July Book Review: Lucy Knisley

If you've been following Grey Nextdoor on Instagram for a while, you know that I love a good book. I'm hoping to focus on one book or author per month to share that hopefully you will love too!

This month, I would like to focus on Lucy Knisley. Lucy is a 35 year old American author and illustrator who has had 8 books published already. Insane. I have been borrowing her books from the library lately because they are very entertaining quick reads (I can usually finish one in a day if I read while Harper naps and after she goes to bed for the night). She draws and writes her comics based on a chapter of her life (travel, dating, planning a wedding, pregnancy, and being a new mom) from such an honest perspective.

Reading them, I feel like I am Lucy. I can feel the stress of going through an airport with her grandparents, taste the baguettes in Paris, and get just as annoyed at her wedding planner as she does. She is descriptive and includes details that you don't expect out of a comic. For example, in Displacement (where she takes her aging grandparents on a cruise) she includes excerpts from her grandfather's journal from WWII. It was so interesting to see the contrast of her on a trip with a man who was forgetful and needing help, to the diary of the same man in his youth.

I recently finished reading "Kid Gloves, Nine Months of Careful Chaos". I picked this up thinking it would just be about Lucy's nine months of pregnancy, but the book is so much more than that. Lucy bravely describes her multiple miscarriages and how much they affected her mental health, and took a toll on her relationships. Then, after she gets pregnant with her son, she has such a maddening experience with her doctor which leads to a terrifying birth story that is the result of women not being taken seriously. I don't want to give away details, because I *really* want you to read this one and we can discuss it afterwards. However, if you are currently pregnant, maybe wait until after you have the baby so you don't scare yourself!

photo taken from Kid Gloves, Nine Months of Careful Chaos

I recommend getting Lucy's books in paper form, because they just wouldn't be the same on an e-reader. You need to be able to flip back and re-examine details you missed the first time, squint to make out certain words, and pace yourself as you realize you're almost finished the story. Start reading Lucy Knisley's comics asap so we can talk about them please!