Never Learn Anything From History by Kate Beaton

I'm joining in Lu's unofficial challenge of sorts this year to read a graphic novel a week. Last year I think I read 17 graphic novels and that wasn't nearly enough for me....I have so many amazing graphic novels on my shelf that have been sitting there for far too long and I'm just dying to read them! I've already read three fantastic ones this year....Howard Cruse's Stuck Rubber Baby, Hope Larson's Gray Horses and now Kate Beaton's Never Learn Anything From History...it'll be a good year! I've loved Kate Beaton for awhile now. You've heard me talk about her before. She's the writer of the webcomic, Hark, A Vagrant! She has a degree in history and translates that degree into some of the most hilarious and intelligent comics I've ever read...anywhere. I can't tell you how excited I get whenever she posts something new. She's not picky when it comes to the history that she picks on...Canadian history, US history, English history, Asian history, Ancient Greece, the Victorians...and then she'll delve into literature, religion, politics, lgbt issues, race issues...she's truly a gift to humanity. She tells it like it is. Yes, her comics will make you laugh out loud. I've found myself laughing hysterically at my computer screen. But there's a lot of true, important social commentary to be had in just a few panels. I love the way her mind works. Never Learn Anything From History is a collection of her webcomics from December 07 through March 09. It doesn't contain everything that she published, but rather choice pieces that she picked to include along with her commentary on the comics. I got my copy from topatoco.com where she has a whole store with all kinds of awesome merchandise \o/ I love that whole website, but there's an especially awesome Kate Beaton shop :p In fact my "Reading! This shit is crazy!" tshirt that I'm reading in my profile picture on some of my accounts was created by her as well. It was my official readathon shirt for a long time, lol. Here's a sample of what can be found in Never Learn Anything From History...I chose this because it's particularly bookish :p Click to enbiggen: