Will Eisner Graphic novels

Few years ago I’ve been researching on the history of graphic novels. The most important award in the field of comic and graphic novels is named Eisner. The nominations are presented every July on San Diego Comic-Con.

The first time the term graphic novel was used was in 1964. But it is only in 1978. when Will Eisner made a graphic novel Contract with God that the term graphic novel started to be taken seriously. It was a step toward making the graphic novel a respected narrative form in in its own right. It showed the world how themes in ninth art can be something other than humor and action meant for children and Sunday leisure section in the newspapers.

 

Will Eisner’s name is used in many libraries project’s to promote literacy and the graphic novel form. I will let you google it and search more about the man on your own or just look for the documentary about him!

I recently read two of his graphic novels. I read them in Croatian and they are not that easy to find. My local library has only few copies and doesn’t even loan some of them out.

Finished reading:

The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Will Eisner ★★★★

Expectation

I knew nothing but the mere basics on the topic of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. And I really wanted to read graphic novel by Will Eisner. I didn’t know the introduction was written by Umberto Eco at the time I picked it up from the library. I was actually looking for a good graphic novel to suggest for my RL book club.

Summary

Author spent twenty years researching for this graphic novel and one more thing I did not know before I started reading it was that the story is actually a  historical documentary on the events that actually happened.

It is not a book to be taken lightly and reading it requires a certain concentration. The black and white graphic is amazing and fits well with the content.

Conclusion

I’m glad I’ve read it and will continue to look up more graphic novels by Will Eisner. I’ve also read Dropsie Avenue (The Contract with God Trilogy book 3) and did not know at the time it was a book in a series. I just sorta grabbed the only two graphic novels by Will Eisner the library had available.

Wish me luck on getting my hands on the others!

 

Book series gone bad

 

Reading a good book series can be a treasured experience. There are many benefits of reading a good book series They give you more time of fun and they look great on the shelf. Sometimes they even come in awesome packages which then you can show off and be proud off.

But what happens when a certain book series you read and buy stops being as great as you remember it?

I have a problem with one of the book series I own. After the last book I read I found it not as good as I remember it. I decided to stop buying next books in the series. Also I have a problem with the books I already own.

It is not like I can give them away and recommend them to someone else since I believe I was not in my right mind when I bought them in the first place. This is not something that happens very often but it did happen.

What to do with them?

Collections of Short Stories

I noticed how my bookshelf is crammed with short story collections and anthologies. It has been a while since I read trough a good short story collection. I used to love them when I was younger. In fact my love of reading and stories in general started with fairytale collections from all over the world.

Most of my pilled up short story collections are urban fantasy and horror with good dose of vampire type characters. I had a phase where collecting vampire themed fiction was a bit of a hobby. Unfortunately while acquiring them I read them scarcely.

Here are some of the short story collections and anthologies that wait on my bookshelves. These five are on my TBR and I just cant decide which to take on first!

Carniepunk by Rachel Caine et al

Carnival themed short story collection.

Vampire Stories edited by Richard Dalby

Collection from some of the most famous classical authors.

Naked City edited by Ellen Datlow

Urban fantasy collection with a cover art by Daniel Dos Santos

Many Bloody Returns edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner

Short stories with vampires and birthdays!

Vampire Archives collection edited by Otto Penzler

Three books with vampire stories from many different authors.

Reading in progress November 2015

Since I can’t finish a month without having a few books that I’m in the middle of reading I decided to try to motivate myself to finish them by posting my progress. Some of these books I keep lugging behind for months and it is just embarrassing. I’m actually hoping for the shame factor to kick in and make me deal with this issue.

To make matters more official I will do one Reading in progress post at the start of each month just to put to light the books I’m having problems finishing and why.

Sometimes it is the lack of time and sometimes I just have problems with the topic of the book. I hope this will be a helpful reference to better choosing of books in the future.

For November I have three reading in progress books:

A Perfect Blood (The Hollows book 10) by Kim Harrison

12 out of 525 pages

This was supposed to be my Halloween read! I love this book series but somehow I got stuck with it for two months now. I didn’t even picked it up. I read the first chapter and that was it. I might as well start it over!

 

Neuromancer (Sprawl Trilogy book 1) by William Gibson

0 out of 228 pages

This book is a part of a reading challenge I did for an activity in a group I’m in. The challenge expires by the end of the year but I’m prolonging this one for a few months now and I’m making zero progress. I started it few times and I just couldn’t focus and I’m in for another start from the beginning!

Contes de Grimm by Marc Girard

65 out of 165 pages

Granted this one is a bit more challenging read but I’ve been at it for longest from all of the above mentioned books. This barely 150+ pages is giving me more grief than I’m willing to admit.

Monthly reading review – October 2015

 

This October I have read:

The Circle by Dave Eggers ★★★
Pines (Wayward Pines book 1) by Blake Crouch ★★★★
One Weird Trick (Sex Criminals vol 1) by Matt Fraction, Chip Zdrasky ★★★
Opal (Lux book 3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout ★★
String Theory (Wayward volume 1) by Jim Zub, Steve Cummings ★★★★
Rival (Fall Away book 3) by Penelope Douglas ★★★★
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami ★★★
Falling Away (Fall Away book 4) by Penelope Douglas ★★★★

1. How many books you’ve read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?

This October I have ready 8 books and since I try to keep my reading around ten books a month this was a bit less than what I wanted to do. It is no defense that I played a lot of online video games this October and that cut into my reading time a bit too.

2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in October? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?

There are more books that made my reading this October. Two very good graphic novels I both made the reviews for (One Weird Trick (Sex Criminals vol 1) and String Theory (Wayward volume 1) ) and as a surprise of the month was Wayward Pines novel that made me watch the whole first season of the TV show too. I must say that the TV show was comparatively mild to the book and I’m still under the impression of the book.

3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?

I’m still trying to figure out what to do about the let down book of the October which was Opal (Lux book 3). I’m not dealing well with the fact that I had my mind set on reading and buying the series for my shelf. First thought that came to mind was to get rid of them by giving them away and not fall into temptation to buy the next books in the series. I’m still spinning in circles about it and have issues on giving it up.

4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?

Both books for RL book club were done in their due time and I also had a free pass with one book I read not so long ago and just had to brush up on it – Name of the Rose by Umberto Ecco . And reading picks of the moment were exceptionally good this October. 

5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?

It was good to get back to not one but two series I have on TBR list for a while. I keep fighting off temptations on starting any new book series so I started two new graphic novel series instead. I also need to keep in mind that my shelves are filled with book series I love and still need to get up to date!

6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?

I’d like to recommend Circle by Dave Eggers as a thought inspiring reading in this age of social networking. It is highly underrated book and I’m sorry I haven’t made a proper review on it. The rest of the recommendations you can see trough book reviews I did in October 🙂