Spy x Family, Vol. 14 by Tatsuya Endo, (translator) Casey Loe

Anya earns both a Stella and a Tonitrus Bolt in her end-of-year exams. Loid decides to ignore the bolt for now and celebrate the Stella by taking a skiing trip. While there, they are involved in a locked room mystery when one of the other occupants of the chalet is almost murdered. I wish that story had been longer but there is a limit to how many strips are in a chapter.

There is also the story of Anya's school having a dance. She tries to get close to the younger Desmond but he is not interested (aka he runs away.)

Finally, we get the story of Henry Henderson, the school's headmaster. It seems he had a past with Becky's chauffer/minder, Martha.

Four stars

Follows Vol. 13

Followed by Vol. 15

This book came out September 4, 2024

Borrowed as hard copy from library
Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 12 by Tatsuya Endo, translator Casey Loe

Our favorite family is dealing with a world post-Anya's class being kidnapped. Anya has to go back to schoole while Yor and Lloid go back to work. Yor's coworkers are skeptical when she refuses to speak ill of her husband so she creates problems that don't really exist. Meanwhile, Lloid is also dealing with her brother Yuri as both sides race to get to super spy Winston Wheeler before the other. 

Four stars

Follows Vol. 11

Followed by Vol. 13

This book came out October 4, 2023

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Photographic Memory by Bill Griffith

I live near Yellowstone and knew quite a bit about William Henry Jackson as one of the people whose work helped influence it becoming the first national park. This book was an interesting historical fiction of WHJ's life, done by his great-grandson who is also an artist, a cartoonist. This graphic novel explores the highs and lows of the original WHJ, of how he became a photographer and how he had an absolutely amazing life, traveling the world, but still struggled with mundanities like actually being paid for his work. 

Some of it was a little bit of a slog for me but I can see why it was included on the list of NPR Best Books.

Three stars

This book came out October 21, 2025

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 11 by Tatsuya Endo

The book starts with the furthering of the familiy trying to get in good with Damian's family. Yor knew the mother but Anya is really working on the son. It's not going well. Yuri visits and is still creepily obsessed with his sister.

Most of the book is based around a school trip that has gone terribly wrong when two of the buses are waylaid by dissidents. Anya and Damian are able to work together to get everyone home safely. 

Four stars

Follows Vol. 10

Followed by Vol. 12

This book came out April 4, 2022

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 10 by Tatsuya Endo

Oof. We get the story of Loid's early childhood  and it is bleak. We see the start of a war between East and West and how it decimates and grinds people down.

We also see the story of an opera singer whose trip to the West might begin to thaw tensions... as long as the bad press about him doesn't get out.
We also get the story of Yor rescuing the former first lady, Desmond's mother. She joins her for a rousing game of volleyball and then some tea. Meeting Melinda gives Yor a friend and some chance at normalcy.

Four stars

This book came out April 4, 2022

Follows Vol. 9

Followed by Vol. 11

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 13 by Tatsuya Endo

I missed vol. 12 so I'm a little behind but we are still with the Forger family in this story. Yor's brother Yuri suspects Loid of being the arch spy, Twilight but fails to find proof after a big fight. Meanwhile, Damian is trying to balance the scales after Anya helped him out in a previous book but he's having trouble getting her alone. And she wants to be alone so she can have the cakes that are only given out to a select group but their friends keep chasing them and they can't know that she helped him out. 

Other stories show Yor's friendship with one of the more powerful families in this world and how misunderstandings can happen so quickly. 

A nice addition to the series. 

Four stars

This book came out January 14, 2025

Follows Vol. 12

Followed by Vol. 14

Borrowed as ebook from Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Clean Sweep (the graphic novel) by Ilona Andrews

This book is great with setting up the world building. We've got Dina Demille who is an innkeeper. Her parents disappeared and she's wondering where they are. Her sister married and moved away. Her brother is a wanderer. Maybe not a hard world to build until you realize that Dina is actually linked to her inn and that they people that stay at her inn are beings from other planets using Earth as a place to stop on their travels. 

From the opening chapter, we actually get a glimpse of this one Dina approaches one of her neighbors. Something has been killing dogs in the neighborhood and she wants Sean Evans to take care of it. At first, he denies responsibility (and the fact that he's a werewolf) but she finds him staking his territory on her apple trees later that night. It's a hilarious encounter that only gets better

The graphic novel adaptation is pretty good but I still like the Graphic Audio better. 

Four stars

The adaptation came out March 5, 2024

Kindle ebook

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 9 by Tatsuya Endo

Anya and her "parents are still on board the princess Lorelai. Yor is battling a group of villains while Loid is trying to disarm the bombs on board. Anya is trying to help, all without letting her family know she is psychic. 

We get a story with Bond saving a number of people though Loid doesnt know what is going on.

The last story introduces Mistress Schlag. She lives to give the children a tonitrus. She expels students the fastest of any other teachers. It does give Anya a chance to put Damian in her debt when he forgets a handkerchief.

Another great addition to the series.

Four stars

This book came out April 4, 2022

Follows Vol. 8

Followed by Vol. 10

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Big Nate: Next Stop, Superstardom! by Lincoln Peirce

I knew that Big Nate had been turned into a TV show and wondered if this was the book version of that. It is. And, at some point it may be successful to go that way with a comic book but this book... is dark. Like, physically dark. There's a running internet joke about how hard it is to see television and movies these days because the producers make things so dark and I feel like the artists in this book took that to heart. I thought at first it might be a metaphor for being at school because some panels have Nate in his house which is fully lit but I was really overthinking the process. 

There are three stories in the book. The first is a decent one about a baking competition against Jefferson middle school and trying to fake a haunting and Nate's dad dressing up as clown to go to a funeral. 

The second has Nate being pushed into figure skating for gym. He needs a partner to make it work but the only decent skater, Chad (who seems to have a lot of chest hair?) is forbidden from skating by a family curse. 

This one has a subplot with Nate's friends trying to teach his dad how to say no to Nate. 
The third story is Nate's dad trying to find a job which leaves an opening for Nate's band to step into a wedding. 

At the end of each of the stories is a page from the original comic is was based on. And, I feel like a curmudgeon typing this but, the (original) book was better. 

Two and a half stars

This book comes out May 25, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 8 by Tatsuya Endo

 The Forgers are on a cruise. Yor is supposedly on a trip for work but really is trying to protect the last of a crime family. And that is most of the story. Loid and Anya are also on the boat and Anya is trying to help her adoptive mother but mostly gets in the way.

Four stars

This book came out November 4, 2021

Follows Vol. 7

Followed by Vol. 9

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 7 by Tatsuya Endo

The Forger family is becoming even more tight-knit with Yor even considering making her latest assignment her last now that her brother seems to be all grown up. We get a large section of Loid trying to connect with the opposition's head (Damian's father) and not succeeding. Anya's last chance to stay in the same group as Damian is coming up. Loid is given some vacation time that just happens to coincide with the trip that Yor is taking to protect the last of a family that someone is trying to wipe out. 

Four stars

This book came out June 4, 2021

Follows Vol. 6

Followed by Vol. 8

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 6 by Tatsuya Endo

Twilight and Nightfall are entered in an underground tennis tournament. If they win, they can take anything they want from the tournament host's vault. In that vault is a piece of information that may restart the war between East and West. As with most underground tournaments, the rules are that anything goes. During the tournament, Nightfall is still determined to prove to Twilight that she is the better choice to be his wife. But when she plays Yor later, she finds that she may not be as good a player as the current Mrs. Forger. Even though she wins, Yor is feeling uncertain about her place in the family as she is beginning to develop feelings for Loid. 

We also get to see Anya hanging out with her best friend and at school where she is still trying to make friends with Damian.

A lovely book and nice addition to the series. 

Four stars

This book came out December 28, 2020

Follows
Vol. 5

Followed by Vol. 7

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 5 by Tatsuya Endo

The Forger family is still working on their various missions but they are starting to function as a family. Yor is learning to cook so she doesn't poison her family; Anya is trying to get good scores on her tests so she doesn't flunk out of school; and Loyd, well, he's mainly focused on the mission but is somewhat distracted by his wife.

We see Yor's brother Yuri again and he still has that weird obsession with her. 

Loyd is trying to help Anya but, when he sneaks into the school to change her scores, he encounters another spy. One who is codenamed "Daylight." But.. he's not really as good as he thinks he is.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 4, 2020

Follows Vol. 4

Followed by Vol. 6

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 4 by Tatsuya Endo

The Forger family is growing! In the last book, Anya got the first of 8 stars she needs to join the elite of her school and her reward is a dog. However, the first stop (Loid's agency's training facility) does not yield any results. When he's called away to deal with a young terrorist, the family is pulled into a bomb plot which also, surprisingly, yields a dog. Even more surprisingly, this dog has a deep and unexpected connection with Anya.

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 4, 2020

Follows Vol. 3

Followed by Vol. 5

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family Vol. 3 by Tatsuya Endo

Loid, Agent Twilight, has put together the appearance of a perfect family so that he can pass under the radar. His wife, Yor, has her own reasons for needing to be under the radar and welcomed the marriage. His "daughter," Anya is trying to be helpful as well, using her telepathic abilities to the best of her power. Currently, they are all trying to get Anya to succeed in school so that she can get closer to the son of a man Loid is trying to take down. However, there is a recent spoke in the wheels as Yor's brother has come to visit and seems to be suspicious of their marriage.

Yor's brother is a creepy dude who seems to be in love with his sister. I'm sure that's the way he's meant to be portrayed, especially as he works for the bad guys and is trying to track down Twilight.

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 4, 2020

Follows Vol. 2

Followed by Vol. 4

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 2 by Tatsuya Endo, Casey Loe

Anya has made it into a prestigious school. She makes a new friend but not the one that her father would have liked. Lots of story potential there and her new friend seems a little suspect but we'll see if more comes out of the relationship. 

We are also getting a new character in Yor's little brother who seems to be on the hunt for... her husband.

Lots going on but starting to create a really interesting story.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 1, 2020

Follows Vol. 1

Followed by Vol. 3

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo, Casey Loe

I had heard about this book on a number of podcasts and though it might be interesting. I think it is probably a very good book but I might not be the exact demographic for it. 

Three people have been put together to form a family of spies. Well, I don't think they know each other are spies. Even the daughter who is psychic. There is also a dad who frets and a mom who is the muscle. Oh, and a new dog who is also sort of psychic. But precognition rather than reading thoughts.

Three stars

This book came out July 4th, 2019

Followed by Spy x Family, Vol. 2

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Julia Quinn, Violet Charles

With charming pictures and a dedication to keeping the story close to what was described in Quinn's earlier books, this is a bonkers romance. Playing with the over-the-top themes of the gothic romances of the 1800s, this book follows Miss Butterworth from when she was born and most of her family died of the pox, through her drudgery as a child, being reunited with her mother only to watch the woman being pecked to death by pigeons. No, literall.

A short, quick read that you will definitely need an enjoyment of the bizarre to relish. 

Four stars

This book came out May 10, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler, Damian Duffy, John Jennings

Oh man was this a hard book to read. Dana time travels. She doesn't know why or how but she goes from the 1970s with her white husband to the antebellum South where she is considered a slave. Not an easy transition.But she meets Rufus Waylin. First as a young boy and then as he ages. The hope she has for him becoming a better sort of person than his father slowly drains every time she comes back.  And it is not made any easier by the fact that Rufus is her great-great-whatever grandfather.
I can see why "Kindred" is a classic. Octavia Butler is a powerful storyteller, making you care about the characters even when they are despicable.

Four stars
This version came out 
Borrowed as a hard copy from the library
Opinions are my own

What If We Were... by Axelle Lenoir

Nathalie and Marie are typical teens with outsized imaginations and a wonderful friendship. Games of "What if we were.." are interspersed with pages where we get to know more about the each of them. Each girl gets her own, fully-developed personality and along the way there are some learning moments (such as what the Vikings really looked like.) There's also a touch of romance between Nathalie and her crush, Jane Doe.

Good premise, cute book. Probably better to read in paper format.

Four stars

This book comes out December 8th

ARC kindly provided by Top Shelf Productions and NetGalley

Opinions are my own