memorizingthedigitsofpi

In October I read. 24 books. But at least half of them were graphic novels due to a) Comic Con and b) the annual PW Critic’s Poll landing in my inbox and reminding me I haven’t read anything all year and need to catch up so I can make a good list lol. Anyway, on to the list!

Grand Slam Romance Book 3: Farewell to Babes: A Graphic Novel Volume 3 by Emma Oosterhous and Ollie Hicks

What a fun conclusion to a fun series! It’s frankly criminal this trilogy isn’t the most popular graphic novel series out there, it’s so funny and so gay and fun. I want to make something this fun! Longer review of volume 2 up on WWAC if you wanna see.

Сто лет тому вперёд (A Hundred Years Ago Ahead) by Kir Bulychev

I made my girlfriend watch two episodes of the TV miniseries adaptation A Guest From The Future (ON YOUTUBE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES. We do not speak of the new remake), which made me want to reread the book to remember what they’d changed for the series. It’s a really good children’s book, actually! I feel like Bulychev’s optimistic view of the future really influenced my own science fiction-themed creative work, because this series was my FAVORITE in elementary school. Rereading as an adult, I was really impressed with how realistic and specific each kid character was. There was a whole class of kids and they all felt different but believable. They’re all generally well-meaning but still capable of being petty and jealous and annoying, because they’re literally twelve. They feel believably twelve years old. Even Alisa the supergirl from the future feels like a twelve year old, more or less. And it’s funny!!!

Night in the American Village: Women in the Shadow of the U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa by Akemi Johnson

I did not know how much I didn’t know about Okinawa and its relationship to Japan and the U.S. Military. The book is structured as a series of case studies-interviews with different women living in Okinawa, from Okinawan WWII survivors to American military wives to the half-American daughters of local women and military men. Ultimately, Johnson concludes the bases need to go, but it’s surprising how many locals like having them there because of how much the local economy is tied up in those bases. Really informative and engaging book.

Moderation by Elaine Castillo

This was really fun. There were a lot of sentences that struck me as perfect ways to phrase things while I was reading, but then when I tried going back to find examples I couldn’t seem to pinpoint them. Still, Castillo’s writing felt very elegant and controlled, like her main character. The romance worked really well too, the love interest wasn’t too perfect and he and Girlie seemd to fit together well. Also Girlie’s family was really fun. I read it on the train up to NYCC lol.

Breadcrumbs: Coming of Age in Post-Soviet Poland by Kasia Babis

Read this on the train coming down from the First Second/23rd Street party at NYCC lol. Babis’s memoir examines the realities of being a socially conscious young woman in the deeply Catholic, conservative post-Soviet world of early 2000s Poland, looking at her life but also that of her friends and their families. I remember reading some of her short comics on the Nib and enjoying them, but I liked the memoir more. It felt very cohesive and intentional.

How Could You by Ren Strapp

Also read this on the train down from NYCC due to purchasing it directly from the author there lol. Ah, collegiate mess. If you love disaster lesbians causing problems, this is the book for you!

The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei

I remember reading that this got like a 500k advance and a blurb from Kaveh Akhbar and I dunno I thought it was, like, fine. I thought the random lesbian couple Genevieve meets in NZ was weirdly glossed over if she’s coming from Singapore where homosexuality is much less accepted but I guess she’s writing for a Western audience? It might’ve been more interesting with more POV changes, or from Arin’s POV instead of Genevieve. Surprised by the Akhbar blurb considering the prose in this was... pretty bland, mostly. I guess it’s fine for a debut?

The New Girl by Cassandra Calin

I got this at the Scholastic party at NYCC (signed by the author!) and it’s cute! Very standard Middle Grade Autofiction Graphic Novel, elevated by frankly extremely appealing art and slightly unusual personal backstory (Romanian girl moves to Montreal, which stands out amongst all the middle-American new-kid-at-school books in this genre.) I’ve seen some of Calin’s webcomic strips around before, and I was surprised how well she adapted her style to this full color middle grade look. Cuter than pretty much any competitor I can think of right now. Definitely recommend for anyone with a kid in their life.

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 4 by Fujita

Reread, I won the Fujita signing lottery at Kodansha House and then didn’t realize we needed to bring a book to the signing and panic-bought this while waiting for my turn to get a book signed. Then read the whole thing while waiting lol. She drew Hanako in it for me. It’s perfect. I can die happy now.

The Internal Sea: Mare Internum by Der-Shing Helmer

Full review on The Beat. I liked it!

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Heard a lot about this and finally read it! I was not expecting the time travel to be back-and-forth and was not expecting Dana to be able to bring stuff with her when time traveling. I really liked her relationship with her husband, complicated but still loving and supportive. Dana was a fun lead to follow. The escalation of the time jumps was stressful, and the slavery parts were genuinely horrifying. More fun to read than I thought it’d be, though. 

And The Strange & Funky Happenings One Day by Miyazaki Natsujikei

I bought this at MOCCA in March but I am so so bad at finishing short story collections because each short story makes me feel like I’m done reading so this took me forever to finish. It’s fun! Weird, random, charming. I did like it. It was just hard for me to finish it lol.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Sad! Decent mystery, very strong exploration of the dynamics of both a specific place and specific types of people in that place. I think I did like it overall.

A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Discussed in more detail in this post, this ruled.

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

I had high expectations for this but it didn’t work for me. Too many random unrelated digressions, too little point. Not that funny. I think I was expecting something closer to Sayers’s Peter Wimsey stories. Might watch the Soviet movie eventually, it’s my cousin’s favorite.

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman

Inspired to read by liking Help Wanted and a Substack post about what this Type of Guy could look like in 2025. Tne book seemed very observant. I disagree with the Substack post that this guy is based on Keith Gessen, though: no prominent sibling in a similar field (or unprominent siblings, Nate’s an only child), and Nate’s backstory seems more similar to Waldman’s own than Gessen’s. Also, Nate did not start a magazine at any point in the book lol. Lots of people in media are children of Eastern European immigrants, random Substack guy!

Palestine by Joe Sacco

I think this might actually be my first Sacco book, which is kind of wild because I feel like I’ve read his work before? He did a visiting artist talk at CCS that I remember finding very insightful. His style is interesting, somehow both spontaneously stream of consciousness and extremely laborious. I remember he did talk about how long each page takes him to draw. I do want to read his new book about Gaza and see if he managed to follow up with anyone he interviewed in this one. Definitely informative.

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

Ok the misogyny was infuriating but I respected that Tokarczuk was doing that on purpose and Going Somewhere With It and boy was she ever. Maybe I should read the Magic Mountain for the full experience. I loved the random images and photos just kind of thrown in there for decoration. I want to do that with a novel someday.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Shorter than I thought it’d be, funnier than I thought it’d be, sadder than I thought it’d be.

They Were 11! by Moto Hagio

First half was great, second half was all interplanetary politics that were much less my thing, but the book design and Hagio’s art were wonderful. Great reissue.

Saint Catherine by Anna Meyer

Pretty Good! A good first title for 23rd street. I liked all the characters and I feel like the themes hung together well.

Smoke gets in your eyes by Anaïs Flogny

My friend Lydia’s first acquisition as an editor at Abrams! So stylish, so pretty, so elegant. Classic Mafia Yaoi but done so, so well, like the most perfect Old-Fashioned from an upscale bar.

Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Life, Taken by Force by Ben Passmore

Really funny and creative, and very informative. I learned a lot about stuff I’d previously heard of in passing or not at all, and the bibliography at the end was very helpful too.

Land vol 1 by Kazumi Yamashita

THIS FUCKING RULED. Made me go “ooooo” out loud. Folk horror! Twins separated at birth! Gods which are real?! Fantasy or science fiction?! Who knows! I need volume 2 like right now or else!
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