Check it out@ LAPL!!!

DDC: 741.5 V335

Johnny is a guy, just like you or I, except that he has a basement that connects with the underworld, and in order to keep the gate closed between our world and the one below, Johnny must feed it… by painting it with BLOOD!  This graphic novel is dark, and funny, and the characters are similar to people you meet everyday, just a bit more twisted.  The author, Jhonen Vasquez, is a great author to follow if you are into emo books.  Just look at all of these websites by and about the author!!

Immortalizing the Moment

Twitter by the Author

Wikipedia Entry

Question Sleep

..These sites will get you started with some nightmares, or just spark your imagination…  

enter with caution…

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Everybody Hurts, by Leslie Simon and Trevor Kelley  2007

From LAPL’s website: “The definitive handbook for the popular form of confessional punk rock known as emo.  From fashion to ideology, music to movies, eating habits to adulthood, it’s all covered here with razor-sharp wit.  100 black and white illustrations”.  This book is the go-to reference source for all questions emo; trivial, crucial or both.

check it OuT!

DDC: 301.57 S595

Exerpt:

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Everything That Creeps, the Art of Liz McGrath 2006

Artist’s video!!!

A collection of works that include butcher knives painted by a woman who’s dad once worked for the LA County morgue!  Twisted and dark animals, trees of swords, demons, blood, and strange hunting trophies fill the pages of this strange book of artwork!  The only way to read this book is to find it at Barnes and Noble and flip through it while you decide to buy it, unfortunately, or maybe you could recommend that your local library order this book!
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The Magic Bottle, by Camille Rose Garcia 2006

Dewey Decimal Call Number (DDC): 740.914 G216

This one’s for all the young whippersnappers.  Or also, just anyone who wants to see some cool contemporary art in the context of an anti-capitalist fairy tale.  The protagonist, sad young Lulu Blackenshoe is on a mission to discover the magical islands before the greedy Peppermint Man destroys them.  Think Fern Gully minus the fairies, vivid color palate and happy ending, and you’re halfway there, throw in some crazy teardrops and lyrical prose and you’re even closer… 

Check it out @ LAPL!!!

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The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides 1994

If you ever feel like your parents are too controlling and they are ruining your life, you might appreciate this dark novel about a group of sisters, and their eventual, and enigmatic suicides.  One by one, the Lisbon sisters take their own lives in this strange tale set in the midwest in the 1970s, all while being watched secretly by the boys who live across the street.  This is a beautiful and sad story, even if it happened before emo music existed.. Also on DVD.

check it OUT @ LAPL!!

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Girl, Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen 1994

A true account of Kaysen’s stay in a mental hospital in Boston at age 18 in 1967, this story challenges the perceptions of what “normal” is, and is funny, introspective, and gripping to read.  This autobiographical examination made in the midst of being so very misunderstood was also made into a film recently.

Check it OUT!

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Emo Boy, Volume 1: Nobody Cares About Anything Anyway, So Why Don’t We All Just Die?, by Steve Emond 2006

This is another great author from Slave Labor Graphics, the home of Jhonen Vaquez, and another representative author in the genre, Steve Emond, with a great series, that will, that’s right, you guessed it, be made into a feature film in the near future.  The comic book Emo Boy chronacles the adventures of the title character, who happens to be incredibly depressed for many, many valid reasons.  He also has superpowers that cause further chaos in his already cursed existence.  Girls and boys can relate to all of these books, and this one is no exception.  A sleekly illustrated and dark comic book, available NOW at your public library!

check it OUT!

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Nothing Feels Good; Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo, by Andy Greenwald 2003

Check it OUT!

DDC: 781.99 G816

If you hate the fact that you are reading a blog called, “Emo Reads” right now, then you already have a lot in common with all of the bands covered in this book.  It is the first comprehensive music survey of the “emo” music movement, and it also goes beyond music, into the great wide world of fashion, and youth..  Sounds good?  It is so good, you’ll want to learn more about the author,

who works for Spin magazine…

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Cut, by Patricia McCormick 2000

Similar in theme to Girl, Interrupted, but in this case, a fictional account of a psychiatric patient who cuts herself.  Like GI, this book is also very riveting and tough to read; it will affect your emotions, so be ready to feel some empathy for Callie, the 15 year-old protagonist, who feels responsible for her brother’s illness, begins to cut herself, goes to the mental institution, refuses to speak, and finally, begins to learn how to heal, little by little…

If you’re ready, Check it OUT! 

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Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia (P.S.), by Marya Hornbacher 2006

This book is intense.  Written when the author was just 23 years old, it conveys the real horrors of these diseases, and their ability to dominate a person’s life. This book is neither a quick, nor easy read, however, it provides a clear picture of the ordeals that one who suffers this illness can go through.  During her youth (fourth grade bulimia, anorexic at age 15), the author dealt with these issues, and they seem still fresh in the writing.. 

Check it out

DDC: 616.85 H814

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So, what is emo, exactly?  The history of emo is easy to associate with the history of the musical genre, which began around 1985, with the self-titled album by Rites of Spring.  From there, hair, fashion, books and movies would grow to be described by the same adjective.  Emo, “is a genre of music that originated from hardcore punk, and later adopted pop punk influences when it became mainsteam in the US” (wikipedia)..  But it is also a state of mind…

“Emo was the culmination of many bands and genres all brought together at the right place and the right time.”

(Taken from the Origin of Emo page.)

If you are looking for the history of emo books, keep reading…

If you are looking for something to listen to while you read, check out some tunes:

Rites of Spring

At The Drive-In

The Mars Volta

Sunny Day Real Estate

Fugazi

The Get Up Kids

Sonic Youth

ALSO: If you are totally into emo, and you want to learn more, or keep on reading, you can either

a) go talk to your local librarianabout books

b)look up any of the authors on this blog to find out about the other books they have written

c)check out this list of links to more web sites, blogs, and reviews…

Emo list on Amazon.com

Emo Books

House of Emo

The Emo Hangout

What the heck *is* emo??

The Emo Quiz

Luv-emo.com

how to dress emo 2.0

and… 

yet another Emo Quiz

this should keep you busy, if you still want to keep on reading, check out some classics, like 

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger… or start your own zine!