Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the sixth Read Harder task.

I need help with ideas for this one.

Lumberjanes

Nimona, Delilah Dirk, Scott Pilgrim are a few others.

We've got two great posts that might help, too:

http://bookriot.com/2016/09/08/readin...

http://bookriot.com/2016/07/06/rec-ro...

Thanks. I have read one Lumberjanes so I will try one of the other suggestions.

You might want to try the Princeless series. It's about a princess locked in a tower who decides to rescue herself. It's great. Princeless, Vol. 1: Save Yourself

I'm guessing Phoebe and Her Unicorn would work for this as well.

Calvin and Hobbes The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury; Sunny Side UpSunny Side Up; Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog Archives: Volume 1, Pokemon Pokémon Adventures, Vol. 4; Little Lulu Little Lulu, Volume 7: Lulu's Umbrella Service

Definitely going to read The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson - yessss.

Casseroll wrote: "Calvin and Hobbes The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury; Sunny Side UpSunny Side Up; Sonic the Hedgehog [book:Sonic the Hedgehog Archives: Volum..."

Thanks for reminding Calvin and Hobbes. I definitely go with them :)

I'm going to read Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. It is sitting on my shelf for quite some time now, the perfect opportunity to finally read it.

Barbara wrote: "I'm guessing Phoebe and Her Unicorn would work for this as well."

I hope so! This is what I am going with...

Princess Princess Ever After would be a fun one for this category.

Also suggest Mike Maihack's Cleopatra in Space.

What about V for Vendetta? Im reading it now, too violent?

A couple of suggestions if you've already read Nimona and Lumberjanes:

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy
Chi's Sweet Home

Would My Crowd by Charles Addams work? I LOVE The Addams Family :)

I'm not sure if this fits the definition of an all-ages comic, but I really want to read Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier.

I'm signing up to Team Phoebe and Her Unicorn also.

Jesseruth wrote: "What about V for Vendetta? Im reading it now, too violent?"

I think it would be a stretch to call "V for Vendetta" all ages. My library system shelves it as "adult". Most of the other books discussed here are shelved as teen or children's.

March: Book One, March: Book Two, March: Book Three, should count, right?

If I stay with my all-women year however, I'll probably go with Princess Princess Ever After

March: Book One has been on my list for a while, but I really like the look of Princess Princess Ever After.

Margaret wrote: "March: Book One, March: Book Two, March: Book Three, should count, right?"

This is a good idea. It is considered all-age. I know it is YA.

I don't think March counts, I doubt smaller children could appreciate it - but maybe I am just splitting hairs?

I need to read book two so I can start the third one!

Seconding Lumberjanes. I love those comics. Excited to expand my reading to some of these other recommendations with my kids this year!

Oh, and Spacegirl Zita by Ben Hatke is entertaining enough for adults, I love his books.

I'm thinking Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip or Mermin, Book One: Out of Water

Please forgive my utter ignorance about this genre, but are the terms "comic" and "graphic novel" essentially interchangeable for the purposes of this challenge?

valerian? like the new movie coming out?

My daughter has several Raina Telemeier books (Smile, Ghosts and Drama) and Roller Girl, could I read one of those? I am not sure if they count as all-ages.

Carrie wrote: "My daughter has several Raina Telemeier books (Smile, Ghosts and Drama) and Roller Girl, could I read one of those? I am not sure if they count as all-ages."

Roller Girl would be excellent for this challenge!

I love the graphic novel Blankets by Craig Thompson

I'm considering re-reading Kitaro by Shigeru Mizuki (published by Drawn & Quarterly, translated by Jocelyne Allen), about the one-eyed yokai ("monster/ghost") boy and his dealings with the eerie and supernatural. It originally came out on Weekly Shonen Magazine (geared towards boys 8-18 years old), and it's one of Japan's most popular manga characters!

Jessica wrote: "I'm thinking Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip or Mermin, Book One: Out of Water "

I am thinking something Moomin related too.... The kids love the Moomins here, so they can read it with me...

Arlene wrote: "I'm signing up to Team Phoebe and Her Unicorn also."

I forgot all about that. That is an EXCELLENT comic. My six-year old daughter went around drawing that unicorn for weeks after we read it, and I loved it just as much.

Diana wrote: "Please forgive my utter ignorance about this genre, but are the terms "comic" and "graphic novel" essentially interchangeable for the purposes of this challenge?"

I'd like to know this too. I was thinking of reading Persepolis if graphic novels count.

I would say technically, no, but who likes to be super rigid about books? A graphic novel is going to more specifically be a whole story. Whereas a comic can more generally refer to several story arcs in one run. Sometimes a graphic novel is a collection of one specific run for an otherwise larger character (i.e. The Killing Joke/Batman). In this case Persepolis is not really an ongoing comic, but is an amazing story told in graphic art style. (It's also technically YA not All Ages, but that's really splitting hairs.)

My husband (who reads comics) says yes that they are essentially interchangeable for the purpose of this challenge. He defines a "comic" as one issue and a "graphic novel" as a collection of all of the issues containing the story.

I think generally one of the goals of this challenge is to get people to read outside of their genre comfort zones. So, I see the rules as rather flexible.

Book Riot has said in the past 2 challenges that comics and graphic novels/memoirs are interchangeable. I would assume its the same this year.

Diana wrote: "Please forgive my utter ignorance about this genre, but are the terms "comic" and "graphic novel" essentially interchangeable for the purposes of this challenge?"

A friend of mine who is a comics artist and professor describes comics and graphic novels as being like rectangles and squares. Graphic novels are a subset of comics. All graphic novels are comics, but not all comics are graphic novels

A friend of mine wh..."

Here is her exact quote. "Apparently they just wanted to use the term 'graphic novel' because it sounds fancier, regardless of the fact that's a specific literary form. Comics and graphic novels are squares and rectangles. I'm going to count 10 and then go for a walk. They mean well....
Any sequential narrative using a series pictures (and sometimes words) is and can be called a comic. A trade paperback collects issues that were meant originally to be read in 28-32 page chunks, so it is a comic. Graphic novels are long form comic narratives, usually 75 or more pages...
TL;DR: All graphic novels are comics, not all comics are graphic novels."

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1447...

This is by comedian Mark Watson. The writes to make a film of it were recently bought by Steven Spielberg's studio. So more people will start to hear about it. I read it a while ago when I found it at the library. It is great, very compelling and great naturalistic dialogue.

Would Goldie Vance work for this challenge?

I am most likely going to read Nimona for this. I bought my own copy that I haven't gotten to yet. I loved Lumberjanes, so I have no doubt Noelle Stevenson will hit the spot for me again.

I'm not totally sure about this one, but maybe Descender, Volume Three: Singularities? or as some others mentioned, Moomins! it's been ages since I read Moomins!

I see someone listed Calvin and Hobbes: that's my choice too!
I have 6 Calvin and Hobbes collections; my only problem is choosing which one!

R U N A W A Y S

This comic has a ton of diverse characters, is super funny, and all around amazing in my opinion. The quality did kinda drop as it went on, in my opinion, but it was always great. As a bonus, a series is coming out on Hulu soon.

I think I'm going to go with Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir for this one