Reading List: August

Since I know you were wondering what I read in August, here you have this month's Reading List:

The Blood Knight
The third book in Greg Keyes's Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone might be the weakest of the four. There are some revelations and cool stuff, but I am not sure it was completely necessary. The first eighty pages or so are not very good (too much fighting and little else), but then it gets better. Still, the strong characters make for a good read that leaves everything ready for the final installment.

My Horizontal Life
Comedian Chelsea Handler writes about twelve one-night stands she's had over the years, and the result is a hilarious book that will make you laugh until you cry. Highly recommendable.

The Necromancer
Written by Joshua Ortega and illustrated by Francis Manapul, The Necromancer tells the story of Abigail van Alstine, a teenager that comes to her witch powers and has to cope with the radical change in her life this triggers. Both story and artwork are excellent, and this tale of teenagers, magic, demons, and high school is too good not to read. Yes, it sounds like Buffy, but in all the good ways!

The Born Queen
The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series comes to an end with The Born Queen, Greg Keyes's last book in the fantasy saga. There is one thing that bothers me, but I guess that's the way things are meant to be. I enjoyed this series a lot, and I recommend it to everyone.

Crimson, vol I: Loyalty and Loss
Humberto Ramos's vampire series ended seven years ago. Since I am a big fan of the Mexican artist, it is rather surprising that it's taken me so long to check out the story of Alex Elder. I did buy the first issue back in the day, but I never really followep-up, and the trades are hard to find. A good thing I stumbled upon the complete collection in Matthews, North Carolina. An entertaining read!

Crimson, vol II: Heaven & Earth
This second volume of Crimson might be the best one out of the four. Things start making more sense, and a more unified vision brings the different elements together. Plus, it's packed with cool characters such as Scarlet X or Joe. And did I mention Scarlet X?

My Forbidden Face
The subtitle of this book, Growing up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman’s Story, pretty much says it all. Under the pseudonym Latifa, the author recounts her years in Afghanistan and how life-shattering the conflict there was. Moving.

Crimson, vol III: Earth Angel
The plot thickens, but not all is praise for Brian Augustyn’s script. First of all, I didn’t care much for Zophie. She is introduced in this volume, and we’re supposed to care about her, but she just didn’t do anything for me. What she does is prevent the reader from getting more Scarlet X time, which made me very unhappy. And second of all, this “chosen one” business is still unresolved. Why don’t they tell Alex once and for all? It doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. Still, it’s an enjoyable read.

Crimson, vol. IV: Redemption
The final installment in the series, this trade ties every single loose end. The only problem is that, after five and half issues of fighting (every trade collects six issues of the original series), everything is solved in literally four pages. That bothered me to no end. Also, five and a half issues of fighting get kind of tiresome after a while. Still, I liked the series, even if it’s not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination.