I have written a post about the good highlights of my 2014 reading year so far. However, as with any reading year, there are bound to be some stinkers. Okay, maybe ‘stinker’ is too harsh a word, but let’s just say, these titles just fell flat. Some I had high expectations for, which is why the let down was even greater. In no particular order: Jeffrey Brown’s Kids Are Weird: And Other Observations from Parenthood. Now, I quite enjoyed Darth Vader and Son and Vader’s Little Princess, so I thought this non-fiction collection of comics about parenting would be fun. I…did not find it funny. To be honest, I do not understand the point of this book at all. (Hey, maybe that was the point? For it to be as non-nonsensical, head-scratching, or jarring as some of the nattering in the comics?). Guy Delisle’s A User’s Guide to Neglectful Parenting is, in my opinion, a much stronger and pithier graphic novel option on a similar topic. This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. Though I read through this YA graphic novel in one sitting, I did not have the greatest experience. I kept reading and flipping, waiting and hoping for something. Stronger dialogue between the main characters, some character development, a spark, something. I mentioned on my brief Goodreads review that the illustrations are pretty wonderful and expressive, but I felt that the written component really let the entire novel fall quite flat. […]

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