Graphic Novel Recommendations

Hi guys. Today I'm here to recommend some graphic novels and comics to you. Whether you're new to the genre or you're simply looking for a new comic or graphic novel to pick up, I hope you'll find this post useful. 

This post is divided into two parts to make it easier for you to browse these titles. The first part looks at series of graphic novels and comics, both completed and ongoing and the second part looks at stand alone graphic novels.

Graphic Novel and Comic Book Series

Saga

Status - Ongoing comic series

Writer(s) - Brian K. Vaughan

Artist(s) - Fiona Staples

Alana and Marko are runaway soldiers from opposite sides of a huge ongoing galactic war. After falling in love and becoming parents to a child born of the two warring races, they find themselves prey to military forces and ruthless mercenaries alike. Mixing fantasy and science fiction in a space opera as sexy as it is action packed, this series is my go-to graphic novel recommendation for new and old fans of the genre.  

Locke and Key

Status - Completed graphic novel series

Writer(s) - Joe Hill

Artist(s) - Gabriel Rodriguez

After their father’s murder, the Locke siblings move with their mother to Keyhouse, an old mansion that has belonged to their family for years. Soon after they move in, Bode, the youngest of the family, accidentally uncovers a door that gives him strange abilities. As Bode and siblings begin to truly explore their new home, they begin to uncover strange keys which lead to secret doors hidden all over the house, each one with a unique magic of its own. Unbeknown to them though, aside from its magical secrets, Keyhouse is also home to an ancient malignant being. This series was written by Joe Hill, who is none other than Stephen King’s son and seems to share his father’s gift for crafting beautiful but dark stories. This series is a must for fans of horror novels and is a personal favorite of mine. It does contain some gore though so you might keep that in mind should you check it out.

Fables

Status - Completed comic series

Writer(s) - Bill Willingham

Artist(s) - Various

Forced into exile after a powerful enemy takes over their lands, fairy tale creatures from various stories and myths come seek shelter in our world. Now, in modern day New York, their secret society has grown into a private community of their own which they call Fabletown. A reformed Big Bad Wolf is their sheriff while Snow White is their ever efficient deputy mayor. All seems to be going well until Snow’s wild child sister, Rose Red, is reported as murdered. The suspects? Rose’s notoriously psycho ex-lover Bluebeard and her current boyfriend, Jack, made famous for his beanstalk climbing antics. With its sharp humor, cool intrigue, plot twists and the occasional unexpected death, Fables is right now my favorite comic series. While it starts as a mere murder mystery sprinkled with humor and fairy tale elements, the series quickly escalate into a phenomenon of sheer epicness that will make you keep turning the pages.

Alex + Ada

Status - Completed graphic novel series

Writer(s) - Johnathan Luna

Artist(s) - Sarah Vaughn

In a near future, where humans have developed artificially intelligent androids, a new and somewhat controversial type of android has been release on the market, the X5. These high-priced robots are made to look like normal people and are equipped with a huge database of intelligence which gives them the ability to act almost human. Because of this, these androids have been adopted by rich people for companionship purposes. Our main character, Alex, one day receives an unexpected gift for his birthday from his wealthy grandmother. Alex opens the box and to his shock, finds within a female X5 android ready to be switched on and activated. What he chooses to do next changes his life forever. This is one of the best comics I've ever read. The artwork is rather simplistic but beautiful at the same time and works perfectly with the brilliant character development and gripping story. Trust me, you don’t even have to be a sci-fi fan to enjoy this one.

Stand Alone Graphic Novels

In Real Life

Status - Stand Alone graphic novel

Writer(s) - Cory Doctorow

Artist(s) - Jen Wang

Anda has newly joined Coarsegold Online, a massively-multiplayer role-playing game, where she goes on virtual missions and adventures through her in-game persona, a powerful redheaded warrior. Things take a complicated turn when Anda come across a gold farmer, one of the strange, silent avatars who seem to be illegally collecting valuables intended to be sold to other players. When the avatar talks to her, Anda is intrigued and immediately wants to know more about the avatar, and the person who controls it. The avatar turns out to belong to a poor Chinese boy who is paid to conduct these illegal in-game dealings. There are many others like him and while what they are doing is illegal, it's also pretty much the only thing that keeps them safe and fed. Anda thus comes to question what's morally right or wrong and embarks on her own real life mission to strive to be the hero who's only so far been real in her imagination.

Anya's Ghost

Status - Stand Alone graphic novel

Writer(s) - Vera Brosgol

Artist(s) - Vera Brosgol

After Anya falls at the bottom of a well, she makes the unexpected acquaintance of a ghost. The two become friends and soon, Anya’s ghost is accompanying her everywhere, helping her navigate school halls and giving her tips to make her more popular. After a while though, Anya begins to realize that being haunted isn’t as fun as she originally thought… Spooky at times, deeply touching at others, this isn’t quite a ghost story but rather a coming of age story with its fair share of ghostly elements. It’s definitely not a horror though and is one I’d recommend to everyone. 

So those were my graphic novel and comic book recommendations. If you have recommendations for me based on the titles I've included here, do share them with me in the comments ^^

My Favorite Books of 2015

Hi guys. I hope you all had a great time for Christmas! 2016 is almost here and so, today I thought I would share with you some of the books I loved best in 2015. For this post, I am going to include books that may not have necessarily been published in 2015 but rather that I've read this year. If you've read any of these books too, do let me know what you thought about them in the comments below.

These are in no particular order and are all books I would absolutely recommend. To avoid making this post too long, I've put links to each book's Goodreads page rather than write full blurbs for all of them. To know more about them, just click on the title. 

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1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the illustrated edition
This book's release almost came as a surprise and was certainly one of the highlights of the year for fellow Potterheads. The story was already a well beloved one before this edition came out but the illustrations it comes with make reading Harry Potter more magical than other. 

2. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
This trilogy was superbly written with a story and prose that stays with you long after you've closed the book. This is children literature at its best and is a perfect choice for Christmas time.

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3. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
This book simply blew me away! I was rather late to this party but once I started the book, I was hooked. I listened to it on audiobook and really, really enjoyed it. In fact, I would suggest you try the audiobook version because it definitely brings the virtual game universe of this book to life in a most vivid way. The narrator also did a superb job and was amazing with portraying different characters.

4. Winter by Marissa Meyer
The Lunar Chronicles have finally come to an end and while this saddens me a little, the more than satisfying conclusion delivered in Winter made ride entirely worth it. Marissa Meyer definitely knows how to wrap up a series! Now I can't wait to read her other books that are coming out in 2016. 

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5. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
I've gushed a lot about this book on my blog in various post but for old times' sake, I'll say it again: I freaking love this book! It's a adult Cinderella retelling told from the perspective of one of her 'ugly' stepsisters and is step in 17th century Holland. The setting is unique, the characters are multidimensional and nicely portrayed and the prose is simply stunning. 

6. The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
This was my first Angela Carter book and I adored it. It feels like magical realism although nothing supernatural actually ever happen. It does retain a certain magical vibe, which is a nice contract to the book's often dark moments.

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7. Fables Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham
Fables is a comic book series that follows the stories of fairytale characters after they are forced to flee their world and hide among regular humans in our world. These books are sometimes gory, sometimes sexy but always witty and really well written. While the first 3 volumes were fairly enjoyable, it was the 4th volume that really made this one of my favorite graphic novel/comic book series. 

8. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
This is best described as a fairytale for adults. While our main character is a young boy, this book definitely has its dark moments, not to mention a fair share of gore. Beyond that though, the book reads as a fairytale, the prose both enchanting and witty. 

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9. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Another book by Gregory Maguire, yep. This is again an adult retelling, this time focusing on the Wizard of Oz and with the Wicked Witch of the West as main character. Elphaba, the titular Wicked Witch is my favorite female character of all time. You can't help but fall in love with her as she struggles between good and evil in a world that is slowly coming apart as intolerance, sexism and racism begin to spread throughout the land. This Wicked Witch is a feminist. You might even say that she's a rebel. And as she makes her journey into becoming the legendary Wicked Witch, you will unavoidably find yourself rooting for her.

10. Dubliners by James Joyce
This is a short story collection set in 20th century Dublin focusing on the lives of different people of various social classes and age. This was the book that seriously got me into classics and I loved it so much and can say without hesitation that I'll be definitely re-reading this one at some point.

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11. Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino
Last Christmas I bought the two box sets of the entire Vampire Knight series as a little end of year treat and these mangas were the first books I spent the first days of January reading. Vampire Knight was both my first anime and my first manga and because of that, I can't help be a little bias towards it. I just really love this story. The last few volumes of the manga were not the best in the series but I did enjoy the ending. If you enjoy supernatural stories with a healthy dose of drama and well written romance, I would recommend you pick up this manga. You might also watch to check out the anime because it's really beautiful. 

So that's it for this post guys. What were your favorite books of 2015? Let me know in the comments ^^

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Cover art by Of Stacks and Cups via Pagemodo

My Favorite Stand Alones

Who doesn't love a good trilogy? Or an amazing series with several books' worth of the same beloved world and characters? Still, sometimes, it's also fun to discover a literary universe in its completion within the pages of a single book. Maybe you need something quick to read in between series? Or it could just be that you're in a mood for a complete story which can be read within only a few days. For days like these, stand alones are perfect. And so, today, I've compiled my 10 favorite stand alones, at least as of 2015 so far. These books are in no particular order and have all received either 4 or 5-stars ratings from me on Goodreads.

1. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Cath and her twin sister Wren used to be major fans of the Simon Snow fantasy book series when they were younger. More recently though, while Cath is still a huge fan and actually writes Simon Snow fanfic, her sister has outgrown the fandom and has moved to other things. When the twins go to college and Wren decides to get a different room from her sister's, Cath feels further alienated from her twin. Although writing is her passion and she loves her new classes, navigating college life without her sister is hard for Cath due to her being quite the hopeless introvert. Soon though, new people enter her life, some nice and others less so, and as the days go by, Cath begins to realize that it might be time for her to write her own story. 

2. Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Years ago, back in their student days, Eli and Victor bonded over their shared loneliness and high intellect and became best friends. Together they attempted a research project which was as daring as it was brilliant. Their aim was to develop supernatural abilities. Their final experience, though proving to be an unexpected success, took a turn for the worst, resulting in Victor being taken away to prison. Now ten years later, Victor breaks free from prison, hellbent on getting his hands on his best friend turned mortal enemy. Meanwhile, Eli has tasked himself with the mission of destroying every single person possessing superhuman abilities. I loved this book because of the superhero vibe it had. Eli and Victor can hardly be seen as heroes though, being better suited for the roles of antiheroes. 

3. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent 

Agnes, an Irish woman accused of murdering her master, is banished to an isolated farm where she will await her execution. The family living on the farm is initially horrified, and anxious too, to have a murderess in their midst. As her final verdict looms closer though, the family begins to learn more about Agnes and what really happened. Throughout the book readers will swing between hope and fear regarding Agnes's ultimate fate. This is a thrilling and beautifully written book that I would highly recommend. 

4. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

With their father gone from their lives and their mother turned alcoholic, it fell to Lochan and his sister Maya to assume the roles of parents and take care of their younger siblings. The hardships of their lives, lack of parental presence and the fact that no one understands them the way they understand each other have made best friends out of Lochan and Maya. Inheriting the roles of parents to their young siblings and finding support and understanding in no one but each other, Lochan and Maya inevitably end up falling in love. As they struggle through a relationship they know is not only wrong but also forbidden, Lochan and Maya's fates slowly begin to take a turn for the worse. I remember feeling rather weird and skeptical about the theme back when I hadn't yet read this book. This story then turned out to be so beautifully written and tactfully handled by the author that it ended up breaking my heart, becoming the first and only book which has ever made me cry. If the subject scares you, I suggest you go into this with an open mind because trust me, this book will surprise you. 

5. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

It's 1918. As WWI rages on and America is swept by the terrible Spanish Flu, 16 years old Mary Shelley is sent to live with her aunt. Fascinated by science unlike most ladies of her era, she doesn't believe in ghosts and the supernatural. Yet, more and more people all over the country seem to be turning to scéances and ghost photographers to gain comfort from the loved ones lost to the war and the Flu. When Mary Shelley's dead fiancé one day shows up in a photograph, the young woman embarks on a quest for answers that might completely change the way she sees life. This was one of the best books I've ever read. A must read if you want a well-crafted historical fiction with a spooky spin.

6. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd

Conor's mother is dying and since a few nights he's been dreaming about a terrible monster. Things seem like they couldn't get any worse. Then, one night, a real life monster suddenly shows up. This monster is different from the one Conor has been seeing in his nightmares but is no less scary. He declares he want one thing from Conor: the truth. Which truth? Conor does not know. Or does he? This is a children book with a beautiful story and a rather poetic prose. It also has remarkable illustrations throughout, adding nicely to the reading experience. 

7. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

To mourn the death of his mother, 12 years old David finds solace in the imaginative universe of stories. When he is suddenly whisked off into the fantasy world of his stories, he finds himself confronted with a world far more violent and dangerous than he could have imagined. This is kind of like a fairytale book for adults. The book has a fairytale narrative voice, but the occasional gore and horror gears it to a more adult audience. Yet, despite all the horror elements, this remains a very poetic and beautiful story. Definitely a book like nothing I had ever read before. 

8. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

After her mother decides to move the family across the country, Amy is left to follow them on her own. Thing is, since the death of her father in a car accident, she hasn't been able to drive. She thus turns to family friend Roger to drive her several states away to her new home. Along the way, Amy and Roger decide to take an unexpected detour to discover places in America they had never seen before. And thus, over the course of their road trip, they slowly become friends. I can assure you that is is so not your typical clichéd contemporary where girl meets guy and falls for him within the next two pages. This book is firstly about healing and follows the journey of Amy as she slowly comes in terms with what happened with her father. I'm not someone who reads lots of contemporary but I loved this one so much it's definitely high on on my list of favorite books ever.

9. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Before I give a brief description of this book, note that it's best you jump right into it without knowing too much about it. Part of the magic of this very special book is to figure things out along with the characters. As children, Celia and Marco are each taken under the care of a  different magician. As they grow far from each other, they train in magic under the tutelage of their respective mentor with the aim of one day competing against other to settle once and for all whose magician's charge is the superior of the two. After Celia and Marco both become involved in the strange and fascinating Night Circus, the stage is finally set for their long awaited confrontation. This book was beautiful. The writing, the descriptions, the universe... It was all so well-written. Such a beautiful, beautiful book. 

10. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton 

This is a magic realism book that follows the unique story of Ava Lavender, a girl born with a pair of wings. The first part of the book follows the stories of her female ancestors including her mother and grandmother, and the rest of the book is about Ava's coming of age journey as a young woman. This isn't quite a YA, although it would appeal to a wide age spectrum. This is again one of those books which are best read with as little info as possible. If you enjoy magic realism and are up for a quick and fast-paced read, do check this one out.

So these were some of my favorite stand alones. Do you have a special stand alone you want to share? Do let me know in the comments :)

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Books for when you're feeling kind of meh

There are days when things just seem hell bent on not going your way. On your way to school or work that morning, you were splashed with muddy rain water as an unscrupulous driver rushed past you. Then, later that day, you remembered that assignment you were supposed to submit only when the lecturer walked into the class. Or maybe your boss yelled at you over something that was actually your fault. On the bus ride home, you casually leaned your head against the window and pretended for a little while that you were in a sad music video. Eventually though, you found yourself back home. After changing into comfy clothes and making yourself a warm cup of tea, you decided to go sulk a bit in front of the rain soaked window to continue that sad music video playing in your mind. But then you remembered about that book in your shelves. The one that never fails to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So instead of sulking, you grabbed your cup of tea and made your way to your shelves. After quickly brushing your fingers along the book spines, you stopped at one particular book. Setting your cup down, you pulled the book towards you.

So, which one of the following sounds like something you might have picked?

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling 

Harry Potter is almost a classic at this point. Reading this book is like coming home for the holidays. The first book is not as dark as the later volumes and is both highly imaginative and fast-paced. A few pages into this book and you'll be too engrossed into the story to remember your crappy day. 

Disclaimer: Don't be surprised if Harry Potter shows up in every single of my monthly recommendations posts...

2. Yes Please by Amy Poehler

I listened to the audiobook of this and I think that's the best way to enjoy this book. The ever awesome Amy Poehler herself narrates the book, which makes it way more fun than reading it yourself would be. Yes Please covers the ups and downs faced by Amy during her life and career. Despite the topics discussed in it though, the book is written in a fun and fast-paced tone. It's like sitting with friends and discussing life stuff with them. Definitely something you want to read when you're feeling kind of blue.  

3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This is the coming-of-age story of Charlie, a shy, antisocial but highly intelligent boy. When we first meet Charlie, he's a somewhat lonely boy who doesn't really have any friends and who is clearly dealing with a few serious issues. As his story progresses though, Charlie really shines through as a strong character. Reading about how Charlie slowly makes his way through life, learning about sex, relationships, love and grief along the journey, will make you forget your troubles for a little while as you discover a story that is as sweet as it's deep.

4. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson 

Amy has not been behind the wheel since the car accident that killed her dad. When her mother moves the family across the country, leaving some time ahead of her, Amy is compelled to rely on a family friend, Roger, to drive her to her destination. Along the way, Amy finds herself figuring out a lot more than just the road map as she and Roger take a detour to discover places they have never visited before. As the trip goes on, Amy realizes that healing might not be as out of her grasp as she initially believed and slowly begins to go back to who she used to be.  This is not your typical, clichéd, contemporary where the girl meets a gorgeous stranger and immediately falls for him. This is a deeper story about hope and healing. The writing too is light and compelling, making it perfect for when you're feeling a little low.

5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Despite the somewhat Gothic atmosphere of this beautiful classic, Jane Eyre's story remains one of endurance and hope. Jane spends an unhappy childhood at her uncle's place, hated by her aunt and cousins alike. Later, she is sent to the austere Lowood School where she faces harsh discipline and poor comforts. Jane however manages to overcome the difficulties in her path to become an intelligent and strong young woman. After spending some time at the school as a teacher, she sets out to take up the post of governess at Thornfield. And thus she meets the master of the house, Mr Rochester... This book is perfect for days where you need a little boost of confidence. Jane's perseverance never fails, regardless of all the hardships of her life. This immortal story of courage, hope and love is powerful enough to strike a chord even in young readers who might have never read it before. Also, I think this deluxe edition by Penguin is absolutely gorgeous. I really want to get this edition for myself, my old and very much loved copy of Jane Eyre having become quite tattered over the years. Definitely Amazon wishlist list material!  

So these were my book recommendations for when you're feeling a little meh. Do you have a special book you like to read when things are not quite great? Comment down below to share your favorite titles with me! I'd love to see what you would recommend to me. Also, in a few days I'll upload the movie edition of this post so make sure you drop by for that! 

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