REVIEW: Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon & Mu (manga) by Junji Ito, translated by Stephen Paul

Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon & Mu is Ito's account of his and his wife's (or fiancee's, at the start of the volume) experiences living with two cats. J-kun (Junji Ito) starts off as more of a dog person than a cat person, but A-ko (Ito's wife) loves cats and plans to bring Yon from her parents' home to her and J-kun's new house. While she's at it, she also decides to adopt Mu, a Norwegian forest cat kitten.

Initially, J-kun is terrified of Yon, who he views as having a cursed face. It doesn't help that Yon also has what appears to be a face-like pattern on his back. J-kun falls for Mu almost immediately, but Yon grows on him as he realizes that he's just a cat with a weird face.

There are the usual cat manga stories about playing with them, sleeping with them, and dealing with their quirks, but with Ito's creepy and intense art style (and his love of poop jokes). Ito often draws himself bug-eyed, overreacting to everything, and his wife is usually portrayed as a creepily smiling presence with blank white orbs for eyes. It's a weird mix of humor and horrifying moments.

REVIEW: A Good House for Children (book) by Kate Collins

A Good House for Children is gothic fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This story alternates between two time periods, 1976 and 2017-2018. In 1976, Lydia is a live-in nanny for a family in the grip of grief. Doug, Sara's husband, died after a painful battle with cancer, and Sara has decided that the best thing for her children is to move from London to the Reeve, a large house out in the country. Lydia, who is particularly devoted to Sara's 8-year-old son Philip, goes with them. In 2017, Orla's husband Nick buys the Reeve, convinced his family will be happy and his son, who has selective mutism, will finally start speaking again. Orla allows herself to be swept up by his plans, even as she internally quakes at the idea of fixing up a house that size mostly on her own, since Nick will be spending most weekdays in the city for work.

Both Lydia and Orla soon find themselves uncomfortable with the isolation of the Reeve and being the ones pretty much solely looking after the children - Orla because Nick is physically absent, and Lydia because Sara is emotionally absent. Gradually, they both become aware that there's something off about the Reeve. It has a reputation with the villagers. Odd things keep happening, and the children have supposedly met others who claim to live in the Reeve. Lydia and Orla both become desperate to protect the children from whatever it is that inhabits the house.

REVIEW: Sentient (graphic novel) written by Jeff Lemire, art by Gabriel Walta

Sentient is a one-shot sci-fi graphic novel. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Earth only has about 10 habitable years left. The USS Montgomery is part of an effort to keep humanity going with far-flung colonies on other planets. It's a booster ship intended to add to the population of a colony that's already been established - it's full of families composed of skilled adults with young children.

The colony they're heading towards is threatened by separatists who believe that Earth governments will only repeat the same mistakes elsewhere. Also, what the crew doesn't realize until too late is that one of their own is a separatist. Valarie, the ship's AI, does her best to follow orders and protect the children. Unfortunately, she's too late to save any of the adults. Somehow, she has to train the children, the oldest of whom is only 10, to run and maintain the parts of the ship that she can't.

She does her best, but they're all still kids, and there are dangers to come that she can't predict.

REVIEW: The Hands of the Emperor (book) by Victoria Goddard

The Hands of the Emperor is fantasy. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Although Cliopher Mdang, the Secretary in Chief of the Offices of the Lords of State, knows it's close to blasphemy for him to do this, he decides one day to suggest that his Radiancy, the Sun-on-Earth, take a vacation. His Radiancy agrees, and it sets in motion changes and shifts in attitude that Cliopher never dared to expect.

I can't remember how this made it onto my radar. The sheer size of it (an 899-page hardcover) was daunting, but eventually I decided I was in the mood to tackle it. 

Despite reassurances on the author's own website, I was initially worried that this wasn't a good starting point for a newbie to the series like me. There were a lot of characters I didn't know, and lots of references to events I knew nothing about. I couldn't seem to get a handle on anything - it took me longer than it maybe should have to realize that his Radiancy was literally viewed as a god on Earth, and that the rules governing how he could interact with others and vice versa existed because touching him or even looking into his eyes too long could do actual harm to the mere mortals around him.

Luckily, I liked the characters and enjoyed reading about them and their world, or this would have been a chore to get through. The first part describes his Radiancy's vacation, while the next part deals with Cliopher's promotion, the multi-year work required to prepare for his Radiancy's eventual quest for his successor (and Cliopher's plans for his own retirement), and Cliopher's efforts to grapple with the feeling that his life's work has resulted in him not quite belonging anywhere. 

REVIEW: Power Play (book) by Alley Ciz

Power Play is a college sports romance, the first book in the BTU Alumni series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Jake, the Brighton Tynes University hockey team's goalie, is immediately drawn to Jordan when he sees her at Rookies Sports Bar. Then he learns that she's the twin sister of one of his teammates, and therefore off-limits. Even so, he can't stop thinking about her. It doesn't help that she happens to live right next door, and their adorable youngest siblings are friends.

After the way things turned out with Tommy, her ex, Jordan has promised her brothers that she'll never date one of their teammates again. Then she meets Jake, and her resolve falters.

REVIEW: The Titan's Bride (manga, vol. 3) by ITKZ, translated by Katrina Leonoudakis

The Titan's Bride is a fantasy BL series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Kouichi has decided to go back to his own world, thinking that Caius, powerful as he is, can surely summon another bride for himself. However, there are details Caius didn't mention. Once he learns the truth, Kouichi reconsiders his decision.

Although Kouichi and Caius are now a happily married couple, things still aren't perfect. Kouichi realizes that, due to their size difference, he's the only one who's fully satisfied when they have sex. Caius is fine with this, but Kouichi isn't, so the two of them agree to seek out a famous elven sex researcher and ask for his advice.

REVIEW: The Titan's Bride (manga, vol. 2) by ITKZ, translated by Katrina Leonoudakis

The Titan's Bride is a fantasy BL manga series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Things don't go as planned when Caius attempts to get the raisa fruit needed to cure Kouichi, but he manages to make everything work out anyway.

Now that he's no longer in danger of dying from magical lust, Kouichi can't help but think about the people he left behind in his own world. He's sure they're worried sick about him - can he really leave them behind forever? 

REVIEW: My Life Among Humans (graphic novel) by Jed McGowan

My Life Among Humans is a sci-fi graphic novel. I bought my copy new.

Review:

The POV character is a small alien that was born and raised solely to act as a research tool for its manager. In this one's case, it's meant to observe humans in their natural habitat. It releases microscopic scouts into the air that attach to the brains of nearby humans and allow it to know and experience their thoughts, memories, and emotions, without affecting them in any other way.

It starts with Will and then expands to his family, but it gets distracted by its own curiosity and feeling of connection to Will's home and family and is seen by them by accident. Being seen by humans, and thereby tainting the manager's research, must never happen - it's the kind of thing that could get the alien killed by its manager. Not knowing what else to do, it tries to calm the humans down and realizes that, despite what it's always been told, it can somehow use its scouts to control humans.

REVIEW: Heaven Official's Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Vol. 3 (book) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, art by ZeldaCW, translated by Suika and Pengie

Heaven Official's Blessing is a fantasy historicalish danmei (Chinese m/m) series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

I waited way too long to review this, but I have notes, so I'll do my best. 

Anyway, the first half of the volume is a flashback to Xie Lian's early days as a god, desperately trying to protect everyone, even if it involves breaking rules. He is, however, doomed to failure, and his efforts make things worse, leading to the Human Face Disease. In the second half of the volume, Xie Lian investigates a fetus spirit and spends time with Hua Cheng.

REVIEW: The Earl & the Fairy (manga, vol. 1) story & art by Ayuko, original concept by Mizue Tani, translated by John Werry

The Earl & the Fairy is a fantasy romance series based on a Japanese light novel series. I bought my copy of this volume used.

Review:

Lydia Carlton is a fairy doctor, one of the few people with the ability to see magical creatures and communicate with them in order to resolve issues between them and humans. Intending to go visit her father, she actually ends up kidnapped instead, and escapes with a mysterious young man named Edgar who claims to be a descendant of the Blue Knight, Earl Ibrazel. He needs Lydia's help to find the Merrow Star and claim his birthright.

I've only read a bit of the light novel series - my first exposure to this series was via the anime. This manga was okay, but I recall the anime being better. 

The action scenes were confusing. Honestly, the whole situation was a little confusing. 

Extras:

A short note from the adapter.

REVIEW: Moon Knight: The Complete Collection (graphic novel) written by Jeff Lemire, art by Greg Smallwood, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Garland, Francesco Francavilla, James Stokoe

Moon Knight: The Complete Collection collects Moon Knight (2016) #1-14. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Marc Spector is Moon Knight, the hero who was resurrected by the Egyptian god Khonshu. Or is he? Part of him is in a mental institution, being treated for dissociative identity disorder. Part of him sees behind the mental institution to the various Egyptian gods and monsters that torment him and his friends in the guise of institution employees. Which view of the world is the real one?

As Marc struggles to figure out where he is and what's going on, his view of the world and his own identity fractures even further. He's a cabbie named Jake Lockley. He's a wealthy movie producer named Steven Grant, working on a live action movie production of Moon Knight for Marvel. He's Marc Spector, an astronaut battling his way through space werewolves. He's Mr. Knight.

REVIEW: Fiasco (book) by Constance Fay

Fiasco is sci-fi romance, the second book in the author's Uncharted Hearts series (trilogy?). I bought my copy new.

Review:

Bounty hunter Cyn Khaw is best known as the cold-blooded killer who spaced a ship full of slavers. Most recently, she pretended to be a woman named Generosity in order to infiltrate a cult and rescue her clients' daughter.

Inside, Cyn is an absolute mess. She practically lives on stims and barely sleeps, because, when she does, she has screaming nightmares about the incident with the slaver ship. Although her reputation is useful, she isn't nearly as cold-blooded as people think. She has one goal driving her: to find and destroy her cousin Aymbe's killer, the man known as the Abyssal Abductor.

When the Abductor kidnaps Estella Escajeda's secret daughter, Cyn agrees to help, even though it'll mean working with the crew of the Calamity - teamwork isn't Cyn's forte. This setup is even less appealing when Cyn learns that the Calamity used to be the Quest, which means she'll be in close quarters with Micah, the attractive medic who tried to help her when he thought she was trapped in a cult.

REVIEW: Sugar Apple Fairy Tale, Vol. 3: The Silver Sugar Master and the Ivory Aristocrat (book) by Miri Mikawa, illustrated by Aki, translated by Nicole Wilder

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is a Japanese fantasy romance series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Due to a poor harvest of sugar apples, Anne must work at the Radcliffe House (where she has nothing but enemies, except Keith) to refine communal sugar in order to be allowed to make enough of her own sugar for the next candy fair. While working herself to the bone making both communal sugar and sugar for her own personal use, she must somehow come up with a design for her silver sugar sculpture and find the time to make it.

REVIEW: The Titan's Bride (manga, vol. 1) by ITKZ, translated by Katrina Leonoudakis

The Titan's Bride is a BL fantasy manga. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

High school senior Kouichi is thinking about graduation and girls when he decides to take a break and masturbate to let off a bit of steam. At that exact moment, he is summoned to another world where he is declared to be the fated bride-to-be of Caius, the crown prince of the kingdom of the Titans. Kouichi has some understandable concerns about his new role - he's male, and much smaller than Caius, and they've just met - which Caius cheerfully brushes off (hey, who knows, maybe a male human can get pregnant with a Titan's child?). However, Caius wants Kouichi to feel comfortable, so he promises not to force himself on him and asks for a month to convince him to stay and be his bride.

REVIEW: My Brain Is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders (nonfiction manga) nine true stories illustrated by Monzusu, translated by Ben Trethewey

My Brain Is Different is nonfiction manga. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This manga features nine stories by people with ADHD, autism, or a learning disorder, including Monzusu's own story. Each account begins with the person's name, age, diagnoses (developmental disorder + comorbidity such as depression), and what, if any, medication the person is on.

This was meant to show the many different paths and experiences of these contributors, even if their general diagnoses were similar. Some folks had happier stories than others - be aware that this does touch on things like suicide attempts, extreme poverty, bullying, and more.

Overall, I thought this was okay. There wasn't enough time to really delve deeply into anyone's story, so I was left with more questions about Japan's available social services and education about these issues than anything.