REVIEW: Chernobyl's Wild Kingdom: Life in the Dead Zone (nonfiction book) by Rebecca L. Johnson

Chernobyl's Wild Kingdom is YA nonfiction. I bought my copy used.

Review:

This gives an overview of the Chernobyl disaster and its effect on the area and people, before getting into research on animals in the Exclusion Zone. Particular attention is paid to Robert Baker and Ronald Chesser and their study of bank voles, and Timothy Mousseau and Anders Pape Møller and their studies of swallows and insects.

I really wished this had been longer and more detailed. It was both a fascinating and frustrating look at animals in the Exclusion Zone. Baker and Chesser's conclusions were very different from Mousseau and Møller's (I got the impression the author agreed more with Mousseau and Møller's conclusions than Baker and Chesser's), and I was left with a lot of questions. Quite possibly there genuinely weren't any answers, but that didn't stop me from wanting a few other scientists' opinions and maybe a chapter set up like a moderated discussion between the different camps. 

REVIEW: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (book) by Matt Dinniman

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride is the sixth book in Dinniman's sci-fi LitRPG series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is the first book in the series to start with a "the story thus far" bit, which I heartily approve of. Anyway, this book takes place on the eighth floor, "The Ghosts of Earth." This particular floor is a facsimile of Earth in the weeks before the collapse and the start of Dungeon Crawler World. Regions are populated by what are basically recordings of what actually happened on Earth. Biological entities, like humans and animals, can't be interacted with. However, crawlers are able to interact with non-biological items and objects.

The floor is divided into three phases. In the first phase, crawler parties must find and plant flags on a living entity when they are at less than 5% health in order to transform them into something called a T'Ghee totem. In phase 2, the Squad Leader in each party will use a deck populated with T'Ghee totems and other cards to fight for floor exit keys. Phase 3 is a surprise.

REVIEW: The Mantis (book) by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa

The Mantis is the third book in Kotaro Isaka's Assassins series. I suppose you could call it a blend of crime fiction and black humor. 

Review:

Kabuto is a highly skilled assassin who has wanted to retire ever since the birth of his son. Unfortunately for him, his handler, the Doctor, isn't about to let him go, nudging him towards high-risk jobs while hinting at the dire consequences should he decide not to follow through. Kabuto's wife and son, meanwhile, have no idea that he isn't just an ordinary worker at an office supply company.

Kabuto may be fearless while on the job, but around his wife it's another matter. His entire being is attuned to her mood. The one thing he wants to avoid is upsetting her, to the point that even his son has noticed how meek and submissive he is around her. At the same time, it's not that he dislikes being married to her. He does, however, find himself wishing to be properly understood, and so his few friends tend to be much like him, fathers with similar concerns and temperaments.

The book follows Kabuto as he lives his life and tries to figure out how to retire while also debating whether it would even be right/fair for someone like him to be free to live a peaceful life.

REVIEW: Manga for Success: Leading Meeting and Teams (nonfiction book) by Masumi Tani, artwork by Enmo Takenawa

Leading Meetings and Teams is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

As is the case with all the "Manga for Success" volumes, this alternates textual sections with manga sections depicting the concepts in the text in action. In this volume, the manga scenario is that Shigeo is a young employee who's been sent from a construction materials manufacturer to one of the local agencies of the manufacturer. He's supposed to get opinions from them about developing new building materials. Unfortunately, no one has much to say - they're focused on their own current projects and concerns.

While on a train, Shigeo meets Mayumi, a facilitation instructor. She gives him advice on how to run more effective meetings. She recommends he use a whiteboard and put the desired topics and outputs down on it. The board allows him to record what people in the meeting are saying, checking his understanding of their comments, and overall help people feel heard. She gives him several general tips on conversation/meeting facilitation, and he starts to make actual progress in his work. 

REVIEW: Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair (graphic novel) by Lucy Knisley

Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair is Knisley's collection of humorous (mostly) cartoons about her cat. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This full-color collection focuses on Knisley's fluffy orange cat, Linney. The vast majority of these comics are humorous, but be warned that this does go, a little, into Linney's eventual death. It was pictured as peaceful, and Linney was herself throughout, but it still made my chest tight. My own cat is about 15 years old, so...yeah. I could see myself rereading this at some point in the future (hopefully still several years from now) and sobbing my eyes out.

I loved the way Knisley drew Linney. Linney's facial expressions and the way her overall shape morphed were perfect - she had a ton of personality to her as she interacted with Knisley, her family, and Flora the dog. 

REVIEW: The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design (nonfiction book) by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt

The 99% Invisible City is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This book looks at the design of aspects of cities that most people likely never think much about: manhole covers, traffic lights, signage, public drinking fountains, and more. The various essays often focus on specific intriguing examples from cities around the world (although heavily featuring San Francisco and Los Angeles, likely due to Roman Mars' location).

I came across this book while looking for accessible works on cities, architecture, infrastructure, and design. It was steeply discounted, so I figured "why not?" I didn't learn until later that it was based on a podcast, although I've now marked that down as something I need to listen to sometime.

The essay format of this made it easy to read a bit at a time, making it perfect for my evening reading routine. Overall, this was fascinating and enjoyable. If there was one thing I could change, it would be the illustrations. There were times when actual photographs would have been more helpful. At the very least some of the illustrations could have more clearly featured whatever it was the essays were focusing on - sometimes I couldn't tell what part I was supposed to be looking at.

REVIEW: Ghoulia: Making New Friends Can Be Scary (book) by Barbara Cantini, translated by Anna Golding

Ghoulia: Making New Friends Can Be Scary is a children's fantasy book. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Ghoulia is a lonely little zombie girl who loves the color purple, playing dress up, and spending time with her dog, Tragedy. What she really wants, however, is to play with the village kids. Her aunt has forbidden her from being seen by others, afraid that they'll be chased from their home. Then Ghoulia finds out about Halloween and comes up with the perfect plan to spend time with the village kids and maybe even make some friends, without her aunt finding out or anybody learning that she's a zombie.

I loved the artwork - great Addams family and Tim Burton vibes. Tragedy instantly made me think of The Nightmare Before Christmas' Zero, even though their designs were pretty different. 

This was very much a "friendly zombie" sort of book - there was no mention of zombies eating brains, and the only difference it seemed to make was that Ghoulia looked different and could detach her body parts and then sew them back together.

I really enjoyed this, even though it felt like the ending came way too easily. It's a children's book, though, so I just accepted it.

Extras:

Instructions to help kids dress up like Ghoulia (or, more accurately, to help their parents help them), recipes for "Ghoulia's Purple Punch" and "Uncle Misfortune's Mud Mix," and four pages of "one of these pictures is different" activities.

REVIEW: Persephone: Hades' Torment (graphic novel) by Allison Shaw

Persephone: Hades' Torment is a graphic novel retelling of the Hades and Persephone story. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Apollo is trying to convince Eros to shoot Persephone with one of his arrows for him, but Hades accidentally ends up shot instead and falls for Persephone. Hades tries to find his way out of the inevitable, thinking that he and Persephone wouldn't work well together, but then he and Persephone end up meeting.

This was one of those times where I was drawn in by the cover art and ended up regretting it. There really wasn't much content here. Also, this was simultaneously both horny and weirdly chaste. There are two on-page sex scenes, but not much is actually shown (breasts, a flash of nipples). One of them is unexpectedly a threesome, though, which threw me a bit. Like, there wasn't much lead up, no prior introduction of this character, it just happened.

There were parts of the Eros and Psyche, Daphne and Apollo, and other stories - basic Greek mythology stuff. Hades spent approximately two seconds pining. I liked those two seconds, but then I got the rest of this. Meh.

REVIEW: Becoming RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Journey to Justice (nonfiction graphic novel) by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Whitney Gardner

Becoming RBG is a biographical graphic novel. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This looks at Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life and career. I realized, as I was reading it, that there was a lot I didn't know about her and the important cases she was involved in.

The artwork did what it needed to do but didn't wow me. Text boxes were occasionally hard to follow and broken up a bit oddly. The informational content, however, was great, and the format made it all quickly and easily digestible.

After reading this, though, her friendship with Antonin Scalia still didn't make much sense to me. Also, I wondered when she found the time to sleep. Her version of work-life balance involved staying up after her husband and kids went to sleep to get work done.

All in all, this was a good read that made me wish RBG were still around. 

REVIEW: The Moon Over the Mountain (short story) by Atsushi Nakajima, art by Nekosuke, translated by Asa Yoneda

The Moon Over the Mountain is a fantasy/magical realism Japanese story (or I misunderstood and it's symbolic or something). I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is the story of Li Zheng of Longxi, a young civil servant who quits service because he feels he has more to offer the world as a poet. He never becomes famous, however, and eventually leaves his wife, children, and everything else behind, disappearing. Later, his old friend, government inspector Yuan Can of Chenjun, encounters a beast that almost attacks him but races away at the last second. Then Yuan Can hears the voice of his old friend, who tells him that he has become a terrifying beast, a tiger. He had Yuan Can record some of his poetry and asks him to tell his wife and children that he is dead, and to care for them in some way. He admits that his combination of narcissism, fear of failure, and lack of desire to put in strenuous work is what has transformed him into a beast.

REVIEW: The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel (graphic novel) by Margaret Atwood, art & adaptation by Renee Nault

The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel is an adaptation of the dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood. I bought my copy new.

Review:

It's been a while since I read The Handmaid's Tale, but this seemed to be a pretty faithful adaptation of the book. The only part I could recall truly being left out was the bit from the book about the cat being abandoned. Oh, and I don't recall the graphic novel portion with the Japanese tourists walking around through Gilead society being in the book, but it's quite possible that happened and it just didn't stick with me in the midst of everything else.

The artwork worked well for the story (although not really for me personally) and made effective use of color. A couple parts were a little hard to follow, but for the most part flashbacks vs. scenes set in the present were made clear by differences in clothing.

All in all, I thought this was a good adaptation. 

REVIEW: The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale (book) by Jon Klassen

The Skull is a children's book based on a Tyrolean folktale. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Otilla has run away (her reasons for doing so are never stated - she doesn't speak about her past) and is cold and exhausted when she comes across a big abandoned old house. A talking skull agrees to let her in if she'll carry him, since rolling around is difficult. The skull gives her a tour of the place and then, in the evening, admits to her that a headless skeleton comes every night to try to take him and will surely come tonight. Otilla promises to help him, and so she does, very thoroughly.

I love Jon Klassen's artwork. There's something haunting about his characters' eyes. That, plus the skull on the cover, made me want to read this.

This is a very moody, intriguing little story. In keeping with the folktale aspect, we never learn about Otilla's past, how the lord of the house died, and how the skull ended up in such a position (the skull, and presumably the skeleton, were originally the bones of the lord of the house). 

In his author's note, Klassen talks about coming across a book with this folktale in it, and how it morphed in his memory to become this book. 

REVIEW: Department of Mind-Blowing Theories: Science Cartoons (graphic novel) by Tom Gauld

Department of Mind-Blowing Theories is a collection of comics. I bought my copy new.

Review:

A collection of humorous science-themed comics. This was fun, although as far as science-y humor goes, I prefer xkcd. Even that tends to work better for me in brief spurts online than in book form, though.

As is usually the case with these collections, some comics worked better for me than others. There's a Nobel Prize-related comic that was amusing in ways probably not originally intended, but these are the times we live in now.

I also really liked the artwork overall. There's something satisfying about the clean linework and simple shapes. 

REVIEW: We'll Prescribe You a Cat (book) by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda

We'll Prescribe You a Cat is magical realism. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is divided into sections by cat: Bee, then Margot, then Koyuki, then Tank and Tangerine, and finally Mimita. Each cat section is focused on a particular human who is dealing with issues at work or at home and who has heard through a friend of a friend of a friend that the Nakagyo Kokoro Clinic for the Soul is wonderfully helpful. Each person assumes this is a psychiatric clinic, and each is told by the doctor that the clinic isn't actually accepting new patients but that an exception will be made for them. The doctor then proceeds to prescribe them a cat that will somehow help them. The cat is handed over by a beautiful, icy, and somewhat disapproving nurse. Patients are given care instructions for the cats that resemble medication instructions and are told to come back to the clinic after a set amount of time to return their cat.

The patients featured include a salesman dealing with an abusive boss, a fifty-something year-old man annoyed by a cheerful new female colleague, a mother who has a habit of dismissing her child's troubles as unworthy of attention, a perfectionist handbag designer dealing with issues at both home and work, and a geika (Kyoto version of geisha) mourning the disappearance of her previous cat.

REVIEW: Space Battle Lunchtime (graphic novel, vol. 2) by Natalie Riess

Space Battle Lunchtime combines science fiction, humor, and f/f romance. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Chef Melonhead has arranged for Peony to be kidnapped for the show Cannibal Coliseum. All that's left behind is a note saying that she'd resigned from Space Battle Lunchtime. Thankfully, Neptunia suspects it's a trick, particularly since Melonhead has conveniently presented themselves as an easy replacement contestant for Peony.

Lil' Magicorn practically stole the show. All that murderous, happy sparkle was fun to watch in action, even if only briefly. 

Although there's at least one more volume after this that I know of, the way this one ends makes for a decent, if a bit rushed, stopping point. The only thing I could have used more of was more dashing Neptunia/romantic moments.

All in all, a fun read.

Extras:

Three pages of bonus comics, a recipe for chocolate cupcakes, bonus illustrations, and a two-page look at Riess' coloring process.