Books I have read so far this summer, in no particular order:

Colette--Claudine à l'école

I was supposed to read this for a French class four years ago, and it looked good, but I was taking so many lit classes then that doing all my homework would have cut into my TV time. I really loved it, though, now that I have read it. Claudine is a schoolgirl in early 1900's France. She has a crush on Mademoiselle Lanthenay, her teacher, who ends up having an affair with Mademoiselle Sergent, the headmistress. My copy still has Colette's bastard first husband's name on the cover, because he took the credit for it when it was first published.

Allison Bechdel--Fun Home

Wonderful graphic memoir examining the author's father's suicide. Beautiful drawings.

Ahdaf Soueif--In the Eye of the Sun

I bought this book almost ten years ago at Jackson Street Books in Athens, just because it had a pretty cover, and it spent a long time on my shelf, looking pretty. It's about an Egyptian woman in the 70's, her family, her husband, the affair she has with an Englishman, and about a thousand other things. It reminds me of War and Peace, in that it keeps going back and forth between the family story and historical events, which I had to keep looking up as I read, because I'm completely ignorant. It was worth it, though.

E.M. Forster--A Passage to India

Set during the British occupation of India. An Englishwoman falsely accuses an Indian man of rape. Being colonized sucks.

Umberto Eco--The Name of the Rose

A monk in the 1300's investigates a series of murders in an Italian abbey. Way more interesting than Murder, She Wrote.

Uzodinma Iweala--Beasts of No Nation

Short novel about child soldiers in an unspecified African country. I liked the narrator's voice, and the subject matter is powerful, but I felt like something was missing. Maybe it was just too short. Worth a look, though.

Khaled Hosseini--The Kite Runner

People who have read this book can't shut up about how everyone has to read it. And yes, everyone does.

Walker Percy--The Moviegoer

Reminded me a lot of The Stranger. I haven't looked, but that's probably what everyone says.

Susanna Clarke--Jonathan Strange& Mr. Norrell

Also reminded me of War and Peace, but in a funnier, Harry Potter-ish sort of way. I kept picturing the Raven King as David Bowie from Labyrinth.

Thomas Mann--Death in Venice

Stalk, stalk, stalk, stalk, die.

Oscar Wilde--The Picture of Dorian Gray

I'm ashamed to say that I hadn't read this before. It's great, of course.

Adam Johnson--Emporium

I first read Johnson's story "Teen Sniper" in an undergrad creative writing class. I had no idea until recently that he went to FSU. Crazy, funny stuff.

Scott McCloud--Making Comics

McCloud is the god of comics theory. I think I want to do a graphic novel for my dissertation, provided my lazy ass is up to it.

Christopher Moore--Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal and Bloodsucking Fiends

Lamb was fantastic--the story of Jesus told as a wacky comedy. Weirdly, it manages to be more or less respectful to the Christian tradition. Apparently it's even used in some (I'm assuming more liberal) Bible studies. Bloodsucking Fiends was hit or miss, but I had to read it first so I can read You Suck.

Jeffrey Brown--Cat Getting out of a Bag and Other Observations

Kitties! Kitties are cute! I like kitties!!

Joss Whedon--Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight comics, vols. 1&2

Takes up where the TV show left off. Faith has to pretend to belong to the British aristocracy. Warren comes back. Dawn turns into a giant. Yes, I know how nerdy I am, and I don't care.

Marjane Satrapi--Embroideries

Tells you a little more about some of the women from Persepolis, including the grandmother. Just lovely.

Jeff Smith--Bone vol.1: Outfrom Boneville

Funny, weird comic. I want to read the rest.

Art Spiegelman--Maus vol.2: And Here My Troubles Begin

I read Maus I a long time ago, and of course it's great, but I didn't get around to part two, because when are you ever in the mood to read about the Holocaust? But it's such a beautiful book, even if afterwards you have to get under the covers and weep.

Will Eisner--Dropsie Avenue: the Neighborhood

Graphic novel about the evolution of a neighborhood in the Bronx. It starts with Dutch farmers bitching about all the English people moving in, then English people bitching about the Irish, etc. Way more interesting than I expected.


Debbie Drechsler--Daddy's Girl

Aaaaaaaaaaa disturbing.

R. Crumb--The Book of Mr. Natural

Cool drawings. I don't think I understand the 60's.

Jaime Hernandez--Love and Rockets vol. 7: The Death of Speedy

I just picked this up off Chris's shelf without having read any other Love and Rockets comics, so I couldn't follow it all, but it was still really cool. I want to read the rest.


David Sedaris--When You Are Engulfed in Flames

I told myself I wasn't going to buy any new books until I read all the ones that have been collecting dust in my apartment. Then I saw this at the airport and said, "Well, I didn't know there was a new David Sedaris out. Of course it doesn't count."