Sinister Scribbles

Fiction:

Graphic Novels that I Loved That Weren’t Published in 2025:

These are the graphic novels that I loved, but, because they weren’t published in 2025, I couldn’t list them as my favorites on the No Flying, No Tights Best of 2025 list (which I’ll post once it goes up).  I don’t know why I haven’t included them before!

Leap/Simina Popescu-With beautiful artwork and a strong friendship at the center, this coming-of-age story was a delight to read. Another strength was the exploration of complicated relationship dynamics. If you enjoyed Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, I recommend Leap!

Heavyweight/Solomon J. Brager: Heavyweight was a fascinating, nuanced examination of family lore-making within the context of surviving a horrific tragedy. It deepened my understanding how class and privilege impacted families’ ability to survive the Holocaust.

Brittle Joints/Maria Sweeney-This was a beautiful and compelling graphic memoir; Sweeney has a knack for conveying joy and pain with gorgeous art and brief, impactful scenes. Graphic medicine fans who haven’t read this should take note.

One thing I’ve noticed this year is that I tend to read mostly newer books (i.e. ones published during the year or within the last year or two). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’m defaulting to chasing the latest thing when I’m sure there are some good older books that I’ve missed! Therefore, I’m on the lookout for some older titles that I might have missed. I welcome fiction and nonfiction recommendations!

For nonfiction, here are some topics and themes that interest me:

One thing I’ve noticed this year is that I tend to read mostly newer books (i.e. ones published during the year or within the last year or two). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’m defaulting to chasing the latest thing when I’m sure there are some good older books that I’ve missed! Therefore, I’m on the lookout for some older titles that I might have missed. I welcome fiction and nonfiction recommendations!

For nonfiction, here are some topics and themes that interest me:

•   History—LGBTQ; U.S History; World; Women’s roles/gender/reproductive rights
•  Relationships/ community building (especially within the context of queer relationships, but really anything on friendship)
•    Nature (learning how to navigate/survival, plant/animal identification and use, cool narrative nonfiction about nature)
•   Technology and society/psychology