The Days Are Just Packed

Written by: Bill Watterson

First line: MOMMM

Why you should read this book: If you find yourself yearning for a simpler era, one in which the entire country was rallied around the philosophical musings of an impulsive six-year-old and his more mature but equally prone to chaos tiger companion, perhaps it's time to revisit the magical world of Calvin and Hobbes. This collection from the early '90s has it all: dissociative daydreams, rhyming verse, Calvin harassing his father, Calvin harassing his mother, Calvin harassing his teacher, and, of course, Calvin harassing the little girl next door. Just all around late twentieth century joy from a time where everyone consumed the same media and people felt OK about little children reading the news.

Why you shouldn't read this book: This work is not to be consumed by authoritarians. 

Cry for Me, Argentina: My Life as a Failed Child Star

Written by: Tamara Yajia

First line: I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Why you should read this book: This is the type of wickedly funny writing where you feel bad that you can't stop laughing about the insane, unsavory, and sometimes abusive events of the author's recollections, but you still can't stop laughing at them. Young Yajia gets a taste of the spotlight after her wildly successful debut stripping in front of her religious school to Madonna's "Like a Prayer" and pursues it with a passion, almost tasting stardom, until her parents abruptly yank her away from her goals to live in America. She is honest about her family's foibles, her own failures, her sexuality, her struggle with addiction, and a hundred other weird personal details (like the time a cop accused her of soliciting but she countered that the gentleman fingering her in a parked car was, in fact, her own cousin, and then she paid the cop to leave her alone; or all the times her whole family--three generations, led by her grandmother--drove around the red light district to admire how beautiful all the sex workers were) that seem too crazy to be true, but they're marketing this book as a nonfiction memoir so....

Why you should read this book: If you are easily offended, especially by sex, and very particularly if you were easily offended by the end of the film Little Miss Sunshine, definitely this is not the book for you. 

Animalia & Fantasia: The Magical Worlds & Fantastic Creatures of Professor Anton Seder, an Art Nouveau Bestiary 1886-1903

Written by: Thomas Negovan

First line: The first Anton Seder Artwork that I remember seeing was a welcome shock.

Why you should read this book: Mere words cannot do justice to the luscious, full color universe depicted in the pages of this oversized art book, based primary on a fin de siecle folio of animal illustrations by a largely forgotten master of the decorative arts. A series of short essays locate the work within its historical, geographical, and artistic contexts and describe the career and philosophy of Professor Seder and his innovative Ecole superieure des arts decoratifs de Strasbourg. Most of the folio pages include multiple close-ups to offer the reader insight into the absolutely insane level of detail of these astonishing illustrations, including numerous dragons. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: The main barrier here is the price, which is about what you'd expect to pay for a 10"x13.5", 200+ page full color coffee table book in 2025, but it's a shame that starving young artists might not have access to this work. 

The Arrival

Written by: Shaun Tan

This is a silent comic, which contains no text in English, or any other known language.

Why you should read this book: From the uncanny imagination of an artist known for banal surrealism comes a story that is at once touchingly familiar and confusingly alien: a depiction of the immigrant experience in a bizarre foreign land where everything is new and strange. A man leaves his wife and child in a world that seems similar to ours, except for the presence of enormous dragon shadows, and journeys to a more modern city where the food, the customs, the animals, and everything else, appear just as weird to him as they do to the reader. In time, he learns to navigate this world, meeting new people, discovering the good in his surroundings, until he is in a position to send for his family and help them comfortably settle into their new home. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: For a story with no words, it really makes you work; skimming is not an option. Every image must be scrutinized and parsed to make sense of the narrative. 

The Mysteries

Written by: Bill Watterson and John Kascht

First line: Long ago, the forest was dark and deep.

Why you should read this book: With its haunting illustrations and surreal text, it's an allegory about the fear of the unknown, and the respect this fear properly inspires, and the consequences of familiarity replacing that respect with contempt. I think. The main reason to read it is probably the fact that it was written by one of the most popular comic strip artists of the late eighties/early nineties.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Despite appearances, this isn't a kids' book; I'm not really sure what its intended audience is, except for "people who were sad that Bill Watterson stopped drawing Calvin and Hobbes.

Jane Morris and Me: Learning to Listen

Written by: Jane Herlihy

First line: It is over. In the love of his friends -- not all, but some of his closest. 

Why you should read this book: While recovering from a horrific case of Dengue fever, the author becomes fascinated with the Victorian artist's model Jane Morris, darling of the pre-Raphaelites, and the ways that women's stories are so often dictated by men who have no inkling of their rich inner lives, and begins to write a meticulously researched diary revealing a very different Janey than the one described by the artists who painted her. From there, the project blossoms into an examination of disability and illness, sitting quietly with information and waiting for understanding, opening oneself up to the freedom and possibility of the creative life, and grappling with permanent change, among other issues. This fascinating work of creative nonfiction is both biography and autobiography, nonfiction and historical fiction, traditional and feminist, and one hundred percent art. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You've happily devoted your life to the care of invalid relatives, despite being something of an invalid yourself. 

Miss Quinces

Written by: Kat Fajardo

First line: "And they never saw him again."

Why you should read this book: Fifteen-year-old Suyapa wants to spend the summer drawing comics and camping with her friends, or at least, keeping up with them on WhatsApp, but unfortunately, she has to spend a month in Honduras with her mother's side of the family, far from civilization with no internet at all. And what's worse, her mother has decided that Suyapa is going to have a princess-pink quinceañera, even though Sue has indicated numerous times that she hates big poofy dresses, has zero interest in high heeled shoes, can't dance, and despises the color pink. But the ritual and celebration she's been refusing for so long turns out to have important cultural implications for her family, and as Suyapa comes to a better understanding of who she is in the context of the people who love her, the idea of a quinceañera takes on new meaning—especially if everyone can make a few little changes here and there in order to help her feel more comfortable with her big day. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're still traumatized by all the times they forced you into dress clothes that didn't suit you at all, and no one ever once appreciated your own personal style.

Buy Miss Quinces Here!

Scout Is Not a Band Kid

Written by: Jade Armstrong

First line: No longer am I that girl from before

Why you should read this book: Scout wants nothing more in life than to cosplay at AlmonteFest where her favorite author, Pristine Wong, will be doing meet and greets, but her father refuses to drive that far, and all seems hopeless until she realizes that her middle school band will be playing the festival. All she has to do to get that ride is spend the rest of the school year pretending to play the trombone, but Merrin, the band's first trombonist is onto her, and Scout ends up spending the entire year actually learning to play trombone under Merrin's intense and critical tutelage. In the process, Scout learns more about friendship and music than she ever cared to learn, and becomes a better version of herself with a different future than she could have imagine on her own.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you don't start woodshedding, you're going to get kicked out of the band.

Buy Scout Is Not a Band Kid here!

Zao Dao Cuisine Chinosie Tales of Food and Life

Translated by: Brandon Kander and Diana Schutz

First line: What? Is something the matter?

Why you should read this book: We are introduced to the numinous and mildly unsettling aesthetic of Chinese wunderkind Zao Dao through six standalone comics that blend the grotesque and the desirable in a world where the line between spirits and humans is thin, malleable, and surprising, and the lines of the brushwork vary in size but are also surprising. As a work translated from Chinese to French to English, there are likely a lot of cultural details that will go over many English readers heads, even with the notes on each story, but with a little thoughtfulness and perhaps a bit more research, many of the ideas become clear. Humanity is revealed in its relationship to other beings, and readers may learn something about their own humanity in their reaction.

Why you shouldn't read this book: There is a lot of consumption of creepy-crawly stuff that may not sit well if you have a nervous stomach.

Buy Zao Dao Cuisine Chinoise here!

Chromatopia: An Illustrated History of Color

Written by: David Coles and Adrian Lander

First line: Since the beginning of human existence, colour has played an integral role in the way we describe the world around us. 

Why you should read this book: A remarkable interdisciplinary endeavor, Coles blends history, archaeology, chemistry, botany, mineralogy, etymology, entomology, materials science, folklore, psychology, and art to create a dazzling and comprehensive guide to the human journey to reproduce the hues perceived in nature as pigments for use in artistic processes. The bulk of the text, arranged more or less chronologically, spans from prehistoric human's early processing of ochres, bone, chalk, and smoke to the ultra-modern techniques for creating glow-in-the-dark pigments and the blackest black.  Lushly illustrated with gorgeous, color-rich photographs, and including several complete recipes for those interested in replicating some of the most ancient manufacturing processes, this book draws the reader back through time and directs them to consider how precious and rare reproducible color has been for most of human history and how much knowledge goes into its production today.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You can't see straight because your printer currently refuses to print black text due to being low on cyan toner, and this fills you with rage. Might also be a bad choice if you're color blind.

The Artist's Way

Written by: Julia Cameron

First line: When people ask me what I do, I usually answer, "I'm a writer-director and I teach these creativity workshops."

Why you should read this book: You should read this book if you are a "blocked artist," i.e. a person who wants to find fulfillment in creative endeavors, but for whatever reason, can't seem to create the things you want to create. This twelve-week course in creativity has been around for decades and helped guide countless artists through various obstacles to their eventual success, in many cases, to very great success. With numerous activities, writing exercises, words of encouragement, and tough love deconstructions of the psychological barriers that hold us back, it offers an almost hundred percent guarantee of meaningful change of one sort or another for those who follow its specific but simple guidelines; I was certainly skeptical to start, but about halfway through the program I did start to experience some of the promised "magic" of the program. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: I personally had some difficulty with its dependence on a "manifesting abundance" doctrine that I'm afraid feels inherently classist, and I didn't really find a way to completely embrace the discussion of a "God" that rewards artists. Also, some of the writing exercises are psychologically extremely difficult.

Dragon Plus+ A Guide to Hybrid Creatures

Written by: J Feinberg

First line: The cockatrice is a fairly infamous creature worldwide.

Why you should read this book: It's a delightful little art book with colorful illustrations cataloging a menagerie of creatures that never were, many of which exist only within the pages of this book. While standard magical hybrids such as the chimera and the manticore are represented here, the bulk of the collection features wildly unusual mashups—dragon-skunk, dragon-elephant, parrot-lion, kraken-clownfish—that will amuse and delight fans of the mythological animals and creativity. If you've ever wondered what it might look like if a unicorn mated with a flamingo or a dragon had a baby with a bee, this is the book for you.

Why you shouldn't read this book: According to the artist, she took a lot of direction from her fans on the internet, so there is some incredibly silly stuff in here (looking at you, penguin/bat/wolf hybrid).

 

We're Still Here: An All-Trans Comics Anthology

Edited by: Tara Madison Avery and Jeanne Thornton

First line: "You're totally my fetish!"

Why you should read this book: As the title says, it's a comic anthology written entirely by trans comic creators. The stories run the gamut from factual ("A Brief Timeline of Singular They") to autobiographical to allegorical to bizarre. Often, the quality of being trans is rendered metaphorically through a speculative lens—there are ghosts and monsters—but other stories offer very literal retellings of formative moments in the author's past. Some of the stories are funny or exciting, others are thought-provoking or heart-breaking, but each is an honest expression of idea a trans author wishes to communicate with a world that has too often sought to silence their voice.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're incapable of feeling empathy.

[note: I bought this comic directly from one of the artists at a convention. It is not available on Amazon and it appears to have sold out its original print run, but you could check back or contact the publisher to see if it's ever going to be reprinted.]

Sisters

Written by: Raina Telgemeier

First line: Are you sure you're all packed?

Why you should read this book: Raina begged her parents for a little sister so she'd have someone to play with, but when Amara shows up, she turns out to be very different from the perfect playmate Raina had been dreaming of. Told through the frame story of a family road trip taken when she's a teenager, and intersected with flashback vignettes detailing their early sibling relationships, this book offers an honest exploration of sibling rivalry, family relationships, and those small moments when big leaps occur. A delightful, real, and meaningful true story about the moments that make up the real lives of families.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You still hate your siblings, and/or snakes.

Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction

Written by: Jarrett J. Krosoczka

First line: C'mon, get behind the wheel.

Why you should read this book: In this graphic memoir, Jarrett recounts being raised by his grandparents, with his addict mother periodically making brief and confusing appearances, while any information about his father's identity remains conspicuously absent. As he grows older, he begins to understand his mother's illness and moves through the complicated emotions around it, while also finding comfort in his artistic talent and interest in drawing comics. A powerful and satisfying story that plumbs the depths of the author's life in search of comfort and meaning.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You'll never forgive either of your parents.

The Lady from the Black Lagoon

Written by: Mallory O'Meara

First line: In 1954, Millicent Patrick was an artist working for the world-renowned special effects shop at Universal Studios in California, the movie company famous for its monsters.

Why you should read this book: Author and filmmaker O'Meara sets out to prove that artist Milicent Patrick truly was the creator of the original Creature from the Black Lagoon design, and that an insecure male makeup artist acted maliciously to erase her contribution, take credit for her work, and ruin any possibility of her working in Hollywood because he was jealous of the recognition she received for her efforts (and her beauty). Simply tracking down the story of a blacklisted woman in an era during which movies didn't credit most of the people working on them turns out to be a story in itself, braided with O'Meara's own experience with sexism in Hollywood, and the book unfolds as part biography, part history, and part personal narrative, with emotional twists and turns, biting humor and withering observations. As I read this satisfying journey of a book, I felt a certain kinship with the tattooed, blue-haired, monster-loving author, whose personality shines through in every line of prose, and was therefore not too surprised when my best friend saw me with a copy and said, "Oh, you're reading my friend Mallory's book."

Why you shouldn't read this book: Your entire career is predicated on taking credit for other people's work.

Ramona and Beezus

Written by: Beverly Cleary

First line: Beatrice Quimby's biggest problem was her little sister Ramona.

Why you should read this book: I skipped over it when I reviewed all those other Beverly Clearly books last July because I couldn't get my hands on a copy, and someone just gave me one, and it's still a delightful piece of work, if only the slightest bit dated (a 2018 parents requiring a nine-year-old to leave the four-year-old to play in a sand pile with no supervision while the older child takes an art class would likely lead to CPS involvement, and what modern parent would simply drop their kids off at another child's house on the invitation of a pre-schooler?). Unlike the other other Ramona books, this story is mostly about Beezus, her exasperation with her sister's rambunctiousness, and her own sense of unease over realizing that she doesn't always love Ramona. While justice isn't exactly served in every case, and the world isn't always fair, sensible, gentle Beezus usually comes out on top, and learns to tolerate her sister.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're the person who calls CPS on the kid playing unsupervised in the sand pile.

The Hookah Girl and Other True Stories

Written by: Marguerite Dabaie

First line: Being a Palestinian requires so much responsibility.

Why you should read this book: The author packs a lot of ideas into a tiny little volume, painting a pretty detailed picture of growing up as a Palestinian-American girl in black and white strokes. She outlines her understanding of her culture of origin, depicting Arab customs to an audience that may be unfamiliar with the food and culture, while also highlighting her own growing understand of her own place within her family and her desires to move in the larger world. It's introspective, provocative, joyful, and honest.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Your designer kaffiyeh is an important fashion statement.

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More

Written by: Karen Beaumont

First line: One day my mama caught me paintin' pictures on the floor and the ceiling and the walls and the curtains and the door, and I heard my mama holler like I never did before, "Ya ain't a-gonna paint no more!"

Why you should read this book: Rollicking rhythm book about an aspiring artist inspired by the canvas at hand. Needless to say, regardless of the title, the mother's admonition, and the narrator's assurance, the painting continues until there is nothing left to paint. Lots of fun.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You live in a white house with white walls, white floors, and white furniture.

Niko Draws a Feeling

Written by: Bob Raczka and Simone Shin

First line: Niko loved to make pictures.

Why you should read this book: Guided by a clever discussion about abstract art and what it means, this book shows how Niko draws concepts—warmth, hard work, ringing sounds—that feel profound to him, but his work simply perplexes the people to whom he shows it. This makes Niko sad, until he finally meets a girl who can comprehend his drawings even without having them explained. Sweet, accessible, and meaningful, this is a great read out loud story.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You hate abstract art.