In this installment of the Pushing My Shelf blog series, Adrienne talks about reading some adult graphic novels that she normally might not pick up.
This month we thought we would do a blog series for the Push Your Shelf Bingo Challenge. The challenge is to complete Bingo squares that “push your shelf.” In other words, read or try something that you might not ordinarily consider; something not typically found on your bookshelf. Find out more here.
To cheer you on some participating staff members* are contributing short blogs that recount their experience completing a Bingo challenge and describing how that square “pushes their shelf”.
* Staff members can play. (Just not win.)
I decided to read a book that completes the square ‘Read a graphic novel for adults.’ Actually, I selected graphic novels to complete several of the squares; taking a rather scattershot approach to my Bingo card to read titles that have been on my ‘to be read’ list far too long, like This Was Our Pact (recommended by a trusty coworker) and The Girl From the Other Side Vol. 5 (originally published in Japan). And as incentives to try ones I wouldn’t otherwise pick up, like award winning Belonging by Nora Krug and the fabulously illustrated Blacksad (features an animal in the form of a cat private eye) by writer Juan Diaz Canales and artist Juanjo Guarnido. Blacksad issues are currently available on Hoopla (making this a bonus “Push” for me because I don’t spend nearly enough time taking advantage of this service.) There is so much variety within the GN collection, including biographies and memoirs like George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy and stories that have been adapted for the screen like Sand Castle by Frederick Peeters that inspired M. Night Shyamalan’s OLD. The real challenge has been picking only one title per square. Already vying for top spot as my favorite Bingo experience is the humorous I will judge you by your bookshelf by Grant Snider – a fun book I was able to read in one sitting.
Adrienne is the branch manager at the Handley Branch of the Handley Regional Library System.
