Reading List: September

I read five really cool books this month, and I sprinkled that literary goodness with some entertaining manga and a bunch of amazing Goon pages. This is what I read in September:

Hellsing, volumes 1 and 2
A friend let me borrow this popular manga by Kohta Hirano that I had never read before, and it was a lot of fun. Hellsing is ridiculously gory and violent, and the mixture of vampires, religious agents, and over the top action is a lot of fun.

Smoke and Mirrors
This is a collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman, and I loved almost all of them. Gaiman is incredibly good at mixing everyday life with magic and the supernatural, and this book was a blast. If you've never read anything by the British author, take a look at these tales. I highly recommend them!

Hellsing, volumes 3 and 4
These were the last two volumes I read because my friend Brock didn't have any more. Once again, Hellsing proved to be a fun read, and now I want more!

R is for Ricochet
Kinsey Millhone returns in her eighteenth adventure, which is, like her previous seventeen outings, terrific fun to read. Can Sue Grafton do no wrong? I certainly hope so!

The Lightning Thief
This is the first book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and I loved it. The author mixes Greek mythology and modern-day characters deftly and manages to weave a past-paced tale of adventure, fantasy, friendship, and betrayal. Like the J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, Percy Jackson's adventures are intended for a younger audience, but adults will enjoy them as much as the target audience. As a matter of fact, the movie based on this book (the first of five) opens in February, and you can see the trailer here. If the film is half as good as the book, it will still be great!

El juego del ángel
Carlos Ruiz Zafón's follow-up to his massive hit La sombra del viento, El juego del ángel is as much of a compulsive read as his previous bestseller. The ending of this one is more open than La sombra del viento, and you might want to talk to your friends about what their interpretation is. Regardless of what you decide happened in the end, it doesn't really change the fact that El juego del ángel is a magnificently written story with phenomenal dialogue and great characters, and that you will love every single page. So go read it, and then come back and offer your insights!

The Sea of Monsters
The second book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Sea of Monsters is as much fun as The Lightning Thief was. Heavy on mythology, there are many echoes from The Odyssey all throughout the novel, and its fast-pace and non-stop action make its 280 pages a superfast read. I already bought the third one!

The Goon, vol. 7: A Place of Heartache and Grief
Eric Powell's The Goon is back, and this seventh volume is chock-full of quotable lines, dark humor, obscene violence, and laugh-out-loud scenes. At the same time, this book is really messed up, and some parts, such as the incendiary criticism of Oprah and The Secret will leave your jaw unhinged. You must read his book!

The Goon, vol. 8: Those That is Damned
More Goon goodness in this grammatically-challenged volume eight of Eric Powell's fantastic comic book. How could you not love characters like Franky? How could you not die laughing when he explains that karma is "when somebody tries to rip you off and ends with a knife to the eye"? How could you not be reading this book?

And that's what I read this month. Come back in thirty days for more (hopefully) great reads!