Tootfinder

Just finished "Low Orbit" by Kazimir Lee.
It's an excellent graphic novel about a queer Malaysian immigrant kid in small-town Maine, the unexpected friends she makes, and the science fiction author who happens to be her landlord. It reminded me a bit of the also excellent "Navigating With You" because of its interwoven fictional sci-fi novel (with really good writing!). CW as predictable for queer family trauma, although it doesn't get too bad and has a happy ending.
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This is a beautiful and amazing graphic novel about a phone scam victim.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-india-digital-arrest-by-phone-graphic-novel/

Just finished "The Raven Boys," a graphic novel adaptation of a novel by Maggie Stiefvater (adaptation written by Stephanie Williams and illustrated by Sas Milledge).
I haven't read the original novel, and because of that, this version felt way too dense, having to fit huge amounts of important details into not enough pages. The illustrations are gorgeous and the writing is fine; the setting and plot have some pretty interesting aspects... It's just too hard to follow a lot of the threads, or things we're supposed to care about aren't given the time/space to feel important.
The other thing that I didn't like: one of the central characters is rich, and we see this reflected in several ways, but we're clearly expected to ignore/excuse the class differences within the cast because he's a good guy. At this point in my life, I'm simply no longer interested in stories about good rich guys very much. It's become clear to me how in real life, we constantly get the perspectives of the rich, and rarely if ever hear the perspectives of the poor (same applies across racial and gender gradients, among others). Why then in fiction should I get more of the same, spending my mental bandwidth building empathy for yet another dilettante who somehow has a heart of gold? I'm tired of that.
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Just finished "How I Made It to Eighteen" by Tracy White. It's a graphic novel with relatively simple art, but that ends up suiting the subject matter well: it's an autobiography focused on a stay in a mental hospital dealing with depression and bulimia.
It doesn't get as deep into mental hospital mechanics as I might have liked, instead focusing on the author's life, but in presenting both her own life, some flashbacks, and some perspectives from her friends, it's quite interesting. As is typical of real life, there's no neat resolutions to the various threads of interest because they're not imaginary plot lines constructed to wrap up neatly but instead are events that actually happened.
In any case as is par for autobiographical graphic novels, it was super interesting.
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Vorhin ausgelesen: Fibre Tigre et al. – Künstliche Intelligenz. Kommt als Graphic Novel, liest sich also relativ schnell.
Gutes Buch, liefert abwechselnd Theorie/Grundbegriffe zu KI und damit verknüpfte Einschränkungen, was wiederum Motivation zum nächsten Grundbegriff wird.
Mir hat insbesondere gefallen, dass ethische Probleme und Grenzfälle bei der Benutzung von KI-Systemen einen breiten Raum bekommen. Leseempfehlung.

Just finished "Match Point!" by Maddie Gallegos, an excellent graphic novel about racquetball, dumpster diving, best friends, and pressure from Dad. The characters and their fromance are super cute, and while I'm sure some might find the ending too happy, I'm usually fine with seeing the aspirational version of relationships because it can serve as a good role model, while other narratives can help explain how to handle worse outcomes.
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Just finished "You and Me on Repeat" by Mary Shyne. A really sweet graphic novel about graduating high school (and all that entails socially and romantically) set in a semi-stable time loop (in small-town Illinois).
It's got a very comfortably loose fourth wall, excellent art, some really interesting plot twists, and it includes a healthy and subtle treatment of subtler racisms in highschool social and academic life.
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Yesterday I finished "Marshmallow and Jordan" by Alina Chau. It's an excellent cozy graphic novel about a friendship between a wheelchair-using athlete and a baby elephant in Indonesia. It's got lovely vibrant art, an interesting plot, and a final twist that fits nicely.
Not sure it's totally realistic about the accessibility of water polo, and it's not #OwnVoices but the author made what to me seems like a good effort to be both respectful and neither too-positive nor too-paternalistic about disability. Would be curious to hear the perspective of someone who use mobility aids about this of course.
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»Gott sei Dank definiert sich Intelligenz nicht durch Siege beim Go. Sie definiert sich auch durch die Fähigkeit, ein Sandwich zu machen.«
Aus: FibreTigre u. a. – Künstliche Intelligenz (2019/2024). Ja, das ist eine Graphic Novel aka Comic. #bücherliebe

Yesterday I finished "A First Time for Everything" by Dan Santant. A lovely autobiographical graphic novel about a summer foreign exchange trip between middle and high school with plenty of awkwardness but also some romance.
It perfectly captures the state of an awkward but also self-aware pre-teen/young teenager, and the various international escapades depicted are both hilarious and touching. Also fascinating to read about international travel circa 1989, which in many ways was comparable to stuff I remember from late in the 90s: parents seeing you off at the gate; expected to navigate a foreign city with just a map, etc.
A really fun book.
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#WritersCoffeeClub
28. Have you ever edited another's work? Was it harder than editing your own?
29. Do you include elements of the horror genre in your(non-horror) work?
30. Do you tend to include epilogues?
---
28. Yes.
Not really.
29. No.
Terror, existential dread, despair... yes. Horror... no.
30. I used to when I was a beginner. Now I usu…

Just finished "Kirby's Lessons for Falling (In Love)" by Laura Gao. I'd previously read her autobiographical graphic novel "Messy Roots" which was excellent, and this book continues that trend. Yet another complicated look at a Chinese-American immigrant experience, wrapped into a queer romance with a dose of spirituality in there as well. I think the background metaphor of falling is really strong, and gets used in so many senses it's beautiful.
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Just finished "New Kid" by Jerry Craft. An excellent graphic novel about navigating middle school as one of only a few Black kids at a rich private school. I love how clear Jordan (the main character) is about the racism he encounters and how it affects him and his friends. Even though his parents have done a good job of preparing him for the realities he'll face, getting through them isn't easy. Still, rather than a book about "learning how racist the world is" this is a book about "navigating the expected racism" and it's a refreshing difference.
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Just finished "I Shall Never Fall in Love" by Hari Conner. An excellent graphic novel about some queer friends (and more-than-friends) in Georgian England.
I'm not usually a fan of such settings as the imperial harms abroad on which those societies are predicated make it harder for me to sympathize with the characters, but this book actually addresses that (if imperfectly) and there's enough nuance for me not to hate it, so I really enjoyed the cute romance.
I just wish there were more historical narratives written from lower-class perspectives that didn't make their characters seem unintelligent.
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Just finished "On Starlit Shores" by Bex Glendining. It's a really excellent graphic novel about grief, memory, and a bit of magic. I love the way that it isn't an adventure, and how completely usual the queer relationships in it are. The art is stunning, and the palette is especially excellent and truly harmonizes with the narrative.
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Just finished "Hunger's Bite" by Taylor Robin. A pretty great graphic novel bringing paranormal horror elements to a Titanic-era transatlantic voyage. I loved the characters and I had quite good plotting, which is not always a strength of graphic novels...
I think one of my favorite threads was how the villain's heteronormative assumptions became a small part of their downfall.
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Just finished "The Deep Dark" by Molly Knox Ostertag. An absolutely excellent graphic novel about monsters, childhood secrets, and how self-love refracts through romance.
I've liked other stuff by Ostertag, but this is definitely my favorite of hers so far.
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Just finished "Roller Girl" by Victoria Jamieson, a graphic novel about navigating preteen social changes, dyeing your hair, and of course, roller derby! It's got a great subplot about dealing with complicated feelings, and I like that it doesn't tie things up neatly with a bow at the end.
I actually know the rules of roller derby now.
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Just finished "Age 16" by Rosena Fung. It's an excellent semi-autobiographical graphic novel about beauty standards, being fat, and how these things echo down generations, connecting 1954 Guangdong, 1972 Hong Kong, and 2000 Toronto.
The art is lovely, as is the message of accepting your body and standing up to your family when necessary.
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Just finished "Fitting Indian" by Jyoti Chand and Tara Anand.
Indirect CW: alcohol, self-harm, and suicide.
A graphic novel about mental health issues, being a second-generation Indian immigrant in America, international trauma, and both peer and family bullying. Beautifully illustrated and of course gripping given the subjects.
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