Friday, February 28, 2014

The Artful Readers Club: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

My book this month for The Artful Reader's Club was Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan.

At first I wasn't sure what to think of the novel. And then I loved it. and then i wasn't sure any more. And then I decided to like it after all...and then I wound up devouring it in less than twenty-four hours.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is about a few different things. Friendship, gay teens, hope, depression, love...give me more time and I could probably list more things it's about that don't immediately come to mind. Oh yeah, like music. How could I forget that one?

The novel follows the stories of two teens, both named Will Grayson. One of them is a straight dude who, while he doesn't have it particularly great in life, doesn't have it really bad either. the other will grayson's only joy in life, though, is an online friend who he has never met in person...and i'll leave it at that since i don't want to spoil anything.

(and yes, there's a reason i'm typing in all lowercase in some places: because it's how half of the story is written.)

I really enjoyed this book, and definitely recommend it to those who enjoy young adult novels...particularly if you're also looking for LGBT stories.

... ... ...

I wrote most of the above maybe a month ago, then kept putting off doing the artwork side of this. Since I don't really know what to do. Eventually I wound up doing a collage of clip art I found here.


A rainbow surrounded by hearts and music notes seemed pretty appropriated.

I'll try to do something a little more creative next month.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

What? Again...

I'm not sure whether I should shake my head at myself or laugh.

I just finished rereading the nine Bone graphic novels by Jeff Smith. (Not Rose yet though... apparently I put that one in storage when I moved back in with my parents. No. Idea. WHY.) While reading it I was puzzling over some questions that I was going to write here...but looking back at my older posts I realized that I already wrote about my puzzlement. Like, two years ago.

So, to document the fact that I'm still puzzled, here's a copy and paste of what I wrote then. With an edit from me.

SPOILERS for Rose by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess, and the Bone books 1 through 9 by Jeff Smith

In the Bone books it takes everyone, including Grandma Ben, by surprise that Briar's dreaming eye was open and that she was big buddies with the Lord of the Locusts. But, that's something that Grandma Ben finds out about in Rose, which precedes the other Bone books.

Inconsistency? Or did something happen to make Grandma Ben forget about it?

Also, Briar is an old woman at the end of Rose, and yet it seemed to me that somewhere in the Bone books there is a picture of her looking young(ish) on the night that Thorn's parents died. Though I could be completely mistaken on that.

[Edit on 2/27/14: No, I wasn't mistaken. At the end of Rose the sister was turned into an old woman, but during the flash backs in Bone books she definitely looks younger.]

It's just something that I've puzzled over.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

The Artful Readers Club: Mockingjay

This is my first review for The Artful Readers Club. Yes, it's a little late. I'm going to blame that on being slightly intimidated by the art side of things since I'm not used to drawing these days. In the end I made something pretty simple

Anyways...

Review:

My first book was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. It was a very fun book to read, I enjoyed seeing how Katniss handled things. It's in this novel that the revolution finally takes off, and to my surprise the way the rebels put their Mockinjay on display reminded me a lot of how the children taking part in the Hunger Games had been treated. As Katniss quietly observed to Gale early on, "Welcome to the Capitol." I suppose it might be a caution to not become your enemy.

I guess I'm fascinated by Katniss' character, and how she changes through the book. And by her contradictory traits. On one hand she's fragile, as we see by how she retreats into herself and hides from the world at certain times. But when she decides to do something, she's strong enough to do it, never mind how difficult it is. Despite the fact that these different qualities seem like they should belong to separate people, she is still believable.

This review (is it properly a review?) has focused on the character, and not the plot, I suppose. That's probably because it's been a week since I read the book, and this is what has stayed with me most as I've read other books since then.

It is an excellent novel, and I certainly recommend the trilogy.


A broken heart surrounded by purple and yellow primroses, and what might either be flower petals or blood. I'd wanted to put a forest in the background, but couldn't quite pull that off.

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