Monday Musings: May in Review

Total Books Read: 27

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza by Lawrence Block
Daughter of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer
Monster Odyssey: The Eye of Neptune by Jon Mayhew
The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian by Lawrence Block

School for Stars: First Term at L'Etoile by Holly Willoughby and Kelly Willoughby
WE3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Manga Shakespeare: The Tempest by Paul Duffield, William Shakespeare and Richard Appignanesi
Preacher v1: Gone To Texas by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon
Animal man v1: The Hunt by Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman

Green Lantern v1: Sinestro by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke
Scalped v1: Indian Country
Where You Are by Tammara Webber
Justice League International v1: Signal Masters by Dan Jurgens, Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan
Straight Flush by Ben Mezrich

Manga Shakespeare: Othello by Ryuta Osada, William Shakespeare and Richard Appignanesi
American born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Superior by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu
Finding Fortune by Pippa Goodhart
Drummer Girl by Bridget Tyler

Flutter v1 by Jennie Wood and Jeff McComsey
You Don't Know Me by Sophia Bennett
God Save The Queen by Mike Carey and John Bolton
Everything Is Fine (and Other Lies I Tell Myself) by Cathy Brett
Bruised by Sarah Skilton

Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra by Greg Rucka and Salvador Larroca
Fear Itself by Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen


Random Thoughts

This was the month when I really got back into reading graphic novels hugely, with about half of my reads being GNs. Mixed results on that front - most were good, American Born Chinese and Superior were great, Fear Itself and WE3 were real let downs. I didn't get round to reviewing that many of them, unfortunately, but may sort that out in the future. Speaking of let downs, School For Stars was a real disappointment, with the 'story seekers' stuff setting my teeth on edge!

More promisingly, I carried on with my Bernie Rhodenbarr omnbius and really enjoyed the two I hadn't read before - am now trying to get the rest of the series!

What stood out, though, was the incredible week in which I read Jennie Wood's Flutter - which I didn't have particularly high expectations of, having picked it up on Comixology on a whim, but ended up being amongst my favourite GNs of the year so far - and three YA contemporary books which were amongst my favourite reads of the year so far. So...


Book of the Month

Third place goes to Bridget Tyler's Drummer Girl, a stunning story about five girls finding fame, fortune - and in one case death - through a talent show in America. Exciting and intriguing, I only wished it could have been longer - not something I normally say about books these days!

Second is taken by Sophia Bennett's You Don't Know Me, which for a few days was a front-runner for book of the year for me, and is likely to be up there come December. Another story about girls in a group taking part in a televised talent contest, it's a similar premise to Drummer Girl but a completely different execution and style. Both are fabulous, although the stunning ending to this one got it the nod from me.

Finally, first - and current front-runner for book of the year in any genre - goes to Bruised by Sarah Skilton. A gripping tale of the aftermath of an armed robbery and how narrator Imogen falls apart after failing to stop it despite her Tae Kwon Do training, it deals with a host of difficult topics with great skill and sensitivity. Outstanding.