Book Riot's 2017 Read Harder Challenge - March Update: The Girl With Ghost Eyes & Archie, Volume 2

I can't believe the third month of Book Riot's 2017 Read Harder Challenge has already flown by!  This month I completed tasks five and six which required me to read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative and to read an all-ages comic respectively.  I chose to tackle The Girl With Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson and Archie, Volume 2 by Mark Waid and Veronica Fish - my first pick is a historical fantasy following a young Chinese immigrant in San Francisco and my second choice is the second compiled volume of the modern reimagining of classic characters.  Both of these were great, but The Girl With Ghost Eyes was awesome - March was definitely a great reading month in terms of this challenge!  Read on for my mini reviews of each book, or click these links to see my January and February updates for the Read Harder Challenge.

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I've had my eyes on this for quite a while now, so I was very excited to see that this challenge gave me another reason to read it.  And, I'm so glad I did!  I think that The Girl With Ghost Eyes is going to go down as one of my favorite reads of 2017, in fact.  I found myself completely hooked and engrossed by Li-Lin's San Francisco. If you're a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Spirited Away, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I have a feeling that you will love this as well.  This historical fantasy novel has something for everyone from the immigrant narrative of a young Chinese widow in San Francisco and tong wars, which, of course, are inspired by the real world to Daoist magic, demons, ghosts, spiritual journeys, exorcisms, and kung fu fight scenes - if that's not enough to draw you in right there.  Plus, Li-Lin, our leading lady, is just plain awesome and she is easily a new favorite.  Don't just take my word for how awesome it is, just do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.  I need more Li-Lin in my life, or more historical fantasy somewhat similar to this!  

I read this novel from March 9 - 15, 2017 and you can learn more about it on Goodreads.

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Mark Waid is continuing to do an excellent job with this Archie reboot.  I was never all that interested in the classic comics, but in Waid's capable hands I'm found myself drawn to these characters stories more than ever before.  Plus, I've been enjoying The CW's take on the characters in Riverdale as well - admittedly, it's altogether different, but it it's thoroughly hooked me.  Waid's new graphic novel series, like the tv adaptation, has made 75 year old characters fresh and engaging again in new ways.  This particular volume takes up right after volume one left off  as Archie goes back and forth between Betty and Veronica.  Along the way he gets some much need advice from Jughead.  We don't get to see as much of Betty in this one and there's a great fish out of water style storyline for Veronica as well.  I only wish that Fiona Staples worked on the art in this volume - I really miss her touch.  Otherwise, Veronica Fish has my second favorite art style of all of the artists working on this volume.  Finally, I'd say that this volume could have done with a little more Jughead, too.

I read this graphic novel from March 15 - 16, 2017 and you can learn more about it on Goodreads.

Next up for the April portion of the Challenge:


7. Read a book published between 1900 and 1950. 

My choice - The Three Taps by Ronald A. Knox - I've picked up quite a few older mystery books recently at antique shops, yard sales, etc. and this story from 1927 particularly stood out to me. Mine doesn't have a dust jacket, but it after flipping through it I noticed that the subtitle is "A Detective Story Without A Moral" - that sounds right up my alley. Plus, I didn't realize right away that the "taps" are referring to gas jets from old-fashioned gas lights - so that plus seeing what the dust jacket looked like really upped my interest.

8. Read a travel memoir. 

My choice - The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann - I've seen this around before, but I never really paid much attention to it before now. It sounds like it presents quite a mystery focusing on what happened to a 1925 expedition search for the City of Z, aka El Dorado.


Thanks as always for visiting my blog, and perhaps even commenting below. Have you ever taken part in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge? Have you read any of these books before and, if so, what did you think of them?