David Small's father was a doctor who thought he could cure him through radiation. Instead the radiation made things worse and gave his son cancer. Rather than telling David his parents sent him into the operating room where David emerged voiceless after a vocal chord was removed. He thought the surgery would just be minor. David expressed himself through drawing and years later you can tell it paid of because the drawings in Stitches: A Memoir

are some of the most beautiful I have seen in any graphic memoir.

You can imagine how many emotions are portrayed in this book and what is truly amazing is how Small does this without words. He uses negative space and tiny changes in body language to tell the reader how each character is feeling. There isn't a lot of writing in this book but I came away from the story feeling like I knew the characters just as well as those in my favorite novels. Even though many pages were wordless I found myself looking at each panel longer than I would have had there been words. I really explored the intricacies of every drawing to help me understand the story. In some ways I liked the wordless panels more.

Anyone interested in memoirs or medical stories should definitely read this, but even if you're not interested in either of those things I still think this one is worth a try. It really transcends those two labels--by which I mean it's just a beautiful story. Small pulls you into his world much like he pulls himself into the paper he's drawing on. He doesn't judge anyone in his family for their choices, even though it would be easy to do, and manages to make you sympathize with all of them. In this way he acknowledges the private lives and thoughts of every person and in turn the importance of giving each human a chance for understanding.

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I'm warning you right now — this is going to be a bit of a long post. But I promise it will be well worth it!

For all of those participating in the Award Winning Reads Challenge hosted by myself and Jacinda at The Reading Housewives, or any of you thinking you might want to participate but haven't decided yet, this post is for you.

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In our intro post to the Challenge, both Jacinda and I made promises for lots of great prizes and giveaways for participants. This post is just to offer a little more detail and explanation for how each giveaway will work.

To start — The most basic:

For each level of participation, there will be a specific giveaway. So those who sign up to read three books will have a drawing independent of those who sign up to read nine. Each of the four levels will have one winner.

Jacinda and I both have a selection of books that we are going to donate, with titles from both the Newbery and the Printz list. Some are brand new, some look brand new, and some are gently used. This forms our prize pool. A full list will be provided at a later date.

To be chosen as the winner from your reading level, you must complete your goal. You can read more than your challenge level, but you must at least reach it. This will earn you one entry.

For every book you read past your reading goal, you will gain an additional entry.

For every review you post a Newbery or Printz honor or award, you will gain an additional entry.

To encourage people to sign up for the reading level they think they are capable of, and not just sign up for level one and then read 100 books, the number of books you can win increases with each level increase.

The winner from Level one will receive 2 books from the prize pack.
Level two will receive 3.
Level three will receive 4.
And Level four will receive 5.

We are also going to have a giveaway for one random participant, whether you complete your level or not. Everyone who signs up and agrees to participate will be eligible for this prize, although if you win the prize pack for your reading level, you will not be able to win this one.

The final giveaway that is for sure going to happen is a special giveaway, just from me. Jacinda and I are on the same page with the whole challenge, and are working very well together, but I wanted to include this giveaway, because I am a book pusher. I like the idea that other people are reading my favorite books, and that authors I find especially gifted are getting extra love.

So, I decided to offer the participants of this challenge a special incentive for reading my favorite books. Below, I have compiled a list of 10 (ish) books each from both the Newbery and the Printz award lists. I've included a Goodreads and Amazon link to each title for your convenience. If you want more information about a book, or if you want to know why I seriously think you should read it, just ask! Comment, email, tweet, whatever!:) I love talking up my favorite books!

Anyone who reads any of these books will be entered in to win a special drawing. Reviewing the book will gain you an additional entry as well. (Note — if you don't have a blog, that's totally okay! Posting a review anywhere will count! Goodreads, Shelfari, LibraryThing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books A Million etc etc etc. As long as it's a review, it's online and you can link me, it counts!)

The number of winners and the prizes to be won for this giveaway are yet to be determined. Part of this is going to depend on the number of participants, some will depend on how my pocket book is feeling come September, and some will depend on how excited I am that (hopefully) so many people are reading my favorites. At this point, it's likely to include at the very least a book of your choice from the complete awards lists, but I might also include some of my own personal favorites in there as well. Suggestions and preferences are welcomed. And now:

THE LIST: Printz: * Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (amazon; goodreads) (2009 Award) * The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (amazon; goodreads) (2009 Honor) * The Book Thief (amazon; goodreads) / I am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak (amazon; goodreads) (2007 Honor/ 2006 honor, respectively) * Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (amazon; goodreads) (2000 Honor) * Monster by Walter Dean Meyers (amazon; goodreads) (2000 Award) * The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (amazon; goodreads) (2003 Honor) * Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger (amazon; goodreads) (2000 Honor) * Going Boving by Libba Bray (amazon; goodreads) (2010 Award)
* how i live now by Meg Rosoff (amazon; goodreads) (2005 Award)
* The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci (amazon; goodreads) (2001 Honor)

Newbery: * When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (amazon; goodreads) (2010 Award) * Rules by Cynthia Lord (amazon; goodreads) (2007 Honor) * The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spear (amazon; goodreads) (1959 Award) * Dicey's Song (amazon; goodreads) / A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt (amazon; goodreads) (Books 2 and 3 of the Tillerman Saga) (1983 Award/ 1984 Honor, respectively) * Walk Two Moons (amazon; goodreads) / The Wanderer by Sharon Creech (amazon; goodreads) (1995 Award/ 2001 Honor, respectively) * Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff (amazon; goodreads) (2003 Honor) *Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl (amazon; goodreads) (1971 Honor) * The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (amazon; goodreads) (2008 Honor) * The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (amazon; goodreads) (1991 Honor) * The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (amazon; goodreads) (2009 Award)
I can't wait to see what everyone plans to read! Stop by here or over at The Reading Housewives tomorrow for our kick off posts. I'll be including links to previous Newbery/Printz reviews here on the blog and giving you a peek at my tentative reading pile. I believe we will also have a linky with the post, so feel free to link up your starting post!
Tomorrows the day! Happy reading!
*Ashley and Jacinda reserve the right to change the number of prizes for each level. We will keep you informed of any and all decisions regarding prizes. Three months is a long time. I can't guarantee that everything in this post is going to remain exactly the same. But take heart. This also means we can give you more books!:)

I've become obsessed with drawing recently. I used to draw all the time in high school and when I got to college I just stopped. I can't explain it. Luckily I just go Make Yourself Happy by Lucy Knisley while I was in Chicago from this great store called Quimby's Bookstore. Make Yourself Happy was a staff recommendation, and even though I couldn't really figure out what the book was about I really wanted to buy a graphic novel I'd never even seen before. So I got this one. Apparently Lucy Knisley is most well known for her graphic travelogue, French Milk

, which I've heard of but never read. Make Yourself Happy is a collection of journals from 2009-2010, which cover her life as a 24-year-old graduate student, published artist, and all around awesome person.

What I most enjoyed about Make Yourself Happy was Knisley's outright honesty. She loves She's the Man, Pride and Prejudice, she reads romance, she feels bad about herself, she's selfish, and she is lazy. Basically, she is a twenty-something girl living in Chicago-- which was an experience I could totally relate to. Knisley is easy to love because she's just like your best friend. She doesn't try to be hip, she doesn't try to be anything. I love the inner dialogue in the HourLies, which are a series of short comments for each hour of the day. They are two panels usually, and just show the most important things from that hour. These were great because they made me think back over the course of my day and realize how many observations I could have saved through writing or drawing, but didn't.

The longer portion of the book is a travelogue of a trip to Paris Lucy took with her boyfriend during the summer. She is totally paranoid in the beginning, attempting to plan outfits that will make her look romantic and beautiful, only to get to Paris and spend a lot of the time in her underwear (understandable). In the travelogue she includes found objects, like a written poem, as well as larger, more detailed drawings. The travelogue appears about 3/4 of the way through the book, which is perfect timing because we get a break from her regular routine and see something different, but we've also gotten to known her up to that point so can understand her more fully in this new environment.

I really loved Make Yourself Happy and I'm quickly becoming obsessed with Lucy Knisley's work, which you should check out at her website. Make Yourself Happy is self-published by Knisley and can be purchased from her website for $15. Worth every penny.

I give this graphic journal an A.

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Have you ever felt like no one liked you but you were obviously right about everything? Yeah, I think we've all been there. Ban Tanaka, the main character of Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings seems to be a little stuck in his beliefs. This short graphic novel chronicles his life through three, or possibly two and a half, relationships. First, his girlfriend Miko, an intelligent Japanese woman with a great interest in film. Miko feels a little competitive though when the young Autumn starts working at the movie theatre that Ben manages. She is young, white, and punk, which is apparently Ben's type. She takes the opportunity to leave California where she and Ben live and take an internship in New York. The two have been fighting a lot and the leave on bad terms. While Ben is lonely in California he has a few failed romances and crushes, even though he and Miko are technically still dating.

The best character in the novel, however, is Ben's best lesbian friend Alice Kim. Alice is a grad student for life who is basically just staying in school for all the hot young girls. From week to week she bounces around from girl to girl, and maybe gets some homework done in between. All the while she is pretending to still be straight (at 29) so her religious Korean family will remain mildly calm. Ben and Alice's relationship is what Will and Grace could have been. They eat at a diner while Ben gripes about his girl problems and Alice pokes fun at him, but her jokes always say a lot more about Ben than he says about himself.

The story moves quickly, but is so believable. I have never seen drawing like this before. The frames are so lifelike I felt like I was watching a movie. The dialogue is also beautiful, saying more in what isn't said than what is written. It's amazing how simple black and white drawing with speech bubbles can say so much about race, love, heartache, egotism, and friendship. And those are just the things that come off the top of my head. Ben's character is similar to what you might find in a Nick Hornby novel (which is a compliment). He is annoying and self obsessive, but you kind of love him because you know you are the exact same way. The storyline is simple, but that is what makes this graphic novel work. This is definitely a must read in my opinion.

This graphic novel earned an A.

Sidenote: This novel appears to have been published with different colors of covers. The image I have is brown, but my actual copy is green. I think I have also seen a lavender one?

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I'm approaching week ten of the semester and I honestly have never felt this burnt out before. I really don't have that heavy of course load this semester, but I feel exhausted. It might partially be living off campus for the first time, or maybe I'm just feeling burnt out because I'm a junior and feel like being done. Or maybe I'm just looking forward to winter break more than I have before because I'm going on an awesome vacation. My boyfriend and I are going backpacking through Amsterdam, Berlin, and Munich and I am so excited. I've never been to the Netherlands or Germany before so I'm sure there will be a lot for us to see and do. Have any of you been to any of these places? What would you suggest for us?

As for reading I've been working diligently on The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

for the readalong next week, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

for a new feature I'm going to start, and The Book Thief

simply because it is awesome. I have a lot of plans for the week I do The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay readathon, and I'm really excited to see what all of you think about the posts. The book has made me remember my own comic drawing I did when I was in high school and I was inspired to start up again. I was really into art in high school but kind of quit when I got to college. My comic drawing style isn't very complex and obviously relies on words a lot more because I'm a better storyteller than artist, but it's something I enjoy working on. I'm thinking about posting some of these comics on here once I get back into the hang of it.

This week I reviewed Slouching Towards Bethlehem and Splendor. I celebrated my one year blogiversary, talked about my recent struggles with writing, and talked about an Awesome Essay: How to Write About Africa.

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Welcome to Robinson Wells today, author of Variant who is here to share with us some memories of the teenage years.:)

So, I’m not sure if I understand this correctly: If I was selling all of this stuff at a garage sale, that would mean that I don’t like it, right? If there was something I was selling as a teenager, then it wouldn’t matter much, so I’m going to change the rules: this isn’t a teenage garage sale; it’s a museum of my teenage years.

A collection of Supertramp CDs: No I’m not old enough that I was into Supertramp when they first came out (in the seventies), but for whatever reason I latched onto them as a teenager. I think it first was because of the kitsch of it—I mean, they have an album called “Breakfast In America”—but they started growing on me to the point where I owned all their albums and listened to them constantly. (I’m mostly over them now. Mostly.)

A fishing tackle box full of oil paints: Long before I ever thought about writing, my creative outlet was in the visual arts. My mom signed me up for an oil painting class when I was about eleven, and I really fell in love with it. (I don’t mean to brag, but I once took fourth place in the Utah State Fair. I’m kind of a big deal.) Sadly, writing has taken all my painting time away, and I haven’t done anything in years.

A road sign: In typical teenage fashion, my friends and I went through a phase when we would try to acquire (steal) the best signs we could find. We made a rule that we’d never do anything unsafe—no stealing STOP signs, or anything like that—but we got a lot of awesome ones. And, fortunately, one of our friends had a bus stop in front of his house, and we’d re-hang our stolen signs in front of his place: my favorite was a sign from the cemetery directing hearses toward the correct entrance. As you can imagine, my friend’s dad was not happy about this kind of thing.

A drafting table: In addition to painting, I briefly worked as a teenager drawing houses for real estate advertisements. I’m not great at drawing other things, but I can draw the heck out of a tract home.

My student government sweater: I think I ran for office every single year of junior high and high school, and never won, and then my senior year came around and I ran and lost AGAIN. But then they created a new position, held a special election, and I finally won! I was the Assembly Coordinator, which was a horrible job that I never would have taken had I not so desperately wanted to be in student government.

A 1972 Chevy Impala: This was my first car (and, since you don’t know how old I am, it was more than twenty years old when I had it). My dad bought it from someone for $300, and it ran about as well as you’d expect for a $300 car. The main benefit of the car was that it was indestructible—it was made of solid steel. More than once, as I was backing into the driveway, I hit the concrete side stairs and heard horrible scraping only to jump out and see the car was completely unscathed—not even a scratch in the paint.

Playbills from numerous shows: I came from a singing and dancing family, and we (all of us, Mom and Dad included) ended up heavily involved in community theater. Although I did my share of acting and singing (I could NEVER figure out how to dance), I ended up falling in love with the backstage stuff, and eventually worked for years doing set design.

How fun! I come from a theater family too! I love that you guys all got involved together. I can't tell you how many times I get that look when family members ask me why I'm not involved with a show.: P Thanks so much for stopping by today!!

I received an email yesterday from one of the winners of Gods Behaving Badly. She'd won two contests for the book and kindly offered her copy to another individual. So, I did another drawing, and Dawn is the newest winner! Dawn, please email me at jenlaw77ATearthlinkDOTnet with your mailing address. Your book will be sent directly from Hachette.

For the other winners, please remember to email me with your mailing address so your book can be sent. If I don't get a response by Saturday the 29th I will do another drawing.

Thanks for playing!

I was thrilled to find a class that was teaching Wilike Collins' The Woman in White this semester because I had been reading about it forever (at least it seemed that way to me). And the description on the back of the book got me even more excited when it said the novel was "the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism." Great, right? Right?

Well my friends, it was great. Excellent in fact. The narrative structure copies a criminal investigation. The first character we meet is Walter Hartright, a romantic character who has a strange encounter with a creepy woman in white on the road. She seems different, perhaps not quite insane but there is definitely something wrong with her. And why is she dressed all in white? He doesn't know it at the time, but this woman is going to change the general course of things for everyone he meets. He is on his way to new place of work, a drawing master for Laura Fairlie. When he meets Laura Fairlie he is pleasantly surprised to see how beautiful she is, but later finds out that she is already engaged to someone else. Sir Percival Glyde.

We lose Walter fairly quickly and the bulk of the novel is narrated by my favorite character, Marian. Marian has the body of a goddess and the face of mole, but she is extremely intelligent and observant. Her ugliness truly buys her freedom, as no man would want to marry that. She watches Sir Percival Glyde and his friend Count Fosco. She want to trust Percival since he is marrying her half sister, but she just cannot bring herself to do so. She is also pulled in by my other favorite character, Count Fosco, but she realizes Count Fosco tricks people easily and tries not to succumb to his powers. Fosco is a strange man. He is enormously fat, sweet to his wife in public, and is constantly eating sweets. He also knows exactly how to make people listen to him which makes him a humongous threat.

So who is the woman in white? What is the relationship between Count Fosco and Sir Percival Glyde? Why did Sir Percival want to marry Laura? These and many more questions pop up along the way in this book. It truly is a thrilling read. So why a B you might ask. The reason for the B is basically that I thought the ending was too neat and tidy, although I realize this would have been the preferred ending by most people in the book's day. I don't always like perfect endings though, and I wish this one would have ended differently. But it is certainly a must read!

This novel earned a B.

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The Shadow Concrete

As it is simple and as it is healthy! So it would be desirable to exclaim, looking at the simple object created by Portuguese architectural bureau Ateliermob. Under an amusing canopy the cafe disappears.

Shadow Surface consists of the concrete roof placed on three walls, creating a courtyard filled with sunlight spots, or even the whole hares getting through drawing from round apertures. Through the same apertures rain water inside gets, creating an original show. The one-storeyed cafe is between this canopy and a children's playground on which there are high windows.

The Project Purpose: to unite apartment houses

On the lift or on steps from under a canopy it is possible to go down in an underground parking.

VIA «The Concrete Romanticism in Lisbon»

Scott Pilgrim is 23 years old and has spent the past year trying to get over his last girlfriend. It looks like he is finally going to get over her when he starts dating a high school girl named Knives Chau. So... Scott is kind of a loser. The entire graphic novel is written in a video game style, with the specifics of characters listed as they appear on the pages. Scott is in a band and when they play the pages look eerily like the video game Rock Band. The entire book is basically Scott trying to progress to the next level, which includes finding out who this rollerblading, Amazon delivery girl Ramona Flowers is. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

is basically a celebration of all things twenty-something and the culture that surrounds that generation. The best character is definitely Wallace Wells, Scott's gay roommate, and even he kind of turns into a jerk at one point in the book (and he only gets a 7.5 rating at the beginning, so we know he isn't perfect). Bryan Lee O'Malley does a great job of summing up their relationship in two panels that show their apartment. Everything in the apartment has a label on it and we quickly find out that most of the stuff in there is Wallace's and Scott just uses it, including Wallace's socks.

Which is probably why I really, really loved it. The language was spot on and not gluttonous like the language in Juno. All of the characters are pretty unlikeable, Scott is a loser, Ramona is kind of an oddball, Knives is gullible teenager, and most of Scott's friends are mean, but as twenty-year-old you recognize that most of the people in your life fall into these categories too. It doesn't have anything to do with hipster culture, as many have said, because, let's face it, if Scott Pilgrim was a hipster he wouldn't have any friends and he would have much better taste in clothes. Bryan Lee O'Malley's drawing style is also not hipster enough to create a graphic novel about hipsters. It's not manga but it's not what we typically see from comic book artists today. It's almost more like a webcomic style--which I was totally on board with.

The book moves rather quickly and I suppose at time it might be a little too fast. If you didn't understand the language or world O'Malley assumes you understand the book would probably be difficult to get through. I can't speak to that, as I did understand it. If you're a college student I don't see how you wouldn't understand it, at least a little bit. I really can't speak more highly of the first volume in this series, so I will just end by review and hope you all give Scott Pilgrim a try.

I give Scott Pilgrim an A.

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Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott was a complete surprise to me. I don't normally read a lot of romance (in any sub genre... contemporary, paranormal etc.) and my previous experience with an Elizabeth Scott book (Living Dead Girl) left me rather disappointed. But a bunch of my Twitter buddies were talking about Elizabeth Scott week, and I thought it would be fun to participate. So, I grabbed two of her books and on Ginger's (from GReads) recommendation, started with Something, Maybe. I expected to like the book, although I didn't expect much more than a lukewarm enjoyment. But I was wrong! So wrong! I just inhaled this book and when I finished, I went back and reread some of my favorite parts.

Hannah has had a rather unorthodox childhood. Her dad is a much older reality TV star (think Hugh Hefner) and her mom used to be one of his 'special girls' and now makes a living performing live web-cam chats in lingerie. She hates the spotlight and does everything she can to avoid it. She doesn't try to dress up or attract attention and she just wants people to ignore her parents and what they do, even if that means ignoring her too. It's better than the alternative. Things start to change though when her long-time crush, Josh, starts paying attention to her, her dad starts to call and ask to see her again (the ratings on his show must be down again) and Finn, the co-worker who never shuts up starts drawing more of Hannah's attention.

Hannah is such a great character. She's full of life and love and doesn't really know what to do with all the emotion she has stored up inside. It's easier for her to fade into the background because she's afraid of what people will think or say about her parents and she's also a little bit afraid of herself. I loved Hannah's character. She wants so much out of life, but past experiences have taught her to be wary and she's taken that message to heart. She doesn't put herself out there and is suspicious of just about anyone who tries to get too close.

Josh is another interesting character. We see him initially through Hannah's rose-colored glasses, and he seems pretty great, but then, even through the glasses, we start to see some inconsistencies and subtle hints that all is not as perfect as Prince Charming would have us believe. And then there is Finn. Oh Finn. The cover flap makes it pretty obvious (IMO) that Finn is a better match for Hannah than Josh and Oh. My. Goodness. Yes! I loved Finn. Like, a lot. He was just so awesome. He's not perfect but he gets Hannah. He understands a lot more about her than even she realizes and he likes what he sees. He's there for her in subtle ways all the time, just being steady and dependable and a little bit intriguing.

There were never really any moments in this book that I found myself disbelieving the actions of a character. Scott created characters for us, gave them personalities, strengths and weaknesses and then let them play out their story. I was so impressed by the development of the characters and their relationships with each other. As Hannah learns more about herself, she also starts to learn more about others, and she opens herself up for more from them. Watching her grow as a character, watching her allow herself to be a little bolder made my heart happy.

If you aren't sure whether or not to pick up a Scott novel, I suggest you stop waffling and grab a copy of this one. There is definitely going to be more Scott in my future.

Top Ten Tuesday is a new meme at The Broke and Bookish. This week's top ten is top ten desert island picks, or what books would you take if you were stranded on a desert island.

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I've read this book three times and I could read again and again never getting sick of it. Definitely desert island worthy. (I'd actually bring the illustrated version with pictures by Dame Darcy)
2. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I love this and I think it'd be nice to have at least one graphic novel with my while I was stranded, in case I decided to start drawing in a cave or something.
3. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. This collection isn't my favorite by Klosterman but it is hilarious and I know I'd be laughing out loud the whole time I was reading it, which I'd probably need if I was stranded. I mean, who else is going to make me laugh? Plus my copy is signed, so if I crazed Klosterman fan with a boat appeared I might be able to use it to barter.
4. The Next American Essay Ed. by John D'Agata. I've actually had to read several selections from this for two classes but there is so much to explore in it. It's a whopper of essays, some I love, some I hate, and all of them I'd like to get to know better.
5. Middlemarch by George Eliot. This novel is huge and I read it last fall for a class. I loved the book then, but since I was reading so many other things for school I don't think I really gave it the attention it deserved.
6. Notes From No Man's Land by Eula Biss. Favorite essay collection. Ever. Will read it until I die.
7. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. I figure a lot of her poems are about being alone so maybe I'd find some solace in this book.
8. Moments of Being by Virginia Woolf. I have read a lot of Woolf but for me nothing is better than her autobiographical works.
9. Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby. I haven't actually read this but I'm a huge fan of Nick Hornby and his (returned!) column. He always delivers laughs and deep thinking so I'm sure I would enjoy this one.
10. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Okay, I really gave a lot of thought to this one, but it's so romantic and depressing I think I'd just have to take it with me. You know something to keep you one your toes on a desert island. Besides snakes and sharks and the like.

So what would you pick? Join in at The Broke and Bookish!

Kitty Norville is a DJ for a Denver radio station. She’s also a werewolf, a secret that she’s been able to keep from her audience. One night, however, things change. She brings up the topic of “Bat Boy”, a local phenomena that frequently appears in the news. Hundreds of calls start pouring in, comments ranging from “My girlfriend, a werewolf, won’t bite me” to recommendations on exorcisms. And thus, “The Midnight Hour”, a supernatural advice show, is born! Kitty is overjoyed at the success of her new show. But her pack leader, Carl, is not. He’s afraid the show is casting too much attention on their pack. Nevertheless, Kitty continues to broadcast, and a rift forms between her and her pack. Her desire for independence is misunderstood as an attempt to gain power within the pack. When Kitty accidentally reveals herself as a werewolf on one airing of a show, her life is in danger. When Cormac, a werewolf hunter, threatens her life, Kitty, and her show, are brought to the attention of the local police. Hardin, a local detective, asks for Kitty’s advice on a batch of unsolved murders. Murders originally thought were the work of wolves. Kitty visits the crime scene and it’s instantly obvious—a rogue werewolf is killing people.

The first in a series, KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR is a very addictive read. I can’t wait to pick up the next book in the series!

To enter to win a copy of KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR, comment on this post. To be entered twice, blog about it. To be entered three times, become a follower of this blog. Drawing will take place Friday, February 20th. US and Canada only, no P.O. Boxes.

Check out my blog each week as I review (and give away!) all six books in the “Kitty Norville” series, leading up to a blog tour on March 25!

I finally read Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

after hearing nothing but praise of it for the past year. And the praise is deserved, because this graphic memoir is Awesome with a capital A. Alison Bechdel's story is one of growing up with a family who doesn't always appear to be what they are. Her clean home was full of antiques her father collected that made it appear to be a different time period inside than it was outside the door. Her parents were married by rarely spoke to each other, her mother spent most of her time acting in plays, and her father spent most of his time entertaining adolescent boys. Alison finds out about her father's homosexuality when she comes out in college as a lesbian. This creates a bond between them that is strange and hard to explain, but Bechdel succeeds in creating a story that helps make you sympathize with everyone in it, even with their flaws.

The drawing is fairly simple but as an almost photographic quality to it. The way she places objects and fills rooms with so many specific pieces gives it a snapshot feel. I love how she had boxes to point out things in the photos you might not see, or to give you a better understanding of what was going on. I also like how the story is Bechdel's own memoir, her internal story, but sometimes the dialogue contradicts that story. It's just another way of showing how unreliable memory can be, or how my memory is different from your memory. Bechdel is also completely honest about herself. She admits that she wanted to get a rise out of her parents by coming out as a lesbian, and that she was disappointed when she didn't even though her primary concern should have been her deeply depressed mother.

This is a great graphic memoir that deals with a difficult and confusing subject. It's different from other coming out stories because it not only deals with Bechdel's own discovery of her sexuality but with the discovery of her father's hidden sexuality. It's also a story of how easy it is to not know the members of your own family. At one point in the story Bechdel illustrates how everyone in the house was in a different room doing a completely different thing. I know my family does this all the time, and I'm sure most families do. Does anyone care what is going on outside of their room? Probably not.

I give this graphic memoir an A.

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For the past ten years, Cat has been trying to forget her past. She's tried to hide from the pain by drowning herself in alchohol and moving from one meaningless job to another. When she receives a phone call from the sheriff of her home town, it all comes flooding back. Her mother has committed suicide, leaving a note sealed in a plastic bag, that reads "He isn't who you think he is."

Cat is forced to return home and face those things she's been attempting to forget: her abusive father, now in the hospital after suffering a stroke; and her first love, Addison. She must find out who the "he" is, and in doing so she has to relieve a very painful past.

The Last Bridge

alternates between the current time and Cat's memories of her youth. The reader relives the abuse Cat and her family suffered, right along with her. It is a truly engaging book; I was able to finish it in one evening.

The Last Bridge

is a very intense tale of love, pain, forgiveness and acceptance. It exudes suspense as well. The identity of the "he" mentioned in suicide note isn't revealed til the end. Little snipets of secrets are revealed throughout the book, drawing the reader in even more. I couldn't believe this is Coyne's first novel. She writes with a style and assurance that typically only comes with time and experience. Be forewarned, some of the recountings of Cat's abuse are quite vivid and detailed, but in this case I believe that level is necessary in ordered to accurately detail the abuse. A highly recommended book overall!

Thank you to Random House for providing me a copy of the book to review. Be sure to check out the official book web site!

Thanks to Amy from My Friend Amy's Blog, I'm excited to announce the dates of the 2009 Book Blogger Appreciation Week. For those of you that don't know, Amy has devoted a ton of her personal time to recognize the value book bloggers have, and to celebrate the book blogging world!

Last year over 400 blogs came together to celebrate the art of book blogging during the first ever Book Blogger Appreciation Week! The second annual Book Blogger Appreciation Week will be taking place September 14-18.

WHO Anyone who blogs about books is invited to participate. In fact, we want everyone who blogs about books and reading to be a part of this week!

WHAT A week where we come together, celebrate the contribution and hard work of book bloggers in promoting a culture of literacy, connecting readers to books and authors, and recogonizing the best among us with the Second Annual BBAW Awards. There will be special guest posts, daily blogging themes, and giveaways.

WHEN September 14-18, 2009

WHERE The new Book Blogger Appreciation Week Blog! (Please note that this year there are three separate blogs and feeds—one for the main event, one for giveaways, and one for awards.)

WHY Because books matter. In a world full of options, the people talking about books pour hard work, time, energy, and money into creating a community around the written word.

WANT TO PARTICIPATE? Please help us spread the word about Book Blogger Appreciation Week by posting about it on your blog, twittering about it, and telling everyone you know that it’s time to have a party and celebrate book bloggers!

Please register by filling out the registration form! Registering ensures your inclusion in the BBAW 09 Database of Book Bloggers and enters you into the drawing for the BBAW 09 Grand Prize!

Award Nominations opened July 15 on the BBAW Awards Blog.

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Since Haiti has been in the news lately, this week's Weekly Geeks theme was to talk about the country in a positive light.

The topic was proposed by Softdrink, whose own post in response to it discussed an essay about Haiti written by Truman Capote in 1948, and included a link to read the essay online.

Care of Care's Online Book Club talked about Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains, which tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer. Dr. Farmer has spent his entire life working in Haiti, and is the founder of Partners in Health, one of the nonprofits working hard to help in the aftermath of the earthquake.

At everything distils into reading, Gautami spotlighted Haitian author Edwidge Danticat's first novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory. Laura of Musings also talked about this author, as she is currently reading her short-story collection The Dew Breaker, which features tales of Haitian immigrants in New York City.

Shannon sought out some Haitian stories and posted an original drawing of a Haitian child on Confuzzled Books.

Thanks to everyone who joined in this week! Be sure to check back for our new Weekly Geeks topic, which will be posted tomorrow.

I picked up The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir

by Laurie Sandell on a whim during the Iowa City Book Festival. I was attracted by the bright colors and contemporary way of drawing, plus I was really pleased when I opened the book up and saw it was a graphic memoir instead of a written memoir. The story is about Sandell's father, an extremely intelligent man with a Green Beret, PhD, and thousands of unbelievable stories. When Sandell grows up she tries to live up to her dad's larger than life by traveling the world and then finally settling down as a celebrity interviewer. Through being an interviewer she discovers she is great at getting people to tell their stories, so she takes these skills to her father. Along the way though, she discovers that her father's stories were not real. And if they weren't real, then how real is she?

The Imposter's Daughter is a great story and I flipped through the pages at the speed of lightning to find out what wasn't true about her father and what was. Really, the story is unbelievable. I can't imagine going through my whole life believing one thing, and then growing up to find out my whole life had been a fraud. In some ways I think we all experience this, we grow up to find out our parents weren't always completely honest with us, but Sandell's life takes it to a new extreme. As far as good stories to tell, I think Sandell's is one worth telling.

But I didn't really think it was a great memoir. Sandell's character lacked depth, and I felt like I only knew her on the surface. She was young and loved her father, she grew older and a little wild, she settled down into a dream job, and then she fought with her family over finding out the truth about her father. The last phrase in the description is "who am I?" and I don't think I really know who Sandell is at all. And as a graphic memoir, my favorite parts of the book were the drawings she included from her childhood. Those said a lot more about her and were better vehicles than any of the drawings in the rest of the book. I often felt like the images were repeated on a page simply because she ran out of room for the text, and that's not what graphic memoirs should be. Each box should how us something new, a new emotion or feeling, and I think Sandell failed at that.

My general consensus is that it is worth reading because the story is wild, but I wouldn't go out and buy this one. I give it a C.

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