This Week's Staff Picks

Here are some new titles that the staff at Atomic Books are way into this week.
47 Ronin: Samurai Art by Kunisada by Jack Hunter / Utagawa Kunisada
picked by Julia
47 individual portraits of the famously historical 47 Ronin appear in this book by the Ukiyo-e master, Kunisada. Paired with a retelling of their legendary story, as well as additional supplementary material by additional artists, this book is a respectable and lush experience. Considering the often taboo subject of Ukiyo-e portraiture representing individuals above the entertainment class, this book offers a thoughtful look into a genre which, to this day, still heavily influences comics and illustration.

A Is For Atheist: The Anarchist's Coloring Book by Talking Bag
picked by Benn
Any kids book that promotes atheism, anarchism, and/or socialism is okay by me!

This A-to-Z coloring book covers all the good, progressive bases, with the right amount of propaganda and images to color in.
Complete Deep Girl by Ariel Bordeaux
picked by Haleigh
This is a super funny collection of autobiographical comics from Ariel Bordeaux. I'm stoked these are all finally together in one book because I never had the chance to read all of Deep Girl before.
In The Words Of Sparks... Selected Lyrics by Ron and Russell Mael
picked by John
There's a debate to be had about whether rock lyrics can or should be considered poetry in their own right, but there's no denying that brothers Ron and Russell Mael, of long-running art pop band Sparks, write lines that deserve to be appreciated apart from their musical accompaniment. In The Words of Sparks collects the lyrics to upwards of 70 of the group's songs, edited for print presentation, highlighting the dry, mordant wit on which their reputation is staked.

This volume gets extra points for the mock-ostentatious leather-and-gold-leaf design.
Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi
picked by Mag
I LOVE COOKBOOKS! I also LOVE DESSERT and SUGAR and BAKING! In the spirit of getting ready for the holiday season, I'm delving into my favorite cookbooks to plan out what I want to make for the holidays. Momofuku Milk Bar doesn't always have the easiest or most practical recipes, but they don't cut corners and everything in this book looks absolutely amazing. There are plenty of simple sweets to add to your culinary arsenal and plenty to test your skills you if you're up to the challenge.
My Complicated Relationship With Food by Zach Auburn
picked by Benn
In this zine, Zach reviews things we put in our mouth. It comes off, intentionally so, like it's written by a twentysomething dude who has not experienced much food, does not have particularly developed taste buds, but still has a lot of ideas and rules about what he eats and why - in other words, it reminds me of myself in my 20s. Feta is a cheese that puts on airs. He is disappointed in Bjork because he suspects she eats a lot of fish and fish are nasty. Coffee tastes like "dirt mixed with poison." It's anti-foodie zine hilarity.
Pornodelic Pleasures: Jess Franco Cinema by Jack Hunter
picked by Haleigh
First of all, the cover is amazing (the absolutely stunning Lina Romay in "Female Vampire, also known as "The Bare Breasted Countess"). Pornodelic Pleasures starts with a quick bio on Jess Franco in the beginning and then follows with tons and tons of photos and movie posters from his roughly 200 movies which are all separated and categorized.

Side note/fun Haleigh fact: The first movie poster I ever had hanging up in my room when I was 14 or so was from Vampyros Lesbos.
R.I.P. Lina Romay and R.I.P Jesús Franco

***Haleigh's Quick Picks***
Other things I'd pick for this week (but I'm not going to really write anything about them, I just want to talk about how cool these books are):
Night Watch #3 (yeah!!!!! All eyeball edition!!)
Adventure Time: Sugary Shorts (Jesus, why are these comics so adorable?)
Pretty In Ink - Because Diane Noomin and Dori Seda are why I draw comics

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Atomic Reading Club 2023 - Outer Limits

Atomic Reading Club 2024: The End

Baltimore Record Shops - 40 Years Ago