Literary Funnies

I'll admit I've always been the type to go first for the comics section of the Sunday paper. When those strips start getting a little stale, though, there is a vast universe of webcomics to explore. With the ease and affordability of publishing anything online, many artists have gained cult followings for their serialized comics online, whether they are three or four panel "funny page" style, illustrated blog-like chronicles of day to day life, or superhero adventure stories. Some have found their way into print, thanks to their large online fanbases.

My current favorites are the webcomics with a literary bent. Probably the best one out there is Hark! A Vagrant, by Kate Beaton. This Canadian artist takes historical and literary figures and infuses them with her own wry brand of humor. I love her Holmes and Watson stories, which poke fun at the ways in which those characters have been retooled for pop culture over the years. She's also done some great strips on the Brontes and Canadian literature, among many others. Check out her archives to catch up--it's all good.

Among the librarian and bookseller set, Unshelved is probably the most widely read webcomic (and it also has a great line of merchandise! I happen to be quite fond of my own "Will Work for Books" tee...) In addition to their funny observations about library patrons and administrators, the Unshelved crew offers great reviews of all sorts of books, from graphic novels to political biographies.

A fairly recent addition to the literary webcomic genre is Lit Brick, which is an interesting exercise in getting creator John Troutman through the Norton Anthology of English Literature. As it turns out, there are a lot of naughty bits in Old English lit--or, at least, Troutman is good at highlighting those points. This comic is often NSFW, but also fairly entertaining. If your curiosity is piqued, I suggest you start at the beginning.

Comically Vintage does not feature original work, but instead is a collection of panels, taken out of context from vintage comic books. From gender politics to Yankee pride, every day brings a slew of unintentionally hilarious comic excerpts that probably won't make you long for the "good old days."

For just a bit more silliness, enjoy Winnie the Pooh goes Hulk (via Fuse #8) and the search engine you've been waiting for--find any Calvin and Hobbes strip ever published (via Bookshelves of Doom).

Book review round-up

As I mentioned last post, I have been reading some excellent books recently, and today I've got a blurb for each.



I'll start with Little Bee, by Chris Cleave, which is likely to be my favorite book of the summer, if not the year. Little Bee isn't brand new--it was first published in the States last year--but it took me a while to get to it. I am so glad I finally did. Cleave's writing is simply brilliant, and Little Bee is a heartbreaking and beautiful character. Little Bee is a 16 year old Nigerian refugee whose escape to the UK awarded her a two year stay in a detention center. She speaks to the reader as if over a cup of tea, with candor and with patience for all that you do not understand about the world. Her story is one that you will not soon forget.

Having struggled through The City & the City last year, only to realize as I closed the book that I really liked it, I was excited to read China Mieville's new novel, Kraken. This is a novel for fantasy readers, certainly. Reminiscent of books like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, our Everyman in this story is Billy Harrow, a curator at the London Museum of Natural History. The museum has recently acquired an enormous giant squid specimen that has been getting a great deal of attention from the public. When the squid mysteriously vanishes--tank and all--Billy is sucked into a strange layer of London life that encompasses cults of all descriptions (including, naturally, a group of squid worshipers), gods, monsters, angels, an evil tattoo, and two especially horrifying assassins. It's a chaotic ride, but a fun one, full of literary references and Mieville's playful use of language.

I found The Tale of Halcyon Crane, by Wendy Webb, to be a perfectly delicious ghost story with a splash of romance. Halcyon lost her mother in a fire when she was young but had a perfectly happy childhood with her loving father. It comes as a shock to receive a letter informing her that her estranged mother died a few weeks ago. Hallie's grief and confusion are compounded when her father passes away soon after. Determined to unearth the mystery of her own past, Hallie travels to the island where her mother had been living and where--though she has no memory of it--she spent her earliest years. Just creepy enough for a few shivers without being the stuff of nightmares, The Tale of Halcyon Crane is  a light, cool breeze of a book, perfect for summer reading.

Currently, I'm in the middle of two books by authors on our summer schedule: Imperfect Endings, by Zoe Carter, and The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want, by Garret Keizer. Carter's book is an honest and intimate memoir of her mother's decision to end her life after a long struggle with Parkinson's Disease. Keizer writes about the history of noise and its often overlooked consequences. While very different in style and subject, both books are excellently written and captivating.

To wrap up, a teaser for three books that will be published in the coming months. Dennis Lehane fans will be thrilled to learn that he is bringing back Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro for his new mystery, Moonlight Mile (November). Revisiting the case that tore them apart twelve years before, Kenzie and Gennaro's investigations put their lives and the life of the girl they're searching for in grave danger. Though I felt this was missing some of the grittiness of previous books in the series, it's good to be back on the case with these two Boston detectives.

I was privileged to have dinner with Joyce Hinnefeld a couple of years ago, when her novel In Hovering Flight was published. She is a lovely woman, and I was delighted to receive an advance copy of her new book, Stranger Here Below (October). In it, Hinnefeld introduces three generations of women, their individual strengths and fragility, and explores the sometimes tenuous bonds of friendship. This is an excellent book to share among sisters, mothers, daughters, and friends.

Finally, one for the YA crowd (though I highly recommend these books for adults, as well.) The Chaos Walking trilogy is the series I most expect and hope will get a big boost from the end of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy (the final installment, Mockingjay, arrives August 24). It shares some similar elements--a corrupted world, far removed from our own, in which two teenagers may be the last hope for humanity's redemption--but is completely original in its characters and style. Beginning with The Knife of Never Letting Go, the reader journeys with Todd and Viola in search of hope. Todd was born on the planet called "New World," and has grown up in a village where men's (and animals') thoughts are always "heard" by everyone around them and all of the women died long ago. Viola is a newcomer to the planet, ejected from a scout ship that preceded a larger ship bringing a new group of colonists to New World. Together, they are pitted against the cruel Mayor, who has plans to conquer New World and reshape society to his own wishes. You will quickly find yourself caring deeply about the characters that Patrick Ness has created and his pacing will put you on the edge of your seat as they battle against the Mayor as well as with their changing understanding of themselves and their world. The final installment, Monsters of Men, will be on shelves at the end of September, which means that if you haven't had a chance to check out this series yet, you'll be able to race through the books back to back, all the way to the thrilling conclusion.

Served with a twist of lemon

After a couple of long, hot weeks, my brain feels something like butterscotch pudding, so even though I've read a number of wonderful books I'd like to review, I don't see that happening today. Instead, here are some tidbits from the wonderful world of books.

NPR invites you to vote for the most thrilling books of all time. The Top 100 list will be announced August 2.

Also from Shelf Awareness, my friend Michele Filgate received high praise from Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Harding, who called her "one of the patron saints of  the book world." I would wholeheartedly agree with him, and am renewing my vow to visit RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, where (St.) Michele organizes a fantastic roster of events year-round.

One way some publishers are competing with growing e-book sales is to create books that can't possibly be replicated in a digital format. These "luxury editions" might come with, say, a piece of moon rock or a bit of the blood of your favorite cricket start. (Um, ew?!) Most of us may never have the kind of money that would allow us to own a $15,000 biography of Muhammad Ali (comes with four autographed photos and a Jeff Koons sculpture), but it's a fun bit of "book porn" to ogle.

Booksellers reminisce about their first "summer book" memories.

And while you're reading that nice, fat novel--whether you're on the beach or in a lawn chair--wouldn't a tall, cool glass of lemonade be nice to have at hand? I found a great, simple, recipe at Our Best Bites that I've been making a lot this summer. Of course, I can't ever follow recipes to the letter, so I use about half of the sugar, and instead of simmering it in water to dissolve, I pour a cup or so of warm-to-hot tap water in my container, stir in the sugar till dissolved, then add the rest of the ingredients; prepare a glass with ice, and enjoy!

Look! We're on TV!

It's Thursday morning, and as I type, Kristin Carlson of WCAX News is interviewing Linda for a three-part series about independently owned businesses in Vermont. Linda's talking about how she opened the store, the store's role in our community, and the impact of the economic recession on our business.

They've asked me to stand at the counter, in the background, so that there's "something going on," which means that even though I'm not in the camera's focus, I'm feeling a lot of pressure here to provide adequate and appropriate background action. Typing a blog seemed like it would keep me busy without looking like I'm trying to hard. Oh, the pressure!

Whew - interview's over, so now it's just a matter of Joe, the camera man, walking around the store to get some B-roll footage. It sounds, so far, like it's going to be a great segment!

The piece they just filmed, along with two others on locally owned businesses--Capitol Stationers and Franklin Telephone Company--will air next week, one per night, beginning Tuesday on the six o'clock news.

ONE noisy book, ONE spotted book, TWO counting books

My 7 month old niece is visiting from Virginia this weekend, and of course I have to bring her a book when I see her. Also of course, I left the shopping till last minute, so I've been doing a bit of my own browsing in between helping customers. There are so many wonderful books, but today, I'm leaning toward counting books.

A few days ago, we got in a fantastic little board book called Ten Black Dots. In the context of counting dots, the book explores the multitude of things you might create or imagine from those simple black circles.  One black dot could be a sun or it could be a moon. Four dots could become seeds or radio dials. With seven dots, you could have a spotted snake or some stones. The illustrations are simple but colorful and I love the playfulness of the dots being rearranged into different scenarios.

The Noisy Counting Book is just as playful and a lot more raucous--this is a great read-aloud. One boy, fishing in a pond, finds his nice quiet day becoming less so as a frog and some ducks and fish and, finally, six buzzing mosquitoes each add their noises to the chorus. I think that readers and listeners will have a lot of fun repeating the animal sounds, ending each time with the big frog's "GA-DUNK!"

There are...well, I was going to say "countless," but that seems inappropriate to the subject, so instead I'll say...numerous books about counting, some better than others. These two absolutely fall on the "better" side and are worthy additions to any beginning counter's library.

Elementary reading

The Onion's AV Club is one of my favorite pop culture blogs, for it's well-balanced mix of high- and low-brow pursuits and snark and sincerity. One of their many entertaining columns is "Gateways to Geekery," which presents a subject with high geek cult status that may seem intimidating to outsiders (for example, noir films), then offers suggestions on the best way for a beginner to test the waters. This week's Gateway to Geekery introduces Sherlock Holmes, an old favorite of mine. Not having read much beyond the original stories, I enjoyed the discussion of Holmesian "fan-fic" and was reminded that I still have to read A Study in Emerald, by another favorite author, Neil Gaiman.

As with any mention of Sherlock Holmes,  this column made me think of my grandmother. I owe a lot of my literary tastes to her--it was her gift of a collection of O. Henry's short stories and another of Oscar Wilde's that introduced me to both of those wonderful writers. We shared a love of the Bronte sisters' writing; she even gave me a copy of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by the oft-forgotten Anne. And one Christmas, I received a thick hardcover copy of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. While I'll never share her fondness for whodunits, I am so very glad that Grandma shared Sir Conan Doyle with me. I devoured the stories, from "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League" to "The Hound of the Baskervilles." I was astounded and thrilled and terrified and amazed along with Dr. Watson as Sherlock Holmes investigated and cracked each case.

Unlike some unworn sweaters and outgrown toys that are long gone, I have kept every one of the books my grandmother gave me over the years. I treasure them for the stories written inside and for the memories they hold for me of my Grandma.

Are there books that you associate with people or events in your life? If you have a story you'd like to share, please do in the comments.

Bill McKibben Wrap-up

First of all, many thanks to everyone (somewhere around 100 of you!) who turned out for Bill McKibben's talk last Thursday night. Also, a very special thanks to Bill for taking the time to visit us here in Hardwick. His message in person as well as in his book Eaarth, though full of hard--even difficult to face--truths, also offered a great deal of inspiration. Much of this inspiration comes from Bill's own passion and energy for the cause of saving our planet and ourselves from our own excesses. It is too late, he says, to imagine that we might stop global warming, as it's already well begun. What we can do is work, very hard, as hard as we can, to keep the trend from going beyond a point "any worse than it has to." Bill's realistic optimism gives an additional strength to his words, and in his realistic view of the situation, the most important work to be done is political. To that end, he encouraged all of us to talk to our politicians about the importance of making large, lasting changes to our environmental policies.

One way to do this is by getting involved with Bill's own brainchild, 350.org. Last year, the group organized what CNN called "the most widespread day of political action in the planet's history," which included more than 5200 gatherings in 181 countries. This year, the non-profit group is planning a Global Work Party on October 10 (10-10-10, easy to remember!), with an open invitation for any and every community to join them by pledging to engage in  a clean energy project that day.  It's a small thing to ask, and an event that will have far-reaching consequences. Let's hope that world leaders will take notice and then take action to pass the legislation needed to curb our carbon emissions and begin healing our planet.

One further note on this event: Linda and I, as we often do, got too caught up in setting up for the event to remember to take out a camera and take pictures. If there is anyone who would be interested in volunteering to be a photographer for our events, even a few of them, please let us know! You don't need to be a professional, and you don't even have to bring your own camera--all we're looking for is someone willing to take a few snapshots to record the memories.