Katie @Doing Dewey is hosting an unusual reading challenge throughout the month of February called The Reluctant Romantic.
Is there a genre you’d like to read more of in 2016? Or a genre that you’ve never given a chance?
The Reluctant Romantic event this February is the time to do something about it!
Lasting all of February, there will be optional discussion topics and check-ins every Saturday and a twitter chat at the end of the month.
To join in, just post a sign-up wherever your online home is and share what genre you’ll be getting to know this month.
The Reluctant Romantic event this February is the time to do something about it!
Lasting all of February, there will be optional discussion topics and check-ins every Saturday and a twitter chat at the end of the month.
To join in, just post a sign-up wherever your online home is and share what genre you’ll be getting to know this month.
Schedule and Discussion Topics
Feb 6 – Genre Speed Dating – What genre are you getting to know this month? Why do you want to give it a chance?
Feb 13 – It’s Complicated – Is there anything that keeps you from reading this genre more?
Feb 20 – Young Love – Have you read the genre you’re trying before? How was your first experience with that genre this month?
Feb 27 – Relationship Status – Where is your relationship with the genre you tried? Will you read more of this genre in the future?
I have two possible genre's in mind...I just have to decide in the next few days which one it will be.
Poetry or graphic novels?
I love the poems I've been exposed to over the years, but I don't always think to seek them out or take the time to delve deeply into their meaning.
I used to love reading comics when I was little, but I tend to steer clear of graphic novels as an adult reader. They don't seem like proper reading somehow.
This does sound like a fun challenge! I chose graphic novels (and nonfiction) for myself because they seem to be exploding in popularity and I'd like to see what all the fuss is about. Poetry would be a lovely choice too. Looking forward to your challenge posts!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge graphic novel fan either. I mean, I want to read them, but I just never get around to it. I've started a few series that I ought to finish out. My experience with poetry is similar to your own. Now that I see who has joined the challenge so far I see how I missed genres that I wish I'd read more of. :) But modernism works for me because it throws in those two Woolf books for the #woolfalong.
ReplyDeletePoetry and graphic novels are both genres I'd like to read more of too, so I'm sure I'll be inspired by the books you pick out for the challenge no matter which genre you choose. Thanks for joining in! :)
ReplyDeleteIf you choose comics (or graphic novels/memoirs/nonfiction or whatever) I have plenty of recommendations, should the need arise. Just ask! (*crossing fingers to see whether you give a chance to graphic storytelling*)
ReplyDeleteAny tips for graphic non-fiction or graphic memoirs would be hugely appreciated!! Thanks :-)
Delete*act cool, act cool!*
DeleteOkay, so I'll start with the obvious: Art Spiegelman's Maus. It's the only graphic memoir that has won a Pulitzer to date. It can get hard, though, since Spiegelman recounts the story of his Jewish family during World War 2.
I also enjoyed Marjane Satrapi's Embroideries a lot. It's very short, specially compared to Persepolis, so you will be done in an afternoon, but it stills packs a lot.
Alison Bechdel's Fun Home is also a classic graphic memoir that gets in many English major curricula. She's the Bechdel from the Bechdel test, so you can expect feminism. And she's lesbian, so there's a very nuanced exploration of queer identity, too. Julie Maroh's Blue is the Warmest Color is fiction but has autobiographical content, I believe, and it's a lighter graphic novel that dabs in some of the same themes of Fun Home.
Other graphic memoirs I haven't yet read but I really want to are those of Lucy Knisley, Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese, and Craig Thompson's Blankets.
I have to admit I haven't read that much graphic non-fiction, but my wishlist is huge: John Robert Lewis' March, Guy Delisle's Pyongyang, Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant for a comical take on history, Margaret Talbot's Sally Heathcote: Suffragette, or Sydney Padua's The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage come to mind.
Wow that's a really impressive list - thank you so much. I've heard of a couple of them but (hangs head in shame) I've never picked any of them up to even look inside.
DeleteYou've given me lots of food for thought ... watch this space :-)