(My NaNo wordcount: 26807)
And we get past this week’s hump-day with another lovely list of annual favorites.
Be astounded by the choices of Jitse (Retail Manager, All-Knowing Oracle, Travel Literature, Travel Guides, Roleplaying, Games, and Graphic Novels & Comics Buyer, Amsterdam), Karin (Adjunct Director, Miracle Worker, Sci-Fi & Fantasy buyer, Amsterdam), and Klaartje (Director’s Secretary, Local Interest buyer, Dreamer, Amsterdam).
After the jump, of course.
Jitse
1. Yragael by Phillipe Druillet
This is an all time favorite of mine. Very baroque French Science Fiction stories that first appeard in Métal Hurlant. Unfortunately only available in print in French, but you can find second-hand English copies.
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore
An all time classic. The first time I read it I could not put it down, it grabbed me and I had to read it in one go. I still pick this book up once in a while. Very densly written, and great
artwork. The movie will be out before the end of the year, but my advice is to read the book first. It will be better regardless.
3. The Filth by Grant Morrison
Weird doesn’t even come close to describing this story, insanely out there might be. Morrison takes the way he plays with our concepts of reality to completely new levels.
4. The Authority by Warren Ellis and Mark Millar
The Authority is at the same time a parody and a mature take on the superhero theme. Often extremely violent and cynical, it asks significant questions about morality and what it takes to be a hero.
5. The Spirit by Will Eisner
I have read the Spirit stories since I was a kid and gorged through my dad’s comic book collection. There is an eerieness about them that I always found fascinating. Frank Miller (who made Sin City) is now directing the Spirit movie, due out in Holland in January.
Karin
1. The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
Tells the story of Sera Dubash, an upper-middle-class Parsi housewife and Bhima, the woman who works as a domestic servant in her home. Despite their class differences, the two women are bound by the bonds of gender and shared life experiences. This novel explores the complex relationships between the classes in India.
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
Loved this little book. Juvenile fiction but a haunting and beautiful story set in a dystopian future America.
3. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Hamid Moshin
A well thought-out, provoking book.
4. Seed to Harvest (omnibus) by Octavia E. Butler
Boy, she can write…
5. Snoop. What Your Stuff Says About You by Sam Gosling, P.H.D.
Hugely fascinating. Describes what our everyday actions and possessions reveal about our personalities, whether we realize it or not.
Klaartje
Vogels als huisgenoten by Len Howerd (Original title: Birds as individuals, printed in 1953).
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracey Chevalier.
A colleague gave me the tip to read it, because we have a poster in our home with one of the tapestries that the book is about.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
How you lose by J.C. Amberchele.
A book I bought because my husband wanted to read it. I finished the book already and he still hasn’t started reading it!
Avonturen met onmogelijke figuren by Bruno Ernst.
A book to read an study the pictures in one night.
Tags: Children's Books, fantasy, Fiction, graphic novels, Jitse, juvenile fiction, Karin, Klaartje, lists, metal hurlant, nature, Psychology, science fiction