Rainbow TBR Challenge
Back in November I completed a ‘rainbow reading challenge’ where I read one book per color of the rainbow. It was a super fun challenge, and it helped kickstart my reading of graphic novels~
Graphic novels were basically all that I read when I was a kid. I’m currently making one called, “Dear Samar”, so you can say that I really love the medium. However this year I got back into fiction and nonfiction. I especially have read a lot of books via audio with the Libby app while I worked. While there have been some graphic novels with audio adaptations, that’s not my preferred way to read sequential narratives. This challenge was a good excuse to dive back into the medium and explore that wonderful world!
Here’s the descriptions of what I read! Full reviews will be in my vlog. Titles with asterisks are favorites.
*Pink: The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store by Tsuchika Nishimura
Working retail is tough enough with regular human customers, but what about when they're owls, wolves, koalas...and a woolly mammoth? Welcome to the Hokkyoku Department Store, where new employee Akino's customers are talking animals-including extinct species! Just like any shopper, each has their own complicated request that Akino must strive to satisfy. From a wealthy laughing owl searching for the perfect present to delight his wife to a thespian sea mink attempting to find a gift for a long-awaited reunion with her father, Akino must learn to meet their needs, while also dealing with her challenging coworkers and elusive floor manager. (Bookshop.org)
Red: March by John Lewis, et al
Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon and key figure of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper's farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.
Now, to share his remarkable story with new generations, Lewis presents March, a graphic novel trilogy, in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and New York Times best-selling artist Nate Powell (winner of the Eisner Award and LA Times Book Prize finalist for Swallow Me Whole).
March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.
Book One spans John Lewis' youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning climax on the steps of City Hall. (Bookshop.org)
*Orange: I See a Knight by Xulia Vicente
Since childhood, Olivia has been able to see a headless knight invisible to everyone else- is it an omen, a ghost, or something much more real? As she grows older, Olivia becomes accustomed to the knight's presence in her life but knows, too, she must one day finally confront it. (Silver Sprocket) (note: this book is out of print)
*Yellow: When I Was Me: Moments of Gender Euphoria, anthology
"Gender euphoria" is the overwhelming feeling of joy a gender-non-conforming person feels when their gender is explored, validated, and celebrated. From being called the right name, to photoshoots with friends, to performing as a different gender in a play; gender euphoria is something that can result from an infinite number of experiences.
When I Was Me is a collection of autobiographical comics about the joyful and euphoric experiences of being transgender, featuring stories from trans people with a wide range of gender identities, ages, and backgrounds! 100% of the team working on When I Was Me fits under the trans umbrella, from pre-press to artists. (Quindrie Press)
Green: Bug Boys by Laura Knetzger
Rhino-B is a brash, but sweet guy. Stag-B is a calm and scholarly adventurer. Together these two young beetles make up the Bug Boys, best friends who spend their time exploring the world of Bug Village and beyond, as well as their own -- sometimes confusing and complicated -- thoughts and feelings.
In their first adventure, the Bug Boys travel through spooky caves, work with a spider to found a library, save their town's popular honey supply from extinction, and even make friends with ferocious termites!
Join these two best bug buddies as they go above and beyond for each other and the friends they meet in their adventures. (Bookshop.org)
Blue: Teeth by Katie Mansfield
Teeth is an anthology of 5 illustrated horror stories about love, loss, and the monsters we find within ourselves. (Tragic Girls)
Purple: Boyfriends Volume 2 by refrainbow
It's the start of senior year in college, and Jock, Goth, Nerd, and Prep are officially boyfriends! With the support of cute boyfriends, school should be a breeze . . . right? (Bookshop.org)
Brown: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Calvin and Hobbes is unquestionably one of the most popular comic strips of all time. The imaginative world of a boy and his real-only-to-him tiger was first syndicated in 1985 and appeared in more than 2,400 newspapers when Bill Watterson retired on January 1, 1996. (Bookshop.org)
*Black: Breakdowns: Portrait of an Artist as a Young %@! by Art Spiegelman
Innovative, serious, funny, and many decades ahead of its time, Breakdowns is offered here in its entirety: the long-sought-after collection of the artist's comics of the 1970s, along with an introduction almost as long as the book it introduces--and just as autobiographically intimate and experimentally daring.
At once the story of an artist and of his medium, Breakdowns alters the terms of what can be accomplished in a memoir. (Bookshop.org)
*Gray: Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green
Like most kids, Katie was a picky eater. She’d sit at the table in silent protest, hide uneaten toast in her bedroom, listen to parental threats that she’d have to eat it for breakfast.
But in any life a set of circumstances can collide, and normal behaviour can soon shade into something sinister, something deadly…
Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness, an exposure of those who are so weak they prey on the weak, and an inspiration to anybody who believes in the human power to endure towards happiness. (lighterthanmyshadow.com)
White: Let’s Eat Together, Aki and Haru by Makoto Taji
Join Aki and Haru as they tackle one of the most perilous tasks two college roommates can face -- feeding themselves! Easygoing Aki has mastered the art of affordable home-cooking to keep his good friend Haru upbeat and motivated throughout the school year. From homemade ramen to fried chicken to plum liqueur, each season offers a whole new menu! Chewing their way through life's ups and downs, the boys and their friends share in the simple joys of food and youth. Take a hearty bite out of this sweet and refreshing slice of life story! (Bookshop.org)
