A Brief History of a Long War: Ukraine's Fight Against Russian Domination

A Brief History of a Long War: Ukraine's Fight Against Russian Domination by Mariam Naiem This is a non-fiction graphic novel history of Ukraine’s centuries-long struggle against Russian domination, from the Middle Ages to the current war told in two alternating forms. Mariam Naiem narrates her daily life enduring the bombardment of Kyiv in segments called "Living Through War for Dummies". These alternate with Historic explanations of the long fight to fend off Russian aggression including a chapter called "What is Genocide?" about Stalin's genocidal starvation of Ukraine in the 1930s. The book ends with the events leading up to and since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, along with the Ukrainian pleas for support from the West. While the history is complex and unfamiliar to most Western readers, this book provides a good starting point for developing an understanding of the background and the current situation.The illustrations by Yulia Vus and Ivan Kypibida bring the details to life and enhance the text.

Finding Dorothy

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts
Maud Gage Baum was the daughter of one of the most famous and most radical of the 19th century suffragettes, Matilda Joslyn Gage, the author of Woman, Church, and State, a book that argued the church was responsible for women's oppression throughout history. As such Maud grew up to be a free thinker. Yet today she is most famous for being the wife of L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. While several books have been written about her mother and her husband, this novel is the first to explore Maud's life. Alternating chapters of her life from 1871 when she is 10 to the publication of Baum's first Oz book in 1900, with chapters covering her attempts to influence the filming of MGM's Wizard of Oz in 1938 and 1939, this book paints a portait of Maud that I, as a fan of Oz literature, enjoyed. The reader gets to see the hardships of her life and her faith in the potential of Frank Baum before the success of the Oz books, as well as the author's take on a meeting between Maud and Judy Garland at MGM during the filming. As the title suggests, the book also tells you who she thinks was the inspiration for the character Dorothy. An enjoyable book that brings to life a woman who has been overshadowed by her famous relatives until now.

The Conspiracies of the Empire: A Judge Dee Investigation

The Conspiracies of the Empire: A Judge Dee Investigation by Qiu Xiaolong
The Conspiracies of the Empire is a detective story featuring the legendary Tang Dynasty Chinese detective Judge Dee Renjie. Written in 2024 by Chinese American mystery writer Qiu Xiaolong, The Conspiracies of the Empire tells about Judge Dee's search for the missing poet Luo Binwang whom the Empress Wu asks Judge Dee to find. The poet had written "A Call to Arms" a poem very critical of the Empress and an influential document of a failed uprising. Luo either died or disappeared in the final failed battle of the uprising and the Empress wants Dee to find out what happened to Luo.
Dee Renjie was a Tang Dynasty politician born in 630 about whom an 18th century Ming Dynasty author wrote a mystery novel that was discovered and translated from the Chinese in the early 20th century by Robert van Gulik, a Dutch orientalist. Van Gulik and others have since written other novels featuring Judge Dee. The Shadow of the Empire is the first of two such novels written by Qiu Xiaolong. There are also Judge Dee TV series, movies and a video game.
This volume includes an appendix of poems from some of China’s finest Tang dynasty poets, newly translated by the author, who is an award-wining poet and critic in his own right.

A Cardinal Sin

A Cardinal Sin by Eugene Sue

Eugene Sue's A Cardinal Sin, translation of Les Sept Péchés capitaux--L'avarice, was translated by Alexina Loranger and published in 1892 by W. B. Conkey Company in Chicago. This book is sometimes called Avarice: The Millionaires. My copy is part of The Perfect Library's Works of Eugène Sue, a collection of 31 his works.
The story revolves around Mariette, a young girl facing poverty and hardship as she tries to care for her ailing godmother while dreaming of a life filled with love and happiness. The opening portion introduces Mariette as she visits a public scribe to have a letter written to her beloved Louis. She is unaware that the scribe is Louis' miserly father who tries to derail their relationship because he wants Louis to marry another woman for her father's money.
In 1829 Eugene Sue's father's death left him with a sizable fortune. Sue was strongly affected by the socialist ideas of his day and this novel explores how wealth can be shared and used to alleviate the suffering of the poor and working class, a theme common to many of his works. This book is one title in Sue's series Les Sept pêchés capitaux (The 7 Deadly Sins written between 1847 and 1849.

The Shadow of the Empire

The Shadow of the Empire by Qiu Xiaolong

The Shadow of the Empire is a detective story featuring the legendary Tang Dynasty Chinese detective Judge Dee Renjie. Written in 2021 by Chinese American mystery writer Qiu Xiaolong, The Shadow of the Empire is about a murder case involving a famous poetess and courtesan Xuanji who is accused of killing her maidservant and burying her in the back of the nunnery where she lives. Her simple confession, retrieved by torture, seems to be fabricated and may be a cover up. Judge Dee is asked to look into the real story behind the murder without raising any suspicion. He tells people he is gathering information to publish a book of Xuanji's poetry and that is the reason for his interest.
Di Renjie was a Tang Dynasty politician born in 630 about whom an 18th century Ming Dynasty author wrote a mystery novel that was discovered and translated from the Chinese in the early 20th century by Robert van Gulik, a Dutch orientalist. Van Gulik and others have since written other novels featuring Judge Dee. The Shadow of the Empire is the first of two such novels written by Qiu Xiaolong. There are also Judge Dee TV series, movies and a video game.

Pride & Prejudice

Pride & Prejudice by Nancy Butler & Hugo Petrus

Pride & Prejudice adapted from the novel by Jane Austen is a Marvel Comics graphic novel version written by Nancy Butler and illustrated by Hugo Petrus. This is a very enjoyable version with great period illustrations and a very readable dialog.

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

This graphic novel relates the difficulties Jin Wang, an American born child of Chinese immigrant parents, faces in a majority White cultural environment - a public school. Alongside Jin's story the author portrays a Chinese tale of the thousand year old monkey king who wants to take a place in Heaven with the immortal gods but is not allowed no matter how hard he tries.

Hanging Mary: A Reimagining of Lincoln's Assassination

Hanging Mary: A Reimagining of Lincoln's Assassination by Susan Higginbotham

After John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Licoln, Mary Surratt, who owned a boarding house in Washington, was arrested as one of the members of the conspiracy. After a military trial she was found guilty, and was the first woman to be hanged by the federal government. This book takes a sympathetic look at the events surrounding the assassination from Mary Surratt's point of view. Staying true to the historical facts as revealed in the court testamony, the author builds Mary's story of the events leading up to the assassination and the resulting investigation, trial, and death that followed.

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall

Dr. Rebecca Hall, the granddaughter of slaves, is a historian and is sensitive to the legacy of slavery that still surrounds us. Her research on women-led slave revolts is brought to life for the non-academic reader in graphic novel form describing her pioneering historical research into the women who took part in and led slave revolts. She also shares the obstacles she faced doing her research in the wake of the institutionalized racism of our society.