July RandomCAT: Picture This!

July RandomCAT: "Picture This!"

Take a moment to recall the times before you learned how to read. What kinds of books did you peer into as a child? Did your parents, siblings, or guardians share illustrated stories with you? What kinds of pictures really appeal to you?

For this month's RandomCAT, your reading choice should include illustrations, photographs, pictures, diagrams, or other graphic elements.

Here are some "random" ideas from my library shelves to get you started:

American Born Chinese by Gene Luan Yang (graphic novel)
Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden (graphic novel)

Carl's Afternoon in the Park by Alexandra Day (wordless picture book)
Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates (picture book)
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say (picture book)
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (picture book)

The Hobbit with illustrations by Michael Hague (artistically illustrated novel)

The New Yorker Book of Literary Cartoons edited by Bob Manikoff (cartoon line drawings)

Library: The Drama Within by Diane Asseo Griliches (photo-essay)
Life in the Hills: Brown County, Indiana compiled by the Brown County Democrat (photo-essay)

Lives of the Artists by Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt (non-fiction book with color illustrations/portraits)

Library on Wheels by Sharlee Glenn (non-fiction book with photos)
Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman (non-fiction book with photos)

Just Looking by John Updike (photos plus essays)
The Writer's Desk by Jill Krementz (photos plus essays)

I hope you enjoy this opportunity to "return to childhood" and "peer amid books." (Sorry, I could not resist the pun, which was originally perpetrated via a colleague's library display.)



Don't forget to post your selections in the wiki!

This is the perfect time for me to read the next Oishinbo al carte book - Oishinbo a la carte: Fish, Sushi, and Sashimi by Tetsu Kariay - it's the fourth in a manga series about Japanese cuisine.

Ok, this is making me want to pick up a graphic novel. Yay that the library is now open for curbside pickup, as for anything with photos, I'd rather read the printed version.

I read a wonderful graphic memoir in April. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain this spring. I believe the book was originally created for his children as he attempted to explain in an accessible way the nature of his upbringing in 1980's Czechoslovakia. Highly recommend.

I will look for something along these lines for this challenge. I have several in mind, but I am not certain I'll be able to access them unless the full library system reopens.

Though I do have the last Fables here at home, so if I don't go to the library, it will probably be this one:

Fables, Vol. 22: Farewell / Bill Willingham

Other options:
Fairest, vol. 1: Wide Awake / Bill Willingham
Paper Girls, vol. 1 / Brian K. Vaughan

ETA: And many more options...

>4 beebeereads: I've just added that to my wishlist, it sounds great!

For this month's challenge I'm going to read St Kilda: The Silent Islands by Alex Boyd, a book primarily of photographs of this fascinating place.

I love this theme! As a child I loved illustrations by N. C. Wyeth and I've thought lately about reading one of the children's classics he brought alive with "pictures". Here's the perfect opportunity.

What an interesting theme! I'm looking at some of my art books for this one.

Another one that I found on my shelf is Shakespeare The Illustrated and Updated Edition by Bill Bryson, which contains many maps and works of art.

This is the perfect opportunity for me to finally crack open This is the World, a gorgeously illustrated travel book by Miroslav Sasek.

I plan to reread at least two books which my parents read to me when I was a very young child: The Poky Little Puppy, a Little Golden book which my sister recently gave me as a gift after I saw a copy in a Little Golden books exhibit at one of the Smithsonian Museums, and The Tall Book of Mother Goose illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky which somehow I kept through the years. I have requested the Dr. Seuss book, Horton Hatches the Egg from our local library which will come via the bookmobile in a few weeks. I remember my father reading that to me time after time when I had to stay in bed because I was sick. My mother thinks it was possibly polio although the doctor never said so. My parents had to try to keep me very still; they even had to carry me to the bathroom.

I am going to "read" a collection of photographs of 1960's Melbourne.

Perfect, I have two books already chosen for July that will fit: Prince Valiant, Volume 9 and Poldark's Cornwall

My Brother's Husband 2 by Gengoroh Tagame is on my virtual TBR shelf.

hmm, thinking cap on!

I think I might read My Ideal Bookshelf by Thessaly La Force or Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky.

I will read Bibliophile, An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount for this one. I love the book theme art.

>17 Kristelh: - Oooh! That looks interesting, too.

>17 Kristelh: That sounds wonderful!

>17 Kristelh:. This book sounds so wonderful that I have already ordered it via Amazon. Thanks for mentioning it.

I have the first three volumes of the graphic novel, Postal by Matt Hawkins that I have been saving for some time, I think July will finally be the time to pick these up.

I'll probably read a large coffee-table book on William Morris, the arts and crafts designer, that I've had for years. Lots of pictures of his works and designs.

>18 dudes22:, >19 LadyoftheLodge:, >20 sallylou61:, your welcome. My husband bought it for me for my Christmas present last year. It will probably be one of my all time favorite Christmas presents.



She also now has a book journal too. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/1452167311.01._SX360_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg 2x, https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/1452167311.01._SX540_SCLZZZZZZZ... 3x">

>23 Kristelh: And my library has a copy. I'll add it to my next curbside ordder.

>23 Kristelh: Just ordered it! Thanks for the suggestion.

>17 Kristelh: I love Bibliophile!

I have New Kid by Jerry Craft to pick up from the library.

Great idea! The first book I thought of is one I just pulled off the shelf yesterday - The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time - which is considered a companion book to the series; it's not necessarily a picture book, but it has lots of illustrations. I also thought about reading The Sandman, Vol 3: Dream Country.

Good theme! I'll read The Best We Could Do, an illustrated memoir by Thi Bui.

>27 LisaMorr: >28 EBT1002: Thank you! I am glad you found it to your liking. It will be interesting to see what the final list in the wiki looks like.

I got an early start, as I have a lot of reads planned for July! I finished Alex Boyd's St Kilda: The Silent Islands and gave it 4*. A coffee table book of mostly photos, featuring St Kilda as it is today (ie including all the Ministry of Defence structures as well as the more well-known ruined street etc).

Fables, Vol. 22. Farewell / Bill Willingham
4 stars

There is a war coming between Rose Red and Snow White. And a final wrap up for many of the characters.

Storylines with war are not as interesting to me, and I was happy with how this ended. I enjoyed the wrap ups for many of the characters, particularly for Snow and Bigby’s cubs/kids. There was one text section in the middle, then more wrap-up text at the end by the author, which I quite enjoyed. As always, illustrations are quite nice and I’ve always loved the extra touch of the borders. The cover actually folds out and includes many (all?) characters in the series. One of the extras at the end of the book is the “key” that shows you who is who on the cover. There is also an additional 4 page fold-out close to the end of the book.

I ended up reading The Runaway Beignet which I actually saw at a bookstore in New Orleans down by Jackson Square. It was a unique retelling of the Runaway Gingerbread Man story, and allowed me to revisit some fave spots in New Orleans.

I finished three books that I'm entering here altogether:

Lovebirds and Other Wild Sweethearts: learn from the animal kingdom's most devoted couples by Abbie Headon, illustrated by Liz Temperley 4.5★
The Tower Treasure by Frank Dixon, illustrated by Walter S. Rogers 4★
A Bear called Paddington by Michael Bond, illustrated by Peggy Fortnum 4★

Definitely enjoyed Oishinbo a la carte: Fish, Sushi, and Sashimi by Tetsu Kariya.

I will be doing two books for this one.
Photo Ark by Joel Sartore a photo album of endangered animals and Animal Children by Edith Brown Kirkwood, a book of poems about animals. I bought it this weekend at an estate sale.

Edited for clarity.

>35 lowelibrary: So is the author a relation of yours if she can write about animals you picked up at the weekend?

I will probably read an issue (or two) of Asterix. I didn't discover these comic books until recently; luckily for me, they are fun for adults as well as children :)

>36 Robertgreaves: Sort of like Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, but related to word order?

I had planned to read The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come with 28 illustrations by N. C. Wyeth according to the library catalog. After picking it up I looked through every single page searching for an illustration but none were there! According to a note in the book it was donated to the library in July of 1985 and I suppose miscataloged since then?

After taking a look through my shelves I decided to read Rosa Bonheur: A Life by Catherine O. Peare, a children's biography on the French 19th century artist. Illustrations are by Margaret Ayers.

>39 clue: did someone cut out the pictures?

>37 leslie.98: I love Asterix! Here's a link to the first book, online: http://ia600100.us.archive.org/1/items/eFilingComics/01_Asterix_the_Gaul.pdf (hope it works)

>40 fuzzi: I don't think so and there is no mention of illustrations or an illustrator in the book.

>38 LadyoftheLodge: maybe. I was just being silly.

Thanks for the link, >40 fuzzi:. I have read the first one but used it to find the one I wanted - Asterix the Gladiator.

>36 Robertgreaves: I edited my post to clarify.

I have completed my read of the first three issues of the graphic novel series Postal. I enjoyed the start of this series and will most likely order more of these from the library.

>42 Robertgreaves: Silly is good! We all need a little of that right now.

COMPLETED My Brother's Husband Volume 1 and My Brother's Husband Volume 2, both by Gengoroh Tagame. When I read Volume 1 a couple of years ago it was my first manga.

I'm planning to read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children for this challenge. It has photographs in it.

Completed The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui, a graphic memoir. 4 stars.

I have finished Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer which is very slim, beautifully written and has lovely illustrations by Sempé.

The August Random is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/322338

I read the House of M comics by Brian Michael Bendis. Now I'm a little less behind on X-Men plots!

I read ghost eye by Marion Dane Bauer, a children's fantasy with lovely illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman.

I decided to read The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui. Publication date is 2017. This is part of the Vulture 21st Century Canon, https://www.vulture.com/article/best-books-21st-century-so-far.html
It is a graphic novel in the style of Persepolis is about Iran. It tells the story of generations, family, and heritage of Vietnam dating back to WWII.

It sounds as if we have a variety of different choices for this challenge. It is hard to imagine that we are almost at the end of July already.

I'm reading the delightful tales from Shakespeare: seven plays, presented and illustrated by Marcia Williams.

Jane / Aline Brosh McKenna, Ramon K. Perez
4 stars

This is a graphic novel, modern-day retelling of Jane Eyre. Jane is an orphan who manages to leave the unloving home where she grows up to move to New York City to become an artist. While at school, she finds a job as a nanny to a girl whose mother has died and her father is never around.

This was really good. In addition to being a very well-told story, the illustrations are really well done and easy to follow.

Ok - maybe it's me - I can't see an edit button to update the wiki. And Jul is missing from the list at the top.

ETA: I can get to it by going to Jun.

>58 dudes22: The person who curates the wiki will need to add the July at the top. You can always scroll down to get to the correct month and the "edit" button is on the right.

>59 LadyoftheLodge: - It wasn't there. (at least at that time) But I could edit June and July was under June.

Looks like it is fixed! Glad you figured it out.