So my camera broke last week and won’t be fixed for at the very least 2-3 weeks. So my dad (happy birthday yesterday!) drove out to Brooklyn just so I could borrow his for a while- so the blog wouldn’t be interrupted. What a guy! So I just want to say a big Thanks Dad!

Also a quick thanks to Grace at Design Sponge for posting about the Sketchbook Series. We got the most hits on Friday we’ve ever gotten. And of course thanks again to Jen for sharing her wonderful work. Ok enough thank yous- here’s todays book:

This new graphic novel from Adrian Tomine was sitting in my Amazon to buy cart for a little while. I usually wait until I have enough books for free shipping- so luckily I hadn’t purchased it yet. I happened to take a quick stop into Jim Hanley’s Universe on my way to the camera fixing shop and they had signed copies for sale. I’m always a sucker for a signed book even if it cost me ten bucks more. I wound up reading the whole thing on my commute home from the city and then walked home with a book in front of my face for the final chapter. I love Adrian’s real-life stories about relationships. This one focuses around Ben Tanaka, a crabby, sarcastic Asian American movie theater owner who has crushes on white blond girls. He is having problems with his girlfriend Miko who is an activist in the Asian-American community and this comic follows their relationships turmoil. The writing is really good and the characters perfectly believeable. And if you’ve read any of Adrian’s other comics, you know the drawing is great. He is basically a master at setting a scene in classic rectangular frames and speech bubbles. I love the real cover of this book-under the jacket- a soothing blue bookcloth. Pick up a copy here or a signed one at Jim Hanley’s Universe if your in NYC.

© Julia Rothman 2007