If you are a fan of Ryan Coogler's 2025 movie Sinners, these two graphic novels have elements that you might enjoy.
The Smell of Starving Boys by Loo Hui Phang with art by Frederik Peeters (2017) 112 pages
Bluesman by Rob Vollmar with art by Pablo Callejo (2008) 208 pages
After a VERY public breakup with her longtime boyfriend, Willow just wants to hide away. Thankfully, she gets the opportunity when her brother Cruz asks her to dog-sit while he's deployed overseas. To make sure his sister's doing OK, Cruz asks his best friend Deacon to routinely check in on her. As Deacon and Willow talk through her recent breakup, she decides to make a "re-do" list for all of the things that she only ever experienced with her ex. Some are pretty innocuous, some are a bit spicier, and when Deacon volunteers to help Willow check some items off her list, he doesn't realize that he's soon going to be tempted to break the promise he made to Cruz to keep his hands off Willow.
There's usually something questionable about a happily-ever-after happening in a rebound situation, and on paper, that's what this looks like. However, Williams deftly avoids the trap of centering Willow's personal growth around yet another man — that's specifically addressed in a conversation between Willow and Deacon, with Willow stating that she's doing these things for herself and Deacon is simply supporting her. Similarly, Deacon's personal growth as someone medically discharged from the military coming to grips with his new (and unwilling) veteran status is his growth, and just happens to work well with his future with Willow. All in all, this was an excellently done romance, with complex characters and ridiculously loveable dogs. Two thumbs enthusiastically up!
The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon #6) by Dan Brown, 677 pages
I wanted to like this book, I
really did. I love codes, intricate details and mysterious settings. I love
learning interesting historical details. But I found this one to be TOO MUCH.
Can we not have a conversation that doesn't include an esoteric detail in
almost every sentence? The concept of the book was interesting and Brown has a
way of convincing you of the believability of the far-out idea. Unfortunately,
I feel he has fallen into the movie trap and has written for the screen and not
the reader. To me, his Langdon novels have become formulaic and I am not sure I
will read any more of them if they continue on in this vein. They have run
their course.
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara, 347 pages.
Anappara is an Indian journalist, and this novel is inspired by events that she covered professionally. This expertise helps her to build an immersive community that makes the horrors of the book resonate harder. Jai is also a masterful perspective character. Jai is nine years old, and Anappara does a really great job capturing his voice in a way that felt very believable and enriched the book. This is not a happy novel, but it is deeply compelling, and I would recommend it.
"The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the
sweeping tale of two young people navigating the many forces that shape their
country, class, race, history, and the complicated bonds that link one
generation to the next."
First,
this book is beautifully written. Desai has a writing style that perfectly
captures the little thoughts and judgements we all have but don't say out loud.
Through her characters she captures all the complexities each generation faces
and how they are challenged in subsequent ones. I feel all of us can relate in some
way to the pressures and expectations our parents (inadvertently or not) put
on us while also subconsciously (or not) doing the same thing to our
own children.
The
downside to the book is that the characters are not particularly likeable. Many
times, I just wanted to shout "get over yourself and move on". But
they didn't and for over 600 pages we delve into their every thought. Weirdly,
though, there are some blaring holes that I actually wished the author would
have dug more into. The book is a paradox.
Violet Thistlewaite was once the Thornwitch, a powerful henchwoman to a now-defeated mega-villain, and now that she's released from his influence, she's determined to put the Thornwitch behind her and live a quiet and peaceful life as a florist. She soon settles in the small village of Dragon's Rest, renting a shop, a room, and half a greenhouse from alchemist-turned-apothecary Nathaniel Marsh and his musician sister. Nathaniel doesn't understand why anyone in town would want a florist around, and doesn't hide his disdain at her "silly" business. But as the rest of the town comes to love Violet, Nathaniel can't help but be charmed by her too. Violet's main goal is making sure she doesn't reach for the dark magic she once used, lest she reveal her former life.
This was an adorable cozy fantasy with lovely characters, strong magic, great character arcs, and a wonderfully homicidal houseplant. I loved it, I'll recommend it widely, and I'll happily read more books in Dragon's Rest.
Eight random strangers have been sequestered in a generic office building, and forced to share a break room for a reality TV competition show. Why? All eight were nominated by their real-life coworkers because of some annoying thing they do in their company break rooms, whether it's leaving dirty dishes all over the place, using the ice cube trays to make soda ice cubes, stinking the place up with odorous food, or something else. The eight must figure out which of them is the mole, planted by the production company, but as they try to investigate their colleagues, they each discover unsettling things about each other, and themselves.
This was a quick and quirky book, and I'm honestly not sure what I thought of it. I wasn't sure what to expect though, so I guess it met those nonexistent expectations? I was horrified by some of the things they found themselves doing, almost as much as I was by the things that got them sent to the show in the first place. Give it a read if you find yourself with a couple hours to spare — that's all the time it will take.
Hope, Ash, and Caro met in a Zoom book club, but soon branched out into their own Zoom meetings to chat and connect with other women going through difficulties in life. Hope is an actress who is losing herself in the glare of the spotlight; Ash has a successful business as a florist, though her success has put a strain on her marriage; and Caro's an anesthesiologist who recently lost a patient and is struggling to find her way back to work. So when Hope suggests meeting in-person for a glamping and hiking trip off the grid, Ash and Caro jump at the chance to connect in real life, and leave their worries behind. However, things don't go as planned, and soon, one of them is missing, leaving the other two second-guessing everything they thought they knew about each other.
For the first 75% of this book, it was compelling, with distinct main characters and a ratcheting sense of tension and distrust. However, the last quarter of the book went a bit off the rails, and the bad guy seems to come out of nowhere, almost like the author picked the character out of a hat. It was particularly disappointing, given how invested I was the rest of the book. I just really wish it had stuck the landing.
A stray cat without a name is befriended and later rescued by a man after being hit by a car. The story is told by the cat, whom the man dubs Nana because the cat's tail hooks like the number seven, which in Japan, is nana. Once the cat recovers, he stays with the man, Satoru, in his apartment. He learns that Satoru had been orphaned when his parents were in an accident when he was a young boy, and that he had to give up his cat to go live with his aunt. That other cat was much beloved, and looked much like Nana looks.
The story moves forward when the cat and the man go on the road in Japan, visiting friends that Satoru had made throughout his youth, looking for someone to care for Nana. None of the friends' situations seems right for Nana. Satoru avoids telling people why he's looking for someone else to care for Nana, part of the mystery.
This is a sweet story, not only showing the bond between Nana and Satoru, but between Satoru and his friends, and sometimes between Nana and other animals.
