Pride Among the Pines Book Club

October 2022

10/1/2022

This month we're discussing Nimona by ND Stevenson. We will be meeting on October 14th at 7:30 pm in an online video chat. You can find the link in the sidebar to the right (or the bottom of the page if you're on a phone browser)!

ND Stevenson is an American cartoonist & animation producer. He is the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the animated television series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. He is also known for the fantasy webcomic Nimona, his work on the comics series Lumberjanes, and his autobiographical collection, The Fire Never Goes Out.

Stevenson's work has won multiple Eisner Awards as well as a Daytime Emmy Award and a GLAAD Media Award. Stevenson is non-binary and has written about being transgender in his webcomic "I'm Fine I'm Fine Just Understand".

So, what's the book about?

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from ND Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel has been hailed by critics and fans alike as the arrival of a "superstar" talent (NPR.org).

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Buy Online!

Paperback
Audiobook

We are open to the public for in-store shopping Mon-Sat from 11am-7pm & you can pickup your orders at the register. However, you can also pickup your book using the pickup basket at the front door or the drive thru window. We offer free media mail shipping for orders $30+ and free local delivery, as well (within Boone town limits). Getting your book to you as conveniently as possible is important to us!

Finally, you can RSVP & add this event to your personal calendar--do that here! We hope to see you at our next meeting!

Reviews & Interviews

ND Stevenson Interviewed by Tim Manley -- National Book Foundation
Nimona -- Kirkus
‘Nimona,’ by ND Stevenson -- The New York Times

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July 2022

5/26/2022

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This month's book club selection is Fun Home by Alison Bechdel! We will be meeting on Friday, July 8th at 7:30 pm in an online video chat. You can find the link in the sidebar of this blog (look to the right)!

Alison Bechdel is an American cartoonist. Originally best known for the long-running comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For, in 2006 she became a best-selling and critically acclaimed author with her graphic memoir Fun Home. Fun Home has also been adapted into a Tony Award-winning musical. Bechdel has been named a MacArthur Fellow and Cartoonist Laureate of Vermont, among many other honors.

So, what's the book about?

In this graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father.

Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the Fun Home. It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.

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If this sounds like something you would like to read, you can get your copy of the book from the store for 15% off when you order with us: in store, online, over the phone (828.386.1219), or via email. Our booksellers will be happy to help you get the book in the format that you prefer!

Buy Online:

Paperback

Reviews & Interviews

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic - NYT
Mars Reviews Fun Home - The Lesbrary
The Alison Bechdel Interview - The Comics Journal

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February 2022

1/18/2022

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This month's book club book is Beetle & the Hollow Bones by Aliza Layne! We will be meeting on Friday, February 11th at 7:30 pm in an online video chat! You can RSVP & add the event to your calendar here. The meeting link is also in the sidebar of this blog (look to your right!)

Aliza Layne is a cartoonist, illustrator, and storyteller. She is the creator of Demon Street, a long-form fantasy webcomic for all ages. Her Halloween costumes have elicited the phrases "theatrical," "don't you think you're going a little overboard," and "oh, we remember you from last year." Beetle and the Hollowbones is her first graphic novel and a Stonewall Honor Book. Visit Aliza at AlizaLayne.com.

So, what's the book about?

In the eerie town of 'Allows, some people get to be magical sorceresses, while other people have their spirits trapped in the mall for all ghastly eternity.

Then there's twelve-year-old goblin-witch Beetle, who's caught in between. She'd rather skip being homeschooled completely and spend time with her best friend, Blob Glost. But the mall is getting boring, and B.G. is cursed to haunt it, tethered there by some unseen force. And now Beetle's old best friend, Kat, is back in town for a sorcery apprenticeship with her Aunt Hollowbone. Kat is everything Beetle wants to be: beautiful, cool, great at magic, and kind of famous online. Beetle's quickly being left in the dust.

But Kat's mentor has set her own vile scheme in motion. If Blob Ghost doesn't escape the mall soon, their afterlife might be coming to a very sticky end. Now, Beetle has less than a week to rescue her best ghost, encourage Kat to stand up for herself, and confront the magic she's been avoiding for far too long. And hopefully ride a broom without crashing.

An enchanting, riotous, and playfully illustrated debut graphic novel following a young goblin trying to save her best friend from the haunted mall--perfect for fans of Steven Universe and Adventure Time.

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Buy Online

Paperback
Hardcover

Reviews & Interviews

Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne -- Kirkus Reviews
Review: Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne -- The Nerd Daily
Interview: Aliza Layne -- MG Book Village
Adventure Time meets Moomintroll? Chatting with Aliza Layne about BEETLE & THE HOLLOWBONES -- School Library Journal Blog

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