Simply D.L.

Libraries are awesome (comics too)

I heard a lot of people who have lots of credit cards…and possibly an accumulating debt. I only have two of them, thankfully. And a small debt.

But would it sound strange enough that I have three library cards and I use them all frequently? No wait, actually I have four including the one for my college library. Yea, that does sound strange (not to mention nerdy) but true. This comes in handy when I’m looking for a certain book and if library A doesn’t have it, then perhaps library B and if it doesn’t have it, maybe library C…you get the picture. In short, I have many more books to choose from by browsing through the shelves or the online catalog.

Libraries now welcome comic books, graphic novels, and manga to their shelves quite openly. The libraries I visit separate the comics into a specific area where other comic aficionados could easily find them. I confess perhaps 80% of my summer reading has been comics and graphic novels.

Perhaps one might think lowly of me because I only spend reading 20% “real literature.” After reading Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics and other comics that are more literary and serious, one can have a stronger appreciation for comics because of how it combines visual and literary arts into one powerful medium.

If there is one comic book I recommend to the general reading audience, it would be American Born Chinese by Gene Yang. Not only do I admire the style and subtle humor that is simple, but it proves that comics could have a strong impact as the so-called “real literature.”

And of course, as you can see on my Recommended Webcomics page, I read lots of webcomics daily and it is always nice to see the various styles and humor other than the ones from the newspaper and superhero comics.

And what’s better to stoll down the shelves and know that whatever you see you could borrow for free (except the new bestsellers that usually cost a dollar a week to rent). No fear of accumilating debt unless you return your books late. And I read and heard that unreturned books could actually affect your credit score, somehow. So be a good library citizen and return or renew the books on time.

And yes, I do need to update more often rather than monthly. I need to get in touch with my inner-blogger.