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#MarchMagic Day 15: This graphic novel memoir #FocusesOnMentalHealth and having family members who are mentally ill. While his portrayal of his parents/grandparents was undoubtedly horrific, it was also done with great sensitivity and a desire to extend his own understanding and derive meaning from his experience. My review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-eTK

Looks like his mom tries her best to avoid the abuse she grew up with but can‘t help doing her own version of it.

Lo and behold, I was right 😡

He had fallen in love with her long blonde hair, it‘s so cute yet I know he‘s gonna catch shit from everyone JUST because he‘s a boy liking a “girly thing” 😠

Choosing my #readharderchallenge2020 books with a touch of rainbow added in 🌈

First book to read: Stitches - David Small

Honorable Mentions include Sous Chef, My Kitchen Year, Pastrix, Mom & Me & Mom, A Mind Unraveled, and Gut
#Top10ofTheDecade #NonFictionEdition #FavoriteBooksReadInTheTeens

#lmbpc #groupg options! I love graphic memoirs, so that‘s what I have the most of. Details in tags and let me know what sounds interesting!

Graphic memoir focused on the events surrounding a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute when half his vocal cords were removed. My only issue is that for a memoir this focuses on what happened and never seems to delve into how he felt.

This is a graphic memoir about the author‘s childhood illness and surgery and upbringing. It is DARK. He uses a lot of black and white which makes the entire situation seem bleak (and to be fair, it is,) with depictions of fear and scary and judging faces. David's parents are strict, but his grandmother is the scariest one, and the visit to her is troubling (this bears out in the end of the book in an unexpected way!) ⤵️

You feel the struggle bubbling beneath all of the interactions with adults, each is about far more than surface conflict, even before young David realizes it. And his later seething feels justified, so bad is the family drama that causes it. The art‘s stunning, adding to the tension, making you feel ill at ease at just the right spots. Whether or not your relationship with your parents is similar, this might help you understand family dysfunction.

“I didn‘t.”

“Mama says people who say ‘ain‘t‘ are stupid!”

“Mm? Well... you all must think I‘m real stupid, then!”

#OctoberXFiles Say 9: A searing, graphic memoir of artist David Small who once felt like #MisterAsylum because of the horribly dysfunctional nature of his household. David eventually lived on his own at 16, immersed himself in art, which proved to be his salvation. While he was constantly anxious about turning into his mother or even his grandmother who was locked up in an asylum, he found a way to heal himself. My review- https://wp.me/pDlzr-eTK

I was on a country drive adventure with my Dad, going for halibut Fish & Chips lunch in Port Perry. ⚓️🍁 I was thrilled to see David Small's Stitches in at Willow Books, going used for $10. 🔬 I enjoyed the art and deep story of this book, having read at the library.

Here is the second graphic novel that was recommended to me today! This one is a memoir. Anyone read this one and got any good info to share? 😊😊

So far, this tragicomic is just that... a tragicomic. Can‘t wait to delve in some more! #graphicmemoir #tragicomic

Engrossing. I could've finished this on my lunch hour if I read this all at once.

#graphicmemoir #memoir

Checked out some graphic memoirs as a treat to myself. A big (in this case, bound, as it is a softcover) one and one to carry around.

#nonfiction #memoir #graphicnovel

Day 14: #readthis #seasonsreadings2017

A horrifying true story. Beautifully illustrated.

@RealLifeReading

Graphic novels are coming up as my longest and shortest Goodreads books of the year. 😛 My sure goal for 2018 is to get A Feast For Crows read and up there as longest, continuing on my Game of Thrones reading.

I really liked this graphic memoir, but felt it dropped off too precipitously at the end. His parents were pretty bizarre and I would have loved more insight into their behavior. But the story (small vignettes that revolve mostly around the author‘s cancer as a boy) is fascinating and scary. The artwork is incredible.

Impromptu, picked up a graphic novel memoir to enjoy on this cloudy, cool night on the island. Lucien is anxiously awaiting my review.

So good. My first nonfiction graphic novel!

#awesomeautumnbooks @Jess7

Day 2: Siblings

This was the first graphic novel I ever read and the only one I own (though Maus is probably my favorite of the format). I love the big brother- little brother dynamic played out in each frame. Is it cheating if the siblings aren't on the cover??

This graphic novel was a very quick read as there are many panels without words. However, that does not lessen it's emotional impact. The memoir follows David through his troubled childhood, including an operation on his vocal chords. Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Whoever would've thought I'd be so deeply moved by a graphic memoir? @Lindy - that's who! I am grateful for the recommendation, as I'd adopted a rather snooty attitude towards graphic novels, etc. While I don't expect to start reading them all that much more regularly, I certainly get it now that they can convey powerful narratives like this one. Just wonderful!

One of the Litsy Reading Challenge tasks is to read a book personally recommended by someone.
I wisely chose @Lindy to be my personal recommender, and this is what she chose for me. It just arrived in today's mail from Amazon Japan, and I think I might have to dive in immediately!

#bestofmarch The only painful truth was rougher days of work limiting my reading time. The photo fun on Litsy this month was also a great relief with each day. Here's a winter bear, in the hopes of today's last snow. - Mainly with graphic novels this time, Stitches was a best I enjoyed; a darkly true story with hearty illustrations. Others I'm still reading will shelf the count in April, including The Wind in the Willows. #marchintoreading

This graphic memoir is quite an emotionally heavy story. I am seeing it as a best favourite, rereading through it again. The 1950s Detroit atmospheres are mixed with tile-cleaner hospitals, and the smog of cigarettes. David's drawings pan through the scenes, eerily artful, with a childhood of imagination and hardship coping. His playful energy is adorable, despite a harsh vocal cord operation, with no explanation from parents shrouded in mystery.

This scene was fairly comical, around life's unfair situations; inspired by Alice in Wonderland, David was simply innocent in his interest, being chased down the street for the towel hair look. - Other parts can add to a #queerbooks mention, while the story focuses on David's health conditions. - A hard hitter can be a sense of growing up with silent upset moods in the household; not easily understanding why, until much later.

I'm about to delve into this haunting story, as the artist's tale of growing up with an unfortunate operation that removed one of his vocal cords, leading to a mute struggle and later finding out how it happened, as a cancer related situation. This is sure to be an eerie and broken-hearty read. 😶🏥

These graphic novels caught my interest, the other day. Against my Thrones oath to avoid library check-outs 😯 but I could, and did.

My favorite graphic memoir. I read 48 of them this year, and Stitches haunts me like no other.

This is a quick read with more pictures than text. It leaves a bit unexplained and quickly races through the story but gets the point across.

Miniature husband of mine is coming along. Two days until our anniversary - nothing like procrastination in crafting!!

A sad but lovely graphic novel.

#Recommendsday! This is one of those striking graphic memoirs that is grippingly graphic. Walks the line between surreal and all too real. David undergoes surgery that means he cannot speak for months. His family copes with the surgery, and with life in general, but they don't cope well.

Not a light hearted or easy read but it is beautifully drawn and got me out of my reading drought. Graphic novel memoir.