I blew through a lot of graphic novels this month.  First, I began the new Runaways series written by Rainbow Rowell, which led me to begin reading the original Runaways series by Brian K. Vaughan.  And then I wanted to watch the movie “Wonderstruck” and had to read the book first.  And then FINALLY the new volume of Loveless arrived!

I did read plenty of “real” novels, but they were slower going.

What is this, a rare selfie???  Just thought I’d change up my bookstagram photos a little bit and put more than my hands and feet in… Seriously, though, I absolutely loved Follow Me Back, and Tell Me No Lies did not let me down.  I had no idea what to expect and I loved that the cyberstalking went beyond Twitter (to Snapchat).  These are great thrillers, I honestly couldn’t put this one down!

I had passed on purchasing The Nowhere Girls for my library’s teen collection, mostly because there were so many books with covers like this and similar titles (I actually thought I had bought it, but what I had bought was The Gallery of Unfinished Girls).  HOWEVER, Amy Reed was a keynote speaker at a writer’s conference I attended recently, and she gave a really moving talk about her struggles with drug abuse and self-confidence – so moving that I requested this book as she was speaking.  I wouldn’t call this book a great “beach read” as it dealt with heavy topics, but it had diverse characters and a great message and I highly recommend it.

In the land of other books that aren’t good beach reads, there’s The Circus Fire by Stewart O’Nan.  I pilfered this one from the library donation cart, because I am obsessed with the circus.  I had to keep putting it down (which, maybe, makes it a good beach read, because it helped me turn over regularly and avoid sunburn??).  The descriptions of the panic and the burns sustained by the victims and just the horror of the scene was overwhelming.  Some of the descriptions were incredibly graphic.  But it was interesting, especially if you are obsessed with the circus as I am, simply because I’ve read brief things about the Hartford Circus Fire, and this was a very full and accurate account.

Among other books I read this month, there was Racing Manhattan – yay for YA horse books, which are so rare!  The book actually inspired a blog post that will be going up in a couple of days…

• Best Beach Read: The Raging Ones
• Best Series Book: Tell Me No Lies
• Highest Death Toll: The Circus Fire
• Best Illustrations: Loveless
• Fastest Read: Runaways, any volume (1/2 hour)
• Slowest Read: First Light (11 days)

The full list (links take you to my Goodreads reviews):

1. 1. Runaways, Volume 1 by Rainbow Rowell (graphic novel)
   2. In the Afterlight (Darkest Minds #3) by Alexandra Bracken
   3. Tell Me No Lies (Follow Me Back #2) by A.V. Geiger
   4. Runaways, Volume 1: Pride and Joy by Brian K. Vaughan (graphic novel)
   5. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (audiobook)
   6. The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
   7. Racing Manhattan by Terence Blacker
   8. First Light by Rebecca Stead (audiobook)
   9. Runaways, Volume 2: Teenage Wasteland by Brian K. Vaughan (graphic novel)
   10. The Raging Ones by Krista & Becca Ritchie (ARC)
   11. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (graphic novel)
   12. The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy by Stewart O’Nan
   13. Runaways, Volume 3: The Good Die Young by Brian K. Vaughan (graphic novel)
   14. Loveless, Volume 13 by Yun Kouga (graphic novel)