Okay, I lied when I said that I wouldn’t be reviewing any more graphic novels this year. THE WALKING DEAD on AMC made me so mad that CH ordered the compendium of the first eight volumes for us to read and discuss — like a husband/wife book club. More about my disdain for the TV show on Thursday when I name it my Worst Show of 2010 over at Fierce and Nerdy. Until then, here are my thoughts on THE WALKING DEAD: Compendium One by Robert Kirkman.

Why I Decided To Read It: My husband started reading the compendium on our recent cruise to Mexico, went into complete book thrall, then all of sudden put it down, because something so bad had happened that he “needed to take a break.” So having observed this three days worth of behavior, I picked it up, determined to see what shook him so badly.

What It’s About: Zombie Apocalypse … you know the drill.

What Makes It Different: Basically while most Zombie Apocalypse stories are about action and survival, this turns out to be a story about civilization and survival (two of my favorite things!). It really made me gain a new respect for my African and caveman ancestors a like.

What I Loved: This is where I have to talk a little about the show, because sadly the AMC version leaves out much of what the book gets right. Every non-zombie character in this book is rich and complex — even the POC. There are no completely good guys or bad guys, just three dimensional humans dealing with a completely horrific situation. These characters are so gotdang good, even when I wanted to completely emotionally disconnect from them, because anyone could die at any moment, I had a hard time doing so. Also unlike the show, this compendium does not drag, not even for a minute. It was so compelling that I ended up finishing what had to be at least 1,000 comic pages in under three days — it would have been less, except twenty-four hours into my own read, my husband guilted me into giving the compendium back to him, until he had to put it down again, when something even more awful than the first truly awful thing happened.

Speaking of which, I want to warn you that this story is haunting — truly haunting. If you are depressed, don’t read this as you will only become more so. If you, like me, are prone to nightmares, be prepared to have a few of them, while reading and a few afterwards. This is what I call “true horror” — a story that really makes you feel that you are inside of it as opposed to merely observing.

What I Didn’t Like: No page numbers — WTF??? If you lose your place — say your 18-month-toddler comes along and slams the book closed on you as she does whenever you attempt to read in her presence — then you’re effed and have to risk some pretty significant spoilers to get back to where you were. Seriously, do not try to face down this massive story without a bookmark at the ready.

Survivalist Lessons Learned:

Canned food and books will be the new gold. As my husband discussed HERE, we have a pretty significant amount of emergency rations just in case of an earthquake, nuclear attack or … (ahem) zombie apocalypse. This story made me want to add way more canned food and physical books to our collection. Since…

In the case of a zombie apocalypse, you should either stay exactly where you are with your family or keep on moving with a community. This sounds contradictory, but in the case of staying where you are, you’ll need plenty of supplies and you’ll also need a plan for securing your perimeter and creating the kind of place in which you could live for years while waiting for the zombies to turn into skin and bones. In the case of moving with a community, you’ll need to find a bigger space, which you can keep secure, and farm. So if you have a black thumb, like I do, plan for the former.

Drills aren’t just for kids. For the most part, I hesitated to call any of the characters’ actions stupid, since I have no idea how I would react to a zombie apocalypse that killed most of my loved ones. But the lack of Plan Bs really upset this dedicated outliner. These people were constantly letting their guard down and then having to scramble when they got attacked. The first few times I understood, but by mid-story, I was like, “Ya’ll need to come up with some Plan Bs and Cs and start running worse-case scenario drills.”

Befriend a gun nut. And know how to get to his or her (but let’s face it — probably his) house without a Garmin.

To Whom Would I Recommend This Book: Survivalists, Gun Nuts, Ashton Kutcher, Anyone Who Suspects That They Could Be Survivalists Or Gun Nuts Under The Right Circumstances, Steven Barnes, and Ryan Dixon

Five more books to go after this one. Sadly this will be my last piece of women’s or African-American fiction for the year, but man, are we ending with a winner. Here are my thoughts on GLORIOUS by Bernice McFadden.

Why I Decided To Read It: The better question is why didn’t I read it before now? It’s hard to have a conversation with other black authors/readers without McFadden’s name coming up, and I was getting sick of saying, “She’s on my list!” Then the last time I visited my sister in St. Louis, I noticed GLORIOUS on her shelf, and I was like, “Oh, you like Bernice McFadden?I met her in New York–”  And she was all like, “She’s one of the best writers out there. She’s my favorite writer. I’ve read every book of hers. I love her books.” Now, if you know my sister IRL, you know she’s kind of the opposite of me, in that she doesn’t get fangirly about anyone or anything. So her unusually enthusiastic endorsement did it. I downloaded GLORIOUS as soon as I got home and soon found out that I had only been doing myself a disservice by waiting this long.

What’s It About: Easter Bartlett, a born writer, leaves her racist small town and eventually lands in Renaissance-era Harlem.

What Makes It Different: McFadden is a very literary author who knows how to both write and entertain. Sadly, those two qualities often remain separate in “good” literature.

What I Loved: Now GLORIOUS is probably being marketed as a piece of historical black fiction, because it seriously makes you feel like you are inside are living in Renaissance-era Harlem. But I would argue that this book should also be marketed as a must-read for female writers. For reasons I’ll explain below, I wanted to send this to every unpublished female writer I know. Added to that, McFadden is a consummate and gorgeous writer, and much like with THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF LEMON CAKE, it was nice to sit back and just enjoy good writing — I mean writing so good it felt more like I was eating this delicious book than listening to it. Oh, and did I mention that Alfre Woodward does the ah-mazing narration? If she doesn’t get nominated for an Audie Award in January, the world is truly a criminal place.

What I Didn’t Like: I’m sure Ms. McFadden has received several complaints that this book is too short. I felt bereft when it ended, like I had gotten kicked out of a really good party. But then when I really thought about it, I realized that this is a complete story, it was just that McFadden had done us the favor of not going on and on in a plotless meander as so many other literary writers choose to do. Still, it is a rather skinny book, and I find myself wishing there had been more of it.

Being A Good Writer Lessons Learned:

Go  after what you want. In many ways this is a book about a character who doesn’t know how to pursue the things she most wants, who settles as opposed to pursuing. Lately I’ve been feeling a certain flagging of ambition, a hesitation to try my hand at the things that scare me. Since beginning this book, I’ve not only cut all my hair off, but I’ve also set several plans in motion for 2011, including actually taking that art class that I’ve been wanting to take since college. This book made me realize that the consequences of inaction and/or running away are much worse than the consequences flying too close to the sun. The truth is that I’d rather die in a ball of flames than in a cold tomb of inaction. And you know what, don’t tell me what I can or cannot do.

Don’t hide your light. My dear departed MFA program head said something that would change the way I think about women writers forever. Whenever I told him I was struggling with something, he’d invite me to show him what I was working on. The first time he made this offer, I told him that I didn’t want to show him something half-finished that I felt shy about showing my writing to others. And he said, “Yes, I know so many women writers with half-finished things in drawers because they’re afraid they’re not good enough.” I can’t say why this connects to GLORIOUS w/o giving away major plot points, but I will say that something rage-inducingly bad happens to Easter, and though she is technically a victim, I couldn’t help but think, “This is what happens when you hide your light, when you don’t pursue what you want.” So to all of the women writers I know who currently have half-finished things on their hard drives, because of neglect and/or fear, read this book, and I bet you’ll finish your project in 2011.

Really think about your verbs. I have a problem with passive voice. A lot of my rewrites involve getting rid of all the “was” this and “was” that and replacing them with action verbs. Reading GLORIOUS made me want to pick up a dictionary and just memorize every terrific verb I could before writing my next book. I loved the way she uses verbs in this novel. At one point, Easter didn’t “want” something, she “craved” it — such a simple choice, but it made the sentence so much richer, like adding butter. This whole novel is a friendly reminder about keeping your verbs vibrant and interesting.

To Whom Would I Recommend This Book: All Unpublished Women Writers, African-American Studies Majors, New Yorkers, and People Who Adore Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Click on the book cover to buy at Amazon!

Hmm, so when’s the last time I reviewed something for you that you could score absolutely free and in an instant?. Sadly, it’s been a while. I think the last time was back in June, when I told you to read webcomic-turned-printed-book, BAYOU, quick like a bunny. Well, just in time for those looking for a way in to the literary graphic novel world, here are my thoughts on DICEBOX, a 289-page webcomic by Jenn Manley Lee.

Why I Decided To Read It: Well, i09 gave this webcomic a pretty fantastic review. And i09, unlike a lot of other nerd sites, gave WHO FEARS DEATH by Nnedi Okorafor and THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS by N.K. Jemisin the love they deserved, so I’m all about taking recommendations from i09.

What It’s About: If you’re a fan of one of my favorite graphic novel series of all time, STRANGERS IN PARADISE, then this is kind of like that if STRANGERS IN PARADISE was set in the future, and about to migrant workers, and involved a black woman who’s very comfortable with her sexuality, and if Katchoo had looked like David Bowie as opposed to like Katchoo. Okay, on second thought, this is nothing like STRANGERS IN PARADISE. But if you liked STRANGERS IN PARADISE, you will absolutely love DICEBOX.

What Makes It Different: I cannot stress enough how awesome and wonderfully complex the black main character, Molly is in this. She reminds me of a thick-waisted Shug Avery — if Shug Avery had really scary Cassandra-like visions.

What I Loved: You know how you often read stuff about the future and it’s full of slick gadgets and totalitarian governments and alien enemies, but somehow the interpersonal relationships remain the same as the interpersonal relationships found in lit set during current times. This ain’t that kind of book. This felt like reading about the future of marriage and sex in our universe, and let me tell you, the future is extremely intriguing. Also, I loved the main-main character, Griffen, an enigmatic rock star of a nut job, who makes for very compelling reading. In fact let me warn you right now that this graphic novel is a terrible page-turner. Do not start reading it if you have plans are anything like that, because after the first couple of chapters it will hold you in a thrall and not let you go. I found this out the hard way last Saturday, and would like to apologize to my fam who I neglected horribly to finish reading this graphic novel in three sittings.

What I Didn’t Like: I had one burning question that never got answered, but I can’t discuss it without spoilers. But this small disappointment wasn’t big enough that I wouldn’t whole-heartedly recommend this webcomic to others.

Writing Lessons Learned:

Reveal Answers as M&Ms as opposed to dessert. One of the things that makes this graphic novel so delightful is that every single thing is a question from page one. And the majority of the questions are answered casually and without warning, so you really have to pay attention. I tried skimming like once, and got confused rather quickly. It made me think about how compelling it is to dish out answers throughout the text in small pieces as opposed to at the end. Reading this graphic novel was a very delicious experience, and it really gave me something to think about as a writer.

Focus on anything but the gadgets. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the things the books implies about future sexuality. It’s seriously on a whole nother level, and it’s made me a little disenchanted with regular sci-fi now. I wonder why so many TV shows insist on focusing on the gadgets, aliens, and politics as opposed to really exploring class, sexuality, and other topics that have yet to be done to death in sci-fi. DICEBOX makes BATTLESTAR GALACTICA look really, really vanilla. Yes, seriously.

Regular folks are just as beautiful and compelling as pretty ones — if not more so. I just loved that these characters were representative of what real folks look like, rather than just the pretty ones. I loved that Molly is able to pull tons of sex partners without looking like Halle Berry, because in real life women are able to pull tons of sex partners without looking like Halle Berry. I especially love that we can tell how old Griffin  is and that the characters have things you almost never see in graphic novels or movies like sagging breasts and ugly clothes. I’d really be interested to see more writers portray the beauty of verite.

To Whom Would I Recommend This Book: Fans of British Television; Dr. Miro; Blue-Staters; Human Sexuality Majors; Bisexuals; & BFFs

Click on the pic to read the graphic novel!

So getting back to fiction novels, here are my thoughts on THE ONE THAT I WANT by Allison Winn Scotch

Why I Decided To Read It: This novel had quite a bit of internet buzz, and I love internet buzz, so…

What It’s About: This could have easily been subtitled The Inner-Life of a Doormat. Basically Tilly, whose always there for everybody else, receives the gift of clarity by her psychic ex-BFF, and the whole world that she’s lovingly constructed for herself starts falling apart: her marriage falters, her recovered alcoholic father falls off the wagon, her guidance counselor job becomes a hassle — you get the picture.

What Makes It Different: I’ve seen people go into a psychic’s tent and get a weird fortune or discover a stunning secret revealed. I even read a book in which the client gets pushed back in time, but I’ve never come across someone getting the gift of clarity. Neat!

What I Loved: Great concept and as the daughter of a former guidance counselor, I liked the POV character’s job. On a personal note, the main character is also a member of the Dead Mothers Club, and I liked Scotch’s exploration of how having her mother die early affected Tilly’s later life. Oh, and the cover is bangin‘.

What I Didn’t Like: The concept is great, but the execution is rather vague. Also, as the exact opposite of a doormat, I found much of Tilly’s behavior, including a general lack of curiosity in the face of receiving a pretty significant psychic power baffling. Lack of curiosity is a huge pet peeve of mine when it  comes to literary characters.

Writing Lessons Learned:

Meet you at the crossroads. Presenting your main character at a crossroads is a great writing device, because it sets up a natural mystery. Which path will your character take? It’s a nice organic way to keep your audience in suspense.

Solidly-middle-class. One of the things I loved about this novel is that everyone in it is middle-class. I’m trying to remember the last time I read a white novel, set in a small town, in which all the characters are solidly middle-to-lower class, and I’ve got nothing. It was nice to see the spotlight turned on real folks with common problems.

No Detective! I pretty much had the entire plot figured out halfway through the book, which left me wondering why Tilly didn’t see it coming, and also, why she for the most part refused to ask any questions. This is something we should all watch out for as writers, a mystery without a detective will feel flat no matter how great the concept is.

To Whom Would I Recommend This Book: Those Who Married Young, Guidance Counselors, Doormats, Those With Really Stable Marriages (like SUBSTITUTE ME, this is one of those books that could break folks up), Adult Children of Alcoholics, and Dead Mothers Club members.