This was a quick, compelling read although not that much actually happens in it? There's a lot of just kind of the day to day drudgery of, well, being held hostage.

I understand it was a personal narrative as-told-to Guy Lelisle--I kind of wish it had a little more backmatter or something to give a little more historical context to the story? (I understand that for Christophe André, in the moment, it was confusing and he wasn't sure exactly why he was being held hostage, but at the end of the book...I wasn't, especially, either? I know I don't know a lot about Chechen rebels, but I have to suspect...that a lot of American readers don't either? And I know this is a translated import, so maybe the average French reader knows more? But, uh...well anyway I guess I'm off to Wikipedia.)

these lil hobos made the tiny house life seem so sweet! sweet as...bread.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-77-boxcar-children/

I've said it before, I'll say it again: every Boxcar Children book where they don't live in the boxcar anymore is GARBAGE

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-77-boxcar-children/

This was so beautiful. It took me a long time to read it, although I'm a fast reader, because I wanted to intentionally slow down and savor it, and because there are so many beautifully twisty turns of phrase that forced me to slow down, which is the point. These are excellent personal essays that identify highly specific emotions and scenarios that are also extremely relateable?

This is a book that I don't think is for everyone, but the people who it is for will love it.

This is a book for fans of Eula Biss.

This is a book for my heart.

(read as single issues)

*whispers* I thought the first volume of TNC's Black Panther was really confusing and hard to follow

*normal volume* But I subscribed to this anyway, because Roxane Gay. And I was correct to do so! I loved this book, and Ayo and Aneka's romance was so fun and beautiful.

I think a person (a person who is not a die-hard Black Panther fan but is interested!) could pick this up without reading the Black Panther series that this is technically a prequel to, since honestly....that series had left me with more questions. But finishing World of Wakanda made me want to go back and revisit Black Panther. PLEASE, ROXANE GAY WRITE MORE COMICS.

shit this continues to be way too scary for me but I'm too interested in the concept and too invested in the characters to quit reading, goddamn you Gail Simone

There's...a lot to like here, and also...uh...some areas for improvement.

I know this isn't a new critique, I saw a lot of similar sentiment expressed when the book first came out, but since I waited for the trade I'm just now chiming in. SO: I know Bendis is one of Marvel's heaviest hitters, and giving him this book is kind of an investment in Riri Williams as a character, which is good, but also...maybe someone who's not a middle-aged white man could have written this new black teen girl character? Maybe Riri didn't need a random drive-by shooting as her ~tragic origin story~? Maybe, hear me out, she didn't need a ~tragic origin story~ at all? Also, a lot of the art that was criticized for being too sexy for a 15 y/o girl was variant art. I thought the art for the main comic itself was...okay...not as bad as some of the variants for sure, but she still looks older and more glam than 15.

OK. Anyway. I do find Riri delightful, and I completely love her interactions with Hologram Tony (sidenote: is real Tony dead in the current comics? Is everyone dead? Probably everyone is dead) and ESPECIALLY PEPPER POTTS AS RESCUE thank you God please put Pepper Potts as Rescue on every goddamn team.

I have no idea what is happening over at the Stark business side of things, probably that will pay off at some point or maybe it won't, I genuinely don't care because PEPPER POTTS AS RESCUE.

also I hope there is some follow through on how Riri needs more friends her own age because yes she does.

It's a bit of a shaky start but honestly there's enough here that I love that I'll keep reading. I mean, did I mention, PEPPER POTTS AS RESCUE, okay great, bye.

In a lot of respects, this is pretty dated--like first of all does any school have milk in cartons anymore? and if they do, they definitely don't have missing children? The fat-shaming and food obsession actually isn't dated exactly--that shit's still all over contemporary YA--but it's still gross.

STILL at its heart there is just something so compelling about the core premise of this!

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-78-the-face-on-the-milk-carton/

I LOVE YOU FOREVER LARA JEAN

This was great! I'm not too familiar with Miles Morales comics (I don't read a lot of Spider-books period), but this is a perfect starting point for readers who are interested in the character but not sure how to detangle all of Marvel's series. Very fun and #relatable, but since it's Jason Reynolds, there's also some super powerful stuff in there about institutional racism.