Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula

Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula by Koren Shadmi A well done biography of Bela Lugosi, the Hungarian born actor who played Dracula in Hollywood movies. Starting with his play acting with other children in Hungary, this book covers the rise and fall of one of Hollywood's most iconic actors. While showing his faults as well as his triumphs, the author always provides a sympathetic look on Lugosi's life.

William and the Lost Spirit

William and the Lost Spirit by Gwen de Bonneval & Matthieu Bonhomme

This English translation of a French graphic novel is a version of the hero quest adventure. The local lord, William's father, has died and his sister has disappeared when whe went searching for her father who she insisted was not dead. Also his mother has married the man he thinks killed his father. So he sneaks past his step-father's guards and goes on a quest to find his sister and his father's spirit. Along the way three companions join him: a goat, A mysterious kight, and a troubador. Together they travel from a magical version of Medieval France into stange lands with unusual creatures and people. Beautifully illustrated, this is a delightful story that I found enjoyable to read.

Fine: A Comic About Gender

Fine: A Comic About Gender by Rhea Ewing

Author Rhea Ewing interviewed over 50 people about the topic of Gender, then organized their statements into 15 subject chapters and illustrated them into graphic novel format to make an outstanding book that explores this complex and often misunderstood topic. The approach can be daunting as people talk about this most intimate side of themselves and you see them through the eyes of the author's expressive cartoons. At first, I had to take this book in a few pages at a timebecause the content is so raw and emotional. As I read on I began to see the broader picture and could read through to the end.
If you want to know more about Gender beyond the simple binary male/female, this is a great place to start. No philosophy or theory, just the direct words of over 50 people who are living with the question in their own lives organized into meaningful short statements under broad subject categories like adolescence, hormones, changing pronouns, bathrooms, feelings about your body, and other topics.
This book is powerful and comes with a lists of Content Warnings, places to get more information, and further readings.

The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes

The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes by Caleb Carr

Caleb Carr takes on the challenge of writing a further adventure of the famous 19th century detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson. He follows a traditional format with the story starting in London at the Baker Street home of Sherlock Holmes with Dr. Watson visiting and Mrs. Hudson in attendance. Here Holmes presents Watson with a telegram from his brother Mycroft Holmes asking him to come to Scotland to work on a case.
It seems Holmes is being asked to investigate a real life ghost story that is said to haunt the HolyRoodHouse castle of Mary Queen of Scots. It seems that Mary's husband, suspecting her of infidelity with her Italian secretary, had the man pulled from her rooms while they dined and repeatedly stabbed by a group of assassins. His ghost is said to haunt the castle down to the present day.
In the story, Queen Victoria uses the castle as her official residence in Edinburgh, and has commissioned an architect to restore the Queen Mary's tower. However, the architect and his assistant are murdered in the same manner as the Italian secretary. The local people think the ghost is taking revenge on his murderers, but Mycroft, suspecting political intrigue and worried for the safety of the queen, calls on Holmes to investigate.
I enjoyed reading the book although I didn't feel that the author was able to capture the style of Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the characters. An important detail for a book that adheres closely to the original author's format. He does write of the 19th century well and the plot is sufficiently interesting for a murder mystery. So, while I enjoyed the book, I do not think it one of the better additions to the works about the famous detective.

Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie

Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie by Anne Martinetti, Guillaume Lebeau, & Alexandre Franc

This is a full color graphic novel biography of the great mystery writer Agatha Christie with references to the books she wrote as their writing ccured during her life. However only some of her most significant titles are mentioned. An interesting feature of this book is that she has a long imaginary relationship with her character Hercule Poirot, with briefer appearances of Miss Marple and Tommy and Tuppence, talking to them as if they are there with her. The authors tell of Christie's trips on the Orient Express, and her journey up the Nile River which became research for two of her most famous books. The book ends with a three page timeline of her life and a three page bibliography of her published works.

The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth

The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth by Ken Krimstein

This book tells the life story of Hannah Arendt, philosopher, political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor, in graphic novel format. Krimstein brings Arendt's story to life with his illustrations and dialog. I highly recommend it as an easy introduction to one of the major intellectuals of thee 20th Century.

Flung Out of Space

Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer

This is a biographical graphic novel of the life of Patricia Highsmith, the lesbian author of the first lesbian novel with a happy ending, The Price of Salt, republished 38 years later in 1990 as Carol under her own name, and later adapted into the 2015 film of the same name. In telling Highsmith's story, the authors illustrate the difficulties faced by lesbians in the 1950s, when being a lesbian was an illness, a sin, and against the law.

The Third Person

The Third Person by Emma Grove

In this graphic novel Emma Grove tells the story of her experience with a transgender therapist whom she sought out to get approval for hormone replacement therapy, only to be diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. She and the therapist discover she has three personalities: Edwin, Emma and Katina. She finds she has to deal with her multiple personalities and the childhood trauma that caused them to exist before she can succesfully continue with her transition.

The Solstice Gift: Behrouz and Lucky on the Longest Night by Avery Cassell

The Solstice Gift: Behrouz and Lucky on the Longest Night by Avery Cassell

Behrouz and Lucky are a lesbian couple living together in Northhampton, a college town in Western Massachusetts. One year they decide that their Solstice gift to each other will be a threesome on Solstice night, the longest night of the year, with one of the local residents. Planning the evening and deciding on who they will invite, they develop a ritual that they continue to refine and repeat over the coming years.
The Solstice Gift won the the 2020 Pauline Reage Novel Award from the National Leather Association (NLA).

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio and translated by Wayne A. Rebhorn

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio and translated by Wayne A. Rebhorn

Boccaccio claims to have written this book for women, and seven of the ten characters are young 14th century women who are accompanied by three young men. This is a novel of these ten youths who flee their city which is overrun with the Black Plague, and who take refuge in a country estate for two weeks. To pass the time, each of the ten tells a story on ten consecutive days (allowing weekends off for cleaning and rest). The result is this book of 100 stories set within the framework of their excursion. The stories show how much customs have changed and also how so many things remain the same.
Long recognized as a classic of Western Literature, The Decameron has suffered by difficult to read translations until now. Wayne Rebhorn has provided a translation into modern English that does not diminish the story or modernize it, while providing words that beg to be read aloud, as is fitting for stories that are told out loud in the book.
If you have ever wanted to read The Decameron now is the time to do it and this is the version to read.

Ann Tenna

Ann Tenna by Marisa Acocella Marchetto

When gossip columnist Ann Tenna has a near death experience and is confronted by her higher self she faces aa challenge to change her life for the better. Hopefully, the message to love and forgive yourself and others will reach this book's readers without the need for such drastic measures.

Torpedo Volume One

Torpedo Volume One by Sanchez Abuli & Jordi Bernet

Torpedo is a Spanish graphic novel series written by Enrique Sánchez Abulí and drawn by Jordi Bernet. Torpedo is the nickname for hitman Luca Torelli in Depression Era New York City. This is the first of five volumes published in English between 2009 and 2014. This volume includes the first two entries in the series illustrated by Alex Toth. This is great comic noir and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.