Goth Girl (in which I blatantly plug my friend Barry)
I just finished the arc (advanced reading copy) of Goth Girl Rising which is the sequel to Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by my friend Barry Lyga. I was warned that it might not be a good one to read in my current state since Kyra’s mom, prior to this book, dies from lung cancer and Kyra being the angry bitter teen girl that she is, has some angry bitter things to say about her mother’s death and cancer and there is even a little angry bitter moment about breasts and breast cancer. I read it anyway. Cause I wanted to and was quite frankly curious. I was at one point angry and bitter teen too and remember quite vividly what that was like. The book was fabulous! One of my favorite books I have read this year. It was not nearly as bad as I had imagined it would be (things rarely are). Don’t get me wrong, there were things that were mildly upsetting to me and made me cry but most of them were less in a I-have-cancer kind of way and more in a Oh-wow-I-totally-remember-being-that-when-my-dad-died kind of way. The whole parent dying was of course also my main reasoning behind being an angry bitter teen. Ah teenager hood, I am soooooo glad I am not there anymore, those were some angry years…. And the small part about breast cancer did not even remotely upset me. Anyway, the book was so well written that I am beginning to think that Barry was at one point an angry bitter teen age girl. I should ask him about that….
I loved the book and am super happy that I had the focus to read it all in on day. And for anyone who is not familiar with the books, I highly recommend them, as well as Barry’s other works. At the very least, go to his website and read his short story Her Decade, it is my favorite thing he has ever written.
As you can tell from the way finished an entire book in one day, I am starting to feel more human. Other than a cold that keeps threatening me this weekend, I am feeling better. Still not completely human but better. Also, while the looming cold is annoying and I feel like crap in that way, it is a nice relief from feeling like crap the chemo way.
Thanks for the tip on the book–I’ll have to check it out. I usually read 3-5 books a week (I know…I’m a nerd) so I am ALWAYS looking for something good. I’m super excited because I went to Comic Con today (my feet are KILLING me) and Frank Beddor was there with early copies of his second installment of Hatter M (not coming out till Oct. 15). I’m not a huge comic fan, but I love The Looking Glass Wars, so I can’t wait to read it.
It was actually kind of strange at Comic Con–it was a bit like a mini Project Book Babe. J.S. Lewis was there, and the afore mentioned Frank Beddor, and I guess if I’d been there on Friday I would have seen Shannon Hale and James A. Owen. And while we were in line to get sketches from John K. (of Ren and Stimpy fame) I saw a guy wearing a Project Book Babe t-shirt, and I think it was Daanon. I thought about saying hi, but then realized I’d met him for a grand total of thirty seconds, so I decided not to bug him.
Anyway, I’m rambling (the long day of Comic Book talk made me a bit loopy) so I’ll stop (especially since this isn’t my blog). Glad to hear you’re feeling better!