What We Read in Chaos Book Club: April 2024
This month in the Neurodivergent Creative Pod's Chaos Book Club (so-called because we all read whatever we want and then discuss our various choices, rather than all reading the same book to discuss it), we had two meetings. First, we read a graphic novel, and second we read a book by a local author. Here's what we read! Graphic Novels
DAR: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary
First, my selection, because I cheated and read a collection of comics which I don't think counts as a graphic novel. I read DAR: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary, Volume One. It was a quick read and I really enjoyed the stories within. Some were longer and more personal, others were funny moments (like playing with the foreskin on her partner's penis and making a silly sound about it). The author, Erika Moen, is a queer woman who was a lesbian right up until she fell in love with a man and questioned everything she thought she knew. Sexuality and attraction and gender identity are fluid, man. So it's all good and, like me, she landed in the "queer" label because it's easier than explaining the whole story. Also she looks just like an ex girlfriend of mine, which sent me spiraling into bisexual ennui. The official book blurb: Erika Moen, a questioning lesbian in her 20's, chronicles her daily life through black and white comics. Some topics in her first issue include her relationship with British guy Matt, her worklife, and intimacy.Maus 1: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History
Anne-Marie read Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History, because why not enter the graphic novel genre with some of the most harrowing and tragic storytelling of your entire life? Maus is often banned due to its transparent storytelling of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust by author Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish writer and cartoonist whose parents survived Auschwitz. Anne-Marie intends to read the rest of the series and says, "I really loved the way he uses animals to portray different people. He also cuts back and forth to an autobiographical account of trying to get this story out of his father, so there's stuff in Brooklyn as he's writing/drawing." The official book blurb: A brutally moving work of art—widely hailed as the greatest graphic novel ever written—Maus recounts the chilling experiences of the author’s father during the Holocaust, with Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats. Maus is a haunting tale within a tale, weaving the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father into an astonishing retelling of one of history's most unspeakable tragedies. It is an unforgettable story of survival and a disarming look at the legacy of trauma.Locke & Key Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft
Frankie read Locke & Key Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft, which another participant, Nelson, was familiar with and said he enjoyed a lot too! Frankie gave us an overview of the plot, "A professor is killed and his wife and kids go to the old family home. And there are all these supernatural keys that do different things-like one key can make you go anywhere, there's a key that can you into a ghost. And there's an evil presence that's trying to get the keys." Nelson added that reading these books "makes you feel like a kid again, but at the same time it treats you like an adult." The official book blurb: Following their father's gruesome murder in a violent home invasion, the Locke children return to his childhood home of Keyhouse in secluded Lovecraft, Massachusetts. Their mother, Nina, is too trapped in her grief—and a wine bottle—to notice that all in Keyhouse is not what it seems: too many locked doors, too many unanswered questions. Older kids Tyler and Kinsey aren't much better. But not youngest son Bode, who quickly finds a new friend living in an empty well and a new toy, a key, that offers hours of spirited entertainment. But again, all at Keyhouse is not what it seems, and not all doors are meant to be opened. Soon, horrors old and new, real and imagined, will come ravening after the Lockes and the secrets their family holds.Somna
Surey reads more than she sleeps, so she read a ton of graphic novels including Somna (3 volumes, complete), Fine Print (2 volumes out so far, ongoing), and Saga (highly recommend but it's a commitment, there are like 11 volumes out and it's ongoing). Surey describes Somna as "creepy and dark. Set in a Salem Witch Trials kind of colonial setting. The two artists that collaborated on it have very different styles. One is traditional comic, heavy lines and colors. The other is more ethereal and watercolor-y. In the beginning, it seems really clear that the latter are dream sequences, but as the story progresses it gets harder and harder to tell what's real or not, the styles blending and overlapping in scenes. Just as confusing as it is for the FMC to figure out what's real." The official book blurb: Set amidst the terrifying backdrop of the witch hunts in a quiet 1600s English village, SOMNA follows one woman's descent into an erotic escape from the confines of her puritanical world. Ingrid is unhappily married to Roland, the town's bailiff and chief witch hunter, who is on a single-minded quest to purge the 'heretics' in their midst. After a prominent town leader is found murdered, accusations fly and no one is above reproach from Roland's deadly crusade. Ingrid has her suspicions about who the real murderer is, but even as she pursues the truth, she's pursued herself by a shadowy figure. Ingrid finds that she's drawn to the foreboding phantom in ways she can't resist - does this dark and tempting stranger hold the key to the mystery...or will he damn Ingrid's soul to the blackest circle of Hell?Local Authors
Our second meeting for April was a book written by a Local Author (whatever that means for each reader). We chose this topic to coincide with Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 27 and encouraged members to purchase a local author's book from their local indie bookseller. (In the meantime, I also watched You've Got Mail and realized it's one of my favorite movies and a love letter to local bookstores).Here's what we read! Grief Slut by Evelyn Berry
Combining National Poetry Month with Independent Bookstore Day, Frankie met author Evelyn Berry in person and bought a signed copy of Grief Slut, a poetry collection, from her local queer bookshop Queer Haven Books. She read it five times in two days, and offers a content warning for "pretty much every trauma you would expect from the experience of being queer and transgender in the South." Their favorite poems were "Queer Ecology" and "Elegy." The official book blurb: Evelyn Berry's debut poetry collection, Grief Slut, is an examination of the queer lineage of pleasure, grief, and resilience in the American South. Berry offers a portrait of a girl living through boyhood and grappling with the violence of nostalgia in poems that blend high art, archival slivers, and Taco Bell. This collection invites us into a landscape home to sloppy kissers, swamp suitors, scrappy "limbwrecked boys," and drag queens drenched in glitter sweat, where "each day is trespass" and queer youth fight to "hear one another breathe just a little while longer."The Book that Matters Most: A Novel by Ann Hood
Surey is a die-hard Kindle Unlimited reader, so she was worried she wouldn't find something to her liking at the local bookstore. She visited Barrington Books and found this novel by a Providence, RI author. We all thought it sounded AMAZING by the time she was done describing it and this one is now on my TBR. Surey enjoyed that the book was divided into months, "So you get each of the book club meetings and Ana gets something from each of the books discussed as she progresses in her emotional journey, because she hadn't read in forever." Frankie and I both related to that as we both found our way back into books this year. The official book blurb: Ava’s twenty-five-year marriage has fallen apart, and her two grown children are pursuing their own lives outside of the country. Ava joins a book group, not only for her love of reading but also out of sheer desperation for companionship. The group’s goal throughout the year is for each member to present the book that matters most to them. Ava rediscovers a mysterious book from her childhood—one that helped her through the traumas of the untimely deaths of her sister and mother. Alternating with Ava’s story is that of her troubled daughter Maggie, who, living in Paris, descends into a destructive relationship with an older man. Ava’s mission to find that book and its enigmatic author takes her on a quest that unravels the secrets of her past and offers her and Maggie the chance to remake their lives.The Star Riders (6 Book Series) by Victoria Perkins
I was so surprised at how much I was drawn into this YA series about what is effectively a group of twelve teenage Paladins on a holy quest from God to stop the end times. There's (quite chaste) romance, a lot of religion that doesn't feel preachy, a hefty sprinkle of traumatic memories, and lots of incredible abilities like healing, visiting people's dreams, traveling between worlds, and more. I found Victoria by searching in an Ohio book group (Ohio Bookdragons) for authors self-promoting their work, and I got the first book on a whim since I could get it on Kindle Unlimited. The biggest surprise from reading this series (because of course I downloaded the rest as soon as I got emotionally invested) is how much it helped me see my relationship as a healthy, pure bond. I'm a survivor of an abusive marriage and have done a lot of casual to serious dating that always left me feeling confused and hurt. Seeing an example, albeit literary, of the pure (even Divine) bond that can form between two people made me imagine it for myself, and I realized that my relationship with my partner now doesn't have any of that confusion or pain. I can always say what's on my mind, so can he, and we've built something really healthy. Reading such bonds in this series gave me ideas about what it would mean to be with someone who I could never hide from, and from whom I wouldn't ever feel a need to hide. WACK. It also made me really open up to the idea of God and the Divine as a truly loving source, even when handing me my own ass. The official book blurb: Tempest Black is nobody special. Orphaned as a baby, the only thing she has from her past is her unusual name. Now, at seventeen, she's willing to give it up if it means she can disappear. What she doesn't know is that, in the West, eleven have been sent to find her, and when they do, her whole world will change. They are the Star Riders, those chosen by Adonai to protect the worlds from the forces of darkness. All alone, they search for the one prophesied to be at their side at the end of days. A special child with unknown powers who will change everything.Mercury Boys by Chandra Prasad
Unfortunately we had our first DNF this month. Anne-Marie started to read Mercury Boys but found it relied too heavily on stereotypical tropes of high school girls and the logic behind the girls playing with a dangerous substance in order to get historical dream boyfriends was too far-fetched and illogical for suspension of disbelief. For Anne-Marie, the story would benefit from another pass of revision to deepen the plot, motivation, and stakes. This quote from our meeting sums it up: "I was like, so you're gonna play with mercury until you find a boyfriend from the 1800s?"The official book blurb: History and the speculative collide with the modern world when a group of high school girls form a secret society after discovering they can communicate with boys from the past, in this powerful look at female desire, jealousy, and the shifting lines between friendship and rivalry. ... At night, the girls visit the boys in their dreams. During the day, they hold clandestine meetings of their new secret society. At first, the Mercury Boys Club is a thrilling diversion from their troubled everyday lives, but it’s not long before jealousy, violence and secrets threaten everything the girls hold dear.Join the book club!
Chaos Book Club is part of the Neurodivergent Creative Pod, a free (or $7 per month) membership with various special interest groups including book club, writing, video games, fiber arts, mindfulness, and more. We're on Facebook and Discord - sign up today at https://www.askfishfisher.com/pod