Hello, and welcome to my really, really, really late wrap up for September and October. I’m going ahead and combining both into this video, just because I didn’t have a TON each month. I’m just going to jump into the books, because I have several to get through.
The first book I read in September is Rebel, it’s the second book in a series, so I can’t really explain a lot about this. But this is set in a world where it’s almost dystopian. And this woman has a daughter that was taken by the government. And she had to escape, because situations happen. The second book… Back up. In the first book, I really liked the world building, she did a really good job. In the second book, it’s even better. She continued adding to that world, making it a really interesting sci-fi world. I really like this series.
Pumpkinheads. This is a really cute graphic novel about two best friends who work at a pumpkin patch. This is a massive pumpkin patch. Like, really big. So big that the book actually has a map of it, showing where it has different stations for food, activities, and so on. It’s really cool. So, this is their last year working at that pumpkin patch. They’re in high school, their senior year, approaching the last time they’ll work there. They’re talking and reminiscing. Then also, they start talking about his last opportunity to talk to that girl he’s been mooning over. His friend is pushing him. Adventure happens. The person who is pushing him is a black girl, and she’s bisexual. They have her exes popping up during this story. I thought that was a really nice touch. It was never said that she’s bi, but it was shown very clearly and you could see it. I really liked that part. The art in this is really spot on, really good. I really enjoyed this read.
Chasing the Moon. This is a really big, overarching look at the history of the space race. How that really goes back to science fiction, books that got people interested and dreaming. Going on to start developing rockets, trying to figure out how to make it work, how to even make it work in the first place. Becoming a goal to get to space, and so on. The American-Russian space race, all of that. A really broad history. Most of it looked at the American history, but it does have bits on Europeans who worked on developing rockets, during Nazi Germany, that kind of thing. Russia, obviously, their cosmonaut program. This is really a lot of information, really interesting. So if you really enjoy space, and want to learn more about that history, this is a good read.
Fid’s Crusade. I loved this. The main character is a super villain, and he’s been awful, leaving blood and misery in his path. People are afraid when they see him, he’s lost all of his feelings, doesn’t care. “I’m a super villain, that’s what I do.” Until he finds a really awful plot that even he is disgusted at. He has to try and figure out how to expose it and stop that. I don’t want to say too much, because… I really don’t want to spoil this story. I really enjoyed this. It’s a really fascinating look from the villain’s side, and his thought process, how he decides to do this. What he’s not okay with, what he doesn’t care about. It’s really interesting. I definitely want to read the next book in this series, I really enjoyed this.
Just Ask! This is a cute children’s book, showing different disabilities – wheelchairs, deaf, blind, and so on. It really encourages kids to embrace diversity. I thought this was really cute, a good book. But there’s a couple things. First, *rolls eyes very hard* they use the word: “differently abled.” Stop! Just call it what it is – disability. Disabled. Second, when I found out this one, I wasn’t surprised they used the word “differently abled.” If I remember right, this was, somewhere, connected with Autism Speaks. WHY do people still support that organization? I’m not knowledgeable on the details for this organization, but I do know from what I’ve seen online, a lot of autistic people say that Autism Speaks is really harmful to autistic people and their families. So… If you’re thinking about supporting them, don’t.
Faith Vol. 1, 2, and 3. I’ll talk about all three together. Faith is a badass fat super that has the gift of flight and kind of telekinesis. There’s a special way she does it. Her super name is Zephyr. That’s at night, during the day she works as a reporter. Shocker, wow! And she works solo in that city. She used to work on a team, decided to leave for a few reasons. While working solo, she finds an alien plot, and tries to prevent that. The next two have different storylines. Really, I enjoyed this. Faith is really sassy, *snaps fingers.* Really, I love her. And I like that this has a lot of nerdy references, a lot of really great lines. And I just really enjoyed reading this graphic novel series.
The last thing I read in September is not a book, but I wanted to mention it anyway. The title is Defining LGBTQ+: A Guide to Gender & Sexuality Terminology. This is a PDF, free, and online. I will leave a link below. This is basically just a list of different terms that are in the LGBTQ+ community that are really important to know. And it’s kind of a quick reference, if you don’t understand a word, you can look at this. It has some expanded paragraphs explaining some certain things, how to use some terms. I think this is a really good reference, this may be good for those of you who may be struggling with some terms. Or just want something easy to give to someone and say read this. A review, refresher, whatever. I just wanted to mention that. This is by the same person who wrote A Guide to Gender–the book–it’s also available online for free, I believe. This is really well-written.
September is finished, now for the books I read in October.
the life-changing manga of tidying up. This is basically Marie Kondo’s book, just in manga form. This is really good, because it actually takes that book and changes it to a graphic novel. It has a story about a woman who has a very chaotic apartment, there are things everywhere. So Marie Kondo comes in, works with her to work through the process of tidying up, all of the steps. It will clearly explain each step in this, with illustrations connected. I thought that was really good. It has a little bit of a romance story thrown in too, it’s really cute. It’s really small, very thin, a quick read.
Sorted. This is a memoir written by Jackson Bird, a trans YouTuber. I’ve followed him for a few years, I really enjoy his YouTube. Everything is captioned, it’s fantastic. A lot of it talks about trans topics, of course. His book talks about his journey, trying to figure out who he was while growing up, feeling like his body doesn’t fit his vision of himself. Not really understanding who he’s supposed to be, figuring that out. He went through college, his relationships, his experience with that, and so on. And of course, a LOT of Harry Potter references. I mean, the title is a reference! It’s really well-written, I really enjoyed reading this. While reading this, I could clearly see his voice in the text. And if I remember right, he voices the audiobook, so if you like listening to books, that’s a good option too.
The Arrival. This is not the first time I’ve read this. I saw it in a used book store, I had to get it. Because the first time I read this, I was obsessed with it. I was still thinking about it from time to time. When I saw it, ah yes! This is a story told with no words, which is one part that I really like about this book. It’s all pictures. At the base, the heart of it, it’s about an immigrant leaving his home, leaving his wife and daughter, going to another country, trying to make a life there so he can bring his wife and daughter to join him. You can clearly see the parallels with Ellis Island, NYC, all of the people coming through there. It’s really gorgeous art. This is really well-done. Telling a story without using words is hard. This book does it really well. It shows the almost alien world of a new country, moving there and trying to figure out how things work, the language there, trying to understand how to live there. It’s really well-done. I’m still obsessing over this book, so I definitely recommend you read this if you can get it.
The Tea Dragon Society. It was originally online, that’s when I first read parts of it. I thought that this was really cute. Then I saw them announce that they’d be making a book, fantastic! It’s gorgeous art. So I was in a bookstore, I saw it and thought, oh I want to read a little bit, the beginning. Um… I ended up reading the whole thing in the bookstore. Just standing there, flipping through, so… Yeah, it’s really good. They have a second book too, I haven’t read that yet. I really want to read it, I just found out there’s a deaf character in it, and it has sign in there. I really want to see that. The first book has a person using a wheelchair. They’re not really shy about adding disability, diversity. It’s really cute, and fantastic!
The Travelers. This focuses on two different families – a white family and a black family. It’s an interesting book, because it will jump in time a lot. It can make it a little hard to follow what’s happening, but as you go on, you start to get comfortable with how it’s written. The two families will, from time to time, intersect in their lives. It’s really interesting to see how the author did that, how they decided on the time jumps. Also, it has some pictures in this connected to the story. That was fascinating to see. There are so many characters in this book, there is a list at the beginning, a lot of them. That’s not even all of them, just the important ones. Wow, it’s a lot. But really, overall, I did enjoy this book. It’s a really good read.
Last for October, it’s a long title. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. This is basically a sci-fi/fantasy world in the future, post-apocalyptic. Where there are small pockets of humans living all over, they can’t live anywhere because of toxic air. The forest is what’s producing the toxic air. They’re limited, they have to use masks to travel, very limited. It’s a really gorgeous world. This is written by Hayao Miyazaki, of course, the founder of Studio Ghibli. This was actually a graphic novel first, then it became a movie. I haven’t seen the movie. I knew it was based on a book, so I wanted to read the book first. Book–graphic novel, manga, whatever. The one I read was actually a thick deluxe Volume 1. It’s really thick, that thick. I believe my library has the second deluxe volume. I will get that, read that before I see the movie. From the little clips I’ve seen of the movie, pictures, or gifs, whatever, there are some scenes that are directly pulled from the manga. I mean, why wouldn’t you? The imagery is already there, just use that and make it move. Really, I look forward to watching the movie, because the manga is good, but it’s in black-and-white. It will be really interesting to see the difference between the book and the movie.
That’s the fifteen books I read in September and October. Let me know if you’ve read any of these, or want to read any of them. And… Thanks for watching this, I know this is probably really long. Thank you for watching the whole thing if you actually watched the whole thing. And… I will just end now before I go on more. See you tomorrow!
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