graphic novels

  • Books for Giving 2010 — Teen Books, Part 2

    Wondering what to get the teen(s) on your list this year? This post is the second in a two-part series of recently published books for teens recommended by three youth services librarians at The Seattle Public Library. Hayden’s picks (continued): Smile by Raina Telgemeier One night, 6th-grader Raina and her friends decide to race to… Continue reading

  • Books for Giving 2010 — Teen Books, Part 1

    Need a last-minute gift for a teenager on your holiday shopping list? Try one of the books recommended by Abby, Hayden and Jennifer, three Teen and Children’s Librarians at The Seattle Public Library, who have selected 10 of their favorite books of 2010 for teen readers of all ages and tastes. This post is the… Continue reading

  • Great graphic novels for kids

    Is your child hooked on graphic novels, comics, and manga? They are not alone! Here are some recommended titles for your young graphic fans. Stinky by Eleanor Davis Perfect for younger readers, this graphic novel has plenty of kid humor. Stinky loves his muddy, mucky, smelly swamp just the way it is, so when a kid… Continue reading

  • Wife-Approved Comics

    Growing up in my household, if you became ill my dad would bring you home a comic book. A random Archie from the grocery store.  After a time us kids even had a little collection going. But then one day I had an alarming epiphany about Archie.  The stories were always the same and the… Continue reading

  • Winsor McCay: Ahead of his time

    Have you ever looked at the art of someone like Hieronymus Bosch and wondered “What century did this guy come from?” He lived in the 15th and 16th centuries, but his art is so modern and fanciful that it almost seems out of place. Did Bosch hitch a ride in a flying saucer and visit 1940?… Continue reading

  • Books for the Employed, or Un-

    Have you been laid off or fired?  Are you unemployed or underemployed?  Generally in a bluish funk job-wise?  Get over it with help from these books and videos that offer advice that’s both practical and entertaining.  You can do it. Working: A Graphic adaptation  by Harvey Pekar (2009) A loving adaptation of Studs Terkel’s original Working: people… Continue reading

  • Comixtravaganza 3!

    In case you haven’t been paying attention, Seattle Public Library is currently hosting the third Comixtravaganza–a gracious celebration of comics, graphic novels, cartoonists, and also the comic fans! The third Comixtravaganza kicked off on January 13th, when Queen Anne Branch held a “Family Toon-in” program, an event where everyone was able to enjoy classic cartoons… Continue reading

  • An Unfinished Life

    We all start out so damn sure, thinking we’ve got the world on a string. If we ever stopped to think about the infinite number of ways we could be undone,      we’d never leave our bedrooms.   I’ve had a plethora of women in my life expecting children. Some married, some not, some engaged, some first… Continue reading

  • Dishing Up Romance

    Welcome to SPL’s Romance Restaurant!  On our menu you’ll find many different flavors of romance: historical, contemporary, urban, inspirational, suspenseful, paranormal, and more.  For this month’s special, we’re serving up romance in three levels of spiciness.  Here’s a preview of our tasty offerings.   Mild and Romantic Whether sweet, inspirational, or humorous, these romances have one… Continue reading

  • Watching the Watchmen: The Superhuman Factor.

    Finally: This week is the loooong awaited premiere of the Watchmen movie based on the renowned genre-bending graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The original, together with Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (partial inspiration for the recent hit films), helped usher in a new “dark age” in superhero comics, one that is bleaker,… Continue reading

  • Comixtravaganza Kick-Off with David Lasky at the Ballard Branch

    The library is ringing in the new year with Comixtravaganza, our second annual free, all ages, city-wide comics festival.    Kids, teens, and adults can make their own comics, enter a drawing contest, watch classic cartoons, and lots more. We’ll provide the art supplies, the professional artists, and the free food–you bring the creativity. It all starts… Continue reading

  • Nightstand Reading: Matt Ruff reads the gamut, from War to Pie.

    Editor’s Note: Matt Ruff will be reading from his 2008 PNBA Book Award-winning book Bad Monkeys, freshly released in paperback, at the Ballard Branch Library this Thursday, August 21at 6:30 p.m, in conjunction with Secret Garden Books.  (Matt will also be reading at Queen Anne books on Tuesday, and coming up in October he will be reading from a new work at the Richard Hugo House). If… Continue reading

  • La Semaine de la Bande Dessinée/The Week of the French Graphic Novel

    Do you thrill to the adventures of Tintin, intrepid boy reporter, and his fearless dog Snowy? Have you laughed out loud at the antics of Astérix and his merry band of Gauls? Or found yourself absorbed by Marjane Satrapi’s recollections of her girlhood in revolutionary Iran in her graphic memoir Persepolis? Whether you knew it… Continue reading

  • Comics 101

    As you may know, comics are a big deal in Seattle. We’re home to a number of nationally recognized cartoonists (Ellen Forney, Pete Bagge and Jim Woodring to name just a few), Fantagraphics Books and The Comics Journal. In honor of all the great cartoonists in our midst, The Seattle Public Library threw a Comixtravaganza… Continue reading

  • Flash Contest: Win Tickets to Marjane Satrapi!

    Shelf Talk has two tickets to An Evening with Marjane Satrapi at The Moore Theatre, this coming Monday, April 14, @ 7:30 PM. Marjane Satrapi is a critically acclaimed writer and comic artist who is best known for her film Persepolis, nominated for a 2007 Academy Award for Best Animated Film. Satrapi does an autobiographical talk… Continue reading

  • The Arrival: power without words

    The Arrival, by Shaun Tan, is the wordless story of a man who leaves his home and emigrates to a new country. So simple, so universal, but the reader wonders: is it history? Science fiction? Fantasy? Fable? What are these strange machines and bizarre creatures? How will the man survive in this weird new world,… Continue reading