Finished: "Brody's Ghost: collected edition" by Mark Crilley

 Finished: Brody's Ghost: collected edition, by Mark Crilley, 2016, 9781616559014.

Comic book novel. I was able to read this one but novels have been a no-go since March, 2020.

Set in a massive and degrading super-sized metro area that Crilley based off several cities. I like the guy's artwork quite a bit.

Brody is a shiftless dude stuck in depression in a one-room apartment. He's still stuck on his ex-girlfriend and makes money with a sometimes part-time job and by busking with his guitar. He's on the sidewalk with his guitar one day when the ghost of a teenage girl appears and tells him she needs his help. That a serial killer is at work and he - and his newly discovered talents of seeing the supernatural - need to get to work to stop the killer.

Fun stuff and aimed at a YA audience - this isn't Ed Brubaker. The ghost is a snotty teen girl. Brody is suffering through a depressive episode and stumbling through his "investigation".

There are: 

-martial arts training session with ghosts.

-a teen ghost with tight shirts.

-extra creepy stalking of ex-girlfriend.

-untrustworthy and misleading characters.

-neat artwork.

-fight scene artwork that I did not like with text like BWOOOOAM.

-family grief after the inexplicable murders of young women.

Comments:

1. I was in a used bookstore with both children's over the summer that had a collected copy of Crilley's Akiko comics series. I'm thinking I should have bought it.

Another Quit: "Eddie and Sunny" by Stacey Cochran

 Another Quit: Eddie and Sunny by Stacey Cochran, 2015, 9781937495886.

Down-out-out homeless family seek shelter from a rain storm by parking their car in the bay of an abandoned service stations. The couple stumble across an underground marijuana grow operation. When preparing to leave the station a couple gangsters show up and shooting starts.

I waited for a while to getting around to this one. Another pandemic reading casualty. A film version is coming out.

Quit: "Tomboyland" by Melissa Faliveno

 Quit: Tomboyland by Melissa Faliveno, 2020, 9781542014199.

Woman who grew up in Mount Horeb writes book of essays. Guy living in WI reads about book and reserves book. Book shows up and Guy Living in WI is still unable to focus on print books in the middle of a fucking pandemic. Guy Living in WI bails after a couple essays. 

First essay is about Faliveno's love for the film Twister and all tornado facts. Faliveno was a kid in 1984 when nearby Barneveld, WI was leveled by a tornado. Incidentally, I've read from quite a few people about their love for Twister.

I wanted to read the essay about guns but never got to it. I should check for an audio version.

Quit: "Coyotes of Carthage" by Steven Wright

 Quit: Coyotes of Carthage by Steven Wright, 2020, 9780062951663.

I read about 50 pages and did so in fits and starts. The book is quite neat with a look at a political campaign in rural South Carolina run by a couple guys from a firm in D.C. But, I'm still suffering pandemic effects and I was just not able to sit and read. I have the audiobook on my TBR list.

I heard about this one because Wright teaches at the UW law school and participated in one of UW's Tuesday lunchtime Badger Talks. I rarely listen to those - I prioritize lunch - but I listened to his recording and he sold me on the story. 

Wright is speaking at the WLA conference in Green Bay in November. I plan to go to his event. One of the things about library conferences is that there are ALWAYS seats in the front row unless someone like John Green is there.