July 2024 books
Just realised I've not yet posted last month's update. Had a lot going on so far this month so there might not even be any finished books in August!
Ellerbisms, Marc Ellerby
I first came across this book about 5 years ago when my buddy Xander told me about it. It's a collection of diary comics following Marc Ellerby's life in the mid-00s, broadly telling the story of a relationship as well as various adventures to comic conventions. Despite only very briefly dipping a toe into making any kind of diary comics, I know how hard it is to make a story out of the regular stuff that makes up daily life so reading this is a wonderful class on how it's done and not just "we did this today" which is the trap I'm constantly falling in to.
Despite Marc's wonderful cartoon style, don't be fooled into thinking this is page-after-page of laughs. Some are indeed funny, but some are brutally honest and he doesn't shy away from the times where he comes off as the bad guy, which is commendable.
Show Your Work!, Austin Kleon
Continuing with Austin Kleon's books, this one is a sort of creative self-help/motivational book filled with thoughts and ideas designed to help you think about how you get work out into the world. Another one to keep by my desk and flip through periodically when I'm feeling a bit down about getting my creative work out into the world.
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?, Dr Julie Smith
I came across Dr Julie Smith's Reels (or Shorts) randomly so the name was familiar by the time I saw the book on my local supermarket shelves. I got this without any real intention behind it, I was just curious about the book. It's a book that you can just pick up and read a chapter depending on what you need in a given moment, filled with tips on how you can navigate emotions in certain situations.
Haru: Book 1: Spring, Joe Latham
I've been waiting a while to pick this up. I first discovered Joe during lockdown and his book Haru was originally available as a series of self-published comics which I picked up. Over the last few years, I've picked up more of his other books too and have a nice collection going. Fairly recently, Joe's signed with the publisher Andrews McMeel and they've put out this first book which collects together the comics I'd bought previously, though I think the story has been tweaked here and there in this new book. Regardless, I'm happy to double up as this hardback edition is a lovely thing to read and I'm looking forward to seeing book 2 land at the end of 2024.
The Silver Darlings, Will Morris
I've recently been doing regular meet-ups with a couple of comic buddies and it's become sort of a thing where we swap books for each other to read. This one was passed on by my mate Lloyd and though I've heard of Will Morris I'd not come across this book before so I went in knowing absolutely nothing about it. It's a relatively short read but it's a nice oversized hardback edition so makes for a nice reading experience. The story covers a young man spending a Summer on his family fishing boat hoping to disprove the ideas behind superstitions among sailors.
Hopefully I'll get at least one or two books read in the next few days!