Native American Classics

Edited by: Tom Pomplun

First line: Beside the open fire I sat within our tepee.

Why you should read these books: Normally, I'm not a fan of the illustrated classics series, but this one did a great job of bringing together a lot of overlooked work. These stories and poems originate in the late nineteenth century, with a few pieces from the very early twentieth century, and bring to life a particular sense of time and place, a world of a culture struggling to survive against a force hellbent on eradicating it. A little inspiring, a little heartbreaking, this volume brings history and mythology to life.

Why you shouldn't read this book: I'd read two of these pieces previously, and while they seem unchanged in this volume, I might want to read the originals to see if I'm missing anything.

Inkheart

Written by: Cornelia Funke

First line: Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain.

Why you should read this book: Meggie never knew the truth about where her mother has been for the last nine years, or why her father refuses to read anything aloud, or even how these two mysteries are linked, but the night Dustfinger stands outside her window in the rain, she starts to uncover the truth. There are dark, dangerous, somewhat supernatural things afoot, and Meggie, along with her misanthropic, bibliophile great-aunt, must confront terror both very fictional and very, very real. A story that assumes magic exists beneath the surface of everything, and courage lives in the hearts of children.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Book burning. Deliberate incineration of precious, precious books.

The Everything Guide to Writing Graphic Novels

Written by: Mark Ellis and Melissa Martin Ellis

First line: Comic historian, artist, and visionary Jim Steranko described the genesis of modern comic books as a "dream that instantly developed into a full-scale industry."

Why you should read this book: It's a generalist's guide, touching on, as the title suggests, everything. There's a little about the history of comics, a little about writing in general, a little about illustration, a little about publishing. It's a fast read, with plenty of illustrations.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's hard to imagine that anyone who is interested enough in writing graphic novels to pick up this book would need a detailed description of genre and what superheroes are; this book seems to be geared to young teenagers or someone who has never read an actual comic, and the authors' gratuitous use of their own work, offering up the same inexplicable pages over and over again, is not terribly impressive.

Burnt Books: Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav and Franz Kafka

Written by: Roger Kamenetz

First line: Once a tale was told by Rabbi Nachman about a wise man who journeyed to find a portrait of a humble king.

Why you should read this book: In 2003, I was supposed to take what sounded like an amazing class about Kafka and Kabbalah in Prague with Kamenetz, but apparently I was the only person who thought it sounded amazing, because no one else signed up, the class was cancelled, and I had to read the books on my own, meaning that I didn't learn anything about Kabbalah. This book seems like it might contain some kernel of what would have been in that course, as Kamenetz creates a magical history, comparing the lives of two renowned storytellers and bringing the ghosts of both men on his own mystical journey to enlightenment. It's sort of hard to sum up what this book is actually about, but its an amazing voyage through literature, psychology, religion, belief, faith, magic, fear, hope, and mysticism, which kept my interest to the last page.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You would have signed up for the seminar about the Czech revolution.

The Beasts of Tarzan

Written by: Edgar Rice Burroughs

First line: "The entire affair is shrouded in mystery," said D'Arnot.

Why you should read this book: They wouldn't let Tarzan kill his enemy at the end of book two, and now the guy is back and seeking vengeance with a trap so transparent that only a pair of innocents like Tarzan and Jane could be reasonably expected to fall into it. Now they're back in the jungle, separated, without any knowledge of what's become of the other, or their kidnapped infant son, but Tarzan has a new secret weapon: an army of apes and a faithful panther who are all more than happy to kill for him. Tarzan gets to fight his way through impossible odds for his family while flexing his manly physique and escaping certain death.

Why you shouldn't read this book: The ending is almost as stupid as the ending of the first book.

The Return of Tarzan

Written by: Edgar Rice Burroughs

First line: "Magnifique!" ejaculated the Countess de Coude, beneath her breath.

Why you should read this book: Picking up shortly after book one leaves off, this sequel finds Tarzan masquerading as a refined French gentleman, attempting to cope with heartbreak and yearning, and bristling under the laws of man. Depending on his own jungle morality, he makes a terrible enemy of a unscrupulous Russian spy and eventually descends down the evolutionary chain to return to his wild existence. Coincidence upon coincidence stack one atop the other until everything resolves more or less to his satisfaction.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're more into believable narratives than happy endings. 

Tarzan of the Apes

Written by: Edgar Rice Burroughs

First line: I had this story from one who had no business to tell it to me, or to any other.

Why you should read this book: Following a series of unfortunate events, young Lord Graystoke is adopted by a caring, maternal "anthropoid ape," and, while slow to mature by ape standards, is able to succeed in ape society by the age of ten, and to transcend his upbringing by age seventeen. Using his human intelligence to make up for his human weakness, Tarzan challenges and defeats his enemies, teaches himself to read despite a lack of any knowledge of human language, and eventually impresses some haplessly marooned Americans, including the lovely Jane Porter. Whether bellowing over the body of a dead attacker, wooing a woman with whom he cannot speak, or devouring raw flesh with blood dripping down his face, Tarzan presents a very specific view of masculinity that still holds a place in the popular imagination.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Burroughs's racism flag flies high here, so high that you hardly even note the sexism. Also, the ending is very stupid and isn't resolved until two-thirds of the way through the second book. 

Little Red Riding Hood

 Retold by: Trina Schart Hyman

First line: Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Elisabeth who lived with her mother in a house on the edge of a village.

Why you should read this book: An absolutely gorgeous picture book, this visit to the familiar old story won a Caldecott Honor for its sumptuous, evocative illustrations. The story follows a most traditional path through the woods, to grandma’s house, and so on, and while this old-fashioned version, with its huntsman hero and Red’s final vow to never again stray from the path, has fallen out of favor in the face of more feminist iterations where the empowered child rescues herself, or turns the wolf into an ally, it’s a beautiful example of an archetype coming to life. Very satisfying.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You don’t want your daughters waiting around to get rescued.

The Plot

Written by: Will Eisner

First line: Whenever one group of people is taught to hate another, a lie is created to inflame the hatred and justify a plot.

Why you should read this book: Eisner poured his soul and a large portion of the last part of his life into this historical graphic story, which details the deceitful origins of the hateful, anti-Semitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. From its late nineteenth century inception as a fraud plagiarized from earlier French revolutionary documents for the purpose of halting modernity in czarist Russia while justifying pogroms and other racist behaviors, these lies have been associated with the perpetuation of evil throughout the years; the book seeks to debunk the pervasive attitudes that have allowed a demonstrable hoax to take on a life of its own, despite ample proof that it is nothing more than a lie enjoyed by people who love to hate. Eisner originally felt certain that if he could only compile all the data into one easy-to-read volume, he could kill The Protocols once and for all, but eventually he ended the book with the realization that anti-Semitism is a choice made by racists whose confirmation bias prevents them from understanding the evidence, and it is justified, rather than inspired, by the document.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: The Dunning-Kreuger effect.

Saint Francis Sings to Brother Sun

 Retold by: Karen Pandell

First line: Throughout his life, Saint Francis of Assisi boldly brought a sense of sacred joy into everyday life.

Why you should read this book: Weaving together autobiographical fables and Saint Francis’s own ecstatic spiritual writings, this volume for younger readers introduces the nature-centric religious life of this most beloved of historic religious figures. The stories illustrate his mystical connection with animals, while the passages from his “Canticle of Brother Sun” illustrate his intense adoration of and connection with the divine. Rich gold-tinted drawings suggest the medieval time period of his life.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You demand empirical proof, or you hate animals.