[The Complete Persepolis] [By: Satrapi, Marjane] [October, 2007]

Why it's worth it

Marjane Satrapi's memoir of growing up during the Iranian Revolution is the graphic novel most likely to convert someone who thinks they don't like graphic novels. This complete edition collects all four original volumes in a single book.

The art style is the most approachable on this list, and that's a feature. Satrapi works in high-contrast black and white with a flat, almost woodcut simplicity that owes something to Persian miniature painting. There's nothing to decode. Your eye moves fast, which keeps the focus on her voice — and her voice is funny, furious and devastating, sometimes on the same page.

It's a history lesson that never feels like one. You watch the 1979 revolution through the eyes of a kid from a secular, educated Tehran family, which means the politics arrive as things happening to people she loves. If you've been meaning to understand modern Iran and bounced off the nonfiction, this gets you further in an evening than most books do in a week.

From our review of 6 graphic novels for adults, by Genevieve Dubois, Home & Living Expert

What we like

• +The art style is the most approachable on this list, and that's a feature
• +It's a history lesson that never feels like one
• +For a book club, it generates better conversation than almost anything else you could assign
• +The complete edition means you're not chasing volumes

What to know

• –If you want gorgeous illustration, this will feel plain
• –It covers political violence, imprisonment and executions, and it doesn't soften them