My top 10 lists each year always capture the books published in that year, however manga and manhwa are notoriously difficult to capture year by year in part because the American release of a title isn’t synchronous with the Japanese publication. And because a series can go on for quite some time, if the series is discovered after a publication date many years ago, I can obsessively read through the series without waiting for the next volume. The opposite it also true, a first volume released in 2025 where the wait may be long to see the next volume.
So this list is the only list where the specific volume I’m on may not have been published in 2025, but these were my favorites read this year. However, Maid to Skate should be on your to-be-read list and it comes out… TODAY! I read an advanced copy thanks to Netgalley which is why I am able to put it on the list and celebrate its delightfulness.
As with my adult titles from yesterday, I like dark stuff and The Strange House is no different. I also was into apocalyptic stories which is why The Color of the End and Touring After the Apocalypse make appearances. I can juxtapose that with the friendly story of Frieren and friends, the chill girls night and winter camping in Laid Back Camp and the humor of a former yakuza turned househusband.
Needless to say, I’ll endlessly fill my days with manga and manhwa new and old any day of the week.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s reveal of the top 10 picture books.
A friend forwarded an email a few weeks back to make sure I knew that Sy Montgomery would be somewhat close by. There is a bookstore outside of my general area that has a second location the next state over that’s a scenic drive, but not too far. She knew I would travel for turtles.
For readers for youth, most will know the name Sy Montgomery. She’s written over 80 books about animals and those adventures have taken her all over the world. She’s written picture books, middle grade, and adult books about animals from octopuses to hummingbirds, turtles to tarantulas. I’m a big fan. The collaboration for her latest included illustrator Matt Patterson who would also be at the event as they promoted The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle featuring the real life adventure and misadventure of Fire Chief. But I also wanted the change to hear from Montgomery herself, plus get a bunch of books signed for my outdoorsy niece and nephews and one for myself.
If you haven’t read one of Montgomery’s books, you must. She provides depth, insight, and humor in and around the amazingness of animals. My favorites include: How to Be A Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals and What the Chicken Knows.
And the animal adjacent biography of Temple Grandin.
The drive to Vermont from my city on the eastern edge of New York was magical as the leaves have already begun to change, and I even had a little extra time to stop at a few cemeteries (I am a taphophile after all). What a lovely afternoon to spend among author and illustrators and books learning about animals and from each other.
You know what the trouble is with stunning books like Kate Messner’s The Trouble With Heroes that dropped yesterday?
It makes people like me stay up past my bedtime to finish it.
It’s been a few years since I decided to forgo sleep on a school night so that I could finish a book, but I do remember those books that compelled me to do so in years past: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner, The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee, Murder Among Friends by Candace Fleming.
But back to Kate Messner’s mesmerizing middle grade with a little story about the full-circle moment of completing it ahead of the New York State Library Association’s School Librarians Conference happening in Rochester this week. Because last year at about this time, the conference was in Lake Placid and Kate Messner was the keynote closing lunchtime speaker on Saturday. Regaling the audience with stories about her curious discoveries that become series like the History Smashers, she talked about the project she launched with a stellar cast of authors– a series of chapters books called The Kids in Mrs. Z.’s class, and she shared mockups of the cover of the yet-to-be-released The Trouble with Heroes; she asked the librarians which cover we liked best. When I saw the advanced copy available on Netgalley, I quickly requested it, but I know myself. I know that when I’m really excited about a book, I (oppositely) avoid it as long as possible because then when it’s read, I can’t go back and read it for the first time. Ever. Again.
This is the case with The Trouble with Heroes. I had read a few pages about a week ago. I had already made notes to myself and highlighted moving quotes. And I told myself. I have to prolong it until I realized the publication date was April 29th and it has had so much buzz that I thought, I’m going to dive in. And that’s just what I did. How easy was it to get lost in Finn’s story– a seventh grader who makes a bad decision, but instead of a strict punishment, the adults around him know that he needs nature healing after the death of his father– a man who was forever memorialized as a hero on September 11th saving a woman. A man who was haunted by the demons of that day. Who then was a paramedic in the city for years including the recent pandemic. What a tough time to be in healthcare. Yet he always had the Adirondacks.
Astute readers know that Messner herself is a 46er, a person who has summited all 46 High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. It would be assumed, she wanted to write a bit of a love letter to this journey that’s physical as well as spiritual for many who set that goal.
Now Finn will be hiking them, many of them with a drooling, hairy sidekick, Seymour the dog pictured on the cover, and a cast of mentors who summit with him. I can wax poetic about the storytelling, the humor, the character development, the setting, the message but I will not because I will tell you: read it yourself. Everyone deserves an experience like reading Messner’s stunning story, both kid and adult. I will however share a favorite page of verse (from the advanced copy) that’s another “trouble” with The Trouble with Heroes— and that’s that it’s too poetic for its own good:
Too Much Time to Think
The trouble with long hikes
is that your brain has to come with you
and on the way back when you’re trudging
the last muddy miles,
it has plenty of time to think about stuff
like metaphors.
That May after Mom and I moved back,
she and Gram had figured out
how to handle pickup orders from the shop.
I was making deliveries on my bike
and riding around in the sunshine was pretty okay.
I’d just gotten home when the phone rang.
You know the call I’m talking about.
I’m not going through it again.
Except to say it felt like that spot
in the brook where the rocks fell away.
Like I was falling
and falling,
heart sinking, stomach twisting
never saw it coming.
I should have.
But I didn’t.
Later today I’ll be stopping by my local indie bookstore to purchase two copies. One to keep and one to give to a kid I know should read it. I’ll also be adding several copies to the shelves of the school library I work at. Do yourself a favor. Support Messner by doing the same. Your kids will be better for it. And we want Messner to keep writing.
Representation matters. And in the case of books for teens in which the teen has a rare illness, it stands as a mirror or window for a reader. Now more than ever, books are being published featuring characters with autism, anxiety, and depression, all more common especially in 2025, but what about rarer illnesses such as Crouzon syndrome or Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or spinal muscular atrophy? I’m happy to report that there are stories, and fabulously written stories at that, about rare illnesses.
I got to thinking about this yesterday afternoon having finished the book I Am The Cage by Allison Sweet Grant that was published last week. In it, nineteen year old Elisabeth is slowly revealed to have had intense medical trauma growing up as a result of leg length discrepancy. And then I remembered other books that I’ve read and enjoyed sharing with teens with similar rare illnesses.
Four additional fictional stories include the graphic novel Stars In Their Eyes by Jessica Walton and Aska featuring Maisie who is an amputee. Breathe and Count Back From Ten by Natalia Sylvester whose main character Veronica has hip dysplasia. The fifth book in the Teen Titans graphic novels called Starfire includes Kori who has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. And in Jawbreaker by Christina Wyman, Max struggles with the pain and possible surgery for her Class II malocclusion.
Then there are the autobiographies. As a lover of this category and whose high school library features a massive collection of amazing ones, I am always on the lookout for addition spectacular stories. And the first one, Shane Burcaw’s Laughing At My Nightmare holds a special place for me as I was able to booktalk his second book Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse at a Macmillan breakfast many years ago and then met both Shane and (then girlfriend, now wife) Hannah at a dinner during that conference. Burcaw has spinal muscular atrophy. And if you’d like a fictional YA title with a character who also has it, I highly recommend Chaz Hayden’s The First Thing About You.
One I often recommend is Ariel Henley’s A Face For Picasso, who spent her teen years under the knife (along with her twin sister who also has it) to provide symmetry to her face having been born with Crouzon syndrome and realizing what she needed versus what she wanted. Another that I share regularly and quote from regularly is Zion Clark’s (along with James S. Hirsch) Work With What You Got, a sports autobiography which rounds out his life, and fame, thus far after being born with caudal regression syndrome.
Of course there are more, however these nine are solid stories that I hope you pick up if you haven’t already.
Book birthdays are as special as human birthdays, especially for book lovers who adore the authors that have put the book out into the world. Therefore, happy book birthday to The Bletchley Riddle, coauthored by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin whose individual works are as impactful as their first collaboration and must be celebrated.
The Bletchley Riddle is a middle grade historical fiction set in 1940 at Bletchley Park, home to the infamous codebreakers during World War II. In addition to incorporating ciphers into the text and providing an entrancing overall mystery amidst war, the book’s best feature are the vivid brother and sister duo. Who doesn’t love an alternating point of view? Intricately layered with historical facts because both are powerhouse researchers, Sheinkin wrote Jakob’s character and Sepetys wrote Lizzie’s character. How did it all blend together? Some of their secrets were revealed at an event at Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, NY last night as the last event for the Saratoga Book Festival; plus the hometown indie bookstore for Sheinkin. To have both authors, since Sepetys lives in Tennessee, was a real treat. Then to have the book in hand (if it was preordered, a spy pen was a bonus gift) and signed after an enchanting evening of their conversation and answering audience questions, made for a memorable book launch.
I’ve only teased a few elements of the book because it’s better to clear your calendar and spend a weekend with a cup of tea and Jakob and Lizzie. And if you want to put a goulash casserole in the oven for later, even better. I did this a few days after I read the advanced reader copy.
Collaborations are hard work, as they attest to, but readers will read the book and find it an effortless meshing of two talented authors who find history that we all need to remember more than we do; finding palatable ways to learn, question, and feel. I wonder… is another collaboration on the horizon?
As a school librarian, I spend a lot of my time recommending books. On occasion, students and staff will recommend books to me in the course of conversation. Family and friends who know my tastes often recommend titles too. And I was especially excited yesterday afternoon when I stopped off to the local comic book shop to pick up one item and left with six- one entirely based on his recommendation alone.
It’s no secret that I discovered Saga about forty-ish issues into it’s publication (or really several volumes) which then turned into the necessity of purchasing each issue when I fell head-over-heels. On the 29th, Saga volume 11’s book birthday meant that when I left school I’d drive the two blocks over to the comic book shop to pick it up. They knew I was coming and even left a sweet Post-it on my pulled copy. I figured while I was there I’d pick up issues 2-5 of Swan Songs since issue 5 dropped that day and I liked the concept in issue 1. Then we got to talking and his excitement to talk about Somna hit me with all the same adrenaline that I get when I recommend a book to someone. I told him to add it to my pile.
Having them close by is the icing on the cake that is indie comic shops. The patriarch passed fairly recently, but the shop is going strong under the direction of his children and the passionate employees. After posting about my visit, a former student posted that he happened to be in the store several hours after I had visited. Next time, I told him, we’ll meet there to catch up. Excitement and love of creations like comics and graphic novels is infectious– they can always talk comics to me.
No cooler words have been spoken by a character in fantasy, right? Cool like the millions of copies of the Inheritance Cycle series sold by Christopher Paolini and the many more now that Murtagh is out in the world. Cool to be the kid who started writing Eragon at fifteen because he was bored and wanted a challenge. Cool like the dozen high school students of mine who spent a dinner with him, getting signed copies of his books, and generally having a good time before his presentation through the New York State Writers Institute and The Book House. Cool like the student who had their cheek signed by him. Cool like the hundreds of people that showed up to share their express gratitude that he wrote the books because they saved them in some way whether it was the dragons or lines like “Die puny human.”
Local indie bookstores are the best. It’s a place where community events celebrate reading culture, books and tangential reading items can be purchased for personal delight or as a gift, and everybody knows your name? Yes, well there are a few booksellers at my local bookstore that I’ve known for years both in a professional capacity and a personal one.
I was delighted during a recent visit that Cheryl remembered my love for the manga series Witch Hat Atelier and she mentioned that the spinoff series Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen was coming out. She said she’d order one for me if I wanted. Absolutely!
Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. In chilly upstate New York weather I drove on over after getting the call and I’m now the proud owner of the first volume in the new series.
Thank you to The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza for being a friend! Plus, for the cheap seats in the back, local indie bookstores are the best.
I did not grow up reading comics and definitely didn’t know where the local comic book store was. I am now an adult and read comics and definitely know where the local comic book store is. All of this was firmly solidified over Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga series.
Now, I had been reading graphic novels for some time, but almost exclusively as original novels or trade paperbacks. I didn’t know the world of serialized issues and a weekly or monthly stop to the store to pick them up. Heck, I came to Saga dozens of issues in because my first experience (thankfully, because I couldn’t get enough) was the trade paperback volumes 1-7 or 8. Then though I still waited for volume 9 and that’s when I realized I knew better and needed the stories issue by issue. Well, a hiatus and pandemic sure didn’t help.
Joyously, issue 55 came out in January to return me to the monthly pickup. The endorphin hit of knowing what will unfold mini-story by mini-story is the best kind of reading and the most painful. The lesson? Patience. For all the comic fans, especially the ones who were living this life way before I now do, what a lesson to learn.
Yesterday, I walked into the store to pick up issue 60 with my son– leaving with a big smile and the delayed gratification of sitting on the couch with a cup of tea to indulge in the next story that evening. I settled in for which I was rewarded with a phenomenal story and the next “please be patient” author’s note that issue 61 will hit stores in January 2023. Deep breath in, deep breath out. I can be patient. I do have the entire collection to re-read for the fourth time.
In fact, the best defense is a good offense. So as I count down to the release of volume 10 in October, I’ll backwards plan a re-read of the series. Then maybe in between October and January I’ll finally start working on cosplaying Alana or Izabel to stay connected to what is one of the most epic series of all time. Now, coming from a bookish gal like myself, a statement like that might seem devalued because I love all books, but no really, Saga is truly one of the most epic series of all time. As in, each of these cliches is true:
If I were trapped on a desert island and had to choose only a few books to bring, the Saga series would be one.
Every re-read of the series offers new insight. I would know, since I rarely re-read anything and I’ve re-read this series three times so far.
Authors and illustrators are my rock stars and thus, I look forward to the day where I can meet Staples and Vaughan.
The best things come to those who wait. I’ll be over here patiently waiting for the issues… and that meet-up.
The creativity, artwork, writing, story arcs, characters, social commentary, and allusions to name a few elements are the building blocks of great reading. Heck, the fandom seeped it’s way into a Taco Bell commercial. People have tattoos of characters. Hats-off to this winning team. I’ll be over here in your cheerleading section… patiently waiting.
I left work and went directly to my local comic book shop that is about a half mile from my high school library. Then, I went home to settle in in my reading chair with a blanket, a drink, and issue #55.
Preparing last weekend, I read the first fifty-four issues spread across nine volumes to fall back into the world that is so eloquently illustrated and created by the brains and hands of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. This was my third re-reading. My second reading was in direct response to the pandemic shutdown. On March 13th, I decided I would read a volume a day. The creators also took a step back which Vaughan discusses in his note at the back of issue #55. Their hiatus included necessary recharging, but also plotting the trajectory of the series in addition to growing families (congratulations Fiona!)
Revisiting this world– a world that is dark but has a fighting spirit, a world that is is full of sex and violence, a world of varied creatures, planets, and cultures all surviving– is as much about escape as it is a celebration of an epic space opera from the brains of actual human beings that create art. I do not cosplay per se, but I’ve been known to throw a Ms. Marvel handmade costume on when the occasion calls or make my own witch cap like Coco’s from Witch Hat Atelier, but those that do create intricate costumes inspired by Saga is awe-inspiring. I actually think I might have to have something for the next time “character from a book or movie” shows up during a school spirit week. Either way, readers of Saga have a visceral connection to the content and the art.
Therefore, spending an hour gushing over the next steps in where Vaughan and Staples will take it on release day was magical. I won’t spoil anything because #54 left us with so much to discuss, so I’m eager to hear from other Saga fans out there!
Readers Be Advised 