Book Review: Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld

Revenge of the Librarians
by Tom Gauld (741.5 Gau)

For the past several years, I’ve been seeing the wry, comic art panels of artist Tom Gauld regularly showing up in my Facebook feed, shared by many of my friends…especially those with a love of literary humor. Gauld’s comic strips (frequently seen on the online features of The Guardian) feature simple, uncomplicated art, with “characters” that are often little more than stylized stick figures. His works always appear as variations on the traditional “comic strip” format — long horizontal boxes that can sometimes be just a single box, but can also be subdivided into the traditional 3 or 4 boxes that are reminiscent of newspaper comic strips, but he also frequently uses the space to create a multitude of tiny art boxes.

 

Gauld’s humor is dry, wry, slightly sarcastic, and pokes fun at tropes and established traditions. This particular book collects dozens of his strips that all share a thematic connection — books, reading, libraries, writers, publishing and more along these lines. I absolutely adored this entire collection, and will be looking to purchase a copy for my own personal library. If you, too, appreciate the ability to have fun with literary traditions, you’ll appreciate this collection as well.

 

( official Tom Gauld web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: Number One is Walking: My Life in Movies and Other Diversions by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss

Number One is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions
by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss (Biography Martin)

Comedian/actor/musician/writer Steve Martin and cartoonist Harry Bliss team up for a second collaborative book, following their 2020 release, A Wealth of Pigeons.

 

This time, it’s even more autobiographical than it was the last time. The first 60% of the book is Steve Martin’s reminiscences about his years in the motion picture industry, where he made over 40 films before ultimately becoming disenchanted with the film-making process and walking away. This portion of the book is told through a series of cartoons of Steve and Harry taking a walk with Harry’s (talking) dog, and Steve throwing out bits and pieces of memories, which Harry then illustrates. The book is crammed with dry, wry humor and fond memories. And Harry’s artwork, while occasionally fanciful, also includes absolutely stunning recreations of many of Steve’s co-stars or the other celebrities in whose orbit he occasionally found himself.

 

The latter 40% of the book is a collection of (mostly) single-panel cartoons co-created by both Martin and Bliss — which feel very much like Bliss’ frequent contributions to the New Yorker magazine.

 

I enjoyed Number One is Walking a great deal, and constantly found myself in awe of Harry Bliss’ ability to capture the essence and personalities of so many recognizable entertainers and celebrities in a few simple brush strokes. However, as much as I enjoyed reading this, I left this book feeling like I wanted more than I was given…it feels very lightweight, especially in comparison to most celebrity biographies. On the other hand, even if each of Steve’s show biz memories is only 2-4 pages long, the artwork brings them all to life! So…it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A Wealth of Pigeons by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss, or the autobiography Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, or possibly Steve’s humor book, The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten. The Tweets of Steve Martin.)

 

( official Harry Bliss web site ) | ( official Steve Martin web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: Creature by Shaun Tan

Creature: Paintings, Drawings and Reflections
by Shaun Tan (YA 741.64 Tan)

I have been a fan of the artistic work of Shaun Tan since stumbling across his phenomenal wordless graphic novel The Arrival many years ago, and always enjoy seeing a new book from this Australian artist.

 

Creature is not a typical book — it is more of an artistic retrospective of his career from the mid-1990s through 2020, viewed through the lens of some over-arching themes in his work. Tan offers up some explanatory essays on the themes “Lost Things”, “Companions”, “Myth & Metaphor” and “Birds”, followed by dozens of examples of his own work that embody those themes. His fantastical fantasy illustrations embody both whimsy and alien-ness. His drawings and paintings are as likely to included a misfit robot, made of household objects merged with otherworldliness, as they are a jovial yet monstrous alien critter the size of a house. And next to these will be tiny birds, playing with tentacled and feathered pocket-sized figments of the imagination.

 

Tan explains his passion for shining the light on “lost” objects, and on normalizing the abnormal — the beautiful illustration on the book’s cover is a perfect amalgamation of Tan’s career — showing the ease with with a giant, one-eyed, feathered “creature” can befriend a young girl, who things nothing of the oddity of their friendship but simply revels in it.

 

The last fifth of the book is an appendix in which Tan offers background information on most of the pieces of artwork found in the book, explaining what inspired each piece or what his intentions were in creating them.

 

Tan is a true contemporary genius in the field of fantasy art. Creature would be a great introduction to his work for anyone who hasn’t seen it before. However, I would even more highly recommend his books that actually tell a story within a narrative structure, such as The Lost Thing, The Arrival, Cicada or Tales From the Inner City.

[NOTE: Although this has been cataloged as a Young Adult item, it didn’t feel like it — I’m reviewing it here as a recommend for adult readers.]

 

( official Creature page on the official Shaun Tan web site )

 

See Scott C.’s review of Shaun Tan’s graphic novel Cicada, in the June 2019 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: A Wealth of Pigeons by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss

A Wealth of Pigeons

by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss (741.5 Bli)

 

In his introduction, stand-up comedian, artist and musician Steve Martin describes the origins of this collaboration — despite his success in so many creative fields, Martin had never attempted to express his humor through printed comics. As his mental notebook of possible comic strip ideas continued to grow, he asked colleagues to connect him with an artist who might be willing to collaborate — enter Harry Bliss, acclaimed New Yorker single-panel cartoonist.

 

The two creative types “clicked” and began working together to create this collection, with the idiosyncratic title A Wealth of Pigeons. Sometimes, Martin would create an intriguing and thought-provoking one-line caption, and Bliss would create art to match. Sometimes, Bliss would have a quirky piece of art but no caption to attach, and Martin would respond. And sometimes, they just spit-balled together.

 

The result is an incredibly wry, quirky, and very humorous collection.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten: The Tweets of Steve Martin by Steve Martin or any of the various New Yorker Cartoons collections by a variety of artists.]

[ publisher’s official A Wealth of Pigeons web page ] | [ official Steve Martin web site ] | [ official Harry Bliss web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: Nancy Drew - The Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson and Jenn St.-Onge

Nancy Drew: The Palace of Wisdom
by Kelly Thompson (writer) and Jenn St.-Onge (artist) (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Thompson) 

I’m going to age myself — I grew up in the late 1960s/early 1970s, reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew novels with equal interest (though my favorites were the novels in the Three Investigators series, which never achieved quite the popularity of Nancy, Frank and Joe). Both Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys have gone through various transformations over time, updating the characters for new generations — though I haven’t read any of those versions from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

 

However, the cover of this new (2019) graphic novel caught my eye on the “New Materials” display in the Teen Room at the downtown library, and I’m really glad I gave it a shot. The Palace of Wisdom is a terrific update of the characters of both Nancy and the Hardy boys (who play a supportive role in this story), keeping them in their late teens (some of them have drivers licenses) but bringing them up-to-date with modern technologies, lingo and relationship statuses. Nancy is now living in River Heights, and obsessively solving crimes with the assistance of some capable tech-savvy sidekicks. When she receives an unusual anonymous message from her old home of Bayport, she feels compelled to return — where she hooks up with past friends Bess and George (and ultimately Frank and Joe Hardy).

 

The mystery she’s pulled into ties into her mother’s mysterious death years ago, though some of the new friends she makes in town have more recent losses that they’d like her to look into. The characters are all hip, fresh and sassy. The artwork is marvelous. Nancy is a much more active character than she was in the books of the 60s/70s, and a lot of fun is made (by the other characters) of her tendency to lose or forger her cellphone, leading to her getting in a lot of jams that her friends must rescue her from.

 

This graphic novel comprises a complete story, as it appeared in issues #1-5 of a new comic book — with the presumption that that comic book would continue, and this graphic novel ends on a major cliffhanger. I hope there will be additional issues, as I can’t wait to see more of this modern Nancy Drew’s adventures!

[If you’re into “retro” — investigate the old yellow-spine hardback Nancy Drew novels (a few remain in the libraries’ collection, attributed to Carolyn Keene. They’re definitely from another era, but you can see the character archetypes that have led to this new series.]

[ Wikipedia page on the history of Nancy Drew ] | [ Wikipedia page for Kelly Thompson ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: The Adoption by Zidrou and Arno Monin

The Adoption
by Zidrou (writer) and Arno Monin (artist) and Jeremy Melloul (translator) (741.5 Zid)

At first glance, I figured this graphic novel by Belgians Zidrou (writer) and Arno Monin (artist) was going to be a typical sentimental feel-good story. The cover sums up that impression — crusty old grandfatherly Gabriel faces off against adorable waif Qinaya, and you presume the story is about how an old white guy comes to love the little dark-skinned girl his children have adopted.

 

Don’t be misled — that is part of this complex story, but only part, and not the most important part. In a nutshell, retired Belgian butcher Gabriel does find it initially hard to connect when his forty-something son and wife adoption a little girl in Peru following a devastating earthquake that has left hundreds dead, including little Qinaya’s parents. In the first half of this two-part graphic novel, Gabriel does go through the growing pains of a new relationship and does come to love his incomprehensibly cute new granddaughter. That’s what makes the second half of this story the most important — when it turns out Gabriel’s son cut some corners in the adoption process and actually kidnapped Qinaya, whose parents turn out to be alive. In the second half of this story, Gabriel travels to Peru, first to see Qinaya one last time, but also in a voyage of personal growth and discovery, that leads him back to Belgium and a chance to mend some fences in his family.

 

The artwork in The Adoption is absolutely phenomenal, from the highly detailed and expressive characters, to the well-realized geography — both up close and in scenic backdrops. The storyline is emotional and I challenge any reader not to be affected by the twists and turns.

 

Highly recommended!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The House by Paco Roca, Paul at Home by Michel Rabagliati.]

[ publisher’s official The Adoption web page ] | [ one of many Zidrou author pages for this Belgian writer ] [ official Arno Monin Instagram feed ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Long Story Short: 100 Classic Books in Three Panels by Lisa Brown

Long Story Short: 100 Classic Books in Three Panels
by Lisa Brown (YA 741.5 Bro)

For anyone who remembers Cliff’s Notes (which originated right here in Lincoln, NE in the late 1950s), or the more recent SparkNotes (which launched in the late 1990s), author/illustrator Lisa Brown is here to give you even more abbreviated study guides to some of the classic works of English-language literature! For some time, Brown (wife of author Daniel Handler — a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) has been produced the regular cartoon “Three Panel Book Review” for the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper and its website.

 

Long Story Short compiles 100 of her “three panel reviews” (although I think she may have create some original content for this volume as well. For this collection, the reviews are broken into broad categories — “Big Thoughts”, “(Un)Happy Families”, “Jeepers! (Creatures!)”, “Love”, “Sex”, “Death” and more. Each section starts with a slightly-longer cartoon sequence, but the majority if what appears in the book are as advertised — the plot of a work of classic fiction condensed and simplified down into three simple cartoon panels. Some are simply a straight-forward synopsis of a book’s critical plot points, while others take a more humorous or satiric view of the original novel’s essence. All generally tend to be funny, even if darkly humorous.

 

Not all 100 are real winners, but I’d say I laughed at about 65% of the 100 titles profiled. Admittedly, it would help the casual reader to already be a little familiar with the works being condensed and shared. But even if you don’t know all of them, you’ll get quite a few chuckles along the way. Similarly, not all of Brown’s cartoon-style art is equal in quality across the board, but it hits its mark more often than not.

 

Wry, dry, sardonic…and sharing of love of literature. Definitely worth checking out!

[ official Long Story Short page on AmericanChickens.com — the official Lisa Brown web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña

Milo Imagines the World

by Matt de la Peña (jP de la Peña)

 

The story begins with Milo and his older sister entering the subway. During his ride, Milo observes other passengers on the subway to pass the time and imagines what their lives might be like. He draws pictures of the perfect or not-so-perfect lives that he envisions that they live when they get off the subway. He imagines a whiskered man trudging home to a house filled with cats, eating soup alone over a game of solitaire. He sees a boy in a suit and imagines him taking a carriage to his castle and butler and maids. He envisions a woman on the train in a bridal gown going to a grand cathedral wedding and then riding away in a hot air balloon. He even imagines what the other riders think about what his life is like and wonders if they can see him reciting a volcano poem in class or the chile Colorado bubbling in the pot on the stove.

 

But as Milo departs the subway to visit his mother in prison, he discovers that things may not be as they seem. And Milo takes a minute to re-imagine the pictures he made on the train to have very different stories.

 

Milo Imagines the World is a beautiful story that encourages that all of us keep an open mind beyond the first impression. It is a must read!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try I Promise by LeBron James, I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes.]

[ official Mila Imagines the World page on the official Matt de la Peña web site ]

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Death Wins a Goldfish: Reflections From a Grim Reaper's Yearlong Sabbatical by Brian Rea

Death Wins a Goldfish: Reflections From a Grim Reaper’s Yearlong Sabbatical
by Brian Rea (741.5 Rea)

Death receives notice from Human Resources that he has scads of vacation time and MUST use it. So he’s forced to take off work for the next year. Death decides to keep a journal of his thoughts and activities while he’s vacationing. This is actually a humor (comic, graphic novel) book about work-life balance — who knew that topic would be funny, poignant, and sweet?

 

Pay close attention to the illustrations. You’ll find lots of unexpected humor. I loved Death’s rabbit slippers which aren’t really rabbits (or maybe they are?) but are skulls. Be sure to read the author’s introduction, which is equally laugh-out-loud.

 

Death Wins a Goldfish is a very quick read and I was sorry when it was over.

[ official Brian Rea web site ]

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

by Charlie Mackesy (741.5 Mac)

 

This short, quiet book, almost a graphic novel, came out in 2019. Each page is an ink drawing or a watercolor of the titular characters with some sort of a philosophical observation they make to each other about kindness, or friendship, or life.

 

‘”Do you have any other advice?” asked the boy.

“Don’t measure how valuable you are by the way you are treated,” said the horse.’

 

Think of Pooh and Piglet walking through the forest and the statements they make to each other about friendship, or the Peanuts characters leaning against the wall as they chat about the world.

 

The author initially uploaded some of the pages to his Instagram account where they caught the eye of an editor who nearly bullied Mackesy into collecting his drawings into this book. These pages are of the type you will photocopy and put on your refrigerator. I highly recommend this sweet, affirming, sometimes poignant little book. A very quick read at only 128 pages.

 

[ official The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse and Charlie Makesy web site ]

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: The Lady in Gold by Anne Marie O'Connor

The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt’s Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer
by Anne Marie O’Connor (759.36 Kli)

As an art lover, I was familiar with the works of artist Gustav Klimt, but did not know the story behind the recovery of one of his most famous works, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.” After seeing the film Woman in Gold about the efforts of Maria Altmann and her lawyer, Randy Schoenberg, to get Austria to return famous paintings that had been stolen from her Jewish family by the Nazis, I decided I wanted to learn more about the events that led up to this famous trial. This book is a fascinating story of everything that was going on in Vienna before the Nazis took over and the events that have happened since the end of World War II. Although I was aware of the Holocaust and efforts to regain property taken away from Jewish families, I was not aware of the extreme difficulties survivors encountered in reclaiming what rightfully belonged to them. O’Connor’s book does an excellent job of showing the subject from all points of view — from the victims, the art museums, the legal scholars and the politicians. This was a story that I could not put down. I highly recommend it.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the DVDs Woman in Gold, and World on Fire.] [ official Anne Marie O’Connor web site ]

See Rianne S’s review of The Lady in Gold, here on BookGuide in November 2012

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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Book Review: Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing

Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing
by Kay Haring (j Biography Haring)

With its graphics and book design, this nonfiction children’s book suggests an excellent way to educate kids about the work of historically significant visual artists; Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing integrates Keith Haring Foundation-approved reproductions of the artist’s own work into the affable illustrations by Robert Neubecker. Through a blend of picture book, biography, and fine art, the young reader can trace Haring’s artistic development from a very young child to the heights of international art world stardom. Haring’s mission during his lifetime to make art accessible to all is well-served by this publication.

The author is Haring’s sister, Kay, who provides a rare glimpse of the artist growing up in Kutztown, PA and a personal perspective that only a family member can provide. It is a fine supplement to the art historical literature about Haring and supports the idea that he was voluntarily possessed by and eventually in command of a lyrical graphomania throughout his life; budding artists who have surprised their parents with an unplanned scribble-mural on a bare wall might well be inspired by this “boy who just kept drawing.” Haring’s interest in semiotics, or the study of signs and symbols, is also illustrated to have been a lifelong preoccupation.

The book is listed at the 5 – 8 age range, but four pages at the end that contain an Author’s Note and a brief biography are at a higher reading level, and will satisfy kids and adults who want to know more.

[ publisher’s official Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing web page] | [ official Kay Haring Twitter feed ]

Recommended by Eric S.
Walt Branch Library

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