This month, I’m joining in the Reluctant Romantic challenge over at Doing Dewey. Katie is challenging us to take up a genre we’re not so familiar with, or maybe even reluctant to read. With her it’s romance, thus the challenge title…

The challenge discussion question for this week is: What genre are you getting to know this month? Why do you want to give it a chance?

I’ve decided this is a great time to explore some of the graphic fiction and nonfiction that has become so popular in recent years. It’s not where I normally gravitate, but I don’t have a good reason for that, other than I’m just used to reading books with more words than pictures. There’s a pretty astonishing range within the genre, from memoirs to history to humor to satire to adventure — I should be able to find something to love.

Here are some of the titles I’d like to check out this month:

• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
• Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang
• The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• Relish by Lucy Knisley

Have you read any of these? Have any other suggestions for me?