If I can figure out a good design, I would be up for having “I have a book and I’m not afraid to use it” on a shirt. That’s a plan for another day, however. I can relate to Boxes here. I always have books, and I’m not afraid to use them.

Behind the Scenes:  see my original drawing for this comic and more on Patreon

Recent reads include Live By Night and In Cold Blood, which puts me at 50 books read for this year so far.

live by night book

There’s a lot of hats in this book. Image via Amazon.

Now, a good part of those 50 reads are graphic novels, but most of them are hundreds of pages long (especially the Akira volumes). I don’t feel bad for counting any of those. Nope.

in cold blood book

It is pretty gripping. Image via Amazon.

I read In Cold Blood very quickly, in about a week, I think to the day. How do I know? I keep a spreadsheet, something I started this year. I used to use Goodreads, but I got tired of the app and decided to do things on my own. I track the title, author, date started, date finished, author gender (I’m trying to read more books/comics by women), genre, and if it’s prose or a graphic novel.

What’s my current read? This may seem odd following my two previous reads above, but it is The Ever After.

ever after book

There’s a cat! Image via Amazon.

I found this one in my neighborhood’s Little Free Library, and decided Why Not. I like a good young reader fantasy story (heck I wrote one). Living near a Little Free Library definitely helped up my number of reads this year, and it got me to read books I probably wouldn’t normally read or at least wouldn’t think about reading (Live By Night was another find).

I try to read as much and as many things as possible.

Related Foxes & Boxes Comics: Foxes & Boxes – 52, Foxes & Boxes – 37

Comic Transcript: Foxes & Boxes – 53

::the elemental sneaks under the door::
Elemental: Ha ha ha
Fox: S-stay away!

::the elemental rears up in front of Fox::
Elemental: Ha ha ha

(off panel) Boxes: Stop!
::elemental and Fox become still::

::elemental and Fox turn to face Boxes::

::Boxes is standing in the doorway, holding a book::
Boxes: I have a book and I’m not afraid to use it!