September was a pretty good reading month. Did you guys get any books during the Stuff Your Kindle event? I downloaded *quite* a few. I don’t know if I’ll like them all but I have a long drive (6 hours up and 6 back down) coming up so that should give me a good chance to try some of them out and see if I like them. I got most of them from a wonderful list compiled by Romance Bookworms, which you should definitely bookmark for the next Stuff Your Kindle event. You can sign up for email alerts and get notified the next time there’s a big sale (I am not affiliated with this blog I just really like their content, check them out!). Now onto the books!
The first book that I want to talk about is The Out Side: Trans & Nonbinary Comics. This is an anthology that features a ton of different authors: Kaz Fantone, Coco Ouwerkerk, Julie Fiveash, Cyrus, Min Christensen, Ashi, DaToonie, Vixtopher, Wren Chavers, Matteo Montero-Murillo, Mel Valentine Vargas, Kyla Aiko, Nasr Bin Safwan, Dana Simpson, Lae Louie Schäfer, Veronica Jane, Dashi, Aidyn Huynh, Al Acevedo, Wey Song, Sam, Liam Coballes, Lake Fama, Lucas James, Sage Coffey, Zhen, Maddie Tacobus, Jam Aden, Tara Madison Avery & Mike Sullivan, and Julia Kaye.
This anthology has a ton of different trans & nonbinary comic artists that are sharing their journey with gender and sexuality. I’ve heard of a lot of the comics artists in this anthology but it was really cool to be introduced to people that I’ve never heard of before. A lot of these stories focus on when the artists were coming out but there are a few that talk about later in life after people have figured everything out. Overall, I thought that this was a great collection and one that would be a great resource if you are questioning.
In Freaking Romantices vol. 1 by Snailords, we follow Zylith who has just moved into a supposedly haunted apartment. As we progress through the book, she sees this spirit a few times and contacts the previous renter to see if he knows anything about it. He tells her that he had a housemate who disappeared after seeing a green-eyed guy – the same one that Zylith is seeing! Will she be able to figure out what’s going on? Or will this spirit make her disappear too?
This is a great read if you are looking for something fun and only a little bit spooky for the Halloween season. I’m really invested in the storyline and I can’t wait to see how the rest of it goes.
Next up we have Nell of Gumbling by Emma Steinkellner. I’ve read a few books by this author before and really enjoyed them so I was excited to read this one. In this book, we follow our main character Nell as she goes through her everyday life in the magical town of Gumbling. She goes to school and hangs out at her dads’ farm where they harvest stars for power. She’s very much looking forward to her upcoming apprenticeship and really hoping that it’ll be with her hero and local artist, Wiz Bravo. However, she gets put with Mrs. Birdneck, the town lorekeeper. She tries to make it work but things keep going wrong and now there are people in town trying to make the town into a tourist attraction! Can Nell and her friends stop the developers?
This was really cute and the artwork was fantastic! If you’re a fan of magical realism then check this one out!
In Hide: The Graphic Novel by Kiersten White and adapted by Scott Peterson, we follow fourteen people who have been selected to play a high stakes game of hid and seek inside of an old amusement park. The prize is life changing, fifty thousand dollars. All they have to do is be the last one standing. Little do they know that this game is the most lethal game of hide and seek that they will ever play. Can they survive? You’ll have to check this one out for yourself!
This was a fantastic book. The artwork was top notch. The coloring of the amusement park really made it stand out. The characters were nicely drawn too but my favorite was the monster. It looked familiar yet eerie. Like something from this world, but twisted and distorted.
In Match Point by Maddie Gallegos, we follow Rosie Vo as she prepares for a racquetball with her dad coaching her. Her dad won the tournament ten years in a row when he was a kid and he is very hard on Rosie when she practices. She has started to hate racquetball because of this. Then a new kid named Hayden Blair moves to town and she also plays racquetball! Rosie hatches a plan to have Blair take her place in the tournament so that Rosie can get a winning medal and then maybe her dad will leave her alone. Together the girls bond and Rosie learns about friendship, trust, and standing up for yourself. This was a really great graphic novel! I loved the art style and the pacing of the story was nicely done. I also learned a lot about racquetball, which I knew nothing about before I read this.
Next up we have The Hills of Estrella Roja by Ashley Robin Franklin. This is another author that I’ve read one of their other books and I have a bunch more of her books on my to be read list. But in this graphic novel we follow one of our main characters, Kat, as she goes to the town of Estrella Roja to investigate the supernatural. Kat and her friend Clem have a podcast where they discuss everything spooky or supernatural. One day, Kat gets an email asking them to investigate “devil lights” in the town of Estrella Roja. So of course Kat changes her Spring Break plans and heads out on the road to go investigate. However, when she gets to Estrella Roja, the locals are less than friendly to her and won’t answer any questions. That is until she runs into Mari, who is in town for her grandmother’s funeral. Together they begin to investigate the devil lights and other supernatural things that are happening outside of the small town. What will they find? Are the devil lights real? Are there witches in town?? You’ll have to read and find out for yourself!
I really enjoyed this graphic novel! The artwork was awesome and the story just flew by. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are into spooky books.
Wildfire by Breena Nard is about Juliana and her family who live in rural Oregon. One day there is a wildfire and Juliana and her family lose almost everything. They have to relocate to Portland and Juliana has to start at a new school. She struggles with feeling angry at the people who started the fire, by setting off fireworks, and being sad about losing her house and pet chickens. Throughout the course of the book we see Juliana grow and learn about climate change. She also learns how to handle her grief and anger.
Overall, I think that this is a great graphic novel that really illustrates how wildfires and climate change can impact individuals as well as the planet as a whole.
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz is the last book that I’d like to talk about. Here’s the description for Goodreads: Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: She disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert.
But it’s hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can’t resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she able to keep her secret?
This was a really adorable graphic novel. I loved all the cheesy names for the characters and then different kingdoms. The artwork was really cute too. If you’re looking for a slice of life, medieval light fantasy then check this one out!
That is it for this month! I can’t wait to read some spooky books in October. I hope that you all had a great September and I will talk to you next month!
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