Note: Summer is fast waning, so get those lists in!

Our next Summer Reading List is courtesy of cartoonist Diana Tamblyn. Please send us your list.

Diana Tamblyn Sequential Summer Reading List

My next appearance will be at Word on the Street in Toronto on Sunday, September 27th. Really looking forward to this event! I’ll have all my minis, and t-shirts on hand for sale.

Here’s my book list:

The Hunter – Richard Stark
I read this in anticipation of Darwyn Cooke’s graphic novel. I thought it would be a good read, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Parker is a great character, and the story was well written, expertly paced and of course has a terrific hardboiled crime style. I will definitely be reading more volumes in this series and now feel Darwyn has a lot to live up to with his version!

I even did a drawing of Parker, which you can see, at my Flickr page.

Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
This is the first Malcolm Gladwell book I’ve read. I picked it up because I kept seeing it at my local library on the “fast read” shelf. In it Gladwell looks at examples of people who have achieved an unusual amount of success in their lives, then looks at how their background contributed to this success. There’s a lot to chew on here, but Gladwell writes in a straightforward, breezy, very readable style.

Knots and Crosses – Ian Rankin
I’ve been reading the Rebus Ian Rankin books in totally random order based on what was available in the library. This is the first of the series and it was available in a really nice limited edition hardcover version for about 4 bucks on the Chapters remainders table so I picked it up eagerly. Although Rankin hasn’t found his footing yet as a writer or with Rebus, this book gives a lot of good background information about the character that is only alluded to in later volumes.

Three Day Road – Joseph Boydon
I read Through Black Spruce last year and really liked it. I’ve heard from a lot of people that Three Day Road is even better, so I’m looking forward to reading this book. Plus Joseph Boyden is really cute.

Graphic Novels

The Nobody – Jeff Lemire
I’m a big Jeff Lemire fan. I thought his Essex trilogy was terrific and I was curious as to what he would come up with for Vertigo (and if the DC work would differ much from his previous work). After reading it I was surprised and impressed with how little DC messed with Lemire’s style. I really liked The Nobody a lot, and thought it was just as personal and esoteric as Lemire’s Essex County stuff with a strong narrative and intriguing characters. Highly recommended.

Asterios Polyp – David Mazzuchelli
I’ve had this sitting by my bed for a few weeks now and I have to say I’m a bit daunted by it. I’m a huge Mazzuchelli fan and all my cartoonist friends say it’s a humbling experience reading it because it is just so good. I think I’ll attempt to crack it in the next few weeks and hope my ego survives.

Parker – Darwyn Cooke
This is another one that is sitting beside my bedside, mocking me. Just flipping through it, Darwyn’s confidence in his brushwork is really something to behold. Have to hand to IDW for putting together such a nice package too all the way down to the inside book cover which just suits the era of the story so well.

Dark Entries – Ian Rankin
As mentioned above, I’m a big Ian Rankin fan and I’m really curious as to how he’s handled writing his first graphic novel. I think the switch from writing regular fiction to graphic novels has a steeper learning curve than most writers would think. The fact the story features John Constantine and kicks off DC’s new crime series, just makes me more curious. I do wish the story featured Rankin’s own Rebus character though.

We’ll see how Rankin compares to Ed Brubaker, whose work on Gotham Central and Criminal has been really outstanding, and has convinced me that comics are really well suited to telling crime stories.