Just Three Really Good Graphic Memoirs

About an afternoon tea, loss of a partner, and chronic illness

Feb 08, 2025

Hi, friend.

Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or sending me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

I don’t know about you, but my reading life has been a bit scattered lately. I’m doing my best to find joy wherever I can, and sometimes that’s in a pile of comics from the library. Or a filthy romance series that isn’t quite good but I can’t put down. And that’s okay! The world is on fire and I just need to keep myself afloat amid…everything.

And that’s really all I have to say. Here’s a short and sweet one with some powerful graphic memoirs to tickle your fancy.

A collage of book covers: Embroideries; Something, Not Nothing; and One in a Million.

The books

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi, translated by Anjali Singh

This is so much fun! Taking place over the course of an afternoon tea, a group of Iranian women—mothers, grandmothers, daughters, aunties, neighbors, and friends—gossip to their hearts’ content. Each woman shares a salacious or embarrassing or hilarious story from their romantic life, like how to escape an arranged marriage or the benefits of being a mistress. Marjane Satrapi, of Persepolis fame, is a genius for capturing this delightful moment in time and sharing it with the world.

Something, Not Nothing: A Story of Grief and Love by Sarah Leavitt

Sarah Leavitt’s first book, Tangles, left me in a puddle of tears as she navigated her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and death. When I saw she had a new book, I knew I needed to read it immediately. Something, Not Nothing is about her partner’s chronic illness and eventual medically assisted death. The art here is unlike anything I’ve seen. Leavitt plays with watercolor and form beautifully as her life goes on without her partner by her side. It’s a beautiful tribute to love and the ways grief works.

One in a Million by Claire Lordon

Claire knows there’s something wrong with her body, but no one can figure out quite what it is. She’s tired, she’s gaining weight, and she’s constantly enduring a headache—all while trying her best to stay on top of her grades and schoolwork. She spends her days getting MRIs, going to the Mayo Clinic, and having multiple surgeries to remove a brain tumor, all before graduating high school. One in a Million draws from Claire’s diaries, dealing simultaneously with teen woes and the weight of chronic illness.

The nightstand

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No book this time, but a note that my mission for 2025 is to post about every Little Free Library I find. And also to share my own once I get it set up!