days



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126) A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle , finished November 7

As far as storytelling goes, this doesn't match up with A Wrinkle in Time. The philosophizzing and whatnot has completely taken over the text. I mean---it was fine, I guess. Elements were quite nice. But it dragged, oh la how it dragged. Eesh.

over three months



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125) Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster): Life Lessons and Other Ravings from Dave Barry by Dave Barry, finished November 3

Here's the thing about anyone my generation who rights funny stuff: whether we mean to or not, we all steal from Dave Barry. It's kind of a relief, frankly, to read this 2015 book and see he's still got it. I laughed aloud quite often, and the letter to his grandson was genuinely sweet and touching. And funny. Dave Barry, friends,
is still Dave Barry.

(Also worth mentioning: he explained soccer to me in words I understand. Although he didn't say this directly, essentially it is this: every soccer game is a pitcher's duel.)

couple weeks maybe



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124) Munch by Steffen Kverneland, finished October 31

We went and saw the Munch show at SFMOMA. It was amazing. It was also amazing crowded, probably because we didn't make it until the closing weekend.
Because it was closing though, all the Munch stuff was on sale including this book for $12. If it had been under ten I would have bought it without thinking, but at twelve I thumbed through and saw too many boobs and penises and stuff to have it hanging around the house. So I went to the library instead.

The book's central conceit is that most Munch biographies have extrapolated way too much from the facts and turned Munch into a fictional character of the biographists' own imaginings. And so Kverneland decided that all the words in the books would be direct quotations from primary documents and the only interpretation would come through his pictures.

And what pictures there are! His characters are sharply angled---almost cubist---yet consistent and realistic. And this realism is a great choice for Munch because he too was realist but not. Plus, Kverneland does fun cartoony things like giving drunk people Xs for eyes. And he incorporates Munch's art, using his own artist's sensibility to show the development of Munch's style and compulsions.

This bio captured Munch for me and added to my growing enthusiasm for his work. My enthusiasm is unlikely to ever match Kverneland's. But it is catching.

two-plus weeks

Previously in 2017

117 – 123

121, 122, 123) Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare, finished October 26
120) Deceit and Other Possibilities by Vanessa Hua, finished August 24
119) Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare, finished October 23
118) Glossolalia by Marita Dachsel, finished October 15
117) Bowery Boys by by Cory Levine & Ian Bertram & Brent McKee, finished October 14

114 – 116

116) Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle by Jeff Flake, finished October 11
115) Stickeen by John Muir, finished October 4
114) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, finished October 3

109 – 113

113) Paper Girls Volume Three by Vaughn/Chiang/Wilson/Fletcher, finished September 29
112) Paper Girls Volume Two by Vaughn/Chiang/Wilson/Fletcher, finished September 28
111) Artichoke Tales by Megan Kelso, finished September 26
110) Adulthood Is a Myth: A Sarah Scribbles Collection by Sarah Andersen, finished September 20
109) The Hunt for Vulcan: . . . And How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe by Thomas Levenson, finished September 19

103 – 108

108) Gast by Carol Swain, finished September 19
107) Paper Girls Volume One by Brian K Vaughan et al, finished September 16
104, 105, 106) Fences by August Wilson, finished September 15
103) Drama by Raina Telgemeier, finished September 11

100 – 102

102) Clean Room Vol. 3: Waiting for the Stars to Fal by Gail Simone et al, finished September 9
101) Clean Room, Vol. 2: Exile by Gail Simone et al, finished September 7
100) Clean Room, Vol. 1: Immaculate Conception by Gail Simone et al, finished September 7

96 – 99

099) Title by Rachel Hunt Steenblik, finished September 7
098) “L” Is for Lawless by Sue Grafton, finished September 6
097) How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff, finished September 2
096) Flight, Volume 4, finished August 30

91 – 94

095) What Was Left of the Stars by Claire Åkebrand, finished August 30
094) Laughing Gas by P.G. Wodehouse, finished August 30
093) Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman with illustrations by Skottie Young, finished August 30
092) Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, finished August 29
091) Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski & Lauren Myracle & Emily Jenkins, finished August 21

87 – 90

090) The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold, finished August 15
089) Mormonism for Beginners by Stephen Carter, finished August 15
088) Ben, in the World by Doris Lessing, finished August 15
087) Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken, finished August 9

81 – 86

086) The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey, finished August 4
085) Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen by Dylan Horrocks, finished August 3
084) Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk, finished August 3
083) CatStronauts: Mission Moon by Drew Brockington, finished July 29
082) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, finished July 29
081) The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing, finished July 15

76 – 80

080) The Novel by James C. Michener, finished July 12
079) Dodger by Terry Pratchett, finished July 11
078) Big Nate: Great Minds Think Alike by Lincoln Peirce, finished July 10
077) Living Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson, finished July 7
076) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, finished June 30?

72 – 75

075) Norse Mythology by Neil Gaimain, finished June 19
074) Red Handed: The Fine Art of Strange Crimes by Matt Kindt, finished June 16
073) Wyrms by Orson Scott Card, finished June 15
072) Cairo by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker, finished June 13

68 – 71

071) Abstract City by Christoph Niemann, finished June 9
070) The Wrenchies by Farel Dalrymple, finished June 8
069) Real Friends by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham, finished June 5
068) Earth Abides by George R. Stewart, finished June 1

64 – 67

067) One Minute till Bedtime selected by Kenn Nesbitt, finished May 30
066) The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder, finished May 25
065) Wonder Woman: A Celebration of 75 years by (various), finished May 24
064) Leiathan with a Hook by Kimberly Johnson, finished May 12

60 – 63

063) Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, finished May 10
062) Cover by Peter Mendelsund, finished May 10
061) Sacred Heart by Liz Suburbia, finished May 8
060) Age of Reptiles Omnibus, Vol. 1 by Ricardo Delgado, finished May 4

57 – 59

059) Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple, finished May 1
058) Little Tommy Lost: Book One by Cole Closser, finished April 28
057) Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett, finished April 24

53 – 56

056) Angel Catbird (vol. one) by Margaret Atwood, et al., finished April 21
055) The Dinner Club by Curtis Taylor, finished April 21
054) The Hotel Cat by Esther Averill, finished April 17
053) A Field Guide to Awkward Silences by Alexandra Petri, finished April 9

48 – 52

052) The Ghost by Robert Harris, finished April 7
051) Injection, Vol. 1 by Warren Ellis & Jordie Bellaire & Declan Shalvey, finished April 7
050) Letters to a Young Mormon by Adam Miller, finished April 2
049) Fences by August Wilson, finished March 30
048) Art Ops Vol. 2: Popism by Shaun Simon and a crapton of artists including a panoply of Allreds, finished March 29

44 – 47

047) The Natural by Bernard Malamud, finished March 28
046) Let Me Drown with Moses by James Goldberg, finished March 26
045) Kaptara Volume 1: Fear Not, Tiny Alien by Chip Zdarsky and Kagan McLeod, finished March 25
044) The Big Book of Exit Strategies by Jamaal May, finished March 22

40 – 43

043) Casanova: Acedia Volume 1 by Matt Fraction and Fábio Moon and Michael Chabon and Gabriel Bá, finished March 18
042) Wolfie & Fly by Cary Fagan, finished March 15
041) Cyrus Perkins and the Haunted Taxi Cab by Dave Dwonch and Anna Lencioni, finished March 13
040) An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, finished March 10

36 – 39

039) Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, finished March 9
038) In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary, finished March 5
037) Ritual and Bit by Robert Ostrom, finished March 3
036) Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman, finished March 3

33 – 35

035) Under Brushstrokes by Hedy Habra, finished February 24
034) Rapture by Sjohnna McCray, finished February 20
033) The Destroyer in the Glass by Noah Warren, finished February 19

29 – 32

032) Old Boy, Vol. 8 by Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi, finished February 18
031) Ms. Marvel Vol. 6: Civil War II by G. Willow Wilson et al, finished February 18
030) White Sand by Brandon Sanderson & Rik Hoskin & Julius Gopez, finished February 18
029) Honest Engine by Kyle Dargan, finished February 17

24 – 28

028) Best American Comics 2016 edited by Roz Chast, finished February 16
027) Old Boy, Vol. 7 by Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi, finished February 16
026) Old Boy, Vol. 6 by Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi, finished February 12
025) Old Boy, Vol. 5 by Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi, finished February 11
024) Old Boy, Vol. 4 by Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi, finished February 10

19 – 23

023) Ms. Marvel Vol. 5: Super Famous by G. Willow Wilson & Takeshi Miyazawa, finished February 9
022) Ms. Marvel Vol. 4: Last Days by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona, finished February 7
021) Ms. Marvel Vol. 3: Crushed by G. Willow Wilson & Takeshi Miyazawa & Elmo Bondoc, finished February 7
020) Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson & Jacob Wyatt & Adrian Alphona, finished February 6
019) Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona, finished February 5

14 – 18

018) Curses by Kevin Huizenga, finished February 4
017) Precious Rascals by Anthony Holden, finished January 31
015 & 016) Anthem by Ayn Rand, finished January 31
014) Old Boy, Vol. 3 by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, finished January 30

9 – 13

013) On Jupiter Place by Nicholas Christopher, finished January 30
012) Old Boy, Vol. 2 by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, finished January 29
011) Old Boy, Vol. 1 by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, finished January 28
010) Summerlost by Ally Condie, finished January 27
009) Heat Wake by Jason Zuzga, finished January 24

4 – 8

008) How the End Begins by Cynthia Cruz, finished January 19
007) Delinquent Palaces by Danielle Chapman, finished January 19
006) Pilot by pd mallamo, finished January 19
005) Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, finished January 16
004) I Hate Fairyland Volume 1: Madly Ever After by Skottie Young et al, finished January 14

1 – 3

003) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, finished January 12
002) F in Exams: The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers by Richard Benson, finished January 10
001) States of Deseret by William Morris, finished January 10

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final booky posts of
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