These are some of the books I’ve read before and been reading recently to get visual ideas for image making, and language ideas for what words to use.

They are:  Building Stories by Chris Ware, Woodcut by Bryan Nash Gill, Graphic Witness by Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, and George Walker , The Art of the Woodcut by Malcolm C. Salaman and David A. Beronä, Wordless Books by David A. Berona and Peter Kuper, Lost At Sea by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Hurricane Story by Jennifer Shaw, Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks, Hyperbole and A Half by Allie Brosh, Trusting Soul by Brian Andreas, The Book of Frank by CA Conrad, The Selected Works of  T.S. Spivet by Reif Larson, On Loving Women by Diane Obomsawin and Helge Dascher, and Stitches by David Small.

Also, Fun Home and Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik. 

And S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst, One! Hundred! Demons! by Lynda Barry, and Mrs Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (graphic novel version).

And Anatomy For The Artist by Sarah Simblet.

Having gotten totally stymied by language, the following are some books I hope will help me navigate how to form the overall story, and choose the words to tell the story in the most elemental way.

They are:  Bone Black by bell hooks, Getting a Life: Everyday Uses of Autobiography edited by Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson, The Weather of Words by Mark Strand, The Limits of Autobiography: Trauma and Testimony by Leigh Gilmore, Women Autobiography Theory: A Reader edited by Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson, and An American Childhood by Annie Dillard.

Also, glaze research and image options for future projects.  The are: The Complete Guide to High Fire Glazes by John Britt and Image Transfer on Clay by Paul Andrew Wandless.