This is a sweet, information-rich graphic novel about friendship, menstrual health, and student activism. Christine is a lanky goofball crushing on her best friend. Abby is an art student who burns to make the world a better place. Brit is a Jane Austen fan and a good student who keeps having to miss school due to horrible cramps. She worries there's something seriously wrong with her, but hasn't been diagnosed. Sasha is a new student who might never live down bleeding through her pants in her first week of school. These four have different dreams and different goals, but they will always have each other's backs.

I've been hearing this book was good for at least a year, but I was put off by the title and cover, which didn't really give me any idea of what to expect inside. Finally got it from the library to discover a series of short, witty, beautifully drawn comic biographies of women from all shorts of professions, backgrounds and eras. I think I had already read a couple of them online at one point or another. Some of the ones that really stood out to me where Margaret Hamilton, the actress who played the Wicked Witch of the West; Las Mariposas, political rebels from the Dominican Republic; Josephone Baker, dancer and french resistance fighter; Tove Jansson, creator of The Moomintrolls; Wu Zetian, Empress of China in the 700s; Sonita Alizadeh, rapper; Nellie Bly, journalist; and astronaut Mae Jemison. Definitely worth a read; I still wish it had a different cover.

Horror isn't my favorite genre, but there are some real standouts in the campy, horny, queer comic collection. I loved "The Burr Tree" by Geov Chouteau, a mysterious little fairy tale; I loved "Sanguine" by Emeric Kennard, a wordless story of a beautiful bat being driven insane by cursed mask; I was chilled by "The Shepard" by Justin Hall and Alegra Figeroid, an excellent vampire story; and I laughed at Justin Hall's ridiculously silly and delightful "Full Moon", which mixes up werewolves and sailor scouts in an only-in-San-Francisco way. (I also illustrated a short story for this collection, "Werekat", written by Rachel Pollack which I think turned out pretty good!)

Another strong entry in The Nib's print magazine series. I sincerely hope that it's not their last!

I bought this paperback used at least 10 years ago because it had owls in it. With the library closed, I am finally chipping away at some of the novels in my eternal to-read pile! This was quick and fun, if a bit predicable. One day Roy sees a barefoot boy running across a series of lawn as the school bus pulls away from the curb in his Florida town. Curious, Roy tries to figure out who he is and what he was doing. It turns out this mysterious runaway is trying to defend the burrowing owls who live on a plot of land slatted for development into a Miss Paula's Pancake House. Very much in the tone of Holes, though without the intergenerational curse. A good book for a young reader.

I read an English language edition of this that I can't find on Goodreads. It was strange. There were things I really liked about it, but overall I didn't feel like the book really went anywhere. It follows a bird-headed alter-ego of the author as she goes through life as a single mom. The best parts were conversations on the nature of inspiration and creative work with other artist friends. The more off the wall parts included a visit to a small publisher which is flooded knee deep in water, and scans of sketchbook pages supposedly part of the pitch packet for this very graphic novel. Very meta.

It's been so long since I read a sports manga! This one is really fun! It gets right into the story very quickly. It follows Shoyo Hinata, a boy who is short but very good at jumping, who wants nothing more than to play volleyball. His middle school doesn't have a team but he manages to scrape together enough friends to enter exactly one competitive game. His little rag tag bunch is beat by a team with an ace player: Tobio Kageyama, who has the ironic nickname "King of the Court", because of both his talents but also his bad temper. When Hinata gets to high school he's so excited to finally be part of a real team. Imagine his surprise when he learns that none other than Kageyama is on the team too! I'm definitely going to keep going with this series, which is all available to read online for free here: https://ww4.readhaikyuu.com/

I enjoyed this book immensely. Set in the present day, or the very near future, it opens with 23-year-old April May leaving her unfulfilling tech start-up job at 3am to trudge to the nearest subway station and home. Her attention is caught by a 10-foot-tall metal robot statue standing on the sidewalk. Even in New York City, it stands out. She calls a friend and they film a short mock-interview video with the robot, which they dub Carl, and throw it up on youtube. The next day they are stunned to discover that exact replicas of this statue have appeared in 64 major cities around the world, all at the time, and there is no video footage of them being installed. Furthermore, they might be made from a material not previously known on Earth.

April is a relatably flawed young woman. A deep-rooted fear of commitment drives her away from her wonderful girlfriend, Maya, even as a desperate desire for validation and attention thrusts her into the world's eye. The book chronicles the meteoric rise of her online profile and audience as humanity struggles with the mystery of the Carls. Where did they come from? Are they intelligent and aware? If so, what are their intentions? I enjoyed the clearly written insights on both internet culture and human nature. I was left wondering what I might have done differently, had I landed in April's place.