Thursday, December 18, 2014

Day 18: Books, Books, Books!

I have always been a reader. Whatever I could get my hands on, really, though some things I tried once and set down most time after because I didn't like it that much. I'm not a huge fan of mysteries, for instance. I will read them, but I think I OD'd on Nancy Drew as a kid and I still bear the scars. 

I have a ton of books. For years, when I was moving back and forth from college, I only had a portion of them available to me at any given time, and the books that moved to and from college with me rotated, though I (mostly) kept it down to just what would fill my little bookshelf that was easiest to move. The problem with books is that you always acquire more, especially when you are in a new area with lots of library book sales and new used book stores to explore. Or when other bookish friends tip you off on a big sale ($20 and three paper bags later...). 

In this new place, I actually have space for all the bookshelves I already had and a couple more to boot. It's like heaven. I might actually have room for all my books, though I haven't unpacked them all yet to make sure. My goal is to make my room always smell like a library. Actually, my goal is to someday have a house large enough for a real library as a separate room. Then I might actually get to have a real dresser. But cohabiting with my all my books is a pretty good second fiddle to that.

The only problem is, there are always more books to buy. For instance, I've finally caved to the nerd/geek pressure and started reading graphic novels. I haven't gotten big into the major franchises, which is odd because part of my motivation was to get to first-hand book canon about the Avengers (because I sympathize with the people who see their favorite stories being overtaken). I think my main issue is, it's such a huge expanse of stuff, and I have no idea where to even start. If anyone has suggestions, I'll take them. But for now, I've been looking into other stuff. Companion novels to shows I like, for instance. I have some prequel stuff for The Guild (which is one of those shows that constantly has me doubled over laughing). I have the Firefly/Serenity novels, or at least a couple of them. Still waiting for Leaves on The Wind to come out in the trade, because that's cheaper. But that's the perfect recipe to get me into it. Tell me there's more canon for a show like Firefly and I'm all over that. 

I will say that I haven't really wrapped my mind around manga yet, but that's not surprising as I have never connected with anime either. I just got the first installment of a manga that I've heard of before from the library, just so I could say that I've tried it. So far, I'm not enamored of it. I have however, found another series at the library called Sons of Liberty, about two escaped slaves at the start of the American Revolution who are given superpowers by Benjamin Franklin's son. Given my love of that period of American history, it was almost a sure thing that I would love it. And I do. It's dark and gritty and it is wondrous. I love historical fiction, and this fits right in. In that same vein, I really like the 1602 series, with the Marvel universe tucked neatly into the end of Queen Elizabeth the First's reign and the turmoil of that age. And written by Neil Gaiman. So you really can't get any better than that.

So, for those who read graphic novels, or comics or whatever you want to call them (I'm not settled on that area of the terminology yet), given that list, what are some suggestions? I would love to get more into this, even if it means scouring libraries and hiding out in dark corners of comic book shops reading stuff that I can't afford to buy. 

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