Graphic Novel

We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

Most books Olivia and I read during this time are either cozy or scary. Here are our picks for books with Spooky Season Vibes!

Cozy Vibes

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks (Illustrator). Read this one for the coziest Autumnal vibes and the most delicious treats.
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Watch our Pumpkinheads Reading Vlog here!

Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney. Read this one to enter a fantastic cozy mystery series that features cats, The Cambridge Bookshop Series.
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(Note: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for Chapter and Curse. All opinions are my own).

Horror

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke. Spooky! This book was a five-star read for me. Read this one for witchy vibes but beware – it’s dark.
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The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson. This book is a Carrie retelling that I highly recommend! Make sure to read the content warnings.
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Watch our Lighthouse Witches reading vlog here!

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This book is a wild ride! It’s a mixture of gothic, mystery, historical fiction and horror. It’s also one of my favourite books, though it’s not for everyone. If you like atmospheric reads, this may be for you.
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Watch our Mexican Gothic Reading Vlog here!

Lost Boy by Christina Henry. This book is a Peter Pan retelling told from the perspective of Captain Hook and I think it’s brilliant. There are lots of content warnings, but I do recommend it if you’re ready for a viewpoint that challenges thoughts on Peter Pan.
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Horror Manga

Lovesickness by Junji Ito. This manga is packed with scary and graphic scenes that make you want to scream! Read this if you are ready for a spook.
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Deathnote by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (Art). A haunting and cunning chess game that challenges good vs. evil vs. ethics.
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Cozy Graphic Novels

Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee. Adorable! And tugs on your heartstrings.
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Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse. It reminds me a bit of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Quirky, cute, and a perfectly cozy read.
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Watch our Wrap-Up for these two books here!

@sarasreadingnook
Thank you to everyone who cohosted and joined the Hello Autumn/Spring readathon! Here is our vlog and recap. Olivia and I made a Fall bucket list: to carve pumpkins, have pumpkin pie, go on lots of outdoor walks (Olivia to hang out on the catio), and to read lots of witchy books! #ReadathonVlog #48hrReadathonVlog #48HourReadathon #cozyBooks #MysteryBooks #HelloAutumnSpringReadathon Cohosts @Abigail @kaylasbookishlife @Ruby G Chiara Bianca
♬ original sound – Sara’s Reading Nook – BookTok

QOTD: Have any books caught your interest? Let us know!

Title: Radium Girls
Author: Cy
Release Date: 23 August 2022
Pages: 136
Publisher:
Format: E-ARC
Letter Better Publishing Services, Iron Circus Comics
Source: NetGalley

Synopsis:
It’s 1918 in Orange, New Jersey, and everyone knows the “Ghost Girls.”

The proud holders of well-paying jobs at the local watch factory, these working-class young women gain their nickname from the fine dusting of glowing, radioactive powder that clings to their clothes after every shift painting watch dials. The soft, greenish glow even stains their lips and tongues, which they use to point the fine brushes used in their work. It’s perfectly harmless . . . or so claims the watch manufacturer.

When teeth start falling out, followed by jawbones, the dial painters become the unprepared vanguard on the frontlines of the burgeoning workers’ rights movement. Desperate for compensation and acknowledgement from the company that has doomed them, the Ghost Girls must fight, not just for their own lives but the future of every woman to follow them.

A stunning graphic novel retelling of the shocking and inspiring true story.

Review

This graphic novel did a good job of giving an inside look into the lives of “Radium Girls,” a group of women in the early 1900s that were instructed to point the tip of their paintbrushes with their mouth when painting dials, thus leading to radiation poisoning.

It is very grim to read about the working conditions women had to endure, and it’s very frustrating that they were lied to about the inks, being told they were harmless and not to worry about applying the brush to their lips.

The illustrations within are fairly simple and I think that allows the story to make quite a big impact. There are two colours used, greens and purples. I’m not sure I am a fan of the used of coloured pencils, and think perhaps the illustrations would have looked even better had the crayons been blended together. As is, the colouring looks a bit unfinished/unpolished but I still overall enjoyed the illustration style.

I recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning more about this topic. Before reading this book, I didn’t know that these events happened and I feel like I learned quite a lot about both the events that took place and the importance of having conditions in place that protects workers from these sorts of occupational hazards in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an e-ARC in exchange for a review copy. The expected release date is August 23rd 2022.

Themes

Educational: reviews the lives of working-class young women who suffered radiation poisoning from painting dials on watches with self-luminous paint.
Fighting for compensation/acknowledgement from the watch manufacturer company.
Occupational hazards in the workplace.

Feelings