Do Anything: Thoughts on Comics and Things

Written by: Warren Ellis

First line: I have the head of Jack Kirby in my office.

Why you should read this book: Two parts history, one part science fiction, one part name dropping, and one part stream of consciousness, this 48-page volume contains as many disembodied heads as an Alan Moore novel, and makes you work just as hard. Ellis's musings on the history of comics and culture somehow come together to form a perfect gestalt, despite the fact that the individual pieces, scrutinized on their own, bear some resemblance to random object pulled from that one junk drawer in your kitchen. With more parenthetical asides than paragraphs, this book is a window into the mind of a popular and future-thinking writer of exceptional comics.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You know nothing about the history of comics: this is definitely not an introductory volume, and even though I consider myself fairly knowledgeable on the subject compared to the general populace, I only recognized about half the references.

A Secret History of Coffee, Coca & Cola

Written by: Ricardo Cortes

First line: One story about the origin of coffee is that of a goatherd, tending goats on a mountainside in Ethiopia.

Why you should read this book: Brought to you by the guy who wrote a level-headed and informative picture book for children about marijuana, this story discusses the world's love affair with stimulants, beginning with the controversial coffee bean but eventually evolving into a discussion of how the Coca-Cola company is basically the world's largest importer of coca leaves, despite the fact that importing coca leaves into America is illegal for everybody else except the people who sell flavoring extracted from the leaf to the Coca-Cola Company. Meticulously researched from declassified Federal Bureau of Narcotic files, this book is unique in both the way it constructs a social history of prohibited substances, and also in that it's still, essentially, a children's book. A perfect present for the ten-year-old skeptic/history buff in your life, the grown-up conspiracy theorist, and anyone who loves caffeine.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You refuse to believe that the government would make any decision that wasn't in the best interest of its people, or that it would ever cater to big business at the expense of the disenfranchised.

Krazy and Ignatz 1941-1942

Written by: George Herriman

First line: Double "kats"--a pretty sight, but it isn't right.

Why you should read this book: Krazy Kat adores Ignatz Mouse, whose daily practice is to attempt to brain his admirer with a brick, while Offisa Pup, outraged by the boldly sadomasochistic relationship, does his best to incarcerate the reprobate mouse. On the surface, Herriman spent almost twenty years telling this same story over and over, and yet the level of invention, the playfulness with language and imagery and the comic format, the roundabout plots and trickery, the levelheaded observations about human nature, and the general weirdness keep Krazy Kat fresh to this day, a continuing source of inspiration for no-holds-barred cartoon violence. Also, I'm now fairly certain that Krazy Kat is a metaphor for the closeted homosexuality grimly suffered by many men of the era, but feel free to argue if you disagree.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Herriman's reliance on dialect can make his scripts a little difficult to puzzle out, but native English speakers can generally parse his meaning with a small degree of effort.

Blindspot

Written by: Kevin C. Pyle

First line: When I heard we were moving again I don’t remember being particularly upset.

Why you should read this book: Dean is only interested in drawing and in playing World War Two soldier games in the woods near his house, and is actively opposed to learning math or being respectful in school. Over the course of the year, he begins to separate his fantasies of omnipotent American soldiers who always triumph against evil from the reality of war he sees in a book of Holocaust photos, and hears from a homeless veteran he meets in the woods. A relatable coming-of-age story that presents the big changes of adolescence as small changes in perception and maturity.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You think war is just swell, and your side is always fighting against evil. 

Marble Season

Marble Season

Written by: Gilbert Hernandez

First line: Missed.

Why you should read this book: Huey, the middle of three brothers in a Latino family in the ‘60s, loves marbles and comic books and finds himself drawn to popular music and the Mars Attacks trading cards. This gentle, realistic story lacks a formal plot or structure, but instead paints a picture of the real world of neighborhood kids: their games, their fantasies, their friendships’ changing configurations. A faithful reconstruction of the universe inhabited solely by children, a place where adults, who cannot understand the value of neatly-stored trading cards, can never inhabit.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You throw out your kids’ stuff whenever you feel like it, because it’s clearly not important.

In Real Life

Written by: Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang

First line: Anda, wake up!

Why you should read this book: Anda is a shy and nerdy teenager who begins to develop her own self-confidence when she’s invited to play as a team member in an online game, and offered missions that pay real life money. When she comes to understand that her online “enemies” are actually impoverished Chinese teenagers, working at the most boring part of the game to create in-game value that they can then sell to rich American gamers, she begins to develop a social conscious and an interest in helping others. Anda’s attempts to unionize the Chinese gamers backfires at first, but eventually things work out for the best.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: The feel-good ending seems a bit forced and unbelievable; it works out a little too easily considering things that could potentially happen to a poor Chinese teenager.

The Gentleman and the Kitchen Maid

Written by: Diane Stanley

First line: In the city there was a great art museum.

Why you should read this book: Class and space issues separate two lovely Dutch paintings, one of smiling kitchen maid and one of a stately young gentleman. They are doomed to look from afar, censure by the disapproving voices of other, more conservative paintings. At last, a perceptive art student, sensing their distress, unites them in her own interpretation of their paintings.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Love: it's not for you, and you don't think anyone else should enjoy it either.

The Hobbit

Written by: JRR Tolkien

First line: In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

Why you should read this book: The Hobbit never gets old, and you are never old when you are reading it. This was one of the first real chapter books I read by myself, when I was about 7 years old; I just finished reading it aloud to my stepdaughter, and, if anything, it is more magical than it was 30-mumble years ago. Bilbo Baggins, a respectable hobbit of means and comfort, contracts with a group of dwarves to help them recover their ancestral home and the fabulous treasure that lies within, and the ferocious dragon that awaits them at the end of the journey is the least of their troubles.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You are dead.

Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest

Written by: Gerald McDermott

First line: Raven came.

Why you should read this book: One of McDermott's faithful recreations of old trickster tales, this bold picture book relates a creation myth from the North American Pacific Northwest. Raven is a heroic light bringer, cleverly stealing the sun from Sky Chief and setting it in the sky to benefit all creatures. A truly beloved story with a strong sense of history and place.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You question how a maiden can be impregnated by a pine needle.

On a Clear Day

Written by: Walter Dean Myers

First line: "She just stopped singing."

Why you should read this book: Extrapolating from the world of today, Myers imagines a future in which corporations control every aspect of existence, smilingly introducing new products and services while the stratification between the haves and have-nots increases. Dahlia, an orphan math prodigy, is recruited by a group of young people who still feel like they can make a difference, and somehow, they are able to throw a monkey wrench into one high-stakes machination. Sort of grim, and following the new YA aesthetic of books about terrible futures in which an even more terrible future is inevitable, despite everything that the characters do to change the outcome.

Why you shouldn't read this book: To be honest, I didn't really understand big swaths of it, why people were doing what they were doing and how they came to their information and connections, even though the books explained it; the explanations just didn't make sense to me, and having one character state that she will turn facts into data and enter them into computer projections to predict outcomes didn't really mean much to me either. Too many characters, too much plot.