A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions

One for the Money (live action movie)

2012-01-29T22:24:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I last reviewed a movie I saw in the theaters. Sometimes I get an urge to review what I've seen, sometimes I don't. I felt like writing about this particular movie.

Synopsis:

Stephanie Plum was fired from her job 6 months ago and hasn't found anything new since. Her car has been taken away from her, she has bills that need to be paid and a pet hamster to feed, and she's down to her last four dollars. Out of desperation, she blackmails her cousin Vinnie into letting her work for him at his bail bonds office, hunting down skips. The skip she really wants to find is Morelli, a cop who supposedly murdered a guy. Morelli and Stephanie have history together - Morelli took Stephanie's virginity back when they were in high school and then never called her again. Stephanie wants the nice chunk of change she'd get from catching Morelli, sure, but she also wants a little revenge.

What Stephanie doesn't realize until it's too late is that she's in way over her head. She might not survive her new job, even with Morelli doing what he can to save her butt and Ranger, a hot fellow bounty hunter, getting her a gun and teaching her how to shoot.

Review:

It's been ages since I last read Janet Evanovich's One for the Money and two or three years since I last read any of the Stephanie Plum books. Still, the basics aren't hard to forget. Stephanie is a terrible bounty hunter, Morelli and Ranger are hot, and Stephanie is often surrounded by quirky/crazy people.

I knew from watching the preview for this movie that I wasn't going to be a fan of the casting decisions. I found Morelli to be good-looking but kind of forgettable. Ranger was also good-looking, but he seemed too clean-cut and nice – I had always imagined him to be way more intimidating than how he came across in the movie. As far as Grandma Mazur went, I had pictured her as looking much older and more fragile than she did in the movie. And Lula in the movie was more petite than I ever pictured her.

I'm pretty sure the movie skipped over a lot of stuff that was in the book and, even then, it felt like it took just a little too long for things to get going. Also, while I remember laughing at how over-the-top some characters were in the original book, it didn't play out quite so well in the movie. For instance, when Grandma Mazur played with Stephanie's gun and accidentally shot the family's dinner, instead of laughing I was tense during the whole scene, wondering why the heck no one took the gun away from her. They weren't that distracted by the conversation they were having.

One thing that occurred to me while I was watching the movie: it's incredibly sad that, more than 14 books later, Stephanie is still just as bad of a bounty hunter as she was in the first book. In fact, I think she might have become a little worse – the movie reminded me that, at one point, she spent some time doing shooting practice and even got good enough to hit something. Has she spent any time practicing her shooting since the first book? I can't remember, but I imagine the answer is either “no” or “not much.” This is part of the reason why the recent books have been such a slog for me – Stephanie has shown little to no professional or personal growth. Instead of becoming a more capable bounty hunter as the series progresses, she continues to rely on Morelli and Ranger's help and, from what I've heard, she still hasn't been able to bring herself to choose between Morelli and Ranger.

As far as the movie goes, it was...okay. Those who haven't read the Stephanie Plum books will probably find it to be, at best, forgettable. To those people I say, if there was anything in this movie that sparked even the slightest bit of interest on your part, then go read the book, because it was better. If I remember correctly, the book also explains what happened during the 6 months after Stephanie was fired from her job - the movie makes it look like she just sat and twiddled her thumbs until her bills started piling up.

Watch-alikes and Read-alikes:

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (live action movie) - If you'd like something else with a big, quirky family, you might want to try this romantic comedy.
While You Were Sleeping (live action movie) - Another one that those who'd like something else with a big, quirky family might want to try. Like the first movie I listed, it's a romantic comedy.
Agnes and the Hitman (book) by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer - If you'd prefer something that mixes a bit of danger, humor, and romance and includes quirky characters, you might want to try this.
Cowboy Bebop (anime TV series) - If you'd like something else starring nearly-broke bounty hunters, you might want to try this. It's got humor, lots of action, and, if I remember correctly, even a bit of romance.

Wilder's Mate (e-book) by Moira Rogers

2012-01-29T21:00:00.004-06:00

I'm calling this an e-book, rather than an e-novella, because Samhain Publishing's site says its length is "Category" (like "category length romance novel"). What this means in terms of page and word count: 36,653 words, which came out to 101 pages on my Nook. I initially thought the story was 121 pages long, but those last 20 pages are just extra stuff Samhain dumped at the end. Samhain's works have a pretty decent track record with me, and I love that their new works are 30% off on their site for the first week after being released, but I hate all the extra stuff they put at the end, and I hate that the font size for the newer books (like Wilder's Mate) is two sizes smaller on my Nook than whatever they used to use.

Okay, enough griping about Samhain.

Synopsis:

This book takes place in a steampunk version of the Wild West.

When Nathaniel, Satira's mentor, is kidnapped by vampires, Satira is convinced that the only person who cares more for his life than his inventions is her. She's determined to go after him on her own if she has to, but then Wilder, a bloodhound (basically a werewolf), shows up and surprisingly offers to take her with him.

Bloodhounds were created by the Guild to protect humans from vampires, but that doesn't mean Satira is entirely safe from Wilder, especially when the new moon comes.

Review:

I've had this sitting unread on my Nook for a while now. When I saw that the next book in the series, Hunter's Prey, was going to be released by Samhain soon, I decided to finally read the first book so that I could better judge whether the second one would be worth it. My verdict? I'm definitely buying the second book.

One of the things I tend to want from steampunk stories is an exciting and interesting setting, and Wilder's Mate definitely gave me that. My only complaint is that there was a lot that this story only touched on. I wanted to know more about the vampires and bloodhounds. A look at Rogers' release schedule indicates that we'll get to see more of the bloodhounds (Archer and Hunter, two minor characters in this book, are getting their own books, and a story starring a bloodhound named Merrick will be coming out soon). Something Wilder said in this book indicated that maybe the vampires weren't necessarily all bad – I'd love to read more about what they're like and how they fit into the world, so hopefully either one of the new books deals with them in a bit more detail or there are plans for future books focusing on vampire characters.

Another aspect of this world that I wished had been fleshed out a bit more (or written about more clearly) was the whole mating thing – did Wilder know Satira was his mate right away, or did the knowledge dawn on him after they spent more time together (and had gone at it like bunnies for a while)? Maybe the mate bond could occur between a bloodhound and any woman he allowed around himself long enough to start caring about her - I wasn't sure.

This was a fast-paced and action-packed story that dumped readers right into the world, so I spent a bit of the beginning of the book confused and trying to orient myself. Once I got the hang of how the world worked and what Satira and Wilder were like, however, I really enjoyed myself. As with the world-building, I found Satira and Wilder's relationship interesting but wished that there had been time for a little more depth.

Satira was very...needy...which made me a little uncomfortable, particularly when I hit this bit:

“Everything that excited [Wilder] would do the same to [Satira] because what she really needed was to be needed.” (Nook pg. 41)

Satira's desire to please Wilder and be needed by him led her to do some things with him that she'd never done before. One of them, anal sex, is usually a red flag for me in m/f romance or erotica, although the way Rogers handled it didn't bother me much, because it didn't feel like the sex was some kind of power play. Actually, on the whole, Wilder seemed sexy and protective without being too alpha. I think what made me uncomfortable was the thought that Satira would still have let him do anything he wanted, even if he'd been scarier, just because of how needy and lonely she was. I couldn't shake the feeling that she would have glommed on to any bloodhound who'd shown more than a passing interest in her. I was at least happy that, by the end of the book, Wilder seemed to need Satira as much as she needed him, but it still bothered me that her initial neediness seemed so much greater than his.

Overall, I liked Satira and Wilder. I'd have preferred it if some aspects of the story had been a bit clearer or more fleshed out, but this was still a fun and exciting read, and I'm looking forward to reading more stories set in this world.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Firefly (live action TV series) - Another work that mixes multiple genres, in this case Westerns and science fiction. There's even some romance, although, sadly, the show ended before my favorite couple, Mal and Inara, got around to admitting that they had feelings for each other.
The Iron Duke (book) by Meljean Brook - Another fantastic steampunk romance with a detailed and fascinating (but at times very dark) quasi-Victorian England setting. Those who'd like something else with a fast pace and lots of action may want to try this. I have written about it.
Dreams Made Flesh (anthology) by Anne Bishop - This probably wouldn't be the best place for newbies to Bishop's Blood world to begin - if you've never read any of the books before, you might want to at least read the Black Jewels trilogy first. I added this anthology to the list because of the story starring Lucivar and Marian - there's a bit in that story that's very much like the "new moon" stuff in Wilder's Mate.
Underworld (live action movie) - I probably won't go see the newest Underworld movie that's currently playing in theaters, but seeing the movie poster did remind me that the original movie had some elements (lots of action, a bit of romance, battles between vampires and werewolves, cool weaponry) in common with Wilder's Mate.

The Dead of Winter (book) by Chris Priestley

2012-01-29T17:25:00.000-06:00

Release date: January 31, 2012

This is one of the ARCs I picked up at ALA Midwinter. The back of the book says it's a YA novel, while Amazon says it's for ages 12 and up. I've tagged it with "young adult."

FYI, since I know some people really care about this sort of thing, this book is written in the first person from Michael's perspective.

Synopsis:

Michael, now an orphan, has only just finished attending his mother's funeral when he's told that his guardian will be Sir Stephen, the man for whom Michael's father gave his life. Michael's mother hated Sir Stephen, and Michael's not too fond of him himself, but he promises to at least stay with Sir Stephen through Christmas.

Hawton Mere, Sir Stephen's home, is not an inviting place. Michael thinks he can feel someone or something watching him, he sees things no one else sees, and he hears strange sounds no one else hears. The servants, at least, seem nice enough, and Charlotte, Sir Stephen's sister, makes an effort to welcome him. Sir Stephen, on the other hand, is ill, and Michael rarely sees him. When he does see him, the man seems frightening and mentally unbalanced. The longer Michael stays at Hawton Mere, the more he wants to leave, and he wonders: what secrets does Hawton Mere hide?

Review:

When I was younger, I used to read lots of horror novels. The first time I raided my parents' bookshelves, I took Stephen King's Firestarter (which I enjoyed) and a German copy of Pet Sematary (that didn't work out so well – my German vocab just wasn't up to the task). I'm much more of a wimp now and rarely read horror, but I couldn't resist the bit on the back of this book that said fans of Neil Gaiman would enjoy it.

This is one of those books that I enjoyed more as I was reading it and in the grip of its creepy atmosphere than when I wasn't reading it. When I wasn't reading it and had more of a chance to think about it, I found that certain aspects of it irked me more.

My biggest problem with the book was probably Michael, who I didn't entirely like. Part of the reason for that, I think, was that there was hardly any time to see Michael at his best. The story began right after Michael's mother's funeral, which would have been bad enough, but then he was essentially forced to live with a man he resented. I tried to cut Michael some slack, at first, but his sullenness got a bit old after a while. He wasn't as bad towards the servants as he was towards Sir Stephen, but I don't think he was likable enough to deserve the affection some of the servants demonstrated later on in the book.

Initially, I didn't mind Michael's reaction to Sir Stephen so much. I could understand why Michael might blame Sir Stephen for his father's early death, and Sir Stephen did act a bit unhinged at times. However, I couldn't understand why it didn't occur to Michael that he and Sir Stephen had a few things in common, especially after he learned that both of them had seen and heard similar creepy things at Hawton Mere. It wasn't that I thought Michael should start to like and trust the man – I was just surprised that he never made the connection between his own reaction to the scary things happening at Hawton Mere and Sir Stephen's declining mental health. I figure, if I had grown up at a place like Hawton Mere the way Sir Stephen had, I probably would have eventually gone crazy too. Instead of seeing Sir Stephen as a potential ally or even just as another source of information, Michael seemed more focused on blaming him for everything.

Despite slightly disliking Michael, I plowed through this book really quickly. I read it in three sittings and could probably have finished it in one or two if I hadn't been so tired. Its atmosphere had such a grip on me that I found myself wishing I had more than just my cat for company while I read it.

Although I did think the book was very creepy, after a while I found myself wishing for a greater variety of scares. Mostly, the scares consisted of darkness/shadows and strange noises, along with different combinations of “I think there's something behind/nearby me,” breathing sounds, a ghost, a mysterious child, and a priest hole. Even though I sighed a bit when I got to yet another “it's dark and there's something in here with me” scene (not that those scenes didn't work on me each and every time - I'm that much of a wimp), the book never felt like a slog. It helped that I was very intrigued by the mystery of whatever had happened at Hawton Mere. I really wanted to find out who the woman and child Michael kept seeing were and why they were there.

Overall, I enjoyed this and would recommend it to someone looking for horror that doesn't rely on gory, gruesome moments for its scares. It'd probably work well for its intended audience (“Ages 12 and up,” according to Amazon).

Read-alikes:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (book) by Ransom Riggs - This is not something I've read, although I've heard of it and it has been on my TBR list for a while. It sounds like it might be creepy in a way that fans of Priestley's book would enjoy.
Coraline (book) by Neil Gaiman - I have both read this and listened to Neil Gaiman read the audio version. Whether you plan to read or listen to it, it's a fun, creepy book. Although I figured things out before Coraline did, that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the story. I haven't written about this particular book, but I've written about another book by Gaiman that those who liked Priestley's book might enjoy, The Graveyard Book.
Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Madness (anthology) by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Gris Grimly - This collection includes slightly abridged versions of "The Black Cat," "The Masque of the Red Death," "Hop-Frog," and "The Fall of the House of Usher." I found this particular read-alike recommendation in a read-alikes list for another one of Priestley's works, and it occurred to me that Poe would make a great read-alike for this book as well.

RH Plus (live action TV series), via Crunchyroll

2012-01-22T20:25:00.000-06:00

This show is based on a manga series with the same title. The manga is not legally available in English, as far as I can tell, and I have no idea how similar the live action series is to it.

Synopsis:

This series stars four vampires who live together in a mansion and tend to see each other as something like a family. The eldest is Kiyoi, who acts as the group's surrogate father. He's been taking care of Ageha since Ageha was little. Ageha is the cute one in the group. He tends to get jealous whenever anyone seems to monopolize Kiyoi's affection or time. Masakazu is supposedly smart and in college (or a college graduate?), but his attention is easily snagged by pretty women, and he often blows off work in order to go on group dates. Makoto is the newest addition to the group. He's quiet and serious, and it is revealed that, when he was little, his mother left him to become a prisoner at a church, saying that she had given birth to a monster.

The mansion's upkeep is funded by jobs given to the group by a mysterious man known as "Mister." Mister and Kiyoi seem to have some kind of history, and Mister closely resembles a man who was once very important to Kiyoi. The jobs tend to be dangerous ones that the police either can't or won't look into themselves, and Kiyoi has the power to accept or reject them as he sees fit.

Review:

The description of this show on the Crunchyroll website confuses me, because, in the earlier episodes at least, this series is clearly shounen ai. Ageha seems a little too eager for Kiyoi's attention, Makoto stares at Kiyoi just a touch too long, and it's a long while before any other possible explanations for Ageha's rage explosion over Makoto getting hurt present themselves. I'm sure I would have loved all of that in the original manga on which this series was based. Unfortunately, it didn't translate too well into live action form, so it's probably a good thing that the shounen ai aspects mostly disappeared later on.

Some might be more pained by the show's cheap special effects, but I cringed more at the bad acting (just to be clear, I didn't think all of the acting was bad, and some of the actors were pretty decent). I found Naoya Ojima (Masakazu) to be the worst offender, although it may not have been his fault – it may just have been that his character was most prominent in the “humorous” scenes, and one of the things this series failed at was being funny. I have a feeling those humorous scenes were ripped straight out of the manga. The problem is, what works in manga is painful to watch in a live action show.

The worst episode by far was episode 3, in which Masakazu attended a mixer and found whatever charisma he might have possessed completely eclipsed by that of Konoe (Rei Fujita). I enjoyed watching Konoe be cool and confident, but, next to him, Masakazu's horrified/upset facial contortions looked even more unnatural. During the scenes where Masakazu was supposed to be drunk, I winced as the horrible acting continued, accompanied by his blusher-covered cheeks. I almost quit watching the show after that.

For some reason I continued – even as I shook my head at how bad some parts of the show were, it managed to be strangely addictive. Still, if it were possible for me to have read the manga instead, I probably would have.

The world-building in this series was inconsistent. I was never quite sure what vampires were and were not supposed to be able to do. For instance, early on in the series, at least one of the vampires was able to move super fast. Then, later on, that ability was apparently forgotten about. A big deal was made about the guys having to remember to make themselves show up in mirrors, and, in the final episode, they didn't initially show up in a camera's viewfinder. However, in another episode, the guys had to disable a security camera – if they had wanted to avoid detection, couldn't they have just allowed themselves to not appear on the camera?

Vampires seemed to have no problems with walking around in sunlight, and, despite the occasional line stating that vampires need blood, the guys seemed to do well enough on tomato products alone, going hunting (which strongly resembled cruising for girls) only because they enjoyed it. Why did the guys like tomato products so much? Red foods in general didn't seem to satisfy them, or the cake in the one episode could have been a perfectly normal strawberry cake rather than a tomato cake (ugh). Tomato products are no more like blood than strawberries or cherries.

In addition to weak world-building, the series also tended to neglect a lot of its characters. I didn't really understand why Misaki was around for more than just the episode in which she was introduced. She didn't add anything to the show, other than to make me wonder at the sanity of the other characters – she's a crazy girl who kidnapped Makoto and tried to force him to turn her into a vampire, and yet, after her initial appearance, everyone forgot all of that and tolerated (or even invited) her continued presence in the mansion. I'm guessing her fanatical devotion to Kiyoi was supposed to be funny and cute.

Kiyoi got a few episodes hinting at and then explaining his tragic past. So did Makoto. Even Ageha's past was touched on a bit, albeit mostly in a quickie voiceover. Masakazu, on the other hand, was just there. I think he was supposed to be the series' comic relief, but, since I didn't find him particularly funny, his complete lack of backstory just made me wonder what the point of his existence in the show was. Konoe didn't have any more of a backstory than Masakazu, but he was less painful to watch and was clearly not part of the main cast, so I didn't mind as much.

The final three episodes, in which Makoto's father appears and we learn more about Makoto's past and how he came to live with Kiyoi and the others, are, in my opinion, the best episodes in the series. Unfortunately, some of the earlier episodes are so mediocre that a lot of viewers might not make it as far as episode 11. Are those final three episodes good enough to watch the series just for them alone? I don't really think so, but it was still nice to finally see the vampires acting like vampires (super-powered fights! blood!) and find out more about Makoto's past (boatloads of angst! repressed memories!).

Watch-alikes or Read-alikes:

Princess Princess (manga) by Mikiyo Tsuda; Princess Princess (anime TV series) - This series also has a nearly all-male cast, with shounen ai elements. I know that a live action version of the series exists (the actor who played Konoe is in it!), but I haven't seen it. I've written about the first volume of the manga.
Weiss Kreuz (anime TV series) - Another series starring a group of guys with double lives who must occasionally take care of dangerous tasks. This series was renamed Knight Hunters for its U.S. release, which baffles me.
Vampire Knight (manga) by Matsuri Hino; Vampire Knight (anime TV series) - Another series in which several of the main characters are part of an adoptive family. As the title states, it also has vampires. I've written about the first season of the anime and the first volume of the manga.
Kare Kano (manga) by Masami Tsuda; His and Her Circumstances (anime TV series) - Those who know this series would probably be surprised to find it on a list of read-alikes/watch-alikes for a vampire TV series. Kare Kano is a contemporary romantic drama that, on the surface, doesn't have much in common with RH Plus. However, I think Makoto and Arima (Kare Kano's male lead) have a lot in common. Both of them grew up in an abusive, emotionally damaging environment and ended up with a lot of baggage and parental issues to get over.

The Very Comely Countess (book) by Miranda Jarrett

2012-01-22T14:10:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

This book takes place primarily in London in 1799.

William Manderville, the Earl of Bonnington, has cultivated a reputation for being a charming rake. Only a few people know that he is actually an undercover agent for England. The pleasure trips he takes to France are actually meant to allow him to smuggle important information back to England. He always takes a pretty woman with him, someone others are supposed to believe is just his latest mistress. She often is, but she's also meant to help him maintain his cover. Unfortunately, the woman he had with him during his last trip almost got them both killed by speaking too freely with a French lover she'd taken behind Will's back. They managed to get out, but Will had to kill three men.

Will is determined to have a better partner next time, someone pretty, willing to do as she's told, and smart enough not to invite additional trouble. When he sees a painting of a beautiful woman, he thinks he might have found who he's looking for. He hunts down the painting's model, Harriet Treene, a lowborn orange-seller, and things eventually work out so that he offers her a job as his next partner. He tells her that she'd be his mistress in name only - the important thing is that everyone who sees them believe she's his mistress, so that they can go to France together without comment. He promises to eventually repay her by providing her with the funds to set up the tea shop she dreams of having.

Harriet thrives in her role, modeling for paintings and stirring up talk about "Miss Calliope" (Harriet's nickname, because of a painting she models for). The trouble is, although this was all supposed to just be a ruse, Harriet and Will have started to fall for each other. Harriet doesn't want to be Will's mistress, but she also doesn't think an orange-seller and an earl can have any other kind of future together. Will, for his part, becomes more and more worried about bringing Harriet with him to France - the more he comes to care for her, the more he fears putting her in danger.

Review:

I had never read a book by Miranda Jarrett before, and all I knew about this one was that it was a historical romance, likely one with a countess in it. I found the setup, with an earl hero who is an undercover spy training an orange-seller to play the part of his mistress and help maintain his cover, to be interesting. Unfortunately, I kind of disliked Will at first. I wasn't fond of the way he thought about women. From what I could tell, he didn't really want a partner, he wanted someone who could be beautiful, obedient, and good in bed if he felt like sleeping with her. Actually, here's a quote:

“'All I wish for now is a replacement for Jenny,' he [Will] declared, 'a sweet-tempered little hussy with a strong enough stomach for the sea, one who will take orders like a soldier and be willing to risk her pretty neck for the sake of her king and country.'”(p. 6)

He made me wish that Harriet would turn out to be plain, but, of course, she was breath-takingly beautiful.

Thankfully, Will gradually became more likable. I really enjoyed his playful conversations with Harriet, and I liked how kind he was towards her. I loved the scene where Will let Harriet sleep in his bed for her comfort, talking to her, learning about her and telling her about himself, until she fell asleep – after which he left the bed to go sleep elsewhere. He might have been able to convince her to have sex with him, but he was gentlemanly and didn't. When Harriet and Will stumbled upon the duchess' father's secret porn stash (heh), I expected that the book's first sex scene was nigh and was pleasantly surprised when Harriet changed her mind and Will didn't get upset.

I was a little less pleased when Will and Harriet fell into bed with each other not long after Will declared that Harriet wasn't his mistress and that she shouldn't think of herself that way. Will is an earl, and Harriet had no guarantee that he wouldn't tire of her and leave her. He probably would have been as nice as possible about it, but still. The line between “lover” and “mistress” was thin and depended upon Will's continued interest in Harriet. I thought it was a bit silly for her to sleep with him after she'd spent most of the book saying she wouldn't be so stupid as to do something like that.

Harriet was...interesting, a mixture of flirtatious and naive, worldly and innocent. Several of her interactions with Will were very flirty (the song with the oranges sticks in my mind as a good example), but there were other times she was almost prudish. She would probably have been horrified to learn that Will had once participated in an orgy. Heck, I was kind of horrified to learn that. Granted, it was only a stray thought of his, and I already knew he'd had sex with lots of women prior to meeting Harriet. Still, I could probably have done without knowing that about him. It contributed to my wish that he could be tested for STDs prior to sleeping with Harriet.

Sorry, I got a bit sidetracked. So, Harriet. While she seemed nice enough, it was hard for me to get a handle on her. She seemed capable: for instance, she escaped a man who tried to kill her and then held herself together until a better opportunity to fall apart presented itself. However, I was never quite convinced that she really knew what she was getting herself into by agreeing to go with Will to France.

When I first realized that Will was an undercover spy and that Harriet was going to be his new partner, I expected there to be some action-packed spy moments, maybe prefaced by scenes in which Will showed Harriet what she'd need to know in order to best be of assistance. If you go into this book expecting lots of “spy stuff,” you'll probably be disappointed – almost all of the book is Will and Harriet getting everybody to talk about “Will's new mistress, Miss Calliope” and preparing to go to France. True, there are a couple “danger” moments in the book. Harriet's clothes are slashed, and a man tries to kill her. However, all of that felt like a setup for greater danger later on, in France. I kept waiting and waiting for heavier spy stuff, but Harriet and Will didn't go to France until maybe the last 50 pages of the book.

That last portion of the book felt rushed. The showdown with the book's villain was, for me, a bit of a disappointment, and I thought Zeke was handled badly. A brand new character, whom Will knew nothing about, allowed to be on Will's ship while he was acting in his role as a spy? I thought for sure Zeke would turn out to be a traitor, particularly since he mentioned that his mother had died of consumption and one of the villain's informants had been consumptive. While taking Zeke onto his ship was a nice thing to do, it made Will look like an idiot of a spy.

All in all, I didn't think this was a bad book, but it wasn't a great one either. If I were to give this one a grade, I think I'd give it a C, or maybe a C+. Yes, I just gave a book a grade. I've gone back to keeping a spreadsheet of the things I read, and I've been privately grading them so as to make it easier to sort them from best to worst later on. I may or may not state what grade I gave them in my posts. It'll probably depend upon how confident I feel about those grades.

FYI, the title of this book is misleading. Since Harriet is an orange-seller, I assumed that the “countess” part meant that Will was going to cave and propose to her early on, or that they were perhaps going to pretend marriage or engagement or something. Not so – Will doesn't propose until nearly the end of the book.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Emma (manga) by Kaoru Mori; Emma: A Victorian Romance (anime TV series) - When I think of cross-class romance, I think of this series. It's a little hard to find the manga now, but you should be able to get it through interlibrary loan if your local library offers that service. The anime differs somewhat from the manga, but it's much easier and less costly to get. This series is slower-paced than Jarrett's book, but it does have a little dark drama here and there and, like I said, lovely cross-class romance. I've written about all the volumes of the manga and both seasons of the anime - be warned, my posts have spoilers.
The Secret Duke (book) by Jo Beverley - I haven't read this, but I added it to the list because it's a Georgian romance (although I think it takes place two or three decades before Jarrett's book) and because the hero is a titled man with a dangerous secret life. Beverley has written other Georgian romances.
The King's Favorite: A Novel Nell Gwyn and King Charles II (book) by Susan Holloway Scott - While looking for read-alikes, I learned that Miranda Jarrett (historical romance) and Susan Holloway Scott (historical fiction) are one and the same. If you don't mind reading about an entirely different time period (late 1600s), this book might appeal to you if you'd like another feisty orange-seller heroine who becomes a (real) mistress.
The Spymaster's Lady (book) by Joanna Bourne - This book takes place in 1802 (another Georgian romance!) and, from the sounds of things, has lots and lots of "spy stuff," which should satisfy those who, like me, wished that Jarrett's book had had more of that.

My ALA Midwinter book haul

2012-01-21T22:15:00.000-06:00

Remember how I said I'd have to practice restraint, because I could only take back what I could carry? Well, apparently I can carry quite a bit in a backpack, large purse, and tote bag. The number of books I got at this conference was only slightly less than the number of books I got at my last conference. Admittedly, several of the books are pretty skinny.

Here's a list, in no particular order, of what I managed to get:

Kylie Jean, Football Queen (book) by Marci Peschke - This is the only one I got that I didn't get for myself. It's short, so I may read it anyway, even though it's aimed at a younger audience than the books I normally read. According to Amazon, this book was released earlier this month.
Whatever After: Fairest of All (book) by Sarah Mlynowski - This looked like fluffy fun. Due out in May 2012.
Belles (book) by Jen Calonita - Due out in April 2012.
The Peculiars (book) by Maureen Doyle McQuerry - The back of my ARC indicates that this may be steampunk. Due out in May 2012.
I Hunt Killers (book) by Barry Lyga - Of all the books I brought back, this one has the most interesting presentation. It's in a bag made to look like an evidence bag. Due out in April 2012.
172 Hours on the Moon (book) by Johan Harstad - The cover is creepy. The description on the back of the book confuses me. I passed this one by several times before finally caving and picking up a copy. Due out in April 2012.
Pandemonium (graphic novel) written by Chris Wooding, illustrated by Cassandra Diaz - ~~Here's hoping the story is good, because the art really isn't to my taste. The cover is eye-catching, though, and makes me wish the whole thing could be in color.~~ Due out in February 2012. EDIT: Whoops, my bad. I just came across the bit in my ARC that explains that the ARC is primarily in black and white, but the final version will be in full color. The full-color pages at the beginning look pretty good, and this explains why the black-and-white pages look unfinished. It's because they are.
The Wood Queen (book) by Karen Mahoney - I may decide I need to read The Iron Witch before I even get started with this book. According to Amazon, The Wood Queen is due out in February 2012, but the copy I snagged has nothing on it to indicate that it's an ARC.
Fracture (book) by Megan Miranda - This was released earlier this month.
Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars (book) by Nick James - The cover badly needs a redesign - I and several other people who took a closer look at it thought it looked like steampunk. The publisher reps had to keep telling people that it was actually science fiction. Actually, maybe it's the title that's the problem. To me, "skyship" sounds very steampunk. I do like science fiction, so I picked this one up anyway. According to Amazon, this was released back in September 2011.
Digit: She's Got Your Number (book) by Annabelle Monaghan - The FBI needs the high school-aged heroine's help, because she's a math genius. I decided I so needed to read this book. Due out on June 5, 2012.
So Pretty It Hurts: A Bailey Weggins Mystery (book) by Kate White - The cover caught my eye, and I'm curious to see if Bailey is really "a heroine who keeps us laughing while sitting at the edge of our seats." Due out in March 2012.
Brave New Love: 15 Dystopian Tales of Desire (anthology) edited by Paula Guran - The only contributing author whose name I recognize is Maria V. Snyder. I picked it up hoping that "tales of desire" meant that at least some of the stories were romances. Due out in March 2012.
Epigenetics in the Age of Twitter: Pop Culture and Modern Science (non-fiction book) by Gerald Weissmann - No, this isn't at all what I usually read, and, no, I don't know what I was thinking. I had been at the conference for a few hours by then, and I was tired. I'll still give this one a go, because I tried out a few random pages and it seems very readable. Due out in March 2012.
My Boyfriend Is a Monster #5: I Date Dead People (graphic novel) by Ann Kerns, illustrated by Janina Görrissen - The artwork caught my eye. Due out in April 2012.
Poison Most Vial (book) by Benedict Carey - Due out in April 2012.
The Dead of Winter (book) by Chris Priestley - I was going to skip out on this one, until I noticed the bit on the back saying that fans of Neil Gaiman would enjoy it. See how easy I am? Due out on January 31, 2012.
Cruising Attitude (memoir) by Heather Poole - I occasionally enjoy reading blog posts written by flight attendants, and it's possible that I've already read some of Poole's writings online. This seemed potentially light and funny, so I snagged it, even though I don't read many memoirs. Due out in March 2012.
A Perfect Square (book) by Vannetta Chapman - It's an Amish mystery! And not a YA or middle grade novel! Due out in April 2012.

Believe it or not, I did practice restraint - even with all the books I got, there were still quite a few books I was tempted to take but didn't.

After the last conference I went to, I had this great plan to review all my ARCs just before or just after their release dates. This time around, I know better. There are a few things, like the graphic novels, that I am highly likely to read and review in a relatively timely manner. Everything else...who knows? I have ever-growing physical and digital TBR piles, several library books, and an addiction to Japanese anime, so all I can say is that I'll get to things when I get to them.

All in all, it's been a good day. I'm tired, but I picked up lots of interesting-looking books and talked to all the vendor reps I wanted to talk to. There weren't nearly as many people visiting the exhibits as I had thought there would be, which I'm sure was disappointing to the vendors, but I kind of liked not having to fight my way through a crush of people.

ALA Midwinter

2012-01-20T20:10:00.001-06:00

I'll be at ALA Midwinter tomorrow, talking to people at the cataloging- and technical services-related tables and picking up books I don't really need (I haven't even come close to finishing my last pile of conference ARCs). On the plus side, my TBR pile shouldn't increase by too much, because I can only come back with as many books as I can carry, rather than as many books as I can load into a car. On the minus side, this means I actually have to show restraint.

I'll try to remember to list the books I manage to get. Judging by the list of vendors, it's unlikely I'll end up with any manga, but graphic novels are a possibility, and I'm sure the YA selection will be overwhelming.

Uraboku (anime TV series), via Crunchyroll

2012-01-16T00:52:00.001-06:00

Uraboku's full title is Uragiri wa Boku no Namae o Shitteiru. If it ever gets released on DVD in the U.S., its title will probably be The Betrayal Knows My Name, in order to match the manga (which is why I've tagged this post the way I have).

Synopsis:

Yuki Giou grew up in an orphanage. His greatest desire is to be useful to and wanted by others. His world is turned upside down when a man named Takashiro arrives and says that he is his brother and has been looking for him for years. After Yuki is attacked by a strange creature called a Duras, he learns that several members of his clan, including him, have special powers that they use to fight Duras.

The Giou clan's Zweilts (pairs of fighters with special abilities) try to protect Yuki, who has the ability to wield God's Light, from Duras and from a mysterious enemy named Reiga. Many of the members of the Giou clan, including Yuki, are reincarnations of former Giou clan members, and events that happened a thousand years ago hold the answers to why Reiga is trying to attack Yuki now. In addition to worrying about his and others' safety, Yuki also wonders about the relationship his past-life self (who was female) had with a mysterious and protective man named Luka.

Review:

I wanted to love this show, I really did. It has angst, it has bishounen, it has bishounen angsting over one another. It has battles with pretty effects. It has friendships so close that you'd swear they're actually romantic relationships. In the end, though, this show was a giant tease that never delivered.

The pacing, while not nearly as excruciating as, say, Hakuoki's, could have been better. Yes, Yuki was introduced to the Giou clan and told about the Duras fairly quickly, but the show didn't seem truly interesting to me until approximately halfway through, when Hotsuma and Shusei hashed out their relationship issues, Reiga revealed himself, and Reiga and Takashiro had their big battle. I really got into the show at that point, and I was convinced that, finally, there would be some answers.

And there were, sort of, but not nearly as many as I had wanted. Reiga and Takashiro's past was shown, although I didn't find Reiga's sudden transformation into a friend-killing mass murderer to be entirely believable. After that part, I waited expectantly for new information about Yuki's past life and history with Luka...only to get nothing. Yuki even noted that he could have asked about his and Luka's past but didn't. So I continued to wait for something more about Yuki's past...and suddenly it was the final episode, Yuki and Luka gazed soulfully into each other's eyes, and still nothing was said about Yuki's past life.

The few snippets of Yuki's past life that were shown made it clear that, yes, Girl Yuki (Yuki was female in his past life) and Luka were lovers. How they met and came to love and trust one another was never shown. Several snippets of Yuki's past life showed Girl Yuki talking about her death and how, in the end, she wanted Luka to be the one to kill her. Was there some special reason why Girl Yuki expected she'd have to die? Was the use the Giou clan had for her different from the use the Giou clan had for Boy Yuki (healer, energy recharger, Duras-destroying light bomb)? If the show gave the answers to these questions, it did so only vaguely. Really, would it have killed the writers (or, if this closely followed the manga, the manga's author) to show more of Yuki's past, maybe even how Girl Yuki died? For a good chunk of the show, Luka seemed convinced that the Giou clan would betray Yuki – what made him think that?

This show was an enormous pile of unanswered questions, but it was just appealing enough that, if a second season came out, I would watch it – although I'd want that second season to not be so vague, because I don't need another season's worth of unanswered questions. While this show was able to capture my attention to a certain degree, I haven't been able to decide if it would be equally appealing to people who didn't share my weakness for bishounen in semi-romantic relationships.

The Zweilt pairings were perfect excuses for near-romance – true, they could have all just had really, really close friendships (or, in Tsukumo and Toko's case, be really, really close siblings), but that much angsting and soulful/pained gazing says “romance” to me. With the way the show's pacing was handled, plus the sheer number of characters, 24 episodes wasn't quite enough to do justice to all of the relationships, but there were some good, fangirly moments. My favorite overall pairing was Hotsuma and Shusei, mainly because they were one of the few Zweilt pairs to get plenty of relationship screentime.

As far as individual characters went, I most preferred Kuroto's brand of angst – his Zweilt partner was permanently killed, leaving him with a single-minded focus on revenge, until he opened up a bit and eventually ended up with a new partner (who promptly had to break his engagement with his fiancee, because Zweilts have to be totally devoted to one another and to preparing for battle...sure, they're just friends, riiight). If you're looking for m/f pairings, this show is probably not for you, because you'd have to settle for either the few Girl Yuki and Luka scenes or Toko and Tsukumo scenes (the first time they came onscreen, I assumed they were a couple – I had to do a mental double take when I found out they were brother and sister).

Although I did enjoy some of those angsty relationships, they could have been done better. It really didn't help that I wasn't entirely fond of the series' primary near-romantic relationship, involving Luka and (Boy) Yuki. Yuki was one of the most worthless characters in the entire series, despite supposedly being the reason (sort of) that everything was happening. He could heal, but only by taking on others' pain, which meant he spent a lot of time passed out and/or bedridden. He could use God's Light, but he couldn't control it and didn't really know what it could be used for. Yuki's only purpose was to exist and occasionally put himself in harm's way.

It's quite possible than an inanimate object would have been less worthless than he was, because at least an inanimate object wouldn't have potentially gotten Luka and others killed by begging for no one, not even the enemy, to be hurt. An inanimate object wouldn't have walked out of a safe zone and gotten itself captured. I didn't really hate Yuki, but I disliked his wimpiness, and I found him to be kind of boring.

Unfortunately, Luka was fairly boring as well. For the most part, he consisted of little more than his fanatical devotion to Yuki - there were bits and pieces of his past, prior to meeting Yuki, but, as with nearly everything in this show, not enough to satisfy me. It didn't help that Luka's devotion (which survived 1000 years of separation from Yuki) wasn't entirely believable, in that, although he insisted that what he was in love with was Yuki's soul, it seemed like he was actually more in love with Girl Yuki. Had the show not been so busy with the overall storyline and the various other pairings, Yuki and Luka's relationship could have been explored in a bit more depth. As it was, it was one more thing that was developed just enough to keep me watching, but not enough to leave me feeling satisfied in the end.

I've purchased the first couple volumes of the manga, but haven't read them yet. I have a feeling I'll prefer the anime over the manga, simply because the anime has the whole package, visuals and sound (I really liked the voice actors), but I'm at least hoping that the manga will fill in some of the anime's information gaps.

Watch-alikes and Read-alikes:

Kyo Kara Maoh! (anime TV series) - Another TV series that flirts with m/m romance and features some similar "you're the reincarnation of my deceased lover" aspects, if I remember correctly. The series is about a high school student who gets flushed down a toilet and ends up in another world. In that new world, he's told that his black hair and eyes mark him as the new Demon King. It's a strange, humorous fantasy series that gets a bit more serious later on.
Black Blood Brothers (anime TV series) - A series starring a couple vampire brothers. This is another one that those who'd like more reincarnation and "love lost" might want to check out. I've written about most of this show.
Loveless (manga) by Yun Kouga; Loveless (anime TV series) - This is another angsty show that features pairs of fighters who are fiercely devoted to each other. Unfortunately, it's also like Uraboku in that there are a lot of unanswered questions, although there's at least a chance that the manga will be wrapped up one day.
Nabari no Ou (manga) by Yuhki Kamatani; Nabari no Ou (anime TV series) - Another show in which a clan of fighters tells the main character that he is special, has great power, and must be protected. A very close friendship forms between the main character and a deadly, damaged enemy. I've only seen a little of the anime and haven't read any of the manga - I don't know how similar the two are.
X (manga) by CLAMP; X (anime TV series) - Those who'd like some beautiful angst and lots of gorgeous characters might want to check this one out. I don't know how similar the manga and anime TV series are. I do know one thing - you're better off not watching the anime movie. According to everything I've read about it, it's a beautiful, confusing mess.
Soulmate (book) by L.J. Smith - Those who liked the idea of a love that survives the multiple reincarnations of one of the characters, as the other character waits broodingly and beautifully for them to meet again, might want to try this. I've written about this book.
Mirage of Blaze (anime TV series) - Those who'd like something else featuring reincarnation, romance, and lots of bishounen characters might want to try this.
Vampire Knight (manga) by Matsuri Hino; Vampire Knight (anime TV series) - Vampire Knight has a look that's similar to Uraboku, and there's a similar dark, brooding tone. One of the characters clearly knows things he's not telling. Those who liked the sorta kinda love triangle going on between Reiga, Yuki, and Luka may enjoy the love triangle in this series. I've written about the first season of the anime and the first volume of the manga.

New color scheme!

2012-01-15T14:42:00.000-06:00

The blue color scheme I used for a long time on this blog had started to bother me, especially as the weather got a bit chillier. I tried out a red color scheme that was a little too red for my tastes and have finally settled on a yellowish brown color scheme. Since I didn't change anything about my template except the color, I don't have to recreate my drop down menus - hurray!

Bellwether (audio book) by Connie Willis, read by Kate Reading

2012-01-14T14:14:00.000-06:00

I think this book was originally published in 1997, which accounts for the slightly dated feel it had each time Sandra's rancher boyfriend's cell phone came up.

I did my best to keep this post spoiler-free.

Synopsis:

Sandra is a researcher working at HiTek. Her area of study is fads and, currently, her particular focus is hair bobbing. She knows a lot about different fads, but the one thing she doesn't know and is hoping to find out is how they start.

While banging her head against the wall that is her research topic, Sandra also has to deal with her company's fondness for acronyms, meetings, and creating "streamlined" funding allocation forms that no one can figure out how to fill out.

Sandra's research appears to be going nowhere. What she doesn't realize is that, somehow, Bennett, a biologist at HiTek who has an interest in chaos theory, Flip, HiTek's annoyingly careless interdepartmental assistant, sheep, and a bunch of fads she sees every day will combine into an epiphany about fads and scientific breakthroughs.

Review:

It's been almost three years since I last read a book by Connie Willis – I had forgotten how enjoyable her writing can be.

As I was writing my synopsis and trying to avoid spoilers, I realized how little actually happened in this book. There was a lot of HiTek workplace drama, and frequent breaks in the story allowed for brief histories of fads (such as dance marathons, hair wreaths, hair bobbing, and Rubik's Cubes – sometimes I Googled the more bizarre ones, just to see if Willis was making stuff up). There were also a lot of moments dealing with Sandra's fascination with Bennett's apparent immunity against fads, which I could immediately see would develop into a romance, despite the existence of Sandra's rancher boyfriend. I found all these little things fascinating, which was good, because they all added up in the end.

I'm actually kind of surprised this worked so well for me as work-time listening, because there really were so many little things I needed to keep track of that didn't necessarily know I needed to keep track of. I think perhaps the repetition of certain details helped. Romantic Bride Barbie came up a lot, as did the color of people's clothing, duct tape, etc.

One of my minor complaints about this book is that I figured out the answers to some of Sandra's questions long before she did, probably because of all that repetition, so I spent much of the book saying, “I can't believe you don't remember that that color came up before. Think. The answer is right there, you've practically worked it out for yourself already.” My annoyance increased as the book neared its end and it started to seem like Sandra was being willfully dense. Still, there was more that I enjoyed than didn't enjoy, so I was willing to write off her denseness as the result of being too close to all of the data.

Although my job isn't tenure-track and I therefore don't have to worry about research and finding funding for that research, I could still sympathize with the things Sandra, Bennett, and the others had to go through while simultaneously dealing with management and Flip. At times, it was a little like reading a Dilbert comic in novel form. One of Sandra's friends gave her advice on how to survive staff meetings and convince management to agree to let her and Bennett work together. Management didn't seem to understand anything but management buzzwords, and most of the assistants at HiTek were completely incompetent and still managed to believe they were vital to the company.

The book occasionally got my back up a bit, because of the way those who follow fads were presented (as idiotic sheep), and some might take similar issue with most of the assistant characters (not just Flip and Desiderata, but also various waiters, cashiers, and more). There was a slightly insulting feeling to all of that. I ended up deciding that Willis had just taken situations and people that exist in real life and ramped them up a few notches, to create a world almost entirely made up of people who felt put upon when others asked them to do their jobs and people who followed fads only because everyone else was following them.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and need to see about reading more of Willis' works. So far, the only other ones I've read are To Say Nothing of the Dog and Remake. I like her sense of humor, and I enjoyed the slight romance in Bellwether. I loved the “must be romantically compatible” line, as well as all the other explanations for why Bennett had done things that made Sandra think he was interested in someone else. As far as this audio version goes, I thought Kate Reading did an excellent job.

A few additional comments:

I know nothing about sheep. While listening to the last disc or two, I couldn't help but wonder, are sheep really that stupid?

Also, Sandra's final graphs, incorporating everything that had happened around her and everything that a particular character had done: how would one even do that? And wouldn't it have taken hours, days, or even weeks?

Read-alikes:

Going Postal (book) by Terry Pratchett - I'm sure Pratchett must have a book that deals with meetings, overly long funding forms, and management-speak, but I either haven't read it or can't remember it at the moment. Instead, I'll recommend this one, in which a con man is forced to become the Postmaster and get the Post Office running again. Something about Willis' writing and humor reminded me of Pratchett's books. Going Postal should be an okay starting point for newbies to the Discworld, and, for those who like audio books, Stephen Briggs is a fantastic reader. I've written about it, if you'd like more information.
Peeps (book) by Scott Westerfeld - I think this would be classified as YA contemporary sci-fi. The main character is hunting down his former girlfriends after having unknowingly infected them with parasites that cause them to, among other things, crave blood and hate sunlight and anything they used to love. Those who enjoyed the parts of Bellwether detailing the histories of various fads might like this book - it does something similar with parasites. I've written a post about this one.
Pattern Recognition (book) by William Gibson - The main character of this book, Cayce Pollard, is a "cool hunter" - she's allergic to brand names and uses her allergy to evaluate potential products and advertising campaigns. Something about Sandra's research into fads and her feelings about them and those who follow them reminded me of Cayce.

Amaranth & Ash (e-book) by Jessica Freely

2012-01-08T14:22:00.000-06:00

Sorry for how long this review is. Here's the short version: I enjoyed this book, although some missing quality, I'm not sure what, kept me from absolutely loving it. I found the romance to be sweet (by which I don't mean "lacking in sex" - there is much of that in this book, particularly in the latter half) and well done. The world-building is rich when it comes to the caste system but seems to be somewhat fuzzy in other areas.

The word count for this book is 67,886, which came out to 175 pages on my Nook.

Synopsis:

The setting is sometime in the future (I think), on another planet. A caste system determines how and where people live. Chel are the underclass. They live off of the scraps left by the other castes, are viewed as not having souls, and do dangerous and/or dirty jobs that often land them an early grave. Pel are the laboring caste. They have it better than chel, but they don't get the luxuries that the Elai do. They work hard and are only ever treated by regular doctors. Elai are the highest caste. They are treated by vasai. Vasai are sort of outside the caste system. Vasai are intersex (have both male and female genitalia) and can use their souls to heal others, but only if those others have souls. It is popularly believed that, even if a vasai and a chel were to meet each other, the vasai would be unable to heal the chel, because chel don't have souls.

Amaranth is a vasai who wants, for once, to be able to heal people who actually need healing. He (Amaranth prefers male pronouns) is convinced that the Elai he treats only really come see him because they like having sex with vasai - it's believed that vasai can't heal without sexual contact. Amaranth's dissatisfaction with his life prompts him to wander outside of the mostly Elai area, where he brushes against a soul in agony. Searching for this person who actually needs his help, Amaranth finds Ash, a chel. Ash, recently raped and badly beaten, would not have survived without help. Amaranth takes him home and begins to heal him, proving that the Elai have lied about chel not having souls, and about vasai needing sexual contact in order to heal. Amaranth healed Ash through touch alone, and he felt his soul.

Initially, Ash is suspicious of Amaranth's motives for helping him, but he gradually realizes how lonely Amaranth is. Amaranth and Ash become closer, but Amaranth can't keep Ash a secret forever. Amaranth's beliefs have already put him at odds with other vasai. If others discover that he has fallen in love with a chel, his reputation may be damaged beyond repair.

Review:

This book sat in my wishlist for months because 1) it's kind of expensive and 2) I had some feelings of trepidation over how the author would handle the intersexed characters. In the end, I'm glad I bought and read it.

I was surprised at how often Amaranth & Ash made me think of Ariel Tachna's The Inventor's Companion. I wouldn't have guessed that the two books had very many similarities, but both star a character who is basically viewed as a high class whore by others (Lucio is a courtesan, Amaranth heals through sex, dealing primarily with patients who he feels aren't in need of healing and just want the sex) and both feature a caste system and a cross-caste romance. As far as how the romance was handled, I found I enjoyed Amaranth & Ash more.

The romance between Amaranth and Ash was very sweet. This book was published by Loose Id, so of course the sex scenes were explicit, but Amaranth and Ash didn't fall into bed right away. Ash was still recovering from a brutal gang rape (which was fade-to-black – no worries about reading an explicitly described rape scene), so, initially, all Amaranth worried about was healing him and convincing Ash to trust him. Even after he started to feel attracted to him, he was hesitant about acting on his attraction. Amaranth and Ash's relationship began more as one of mutual comfort rather than sex – Ash allowed Amaranth to sleep with him and learned to trust that Amaranth wouldn't do anything that made him uncomfortable, while Amaranth finally had someone around to help relieve his loneliness. The one thing I can think of that might make some people uncomfortable about Amaranth and Ash's developing relationship is that it occurs while Amaranth is acting as Ash's healer – even though I thought their relationship was sweet, I couldn't help but think of the Florence Nightingale effect.

The caste system was another area where I thought this book was well done. I particularly liked finding out more about how things worked in Chelon (the area where chel live), and I found the idea of soul sellers fascinating. The vasai, too, were interesting. They weren't all perfect little angels – although they were healers, there were still jerks among them. Also, although some characters put them on a pedestal, not everyone did. I had wondered what would happen after the lower castes found out there was a vasai among them. Some people reacted almost worshipfully, but in some cases things did turn darker.

Speaking of the vasai, I liked how Freely handled them as well. The vasai weren't just an opportunity for Freely to write sex involving different combinations of male and female genitalia without having to incorporate menages. I liked finding out more details about vasai life, and I was fascinated by the idea of hidden vasai. In an author's note, Freely writes about the thought that went into pronouns and, now that I've finished the book, I have to say that I'm relieved that Freely chose to use gender neutral pronouns for only one of the vasai – otherwise, the book would have been a slog to get through, since my brain couldn't see to adjust to seeing “sie” and “hir.”

Those of you who hate the soulmate trope may dislike one of the minor romantic relationships that pops up later in the book. [SLIGHT SPOILER!] Grail, Amaranth's friend, ends up in a soulmate-style relationship with one of those hidden vasai I mentioned. It was definitely an insta-love situation, and it made me wonder if Amaranth and Ash would be explicitly identified as soulmates as well (I don't think they were).

Although I did really like this book overall, that's not to say that it didn't have its weak points. The first one I noticed was that characters voices weren't as clearly defined as I would have liked. At first, I thought Amaranth spoke in a more refined way than Ash, which, considering their castes, made sense. Then Amaranth had a scene in which he started cussing, and he once berated himself by calling himself a “perv.” It didn't seem to fit in with his usual speech patterns. I would have preferred for characters' voices to be more consistent.

Some of the things I disliked about this book were tied in with things I liked about it. For instance, while I was happy that Freely did not write about rape in detail, her vagueness when it came to darker moments in the story sometimes made it difficult to figure out what, exactly, happened. There is a scene later in the book where Amaranth is being forced to heal others. Although it's stated that most of the people just touch Amaranth, I had a difficult time figuring out whether one of the characters had gone further and actually raped him.

Also, while I appreciated that the dream scenes allowed for Amaranth and Ash to continue to have scenes together even after they were separated, I'm one of those readers who tends to prefer fewer sex scenes in my romance novels, and those dream scenes were nothing but sex. It's a personal preference, but those scenes got to be a bit much for me.

I mentioned earlier that some aspects of the world-building could have used some work. It wasn't always clear to me what people did or did not know about vasai. Amaranth had to explain to Ash that vasai are technically neither male nor female and that some choose preferred gendered pronouns while others wish to be referred to using gender neutral pronouns. You'd think this would mean that other chel would be as clueless about vasai as Ash, and yet, later in the book, not one chel stumbled over the gender neutral pronouns and everyone seemed to know which were the proper pronouns to use. The pel that Amaranth encountered were as clueless as Ash had been, sometimes referring to him as “it.”

Then there was the feeling I had, that this book was similar to a video game where the environment seems to be rich and well-defined, until you bump up against the invisible edges of the map and see that there's nothing out there. I found myself wondering about things like whether Amaranth and Ash's entire world was just one big city and whether there was some kind of purpose to character names (chel seemed to have earthy names, like Ash and Soot, pel had task names, like Push and Pull, Elai got more familiar names, like Darien and Elissa, and vasai got...I'm not sure - “Amaranth” and “Grail” both have meanings, but I don't think “Evanscar” does). One of the reasons why I hated that the book ended with a “four years” later epilogue was because I felt a sequel could have opened up the world a little more.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, although I'm not sure it's one I'll ever reread. Amaranth and Ash's relationship was sweet, but there was some quality missing from the book that kept me from really connecting with it. That said, I plan on reading more of Freely's works and would jump on a sequel to Amaranth & Ash if she ever wrote one.

Other Comments:

For as much as Loose Id charges for their e-books, they should edit them more carefully. I caught one verb tense error and one misplaced comma. There may have been other editing errors I didn't catch.

Read-alikes:

The Inventor's Companion (e-book) by Ariel Tachna - If you'd like something else featuring a caste system and cross-caste romance, you might want to try this. In this m/m steampunk romance, one of the main characters is from the merchant caste, while the other is from the pleasure caste. I've written about this book.
After School Nightmare (manga) by Setona Mizushiro - Another story starring a character that is both male and female. Be warned, this is not a romance, although several of the characters end up in relationships with each other. Most of the characters in this book are emotionally damaged in some way, and the various relationships tend to be at least somewhat unhealthy. I have written about all the volumes in this series, although, be warned, my posts have lots of spoilers.
The Black Gryphon (book) by Mercedes Lackey - Amaranth reminded me a lot of Amberdrake, a character in this book. He's also a healer and, although sex may sometimes be part of the service he gives his clients, it is not, as some clients assume, always part of what he does. This is the first book in a fantasy trilogy, and the trilogy is part of a larger series set in the same world and spanning generations.
Future Histories: Transgendered Sci-Fi Erotica (anthology, e-short stories) by Giselle Renarde - I haven't read this, but it sounds like it might work for those who'd like something else where more than just male and female genders come up. Be warned, it's only 16,400 words long, which means that the three short stories it contains are very short.

Chi's Sweet Home - Chi's New Address (anime TV series), via Crunchyroll

2012-01-07T11:12:00.000-06:00

At 104 episodes total, this seems, at first, like a massive series. However, each episode is approximately 3 minutes long, so the entire thing is really only a bit over 5 hours long.

Synopsis:

Season 1 (episodes 1-26): Mr. and Mrs. Yamada face a tough decision when a girl in Hokkaido offers to take Chi. Their apartment doesn't allow pets, but they are to the point where they feel like Chi is a member of the family. Finally, they opt to move to a pet-friendly apartment. There, they introduce themselves to their new neighbors, and Chi meets the neighbors' pets: a large bunny, a parakeet, a friendly dog, and a regal longhair Scottish fold cat. Chi briefly gets lost exploring her new neighborhood, but she manages to find her way home again.

Season 2 (episodes 27-52): Chi explores her new neighborhood some more, gets to know the neighbors' pets (including the parakeet), and meets several other cats. The Yamadas continue to learn how to better take care of Chi, which includes figuring out how to brush her teeth and learning how to best travel with her.

Season 3 (episodes 53-78): More of Chi in the new neighborhood. I don't think there's anything specific that defines this season. Chi spends a lot of time with local cats, including one that behaves in an almost motherly way towards her, but I think these local cats showed up in Season 2 as well. The season ends with the entire Yamada family, including Chi, going to Hokkaido to visit Juri (the girl Chi was almost given to in Season 1) and her family.

Season 4 (episodes 79-104): Chi and the Yamadas spend time in Hokkaido. Then the whole family goes back home and has their usual day-to-day experiences - the biggest thing I can remember is that, for what may be the first time, we finally get to see Mr. Yamada doing work-related things. Near the end of the season, Chi accidentally hitches a ride on a truck and gets horribly lost. The Yamadas begin to lose hope that they'll ever see Chi again, but, luckily, Chi finds help along the way.

Review:

Initially, I had planned on writing separate posts for each season. However, the individual seasons didn't seem to be different enough from each other to warrant that treatment.

I have still only read one volume of the manga, and, when I realized that Chi's Sweet Home: Chi's New Address was actually the sequel to the anime Chi's Sweet Home (which I haven't seen and which is also 104 episodes long), I was worried that I might be lost. It was quickly apparent, however, that Chi's New Address was newbie-friendly. All you needed to know was that the Yamadas lived with a kitten named Chi in an apartment where they couldn't have cats, and, even then, the Yamadas move almost immediately after the start of the series. Later on, the series also brings in an old friend of Chi's. I hadn't yet gotten to the point in the manga where he was introduced, and his and Chi's reunion might have been richer for me if I had, but at no time did I feel lost or confused.

You could, in theory, watch all four seasons of this series in one or two sittings. It is amazingly easy to say “Just one more episode,” only to realize that you said that five episodes ago. Just like the manga, this slice-of-life series is filled with warm fuzzies and animal cuteness, with the added bonus of equally cute movement and sound (seriously, I couldn't stop myself from going “awww” every time Chi yawned). All that cuteness and sweetness is why I wouldn't recommend watching the series all at once, however. It gets to be a little much, or at least it did for me, which was why I broke up my Chi viewing periods with Uraboku, an angst-filled fantasy series chock full of bishounen (pretty boys). It was a good decision, I think.

Chi and the Yamadas inhabit a world where nothing ever goes seriously wrong. No one gets sick, the Yamadas never have money problems, and Chi regularly runs around the neighborhood without a collar and nothing ever happens to her (well, almost nothing). The series begins with the Yamadas sadly contemplating giving Chi away because their apartment doesn't allow pets. The idea is so devastating that Mr. and Mrs. Yamada decide that they'll move to a place that does allow pets. Brilliant! Except that this means that everything they went through previously in order to keep Chi in their apartment was all for nothing. Why hadn't they decided to move earlier? The money? A lack of available apartments? No explanation is ever given. Anyway, as soon as they decide to move, the universe aligns itself so that a sign advertising pet-friendly vacancies appears.

Like I said: for the most part, nothing really bad happens. The series reaches its darkest point when Chi is lost near the end of Season 4 and has collapsed face first in a puddle. However, even then, Chi has a friend who arrives in the nick of time to help her out.

I could say that I disliked how sanitized everything was, but that wouldn't be the truth. Sometimes it's nice to watch something and know that there will be zero heavy drama. I didn't want to see Chi in any serious peril, and the show delivered that in spades. I happily wallowed in episode after episode of Chi being an adorable, energetic kitten. My cynicism only poked its head out occasionally, usually over something to do with the Yamadas. I liked Yohei, but there were times when I thought he was almost too well-mannered for his age. I shook my head in disbelief when the Yamadas packed up and moved right at the beginning of the series, after (I'm guessing) spending an entire 104 previous episodes trying to hide Chi in a “no pets allowed” apartment.

Still, the focus was primarily on Chi and the rest of the animals, so I was willing to overlook humans with too-easy lives. Cat lovers will be most happy with the series, which, in addition to Chi, includes a Scottish fold and several recurring stray cats (my favorite is Tama – I wish she and her sister had been reunited before the series ended).

I don't know if another season/series is planned, but part of me hopes not. While I adore Chi and believe I could easily watch another 104 episodes of her without growing bored, I'm not sure I'd want to watch Chi (and Yohei) grow older. I'd also dislike it if the series went on and on without any of the characters being affected by the passage of time. If this is where Chi's story ends, I think I'm happy.

Watch-alikes and Read-alikes:

Azumanga Daioh (manga) by Kiyohiko Azuma; Azumanga Daioh (anime TV series) - This series is even less grounded in reality than Chi's New Address, but those who'd like to try another slice-of-life series that includes a bit of comedy might want to check it out. Also, for those looking for more cute animals, you may enjoy one particular character in this series, a quiet, cool-looking girl who secretly loves animals. Unfortunately for her, almost all animals hate her, but that doesn't stop her from trying to befriend them.
Yotsuba&! (manga) by Kiyohiko Azuma - Those who'd like another slice-of-life series that focuses on a cute, innocent character might want to try this. Yotusba is a strange young girl who, despite her strangeness, manages to make everyone she meets smile. Although she lives alone with only her father, their life isn't a lonely one - Yotsuba and her father end up with several friends they visit fairly often. Ok, so reading too much of this series at once might make your teeth rot, but the same could be said about Chi's New Address. It's a very cute, sweet series, a great read when you're feeling blue.
Fruits Basket (manga) by Natsuki Takaya; Fruits Basket (anime TV series) - This series also has cute animals, including a cat. The premise of the series is that the Sohma family has been cursed so that certain members of the family turn into an animal from the Chinese zodiac when they become weak or are hugged by someone of the opposite sex. Tohru Honda, a normal high school girl whose mother died a while back, ends up living with several of the Sohmas. This is somewhat a slice-of-life series, but, as the series progresses and the more twisted aspects of the Sohma family are revealed, it gets a bit darker. Those who would like something that's about more than just day-to-day life might want to try this.
The Cat Returns (anime movie) - If you're a cat lover and would just like something with lots of cats in it, you might want to try this. The main character of this movie, an ordinary high school girl, saves a cat from being hit by a truck. In return, she receives several rewards, including marriage to the crown prince of the Cat Kingdom. With the help of the Baron, another cat, she enters the Cat Kingdom and tries to prevent her marriage.
My Neighbor Totoro (anime movie) - If you'd like another mostly light-hearted, cute story, you might want to try this. Two young sisters and their father move to a new home in a fairly rural area, a home closer to the hospital the girls' mother is in. While waiting for their mother to get better, the girls explore their new home and discover strange, amazing, somewhat cat-like creatures that they then befriend.
Dark Side Cat (anime) - If you'd like another series, with very short episodes, that focuses on a cat, you might want to try this. It's more action-filled and funny than cute, but it may still appeal to those who liked Chi's New Address. Currently, you can watch this series for free via Crunchyroll. I have written about it.

Worst of 2011

2012-01-01T17:44:00.000-06:00

I debated whether or not to write this post, but I decided that, since I like to read "Worst of" posts, others might want to see a list of my "worst of 2011." Some of the works listed below aren't necessarily "worst," so much as "biggest disappointment." If that's the case, I'll say so.

I've only listed things I've written whole posts about.

Reading:

Romancing Mister Bridgerton (book) by Julia Quinn - This book isn't so much one of the worst I read in 2011 as it is one of the biggest disappointments. The first half of it was wonderful. In the last third of the book, however, Quinn did a few things that really disappointed me and tainted my enjoyment of the earlier parts of the book.
Basilisk (e-novella) by Kate Cotoner - No real emotional connection, the characters' first sex scene is on stage, in public (public sex and sexual situations are one of my personal red flags), and I just didn't find the characters in general to be all that interesting.
The Prisoner of Zenda (e-book) by Anthony Hope - Not as much fun as I was expecting it to be, and filled with characters I didn't like or didn't care about.
Never a Bride (e-book) by Amelia Grey - I hated the heroine and was annoyed by the hero. Grey's writing is appealing, and the hero and heroine occasionally made a good pair, but, overall, I didn't like this book. I managed to find another one of Grey's works while at a used bookstore, though, so I plan to give her another shot.
Duck! (e-book) by Kim Dare - I've read reviews that have said that Dare writes wonderful, hot, emotion-filled BDSM romance, but I just didn't see that this in this book. I found the characters dull and the world-building weak, and the romance disturbed me a little, because I felt that what Raynard took as a sign of Ori's natural tendency towards submission was actually a sign that he could have used some therapy after all the abuse he had endured.
DEAD(ish) (novelette) by Naomi Kramer - There was too much telling, not enough showing, and this novelette has the distinction of being the only work I read in 2011 with not a single likable character.
Pregnesia (book) by Carla Cassidy - This book features an 8-month pregnant heroine with amnesia, its only sex scene features said pregnant woman performing a hand job on the hero, and it's packed with "are you kidding me" moments. Its primary saving grace is that it's fast paced and, with a title like Pregnesia, only an idiot would pick it up with the expectation that it will be fantastic. For that reason alone, I suppose it shouldn't be on this list, but I decided to include it anyway.
Abandon (book) by Meg Cabot - Okay, so there are worse YA paranormal romances out there (*cough* Breaking Dawn *cough*). I suppose this one fits more in the "biggest disappointment" category. I love the Persephone myth, and I usually glom onto dark, brooding heroes, but Cabot somehow managed to write a dark, brooding hero that didn't make me go all fangirly. Personally, I think Cabot would be better off sticking to light-hearted stuff.
Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes: The Authorized Adaptation (graphic novel) by Ron Wimberly, introduction by Ray Bradbury - I haven't read the original work this was based on, but I got the feeling that this graphic novel tried a bit too hard to be faithful to that original work. It didn't make effective use of the strengths of the graphic novel format. I also wasn't a huge fan of the artwork style.
Blood Alone, Omnibus Collection 1 (manga, vols. 1-3) by Masayuki Takano - I've read worse manga than this, but this is probably the worst manga that I wrote a full post about in 2011. It reads as though what Takano really wanted to do was write a slice-of-life almost-romance about a girl and the man who takes care of her - the vampire elements are there and could have been really interesting, but Takano didn't make effective use of them and couldn't seem to draw really good action scenes.

Listening:

The Adventures of Sally (audio book) by P.G. Wodehouse, read by Kara Shallenberg - I was expecting more light, frothy fun, in the vein of Jill the Reckless. What I got instead was a heroine I didn't quite like but who was inexplicably loved by everyone else, a love interest who never seemed to mind being stepped upon by the heroine, and a whole collection of moments that either angered me or chilled me, emotional reactions that I don't think were what Wodehouse was necessarily aiming for. Even if he was, it doesn't really matter, because that wasn't the kind of book I wanted to read.

Viewing:

Bunraku (live action movie) - I do believe that this is the worst movie I watched all year, beating out even Cowboys & Aliens.
Cowboys & Aliens (live action movie) - I'd only recommend watching this if you can do so with a friend, in an environment where you're free to make fun of it without upsetting others. It's not quite in the "so bad it's good" category, but it's close. Maybe that means it shouldn't be on this list, I don't know.
Murder Princess (anime OVA) - This felt like an unfinished mish-mash of a bunch of other much better shows. None of the characters grabbed me, and I can't even recommend it for its fight scenes.
Dance in the Vampire Bund (anime TV series) - Technically, this isn't a truly bad series. The story was fairly interesting, and I was intrigued enough by what was going on that I couldn't seem to stop watching, even though I sometimes wanted to. The reason why I've added it to this list is because it includes several things that are gigantic, glowing red flags for me: sexualized children and incestuous or semi-incestuous relationships. The main character has the mind of a sexy, flirtatious woman unabashedly going after the guy she's interested in, but she has the body of a young (undeveloped) child. I watched the censored version, so I thankfully never got to see her naked. This same character even got the equivalent of an on-screen gynecological exam near the end of the show. There's another character who ended up in a romantic relationship with the young boy she had cared for like a brother. The overall story may have been interesting, but I spent way too much time wishing there were some things I could un-see.
Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts (anime TV series) - This show definitely had its funny moments, and there were some aspects of it that I liked. However, a lot of its humor fell flat with me, and there were quite a few running gags that I thought seriously outstayed their welcome. Plus, remember what I said about incest being a red flag for me? Yeah, this show has incest-related jokes.

Best of 2011

2012-01-01T16:28:00.000-06:00

The things listed below aren't necessarily everything I enjoyed this year, but they're what I would whole-heartedly recommend to someone with tastes similar to mine. Nothing is listed in any particular order, and I have only included works that I've written whole posts about.

Reading:

The Only Gold (e-book) by Tamara Allen - Historical m/m romance with a bit of action near the end.
The Iron Duke (book) by Meljean Brook - Steampunk romance, and, I think, the best steampunk I read this year.
Kimi ni Todoke (manga) by Karuho Shiina - I've written about three volumes of this series, although I've read many volumes more than that. This is a wonderfully sweet shoujo series that could probably make my poor heart explode if I read too much of it in one sitting.
Bleeding Violet (book) by Dia Reeves - Although I connected more with Reeves' Slice of Cherry than I did with this book, I'd be more likely to recommend Bleeding Violet to others. Reeves gets lots of kudos from me for creating a setting that is so interesting and vibrant that it could be considered a main character.
A Bride's Story (manga) by Kaoru Mori - I've only written about the first volume, although I've read the second one. The artwork is beautiful, and the characters, culture, and setting are interesting. This series is highly recommended to those who'd like a gorgeous slice-of-life story. If I were still in college, taking Anthropology classes, I'd be encouraging all my classmates to try this.
Chi's Sweet Home (manga) by Konami Kanata - If you're a cat lover, I urge you to try this series, even if you've never read manga before. Chi is incredibly adorable, and those who have lived with and loved cats with find much to relate to.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar (e-book) by Maurice Leblanc - Of all the things I really enjoyed reading in 2011, this is the oldest, and it can be gotten for free via Project Gutenberg. Okay, so it's a little eye-roll-worthy, but it's still lots of fun.
Skip Beat! (manga) by Yoshiki Nakamura - A shoujo series that feels like a shounen series. There's romance, but the heroine, Kyoko, is too focused on her goal of becoming a bigger star than her ex-boyfriend to notice - and it's an absolute blast.
Emma (manga) by Kaoru Mori - I finally finished reading this series in 2011, although I read the bulk of the series earlier. Mori's historical cross-class romance is lovely. This series may appeal to a broader audience than A Bride's Story, simply because there's a bit more going on. Unfortunately, unless you get it via the library, it can be difficult and expensive to track down. Hopefully it will get rereleased.
Sleight of Hand (e-novella) by Katrina Strauss - The only thing on my list that could be classified as erotic romance. This novella is what got me interested in Strauss's works.
A Rose is a Rose (e-book) by Jet Mykles - I debated whether or not to include this one in the list, because, while Carson was a vibrant, wonderful character, Eddie could have used more fleshing out. Still, I really enjoyed this book, so I decided to let it squeak by.
Marrying Miss Marshall (book) by Lacy Williams - Another book I decided to let squeak by. It's maybe not the best of the best, but I really loved the heroine. This is the only inspirational romance on this list, and the only inspirational romance I read in 2011.
On Apology (non-fiction book) by Aaron Lazare - This is the only non-fiction book I read in 2011. It did a wonderful job of helping me think more about about apologies, why they're necessary, and what makes an apology good or bad.
Among the Living (e-novella) by Jordan Castillo Price - This novella prompted me to buy a few more of Price's works. If those are just as good, Price will be getting more of my money in 2012.

Listening:

Going Postal (audio book) by Terry Pratchett, performed by Stephen Briggs - I don't love everything Pratchett has ever written, but I do enjoy most of it, and this is one of my favorites. Getting to listen to Stephen Briggs read it is just icing on the cake.

Viewing:

Baccano! (anime TV series) - This is cheating, a bit, because I included it in last year's list after watching it on Hulu. In 2011, I wrote about the DVD release. It's a fantastic, fast-paced, adrenaline-packed, gory show.
Spice & Wolf (anime TV series) and Spice & Wolf II (anime TV series) - Lawrence and Holo may be one of my all-time favorite anime couples. I didn't quite like the second season as much as the first, but I still thought this was a great show overall.
Big Windup! (anime TV series) - Like Baccano!, adding this series to the list feels like cheating, because it was on my 2010 list too - in 2010, I watched the series on Hulu, while in 2011 I bought the DVD release. I wish this show had been popular enough in the U.S. to warrant the licensing of the second season. It reminded me of why I like sports anime and manga - there's so much energy, and I absolutely loved the various friendships.
Dark Side Cat (anime) - This show's combination of its length (6 episodes, each approximately 6 minutes long), energy, and humor made it something I would recommend, although that might not have been the case if it had been a longer series.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (non-Japanese animation) - This series starts off good and just gets better. Yes, its intended audience is children, so there's some goofy humor, but this is a fabulous show that I would recommend to adults, too.
Taisho Baseball Girls (anime TV series) - Had this been a better year for anime watching for me, this series might not have made the list, because the girls were more cliched than I would have liked. Still, it's a fun series, and I cheered for the girls as they played their final match against the boys.
RideBack (anime TV series) - This is one of the few mecha anime I've seen that I've actually enjoyed. Although I thought the beginning of the series was the strongest part (I LOVED watching Rin fall in love with RideBack riding and translate her love for and experience with ballet into her riding), it's still a good show overall.
Maria Watches Over Us (anime TV series) - This series took a bit of time to grow on me, because the girls' hyper-femininity didn't always sit well with me. I think this is the first yuri show I've ever seen. It's pretty, melodramatic, and a bit addictive.
Special A (anime TV series) - Added because this list needs some sparkly shoujo romance. No, it's not the best shoujo romance of all time, but it's probably the best I saw in 2011.
Soul Eater (anime TV series) - I'm not as fond of the latter half of the series, but the first half of it is gold. It's eye-catching, fun, and inventive. Like other shounen series, there are enough characters packed into it that everyone is sure to have at least one favorite. Mine is Death the Kid.

2011 in numbers

2012-01-01T13:30:00.000-06:00

[UPDATE: I just realized that, occasionally, some of my numbers don't add up quite right - for instance, the number of print books I read doesn't match the number you get when you add up all the print books I bought and got for free. I don't really feel like going through and checking everything, though, so I'll just say that my numbers might not always be accurate, but they should be fairly close.]

Here are some numbers for 2011. All of these numbers are based on full posts I've written about a single thing. My posts with short takes on multiple works weren't counted, and neither were my posts about multiple volumes of manga - the numbers below are more about what I actually wrote about than how much I read and watched. That made the counting a little easier.

Formats:

21 print books (as far as those go, I was amused to see that I began and ended the year with Julia Quinn - totally unplanned)
13 e-books
7 e-novellas
7 audio books
2 graphic novels
17 volumes of manga (the actual amount I read was much higher, but I didn't write single posts about most of them)

I can't believe I only read 41 books in the past year. I need to work on that.

I only read one non-fiction book in the past year - everything else was fiction. This isn't very surprising. Since beginning this blog, I've only read 8 non-fiction works, and three of those were manga/graphic novels.

Audience:

10 young adult (or juvenile) books
31 books for adults

2011 felt like a big year for young adult reading for me. I was a little surprised that the number of young adult/juvenile books I read wasn't higher.

Animation, Live action:

2 non-Japanese animation
22 anime
3 live action

These numbers are no surprise. I always watch way more animation, particularly Japanese anime, than live action.

Movie vs. TV series:

2 movies
22 TV series
1 OVA

The numbers don't quite match up to the animation vs. live action numbers, so I have a feeling my tagging is a little off on one or two posts, but you get the idea. Although I know I saw more than 2 movies in the past year, I only wrote about two. It's no surprise that the TV series number is high.

My Nook:

I bought my Nook in April, and I found myself wondering how this affected my reading habits. I felt like I read more e-books than print books after getting my Nook, so I took a look at the numbers.

13 print books (this includes 1 book that is essentially a picture book for adults, so it might be more accurate to say I read 12 print books)
6 e-novellas (I read one novella while trying out someone else's Nook, so I'm not counting that one)
12 e-books

As it turns out, I read more individual works in e-format, but my book reading is still slightly more print format than e-format. It's impressive, though, that e-books make up almost half of my book reading now. It would be interesting to know how the page count compares, since it seems like e-first publishers' definition of "book" is shorter than traditional print books. However, I don't have those numbers and, even if I did, I'm still not entirely certain that one Nook page always equates to one print page.

All my novella reading in the past year has been due to my Nook (at least according to the full posts I've written) - I read no print anthologies.

Purchased vs. Free:

Books:

31 purchased (9 print books, 6 e-books, 10 manga volumes, 6 e-novellas)
19 library (11 print books, 2 audio books, 5 manga volumes, 1 graphic novel)
16 free, but not library (2 print books, 7 e-books, 5 audio books, 1 e-novella, 1 graphic novel)

Viewing (not including movie theater):

11 purchased
1 library
14 streaming

Again, this only reflects the things I wrote full posts about. The actual number of things I purchased and got for free (library, library convention haul, Project Gutenberg, etc.) is much higher, but I'd have a horrible time trying to count it all up.

If you count the posts I wrote about multiple manga volumes (my post vacation manga posts), my library reading goes from 19 to 59, with 45 of those being manga volumes. Those 40 manga volumes were checked out from a library that has an actual manga collection - the library I work at has no manga (unless you count the Odd Thomas OEL manga that we for some reason purchased), so every volume I get from there has to be requested via ILL. Getting through a single series via ILL can be very time-consuming, since I don't usually request multiple volumes of a series, out of fear that the later volumes will get to me first. This explains why I tend to buy more manga volumes than I check out from the library, even though manga volumes are expensive enough that I really would prefer to get them via the library.

As far as purchases of print books go, it should be noted that I tend to buy used if at all possible. The only exception tends to be impulse Harlequin buys. As far as manga goes, I sometimes buy used, but I usually buy new at as low a price as I can find - I get nervous about buying used manga, because I don't want to get shipped something that has damaged artwork.

All of the streaming things I watched and wrote about could be viewed for free, although I should note that, a few weeks ago, I caved and bought myself a subscription to Crunchyroll. That's one of the reasons you'll probably be seeing more streaming anime posts in 2012.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton (book) by Julia Quinn

2011-12-31T12:35:00.001-06:00

I was first introduced to Colin Bridgerton in Quinn's When He Was Wicked and just knew I had to read the book in which he starred. This is that book. While I'm glad I finally got to read it, I'm disappointed with how it turned out.

By the way, the title is a bit misleading. It makes it sound as though Penelope purposefully seduces Colin at some point in the book. She does not. What she does is be herself, and Colin finally starts to notice her as more than just a fixture in his life.

Synopsis:

Penelope Featherington fell in love with Colin Bridgerton just before her 16th birthday. He was gorgeous, well-liked, and charming, and she was the awkward wallflower who could barely hold a conversation with people she didn't know. She knew that nothing would ever come of her feelings for him, but that didn't stop her from dreaming, until she overheard him telling his brothers that he wouldn't marry her. It hurt her feelings and crushed her dreams, but she and Colin did remain friends, mostly because Penelope was still friends with his sister Eloise.

Years later, little has changed. Colin travels a lot, and Penelope, now 28 years old, has resigned herself to being a spinster. Lady Danbury (a delightful elderly woman who has popped up in other books by Quinn) has made the exciting announcement that she will give 1000 pounds to the person who figures out Lady Whistledown's identity - Lady Whistledown is the pseudonym for the person who has been publishing gossip about the ton for the past 11 years. While everyone is speculating about Lady Whistledown, Colin is finally starting to realize that Penelope is more intelligent, witty, and fun to be around than he ever gave her credit for.

Review:

Oh, what a difference the second half of a book can make.

I want to be clear on this: when I was still only halfway through the book, I considered it a keeper. Penelope was wonderful: truly shy around anyone she didn't know well, with a few horribly painful/embarrassing moments in her life that Quinn actually took the time to show. I cringed in sympathy when Penelope came upon Colin just as he was telling his brothers that he wouldn't marry her and Penelope did what she could to preserve her dignity and not make it too obvious that he had just crushed her dreams. I enjoyed watching Penelope blossom as she resigned herself to being an old maid. Her friendship with Lady Danbury warmed my heart, and I loved it when they both confessed to attending horrible Smith-Smythe musicales so that the one Smith-Smythe girl who realized they were awful would have someone in the audience who was not making fun of her.

I loved Colin, too. He was a nice guy, and never hurt Penelope on purpose. He felt miserable when she overheard him saying that he wouldn't marry her – it's just that he was too immature, at that point in his life, to know how to best handle the situation. Later on in their lives, when there was another moment when he could have accidentally hurt her feelings, she stopped him, and he took that time to think about the potential consequences of his actions and how Penelope might be hurt by them. Then he deliberately did his best not to hurt her. Colin wasn't in love with Penelope then and hadn't yet realized that a wonderful person had been right under his nose for years, but he still liked her, and I could have hugged him for the kind and thoughtful way he handled that moment.

There's no way I can properly gripe about what Quinn did in the second half (last third?) of the book without spoiling things, so, if you don't like spoilers, stop reading this review at this point (or, don't click the “Read more” link).

There are a few things I really hate coming across in romance novels. Widowed heroes or heroines still mourning the loss of their first spouses, babies and young children, very pregnant heroines, heroines whose physical description likens them to children, and...main characters who are writers. I've only encountered one author, Nora Roberts, who I can consistently trust to include any of these things without raising my hackles. Romancing Mister Bridgerton has shown me that I can't add Quinn to my short list.

I was wondering where the book was going to go when, a little over halfway through it, Colin was already giddily insisting upon marrying Penelope and trying to get it through her mother's skull that, yes, he really did want to marry Penelope and not her sister Felicity. Then I found out, as Quinn revealed the big secret (GREAT BIG SPOILER WARNING): Penelope is Lady Whistledown, the woman who had been anonymously skewering the ton for 11 years.

I could have lived with this revelation (although I was annoyed that Quinn kept the reader in the dark via artificial means, by simply never having Penelope think about it). In fact, I enjoyed some of the angst that came from Penelope wondering if Colin was ashamed of her because of her work as Lady Whistledown. However, I felt that Lady Whistledown and writing in general then hijacked the story.

This book has a grand total of one sex scene, which occurs prior to Colin and Penelope's marriage. They spend 70 pages of the book married – most authors would have found a way to fit a sex scene, even a fade to black one, in those 70 pages. I'm usually on the side of “more sweet romantic moments, less sex,” so I wouldn't necessarily have minded that Quinn only included one sex scene, if it weren't for the fact that it felt like there could, maybe should, have been one, and it was glossed over. Here is the moment when the book really made me angry:

“The wedding had been magical. It was a small affair, much to the dismay of London society. And the wedding night—well, that had been magical, too.

And, in fact, marriage was magical, Colin was a wonderful husband—teasing, gentle, attentive...

Except when the topic of Lady Whistledown arose.” (298)

There were still 70 pages to go in the book. I had to reread the passage just to be sure that, yes, Quinn really had just glossed over Penelope and Colin's wedding, wedding night, and at least the first few days of their marriage...all because Lady Whistledown was suddenly the more important part of the book. Seriously??

I finished the book because I do not DNF books when I'm that close to finishing them, but when I reached page 298 I decided that I could care less about all the Lady Whistledown stuff. I also began to find Colin's jealousy over Penelope being published (anonymously published, but still published) annoying. The writerly ego stroking scene that occurred when Colin finally let Penelope read his writings and she, of course, found them wonderful made me want to gag. That's probably a personal thing – I have a feeling that, if Colin had been worried about Penelope's reception of, say, his woodworking skills, I would have felt more sympathetic. Quinn just hit the wrong buttons with me when she made not one, but both her main characters writers, and then made that aspect an important part of the book. And, of course, Colin's writing was wonderful through and through – another thing that got my back up.

Others may not feel the same way about the ending that I did. However, because of that ending, a book I had initially considered a keeper is now one I'll be offloading in order to free up shelf space.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Jewels of Sun (book) by Nora Roberts - Roberts' writing has a feel similar to Quinn's. This book is a contemporary romance with some fantasy aspects, but, like Romancing Mister Bridgerton, it also has a writer main character (the heroine). The heroine has taken a trip to Ireland to try to get her head on straight, figure out where she's going to go with her life, and work on the book she has always wanted to write. While in Ireland, she meets a gorgeous pub owner and becomes part of a faerie prince's quest to break the spell that keeps him from his true love. Those who liked Colin's awkwardness over his own writings might enjoy the next book in the trilogy, Tears of the Moon.
Never Been Kissed (live action movie) - Another contemporary romance. In this one, a shy copy editor is given a chance to actually write an article for the newspaper she works for. She's told to go undercover at a high school and report on the most interesting/shocking thing she comes across. When that thing turns out to be a teacher who may be falling for a student (the student being her - he has no idea she's not a teenager), she has to decide whether to do her job or follow her heart. It's a very sweet movie that may appeal to those who'd like something else with a shy heroine who's keeping a big secret from the guy she's fallen for. I've written about this movie.
The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown (book, anthology) by Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins, and Mia Ryan - It feels like cheating, including this on the read-alikes list. Anyway, this book features 4 novellas, each starring a different couple, all held together by passages with Lady Whistledown's observations. There is also another anthology, with the same authors, called Lady Whistledown Strikes Back.
The River Knows (book) by Amanda Quick - I added this to the list because Quick's writing has a feel similar to Quinn's, and because this is a historical romance with a heroine who is an undercover reporter for a sensational newspaper. Those who liked the idea of Penelope as Lady Whistledown may enjoy this book. I have written about it.
The Devil in Winter (book) by Lisa Kleypas - I don't think I've ever read one of Kleypas's books, although I've heard that her writing is similar to Quinn's. I added this book to the list because it features a shy heroine. The heroine is a wallflower who is about to become very rich. She offers her inheritance to the hero in exchange for protection of marriage and more immediate protection from her uncle, who plans to marry her to a cousin, kill her, and then take her inheritance.
The Rake and the Wallflower (book) by Allison Lane - I know nothing about Lane's writing, but I added this to the list because it's a Regency romance with a shy heroine. The heroine is forced to accompany her beautiful, vain sister to London for the season. She meets the hero, a supposed notorious rake, while trying to hide behind a potted palm. Unlike others, who assume they know what the hero is like based on his reputation, the heroine actually gets to know him and starts to think there's more going on with him than he lets on.

A posting update: political marriage, an intersex character, and more

2011-12-30T12:41:00.000-06:00

As usual, I'm behind on my posting. I'm seriously considering starting review posts that consist of nothing but bulleted lists of things that worked and didn't work for me. This is how I sometimes put together my notes on what I'd like to write, prior to writing full paragraphs, but I've never quite been comfortable with the idea of making those lists my review. It'd probably make it easier for me to finish my posts, though, and maybe easier to read as well.

So, what's currently in the posting lineup?

Dawn of the Arcana (manga, vol. 1) story and art by Rei Toma - Two warring countries attempt to make peace through marriage. It's an uneasy peace, though, and Princess Nakaba and Prince Caesar's marriage has a rocky start, to say the least. I'm not sure, at this point, whether I like or dislike Caesar. Toma tries to make him a sympathetic character, but he did one thing in this volume that was, for me, a big, fat mark against him. I'm currently rooting more for Nakaba to end up with Loki, her servant, although I don't seriously think they'll become a couple in the end.
Amaranth & Ash (e-book) by Jessica Freely - I bought this because it had one aspect that was different from anything I had ever read before - it's a romance where one of the main characters is intersex (has both male and female genitalia). Loose Id charges too much for its e-books ($6.99 for something under 200 pages, with several editing errors?), but this was still an enjoyable book. I only wish it were part of a series. I would have preferred a sequel to the "4 years later" epilogue.

I'm also a little over halfway through Julia Quinn's Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, which I have wanted to read since finishing When He Was Wicked. So far, it has lived up to my expectations - hurray for truly shy heroines who blossom as the story progresses! I think Amanda McCabe's The Shy Duchess was my last attempt at satisfying my "shy heroine" craving, and that one turned out not to be what I was looking for.

As far as streaming anime goes, I'm nearly finished with Uraboku (if the anime gets licensed and released on DVD in the U.S., its title will probably be The Betrayal Knows My Name, so as to match the manga) and Chi's Sweet Home: Chi's New Address. I'm happy I decided to watch both of these shows at the same time, because they really balance each other out. Uraboku drips with angst, while Chi's Sweet Home: Chi's New Address is so cute and sweet that, if it were possible to get a cavity in one's brain, I would have brain cavities by now.

I hope to be writing more about physical things (DVDs and paper books, as opposed to e-books and streaming shows), because I need to offload some things and make room on my shelves. We'll see how that goes.

Never a Bride (e-book) by Amelia Grey

2011-12-27T23:13:00.001-06:00

I got this when it was being offered for free and without DRM on All Romance eBooks. I like reading the occasional Regency romance, the cover art is lovely, and the description intrigued me, although it would have intrigued me less if I had known exactly how long it was going to take for Mirabella to finally turn to her long-lost fiance for help.

Synopsis:

Although I think others in the family besides Mirabella know that Mirabella's friend Sarah committed suicide, only Mirabella knows that she didn't do it out of despair at the thought of being a spinster all her life. No, Sarah committed suicide because some cad who had no intention of marrying her got her pregnant. Now Mirabella is determined to find that man and keep him from seducing other women, even if it means ruining her own reputation.

All she knows about him is that he's shorter than most men, has a scar on his neck, and danced with Sarah. Fortunately, Mirabella still has Sarah's dance cards. Unfortunately, most men have their necks hidden by neckcloths. The best way Mirabella can think of to check them is to find a moment alone with them, get them to kiss her, and then stick her fingers under their neckcloths while they're distracted by the kiss. The rumor mill seems to be a bit slow, so Mirabella's reputation may make it through the Season, but then something horrible happens...Mirabella's fiance comes back.

Catching his fiancee kissing another man seems, to Camden, to be as good a reason as any to call his marriage off. Since his last fiancee was caught doing the very same thing, he might even be better off not marrying at all. However, his family, nearly ruined by his father's gambling debts, really needs Mirabella's dowry, so Camden sets his teeth, swallows his pride, and asks Mirabella to at least pretend to be his fiancee for a while longer. At first, Mirabella refuses, much to Camden's shock. With her reputation close to being ruined, why wouldn't she agree to marry someone? Mirabella eventually relents, however, out of worry over her father's fragile health.

Although Mirabella doesn't continue kissing men in order to check under their neckcloths, she does do other outlandish things, like pretending to be a maid and even a man, in order to continue her quest for the man whose actions led to Sarah's death. Because she refuses to tell Camden why she's doing what she's doing, out of fear that he'll tell her to stop, Camden is convinced that, as much as he enjoys Mirabella's company and is attracted by her, she's entirely the wrong sort of woman to marry. Even if Mirabella does find the man who seduced Sarah, will her efforts ruin her chance at finding happiness with Camden?

Review:

The best thing I can say about this book was that it was very readable – I got through it fairly quickly. However, it was definitely not the book for me, for several reasons.

One of those reasons was Mirabella. I hated Mirabella. I hated her for not thinking things through, for not seeing all the possible consequences of her actions, and for abusing the power she had over her maid. She didn't care what happened to her reputation, but she worried that it would affect her father's health if he heard what she had been doing. And yet she kept on kissing men anyway, and didn't stop until after Camden came back. Even after Camden came back, she continued to do things that could have ruined her reputation and would have upset her father. Who made sure things didn't go hideously wrong? Camden. He got her out of the club before anyone realized there was a woman dressed as a man among them, and he hushed up anyone he found out had kissed her.

Was that reason enough to confide to Camden why she did what she did? No. Did starting to fall in love with him lead to a greater feeling of trust in him? No, or at least that was the impression I got based on her actions. Had Mirabella worried about telling Camden about Sarah's suicide because suicide is a sin (we're talking about a Regency romance here, after all), then I might have been a bit more sympathetic, but the thought never even crossed her mind. The one reason she used, over and over, to justify not telling Camden was that he would make her stop looking for the man.

I'd have thought that a man worth falling in love with would be worth trusting a bit more, but apparently that's not the case. At the very least, I'd have thought it would have occurred to Mirabella that a man would have an easier time getting to see another man's bare neck. When the thought did finally occur to her, she didn't approach Camden, an actual man, for help, but rather dressed herself up as a man. I found myself wishing someone would catch her, since I seriously doubted she could pretend to be a man so well, so easily.

And, by the way, she didn't dress herself as a man on her own. No, she got her maid Lily to help her, even going to far as to convince Lily to sneak some of her father's clothes into her room. Mirabella also got Lily to help her dress as a maid, implying that she might dismiss Lily if she didn't help. When Lily brought up the perfectly understandable worry that Mirabella's father might dismiss her if he found out what she'd helped his daughter do, Mirabella assured her that her father would never do such a thing and that she'd see to it nothing happened to her. Yeah, right. Mirabella's complete lack of knowledge about the realities of Lily's life was probably realistic (although it made Mirabella's ability to convincingly pretend to be a maid, even just for a few hours, even harder to believe), but that didn't make me hate her any less. Besides, why worry about realism in a book where the hero and heroine spend quite a bit of time alone and unchaperoned?

I shouldn't limit my complaints to just Mirabella, however – Camden inspired a few himself. After what he went through with his first fiancee, I could understand why he didn't want to marry Mirabella after catching her kissing another man. It's not like Mirabella and Camden even knew each other all that well to begin with, so there wasn't much of an emotional attachment to break off. Okay, so I ground my teeth a little at the idea that Camden could kiss a few women while he was engaged to Mirabella and Mirabella was expected not to do the same, but, hey, it's a Regency romance. What really got to me was Camden's reaction when Mirabella started musing that she might make a good mistress.

Camden had basically said that he couldn't marry Mirabella because he couldn't trust that she'd be faithful to him, and that their renewed engagement was a sham. However, even though he didn't think she was good enough for him to marry, he didn't think she was so soiled that she should become someone's mistress. She should find a nice man to marry. Just not him. Maybe someone who didn't know she'd kissed other men and wouldn't worry that she wasn't being faithful to him? But, oh, wait, Camden still had to get a few kisses in, because he found Mirabella so sexy. But not pure enough to marry.

Oh, barf.

So, I hated Mirabella, I was very, very annoyed by Camden, and I figured out who Sarah's former lover was within the first 50 pages, due to some ever-so-slightly icky behavior on that character's part and the very obvious “he's short” clue. Like I said, this book is readable, and the pace is fairly good, but it definitely didn't fit my tastes. Had I not disliked Mirabella and Camden so much, I probably would have enjoyed their conversations, so I'm not going to completely cross this author off my personal list. That said, I'd have to spot one of her books at a used bookstore, because I'm not buying DRM-protected e-books and Grey hasn't impressed me enough to make me want to shell out the money for a new book.

Read-alikes:

Mistress (book) by Amanda Quick - Something about Grey's writing made me think of Amanda Quick. I haven't read this particular book, but I chose it because it features a heroine who's making herself out to be something she's not (in this case, a mistress) in order to catch someone who's trying to hurt one of her loved ones, her aunt. The heroine believes that the man whose mistress she is pretending to be is dead, so she's shocked when it turns out he's still alive. If this book doesn't sound quite to your tastes, you might take a look at other books in Quick's backlist. I've reviewed Quick's The River Knows.
The Secret (book) by Julie Garwood - Again, I'm not quite sure why I've added this to the list, other than that something about Grey's writing made me think of Garwood. This is another book in which the heroine is trying to help a friend (and has a secret of her own that she's keeping from the hero), although, in this case, the friend is very much still alive. Those of you who like strong friendships between women in your romance novels might enjoy this one.
How to Marry a Marquis (book) by Julia Quinn - Another one I added to the list because something about Grey's writing reminded me of this author. Aside from that, this book doesn't have too much in common with Never a Bride. The hero has been hired by his aunt to pose as the new estate manager and find the person who is blackmailing her. Around the same time, the heroine, who desperately needs to marry if she wants to stand a chance of keeping her three younger siblings out of the poor house and give them an upbringing befitting of their station, stumbles across a book with the helpful title, How to Marry a Marquis. Now the heroine just needs someone to practice on... I've reviewed a few of Quinn's books.

Bunraku (live action movie)

2011-12-27T20:43:00.000-06:00

Okay, so this is the movie poster, and not the DVD box image, but they're almost the same. Imagine little white text that reads "This move flat out blew me away!" underneath the title. See? You're not missing much.

Synopsis:

This movie is set "east of the Atlantic," sometime in the future, after a catastrophic war prompted the outlawing of all guns. Of course, just because guns have been outlawed doesn't mean that people don't continue to kill each other with knives, hatchets, swords, arrows, their fists, and whatever else they can think of.

A Drifter (Josh Hartnett) arrives in a town ruled by Nicola the Woodsman (Ron Perlman) and his nine Killers. The Drifter wants to get revenge against Nicola for having killed his father, but first he has to get close enough - hard to do, considering that most people never meet Nicola in person.

At around the same time the Drifter arrives, so does a samurai named Yoshi (Gackt), who wants to find the gold dragon medallion that was his father's dying request. Yoshi's uncle is against his quest, because he thinks it will result in Yoshi becoming the same horrible kind of person his father was, but Yoshi is determined. Yoshi's quest causes him to cross paths with the Drifter, and eventually they team up together to go after Nicola, who, as it turns out, has the gold medallion. There's also a bit of a sidestory involving Nicola's girlfriend/favorite whore (Demi Moore), who used to be the girlfriend of the Bartender (Woody Harrelson) who knows both Yoshi and the Drifter.

Review:

This movie...oh dear. Well, at least I can say I wasn't expecting much when I popped it into my DVD player.

I didn't buy this movie for the best of reasons. Basically, all it took for me to ignore the voice in my head that said this was going to be terrible was seeing one name in the cast lineup: Gackt. For those of you who don't know who Gackt is, he's primarily a singer. He used to be in a band called Malice Mizer, has had a solo career for a while, and has done some acting. I don't own any of his CDs and don't consider myself a huge Gackt fangirl, but it looks like I can't resist buying his movies. A note for Gackt fans out there: he speaks both Japanese and English in this movie, he has long hair worn in a ponytail, and he fights with various weapons, including a sword and bow and arrow. One or more of these things should cue a fangirl squeal of approval.

One of the few reasons I'd recommend getting this movie is if you absolutely must own/watch everything featuring one of the actors or actresses in it. I recognized almost all the people playing the more sizable parts, so, while I got this movie because of Gackt, I could definitely see others getting it because of Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Kevin McKidd, Ron Perlman, or Demi Moore.

Josh Hartnett looks like a film noir refugee and brawls like he's in a Western. At one point, he's given brass knuckles as a weapon (I'm not sure I actually saw him using them, though), and I think he shared a Look with Momoko, Yoshi's cousin – other than the bits about Demi Moore's character's past, that's the closest the movie gets to romance.
Woody Harrelson spends a lot of time reacting to other people fighting. When he's not doing that, he's tending his bar and working on his hobby, creating pop-up books.
Kevin McKidd is a cold-blooded killer who looks like he's trying to channel Fred Astaire when he fights.
Ron Perlman has dreadlocks, a fancy card game setup that I'm guessing is supposed to help him cheat when he gambles (not that this kept Josh Hartnett's Drifter character from winning every time), and a hatchet. He does his best to work the whole “bored, getting-on-in-years-but-still-deadly villain” thing.
Demi Moore...well, her part isn't very big, mostly limited to sneering and spitting.

Let's see, other reasons to watch this movie... There are a few really excellent animated sequences. The one at the beginning is particularly good. It starts off with a puppet show that I think combines real paper puppets layered with animation and leads into a completely animated sequence. It's very eye-catching, and the paper art theme is carried through in other areas, including the Bartender's hobby and effects that made certain scenes look like a pop-up book being opened. There were also a few moments during some of the fight scenes that I liked, and Gackt had a funny scene involving a bowl of wasabi.

I'm stretching, though, because, overall, I really can't recommend this movie.

At the very least, I expected lots of good fight scenes. There were lots of fight scenes, but, for the most part, they weren't very good. Some of them had good moments, and I think Josh Hartnett and Gackt worked the coolness factor in their fight scenes as much as possible, but the fights weren't nearly as awesome as I had hoped. During a fight between Yoshi and a swordsmen, I started to get annoyed as the camera kept cutting to Bartender reaction shots. It reminded me of the Quidditch match in the first Harry Potter movie, when, instead of focusing entirely on the Quidditch action, the camera kept cutting to cheesy Harry Potter reaction shots. The impression I got was that the fight between Yoshi and the swordsman was kind of lame, so the director tried to hide that by breaking it up with reaction shots. In some of the other fight scenes, I think I even caught some of the fakery that goes into making it look like one person hit another. I just couldn't bring myself to believe the fights, which made it hard to worry about the outcomes.

From the small amount of the commentary I was able to listen to, I think the director was going for a movie that didn't take itself too seriously and would be a good bit of fun for its viewers. The fake-looking scenery was meant to look fake – the whole thing was supposed to look a bit like the set of a musical. Unfortunately, no matter what the director was actually going for, the result fell flat for me. I did guess that the movie was trying not to take itself too seriously, but that didn't mean I found what I was seeing to be funny. The actors and actresses tried very hard to put emotion into their performances, but the confusing, somewhat awkward script didn't give them a lot to work with.

There were lines that I think were supposed to come across as funny, but instead just sounded...bad. This was one of those movies that was just too much when taken all together. Part of me thinks that certain scenes would have been funnier if the setting hadn't been so strangely artificial, because I wouldn't have had to process that, try to remember what was going on, and find something funny at the same time.

The script felt like it was composed mostly of cliched lines from a bunch of different movies, and those lines didn't always make sense in the context of this movie. For instance, I had problems wrapping my brain around Yoshi asking the Drifter “What's in it for me?”, when he should have been asking “And how do I know that you'll really pay me back the money you just asked me for? After all, we just met.” The Drifter had just told Yoshi that he'd get his money back, with interest. It wasn't necessary to ask “What's in it for me?” I spent time wondering at the stupidity of his question when I should have been focused on the sudden gratuitous fight between Yoshi and the Drifter. It was as distracting as the repeated cuts to Bartender reaction shots during Yoshi's fight with the swordsman.

Unless you plan on stopping the movie after the initial animated sequence, the only reason I'd get this is if you have a burning desire to watch/own everything featuring one of the people acting in it. Otherwise, you're better off passing this one by.

Extras:

There are no subtitles. I checked, because I could have used them during some of the scenes involving Killer No. 2.

There are only two extras: a theatrical trailer for the movie and commentary by the director (Guy Moshe) and Kevin McKidd (he played Killer No. 2). I only got maybe 15 or 20 minutes into the commentary before I had to quit - I got tired of the director's comments about how some people got what they were trying to do with the movie and some people didn't. I have a feeling that, whenever reception of the movie was less than stellar (which I gather was most of the time, since the general ratings I've seen haven't been good), the director chose to blame it on people not "getting" it. Here's a tip: if the majority of viewers don't seem to understand what you're trying to do, you're not doing a good job.

Watch-alikes:

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (live action movie) - This movie does what I think Bunraku was trying to do - parody certain aspects of other things (video games, for instance), not take itself too seriously, be funny, and have a few good fight scenes mixed in.
Firefly (live action TV series) - If you'd like something else that mixes Westerns (and also science fiction) with Asian influences, you might want to try this.
Princess Raccoon (live action movie) - The play-like look of some of Bunraku's scenes made me think of Princess Raccoon, which features some beautiful sets that would be perfectly at home (and probably applauded) on a stage. It has a lighter overall feel than Bunraku. I have written about this movie.
Samurai Jack (non-Japanese animation) - The setting in Bunraku reminded me a lot of Samurai Jack, but there are other similarities (except that I enjoyed Samurai Jack a lot more). Samurai Jack is about a samurai who has been propelled into the future and must find a way back to the past so that he can defeat the evil wizard Aku. In the future, Aku rules everything, and Jack often finds himself helping people who are being hurt or oppressed by Aku's minions.
Sin City (live action movie) - To be honest, I haven't seen this and don't plan to. It always struck me as a little too dark for my tastes, and I gather that it's a lot darker than Bunraku. However, I've seen in referenced in comments about Bunraku, so there are apparently similarities.
Kill Bill (live action movie) - Okay, so this is another one I have seen, but at least I've seen parts of it, and I thought of those parts as I was watching Bunraku. Nicola's Killers made me think of the assassins the Bride faces.

Murder Can Spoil Your Appetite (audio book) by Selma Eichler, read by Barbara Rosenblat

2011-12-18T18:43:00.000-06:00

I think this book would be included in both "cozy mystery" and "food mystery" categories, although food mystery lovers should be warned that while this book has lots of references to food, it includes only one recipe.

Synopsis:

Under normal circumstances, private detective Desiree Shapiro would never accept a job from an organized crime boss. However, Desiree is curious in spite of herself, Vito de Silva won't take no for an answer...and the amount he offers to pay her is very, very nice.

A friend of de Silva's was murdered, and de Silva wants to find out who did it and doesn't trust the cops to do as thorough an investigation as he would like. De Silva swears to Desiree that he will let the law punish whoever is found to be the murderer. De Silva had been helping his friend rise in politics, but it doesn't seem like anyone killed him for that reason. Desiree and Lou, her partner from the local police, investigate a lot of different possibilities, including a drug deal gone bad or jealousy on the part of one of de Silva's people, but nothing seems to pan out. Desiree can't shake her suspicion that the up-and-coming politician's beautiful wife had something to do with his murder.

Review:

I had never read or listened to one of Selma Eichler's books before, and I hadn't realized that this was book 7 in her Desiree Shapiro series. However, I thought it stood well enough on its own. Eichler established fairly early on that Desiree, short and a bit overweight (not that too big of a deal is made of this), was not what people usually pictured when they thought of private detectives. Also, Desiree is a widow and is dating Al, a guy who is nice and comfortable, but, from Desiree's perspective, not much besides.

This was maybe not the best work-time listening. I had trouble keeping track of Desiree and Lou's reasons for accepting or rejecting certain theories for why the guy (whose name I cannot remember – maybe Frank?) was murdered. I'm not sure that I would have enjoyed this book more in paper form, though, because, to be honest, the mystery itself didn't seem hugely interesting to me. I didn't have the feeling that Desiree was getting anywhere, so it was hard to work up any enthusiasm for the investigation.

When the killer was revealed, I was shocked – I truly hadn't guessed who it was, and still couldn't quite believe it after it had been revealed, because murder seemed so out of character for that person. I had caught some slightly “off” moments in that character's behavior, but I hadn't thought anything of it at the time. The thing that bugged me the most about the revelation of who the killer was was that I couldn't really believe that Desiree managed to figure it out. She didn't have a whole lot to go on, other than the a few things that didn't quite add up (any of which could have been explained in some other way). It wasn't until the killer confessed to the murder that she truly had proof – and the confession scene bothered me in its own way. Yes, Desiree had her gun close at hand. However, she had a broken leg and couldn't maneuver very well. Even had her leg not been broken, I would have considered it amazingly stupid for her to invite a suspected killer over, especially one who had tried to kill her.

On the personal side of things, I could tell things were over between Desiree and Al long before she herself noticed. Actually, part of me thought that Al might have been cheating on her – he seemed just a tad too mild, nice, and perfect. I was glad that Desiree broke up with Al after realizing that she was falling for Lou. She would have lost points with me if she had waited until after finding out how Lou felt about her.

Overall, I don't think this was a bad book, but there was nothing about it that grabbed me and made me want to read/listen to the rest of the series. Everything about it felt kind of average, and none of the characters, even Desiree, really sparked my interest. Well, except maybe de Silva, but I have a feeling he's not going to be a recurring character.

Barbara Rosenblat was an okay reader, although I don't feel like raving about her the way I do about Stephen Briggs. The voices she chose for the characters weren't always as easy to tell apart as I would have liked.

Extras:

There is one recipe included, but I can't remember which track or disc. I think it was for a lemon souffle.

Read-alikes:

One for the Money (book) by Janet Evanovich - Desiree talking about her gun not getting a lot of use and not having any experience with dangerous cases prior to a few years ago reminded me of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. Be warned, though - Stephanie's not just unused to danger, she's also incompetent as a bounty hunter. Those who liked the slight romantic elements in Eichler's book may appreciate the romance that brews between Stephanie and two other characters, a cop named Joe Morelli and a bounty hunter named Ranger. Those who liked Eichler's food references will probably enjoy Stephanie's love of food and her dinners at her parents' house - just be aware that there are no recipes.
Just Desserts (book) by G.A. McKevett - I haven't read anything by this author. I added it to this list because it's a mystery with a plus-sized female main character. Detective Savannah Reid investigates the murder of the husband of city councilwoman Beverly Winston, only to be fired after she learns that there's a cover up going on to protect the councilwoman and that the councilwoman and police chief are lovers. A prime suspect hires Savannah to continue looking into the murder.
Larger Than Death (book) by Lynne Murray - Another mystery with a plus-sized female main character, this one looking into the death of her friend, who may have been killed by a serial killer nicknamed Captain Ahab. Captain Ahab leaves behind the message "Kill the Whales" and specializes in plus-sized women, and the main character's friend was a designer of plus-sized clothing.

Going Postal (audio book) by Terry Pratchett, performed by Stephen Briggs

2011-12-17T12:27:00.000-06:00

This is the 33rd book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, but that doesn't mean those who are new to the series can't read it, too. In fact, I'd recommend this over the first book in the series.

Synopsis:

Moist von Lipwig is a con man who has stolen a lot of money and gotten caught. Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, gives him a choice between certain death and becoming Ankh-Morpork's new Postmaster. Moist understandably chooses the latter option.

Ankh-Morpork's Post Office used to be a well-oiled machine, reliable and respected. However, it has seen better days, and all previous efforts to build it back up to its former functioning glory have failed. The two remaining employees, Tolliver Groat and Stanley Howler, stick around pretty much because they have nowhere else to go and nowhere else they'd like to be. The Post Office itself is stuffed full of undelivered mail.

Although Moist is a criminal, he has never purposefully hurt anyone, and he's not really a bad person. The longer he works at the Post Office, the more he starts to enjoy his job. He hires anyone he can find to help deliver the mail. He invents stamps, which immediately become hugely popular. Things seem to be going well, until his rival, the guy who owns Ankh-Morpork's clacks (the Discworld's version of telegraphs), decides he's had enough of this new threat to his communications monopoly.

Review:

It's been a while since I read any Discworld books. I had forgotten how enjoyable and funny this series was, and Going Postal was an excellent reminder. This wasn't the first time I read it, but I read it long enough ago that I had forgotten most of it.

One of the things I loved about this book was that Pratchett was able to take something that, in our world, is ordinary (stamps) and make it a revolutionary new idea in the Discworld. Plus, Moist's idea for stamps came about in a natural way. He didn't suddenly think, “Well, we could get the bank back on track by selling little squares of paper. We'll call them 'stamps.'” He first learned how things worked at the Post Office, then questioned the way things had always been done. His previous experience as a forger gave him ideas for what he wanted the new stamps to be like, and he revised and expanded his ideas as he received input from various citizens. Instead of feeling tacked on, Discworld's new stamps felt like a natural and believable part of the world.

Moist is one of my favorite Discworld characters, even though I think he only appears in two books. I have a fondness for con men in fiction, probably because I enjoy seeing how their cleverest cons play out. Technically, Moist was himself in this book, rather than one of his many aliases, but he had to pretend to be a law-abiding and respectable Postmaster, even while he used his criminal knowledge to help save the Post Office. I enjoyed seeing how he made the Post Office functional again (getting back the letters on the building was worth a chuckle, and I loved how things progressed with the stamps), but I really loved it when Moist had to figure out how to stay on top in the face of extreme opposition. He didn't play by the rules, he didn't make things easy on himself (his habit of raising the stakes at all times, even when it was really stupid to do so, wouldn't let him), and yet he still didn't descend to his opponent's level.

Vetinari, one of my favorite recurring Discworld characters, also got a relatively minor but still very memorable role. Really, the man is probably the most appealing dictator ever, and, if Moist is awesome, Vetinari is leaps and bounds ahead of him. Nothing happens in Ankh-Morpork without Vetinari finding out about it and coming up with a course of action for dealing with it. Long-time readers of the series will also probably enjoy the references to Commander Vimes, Carrot, Angua, Death and more (but no Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, which I thought was a missed opportunity), although, as I said at the beginning of this post, newcomers to this series could read this book and not feel lost.

Although golems have appeared in other Discworld books (Feet of Clay is the first one that comes to my mind), I think this book goes into more detail about the way they think and how they work to free themselves than any of the other books have done. For the most part, I found these very non-human beings fascinating. I did think that Mr. Pump's farewell to Moist was a bit out of character, though, and not very fitting with the way golems were supposed to act and think.

Overall, I really liked this book, and I'd recommend it. For those who are leery of over-the-top humor, I thought that Going Postal was more restrained in that area than some of Pratchett's other books. This book is mostly about a con man's attempts to build a failing government service back up in the face of criminal opposition. There are some strange bits (wizards taking early death, golems, a strange machine in the Postal Office, pin collecting, etc.), but the world still feels like it's at least following a logic of its own.

If you're waffling between the print book version and the audio book, I'd say, “Go with whatever format you prefer.” Reading the print book is nice, but the audio book is also a good experience. Stephen Briggs is wonderful, and I'd happily listen to him read the entire series. The only complaint I might have is that, because of Briggs' voice, I didn't realize how young Moist was (25) until his age was mentioned. Then again, I think I also assumed he was older when I read the print book, so maybe that's not Briggs' fault.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Spice & Wolf (anime TV series) - This might be another good one to try if you'd like something else starring really clever, crafty characters. As in Going Postal, there are fantasy and romance elements, as well. I've written about both the first and second seasons of this series, as well as one of the original books.
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal (live action TV series) - I almost hyperventilated when I found out that this book had been adapted into a TV series (minseries?). I have no idea what it's like, but I hope to find out.
American Gods (book) by Neil Gaiman - This book is much darker in tone than Going Postal, but those who'd like something else featuring a con man and fantasy might want to try this. Shadow has recently been released from prison, only to learn that his wife is dead and cheated on him with his best friend. Shadow ends up on a journey that has him crossing paths with old and new gods and learning things about himself that he would never even have guessed at.
Another Fine Myth (book) by Robert Aspirin - Skeeve aspires to be a magician, primarily so that he can become a better thief - after all, what good is learning magic if you can't profit from your knowledge? Skeeve's master falls over dead after conjuring up a demon named Aahz who has lost his powers. Skeeve and Aahz work together to find the assassin who killed Skeeve's master and hopefully get revenge. It's been ages since I read any of Aspirin's books, but I remember the humor being even more off-the-wall than anything in Pratchett's books.

Among the Living (e-novella) by Jordan Castillo Price

2011-12-11T13:24:00.000-06:00

The first half of this novella is available for free on the author's website.

Among the Living is 29,000 words long, which comes out to approximately 93 pages on my Nook.

Synopsis:

Victor Bayne can see and hear dead people. The only way he stands a chance of shutting them out is with drugs, and, when this novella begins, Vic is well into an Auracel daze, trying to remember how many pills he's taken, and trying not to be too obvious about how many pills he's taken.

Vic is the psychic half of a PsyCop team, and he's at his long-time partner's retirement party, so he doesn't expect to have to go back to work soon. Unfortunately for him, before the party's even over he's assigned a new partner, Lisa Gutierrez, and sent off to talk to any ghosts he can find at the scene of a gruesome murder. The murder victim was almost certainly gay, adding to Vic's discomfort - besides the amount of Auracel he takes, Vic's other secret is that he's gay, and he's paranoid about the possibility of doing or saying something that will give himself away. Vic's discomfort only worsens when he realizes that, for the first time, he's unable to see the spirit of a murder victim.

After Gutierrez is taken off the case, Vic is assigned to work with another Psy Cop team, Detective Jacob Marks (a Stiff - the non-psychic half of a PsyCop team) and Carolyn Brinkman (a psychic who can tell when people are lying). More gay men turn up gruesomely murdered and displayed, and Vic continues to be unable to contact their ghosts - who or what, he wonders, could have killed them so completely? On a personal note, Vic has the hots for Detective Marks, and, to Vic's shock, the feeling appears to be mutual.

Review:

I was iffy about this novella at first. I got it because I had heard lots of good things about Jordan Castillo Price's writing, and because the review of this novella on Dear Author intrigued me. However, Vic did not immediately endear himself to me. I wasn't a fan of his clearly habitual overuse of Auracel, and his quickie sexual encounter with Detective Marks in the bathroom at his partner's retirement party had me wincing.

I'm not quite sure when it happened, but Vic grew on me, and now I really, really want the rest of this series. I absolutely loved Vic's “voice” (the novella is from his perspective). He was so paranoid and frazzled that I had to laugh, at times. The way he went through suits reminded me a little of Stephanie Plum's habit of going through cars. I began to understand his habit of taking a little too much Auracel after reading about a few of his spirit encounters. It's not something Price beats readers over the head with, but it's clear that Vic regularly sees lots of things that would make the average person wonder about his sanity, and much of what he sees is less than pleasant. At one point, he strains hard enough to see the ghost of a dead goldfish, and there's a part where he encounters the ghost of a baby who was left to die in a stairwell in his apartment building.

Besides Vic, I also liked Vic's new partner, Lisa Gutierrez, and I hope she shows up in future books and novellas in this series. I think the character I liked the least was Detective Jacob Marks. I think Price intended for readers to find him sexy, but, from his first appearance, I hoped that he and Vic weren't going to end up as a couple. Regardless of the last lines of the novella and what Gutierrez told Vic, something about Marks made me think he was more interested in Vic for his paranormal abilities than anything else. I couldn't bring myself to trust him, and I even thought he'd turn out to be the murderer. I still kind of expect him to be revealed as a bad guy in a future book/novella, but, if not, it'll be interesting to see if Price can eventually make me like him.

I loved the way Price handled the psychic abilities. At the moment, it looks like there is probably a limited (but large?) number of psychic ability types, with various levels within those types. Even though Vic is a fairly high level psychic medium, that doesn't make him all-powerful, not even just within his work life – as he says at one point, the spirits of murdered people can lie or be confused, just like the living. He can get information that normal people can't, but that doesn't mean the information is necessarily of any use. I liked that every one of the psychic abilities that cropped up in this novella had limitations and created weaknesses in the psychics. For example, Vic had to put a huge amount of effort into finding an apartment he could live in without regular interruptions from ghosts, and Carolyn can't lie.

Usually, even with good novellas, I find myself thinking “Well, that was nice, but if it had been longer this or that could have been expanded more, and it really felt like it was leading into a larger work.” That wasn't the case with Among the Living, which felt just as long as it needed to be, didn't seem like an excerpt from a longer work, and still managed to make me want to read more. I'm glad I've already purchased Criss Cross, the next work in the series (although there's a freebie, Thaw, that I'll have to download and read, too). If I end up liking that as much as I liked Among the Living, I'll probably bite the bullet and buy the rest of the series, with or without a sale.

Other Comments:

When I first purchased this novella, there were no spaces between paragraphs, and paragraphs weren't indented, which would have made for some painful reading. I reported the issue to AllRomance, and they had a fixed copy available for re-download within a day. Thank you, AllRomance and JCP Books!

Read-alikes:

No Humans Involved (book) by Kelley Armstrong - If you'd like another mystery starring a character who can communicate with the dead and featuring a bit of romance, you might want to try this, although be aware that it's actually the 7th book in the series. The first book, Bitten, stars a werewolf. Armstrong also has a spin-off YA series starring a teenager who gets sent to a home for troubled teens after her ability to see dead people suddenly manifests. The first book in that series is The Summoning. I have written about it.
Guilty Pleasures (book) by Laurell K. Hamilton - Okay, so her more recent books feature less story and more sex. However, when it first began, the series focused on interesting mysteries with supernatural elements and characters, with a little bit of romance to spice things up.
Fatal Shadows (book) by Josh Lanyon - Something about Jordan Castillo Price's writing style reminds me of Josh Lanyon, another fantastic author. Those who'd like another mystery featuring m/m romance might want to try this, or another one of Lanyon's works. Fatal Shadows is the first book in one of Lanyon's best-known series (as an added bonus, the second book is included if you buy the e-book version). From what I've read so far (only the first book, but I'm working on it), this is a purely contemporary series, with no paranormal elements.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter (book) by Jeff Lindsay - Okay, so there's no romance in this series (Dexter's relationship with his girlfriend is too calculated for me to attach the word "romance" to any of his interactions with her), but those who'd like another mystery told from the perspective of a funny, kind of likable (really!) guy with big secrets might want to try this.

Otome Yokai Zakuro (anime TV series), via Crunchyroll

2011-12-09T10:27:00.000-06:00

Synopsis:

In this pseudo-historical fantasy series, Japan is just starting to embrace Westernization, and not everyone is happy. Spirits and humans coexisted relatively peacefully in the past, but now more and more humans are turning away from spirits in fear.

The Japanese government assigns three soldiers to the brand new Ministry of Spirit Affairs, which is tasked with looking into any incidents involving spirits. Each soldier is partnered with a half-spirit. Agemaki, a charming young man who secretly fears spirits, is paired with Zakuro, a half-spirit who loudly proclaims her dislike of humans and Westernization. Riken, a strong, silent kind of guy, is paired with shy, sweet Susukihotaru. Ganryu is the only soldier partnered with two half-spirits: Bonbori and Hozuki, bubbly twins who are absolutely delighted with boyish Ganryu.

Together, the humans and half-spirits have to deal with clashes between spirits and humans while at the same time getting over their own fears and prejudices. As romance starts to bloom, the group is threatened by an enemy from the past, an enemy who knows what happened to Zakuro's mother.

Review:

An anime in which female characters with animal ears (I initially thought cat, but they're actually fox ears) are paired off with gorgeous male soldier characters, clearly for the purpose of leading straight into romance....this show could easily have been an icky collection of fetishes and fan service. The Ministry of Spirit Affairs could have been little more than an excuse to parade cute girls with fox ears around, and the soldiers would, of course, have accidentally seen those girls naked (with strategically-placed steam or plants, or whatever) at some point.

I'm so glad that's not what this anime turned out to be. Yes, the characters are very clearly partnered off for romantic purposes, to the point that I snickered and found myself thinking that the military and Ministry of Spirit Affairs should have advertised themselves as matchmakers. However, the fears and prejudices mixed in with the romance made for some enjoyable watching. I found myself wishing that the show had focused entirely on characters' histories and the internal conflicts they had to get over in order for their romances to work out.

The show relies a great deal on character types – that aspect reminded me a lot of Ouran High School Host Club, actually. The male characters were the Strong, Silent Type, the Boyish Type, and the Charming Type – Agemaki was the most interesting of the three, with the fears he tried to hide and then overcome, and I would have loved to have seen more of his family. The female characters were also types, although, unlike most of the men, their pasts were explored a bit. There was the Tsundere Type, the Shy, Sweet Type, and the Flirtatious Type(s).

At first, my favorite couple was Riken and Susukihotaru. What can I say, I like shy heroines, and I'm always interested to see how the “strong, silent” types are dealt with in shows and books. As Susukihotaru's secret and some of her past were revealed, I waited in breathless anticipation for more about Riken. Unfortunately, Riken turned out to never be more than just strong, silent, and reliable.

Another one of my favorite couples...er, trios...was Ganryu and the twins. I don't find boyish characters to be very appealing, and Bonbori and Hozuki got on my nerves at first. However, then the show got around to exploring Bonbori and Hozuki's past, and the trio really grew on me. I had to laugh, though, when Ganryu initially protested that three people can't be in a relationship. Oh, dear.

My least favorite couple was Zakuro and Agemaki, primarily because Zakuro annoyed me. I don't necessarily mind tsundere characters, but, considering how she swooned whenever Hanadate came on the scene, I hated how she treated Agemaki. Agemaki might have deserved it at first, a little, but not after he started working so hard to understand and get along with Zakuro.

I had thought that the entire series might be devoted to the various romances and to stories about trying to encourage humans and spirits to understand each other and live peacefully together. I don't think I would have minded if that had been the case. However, the series chose to go the route of “there's more to Zakuro than meets the eye, and there are things about herself and her mother that not even she knows” and that wasn't too bad, either. I did find it a bit annoying that the opening credits spoiled some things (yes, his face was hidden, but who else in the series had that hairstyle?), although I think I probably would have figured out who the secret bad guy was without the hint in the opening credits, since that character had my hackles rising the instant he came on the screen.

For a series that's only 13 episodes long, I thought it managed to accomplish quite a bit, including some characters' histories, romance, and a darker storyline near the end, all without (usually) feeling too rushed. I do wish the show had been longer, because there was so much that could have been further explored (the characters, the half-spirit girls' powers, etc.). However, I enjoyed it enough that, if it ever came out on DVD in the US, I would probably buy it. I think I'd particularly enjoy watching the first half of the series again.

Watch-alikes and Read-alikes:

Spice & Wolf (anime TV series) - You might want to try this if you'd like another pseudo-historical series in which humans have started to move away from needing spirits. This series stars a wolf goddess of the harvest who wants to go back to her homeland and has enlisted the help of a traveling merchant. Like Otome Yokai Zakuro, this series has romance in it. I've written about both seasons of the anime and the first of the books.
Spirited Away (anime movie) - Another story heavy on spirits. Human relationships with spirits are also a part of this movie, although they're not dealt with quite as directly as in Otome Yokai Zakuro. It's a lovely, fun movie, but don't go into it expecting romance.
Tactics (anime TV series) - I think this might be set in the same general time period as Otome Yokai Zakuro (or perhaps a little later?), with Japan becoming more Westernized. The series stars a folklorist/writer who can see spirits. When he was young, he became obsessed with finding the ogre-eating demon and becoming friends with him. Those who enjoyed watching the half-spirit girls solve problems between humans and spirits might like this series.
Ouran High School Host Club (manga) by Bisco Hatori; Ouran High School Host Club (anime TV series) - If you enjoyed the character types in Otome Yokai Zakuro, you'll probably like this series, which also features a Strong, Silent Type, a Boyish Type, and a Charming Type. There is romance in this series, but, in the anime at least, that romance never reaches a satisfying conclusion. I don't know how things go in the manga. I've written about the first volume of the manga and the first half of the anime.
Rurouni Kenshin (manga) by Nobuhiro Watsuki; Rurouni Kenshin (anime TV series) - If you'd just like something set in approximately the same time period, you might want to try this series, which, like Otome Yokai Zakuro, includes romance (to a lesser degree) and action (to a greater degree). I have written about the first season of the anime.
Inuyasha (manga) by Rumiko Takahashi; Inuyasha (anime TV series) - Another series with romance, spirits, fantasy, and action (even more so than Otome Yokai Zakuro, where the action is usually stylized and filled with flower petals and song). Just be warned, this series is long. I've written about volume 33 of the manga.
Fruits Basket (manga) by Natsuki Takaya; Fruits Basket (anime TV series) - If you loved the complicated, sad, horrible multi-generational family drama that popped up in the last half of Otome Yokai Zakuro, you might want to try this series.
Blood+ (anime TV series) - Daidai and Byakuroku reminded me of this series, and then it occurred to me that quite a few characters in Otome Yokai Zakuro have their parallels in Blood+.

Basilisk (e-novella) by Kate Cotoner

2011-12-08T11:10:00.000-06:00

This novella is in Torquere Press's Everyday Spectres line. It's 26,400 words long, which comes out to 70 pages on my Nook.

Synopsis:

Clayton King doesn't know how long his work will keep him in London, but he's determined to make the most of his time there. During a lunch break, he spots a gorgeous young man in snakeskin jeans and decides to follow him, hoping to get a chance to talk with him and maybe score a date (and more). The man, Anthony, invites Clayton to come with him to his job that night, and so Clayton does. He's surprised and delighted to learn that Anthony works at a club where everyone has dressed in the most amazing costumes.

Little does Clayton know, those are no costumes. The club is filled with beings straight out of Greek mythology, and Clayton has attracted the attention of a dangerous one: Echidna, Anthony's mother. Will Anthony sacrifice Clayton as he has so many others, or will something about Clayton finally prompt Anthony to stand up to his mother?

Review:

I really hate the cover image for this novella – I find it to be both cheap-looking and boring. What attracted me to this work instead was the pet shop aspect of the description, which reminded me vaguely of Pet Shop of Horrors (which this story has absolutely nothing in common with – the pet shop could have been a flower shop and it wouldn't have made a difference). Also, I've always been interested in stories that derive their inspiration from Greek mythology. I couldn't remember ever reading much about Echidna, but I was intrigued by the thought of a basilisk main character.

I'm not really sure what the author was trying to accomplish with this novella. If she was aiming for erotic romance, she failed. The “erotic” part was definitely there, but the “romance” was less than stellar. This is one of those stories where the main characters declare their love for each other before they've even known each other for a full 24 hours.

It was all way, way too fast. Had Clayton and Anthony just been aiming for hot sex throughout the whole thing, I could have believed it, but somehow Cotoner had them talking about being mates and being in love by the end of the novella. My suspension of disbelief can only go so far. I laughed when I got to this bit, said by Clayton, on page 30 on my Nook:

“'I like [Anthony] a lot. He's – he's amazing. Beautiful, you know? And it's not just his looks. He's... Yeah. I really like him.'”

By that point in the novella, Clayton had barely talked to Anthony. At best, he knew really well what it was like to kiss him, and there was a nice scene involving a gift of expensive chocolates. That's it. Later on, Clayton says the same sort of thing again:

“'I've never met anyone who gets me as hot as you do. And it's not just the sex or the way you look. I...I really like you.'” (62)

Notice how, once again, Clayton is unable to say, specifically, what he likes about Anthony that has nothing to do with good sex or Anthony's looks? That's because, by that point in the novella, they'd had sex a couple times but still hadn't talked to each other much. Clayton didn't even know that Anthony had almost killed him just a few hours earlier, and he still thought Anthony was human.

The other thing that bothered me about this novella was how dense Clayton was. I know guys aren't necessarily as hyper-aware of potentially dangerous situations as women, but Clayton agreeing to meet a strange guy to go to an unknown place at 11:30 PM still seemed like a dumb thing to do to me. Some of Clayton's inability to put two and two together and realize that the people at the club weren't just humans in costumes could be blamed on his being drunk/drugged and on people's tendency to see only what they expect to see, but I thought Clayton carried things to the extreme. Medusa could have turned someone to stone right in front of him and he would have chalked it up to excellent special effects.

Clayton just did not act like I would have expected a person in his position to act. Considering the conditions under which he first had sex with Anthony, I would have expected extreme embarrassment and perhaps even anger after the drugs/drink started to wear off. Had he really been in front of a crowd of humans, one of them could have been someone from his job or known someone at his workplace, and his career and reputation might have ended up in the toilet. Instead, Clayton was almost giddy and even offered to join Anthony in future “shows.” Seriously? I found Anthony, with his overbearing mother and his surprised delight any time Clayton did anything nice for him, to be a more interesting and appealing character than Clayton.

Usually, I'm all for story and romance taking precedence over sex scenes, but this is one story that might have been better if the sex scenes had been allowed to take up a greater percentage of the word count. I thought the sex scenes were the best part of the novella, although one of them requires that readers be okay with public sex. I also enjoyed the way Cotoner wrote about the mythological beings - they sounded like fun to be around (possibly dangerous, but fun).

Overall, I didn't like this novella nearly as much as I had hoped to. Cotoner would have been better off not even trying to convince readers that Clayton and Anthony had fallen in love with each other - purely "in lust" would have been more believable.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Pawprints (e-novella) by Anne Cain - This is another one with steamy m/m sex and "I love you"s that come fairly early on in the characters' relationship.
The 10th Kingdom (live action TV miniseries) - I thought Cotoner's approach to the mythological beings in Basilisk was fun, and it reminded me of the way The 10th Kingdom handled fairy tale characters. I have written about the novelization.
Fantasy Lover (book) by Sherrilyn Kenyon - If you'd like another modern take on beings from Greek mythology, you might want to try this book, or possibly one of Kenyon's Dark Hunter novels (the Greek gods usually only play a minor role - Artemis makes the most appearances). This particular book stars Grace, a modern day sex therapist who's been celibate for four years after a really bad relationship, and Julian, a demi-god cursed to be trapped inside a book and act as a sex slave for whoever temporarily frees him.
Hot as Hades (e-novella) by Alisha Rai - If all you want is another erotic story that takes its inspiration from Greek mythology, you might want to try this retelling of the Persephone myth.

On Apology (non-fiction book) by Aaron Lazare

2011-12-03T23:08:00.000-06:00

My posting took a nosedive for a while, for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons inspired me to read this book. My hope was that it could help me get a better mental/emotional grip on one aspect of the things that have been going on, and on my feelings about it all.

At some point, I realized I couldn't remember how the book was organized or whether the chapter I was reading had a particular focus that was different from the other chapters I had read. It didn't really matter – I enjoyed this book anyway. I'm sure my response was due at least in part to currently being in a situation where many of the things Lazare writes about apply and could have been (could still be?) helpful. However, I think I would have enjoyed this book regardless – I just might not have been as likely to read it.

This book takes a very thorough look at apologies: their importance, what they accomplish for the person needing the apology and the person making the apology, the components of apologies, the reasons why people do and do not apologize, the timing of apologies, negotiated apologies, and forgiveness. Every chapter is filled with examples of apologies, from brief, simple apologies to more elaborate ones, from apologies between individuals to apologies between nations, and everything in between. Some stories of apologies were given to Lazare by people who had attended his workshops. Sometimes Lazare told stories in which he was the person apologizing or being apologizes to. Some of the apologies were taken from the news, history, or even literature. Some apologies were successful and some weren't.

Part of the reason I liked this book was its large number of examples. They often made this something like a book of mini stories, some of them with happier endings than others. The specific apologies that most made an impression on me were:

Curtis Oathout's failed attempt to get a more satisfying apology from Father Bentley, the priest who sexually abused him when he was a child (a lack of acknowledgment of offense)
Richard von Weizsacker (president of the Federal Republic of Germany) and his speech detailing the grievances inflicted on Germany's victims during World War II (a very thorough and explicit acknowledgment of offense)
Janet Dailey's apology for plagiarizing works by Nora Roberts - not a very good apology, and it reminds me a little of AJ Llewellyn's apology for pretending to be - and writing blog articles (one example here) with advice/commentary from the perspective of - a gay man when he is in fact a transgendered person who is biologically female.

Even when specific apologies didn't necessarily stick with me, I still appreciated all the apologies Lazare included and analyzed, because they made me more aware of all the situations in my everyday life and in things I read in the news (and even in the books I read - romance novels are filled with apologies and moments that require them!) where apologies might be useful and how they might be made. Since finishing this book, I've been in at least one situation in which I realized I needed to make an apology. Reading Lazare's book didn't make that apology any easier, but it did make me think about why the apology was difficult and why I needed to do it anyway.

One thing I wish this book had been able to do was a cross-cultural look at apologies. Although Lazare writes a little about apologies in China and Japan, and how they can be different from apologies made by Westerners, what Lazare wrote was really just a taste. I wanted to know more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am glad I read it. Some parts of it reduced me to tears, and I swear I post-it noted most the book while thinking of the ongoing situation that prompted me to read the book in the first place. On Apology hasn't given me a way to resolve that situation, since I'm not one of the people with the power to resolve it, but it does make me wish that all the people more directly involved in the situation could read the book. Maybe it would at least help open up a dialogue, since ignoring the problem has not made it go away.

I originally wasn't going to include a read-alikes list, because putting together read-alikes lists for non-fiction books makes me feel a little silly. The list below just includes a couple books from Amazon's "also bought" list, but I wanted to record them because I'd like to try reading them sometime.

Read-alikes:

Healing Words: The Power of Apology in Medicine (non-fiction book) by Michael S. Woods and Jason Isaac Star - One of the things that Lazare brought up several times was that, in the past, medical practitioners were told never to apologize, because of the potential for lawsuits. This position is now being rethought, as it has become apparent that apologies might in some cases have prevented lawsuits. If that statement sparks your interest, too, Healing Words might be a good book to try.
I Was Wrong: The Meanings of Apologies (non-fiction book) by Nick Smith - The description of this book makes it sound a lot like Lazare's, only perhaps with more of a religious and philosophical focus.

Catman (anime), via Crunchyroll

2011-12-02T00:00:00.001-06:00

According to MyAnimeList, what Crunchyroll has lumped under a single title, Catman, is actually Catman, Catman Series II, and Catman Specials. I caught the title change from Catman to Catman Series II, but when the specials started I got confused, because they used the title Catman.

Episodes, in general, run 3-5 minutes long. Crunchyroll has 22 episodes total.

There is no spoken dialogue (unless you count the reporter in the "shoot at the sun" episode), just subtitles and music from the Planet Smashers.

If you want to watch this series on Crunchyroll (I'm not sure where else it's available), you'd better watch it soon, because it's going to be removed by the end of this month.

Synopsis:

There's not much of a plot, although there are a few recurring characters. All characters in this series are anthropomorphized cats - they drink, smoke, talk, gamble, etc. like human beings and don't seem to have any feline-specific behaviors, although that didn't keep me from becoming nervous on behalf of the bird and mouse that showed up in a couple episodes.

Catman tends to live in the moment, which, unfortunately for him, often results in him doing things that leave him hurt, lonely, and/or penniless. He tends to be dissatisfied with his life and wants to run away to someplace different and, hopefully, better. Episodes in the first part of this series show moments in Catman's life. He also captures the interest of a female cat-person.

Wanting to be free, Catman leaves the lady cat-person behind and spends much of the rest of the series engaged in self-destructive behaviors (drinking, angering gangsters, gambling away all his money). Will Catman ever stop running away from all his problems?

Review:

This series is not for everyone. At the very least, you really, really have to be okay with slice-of-life stories. When I said there wasn't much of a plot, I meant it. In the first episode, Catman does nothing but jump from one place to the next. In another episode, Catman is so hot he tries to shoot down the sun. Even the more action-oriented episodes are brief and simple. For example, one episode is almost entirely about Catman running from a guy after stealing one of his apples.

I didn't really like this show overall. There were certain moments and episodes I liked – the gangster episodes were usually fun, I laughed when Catman shot at the sun, and I found that one lady cat, the aged former beauty (prostitute?) who talked to Catman about love, to be both chilling and sad. However, it felt like the show didn't have any kind of plan, or at least not a consistent one, and I thought it suffered a bit from that. Also, there were times I really disliked Catman.

In the first part of the series, I could tell that things were probably moving towards a romance between Catman and the lady cat-person who dressed in green. When he left her at the start of Catman Series II, I figured that his self-destructive behavior would culminate in a realization that he preferred life with the lady cat-person to the “freedom” he had on his own. This was not really the direction in which the series went, and, although I was somewhat relieved for the lady cat-person (she was barely a character, but, even so, I couldn't help but feel that she could do better than Catman, if only she'd just move on), I was also disappointed.

When the gangster episodes started, I felt the tone of the series shifted. Catman's self-destructive behavior no longer seemed to be presented in as negative a light. Instead, the stupid things he did became gutsy and cool. He didn't just gamble away his own money, he almost gambled away a stranger's money. And then he gambled away his own money a second time. He didn't just flip the bird at a gangster once, he did it for as long as he could still get his fingers to work between the beatings the gangster gave him. It was stupid of him, but it was presented as cool and, I think, intended to show that he was finally developing the spine and pride necessary not to run away at the first sign of trouble. All of this seemed, to me, to contradict earlier hints that the show was moving towards Catman's realization that his idea of “freedom” was actually just a bunch of self-destructive behaviors that weren't going to get him anything other than an early grave.

The inconsistent feel of the series bothered me, and I never quite got over the dislike I felt the moment Catman turned away from the lady cat-person. Still, like I said, there were moments and episodes that were enjoyable. I'm glad I watched this show before it was removed from Crunchyroll, but it's not something I could see myself recommending to very many people.

Watch-alikes and Read-alikes:

Maus (graphic novel) by Art Spiegelman - Okay, so I still haven't read this, but it immediately came to my mind as a work that might potentially appeal to those who liked Catman. As in Catman, the characters are all animal-people (cats, mice, pigs). Spiegelman interviewed his father, a Holocaust survivor, about his experiences and turned that story into Maus.
Cowboy Bebop (anime TV series) - Those who'd like something else starring a "cool guy" main character and featuring action and a good soundtrack might want to try this. The series focuses on a group of bounty hunters doing their best to earn enough money to feed themselves.
Tekkonkinkreet (anime movie) - Like Catman, this is set in a fairly gritty urban environment, and the main characters are amazingly athletic as they run and jump around town. I've written about this movie.
Dark Side Cat (anime) - If you'd like another short show featuring Flash animation, you might want to try this, although Dark Side Cat's tone is different and its pace is faster. I've written about this series.

Second Son of a Duke (e-novella) by Gwen Hayes

2011-11-27T22:34:00.001-06:00

This self-published historical romance novella is 47 pages long on my Nook. I'm not sure when it takes place - All Romance (ARe) has it in its Historical Other category, and I'm not historically savvy enough to guess the time period from story details.

If you're good at reading between the lines, there are SLIGHT SPOILERS near the end of the review. I tried to avoid flat-out spoilers, though.

Synopsis:

Teddy Middleton is only the second son of a duke, but you wouldn't know it by his behavior. Because his brother Derek, the actual heir, is completely unreliable, Teddy does his job for him.

Juliette is in a similar situation with her brother Peter. Because neither he nor their mother can be trusted to take care of anything of even minor importance, Juliette takes care of everything.

Derek and Peter may be mostly useless, but the two of them do manage to plan out one thing: a marriage between Teddy and Juliette. Without consulting either of them or even letting them know what was happening in advance. The novella begins with Teddy and Juliette's disastrous wedding night. They barely know each other (cleaning up after their brothers' messes did not give them much time for socializing), and now they have to figure out how to live together. Both of them are braced for the worst...only to find, as they get to know one another, that maybe they make a good match after all.

Review:

This sat in my wishlist for ages before I finally bought it. I thought the cover image was gorgeous and eye-catching, and the excerpt seemed interesting, but I'm wary of self-published works, and I couldn't find many reviews for Second Son of Duke, beyond the customer reviews on Amazon. What ended up tipping the scales was the price. I was buying e-books during one of ARe's sales, and, even though this novella wasn't part of the sale, I decided it wouldn't hurt to add $0.99 to my total. If my purchase ended up being a bad one, lesson learned, and I would just make sure not to buy anything else by this author, no matter how pretty the cover image. I've now read Second Son of a Duke twice, and, thankfully, I don't feel the need to kick myself over my purchase. I've even bought a couple more of Hayes' works.

I enjoyed most of this novella. The beginning was fantastic, in a horrible kind of way. While the sex later on was fairly steamy, I was grateful that the wedding night was fade-to-black. It was easy to imagine how awful it must have been, though. Teddy and Juliette were awkward and stiff with each other. After having been told by her mother that women don't enjoy sex, Juliette saw her wedding night as nothing more than an unwelcome duty she wanted to get over with as quickly as possible. Since Teddy and Juliette didn't know each other well and knew that neither one of them had had a choice about their marriage, they didn't hate each other, but they also didn't expect much of each other.

That brings me to the next thing I liked about this novella: seeing Teddy and Juliette learn to relax with each other. Teddy saw his new bride as something of a mystery and was mostly concerned with figuring out how to at least make their marriage bearable. Juliette, on the other hand, was truly wary of Teddy. I'm guessing that her primary experience with men consisted of her dealings with Peter, Derek, and their friends – it wasn't surprising that she'd worry that Teddy would be yet another person she'd have to clean up after. Teddy and Juliette were two basically nice people who had had to carry a lot of weight on their shoulders, and I liked seeing things go well for them.

One thing I really didn't like about this novella, though, was the twist near the end. During my first read, the twist seemed to come completely out of the blue. During my second read, I think I caught a couple things Hayes might have intended as setup for the upcoming twist, but those things were so subtle that I still felt the twist was pretty much out of the blue. After the twist, there were things Teddy and Juliette thought about their brothers that just didn't gel with everything they had previously said and thought about their brothers.

Aside from seeming to come out of the blue, the twist also made me angry on Teddy and Juliette's behalf. Yes, things would have sucked for Peter and Derek if they had lived their lives as society had dictated they should. No, it wouldn't have been fair. So instead they decided to....secure their own happiness by dictating their siblings' lives for them? Yeah, that last bit didn't sit well with me. It was nice all around that everything worked out and Juliette and Teddy fell in love with each other, but Derek and Peter might just as easily have shackled their siblings in a loveless marriage. It was selfish, and both Teddy and Juliette had every reason to be angry with their brothers. Teddy was angry with Derek for a bit, but not, I felt, as long as Derek deserved. If Juliette was angry with Peter, Hayes chose not to show it.

For the most part, this is a solid novella. I probably would have liked it even more if Hayes had just stuck to writing about Juliette and Teddy. Because I did like the novella overall, I bought a couple of Hayes' other works that seemed like they would fit my tastes.

Other Comments:

I didn't notice any formatting problems. I did spot 3 or 4 typos. The main reason I'm writing about typos at all is because a couple of them occurred close enough together to jar me out of the story.

Also, for those who care, the cover image you see in this post does not appear to be part of the e-book file (or, at least, my file - maybe it would be different if I had bought it from Barnes & Noble?). Instead, the cover image used in the file is a flat background with flowers and decorative swirls that are a little like those in the bottom half of the cover image in my post. It's not ugly, just boring. I'm not sure why the much prettier cover image used in ARe and on the author's own website wasn't used.

I had a hard time thinking of read-alikes (I know I've read similar works, I just can't think of them), so the list below took a good deal of effort to put together.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Promise to a Boy (book) by Mary Brady - I haven't read this one (it's a Harlequin Super Romance, by the way), but I added it to this list because it sounded like it would be a good one for those looking for another romance starring a pair of main characters who have a lot of responsibilities and worries on their shoulders.
While You Were Sleeping (live action movie) - Okay, so this is a contemporary romance, not a historical one, and it has more humor and quirkiness than Second Son of a Duke. This movie's been on my brain lately (it's getting to be the season for it!), and I thought it might fit as a watch-alike. The main character is Lucy, a lonely woman who has no family, so of course she's stuck working during the holidays. She has a crush on Peter, a handsome stranger she sees every day, and, when she saves his life, a bit of confusion results in Peter's family thinking she's his fiancee. After Peter wakes up from his coma, Lucy has to somehow make things right, even though she's fallen in love with his family and maybe his brother. As in Second Son of a Duke, family members essentially force Lucy and Peter to be a couple, although it's Lucy and Peter's brother who are the ones to get to know one another.
The Admiral's Penniless Bride (book) by Carla Kelly - One I've actually read! Those who'd like another historical romance in which the hero and heroine are suddenly wed (more willingly and less suddenly than Teddy and Juliette, but still) and must gradually get to know one another. I've written about this book.
To Wed a Stranger (book) by Edith Layton - I haven't read this one. It's a historical romance involving the "marriage of convenience" trope. The heroine is a beauty who becomes ill at the beginning of her marriage. Her illness robs her of her beauty, leaving her nothing to hide behind, and she is so weak that her husband, who does not yet know her or love her, must take care of her. Those who'd like another historical romance in which the hero and heroine gradually get to know one another after they are married might want to try this.

Rupert of Hentzau (e-book) by Anthony Hope

2011-11-26T10:34:00.001-06:00

I read this for free via Project Gutenberg. It's the sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda, which I read and reviewed a while back. I didn't really like that book, so I didn't hold high hopes for Rupert of Hentzau. To my surprise, I thought it was better than the first book.

There are some mild spoilers in this post.

Synopsis:

This book takes place 3 years after The Prisoner of Zenda and is told from the perspective of Fritz von Tarlenheim. Queen Flavia and Rudolf Rassendyll have not seen each other since the end of the events of the previous book, although, every year, Queen Flavia sends Rassendyll a letter.

This year, there is trouble. The letter is stolen by Rupert of Hentzau's people. If you read the previous book, you'll probably remember that Rupert managed to escape. He was exiled and has, ever since, tried to convince the King to let him come back.

The King hasn't fared too well in the past few years. His imprisonment still weighs on him, and the people closest to him, who should be his best support, see him and can only think "Rassendyll would have made a better king." The King has no idea that his wife is in love with Rassendyll, but he'll certainly know if Rupert can get the Queen's letter to him. That is something Fritz von Tarlenheim and Sapt want to stop at all costs. Rassendyll decides to come out of him self-imposed exile to join them.

The rest of the book is spent trying to get Queen Flavia's letter from Rupert, in order to save her reputation and keep the King from finding out about her secret love. Rassendyll once again impersonates the King. Although Queen Flavia's reputation is indeed saved, the book's ending is tragic.

Review:

One of the reasons why I didn't like The Prisoner of Zenda was because I didn't believe that Rassendyll had much reason to go to the lengths he did to save the King and Ruritania. In terms of motivation, I thought Rupert of Hentzau was a much better book. I could believe that Rassendyll would do all that he did to prevent Flavia's jealous husband from reading the love letter she wrote.

I don't know how this book was received at the time it was written. It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't as popular as the first book, simply because it didn't start off with The Prisoner of Zenda's outrageous setup (an Englishman who looks just like the King of Ruritania is enlisted to pretend to be the King) and because of its tragic ending.

This book isn't completely without outrageousness. Rassendyll still gets to impersonate the King, and this time he needs to do his best to ensure that the King doesn't find out. At one point, Sapt and James, Rassendyll's servant, have to figure out what to do about a horrible mess Rupert leaves behind – their final decision was both fascinating to read and a little horrifying. Although I didn't always like what the characters did in order to help Flavia and Rassendyll, I do think the events in this book were more interesting to read about than the events in The Prisoner of Zenda.

I found the tragic ending to be something of a cop out. Flavia was more a real person in this book than she was in the previous one (in fact, I think Hope did an overall better job of depicting women in this book – or maybe Fritz von Tarlenheim just has a better opinion of women than Rassendyll?), but I still didn't like Rassendyll all that much. Because of that, I didn't really mind that things didn't turn out well for them (although I felt a little bad for Flavia). What I did mind was the feeling that Hope took the easy way out, by never revealing what Rassendyll's final decision was. The tragic ending felt like Hope's way of avoiding having to make a tough choice. As a reader, I found that very annoying.

It took me a bit of time to get used to this book's change in perspective – the first book was from Rassendyll's perspective, while this one was from Fritz von Tarlenheim's perspective. I suppose that should have told me something about how this book was going to end, especially since I think Hope would have had an easier time writing it from Rassendyll's perspective. There were several parts where Hope had to do a bit of stretching, to explain how Fritz could possibly have known the details about what happened, even though he wasn't there.

The perspective change may have been part of the reason why I liked some characters more this time around. Like I said, Flavia came across as more of a person...although I wasn't a fan of her repeated hysterical visions of Rassendyll's death. Had this book been my only exposure to Rassendyll, I might have liked him better, too, since, in Fritz's eyes, Rassendyll was practically perfect and certainly kingly. It wasn't that long ago I read The Prisoner of Zenda, though, and I could still remember my impression of Rassendyll as driftless and overly happy to charge headlong into fights. In this book, Fritz mentions that “Sapt would tell [the King] bluntly that Rudolf did this or that, set this precedent or that, laid down this or the other policy, and that the king could do no better than follow in Rudolf's steps,” but Sapt's memories of Rassendyll don't really gel with mine. I can't remember Rassendyll doing anything other than battling people and falling in love with Flavia.

I was a little annoyed that so many characters judged the King so harshly in comparison to Rassendyll, and I really didn't like the way things turned out for the King. Although I hadn't liked the King much either in the previous book, I felt sorry for him in this one. He was emotionally scarred by the events of the previous book, and Sapt, Fritz, and others recognized that, but that still didn't stop them from finding him to be less than kingly compared to Rassendyll. Is it any wonder that the King was overcome by paranoia at the mere thought of Rassendyll? The Queen sent love letters to Rassendyll behind her husband's back, and the King's supposed right-hand men aided her in this deception. Then the King's very identity was erased and replaced by the end of the book. I may not have liked him much, but I didn't think he deserved all that, and I could understand why he acted the way he did throughout the book.

Although there were some aspects of the book I didn't like, I do think this book was more enjoyable than the previous one, and I would be more likely to recommend it than The Prisoner of Zenda. I still don't consider Anthony Hope one of my better Project Gutenberg finds, though.

My list below is basically just a copy-and-paste from my post about The Prisoner of Zenda, with some of the recommendations removed because I didn't think they applied as much this time around. I couldn't think of additional ones to add.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Murder Princess (anime OVA) - This is another identity-swtiched adventure. In this anime set in a fantasy world, a princess manages to escape after witnessing her father's death. During her escape, she comes across a female bounty hunter, and something happens that causes the two of them to switch bodies. The princess manages to convince the bounty hunter to help her retake her family's castle. You can read my post on this if you'd like to know more about it.
The Princess Bride (live action movie) - Those who'd like more action, adventure, and romance might want to try this. I remember disliking Buttercup for the way she treated Westley and not understanding why he loved her anyway, and I don't think the characters are any more developed than Hope's. That said, this movie is a ton of fun.
Graustark (book) by George Barr McCutcheon - As in Rupert of Hentzau, everything takes place in a fictional European country, and there is court intrigue, royal disguise, and romance. Like Hope's book, this is also available via Project Gutenberg.

Dark Side Cat (anime), via Crunchyroll

2011-11-25T22:40:00.001-06:00

This series is very brief, only six episodes long, with each episode running approximately 6 minutes (even less than that, I think, if you cut out the opening credits). Basically, if you find yourself at all interested in watching this, you should give it a try - it doesn't even take much of a time commitment.

Synopsis:

Wherever Dark Side Cat goes, there is mayhem. Even if he's just chasing a rat, he somehow manages to destroy property and bother humans along the way. The mayor is determined to rid the city of stray cats, especially Dark Side Cat. One of the series' few recurring human characters is a freelance reporter who finds herself fascinated by Dark Side Cat.

Review:

I added this to my Crunchyroll queue because it starred a cat, and because the image Crunchyroll used (which I have also used in this blog post) looked kind of cool. I didn't know how short the show was until I started watching.

The opening credits, which feature catchy music and Dark Side Cat being intense and awesome, are great, and I didn't even mind that the exact same opening animation was used for each episode.

The show itself is a lot of fun. In the first few episodes, Dark Side Cat causes trouble and inadvertently helps out a few humans. The show could very easily have continued in this vein, with no recurring characters and no overarching plot other than "Dark Side Cat causes trouble and the police are after him," so I was surprised when the freelance reporter showed up a second time and started learning things about Dark Side Cat's past. Not only that, but the series actually manages to have something of an ending. Sort of.

I know that there are Dark Side Cat fans out there who wish the show had continued and were not sure whether the sixth episode was really the last episode. While part of me, too, would have liked the show to go on a bit longer, I do think it ended at a decent spot. The show's briefness kept the humor and setup from getting old.

This is a show I could see myself rewatching if I needed a pick-me-up and didn't have a lot of time. The energy is great, and I love Dark Side Cat. He is somehow both cute and angry at the same time, and his fashion sense (his outfit includes a swirly cape and a skull!), nimbleness, and lighting speed are all fun to watch. I only wish that he had gotten a chance to talk (during a weird moment, the reporter gets turned into a cat, and some of the other cats talk to her), and I would have liked to learn how Kiki, the black kitten, came to be his companion.

Watch-alikes and Read-alikes:

Invader Zim (non-Japanese animation, TV series) - Something about the look of Dark Side Cat (maybe the color scheme?) reminded me of this show. This is another humorous series. Zim is an alien who is determined to take over our planet. Only one person, Dib, recognizes Zim for what he is and tries to stop him. I've written about some of this series.
Chi's Sweet Home (manga) by Kanata Konami; Chi's Sweet Home (anime TV series) - If all you'd really like is another series with cats, you might want to try this, although the tone is wildly different from Dark Side Cat. This is a light, sweet slice-of-life series about a stray kitten taken in by a small family. I've written about the first volume of the manga.
Catman (anime) - Another flash animation series with very brief episodes. Again, if you're interested in shows with cats, you might like this - although, be warned, the characters are cat-people, not actual cats. I haven't seen this series yet, although it's in my queue.
Samurai Jack (non-Japanese animation, TV series) - If you'd like another series with lots of action and simple visuals, you might want to try this. Samurai Jack is thrown into the future before he can defeat the evil Aku. Until he can find a way back to his own time, Jack does his best to right the wrongs that Aku's control over the world have caused.

So very behind - plus, insects and PTSD

2011-11-20T11:51:00.001-06:00

If I get a full review posted before the end of the day, I'll be really surprised. I just don't see it happening.

I've got a lot of things I could write about, but I read most of it long enough ago that I'd need a refresher before I'd feel comfortable posting anything. I still have to write something up about Maid Sama, Collection 2, but I'm trying to get a second viewing in first.

Here's what I'm reading/listening to right now:

The Adventures of Maya the Bee (audio book) by Waldemar Bonsels - I'm pretty sure that my first exposure to this work was via a German-language TV show (Die Biene Maja, which, amusingly, is not actually German, but rather Japanese anime). I kind of doubt I ever read the book, because the decapitation scene took me by surprise. Then again, it's amazing what sorts of things managed not to make an impression on my child self.
Rupert of Hentzau (e-book) by Anthony Hope - If you have PTSD or know and love someone who does, this may not be the best book for you - the king, who I believe is suffering from PTSD (although Hope of course doesn't put it that way) after the events of the previous book, is looked down upon by his own people for being less of a man and less of a king than Rudolph, his lookalike. Personally, I like this book better than the first one, because I can actually believe Rudolph's motives this time. I have a feeling, though, that I may end up less than pleased by the way the book ends.

Maid Sama!, Collection 1 (anime TV series)

2011-11-13T16:45:00.000-06:00

Sentai Filmworks currently sells this 26-episode series in two separate collections. This is the first collection, containing episodes 1-13. There is no English dub. Extras are bare bones (see the "Extras" section after my review).

Synopsis:

Seika High School is a former boys' school that has recently become co-ed. Even so, the study body is still mostly male, and the boys haven't quite gotten used to having girls around. Misaki, the first female Student Council president, is determined to change things and make Seika High School a pleasant place for girls.

Misaki has a big secret, however: after school, she works as a maid at a maid cafe. Her family is poor, and the job pays pretty well, but Misaki is sure that she'd lose all the respect she worked so hard to gain at Seika if everyone found out about her job. When Usui, the boy all the Seika girls would most like to date, discovers Misaki's secret, she's sure she's doomed...except Usui doesn't tell anyone, and just keeps coming to the maid cafe.

These 13 episodes show Misaki trying to do her best both as president at Seika High School and as a maid at her job. Misaki and Usui are the main characters, but there are lots of minor characters who pop up regularly: the three former delinquents who become Misaki's biggest fans and are the only students aside from Usui who know she works at a maid cafe, Misaki's friends, Misaki's mother and younger sister, and more.

Review:

When I first started hearing about this series, I assumed it was a romantic series intended for a male audience. My assumption was based on the maid cafe aspect. Although I later learned that the series was really intended for a female audience, I continued to put off looking into it, primarily because of the maid cafe aspect. It wasn't until I saw some appealing clips from the show in a few anime AMVs that I finally broke down and bought it.

For those who aren't completists like me, I'm not sure Collection 1 will inspire a need to buy and watch Collection 2. There is very little about Collection 1 that sets it apart from other shoujo school romances, and there are quite a few areas where this show could have been improved.

I've read that maid cafes have become more popular with women, and Maid Latte, the maid cafe Misaki works at, occasionally has themed days aimed at women and families. For the most part, though, Maid Latte caters mostly to men.

The series sometimes touches on the potential negative aspects of working at a maid cafe, but these aspects tend to be overshadowed by the positives (or what the series would like viewers to see as positives). Misaki is afraid of the students at her school finding out that she works as a maid at a maid cafe, because she is convinced she'll lose their respect. This indicates that she sees her job as something to be ashamed of, even if only a little bit. And yet, anyone who finds out about her job tends to react fairly well. Usui's respect for her only increases after he sees her working hard at both school and Maid Latte, and he reminds her that her job at Maid Latte isn't breaking any school rules. One of Misaki's coworkers actively dislikes her for feeling any shame about her work. At worst, it seems like the most Misaki has to fear is that those who find out about her job will treat her differently. The three delinquents, for instance, stop butting heads with her at school and become Misaki worshipers.

There are a couple instances where Misaki's job leads to her being the target of sexual harassment. In one episode, she is attacked while closing up the maid cafe for the night. In another episode, the president of another school's student council tricks her into dressing in a maid outfit and indicates that he plans to make her part of his little harem. Both of these instances could have been very traumatic, and both are resolved in fairly light and fluffy ways, with Misaki saving herself and/or Usui swooping in to save the day. The fact that things could have gone much worse is glossed over.

I think viewers are intended to view the maid cafe aspects as primarily cute and a little zany. The maids are supposed to be considered more soothing than sexy – or so the script says, although characters' actions at times indicate otherwise. One of the themed days at Maid Latte struck me as particularly awful: Little Sister Day. Misaki, being the hard worker that she is, wants to do a good job with her first themed day at the cafe, so she decides to do some research. Completely unaware that “little sister” refers to idealized “little sister” types, her research involves talking to others about their real little sisters. This, to me, made the “little sister” fetish even more icky than it already is. At least Usui was smart enough to recognize the sexual aspects of Little Sister Day, and I liked that he seemed to dislike Misaki's assumption of the little sister role. Still, this was another example of the show glossing over and sugar-coating its own less savory aspects.

If it hadn't been for the fact that I'm a completist and bought both Maid Sama! collections at the same time, I'm not sure that I would have wanted to shell out the money for the second collection after viewing this first one. That would have been a shame, because Collection 2 is much better than Collection 1, at least from the perspective of someone more interested in the romance than the maid cafe stuff. Even so, there are lots of other shows I'd recommend over this one.

Extras:

The extras in this collection are so skimpy that I debated not even including an "extras" section in this post. All you'll find is clean opening and closing animation. Sentai Filmworks also counts trailers for their other shows as extras, which is just lame.

Again, there is no English dub, only English subtitles.

Watch-alikes and Read-alikes:

Kare Kano (manga) by Masami Tsuda; His and Her Circumstances (anime TV series) - If you'd like another shoujo school romance in which the main female character has a big secret she's keeping from everyone, you might want to try this. Yukino appears to be an elegant girl and a model student. In reality, all of that is just a persona she has created in order to bask in others' praise. She is horrified when Arima, who seems to be the real deal, a truly perfect student, begins to outshine her at school and *gasp* accidentally discovers her secret.
Ouran High School Host Club (manga) by Bisco Hatori; Ouran High School Host Club (anime TV series) - This series has a host club in it, rather than a maid cafe, and I think this works better in a shoujo school romance series. The main character, Haruhi, is poor and must join the Ouran High School host club and pretend to be a guy in order to repay the club for a vase she broke. Luckily, just like Misaki doesn't care about dressing like a guy, neither does Haruhi. Be warned, though, that in the anime, at least (I haven't read much of the manga), the romance never really goes anywhere. I've written about the first half of the anime and volume 1 of the manga.
S.A (manga) by Maki Minami; S.A (anime TV series) - Another shoujo school romance in which the female main character sees the male main character as something of a rival, although the rivalry is much more pronounced in this series than in Maid Sama! Like Misaki, Hikari doesn't seem to realize that Kei, her rival, is actually in love with her. Again, this is another series in which the female main character is from a fairly poor family compared to the male main character. I've written about the anime.
Skip Beat! (manga) by Yoshiki Nakamura; Skip Beat! (anime TV series) - Those who liked Misaki's fiery, kick-butt personality might like this series. Although it's technically a shoujo romance, it has some of the feel of a shounen series, because the focus is more on the female main character's attempts to improve her skills and become the best than on the romantic aspects. I've written about the anime and many volumes of the manga.

Reaper (e-novella) by Mina Carter

2011-11-13T12:16:00.000-06:00

If you don't count the author info and the extra stuff that Samhain puts at the back of its e-books, this novella is 77 pages long.

Synopsis:

Ten years prior to the beginning of this novella, some kind of war happened. During that war, bombs were dropped that somehow fundamentally changed the DNA of some, but not all, people on the planet. Those who were changed became paranormals: vampires, werewolves, ghouls, etc. Those who stayed human tried to survive in the midst of paranormals whose instincts often drove them to eat humans.

Mason used to be a soldier. Now, he helps the inhabitants of Sanctuary, a small town, defend themselves against whatever paranormals might come to bring them harm. When Andy arrives, Mason and the others aren't quite sure what to make of her. She seems human, but she knows a lot more about paranormals and ways to defend against them than the average human.

Andy is something the people of Sanctuary have never encountered before - a Reaper, a being who reaps the souls of those who have died or are about to die. Andy and Mason may be the best chance Sanctuary's residents have of surviving when werewolves descend upon the town.

Review:

I saw this novella when it stillbrand-new and had a reduced price on the Samhain Publishing website.I read the description, got excited when I saw that it was apost-apocalyptic story starring a woman who'd been turned into aReaper, read the excerpt, and decided I had to buy it. Unfortunately, although there were aspects of it that I liked, this novella didn't quite work for me.

The world is an interesting one, wide open for whatever sequels Ms. Carter might want to write. This is one of those "everything and the kitchen sink" worlds that includes every imaginable supernatural being, which I know really turns some readers off, but I thought Carter handled things fairly well. Several beings were mentioned in passing, but the only ones that made extended appearances were Andy (the Reaper), a small group of ghouls (they were only around for a few pages, though), and some werewolves.

I thought the werewolves and ghouls were so so (information about them was limited to "here's how they'll try to kill you, and here's how they can be killed"), but Andy's Reaper abilities were as interesting as I had hoped they would be. I also loved all the details about the ways Sanctuary's residents protected themselves. Those people were very prepared and very deadly.

Unfortunately, one big failing of this novella was that so much was left unexplained, and several world-details were a bit confusing. The Reaper stuff, for instance, didn't always make sense. Andy indicated that she couldn't reap souls until the beings with the souls were dead or about to die. I couldn't understand why this was even a minor problem, since, as far as I could tell, Andy could decide to try to kill someone, thereby making them about to die, and thereby making their souls reap-able.

I had assumed that Andy's kick-butt fighting abilities were simply paranormal instincts, something she gained along with her Reaper abilities. However, on page 62 (according to my Nook) Andy mentions "a healthy dose of martial arts training" - when did she get this training, and who gave it to her? What was her life like, prior to gaining her Reaper abilities? The more I thought about it, the more I realized I barely knew anything about Andy, or about Mason. I at least finished the story knowing a few small details about Mason's life prior to the bombs being dropped, but Andy's life might as well have begun when she became a Reaper.

Not only did I feel like I barely knew the main characters, character behavior was also sometimes inconsistent. Tough, disciplined Mason knew that Andy wasn't quite human and that there was therefore a chance she could be dangerous to both him and Sanctuary...and yet he had sex with her, and even fell asleep with her afterward, before finding out what she was. I thought that seemed very out of character and difficult to believe. Also, Andy and Mason's romance moved extremely fast - I think they knew each other a grand total of maybe two days before they decided they were in love. The "we're the same" factor was probably supposed to make this easier to swallow, but it didn't quite work for me.

My suspension of disbelief was still badly stretched by the time the novella's ending came around, and so I was less forgiving of the ending than I might otherwise have been. I'm not a huge fan of stories that end with pregnancy or babies, although I'll put up with those kinds of endings in most romance subgenres. Reaper's pregnancy ending didn't work for me at all. All I could think was, "Okay, so does Andy still have her instinctual need to reap souls, and how's she supposed to do that while 6 months pregnant?" And, after almost 80 pages of Andy being kick-butt, this line was almost painful to read:

"Six months pregnant, Andy was starting to waddle but she still insisted on pulling her weight." (p. 77)

She's gone from being the scariest, deadliest person around to almost waddling.

I really did like the setup, and all that action was nice after reading lots of more sedate works, but the limited number of pages didn't give Carter a lot of room to clarify things. Plus, writing-wise, a few more commas here and there probably would have helped, and there were way too many "Jul-" names. Thankfully, Julian (some guy who died early in the novella - see page 25), Julie/Julia (probably the same person, a resident of Sanctuary), and Julietta (an ex-girlfriend of Mason's) were all minor characters, or the problem would have been much worse.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Bleach (manga) by Tite Kubo; Bleach (anime TV series) - If you'd like another action-packed story filled with beings who reap the souls of others, you might like this. Just be warned, it's very, very long, and I don't think there's an end in sight yet. The series stars a high school student who can see spirits and suddenly gains shinigami (death god) abilities. I've written about volumes 22-24 of the manga.
Dead Like Me (live action TV series) - The tone of this show is completely different from Reaper - it's more introspective and funny (often in a kind of sad/dark way). If you like that, you might like this series, which focuses on George, a college dropout who dies while on her way back from her first day at her temp job. George becomes a grim reaper and must come to terms with her own death, leaving her family behind, and the things her new job requires her to do.
Rising Stars Compendium (graphic novel) by J. Michael Straczynski and others - It's been a while since I read this. From what I remember, a strange light or comet or something appears in the sky, and, years later, some or all of the people born when that light appeared turn out to have superpowers. Superpowers don't necessarily make these people's lives better, and I think that one of the people is killing the others.
Urban Shaman (book) by C.E. Murphy - Those who'd like something else in which a seemingly ordinary person ends up with new powers might want to try this. The main character is a mechanic who has to figure out how to use her shamanic powers in order to save the world from the Wild Hunt. There is action, fantasy, and a smidgen of romance (I'm not sure if the romance ever goes anywhere, unfortunately).
Soul Eater (anime TV series) - Another action-packed series with Reaper characters. In the world of this series, pairs composed of a weapon and a Meister go after evil beings and reap their souls. The main characters are Soul (a weapon - his weapon form is a scythe) and Maka (a Meister), although there are lots of other characters to fall in love with. Of the Meisters, my personal favorite is the obsessive-compulsive Death the Kid, whose love of symmetry almost gets him killed from time to time. This series began as a manga, but I haven't read it yet and don't know how it compares. I've written about the anime.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (live action TV series) - Another series with lots of action, supernatural beings, and a kick-butt female main character.
The Walking Dead (live action TV series) - I've only watched a couple episodes of this one so far, but I think it might appeal to those who enjoyed the survival aspects of Reaper. The main character wakes up in a hospital after having mostly recovered from a gunshot wound. Some sort of crisis appears to have happened, but it's not until later that he learns that the dead have begun turning into zombies. His primary goal is to find out if his wife and child are still alive and safe.
Night Pleasures (book) by Sherrilyn Kenyon - Something about Andy's "voice" made me think of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter and Were Hunter novels. If you'd like something else with lots of action, set in a supernatural being-filled world, you might want to try one of Kenyon's books. Night Pleasures is the first of her Dark Hunter books, but if you don't like the sound of that one, you might take a look at some of the other books and see which hero-heroine pair suits you better.

Still here

2011-11-02T07:44:00.002-05:00

I'm still here! I've been reading, too, I just haven't been writing anything. The thought of writing coherent sentences has been too exhausting. I'm hoping to get back to post-writing soon, though, because I've read some fun stuff lately. And some not-so-fun stuff. Here's a list of things that might be on the posting horizon:

Jane Eyre (audio book) by Charlotte Bronte - I listened to LibriVox's version 3. Can you believe I had never read this book before? I knew about the mad wife, but that was about it. I would have never made it past the first 10 chapters if I had been reading this, rather than listening to it. Past that point, I had more fun, even though I occasionally wished Jane could be far, far away from Rochester.
Sea Change (e-book) by Darlene Marshall - A historical romance in which the heroine pretends to be a man so that she can continue to practice medicine. I loved this book and plan to read more of Marshall's stuff.
Wild & Steamy (e-book, anthology) by Meljean Brook, Jill Myles, Carolyn Crane - I got this primarily for Brook's story (it features Constable Newberry and his wife - so much yay!). I thought Brook's story was the best one in the anthology, although I liked aspects of Crane's enough to want to try the first book in her Disillusionists series. Myles' story wasn't bad, I'm just not a huge fan of threesomes. I should definitely have a post coming out for this one soon - all I have left to do is write about Crane's story.
Pigeons from Hell (e-short story) by Robert E. Howard - Technically, I'm not done with this one yet, but I had to add it to the list anyway. I mean, that title is awesome. I was hoping for a crazy, campy read, but so far the story itself hasn't been nearly as much fun as the title.
Some Kind of Magic (e-book) by R. Cooper - This romance stars a werewolf who's trying to resist being mated to a half-fairy, because fairies are known for being promiscuous. I read some worrisome reviews, but the book isn't as bad as I feared. However, I agree with everyone who said that the writing was confusing.
Pawprints (e-book) by Anne Cain - I admit it, I bought this one almost solely for its cover image, which I swear looks like Fruits Basket fan art. The contents of the book don't live up to the pretty cover, unfortunately. It's been long enough ago that I read this that I think I'll have to reread it in order to write a decent review. I'm not looking forward to the reread. It's not so truly awful that it'll be fun to write about, but it's also not so good that the reread will be enjoyable. It's a meh kind of book.
Unlocked (e-novella) by Courtney Milan - Very nice, but, again, I read this long enough ago that I think I'll need to do a quick reread. Those who like their romance to come with grovelling on the part of the hero will love this one. I do wish it had been longer, though.
Second Son of a Duke (e-novella) by Gwen Hayes - I had this one in my wishlist for the longest time. I was worried that my desire to read it was mostly due to my "ooh, pretty" reaction to the cover. I bought it, read it, and enjoyed it. Again, as with Milan's novella, I wish it had been longer. The hero and heroine of this one have both been cleaning up after their irresponsible brothers for as long as they can remember, but they never expected that their brothers would go so far as to force the two of them to marry. The wedding night is disastrous, but things get better as the two get to know one another.

It's amazing - I've only owned my Nook for a few months, and now most of the things I read and finish are e-format. I do still have plenty of print books lying around, but there's something appealing about picking up my Nook and knowing I can change my mind about what I'm reading without having to hunt through physical shelves. I still wish that my Nook allowed me to browse the covers of books not purchased through B&N, though.

The Only Gold (e-book) by Tamara Allen

2011-10-22T00:50:00.001-05:00

This book is available in paperback format, but it's definitely not cheap. Still, if you like historical m/m romance and prefer print books, it might just be worth it.

Synopsis:

Jonah lives and breathes his work at the bank. There is no doubt in his mind that he'll be promoted, so he's shocked when he's passed over in favor of Reid, a newcomer who, to Jonah's eyes, seems determined to push innovations onto the bank whether they're needed or not. Determined to protect the bank, Jonah keeps a close eye on Reid and fights him every step of the way. Reid takes this in a stride and even seems somewhat sympathetic towards Jonah, but Jonah refuses to thaw, even as everyone else at the bank falls for Reid's charm and easy way of dealing with people.

Gradually, though, Jonah and Reid become friends and more. After years of smothering his attraction to men, Jonah finds in Reid a person who could become vital to him. Unfortunately for Jonah, Reid still has more secrets left to be uncovered, secrets that could destroy everything Jonah holds dear. (Okay, so this is a bit dramatic, and also a bit misleading, but I'm trying to keep spoilers to a minimum.)

Commentary:

I can't seem to help but judge books by their covers, and The Only Gold's cover did not make a good impression on me. The characters look wooden, and they are in what is probably the most uninteresting (and slightly creepy) pose ever. They're not looking at each other, touching each other, interacting with each other in any way, just staring at the reader (sort of - Reid, the guy on the left, seems to be looking at something just past the reader).

I would have never bought this book just based on the cover image. I bought it because 1) so many people in the comments section of one particular Dear Author post (sorry, can't remember which one) recommended her books that decided I should finally break down and try one and 2) All Romance E-books had a really great "applies to everything" sale going on.

I'm so happy that I listened to those recommendations, because, if I hadn't, I would have missed out on what I think is the first Dreamspinner Press book I've read that I feel is really, truly good. If my family members were interested in reading romance novels, I'd recommend this to them, it's that good.

The characters were excellent. Jonah both frustrated me and inspired my sympathy – I could understand why he resisted Reid's proposed changes to bank policies and procedures, but it was painful to see him potentially destroy the career he clearly cared about and had spent his life building. One of my complaints about this book is that it took longer than I would have liked for Jonah to finally thaw towards Reid, but it's only a complaint because I was so emotionally invested in Jonah that I wasn't sure how many more mistakes I could stand to see him make.

Those who like slow-building romances will probably love this book. This was no insta-lust, or even necessarily instant attraction. Their respective positions were too painful for Jonah (and possibly also for Reid, for different reasons) for anything like that to have been the case. I think it took 80 pages or so before stronger hints of romance appeared.

This book didn't have plentiful and graphic sex scenes, which I appreciated – it meant that the characters and the story were front-and-center. I liked getting to learn more about Reid and Jonah through their conversations with each other – Reid was revealed to be more alone and lonely than his outgoing workplace demeanor suggested, and Jonah's past gave me a greater understanding of his reasons for living so completely for the bank, increasing my sympathy for him.

For a good long while after Jonah stopped freezing Reid out, nothing much happened except Jonah and Reid being together and doing their best to keep their deepening relationship a secret from everyone else in their lives. Then came the last part of the book, the bank robbery – suddenly, there was action, danger, and a betrayal that had my heart clenching even though my brain knew that somehow things would work out.

Even though I could tell myself that the robbery and events connected to it would probably work out all right, I wasn't sure how Jonah and Reid's relationship could possibly end well – they could not be openly gay without suffering serious repercussions, and it was unlikely they could be the couple they were starting to want to be, sharing their lives together, without one of the people they worked with finally getting a clue. I prepared myself for a bittersweet ending and was surprised when Allen managed to produce a happy one. Because I wanted Reid and Jonah to have their happy ending, I was more than willing to ignore my feeling that it was a little too convenient.

I'd recommend this to both lovers of m/m romance and those interested in trying m/m romance out. My only complaints about this book were the ending, which I didn't quite find believable, and the pacing – I would have liked it if the romance had gotten underway just a bit sooner. Those complaints feel a bit nit-picky in the face of my general love for this book, though. Expect to see more of Allen's books on this blog in the future – I picked up the rest of her works right after finishing this one. Part of me wishes she were a more prolific writer, and part of me is glad that her backlist is small enough that I can afford to buy it all at once.

Read-alikes:

Lessons in Love (e-book) by Charlie Cochrane - Another historical m/m romance. The main characters are professors at Cambridge, and, as with Reid and Jonah, one character is more outgoing than the other. Because someone is killing gay men, these characters have an additional reason to keep their relationship a secret. This book is also available in paperback format.
Somebody Killed His Editor (e-book) by Josh Lanyon - I thought Lanyon might be a good read-alike author for Allen, but I haven't read enough of his works to know quite which one to suggest, so I picked this one because it also has a main character whose career has hit a rocky spot. I think this one would be classified as a contemporary m/m romantic suspense (or mystery with strong romantic elements?). This book is also available in paperback format.
Kindred Hearts (e-book) by Rowan Speedwell - Another historical m/m romance. I haven't read it, but it sounds a bit more angsty than The Only Gold, although those who enjoyed the "we must keep our relationship a secret" aspect of the book may appreciate a bit more angst. This book is also available in paperback format.

Just in time for Halloween

2011-10-19T23:35:00.001-05:00

Remember how I mourned the end of Tokyopop, and then mourned some more? Well, it looks like Tokyopop may be attempting to rise from the dead. Sort of. Rather than publish manga, the plan is to publish a newsletter and possibly work up to publishing manga (or such is my understanding - some of this stuff left me confused). That is, if Tokyopop's Twitter and Facebook accounts haven't been hacked, and all of this is really true.

Some links:

"Is Tokyopop Rising from the Dead?" by Brigid Alverson
Kore wa-Tokyopop-Zombie Desu ka? - AstroNerdBoy
"Tokyopop back...sorta, teamed with GeekChicDaily" by The Beat
"Like a zombie it will dig itself back up again: Is Tokyopop returning?" by JK Parkin - Highlights the confusion about whether Tokyopop will be publishing manga again or not.
Tokyopop Manga on Twitter - I'm not comfortable with Twitter, but I read through some of this anyway, and it strikes me as weird. It's definitely clear that whoever it is that's tweeting understands that people have good reason to be skeptical, and there are references to "I'll say who I am once I get permission" but I didn't see anything that actually proved that this is really Tokyopop yet.
Tokyopop on Facebook - I've only scanned it, but it makes for much less bizarre reading than the tweets. There are a lot of people asking if Tokyopop is really back, asking about Tokyopop manga, etc. I didn't see any actual responses from Tokyopop (or whoever it is), just the usual updates a corporation like this might put up if there weren't huge questions about whether they're real, what their plans are, and what their status is. Judging by some of the stuff I read, I'm guessing that Tokyopop's responses have long since been buried by other comments and updates (plus, I got tired of trying to go back far enough to see those responses, or maybe I just missed them). GeekChicDaily is everywhere, though.

There are other links, but what I saw was either the same thing I had read in other articles and blog entries, or fluffy marketing for the newsletter.

I don't want a newsletter, I want manga. Happily, I also found out today that several series I enjoyed that were left in Tokyopop's dust have been licensed by other companies: Viz picked up Loveless, and Yen Press picked up Alice in the Country of Hearts (with Seven Seas Entertainment licensing Alice in the Country of Clover - yay!).

Skip Beat! (manga, vols. 5-6, 10-15, 17-18, 20-23) by Yoshiki Nakamura

2011-10-19T21:59:00.002-05:00

This post took WAY longer to write than I expected. And it's long.... Thankfully, this is the last of my "manga I read during my vacation" posts.

This series was by far my biggest vacation winner: I read more volumes of it (14!) than any other series, I read all the volumes I had at my disposal, and I enjoyed it so much that it was painful not to have more available (and painful to have gaps in what I did have).

I love this series. I watched the anime and tried the first manga volume a while back, but I decided I probably wouldn't ever buy the manga, because I didn't want to commit to something long-running. I think I may have to change my mind about that. I had forgotten how much fun Kyoko is.

Somehow, Nakamura manages to draw things out without driving me completely crazy. There's no sign of how long it's going to take for Kyoko to accomplish her goal of becoming a bigger star than her ex-boyfriend. It may take a while for Kyoko to recognize that she has feelings for Ren. I don't care - I love this series anyway.

Kyoko is awesome, clueless one minute and pulling amazing acting skills out of thin air the next. Even though the formula for characters' awesomeness seems to be pretty much the same each time - the character has some sort of horrible acting block or obstacle, it comes down to crunch time, and the character pulls off a brilliant in-character improv session - I eat it up each and every time. It's so much fun to read!

The romance in the series is good, too, somehow made even better by Nakamura's decision to have it progress achingly slow and even take a backseat to all the acting drama. Ren realizes he loves Kyoko well before Kyoko has the same realization about Ren. Ren backs off a bit because of some dark stuff in his past I haven't read about yet (is it in one of the volumes I had to skip, or a future volume? I guess I'll find out some other time), but he seems to get over that a bit. Even so, he doesn't try to force Kyoko to admit she has feelings for him too. I loved that Yashiro freaked out about this, while Ren seemed barely phased by Kyoko's obliviousness.

Again, I love this series. It's shoujo with a nice sprinkling of shounen. There's romance and relationship drama, but then there's Kyoko, who would not be out of place as the main character in a shounen series, shouting "I want to become stronger" and being underestimated by others right up to the moment where she does something completely fantastic.

As usual, if you're leery of spoilers, you may want to avoid reading the descriptions below and just skip to the read-alikes/watch-alikes section at the very bottom.

Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 5) - Moko and Kyoko audition for a soda commercial, facing off against a rich longtime enemy of Moko's. Moko comes up with a brilliant "fighting friends" scene for the audition, while Kyoko does an amazing on-the-fly "making up" scene. True, I pretty much knew how things were going to go in this volume, since I remembered this part from the anime, but I still loved it. This volume really reminds me of shounen manga, with Kyoko as the underdog main character who manages, through guts, determination, and a good dose of awesomeness, to pull a win out of thin air.
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 6) - Kyoko and Moko get the soda commercial job. When everyone at the agency comes down with colds later, Kyoko gets assigned to be Ren's substitute manager (she doesn't know it, but her main job is actually to make sure that Ren takes the time to eat). Then Ren comes down with a cold, too, and Kyoko takes care of him. Ren starts to question his feelings for Kyoko. Although he liked her when they were children (she still doesn't know he was the boy called "Corn"), he disliked that she started acting only to get revenge. Ren starts to wonder if that's really the case, though. Could Kyoko really become this good and dedicated of an actress with revenge as her only motivation?
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 10) - Kyoko and Ren both have parts in a drama called Dark Moon, a remake of an older show that used to be hugely popular. Kyoko stresses over how to create a Mio (her character) that is better than the Mio of 20 years ago - and comes up with chillingly angry rich young lady who isn't faithful to the old Mio but may be even better. I love this volume. Okay, so I love most of Skip Beat!'s volumes, but I especially enjoyed seeing Kyoko give everyone the chills as Mio.
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 11) - Ren is in a serious acting slump, unable to figure out how to act like Katsuki, a man who finds himself falling in love with a girl he shouldn't love. While trying to help Ren get over his slump, Kyoko inadvertently helps Ren realize he's falling for her. Kyoko has no idea that the 16-year-old girl Ren has feelings for is her. Kyoko has a bit of a block when it comes to love and anything to do with herself, so I'll give her a pass on this bit of denseness. This volume gets bonus points for having Yashiro acting as a matchmaker - I love it, it's cute and hilarious (even though I can't help but wonder if Yashiro ever gets to have a life of his own).
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 12) - If Ren can't come up with his own Katsuki, he'll be fired. Kyoko doesn't know he's going to be tested, but she helps Ren practice anyway. During this practice, Ren accidentally reveals a dark side of himself he has tried to keep hidden (and almost kisses Kyoko!). The volume ends with Ren's test for the part. Heh. While Ren's almost-kiss with Kyoko had my shoujo-loving heart pounding, I couldn't help but laugh later when I realized that Kyoko was much less affected by the scene than Ren. Poor Ren!
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 13) - Ren's Katsuki test gets underway. By his request, it's improv, and he does beautifully, even getting his costar to act the way he wants her to act. In this volume, it's revealed that Ren has issues with his father overshadowing him (or possibly abuse? - but from what I read in later volumes, I'd guess that's not it). Kyoko also starts to realize that Ren loves her and that she loves him in return, but then she blocks all of that out and convinces herself otherwise, because she doesn't want to love anyone again.
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 14) - Kyoko and Sho cross paths again, and Kyoko tells him off for not fighting hard enough against Vie Ghoul, a visual kei band that is clearly copying off of him. Meanwhile, Yashiro is going crazy wondering why Ren isn't worried that Sho might win Kyoko back. Kyoko goes to film Dark Moon on location at Karuizawa and bumps into Sho again...and he's still being copied by Vie Ghoul. For those who are interested, this is the volume in which Ren watches Kyoko playing a beautiful angel in Sho's promo clip.
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 15) - Vie Ghoul's Reino becomes interested in Kyoko and begins stalking her. When he actually goes after her, Sho tries to save her. Reino threatens to ruin Kyoko's Mio by leaking a rumor to the tabloids that he raped her. Ren arrives on location and hears about Kyoko's stalker (but not that he's Reino)...and then he finds out that Sho's there. It was actually painful to realize that I didn't have volume 16 available, because I really wanted to see how Ren would handle Sho, particularly since Ren still had the scene from the previous volume in his mind, when he overheard that Sho had hurt Kyoko. As for the "I'll spread a rumor I raped you" stuff...well, that was icky for multiple reasons. I dislike Reino.
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 17) - Kyoko has another run-in with Vie Ghoul's Reino, who happens to have ESP or something and sees a fragment of Ren's violent, dark past (and that Ren is a foreigner) via "Corn"'s stone. Reino leaves, and Kyoko starts working on another drama and worries that playing Mio has typecast her as a bully. Then she is assigned to take care of Shuhei Hozu (Koo) as part of her Love Me section duties. Koo used to be Katsuki in the old Tsukigomori (the show Dark Moon is a remake of) - and he also seems to have some kind of history with Ren.
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 18) - It seems that Koo and Kyoko's boss have teamed up for some reason, and Koo is supposed to torment Kyoko until she breaks down and complains to Ren. Koo can't keep up the tormenting in the face of Kyoko's relentless cheerfulness and professionalism, however, so instead he tries to teach her how to create characters by having her act as his 15-year-old (later changed to 10) son, Kuon (suspiciously similar to Corn!). Ren sees her do this and is also shocked to come face-to-face with Koo. Again, OH THE PAIN, I didn't have volume 19 available. I so wanted to see how Koo and Ren would interact. I suspect that Koo is Ren's father (although it's kind of weird that there were no hints of this during the Dark Moon volumes, because this would mean that Ren was playing what used to be his father's role, which should have been worth some angsting).
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 20) - This is the worst volume of Skip Beat! I've read so far, but even this volume is better than some other series' best. Basically, it's what amounts to a Lame Filler Volume - a Christmas special. When Kyoko hears that Maria doesn't celebrate Christmas or her birthday (December 24th), she tells Maria they should have a thank you party instead, to thank all the people they know. Maria goes for the idea, even though it's a blatant attempt to get her to have something as close to a birthday party as she'll allow. The party is huge, over-the-top, and great fun for everyone. And then, on the stroke of the 25th, Ren gives Kyoko a rose for her 17th birthday, Moko gives her a gift she bought without even knowing that the 25th was her birthday, etc. It's all very sweet. Maria gets to see her workaholic father, and Kyoko has never gotten to celebrate her birthday on the 25th before.
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 21) - Kyoko's having a rough time with her new drama, in which she plays a bully named Natsu. She doesn't know how to do the character justice, she arrives late to her first reading, her childhood training to take over an inn makes her incapable of naturally acting like a normal high school girl (which she needs to be able to do to play Natsu), and the director just wants Natsu to be the same kind of bully as Mio. Plus, Kyoko has a co-actress who's secretly trying to screw things up for her with the director.
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 22) - Kyoko gets Ren to teach her to walk like a female model (I have such a weakness for fictional guys who are manly enough to do girlie things without feeling like it makes them less manly), which she applies to creating her brilliant new Natsu. Almost everyone loves her new Natsu. The only one who doesn't is a girl named Chiori, the one who tried to mess things up for Kyoko in the previous volume. In this volume it's revealed the Chiori probably started acting as a child, was typecast, and ended up not being able to get past the role that made her famous.
Skip Beat! (manga, vol. 23) - Kyoko is bullied by Chiori and gets back at her by really getting into her role as Natsu, forcing Chiori to play the best Yumika she can. Their bullying scene sent chills down my spine, it was so good. In the end, Chiori and Kyoko make up, and Chiori becomes a Love Me member. Then Kyoko gets all wound up about Valentine's Day, remembering her hatred for Sho. Reino appears to tell her she'll be giving him chocolates (he actually likes her, even though he knows she's not capable of love at the moment...and, um, even if she were, I doubt she'd fall for a jerk like him). The volume ends with Kyoko finding out that she got Ren's birthday wrong - she thought it was on February 19th, but it's actually on the 10th, and she doesn't have a gift for him yet. Again, argh, I didn't have the next volume. So painful...

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Gravitation (manga) by Maki Murakami; Gravitation (anime TV series) - If you'd like another story with some craziness involving a character who wants to become a star, you might want to try this. Just be aware that it's BL (the romantic couple is two guys). Also, this is one of the few cases where I'd recommend watching the anime over reading the manga it's based on. The manga is an insane mess. The anime tones this down. If, after you see the anime, you want more, then go read the manga, but don't say I didn't warn you. I've written about the first volume of the manga.
S.A (manga) by Maki Minami; S.A (anime TV series) - Another series with a stubborn and determined heroine who's not even thinking about romance and has no idea that the male main character is in love with her. I've written about the anime.
Kare Kano (manga) by Masami Tsuda; His and Her Circumstances (anime TV series) - Another series with a pair that reminds me a little of Kyoko and Ren. Arima, the main character in this series, also has dark stuff in his past. Yukino, like Kyoko, has one goal in her life that she's completely focused on. In Yukino's case, that goal is to be adored by everyone. This is another comedic school story, although be warned that the manga, in particular has some darker moments (due to Arima's past).
Maid Sama! (manga) by Hiro Fujiwara; Maid Sama! (anime TV series) - I haven't seen or read this series yet, but, from what I've heard about it, it seems like this one might appeal to those who like Kyoko. The main character is a hard-working girl who is determined to do what she has to to achieve her goal. This is another romantic school comedy.

Naruto (manga, vols. 32-43) by Masashi Kishimoto

2011-10-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

(Edit: I realized I should start this post off with a GIANT SPOILER ALERT, too, since there are spoilers before I even begin the volume descriptions.)

This was one of my two big vacation winners - I finished 12 volumes and would have read more if my vacation had lasted a little longer.

This series is like popcorn. Once I get started with it, it's hard to stop. That said, I've resisted buying it. The series is currently over 50 volumes long and still growing. No matter how you get your volumes, used or new, on sale or not, omnibus or single volumes, the cost of 50+ volumes really adds up. My vacation reading has gotten me within 10 volumes of being completely caught up.

In one of the volumes, I think Kishimoto made a comment to the effect that he just needed to keep the end in sight, and all I could think was "does that mean he really has an ending in mind?" I have no idea what this series is working towards. An eventual future where Naruto has finally become the Hokage? A renewal of Sasuke and Naruto's friendship? Sasuke's death? The removal of the Nine Tails Fox from Naruto's body? I really couldn't say. Even if Kishimoto ever wrote an ending for Naruto, I could easily see him writing a spin-off series based on a future generation of ninjas.

The possible lack on an ending is daunting, but I enjoy reading this series is great big chunks. There's so much character history and drama, the battles are fun, and it's hard not to have a favorite character (or even just a favorite fighting style or jutsu) when there are so many to choose from.

As I was writing notes about the volumes, it occurred to me that it was getting to the point where I could describe certain volumes with a couple simple sentences: "Character A fights Character B. This is the volume in which Character __ dies." There is a lot of death in these 12 volumes. I don't know if Kishimoto decided the cast was getting too large, or if there's some kind of plan for future volumes, but it seems like hardly anyone is safe from being killed off anymore, except maybe Naruto and Sasuke.

All in all, I enjoyed these volumes, but but there were so many battles that things started to blur together. Also, darn it, Sasuke seems to have become little more than an icy mask. Since I always kind of liked him, that makes me sad. At least he still seems to be reluctant to kill people if he doesn't absolutely have to. I'll cross my fingers and hope he thaws in some future volume (and please let that volume not be something in the hundreds). The revelations about Itachi's reasons for killing his clan and saving Sasuke were heart-breaking, but also kind of messed up. He might've intended to protect Sasuke by not telling him everything and inviting his hatred, but the end result was a Sasuke working to destroy what Itachi had wanted to protect. Again, I'll cross my fingers and hope that bit of drama gets dealt with in a satisfactory way that won't make me bawl my eyes out.

Let's see, what else...? Sai, a new character and new member of Team 7, was introduced in these volumes. I'm not yet sure how I feel about him, but I like his ability to make the things he draws real. I also liked all the various tidbits about Naruto, his past, and the Nine Tails Fox. Kishimoto finally flat-out confirms that the Fourth Hokage was Naruto's father (although I don't think many people, including Naruto, know this) and gives Naruto's mother a name - yay! And Naruto can do at least two things that both make him stronger and risk killing or harming him.

One other thing: I tried watching the Naruto Shippuden anime a while back and stopped at the beginning of the events in volume 34 of the manga (before Team 7 finds Sasuke). While reading the manga, it became clearer and clearer how bad the anime is. The original Naruto anime almost killed itself with too much back-to-back filler, but Naruto Shippuden went too far in the other direction, drawing events from the manga out to such an excruciating degree that the energy and drama of the original story was lost. It's really a shame.

Again, GIANT SPOILER ALERT. Don't read the descriptions below if you want to avoid spoilers.

Naruto (manga, vol. 32) - While Kakashi is out of commission, Team 7 needs a new leader. Team 7 also needs a new third member, since Sasuke is still gone, so Naruto and Sakura are forced to work with Sai. Sai manages to antagonize both of them, and Yamato, their new leader, has his hands full keeping them from each other's throats. Happily, Naruto and Sakura are at least willing to put their issues with Sai aside for the sake of getting Sasuke back. Yamato, disguised as Sasori, goes to meet Kabuto on a bridge, with the rest of Team 7 as backup. Yamato is a mysterious character who is able to use wood-style ninjutsu, which only the First Hokage could do.
Naruto (manga, vol. 33) - Naruto fights Orochimaru, and four of the Nine Tails Fox's tails come out. Naruto hurts Sakura before Yamato seals the Nine Tails Fox away again. Meanwhile, Sai becomes a double agent, joining up with Orochimaru in order to help his master eventually defeat Tsunade and take over leadership of the village. What remains of Team 7 takes a look through Sai's picture book, which he was forced to leave behind.
Naruto (manga, vol. 34) - Team 7 attempts to retrieve Sai, and talking to Naruto brings Sai over to their side as he becomes more curious about exploring having bonds with others. However, when Team 7 learns that Sai's mission was to assassinate Sasuke, they think he tricked them and is going forward with his original mission. They go after him and encounter Sasuke, who talks big, says things that hurt them, and then leaves with Orochimaru and Kabuto.
Naruto (manga, vol. 35) - Naruto is back at Konoha and must learn a new technique in order to get strong enough to beat Sasuke. Kakashi and Yamato work together to help Naruto learn how to change his chakra nature, which is wind, into some other nature, via an intense doppelganger training. Meanwhile, the Akatsuki continue to hunt down tailed beasts (they get the Two Tails, which was in a host, and the Three Tails, which was on its own). Also, somehow I missed this little detail in previous volumes: Asuma was the Third Hokage's son. Oh, and another comment: once the whole concept of chakra natures is introduced in this volume, it comes up again and again in future volumes, as though the concept has always existed in the series.
Naruto (manga, vol. 36) - Naruto continues trying to create a new jutsu, a super rasengan. Meanwhile, Asuma, Shikamaru, and a couple other ninja battle Hidan, a member of the Akatsuki. Asuma gets caught in Hidan's spell, which causes any wounds inflicted on Hidan to be mirrored on Asuma. Hidan is immortal, but Asuma isn't. Sadly, Asuma is killed before reinforcements arrive. I've never really felt one way or another about Asuma, but this volume made me sad. He was such a laid-back, nice guy, and I liked watching him develop Shikamaru's potential in earlier volumes.
Naruto (manga, vol. 37) - Shikamaru, his team, and Kakashi go after Hidan and...the Akatsuki guy with Hidan whose name I never wrote down (according to a Naruto fan site, his name is Kakuzu). Shikamaru faces off against Hidan, while everyone else battles Kakuzu, who can only be killed by the destruction of all five of his hearts. Naruto and the others show up as reinforcements, and Naruto prepares to finish off Kakuzu with his not-quite-perfect new jutsu, the wind style rasen-shuriken.
Naruto (manga, vol. 38) - Naruto defeats (or nearly defeats - Kakashi finishes him off) Kakuzu with his new jutsu. However, the new jutsu is not one Naruto will be able to use lightly, since it could destroy his ability to wield chakra - Tsunade says he is never to use it again. Meanwhile, Sasuke kills Orochimaru (or rather, absorbs him) and begins forming a new team of his own, composed of Suigetsu, who wields Zabuza's blade, Karin, who seems to have a crush on Sasuke, and Jugo, a violent killer whose bodily fluids are the source of Orochimaru's curse marks. Oh, and another interesting thing revealed in this volume: Kurenai is pregnant with Asuma's baby.
Naruto (manga, vol. 39) - Sasuke finishes assembling his team. Konoha puts together two teams (Sai, Yamato, Naruto, and Sakura, and Hinta, Kiba, and Shino, with Kakashi) to find Itachi, with the intention of then finding Sasuke. Sasuke, meanwhile, fights Deidara, who tries to blow him up. It's also revealed in this volume that Kabuto has taken some of Orochimaru's cells into himself - it seems possible that in some future volume Orochimaru's cells will take over Kabuto's body, and he'll essentially be reborn. We'll see.
Naruto (manga, vol. 40) - Deidara battles Sasuke and uses his final, best attack, intending to blow both himself and Sasuke up. Unfortunately for Deidara, Sasuke escapes the blast. Meanwhile, Jiraiya goes to the Land of Rain, because that's probably where the Akatsuki leader is located. There, he learns of a terrifying ninja called Pain, who is so powerful others see him as a god. It's in this volume that the names of both of Naruto's parents are revealed. His father is the Fourth Hokage, and his mother was a ninja from the Land of Eddies.
Naruto (manga, vol. 41) - Jiraiya fights Konan and remembers when he first met her and the two other orphaned Land of Rain children. Jiraiya ends up having to go into Sage mode to fight Pain, who summons two others. It's then revealed that "Pain" is the alias for 6 people who all have Rinnegan (something about "capable of being a godlike force of creation and an all obliterating instrument of destruction").
Naruto (manga, vol. 42) - Jiraiya fights Pain and loses, coming back from death just enough to send a message to Tsunade about who/what Pain is. Then he dies. Sasuke and Itachi battle each other, and Itachi uses his Mangekyo Sharingan, revealing that he will eventually go blind from it. He tells Sasuke he left him alive so that he could use his eyes as spares. Nice, huh? Also, this is the first volume that shows Naruto's parents together, while Naruto's mother was pregnant with him. Naruto was named after a character in one of Jiraiya's less successful books. Before Jiraiya dies, he realizes that Naruto is the child of legend he was told about, the one who would be either a force for great good or great destruction. (I feel like I'm writing out a Star Wars story right now...)
Naruto (manga, vol. 43) - I think of this as the Itachi Volume. Sasuke fights and finally kills Itachi. To all appearances, Itachi was bad to the very end, wanting to steal Sasuke's eyes. However, Sasuke later meets Uchiha Madara, who tells him the truth about what happened to the Uchiha clan and why Itachi did what he did. Itachi was a double agent, protecting Konoha against the bitter Uchiha clan, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his beloved little brother, so he did everything from that point on to make Sasuke stronger. Even his last moments were geared towards this purpose - when Itachi touched Sasuke's forehead, he gave Sasuke his ocular jutsu. Now Sasuke's goal is to destroy Konoha (completely forgetting that Itachi probably would not have approved).

Okay, so I might actually start collecting this series with volume 43, rather than volume 44, because I love that volume's great gobs of tragedy. I've always found the relationship between Sasuke and Itachi to be very fascinating, and I had always wondered what had prompted Itachi to do what he did. I still think the way he carried things out was crazy (was it really necessary to kill everyone?). I talked to my dad, who has read more of the series than I have, and he said that many characters, including Itachi, will be brought back to life at some point - hurray, more brotherly angst!

Now that my horribly long list of volume descriptions is finished, on to the read-alikes/watch-alikes list. Really, the list below could just read "Go take a look at lots of other shonen manga." I'll list a few specific works anyway.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Bleach (anime TV series); Bleach (manga) by Tite Kubo - Another long-running, action-filled shonen series. This one stars Shinigami (death gods) and a teenage boy who gains the powers of a Shinigami. I've written about volumes 22 to 24 of the manga.
Fullmetal Alchemist (manga) by Hiromu Arakawa; Fullmetal Alchemist (anime TV series); Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie (anime movie) - Like Naruto, this series gets heavier as it progresses, and the revelations keep coming. I've only finished the original anime series, but one of these days I'll finish reading the manga. I would recommend reading the manga or at least watching the original anime before watching the newest TV series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and I would recommend watching the original anime before watching the movie. I've written about volume 16 of the manga and a little about the original anime.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (non-Japanese animation, TV series) - This is a fun series that only gets better as it progresses, although it may be best for those who preferred Naruto when it was a little less dark - Avatar: The Last Airbender has its dark parts, but you won't find yourself keeping a count of the number of characters you've gotten to know who have died. I've written about this entire series.
Nabari no Ou (manga) by Yuhki Kamatani; Nabari no Ou (anime TV series) - Although this has ninjas and action scenes, the focus turns more and more towards the friendship between Miharu, an apathetic boy who holds a great power inside himself, and Yoite, a deadly, dying young man who is at first Miharu's enemy. I haven't read the manga and have only seen some of the anime, but, from what I've heard, the series is kind of tragic (or maybe not - people have given me conflicting information, and I haven't wanted to go searching for spoilers).
Inuyasha (manga) by Rumiko Takahashi; Inuyasha (anime TV series) - Another long-running series with lots of action and fights, although I don't think there's nearly as much family-related angst (Inuyasha and his brother don't see eye to eye, but I don't recall reading that Inuyasha ever idolized his brother, either). I've written about volume 33 of the manga.

Black Butler (manga, vols. 2-5) by Yana Toboso

2011-10-16T01:57:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed the first volume of Black Butler, but when events in the anime and manga overlapped, I tended to like the anime more. The first volume didn't have much in it that I hadn't already seen in the anime. Since my vacation put me near an excellent public library, I decided to read a few more volumes of this series. Based on some of the details in volume 5, I'm guessing that volume 6 is the point where the manga and anime completely part ways. If that's the case, I might start buying this series from volume 6 on, since I'll have the joy of not knowing what's going to happen next.

Black Butler will have to compete with all the other manga trying to snag my attention, and it's at a disadvantage in a few areas. While I like the artwork and love seeing Sebastian in action, I have to admit that I don't actually care about the characters all that much, as compared to the characters in some of the other series I read. I'm interested to see where Toboso will take the series, but Black Butler is missing whatever element makes me need to read what happens next.

I did, however, enjoy the snippets of Madam Red's life in volume 3 - if/when Toboso gets around to showing more about other characters' pasts, I'll probably start to care for them more, the same way I did for Madam Red. Even Madam Red, though, didn't grab hold of my emotions as much as she could have.

Hm, there's not much more I can say. I still love Grelle, although, again, I'd rather watch him in the anime than see him in the manga. Oh, and although I knew that the anime diverged from the manga at a certain point, it was still a shock to actually see the Queen's face in volume 5. It was at that point that I figured I probably wouldn't be able to predict what will happen in future volumes. I think I've seen mild spoilers about the circus on YouTube, so I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen in volume 6.

As usual, don't read the volume summaries below unless you don't mind POTENTIAL SPOILERS. If you do, just skip down to the read-alikes/watch-alikes.

Black Butler (manga, vol. 2) - Ciel learns about a killer called Jack the Ripper, who kills prostitutes and then removes their uteruses. Ciel (dressed as a girl) first goes after the Viscount of Druitt, but a murder occurs during the man's party, so he can't possibly be Jack. That's when Ciel realizes that a human couldn't have committed all the murders - but an non-human being or something with such a being's help could have. He doesn't manage to save Mary Kelly, the final victim, however. Grelle, a Grim Reaper, kills her, according to Madam Red's instructions. Ciel tells Sebastian to hunt them down, even though Madam Red is his aunt. The inside-cover alternate Black Butler stuff that Toboso did in volume one appears to be a regular extra: this volume has Black Doctor.
Black Butler (manga, vol. 3) - Madam Red can't bring herself to kill Ciel, so Grelle kills her, and readers get to see her life up to that point (falling in love with the man her sister later marries, marrying another man and getting pregnant, only to end up losing her unborn baby and her ability to conceive). Ciel orders Sebastian to kill Grelle, but William T. Spears (Grelle's boss?) interferes. Then it's time for Madam Red's funeral. The volume wraps up with a visit from Lizzie's formidable mother, who has come to make sure that Ciel will be a fit future husband for Lizzie. They all go hunting, and Ciel protects Lizzie from a bear (which was really killed by Sebastian, although only Lizzie's mom noticed this). The inside cover alternate Black Butler in this volume is Black Ninja.
Black Butler (manga, vol. 4) - Ciel has unwanted house guests: Prince Soma and his servant Agni. The Prince has come all the way from India looking for Mina, the servant who raised him. Prince Soma is convinced that Mina was taken to England against her will by some man. It turns out that Agni is in league with that man, killing people for him. Agni knew all along where Mina was but didn't tell the Prince for reasons that won't be revealed until the next volume. In order to beat the guy who took Mina, Sebastian will first have to beat Agni in a curry-making contest at the Crystal Palace. The inside cover alternate Black Butler in this volume is Black Racer.
Black Butler (manga, vol. 5) - Sebastian takes part in the curry-making contest and wins with his curry bun, which even children can easily eat. However, Mina doesn't wish to return to India with Prince Soma - unbeknownst to him, she hated him and her life as a servant. Ciel figures he has now wrapped everything up, so he's less that pleased when Agni and the Prince decide to stick around. Ciel sends them both to his town house to get them out of his hair. The volume ends with something about a circus being in town. The inside cover alternate Black Butler in this volume is Black Chef.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Godchild (manga) by Kaori Yuki - It's been ages since I read this, and I never finished it, but I remember it being another dark mystery series with some occult aspects, set in Victorian England.
Count Cain (manga) by Kaori Yuki - I know even less about this series than I do about Godchild, but if Godchild interests you, then you might want to start with this series first. I think Godchild may be a continuation of this series.
Loveless (manga) by Yun Kouga; Loveless (anime TV series) - Another series in which a damaged young boy is the master of an older man. Ritsuka hasn't been the same since his brother died. He now no longer has anyone to protect him from his abusive mother, and he doubts he's even the same Ritsuka from before his brother's death. When a mysterious young man named Soubi comes and claims to have been Ritsuka's brother's friend, Ritsuka can't help but want to talk to him. Later, Ritsuka learns that his brother was involved with a strange organization that pits Sacrifice/Fighter pairs against each other. Soubi was Ritsuka's brother's Fighter and now considers himself Ritsuka's Fighter.
Emma (manga) by Kaoru Mori; Emma: A Victorian Romance (anime TV series) - Another series with a flashy Indian prince. This is a historical romance set in England, starring a maid and a member of the gentry. Unlike Black Butler, it dwells more on period details and is more of a slice-of-life story. I've written about the manga and the anime.

King of Thorn (manga, vols. 5-6) by Yuji Iwahara

2011-10-15T21:13:00.001-05:00

As with After School Nightmare, I realized a while back that I had come very close to finishing this series, so I decided I'd finish it during my vacation. I probably would have benefited from a reread of the previous volumes, and, as with After School Nightmare, all I had were the volumes I hadn't yet read.

At least the final volume of After School Nightmare made sense to me, even though I wished I could reread parts of the series after gaining new knowledge about what was really going on. The final two volumes of King of Thorn were just really confusing. Iwahara crammed a lot into six volumes. Although I wasn't quite as lost as a newbie to the series would have been, the events in the final two volumes were still tough to process. I'm assuming it would have been a little easier if I had read the first four volumes more recently - 3 years is a long time.

It's not surprising to me that King of Thorn was turned into a movie. This series has always had the feel of a big budget sci-fi action movie, and these final two volumes are no exception. Iwahara brings out more varieties of monsters and creatures and leaves things open enough at the end for a sequel (not that I've heard anything about there being a sequel in the works).

(Again, GIANT SPOILER ALERT, read the stuff below at your own risk!)

For those who actually read all the volumes in this series one right after the other, the ending is probably mind-blowing and awesome. I mostly just tried to keep my head above the water, and I think I've managed to get straight in my mind what happened to the twins. Iwahara kept up the hints of romance that appeared in the earlier volumes, but then, in my opinion, ruined that tiny romantic subplot by introducing elements of brainwashing to the series. I'm assuming readers were supposed to think that Marco would have come back from the dead to protect Kasumi even if he hadn't been brainwashed, but I couldn't help but doubt the romance anyway. I didn't think there was enough time for Iwahara to truly prove that Marco's actions weren't affected by the brainwashing, so what should have been an "aww, how sweet" moment was soured for me.

Finishing this series didn't give me the same urge to reread all the volumes that finishing After School Nightmare did, but I would like to see the movie one day. Six volumes seems like a lot to fit into two hours, but I think it's doable, and I think this is one of those series that could be even better in animated form. The monsters and action scenes would be a lot of fun to watch, and Marco would make for great eye candy.

Below are summaries (as much as I was able to figure out) for the volumes I read:

King of Thorn (manga, vol. 5) - Katherine dies, giving her body over to Medusa - her motherly instinct is born from her body, in the form of a bird creature with breasts. The creature almost dies while protecting Tim, so what's left of the group leaves Tim and the creature in a safe place. Kasumi finds Alice, the creepy little abused girl who was the first person to contract Medusa. Alice reveals to Kasumi that her form is just a hologram (or something similar) and takes Kasumi to her real body, which is in shocking condition. The only reason Alice is still alive is because of Medusa. Meanwhile, Marco is getting the crap beaten out of him by Zeus.
King of Thorn (manga, vol. 6) - This volume is chock full of stuff that confused me. Zeus has Marco killed. Zeus reveals that Kasumi's twin, Shizuku, has been around all this time...as a giant monster. He also reveals that everyone has been unconsciously trying to protect Kasumi because of brainwashing he (or possibly Shizuku - my notes aren't too clear on that) did to all of them while they were in cryogenic stasis. Marco drags himself back from death, with the help of the last of Alice's energy, and helps Kasumi get to the real Shizuku, who is somewhere inside the giant monster. In order to save everyone else in the group from being turned into Medusa monsters by Zeus, Kasumi has to get through to Shizuku, and when she does, she learns the truth: the real Kasumi is dead. When Kasumi was chosen to be put in cryogenic stasis, she tried to get Shizuku to commit suicide with her, and Shizuku accidentally killed her while resisting. As far as I can figure, Shizuku was already succumbing to Medusa when she was taken to the cryogenic stasis lab, and she used Medusa to create another Kasumi, sort of like bringing her back to life. Kasumi, of course, is shocked, but Marco seems to have suspected something like this, and he gets her through it. The series ends with everybody deciding to go out into the world and help anyone who hasn't already succumbed to Medusa fight the monsters and learn to control their Medusa powers.

See what I mean? That last volume in particular was super-condensed confusion for me. I felt like begging Iwahara to give me more time to breathe and think.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

After School Nightmare (manga) by Setona Mizushiro - If you'd like another series that may blow your mind, you might want to try this, even though it's got less of a "blockbuster movie" feel than King of Thorn and is less action-oriented. I have written about every volume in the series.
Avatar (live action and CGI animation movie) - When the newest Medusa monsters started running around, my first thought was "Wow, those guys look kind of like the aliens in Avatar." Plus, there's action, a bit of romance, cool creatures, and people doing stuff in artificially created bodies that they can't do in their own bodies. I've written a little about this movie.
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (manga) by CLAMP; Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (anime TV series) - I haven't yet finished this series, but there are elements to it that I think are similar to King of Thorn. This series has action, romance (to a greater degree than King of Thorn), and some potentially mind-blowing events in the later volumes. I've written about volumes 17 and 18 of the manga.
Ceres: Celestial Legend (manga) by Yuu Watase; Ceres: Celestial Legend (anime TV series) - If you'd just like another messed up twin story, you might want to try this, although be warned that the twin drama is sorta kinda incestuous. On their 16th birthday, Aya, the sister, inherits the powers of and ability to transform into Ceres, a vengeful celestial maiden. Aki, her twin brother, has inherited baggage of his own: the personality of the man who Ceres loved and who betrayed her starts to take him over. This series is more romance-focused than King of Thorn, but there's still plenty of action, dark fantasy, and drama. I consider this one of Watase's darkest works, although I think the ending is at least bittersweet, if not completely happy.
The Matrix (live action movie) - This movie starts off with the mind-blowing stuff and then gives you action and coolness for the rest of the running time. Those who, like me, found themselves gasping for breath in that last volume of King of Thorn might appreciate a movie that gives your brain a chance to catch up.
Blue Gender (anime TV series) - I have to admit, I've never seen this series. I added it to this list because the basic premise sounds very similar to King of Thorn. The main character is diagnosed with a disease and is put in cryogenic stasis. When he wakes up 15 years later, alien bugs called the Blue have taken over Earth and a few select humans have moved to a space station called Second Earth.
Resident Evil (live action movie) - Another action-filled story with flesh-eating monsters (zombies!), survival horror, and a main female character who gradually regains her memory of how she came to be stuck in the middle of all of it.

After School Nightmare (manga, vol. 10) by Setona Mizushiro

2011-10-12T22:51:00.001-05:00

A while ago, I was adding this series to a list of read-alikes when I realized that I had stopped reading it only one volume before the end. I decided my vacation was the perfect time to finish the series. It probably would have been beneficial to have volumes 1 through 9 available, to remind me of things that had gone on before (and to reread after finishing the last volume, so that I could look at them with new eyes and search for clues pointing to the things revealed in the end). However, I didn't have those volumes. It's possible I would have enjoyed this volume more if I had.

So, first, a quick summary of the volume (and a GIANT SPOILER ALERT, for those who worry about spoilers, because I'm going to give stuff away). Mashiro finally decides to be comfortable as him/herself. In private, Mashiro basically chooses to embrace being a girl (and even has sex with Sou), although he/she still dresses and tries to act like a boy while at school. In the dream class, Sou (whose form is now a dog, which is weirdly cute, considering that form is basically a representation of Sou's desire to be loved and cuddled by Mashiro...although I still wish that Sou had found someone better for himself) and Kureha help Mashiro get the key - this is done via Sou ripping out Kureha's throat, and Kureha letting him. Mashiro can now graduate, and graduation turns out to be birth. Mashiro's dual-gender status was a result of being twins in one body. In the real world (?), Mashiro's mother is pregnant with twins, and the hospital she's staying in is on fire. The male twin dies before being born, but the girl twin lives - only one twin was going to live, and this is the reality of Mashiro's choice. Years later, the girl twin bumps into a stranger who looks a lot like Sou. Will they get to know each other, somehow drawn together by the relationship they had while they were still in their mothers' wombs? Who knows?

I thought this volume was good, but unsatisfying. I cared about the characters enough to want to see what happened to them, and Mizushiro's ending basically said "none of what you read really mattered." There is no evidence that character relationships have any bearing on how those characters interact with each other after being born, so all that intense drama and character growth seems to have been for naught. It makes me wish that the "years later" part had been a bit longer, and that Mizushiro had given the girl twin and the guy who looked like Sou some spark of "do I know you?" when they bumped into each other. Otherwise, what was the point of this series, of the characters' experiences and growth? This is almost as bad as a "and it was all a dream" ending.

I think I enjoyed the buildup to the ending more than the actual ending, although I'd love to reread the whole series again, so I could see graduating and disappearing characters from this new perspective. If I were to encounter another one of Mizushiro's works translated into English, I think I'd jump at the chance to read it. Even if the ending of that series turned out to also be a disappointment to me, I'm sure I'd at least enjoy the journey.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

King of Thorn (manga) by Yuji Iwahara - This is another manga that ends with a bit of a headtrip. It has much the same feel as a blockbuster action movie. I've written about the first four volumes and will have a post for the last two up shortly, since this is another series I chose to finally finish during my vacation.
Loveless (manga) by Yun Kouga; Loveless (anime TV series) - This is another series in which an overarching mystery slowly gets unraveled, although unfortunately the manga may never be finished in the U.S. because it was one of Tokyopop's titles. The anime is short, only covers some of the manga volumes, and doesn't have a true ending, so I'd probably recommend the manga over the anime (although my first experience was with the anime, and that was enough to get me hooked). Like After School Nightmare, this series has some cute moments, but the overall feel of it is kind of dark, and several characters have messed up relationships.
Xxxholic (manga) by CLAMP; Xxxholic (anime TV series) - I haven't finished this series yet, but it had gotten pretty strange at the point I stopped, and I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be another series that ends in a way that makes you rethink everything you thought you knew was going on. At least at first, this is a very episodic series. Generally, Watanuki encounters some kind of spirit, and/or Yuko deals with a client. Unfortunately, I think later events probably won't make as much sense unless you also read Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle at the same time. I have written about the first season of the Xxxholic TV series and volume 12 of the manga.
Perfect Blue (anime movie) - This is a dark and twisty psychological thriller about a pop singer-turned-actress who is being stalked. Those who'd like something else in which all is not what it seems might want to try this.
Paranoia Agent (anime TV series) - Like Perfect Blue, this TV series was directed by Satoshi Kon. It's another dark psychological thriller (or would it be better to call it a mystery?). Those who'd like something else dark, twisty, and strange might want to try this. If I remember correctly, unlike Perfect Blue, this series has some darkly humorous moments, so it might be better for those who also liked After School Nightmare's lighter moments.

Eyeshield 21 (manga, vols. 21-24) story by Riichiro Inagaki, art by Yusuke Murata

2011-10-12T20:47:00.000-05:00

Depending on how you look at it, Eyeshield 21 was more of a vacation failure for me than Otomen. I think I had a stack of at least 6 more volumes that I decided not to read. Had my vacation been longer, I probably would have gotten around to them, but after 4 volumes I decided my time would be better spent reading something else.

Back when I first started reading this series, the main reasons it appealed to me were its general craziness (machine gun-toting Hiruma, weird training regimens, over-the-top player abilities) and the ease with which I could understand what was going on. I'm not a fan of sports in general, and I find football in particular to be very confusing. Inagaki made the basics of the sport fairly easy to grasp, and my general enjoyment of the series and its characters helped me overlook anything I didn't quite get.

Maybe it's because it's been so long since I last read the earlier volumes, but my understanding of football seemed to be particularly bad while I was reading volumes 21 to 24. When it came time to crack open volume 25, I realized I didn't really have much of an idea what was going on in the game and only vaguely cared about what the Deimon Devil Bats would do to beat the other teams.

One reason I might continue with this series in the future, though, is the possibility that Hiruma might be more humanized in future volumes. I flipped through some of the later volumes that I never got around to reading, and in one of them Hiruma was talking to Mamori - always interesting, because Hiruma seems more willing to reveal his weaknesses around Mamori, or at least he's not as good at hiding his weaknesses from her as he is from his teammates. While I enjoy Hiruma when he's being devilish, I'm intrigued by the idea of a Hiruma with layers. Plus, the romance lover in me can't help but wonder if Inagaki is setting things up for romance-inspired team tension. I can imagine Mamori falling for the more human side of Hiruma that only she gets to see, inspiring Sena to be jealous of Hiruma. Sena would then have to overcome that feeling so that it wouldn't start to affect his performance during games. Okay, so I read a lot of shojo manga, but it could happen, right?

As with my Otomen post, there are potential spoilers in the volume summaries below. If you don't like spoilers, you might want to skip to the read-alikes/watch-alikes list.

Eyeshield 21 (manga, vol. 21) - Deimon is still playing against the Shinryuji Nagas and has to do risky, desperate things to survive the game, like over-relying on Sena's legs. Even so, it still doesn't look too good for them by the end of the volume. Yukimitsu wasn't the huge secret weapon I was expecting, just better than other people expected him to be. He's not athletically-inclined, so he instead used his excellent study skills to learn about the players he'd be facing.
Eyeshield 21 (manga, vol. 22) - More Deimon Devil Bats vs. Shinryuji Nagas. Deimon has to get at least 21 points, so they try to advance and then stop the clock after every play. In this particular volume, some of the most decisive moments are courtesy of Morita, Deimon's best catcher, because Sena's legs are just about useless. While reading this volume, I worried a lot about whether Sena might be permanently damaging his legs, and, although this concern came up, I don't think the other players (or Deimon's coach) worried nearly enough about it.
Eyeshield 21 (manga, vol. 23) - Deimon finally manages to beat Shinryuji. Then, for a brief period, it's the Hakushu Dinosaurs vs. Taiyo Sphinx. Hakushu's Gao has a reputation for putting quarterbacks in the hospital. Taiyo's linemen manage to protect their quarterback, but only at great cost - all of Taiyo's linemen end up hospitalized. Taiyo forfeits the game. After that, another brief game: Seibu Wild Gunmen vs. Misaki Wolves. Seibu wins. Shin of the Ojo White Knights has Seibu's Riku teach him the secret to his Rodeo Drive, turning Shin into an even fiercer opponent. Meanwhile, Deimon's players begin what training they are capable of doing, considering that they all have horrible muscle pain after the game against Shinryuji. They're playing against Ojo next.
Eyeshield 21 (manga, vol. 24) - Deimon studies Ojo for a bit, and then the game between Ojo and Deimon begins. Things don't look good for Deimon as Ojo's Sakuraba and Shin switch to playing both offense and defense. My only other note about this volume was that it confused me. I had a hard time grasping what, exactly, it would mean for Sakuraba and Shin to play both offense and defense, but apparently it's a risky move on Ojo's part and, at the same time, a reason for Deimon to worry.

As far as I can tell, manga about American football are few and far between, and none of those other works have been licensed and translated into English.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Hikaru no Go (manga) by Yumi Hotta (story) and Takeshi Obata (art); Hikaru no Go (anime TV series) - This series is about a board game, not a sport, but the overall feel is similar to sports manga. This is another one where, the further the main character (Hikaru) got into the world of his "sport," the less I understood about individual matches, but in Hikaru no Go's case that didn't seem to matter to me. I've seen all of the anime and loved it (I hate what I've heard of the English dub, though), and one of these days I'll read all of the manga. I've written about volume 12 of the manga.
Whistle! (manga) by Daisuke Higuchi - Less crazy than Eyeshield 21, but this may still appeal to those who'd like another sports-oriented series. In this case, the sport is soccer. I've written about volume 19 of the manga.
Yakitate!! Japan (manga) by Takashi Hashiguchi - Like Eyeshield 21, this series has some really outlandish characters and moments. In this case, the focus is competitive bread baking. Hashiguchi usually makes the breads the characters create seem at least somewhat possible. Those who'd like another crazy, competition-filled series might want to try this. I've written about volumes 11 and 12 of the manga.
Big Windup! (anime TV series) - Like Whistle!, this series grounds its players more in reality than Eyeshield 21 - if you want an outlandish cast, you need to look elsewhere. However, if you'd just like another sports manga starring an underdog team you can root for, you might want to try this. The sport, in this case, is baseball. I've written several posts about this anime.
The Prince of Tennis (manga) by Takeshi Konomi; The Prince of Tennis (anime TV series) - A sports series that is outlandish in a slightly different way than Eyeshield 21. These tennis players are intense, and, similar to Deimon's players, I don't think you ever see anyone in class - like Eyeshield 21, the focus is on the sport and how the players interact with each other via that sport. I've written about volumes 25 to 27 of the manga.

Otomen (manga, vols. 2-4) by Aya Kanno

2011-10-11T23:55:00.000-05:00

During my last vacation, I tried volume 1 of this series and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Otomen to fall a little flat for me. I had 6 or 7 volumes of this series available to read during my latest vacation, and I only read 3 of them.

The premise has potential. Asuka appears to be a perfect manly man. Only a couple people know that he secretly likes girlie things, like sewing and cute dolls. One of those two people is Juta, who is secretly the artist/writer behind a hit shojo manga based on Asuka. The other is Ryo, the girl Asuka is in love with. Ryo likes manly things and her behavior isn't that of a stereotypical girl (she's not good at cooking, she's not interested in romance, etc.).

I like Kanno's art, and I was interested to see what sorts of stories she could squeeze out of the premise. I think my problems with this series lie in a few different areas. One, the romance is lackluster. I don't think Ryo likes Asuka as anything more than a friend, and, as a character, she's kind of boring, so I have problems even rooting for her to get over her obliviousness. Two, the stereotypes are so over-the-top that it gets to be a bit much. Asuka is more girlie than any girl I know, but he's also more manly than any guy I know. I know it's supposed to be funny, but it makes it hard to see him as a person, which in turn makes it hard to be interested in his relationships and the things he does. Three, this series has the feeling of something that could go on forever or end in the next volume. If I'm not engaged in the characters or the plot, I really hate that kind of thing.

The most interesting character in the series is Juta, Asuka's friend. I see Juta as the voice of the reader - at least, he tends to voice what I feel. His frustration with the complete lack of new developments in Ryo and Asuka's relationship is my frustration. Juta is probably the main reason I'm not going to completely abandon this manga. It's not going on my "to buy" list, but I may continue to read it via ILL.

Below are the volumes I read over my vacation, along with short summaries (so read at your own risk, there may be spoilers!):

Otomen (manga, vol. 2) - This volume has what amounts to 3 stories. In the first, a boy (Yamato) so cute he's mistaken for a girl idolizes Asuka, viewing him as the ideal man. The second story is a Christmas special, in which Asuka and Ryo have a heart-warming Christmas meal during a terrible snowstorm. In the third story, Asuka's mom suddenly comes home. Asuka's father left Asuka's mother after announcing that he wanted to become a woman, so Asuka's mother now freaks out at the slightest sign that her son isn't a stereotypical young man. In order to protect her health and peace of mind, Asuka must act as manly as possible. Unfortunately, this may mean marrying the girl his mother suddenly announces she has picked out for him. The girl happens to be uber-cute and kind of crazy.
Otomen (manga, vol. 3) - This volume has what amounts to 4 stories. Ryo gets Asuka to help her take care of some kids at a nursery. One kid hates Asuka at first, but eventually comes to see him as another mother (and Ryo as a father). The second story is deja vu - Asuka and Ryo go on another amusement park date. Their date is interrupted by a crazy guy who tries to kill himself. Asuka finally asks Ryo to go out with him and she says "yes" - which means they're now officially a couple, maybe. In the third story, Juta's girlfriends suspect he has one particular person he's most interested in, so they enlist Asuka's help in finding out who that person is. No one knows that the reason Juta's time is so booked is because he has manga deadlines coming up. In the fourth story, Asuka and Hajime Tenomine, Asuka's kendo rival, run into each other at a Lovely Beauty Fest, where they end up revealing their secret skills - Asuka improves the clothes of a woman getting a makeover, and Hajime does the woman's makeup.
Otomen (manga, vol. 4) - This volume has 3 basic stories. In the first one, Ryo's birthday is coming up, and Asuka bakes a cake with Ryo's dad. This is actually kind of a sweet story, but it's not exactly something new in the shojo world. In the second story, Asuka meets a guy named Kitora, who secretly loves flowers. This story has a "protect the garden" scene that reminded me a lot of Fruits Basket. In the third story, Yamato's uncle's beach business needs help, so he recruits Asuka, Kitora, Juta, and, if I remember right, Ryo. Asuka adds a cute, pretty new dessert to the menu, in order to attract more female customers. Hajime shows up and uses his makeup skills to steal those customers away, so Asuka and the others win the customers back by redecorating the shop and dressing Yamato up as a girl.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Ranma 1/2 (manga) by Rumiko Takahashi; Ranma 1/2 (anime TV series) - This comedy stars a guy who becomes a girl when he's splashed with cold water. Like Asuka, Ranma worries about his mother discovering his unmanly secret. This series also includes some romance, and, in my opinion, it's funnier than Otomen.
Ouran High School Host Club (manga) by Bisco Hatori; Ouran High School Host Club (anime TV series) - Like Otomen, this series stars someone who doesn't quite conform to their stereotypical gender role. However, unlike Asuka, Haruhi doesn't really care about that - it makes no difference to her if someone thinks she's a guy. This series also contains comedy and romance that doesn't really go anywhere (at least in what I've seen of the series). I've written about both the manga and the anime.
Princess Princess (manga) by Mikiyo Tsuda; Princess Princess (anime TV series) - More comedy and over-the-top feminine stereotypes, but this series at least recognizes that it's all over-the-top. The main characters attend an all boys high school that has something called the Princess system, in which the prettiest boys dress and act as girls in order to improve student moral. I've written about the first volume of the manga.
Fruits Basket (manga) by Natsuki Takaya; Fruits Basket (anime TV series) - This series has a bit of cross-dressing and at least one character who's not comfortable with his gender-ambiguous looks, so it might appeal to those who like the gender-related elements of Otomen. It also contains humor and romance, although the manga, at least, is a good deal darker in spots than Otomen.
Bleach (manga) by Tite Kubo; Bleach (anime TV series) - It feels a little odd adding this one to the list, but it might appeal to those who like the more action-oriented parts of Otomen. Also, sometimes Asuka seems like a cross between Ichigo and Uryu - when Asuka acts manly, he looks a lot like a gentle Ichigo, but he has Uryu's sewing skills (although it should be noted that Uryu isn't ashamed of his skills). Other than that, though, this series is really different than Otomen, so keep that in mind. I've written about several volumes of the manga.

I'm back! - and I read a lot while I was gone

2011-10-11T22:18:00.001-05:00

In between playing with and taking care of my niece, enjoying being with my family, and dealing with a horrible stomach bug, I read a lot. I didn't read much in the way of novels - I finished Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (shockingly, I had never read it before) and started Darlene Marshall's Sea Change (quite good so far). My manga reading, though, was through the roof. I somehow managed to read 40 volumes (all checked out from the public library). Rather than write one big post listing all the volumes I read, I thought I'd break up my post-vacation post by manga title, so you should be seeing several posts about my vacation reading over the next day or two.

I'm going on vacation!

2011-10-02T15:06:00.002-05:00

I'm going to go see my parents, my sister, her husband, and my niece tomorrow and probably won't be on a computer much for the next week and a half. I might schedule a post or two, or I might not. We'll see. It depends on how I do with my pre-travel "to do" list today. Even though I had yesterday to get some of it done, the list is still really long.

The Adventures of Sally (audio book) by P.G. Wodehouse, read by Kara Shallenberg

2011-10-01T11:38:00.000-05:00

I listened to this book for free via LibriVox. It's also available for download via Project Gutenberg.

There are a few spoilers in this review.

Synopsis:

Sally, a beautiful young American woman, inherits a small fortune. After using some of that fortune to take a trip to France, she meets Ginger and his cousin, Bruce Carmyle. Ginger, the good-hearted black sheep of his too-proper family, falls instantly in love with Sally, but, unfortunately for him, Sally is already engaged.

Sally heads back to New York, where she is much surprised to see Ginger again. Inspired by Sally, Ginger is determined to make a go of his life without his family's help, and Sally decides to help him out by arranging for him to be employed by her brother.

Things start to fall apart. Sally's brother bites off more than he can chew - rather than cautiously building on the success of "The Primrose Way," a play he produced (I think) with the help of Sally's money, he goes off in all kinds of reckless, supposedly money-making directions. Sally's fiance turns out to be a selfish jerk, and Sally finds herself pursued by Bruce Carmyle, who she does not like. Although Ginger can't fix any of Sally's problems, it makes her feel better to talk to him (or even just write to him), but can she recognize the one thing going right in her life before it's too late?

Review:

I expected to love this book. Its setup seemed very similar to another one of Wodehouse's works, Jill the Reckless (see my post for that book). The main female character is engaged to a guy who seems great but turns out not to be. Both books involved theater productions with horribly dysfunctional things going on behind the scenes, both books featured charming, much-loved heroines, and both books included relatives who were less than stellar about not wasting the heroine's money.

I sat back, expecting another fun romantic comedy, but the longer I listened, the more I disliked this book. I didn't like Sally as much as the characters seemed to, I hated that Ginger seemed to find nothing wrong with the way Sally treated him, Sally's brother was completely unappealing, and just about every scene near the end that involved Sally and either Bruce Carmyle or Gerald either made me mad or chilled me when I thought about what Sally had only narrowly avoided. Sally didn't even avoid disaster by her own wits. No, her happy ending just fell into her lap.

It started out fairly promising. Sally and Ginger were cute together (although, even that early on in the book, there were things I disliked about their relationship), and Sally seemed nice enough. I was a little surprised at how similar some things seemed to be to Jill the Reckless, but I decided I was okay with more of the same, if that was what it was going to turn out to be. I figured Sally's brother would be like Jill's Uncle Chris, and Gerald would be like Derek Underhill. I wasn't, at first, sure that Ginger was really going to be the guy Sally would end up with, since he seemed less like Wally and more like Freddie – I wondered if maybe Bruce Carmyle would turn out to secretly be a great guy and morph into Sally's surprise love interest.

Noticing the similarities between Jill the Reckless and The Adventures of Sally only seemed to put The Adventures of Sally's faults in greater relief. Jill was nice, naive, and in possession of both a spine and her pride. I found her interactions with Wally to mostly be charming. Sally's interactions with Ginger, on the other hand, did not have the same effect on me. I thought Sally treated Ginger like a cute, squirming puppy. It seemed to me like she used him when she needed him (he was her emotional sounding board), but she never seemed to recognize that she was taking without giving much in return. Then again, I think Wodehouse intended to his readers to see Sally's beauty, energy, and interest in talking to Ginger as reward enough.

I hated it when Sally wrote Ginger letter after letter, but asked him not to write her in return – she knew he was attracted to her and probably missed her, so if she was going to use him as a way to vent, the least she could have done was let him write her back. I found her behavior selfish, and the worst of it was that Ginger didn't see it that way. He happily did whatever Sally asked, because he liked having whatever contact with her she was willing to give. While I didn't want Sally to end up with Gerald (who I imagine would have eventually turned into an alcoholic, abusive husband) or Mr. Carmyle (who had never really been in love with her, anyway), I didn't want Sally to end up with Ginger until Ginger proved that he wasn't going to let her walk all over him and that he could love Sally without putting her on a pedestal. Unfortunately, I don't think Ginger got to that point, or at least Wodehouse didn't take the time to show it.

I was pretty sure I'd continue to dislike Sally's brother until the very end (I did), but I was surprised at how deep my dislike of Gerald ended up going. I think the last straw, for me, was when he got drunk, broke things, and whined to Sally about all the things that had gone wrong in his life. While Gerald came across as pathetic and potentially abusive (I shudder to think what his and Sally's married life would have been like once his plays started to flop), Mr. Carmyle just came across as cold and over-controlled. I didn't end up disliking him as much as I did Gerald, but I was incredibly frustrated with Sally for not only agreeing to marry him (which I could have forgiven – everyone has weak moments), but also for choosing to stick with that decision. She kept saying that she had to marry Mr. Carmyle because she said she would. I didn't see why she couldn't just tell him she'd changed her mind.

Sally's self-destructive stubbornness would have been her downfall, except that a misunderstanding fixed everything without her having to do a thing but keep her mouth shut. I would have much preferred it if she had purposefully done something with the intention of fixing her own mistakes, and it was incredibly disappointing that good fortune just fell into her lap.

I would recommend that those looking for a light, fun comedy by Wodehouse read Jill the Reckless instead. I'd only recommend The Adventures of Sally to someone if they were looking for something a little less bright and shiny – I do think The Adventures of Sally had a slightly darker feel than Jill the Reckless, particularly near the end.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

Diary of a Provincial Lady (book) by E.M. Delafield - I haven't read this yet. It's a comedy about a Provincial Lady's nice house, nice husband, and nice children.
Make Way for Lucia (book) by E.F. Benson - This is another comedy I haven't read yet. The main character of this one sounds like she has all the terrifyingly awesome force of personality of one of P.G. Wodehouse's female characters, so those who liked Sally and were also rooting for her to barrel through all her problems might like this.
Legally Blonde (live action movie) - Blonde sorority president Elle Woods follows her boyfriend to Harvard, determined to win him back from the girl he thinks will make a better future wife for him (in his mind, Elle would probably work better as a secret mistress). Law school turns out to be harder than Elle expected...and, surprisingly, she starts to excel at it. It's not earth-shattering stuff, but it's fun, and there's even a smidgen of romance. I just found out that the movie is based on a book by Amanda Brown, but I'm not sure how similar it is. This might appeal to those who liked Sally's energetic and kind-hearted nature and want something else where the main character ends up with a good (if kind of bland) guy.
Tramps Like Us (manga) by Yayoi Ogawa - Something else with romance and a main female character who's trying to keep her life together while not noticing that the guy who's probably best for her is right under her nose. On the surface, Sumire is a confident and successful woman. However, emotionally, she needs an outlet, especially after she's demoted and her fiance dumps her for his pregnant mistress. In an attempt to scare off a young homeless man, she offers to let him stay with her if he'll be her pet. To her surprise, he gladly accepts her offer. I've written posts for volumes 1 and 2.

The Inventor's Companion (e-book) by Ariel Tachna

2011-09-28T21:32:00.000-05:00

This is a steampunk m/m romance novel. It can be bought in paperback form, but you'll likely pay more than twice the price of the e-book for it.

This book has 129,862 words, which translates into 338 pages on my Nook, not counting the author bio and list of Tachna's other books at the end. According to Dreamspinner Press's website, the paperback is 350 pages, so I guess, at least in this case, one Nook page is approximately the same as one print page. Good to know.

Synopsis:

Gabriel Blackstone, an inventor, knows his friends meant well when they paid for a companion's time for his birthday. However, as a member of the Caste Equality movement, he decides that all he will do is have dinner and a pleasant conversation - he does not want to be yet another person taking advantage of a companion's lack of say in who he or she has sex with.

As a companion, Lucio has had little opportunity to meet inventors, who are usually too poor to afford his services. Although his time with Gabriel is brief, he's fascinated by this man who refuses to use him for sex, the activity for which he was bred and trained. He doesn't expect to meet Gabriel again, so he's shocked and excited to learn that Gabriel will be at an aristocrat's party, trying to drum up more business for himself.

Gabriel and Lucio realize that their attraction to each other is mutual, but, as a companion, Lucio can't have a lover, only clients. The two men find ways to meet that won't arouse the suspicion of Lucio's handlers, who could see him punished or sent to the breeding barns if his rebellion is discovered. Gabriel works hard to earn enough money to buy Lucio's contract, since that is currently the only legal way he and Lucio can be together for more than a few hours. Can he free Lucio before Lucio's handlers discover their relationship? And will a man from the merchant caste even be permitted to buy a companion's contract?

Review:

After reading the book's official description and excerpt, I think I expected Lucio to be something like Inara from the TV show Firefly: elegant, cultured, and relatively in control of his life. Maybe he didn't always like his clients, but he could choose to leave behind and never see again any client who really crossed the line.

Yeah, not so much. Over and over, readers were shown how awful Lucio's life really was under its pretty, cushy surface. As long as they were offered enough money, Lucio's handlers seemed less than concerned with his well-being. They arranged for him to meet a client they knew would brutalize him, and then they expected him to get back to work before he was fully healed. The book's first sex scene involved Lucio and one of his clients (who readers were later expected to think of as Gabriel and Lucio's ally) and focused on Lucio's feelings of degradation, which he had never felt so intensely prior to meeting Gabriel. Unless Lucio met with clients and did what they paid him to do, he wasn't given anything to eat. The details about the breeding barns were icing on the horrible cake.

I read this book shortly after finishing Meljean Brook's The Iron Duke, and I think The Iron Duke spoiled me. I was hungry for another exciting steampunk novel. What I expected was another book set in a vivid, rich, interesting, and probably gritty world. What I got was thin and not nearly as satisfying.

The caste system seemed potentially interesting, at first. The problem was that the caste that received almost all of the book's attention was the pleasure caste, and the details of that caste didn't seem quite consistent. On the one hand, the handlers put a great deal of time and money into training Lucio and others to become companions fit to be paraded around by their largely aristocratic clients. On the other hand, the handlers seemed remarkably willing to throw away their considerable investments. Had Lucio been in his thirties and nearing the end of his usefulness to his handlers, I would have found their willingness to sell his time to someone they knew would torture him somewhat more believable. Cressida, Lucio's friend and another companion, at least talked about being tired of what she was forced to do – I could see the handlers noting her burn-out and deciding that she would be more profitable as a breeder. With Lucio, the details didn't seem to add up. He suddenly went from a pampered, prized companion to someone his handlers felt could be abused without a fuss.

While the caste system was at least somewhat interesting, the same could not be said of Gabriel's inventions.. He invented a mechanical pet dog (I'm guessing something like AIBO robotic pets, only more realistic), a fan capable of cooling an entire room, personal heaters, and a flying chair. I expected better from a steampunk novel. Everything except the flying chair was something I could buy at Walmart. Again, I think I was spoiled by The Iron Duke – where were the amazing prosthetics and imaginative inventions?

A so-so steampunk setting would have been forgivable if the romance was really good. Lucio and Gabriel's initial attraction to each other was fantastic. I liked reading about the first time Gabriel purchased a little of Lucio's time (sort of like their first date), and Tachna managed to surprise me with the way their first time having sex played out.

Unfortunately, the romantic aspects of the book were not without their problems. In her effort to show that Gabriel was not like Lucio's clients, Tachna managed to bring Lucio's clients to my mind during all or most of Gabriel and Lucio's intimate moments. I wanted to read about the two of them together without thinking about Lucio having sex with Lord Stuart or whoever else. I wanted Lucio and Gabriel to get to the point where, when they were together, it was just the two of them, no one else, not even in their own minds. There were maybe only one or two instances where I think Tachna accomplished this, and one of those instances was in a sexual fantasy Lucio wrote for Gabriel in a letter.

Then there was Gabriel's jealousy. Gabriel knew the conditions under which Lucio lived, and he knew Lucio didn't have a choice about what he did, but Gabriel was jealous anyway. I could understand this, up to a point. However, after it seemed like Gabriel had finally gotten beyond his jealousy issues, a blip involving Cressida popped up. I was impressed when Gabriel seemed to come to terms with what happened fairly quickly. Perhaps he had finally grown up, I thought. I didn't mind that he had needed a bit of a breather and some time to collect himself...but then the jealousy popped up again later. I never got the feeling that Gabriel had finally beaten those feelings. Every time I thought he'd gotten over them, they came back. For a guy who was supposedly so understanding about the constraints people of different castes had to live under, Gabriel had a lot of problems accepting the things Lucio had little control over or had to do for his and Cressida's emotional well-being.

The book could have been far shorter than it was, or Tachna could have at least shifted the bulk of the page count some, so that certain things that would have benefited from more attention could have gotten it. So much time was spent on Gabriel trying to overcome his feelings of jealousy, on the horrible things Lucio had to resign himself to doing, on emphasizing how much more different than Lucio's clients Gabriel was, and on Gabriel's efforts to earn more money to buy Lucio's contract. I got frustrated with the characters for not noticing glaringly obvious oncoming problems. No one had any idea how much Lucio's contract would cost – either the handlers wouldn't tell them, or no one felt it was safe to ask. So, instead of having a specific goal, their goal was "as much as we can possibly earn." How were they to know if the amount was even earn-able, or if they had already earned enough? Also, no one seemed to think about Cressida until it was too late. The chant was always “must earn enough to buy Lucio's contract,” but it didn't occur to anyone that Cressida wasn't in any better of a position than Lucio. Not even Gabriel's assistants, who practically worshiped Cressida, brought up that issue.

I wanted to love this. The excerpt had me so excited that I bought the book right away, even though I knew an ARe Dreamspinner Press sale was coming up. I wish that it had felt more like Gabriel had grown and gotten past his jealousy issues, that Tachna had written more tender moments between Lucio and Gabriel that hadn't mentioned Lucio's clients, and that the world had felt richer and better developed. I am at least happy that the book ended with Lucio and Gabriel's relationship on what felt like a positive note (if not a completely wrapped up one, since Lucio was still legally Gabriel's property). I'm willing to try Tachna's works again if I come across one that looks interesting to me, but I'm sad that this one turned out to only be so-so.

Read-alikes:

Daughter of the Bood (book) Anne Bishop - The first book in Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy. Like Lucio, Daemon, one of the main characters in this trilogy, is a sex slave (sort of). Daemon has waited a long time for Witch, a woman he believes he was destined to love, but when he finally meets her, he learns she's still a child. He also gradually realizes that she is far from safe while she's with her family. He and others try to protect her long enough for her to grow up and grow into her powers.
Broken Wing (book) by Judith James - I haven't read this one, but it seems to be fairly positively reviewed. Like The Inventor's Companion, this book doesn't present prostitution positively. The hero of this historical romance (set in the Napoleonic era) was kept at a brothel for a time, and when he later falls in love he has to reconcile his new emotions with what he experienced at the brothel.
Her Ladyship's Companion (book) by Evangeline Collins - Another one I haven't read. I added it to this list because it's a romance novel that features a male prostitute as the book's male lead. The female lead is a woman trapped in a loveless marriage, whose cousin sends her a male prostitute in an effort to make her happy.
An Uncommon Whore (e-book) by Belinda McBride - Another m/m romance starring a sex slave. It's a science fiction romance, and, from what I read in the excerpt, characters have a more contemporary way of thinking and speaking than in The Inventor's Companion.

Psmith in the City (audio book) by P.G. Wodehouse, read by various people

2011-09-27T12:21:00.002-05:00

I listened to this for free via LibriVox. The various readers are: Kristen McQuillin; Neal Foley, the Podchef; Kara Shallenberg; Chris Goringe; Aaron Andrade; Luke Venediger; Eileen; and Miette.

Synopsis:

Mike, whose first appearance was in Mike: A Public School Story, assumes his near-future is set: he will go to a university, where he will study and continue playing cricket. However, all of that becomes impossible when his father reveals that the family is having extreme financial difficulties. Mike will now have to work for a living.

Mike's first job is at the New Asiatic Bank, a place he doesn't really like but that he gradually grows accustomed to. It helps that his eccentric friend Psmith now also works at the New Asiatic Bank. Just as in Mike: A Public School Story, Mike is a good guy who doesn't always think through the consequences of his actions. He helps a supervisor he is fond of without considering what he will do if he is fired in that supervisor's place. When he finally succumbs to an unbearable temptation to play cricket rather than working at the bank like he should, it doesn't occur to him until it's too late that he will probably be fired for leaving work without permission.

In both cases, Mike is prepared to face the consequences of his ill-thought-out actions. However, luckily for him, he has Psmith for a friend. Usually, Psmith seems unfazed by life's problems - they are little more than amusements to him. When helping his friend, however, there seems to be no problem that Psmith can't somehow solve with quick thinking, a few skillful words, or even blackmail.

Review:

Although this book does feature some cricket, happily it does not feature nearly as much cricket as Mike: A Public School Story. Even more happily, it features quite a bit of Psmith. Although I think this book still followed Mike around more than it did Psmith, Psmith once again stole the show.

Psmith was just as awesome in this book was he was in Mike: A Public School Story. As I was listening to this book, it occurred to me that he and House (from the TV show House M.D.) are a lot alike. I think both characters view the people around them as either amusing, and therefore worth talking to, or not. Psmith is smoother and more diplomatic than House, but both characters have a tendency to act emotionally removed from those around them, and Psmith's friendship with Mike reminds me a lot of House's friendship with Wilson.

I do think Psmith likes Mike, but theirs does not seem to me to be a deep friendship. When Psmith tormented Mr. Bickersdyke in the guise of trying to help him, there was at least one point where Mike tried to get Psmith to admit what he was really doing, but Psmith never dropped out of character, not even with Mike. I think Psmith views Mike less as an equal and more as a...pet, maybe?

Mike can be a bit rash at times, and he has cricket on the brain more than is perhaps good for him, but he's basically a good guy. In Mike: A Public School Story, he demonstrated that by arranging it so that his brother would get to play cricket instead of him, even though he wanted to play just as badly. In this book, Mike took the blame for a mistake at the bank so that Mr. Waller, his beloved supervisor, wouldn't be fired, even though he understood that he would probably be fired in the man's place. So, although I didn't think Psmith saw Mike as his equal, I could see what someone like Psmith would see in someone like Mike, and I cheered when Psmith swooped in and blackmailed Mr. Bickersdyke after Mike had done his good deed.

I cheered a little less loudly when Psmith saved Mike again near the end of the book. Mike, as usual, had cricket on the brain, and cricket kept him from thinking clearly until after he'd made his final mistake. Mike, at least, accepted that he'd made a mistake, didn't make excuses for himself, and tried to think about what he would do once he was officially fired from the bank. It never once occurred to him to ask Psmith to save him the way he had several times before. In fact, I don't think Mike ever asked Psmith to save him, not in this book, nor in Mike: A Public School Story. Although I did want to smack Mike for being such a jock – yes, working at the bank isn't always fun, but, darn it, it was a guaranteed way to pay the bills and put food on the table, and the same could not be said about cricket, no matter how good Mike thought he was – my problem was more with Psmith than with Mike.

I enjoyed it when Psmith saved the day through his quick wit, excellent speaking skills, and interest in any little tidbit of information about those around him. Although I suppose some of those things came into play when Psmith arranged for everything to turn out all right for him and Mike (while at the same time robbing Mr. Bickersdyke of his ability to gloat – ha!), I didn't find it quite as satisfying as when Psmith blackmailed Mr. Bickersdyke in order to save Mike after Mike took the blame for Mr. Waller's mistake. Basically Psmith saved the day by manipulating his own father (I'm assuming Psmith got his brains and sharp wit from his mother, because they can't have come from his father) and making use of his family's money. Using his family's money felt almost like cheating, to me – I would have preferred it if he had somehow once again saved the day with cleverness and words alone.

All in all, I highly recommend this book. I think it's probably possible for someone who hasn't read Mike: A Public School Story to enjoy this, although Psmith in the City does contain a few references to events from that book. I certainly would recommend Psmith in the City over Mike: A Public School Story, if only because it has more Psmith in it.

As far as the LibriVox version of this book goes, I was a little bit wary when I saw that it was read by multiple readers. One person would read a few chapters, and then it would switch to the next person, who would read a few chapters, and so on. I came to like this, however. I found that there were some readers I enjoyed more than others (Chris Goringe really grew on me), and I thought all of them did at least a decent job. If there was anyone I didn't quite like, I had only to wait for a few chapters and another reader would take over.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

House M.D. (live action TV series) - Like I said, House is like a more caustic version of Psmith. If you like Psmith and Mike's friendship, you'll probably love watching House and Wilson.
The Only Gold (e-book) by Tamara Allen - I debated adding this one to the list. If you're willing to take a bit of a chance and maybe read outside your comfort zone, this might be a good one to try. It's a historical m/m romance novel, but the book's few sex scenes aren't particularly long or detailed. In fact, romance fans might be a bit disappointed, since it takes 80 pages for noticeable hints of romance to appear. The main character works at a bank and had expected to be promoted...only to learn that someone new had been hired and given the job he had thought he would get. Those who'd like something else with a lot of focus on character interaction and a bank setting might want to try this. It's also available in paperback form.
To Say Nothing of the Dog (book) by Connie Willis -Willis' writing reminds me a lot of Wodehouse's, but, other than that and some clever, fun dialogue, this book doesn't have much in common with Psmith in the City. If you'd like more detail about it, in order to judge whether you'd like to try it, I've written a post about it.
Making Money (book) by Terry Pratchett - The main character in this fantasy novel is a con man who was given a reprieve, on the condition that he run Ankh-Morpork's royal mint. I honestly don't know how well someone unfamiliar with the Discworld would fare if they started with this book, but, if you do start with this one, just accept that the Discworld is strange and you might not always understand everything that's going on. Pratchett's humor is weird and fun. Those who'd like something else starring a sharp-witted character might want to try this.

Duck! (e-book) by Kim Dare

2011-09-25T10:44:00.002-05:00

I checked Resplendence Publishing's site, and, yes, they refer to this as an e-book. However, be warned, it's short: only 74,900 words, which works out to 169 pages on my Nook, plus 8 additional pages with information about the author, a coupon code for Resplendence Publishing's website, and short descriptions for a bunch of other works available from Resplendence Publishing.

Can you believe I didn't notice the creative placement of the title letters on the cover until I started writing this post?

Synopsis:

Ori grew up in multiple foster homes. He always believed he was human, but he found out several months prior to the start of the book that he was actually born an avian shifter.

Ori is 20 and won't find out until he's 21 exactly what his shifter form will be, but it seems most likely that he'll be a duck. Unfortunately for him, ducks are low in the avian hierarchy, and he's forced to do the bidding of every avian around him and take whatever abuse they dish out, too. Ori becomes so accustomed to this life that he's shocked and bewildered when Raynard, a hawk shifter, sees the kind of life he's living and takes him away to be a servant as his home instead. Although Raynard resists his attraction to Ori at first, Ori eventually becomes Raynard's submissive. The two are happy together, and Raynard decides he'd like to have Ori around indefinitely, but he has to wait until after Ori shifts for the first time.

Review:

I did not like this book. It's a BDSM story, which I already stated in my review for Katrina Strauss's Some Kind of Stranger is not something I generally like, so I've thought about whether my dislike stems from that or from other aspects of the story. I think I would have disliked this book even if it had not featured BDSM.

Raynard and Ori, especially Ori, were incredibly boring characters. When they were together, they were little more than a dominant and a submissive. When Raynard wasn't with Ori, he spent his time trying to put his late uncle's business in order, but none of that was ever shown. Prior to living with Raynard, Ori grew up in lots of different foster homes and eventually ended up at a club where other avian shifters verbally, physically, and sexually abused him, but, again, little was shown. I wanted to know more. Did Raynard have any friends? What kind of business did his uncle leave him? Did Ori ever leave Raynard's house for anything other than attending to his needs as an avian shifter or to run the occasional errand for Raynard? Did Ori ever think about anything other than Raynard and things related to Raynard? Did Ori enjoy anything besides cleaning Raynard's house and having sex with Raynard? (The answer to the last couple questions is probably “no,” which should explain why I thought Ori was the more boring of the two characters. He was so. Incredibly. Dull. Not unlikable, but dull.)

Initially, I found Ori and Raynard's relationship intriguing. Raynard made Ori his servant in order to get him away from an environment where he was clearly being mistreated. Although he was attracted to Ori, he resisted doing anything about that attraction, because he was pretty sure Ori would assume that sex was part of his duties and would say yes to whatever he was asked to do, whether he actually wanted to do it or not.

Unfortunately, then Raynard noticed that the attraction was mutual. He gave Ori a “choice” between being his servant and being his submissive, and Ori decided to be Raynard's submissive. I put the word “choice” in quotes because I, personally, was not convinced that Ori was emotionally capable of making this choice.

Ori had an intense desire to please that was probably due, at least in part, to years of living in foster homes and feeling like he didn't fit in. Ori was essentially abused in every way at the avian club he served at prior to being taken to Raynard's home. That only increased his desire to please and to avoid offense. What Raynard took as a natural tendency towards submission I took as a sign that Ori could have benefited from some therapy. Had Ori gotten that therapy and still wanted to be Raynard's submissive, I probably wouldn't have been as uncomfortable. As it was, the very foundation of Raynard and Ori's relationship didn't sit well with me, and I could never fully settle into seeing it as the light, sweet BDSM tale I think Dare intended it to be. Raynard may not have been abusive the way the other avians were, but he never invited outsiders to help Ori, even when outside help would have been warranted. The mansion could have used more than just Ori as its cleaning staff, I already mentioned that I thought Ori could have benefited from a therapist, and why the heck didn't Raynard take Ori to a doctor after Ori cut his arm?

The story was, for the most part, as dull as the book's characters. Dare made creative use of the story “The Ugly Duckling,” but it took two thirds of the book for anything like conflict to be introduced, and then I felt that part of the book dragged on for too long. Since I did not find Ori and Raynard's relationship appealing, I didn't feel particularly affected by their grief when it looked like they could no longer be together as master and submissive. Ori began to look more and more pathetic, and I felt no sympathy for Raynard when he worried that the only way he might be able to stay with Ori was as something other than his master.

I got this book because I was intrigued by its unusual shifters, but I found Dare's world-building to be sketchy at best. From what I could tell, Dare's shifters could be any species – hawks, ducks, geese, hummingbirds, finches, and more were all mentioned. Shifters seemed to almost always be categorized as either dominants or submissives, with certain species being more inclined to one role or another. All the shifters were male, and it was never explained how women fit into that world. I'm assuming the avian shifters had children with human women, but did the relationships end at the egg donor (no pun intended) level or did avian shifters ever have lasting relationships with the women?

Kim Dare's books appear to be quite popular, and this one was well-received by many of Dare's readers. Had the world-building been better and Ori and Raynard less one-dimensional, I might have liked it more. If I come across another work by Dare with an interesting setup (like I said, I got this one for the avian shifters), I might give her works another shot, but at this point I don't plan on purposefully seeking anything else of hers out.

Read-alikes:

Wolf in Men's Clothing (e-novella) by Dakota Rebel - Another e-book published by Resplendence Publishing. Like Duck!, it's based on a story (Little Red Riding Hood) and features m/m romance. Be warned, this one is very short - it might be more accurate to call it a short story rather than a novella, since it's only 12,000 words long.
The King's Choice (e-novella) by Mandy M. Roth - This one's also short, only 18,000 words. I added it to this list because it apparently has at least one bird shifter, but from the sounds of things it's otherwise pretty different from Dare's work.
Some Kind of Stranger (e-book) by Katrina Strauss - This is a contemporary BDSM erotic romance, with no paranormal aspects. I found aspects of the main characters' relationship to be cute, but I should probably mention that pain is incorporated into the sex in this book more often than it was in Duck! Even so, I still enjoyed the book - you can read what I wrote about it here.
Absolute Perfection (e-book) by Stephanie Burke - More m/m erotica (or possible erotic romance?). I haven't read it, but the same impulse that prompted me to get Duck! is tempting me to get this. Those looking for something else featuring unusual shifters may want to try this: one of the main characters is a seahorse shifter, complete with the ability to bear little seahorse shifter babies.
Hawksong (book) by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - This is a YA fantasy novel with romantic aspects. It's more angsty than Duck!, but I added it to this list because it has unusual shifters, including avians and serpents. The main characters are an avian shifter princess and a serpent shifter prince. They decide to enter into a political marriage in order to create peace between their two kingdoms.
Dreams Made Flesh (anthology) by Anne Bishop - I don't know how appealing this would be to someone with no familiarity with Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy. I added it to this list because of the story starring Lucivar and Marian. Marian, like Ori, is meek and uncertain when she is first brought to Lucivar's home to be his new housekeeper. Lucivar helps Marian gain more confidence, but he's not sure what to do about his growing attraction to her.