Sunday, October 27, 2024

REVIEW: My Brother's Husband (manga, vol. 1) by Gengoroh Tagame, translated by Anne Ishii

My Brother's Husband is a contemporary realistic manga series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

This review includes mild spoilers.

Review:

Yaichi is uncomfortable, to put it mildly, when his twin brother Ryoji's Canadian husband Mike comes to visit a month or so after Ryoji's death. Although he doesn't want to be openly rude, he can't help his knee-jerk homophobic reactions. His young daughter Kana's obvious love of Mike prompts him to try to be more accepting, and he gradually gains more and more food for thought - about his and other Japanese people's reactions to gay people, about the courage it must have taken for his brother to come out to him, and about how he'd react if Kana one day said she was a lesbian.

REVIEW: Wed to the Basilisk (book) by Layla Fae

Wed to the Basilisk is fantasy romance (or possibly more erotica?), one of the books in the multi-author "Arranged Monster Mates" series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

We're back in Alia Terra with another arranged marriage between a monster and human couple. This time around, we have Voss, the last basilisk in Alia Terra, who is doomed to morph into a rage-filled killing machine if he doesn't find his mate. His last hope is to submit his blood to the Temple, which, to his surprise and relief, finds him a match in a young human woman named Alina. Unlike other humans, Alina seems unafraid to look Voss in the eyes (basilisks' eyes can kill, although they have a protective membrane that makes their gazes safe), and he hopes that this is a sign they can have a loving marriage.

Unfortunately, not long after their marriage, Alina is violently grabbed by Liam, the man who'd planned to force her to marry him and who she'd desperately wanted to get away from. Voss kills him in an instant with his gaze, prompting a terrified Alina to wonder if she's ended up with someone just as violent and horrible as Liam.

Voss realizes he's going to have to earn Alina's trust, which may be especially difficult considering how naturally protective basilisks are of their mates. 

REVIEW: Wed to the Lich (book) by Layla Fae

Wed to the Lich is fantasy romance, part of the multi-author "Arranged Monster Mates" series that can be started at any point. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Thousands of years ago, the world of Alia Terra was formed by the Shift, which merged the human world with portions of various nonhuman worlds. In the present, poor or orphaned human women try to achieve better lives for themselves by submitting a sample of their blood to temples that then try to match their DNA up with monsters who've submitted their own blood. Matches are then married off and sent on their way.

This book stars Virgil, one of the last few remaining liches in Alia Terra, and May, a young orphaned woman with anorexia. The head of May's orphanage mentally and emotionally abused the children there, training them to be ballet dancers (and occasionally prostituting them out). Virgil, not being human, doesn't immediately realize that something is wrong with May, but his ability to sense and consume others' life force eventually clues him in. 

REVIEW: UnOrdinary (graphic novel, vol. 2) by uru-chan

UnOrdinary is essentially a high school superhero series with some mystery elements. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Arlo gets John to let down his guard just enough to reveal his true abilities...which are on a level even Arlo didn't suspect. As more and more people learn John's secret, he worries about what might happen when Seraphina finally learns that he isn't the Zero he's always pretended to be.

Meanwhile, whoever it is that's targeting people with superpowers seems to be getting bolder.

REVIEW: It (book) by Stephen King

It is horror originally published in 1986. I bought my copy new.

This review includes spoilers.

Review:

In 1985, six people receive a phone call from a childhood friend named Mike, asking them to come back to their hometown of Derry, Maine so that they can fulfill a promise they made. Until the moment of the phone call, none of them remembered either Mike or the promise they made, but most of them are able to overcome the shock of their gradually returning memories and make their way to Derry.

The seven members of the Losers Club first meet back in 1958, bound by their status as misfits and frequent targets of a bully named Henry Bowers. Bill, the leader of the group, has a bad stutter. His friend, Eddie, suffers from asthma and an overprotective mother. Ben is lonely and overweight, with a huge secret crush on Beverly. Beverly has an abusive father. Richie has a bad habit of letting his mouth run away with him. Stan is Jewish. The group is rounded out by Mike, who is Black.

One other thing binds the group together: they've all had terrifying unexplained experiences tied to some sort of malevolent being in Derry they call "It." It killed Bill's younger brother, George, as well as many other children in Derry, and there is evidence that It has been affecting Derry for a long time.

Somehow, in a way that none of the adult Losers Club members can quite remember until the time is right, they fought It. Unfortunately, they didn't quite manage to kill It. Now they need to make yet another attempt to defeat It, for good this time.

REVIEW: The Turn of the Screw (novella) by Henry James

The Turn of the Screw is gothic horror. I bought my copy new.

Review:

A young governess is hired by a man to care for his niece and nephew. He leaves them entirely in her care and makes it clear that he doesn't want to be bothered about them. 

The governess is quickly charmed by Flora but is somewhat nervous about Miles, the eldest of the two, when she receives a letter saying that he has been expelled from his boarding school. When Miles arrives, however, he turns out to be just as charming as Flora, and the governess can't bring herself to ask what happened at school. 

After the governess sees a couple unexpected people on the grounds, she learns that they may be the ghosts of Miss Jessel, the previous governess, and another former employee, Peter Quint. She becomes obsessed with the idea that the children have seen these two as well and are somehow being negatively influenced by them.

REVIEW: Tokyo Babylon: Book Two (manga) by CLAMP, translated by Ray Yoshimoto, Alexis Kirsch, and Carol Fox

Tokyo Babylon is a supernatural fantasy series. I checked this copy out from the library.

Review:

Subaru continues to investigate the toxic positivity cult that is the MS Research Institute. After that comes a story about cherishing your elders. Then Hokuto saves and befriends a young foreign woman. After that comes some karaoke with the twins and Seishiro, the story of a young boy in need of a kidney transplant, Subaru discussing seeing eye dogs with a blind man, and the resolution to the mystery of Seishiro's motivations and the bet he and Subaru made when they first met.

REVIEW: Tokyo Babylon: Book One (manga) by CLAMP, translated by Ray Yoshimoto, Alexis Kirsch, and Carol Fox

Tokyo Babylon is a supernatural fantasy series. This is an omnibus edition that, I think, contains all or most of the first four volumes. I bought my copy used.

Review:

Subaru Sumeragi is a 16-year-old onmyoji who lives with his twin sister, Hokuto. Subaru is heir to the Sumeragi clan and regularly exorcizes spirits as part of his clan duties. He and his sister are friends with Seishiro Sakurazaku, a veterinarian and member of a clan of assassins. Seishiro isn't involved in his clan's activities and is nothing but nice to the twins (in fact, he's downright flirty with Subaru).

In this volume, Subaru deals with the ghost of an actress at the Tokyo Tower, a comatose girl who turns out to be Subaru's first love, and three girls on a party line with Sailor Moon fantasies. There's also the start of a storyline involving something that seems to be a cult - this one doesn't finish up until the next volume.

Throughout all of this is a thread of mystery concerning Seishiro and his true motivations. Although he's always kind to the twins, there appears to be a darker and more sinister side to him.

Monday, October 7, 2024

REVIEW: The Great British Bump-Off (graphic novel, vol. 1) written by John Allison, art by Max Sarin

The Great British Bump-Off is a blend of comedy and mystery. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

It's the start of a new season of UK Bakery Tent, and Shauna, a student and one of the new contestants, is delighted to spend time with all these fellow bakers. She's sure it will be an experience filled with good vibes and baking togetherness...until she finds one of the other contestants face down in a bowl of batter, apparently poisoned (but not dead, FYI).

In order to save the show, Shauna promises to find the poisoner before the end of the first episode, while simultaneously completing the baking challenges along with the rest of the contestants. The only two contestants she's sure she can trust are Jill (a retired midwife) and Sunil (a yoga instructor).

REVIEW: Game Art: Art from 40 Video Games and Interviews with Their Creators (nonfiction book) by Matt Sainsbury

Game Art: Art from 40 Video Games and Interviews with Their Creators is nonfiction. I bought my copy used.

Review:

This was published back in 2015, so it's a bit old in game years. Of the 40 games featured, I've played or had some familiarity with only 10 or so, tops. A few of the ones I recognized: Dragon Age: Inquisition, American McGee's Alice, several of the Atelier games, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Contrast, and Never Alone.

This was 261 pages, which doesn't provide a lot of room to cover 40 games and interviews with 26 or so creators. Some games featured a better selection of artwork than others - both in-game and promotional art. Others had a more meager selection, focused more on promotional stuff than in-game artwork.

I had thought that the interviews might focus on the artwork as well, but that wasn't always the case. For example, Alex Norton's interview about Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox focused almost entirely on the game's origins and how its players/fanbase enhanced it. There were a few really good interviews that touched on game art in significant ways, though - I particularly liked the interviews with Jennifer Schneidereit (Tengami), Guillaume Provost (Contrast), Yoshita Okamura (Arland and Dusk trilogies from the Atelier series), Amy Fredeen and Alan Gershenfeld (Never Alone), and Akihiro Suzuki and Hisashi Koinuma (Bladestorm:Nightmare, Dynasty Warriors, and Samurai Warriors).

It wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, but it wasn't bad.

REVIEW: This House Is Haunted (book) by John Boyne

This House Is Haunted is gothic horror. I bought my copy used.

Review:

In 1867, 21-year-old Eliza Caine's father dies. When she learns that they were only renting their home, and that her teacher's salary isn't enough for her to continue living there, she impulsively accepts a position as a governess in the country. When she arrives at Gaudlin Hall, she discovers that several important details were omitted from the job ad - there are indeed two children (Isabella, 12, and Eustace, 8), but other than the two of them there are no adults around. Eliza will not only be a governess, but also a cook and whatever else the children need. 

Something strange is going on at Gaudlin Hall, and everyone who could give Eliza answers seems determined to avoid her. As she grows to care for the children, however, she begins to worry that both her life and theirs might be at risk if she doesn't learn Gaudlin Hall's secrets.

REVIEW: This Is How You Lose the Time War (novella) by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This Is How You Lose the Time War is a blend of science fiction and f/f romance. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Red and Blue are agents from opposing forces in a war that spans multiple timelines and locations. They become intrigued by each other, seeing each other as worthy adversaries. Although they never directly interact, they communicate through letters cleverly woven into the fabric of worlds where they know or suspect their paths will cross. Initially, the letters have a taunting tone. Eventually, however, their relationship warms, becoming something more like love.

But that doesn't change the fact that they're on opposite sides of a war. One side or the other will win, right?

Sunday, October 6, 2024

REVIEW: If Found Return to Hell (novella) by Em X. Liu

If Found Return to Hell is fantasy. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Journeyman Wen is an intern at One Wizard, a wizarding firm that helps callers with any number of magical problems, as long as their problems are covered by insurance and the customers can afford to pay. Once upon a time, Wen dreamed of actually helping people. Now, however, daily life involves nothing more than passing customers off to more qualified but overworked wizards.

One of Wen's latest calls seems like something that might warrant a house call. Surprisingly, Wen's supervisor doesn't assign someone else to the job, but rather sends Wen, who brings along Nathaniel, a friend and coworker at the call center. Unfortunately, Wen ends up promising a little more than they should and soon ends up with a problem in the form of a new roommate who's possessed by a demon prince from Hell. 

REVIEW: The Girl Who Became a Fish (short story) by Osamu Dazai, art by Nekosuke, translated by David Boyd

The Girl Who Became a Fish is, maybe, magical realism. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is the story of Suwa, the young daughter of a charcoal maker. During the summer months, when visitors come to the area to see the local waterfall, Suwa's father has her run a small tea stand. Although she obediently does as she's told, her voice is drowned out by the sound of the falls and she rarely sells anything. One day, while staffing the tea stand, she witnesses a student accidentally fall and drown.

This gets tied in with a story Suwa's father once told her, about two brothers, one of whom was transformed into a serpent, as well as Suwa's eventual fate.

REVIEW: Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl: The Complete Manga Collection (manga) story by Mocchi-au-lait, art by majoccoid, translated by Cerridwyn Graffham

Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl is f/f romantic comedy. I bought my copy new.

Review:

When Okuma Satomi's friend needs her help getting volunteers for a cross-dressing cafe, Satomi uses this as an opportunity to finally talk to her handsome crush, Kanda Mizuki. Satomi has no idea that Mizuki is actually a girl, and when Mizuki jokingly asks Satomi out, the misunderstanding spirals completely out of control. Mizuki knows she has to tell Satomi the truth soon, but Satomi is clearly over the moon about dating her. Mizuki doesn't want to upset or hurt her...and, she realizes, she also doesn't really want Satomi to break up with her, which she's convinced is what will happen once the truth comes out.

REVIEW: The Return (book) by Rachel Harrison

The Return is horror. I bought my copy new.

Review:

When Elise is first told that her old college friend Julie has gone missing, she doesn't believe it. Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and she's convinced that she has just temporarily gone off somewhere on her own and will turn up again soon, laughing at everyone's reaction to her supposed disappearance. Except a year goes by, and Julie's friends have a sort of funeral for her. Even to Elise, this seems a bit too long for some kind of game. Then, exactly two years after Julie went missing, she turns up again. She swears she's fine, but she has no memory of where she was.

In order to reconnect, Julie and her three closest friends, Elise, Mae, and Molly, decide to spend a weekend at a remote hotel in which each of the rooms is elaborately decorated according to some bizarre theme. Elise and the others are shocked at how emaciated and sick Julie looks, but their friendship has been built around knowing about but avoiding talking about terrible things, and so they privately worry about Julie but pretend like nothing's wrong when they're with her. 

However, as hard as they try to pretend that everything's normal, it definitely isn't, and tensions are on the rise. It doesn't help that there seems to be something wrong with the hotel - Elise wonders whether her room is haunted, as she keeps imagining a presence there, just out of her line of sight, and she struggles to get the thermostat to stay above sixty. There's also something going on with the hotel staff, and the supposedly fully booked hotel is weirdly empty.

REVIEW: A Court of Mist and Fury (book) by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury is the second book in Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This takes place shortly after the events of the previous book. Feyre is a mess, her sleep interrupted by nightmares of Amarantha and her time Under the Mountain. She desperately wants to do something useful. Unfortunately, Tamlin's time Under the Mountain has left him with a bone-deep terror of anything happening to Feyre. It doesn't matter that she now has the lifespan and powers of the High Fae - he's convinced that if he gives her the freedom she craves, she'll come to harm.

However, even Tamlin can't do anything about the agreement between Feyre and Rhysand. When he comes to claim his first week with her, there's no choice, she has to go. Her time with him doesn't go at all the way she expects, and it isn't long before she wonders if she wouldn't be better off with Rhysand than Tamlin, the man she loves and who she died to save.

Monday, September 30, 2024

REVIEW: On the Rocks (book) by Georgia Beers

On the Rocks is a contemporary f/f romance, the second in Beers' Swizzle Stick Romance series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Second grade teacher Vanessa Martini isn't wild about having to call the parents of one of her students. She's a teacher because she likes kids - if she never had to deal with their parents, she'd be fine with that. But something is going on with little Oliver Chapman, and he's been acting out in class a lot lately.

Grace Chapman is exhausted and feels like she isn't measuring up in any area of her life lately. The owner of the flower shop she works for is difficult, to put it mildly, and her personal life isn't going any better - she and her husband are divorcing, and she's tired of her mother constantly acting like the failure of her marriage is all her own fault. Then there's her son, Oliver, who's taking the divorce badly. She knows he loves her, but that doesn't stop it from hurting when he says something angry and hurtful or acts like he'd prefer to be with his father.

Vanessa, Oliver's teacher, feels like yet another source of judgement in Grace's life. As the two of them keep crossing paths, however, they gradually thaw towards each other...and realize that there's a mutual attraction brewing between them.

REVIEW: You've Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post, Vol. 1 (book) written by Blackegg, illustrated by Ninemoon, translated by alexsh

You've Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post is Chinese historicalish m/m erotica. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Wu Xingzi, advisor to the magistrate of the remote Qingcheng County, is 39 years old, poor, and all alone in the world. His parents died when he was young, and he's never really had any close friends. He's gay, and although the people around him don't take issue with this, he's never had a lover. With nothing to look forward to except the grave site he's picked out for himself, he decides to commit suicide after confessing his feelings to a handsome local tofu seller.

To Wu Xingzi's shock, the tofu seller tells him that he's also gay - however, he's in a relationship. He tells Wu Xingzi about the Peng Society for Gentleman, through which he met his own lover. It's a society for gay men to meet other gay men via messenger pigeons. Hope blossoms in Wu Xingzi's heart, and he decides to pay his first month's subscription fee for The Pengornisseur, a catalog of portraits and basic information about other Peng Society members.

Wu Xingzi sends out a few letters with the expectation that he might eventually make a few like-minded friends. To his shock, the response to every letter he sends out is an illustration of the recipient's penis. Suddenly, Wu Xingzi's goal shifts from making friends to collecting as many dick pics as he can...until a particular favorite of his prompts him to send a response of his own, and he captures the attention of the notorious and powerful Guan Shanjin. 

Monday, September 23, 2024

REVIEW: It Ends With Us (book) by Colleen Hoover

It Ends With Us is, I suppose, marketed as romance, but I'd call it more women's fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Domestic abuse is a huge part of this story. Don't be fooled by the romance novel trappings and marketing.

This is the story of Lily, a young woman who grew up wondering why her mother stayed with her abusive father. Now her father is dead, and Lily has moved to Boston and started up her own business, a flower shop. Her father's death and other events prompt her to think about her past, so she gradually reads her way through her teenage diary entries (which were always structured like letters to her favorite celebrity, Ellen DeGeneres). Her diary reminds her of her first love, Atlas, a young man who ran away from his own abusive family and lived for a time in the abandoned house next door to Lily's home. 

As Lily reminisces about Atlas, she meets Ryle, an ambitious surgeon who tells her right from the start that he isn't interested in relationships or romance. Still, they're attracted to each other, and Lily gradually falls in love. As things with Ryle take a turn and he becomes abusive, Lily has to grapple with complicated emotions and memories of her past. She becomes even more torn when she runs into Atlas for the first time in years.

REVIEW: One of Us Is Back (book) by Karen M. McManus

One of Us Is Back is the third (and final?) book in McManus' One of Us Is Lying series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This review contains spoilers for the events of the first two books.

It's been almost 2 years since Simon's death in the first book. Jake, Addy's ex-boyfriend, is about to be retried and potentially let out. Addy is understandably terrified - Jake has been working hard to turn public sentiment in his favor. Meanwhile, Phoebe is killing herself with worry that Owen, her little brother, will turn out like Jake because she and her sister didn't turn him in for his part in the events of Book 2. 

Then someone hacks a billboard, announcing the start of a new game, and one of the Bayview Crew goes missing. Is Jake responsible, or someone close to him? 

REVIEW: The Reign of Wolf 21: The Saga of Yellowstone's Legendary Druid Pack (nonfiction book) by Rick McIntyre

The Reign of Wolf 21 is nonfiction, the second book in McIntyre's Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

In the first book of this series, McIntyre wrote about the life of Wolf 8, Wolf 21's adoptive father and alpha of the Crystal Creek pack. This book focuses on Wolf 21 and his time as alpha of Yellowstone's Druid pack. 

Although McIntyre's writing isn't anything special and often feels like field notes written out in paragraph form, with occasional asides telling readers what he'd done on a particular day, his enthusiasm and appreciation for wolves shines through. I appreciated his interpretations of wolf behavior, and following Wolf 21 through his eyes was fascinating and occasionally thrilling. I gasped at Wolf 40's fate (it should be noted that, for the most part, McIntyre just related things as they happened, without too much sensationalizing) and got attached to 21, 42, and 253. 

302 was quite a character, and I'm looking forward to reading McIntyre's book about him. Although audiobook is usually my format of choice for nonfiction and was how I read the first book, I opted for a print copy this time around, and it worked much better for me. I not only got to see McIntyre's various pack charts and maps, as well as the color photos of the wolves, I was also able to skim some of the more boring bits I'd have been forced to slog through in audiobook format.

Sunday, September 22, 2024

REVIEW: I Know What You Did Last Summer (book) by Lois Duncan

I Know What You Did Last Summer is YA suspense. I bought my copy new.

Review:

A year ago, Julie was a cheerleader who was more focused on her social life than on her academics. All that changed after one particular summer night. Now she's determined to leave everything behind, go to college, and forget everything that happened.

Except someone won't let her, sending her a note that just says "I know what you did last summer." Sick and scared, Julie tracks down the others who were there that night: Helen, a pretty but insecure young woman; Barry, a football player and Helen's boyfriend (who unbeknownst to Helen, is seeing lots of other girls besides her); and Ray, Julie's former boyfriend, who she broke up with soon after the events of that summer.

REVIEW: Five Total Strangers (book) by Natalie D. Richards

Five Total Strangers is a YA thriller. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Mira is heading to her mother's for Christmas. She knows her mom will need her support - it's the anniversary of Aunt Phoebe's (her mother's twin) death.

Except that there's a blizzard on the way and her connecting flight, as well as all other flights, has been cancelled. Rather than wait it out, Mira accepts an offer of a ride from Harper, the glamorous and unflappable college student she met on the plane. Harper is accompanied by several others Mira initially assumes are her friends: Kayla, a young woman who looks sick and sleeps most of the time; Josh, who's using crutches due to a torn ACL; and Brecken, a handsome pre-med student who rubs Mira the wrong way.

In reality, all of these people are actually strangers Harper just befriended at the airport. Or are they? Something weird is going on. Harper and Brecken seem surprisingly close for people who supposedly just met in a rental car line. Random things keep going missing, and everyone in the car seems to have secrets. As the drive becomes more treacherous and the situation goes from bad to worse, Mira wonders who she can trust.

Monday, September 16, 2024

REVIEW: Four Found Dead (book) by Natalie D. Richards

Four Found Dead is a YA thriller/horror novel. I bought my copy new.

Review:

The mall movie theater is one of the last places that held on after most of the businesses in the Riverview Fashionplace shopping mall closed. It's finally closing, however, and seven employees and one manager are there on its final night, cleaning and locking everything up.

Clayton, the manager, has always been disliked by his employees, but this evening in particular he's jumpy and angry. Then Jo notices that he has a gun on him, and she's instantly terrified - when she was 9, she witnessed her dad get killed in a gas station robbery. 

As the situation in the theater rapidly devolves, one of the employees ends up dead and the rest of them find themselves trapped, locked inside with Clayton (who has the keys, and who took their phones at the beginning of their shifts because no one is supposed to be using their cellphones while working). So begins as tense game of cat-and-mouse as the group tries to figure out how to get to safety.

REVIEW: Velocity Weapon (book) by Megan E. O'Keefe

Velocity Weapon is science fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I read this a ridiculously long time ago (June 2023, according to my reading activity) and never got around to reviewing it. I was just about to give up on the review and put it on my "finished" shelves anyway when I found some notes I'd written tucked inside. So, this review is going to happen.

Initially, this follows 3-4 POVs: Alexandra (Ada Prime's founder) and how she came up with gate technology; Jules and her crew of thieves trying to steal drugs and ending up with valuable info; Biran (a young, bright-eyed new Keeper), desperate to find his sister; and Sanda, his sister, waking up on Bero, an enemy AI-piloted ship, and learning that her world was destroyed 200 years ago.

Sunday, September 15, 2024

REVIEW: Under the Oak Tree: The Comic (manhwa, vol. 1) art by P, adapted by namu, original story by Suji Kim, translated by Sena

Under the Oak Tree is a fantasy romance comic based on a serialized Korean novel. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Lady Maximilian (Maxi) hasn't seen her husband Riftan in some time - he left to go fight a dragon shortly after they were married, and they barely knew each other. After Riftan defeats the dragon and is hailed as a hero, there are rumors that he'll divorce Maxi and marry the princess. Maxi's father is furious at the possibility and wants Maxi to stop it, but Maxi, who has a stutter, has no idea how she's supposed to accomplish this. 

Then Riftan arrives. He's angry with Maxi for some reason, but rather than divorcing her, he declares that she's going with him back to his castle estate, barely giving her time to pack. Maxi has no idea what's going on and is initially somewhat terrified of her husband - he's intense, somewhat cold, and her memories of their one and only night together after their marriage aren't good. 

However, as gruff as he is, he's gentler and more considerate than she remembers him being. He tells her she's beautiful, doesn't seem to care about her stutter, and wants his knights and servants to treat her well. She becomes determined to stay with him, but it's clear that, mentally, he has her on a pedestal, and she worries that he'll be disappointed when he finally learns that she isn't the elegant and treasured young noble lady that he seems to think her father raised her as. 

Saturday, September 14, 2024

REVIEW: Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains (nonfiction book) by Bethany Brookshire

Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I picked this book up because I wrote my undergrad thesis on a similar subject (although my focus was entirely on rats). 

The introduction, which included a rant about "F***ing Kevin," a squirrel (or likely multiple squirrels) that has repeatedly interfered with the author's attempts to garden, had me wondering whether I'd made a mistake. Thankfully, the book did improve.

Initially, it seemed like the text would be organized to cover one animal per chapter. Chapter 1 was rats, chapter 2 was snakes, chapter 3 was mice (I raised an eyebrow at this, since there would inevitably be overlap with info from the rat chapter). The organization scheme slipped a bit in Chapter 4, which started with pigeons but repeatedly slipped into "rabbits in Australia" territory. This happened a lot, to the point where I wondered whether the author had originally wanted to write a book about invasive species in Australia.

REVIEW: The Mist (novella) by Stephen King

The Mist is a horror novella originally published in 1980. I bought my copy new.

Review:

A terrible storm hits western Maine, although thankfully the damage to David and Steff Drayton's home is relatively minor. In the aftermath, David decides to go to the supermarket to pick up a few things. His 5-year-old son Billy comes with him, as does his neighbor, Brent Norton. Steff stays home in order to continue working on cleanup.

Immediately after the storm, a thick fog starts rolling in. By the time David is in line at the supermarket, the fog has swallowed up a good portion of the parking lot, making him uneasy. But the true fear doesn't start until a bloodied man stumbles in from outside, and others try to leave. Something is moving around in the fog, and whatever it is is deadly.

REVIEW: Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook (nonfiction book) by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan

Let's Make Ramen! is a cookbook. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I'll start by saying that I haven't actually made anything from this cookbook. Also, I'm highly unlikely to ever make even half the components of a bowl of ramen from scratch. But if I ever do, this book will be the reason why.

The food illustrations and graphic novel portions are gorgeous, with rich colors and thick linework. The various bowls of ramen and other recipe illustrations made my mouth water the same way some delicious-looking Studio Ghibli meal might.

The book starts with a brief history of ramen, provides a guide for navigating a Japanese ramen-ya, includes a few pages of ramen pantry staples and cooking equipment, and then gets into recipes, starting with stocks and broths, the noodles, then meats, then accompaniments, and wrapping up with some ramen offshoot recipes like tsukemen, abura soba, mazemen, and more. There are also some tips for using a pressure cooker to speed up parts of the cooking process.

REVIEW: Life and Death (book) by Stephenie Meyer

Life and Death is YA paranormal romance. I bought my copy new.

Review:

In her foreword, Stephenie Meyer writes that this book was inspired by complaints that Bella was too much a "damsel in distress" and too consumed by her feelings for Edward. Meyer was inspired to write this gender-swapped version of Twilight because she felt it would show that the things Bella experienced and the way she reacted wouldn't have changed in the slightest had Bella been male instead of female.

And so we have this book, which follows the same plot as Twilight and even, I'm pretty sure, uses much of the same text word-for-word, with a few pronoun changes. I didn't have a copy of Twilight to compare it to, and it's been years since I last read Twilight, but even I could recognize chunks of text.

The two characters I know for sure weren't gender-swapped are Charlie and Renee, Bella's (or in this case, Beaus's) parents. Meyer explained her reasons for that in her foreword as well, although I think she could have managed to make the change work if she'd really wanted. 

Sunday, September 8, 2024

REVIEW: Lout of the Count's Family, Vol. 1 (book) by Yu Ryeo-Han, translated by Henry Shin (MiracleRifle Translations) and Lauren Na

Lout of the Count's Family is an isekai fantasy light novel (or whatever the terminology is for the Korean equivalent). I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Kim Roksu, an ordinary Korean guy who grew up as an orphan, wakes up one day to discover that he is Cale Henituse, the loutish son of Count Henituse in the novel series Birth of a Hero. He's only read up to volume 5 of the series, but it's enough to know that Cale is a very minor character, and he's about to get thoroughly beaten up by the actual hero of the story, Choi Han, a 17-year-old Korean guy who was transported into this fantasy world.

Kim Roksu, as Cale, becomes focused on a single goal: living a peaceful life. As Count Henituse's beloved but loutish son, he should be able to live a life of leisure with all the money he could ever want at his disposal. First, however, he has to avoid getting beaten up by the story's hero, prod the hero and a bunch of other dangerous characters into going elsewhere, and ensure that the Henituse family lands stay as safe as possible.

Getting all those dangerous characters to leave him alone is more difficult than he realizes, however - for some reason, he not only finds himself surrounded by Choi Han and his original entourage, but several additional dangerous characters as well. It's not ideal, but Cale figures that he can at least put all these people to good use, further preparing for his eventual peaceful life while putting himself in as little danger as possible.

REVIEW: Hate Me, But Let Me Stay (manga, vol. 1) by Hijiki, translated by Jacqueline Fung

Hate Me, But Let Me Stay is BL omegaverse manga. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Naoto, an omega, has been afraid of alphas since a bunch of them raped him when he was in high school. He's convinced himself that he doesn't need a mate - life is hard, sure, but he's determined to protect and provide for his young daughter, Shizuku, on his own. 

Still, when his mother asks him to go to a matchmaking party, he reluctantly attends...and is approached by a waiter, Hazuki, who happens to be an alpha, and who declares Naoto to be his fated mate. Naoto leaves and figures that'll be the end of things. With the help of a kindly mated old alpha, Naoto manages to get a job as a high school janitor, only to discover that the waiter he met at the party is one of the students at the school he's working for. 

Sunday, August 25, 2024

REVIEW: The Heiress and the Chauffeur (manga, vol. 2) by Keiko Ishihara, translated by pinkie-chan

The Heiress and the Chauffeur is a historical romance manga. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Sayaka's father arranges a marriage meeting for her with Akihiko Tachibana, the coldly business-minded third son of Earl Tachibana. In the process of turning him down, Sayaka accidentally causes him to fall for her. This could turn into a complicated love triangle, but since this is the final volume of the series and it's time it's time for Sayaka to start catching on to her own and others' feelings, things get resolved more quickly than that. Somehow, the author still manages to fit in a few surprises, though.

REVIEW: The Heiress and the Chauffeur (manga, vol. 1) by Keiko Ishihara, translated by pinkie-chan

The Heiress and the Chauffeur is a historical romance manga. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

This is set during the Taisho era. When Sayaka was little, her mother was killed in a construction accident and Sayaka's foot was injured badly enough that she could no longer walk. In an effort to earn her father's praise and make him spend more time with her, she trained herself to walk again, and to be elegant enough to be called the "crimson lily" of her finishing school. Although Sayaka's father continues to spend most of his time away from her, Sayaka instead grows very close to her chauffeur, Shinobu Narutaki, seeing him as something like an older brother. What she doesn't realize is that Narutaki has fallen in love with her. His overly familiar behavior with her often gets them in trouble, but he's happy to take whatever punishment he's given as long as he can stay by her side.

Still, the difference in their social classes is an issue. In this volume, a jealous girl tries to get Narutaki dismissed, and Narutaki worries that Sayaka will fall in love with someone at a soiree she's invited to.

REVIEW: Alice Love Fables: Toy Box (manga) story by QuinRose, art by Mamenosuke Fujimaru, translated by Angela Liu

Alice Love Fables: Toy Box is an anthology of very short stories linked to various QuinRose visual novel series. I bought my copy of this volume used.

Review:

I wish I'd paid a little more attention to the text on the cover before jumping into this, because I expected its stories to be focused solely on the various Alice in the Country of series, and instead there were stories set in a variety of QuinRose visual novel worlds, including one I had zero familiarity with.

Anyway, a quick list of the characters the stories center on:

- Arabians Lost: The Engagement On Desert: Roberto, Curtis, Stuart

- Alice in the Country of Hearts: Wonderful Wonder World: The Bloody Twins, Julius, Elliot

- Alice in the Country of Clover: Wonderful Wonder World: Gray, Peter, Blood

- Crimson Empire: Circumstances to Serve a Noble: Edvard, Justin, Michael

REVIEW: The Bride Was a Boy (manga memoir) story & art by Chii, translated by Beni Axia Conrad

The Bride Was a Boy is a manga memoir. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This manga memoir focuses on transgender author Chii's experiences with dating, transitioning, legally changing her gender, and getting married. Not everyone in her life knew she was transgender, but her family did and were very supportive, and Husband-kun (the way she refers to her husband throughout) just wanted to be with her however he could. 

REVIEW: The Earl & the Fairy (manga, vol. 4) 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:

This is the final volume of the manga adaptation of this series. The mystery of Doris Walpole's disappearance is solved, but not before Lydia ends up in danger on multiple levels.

Okay, Edgar is cute. Just the right amount of flirty, and yet still too shy to say "don't leave me" to Lydia, so he just arranges for her to be too busy to leave.

Although this is the end of the manga adaptation, I think the light novel series goes further and maybe even wraps up the series' romantic aspects more satisfactorily. I might read the books eventually, in order to get the series' true ending. Or not, seeing as how my TBR pile is enormous and ever growing. The light novels are only available electronically, I think, and I really need to concentrate on physical items instead.

Extras:

A "story thus far" section with character profiles, three humorous four-panel comics, and a short note from the author.

REVIEW: The Earl & the Fairy (manga, vol. 3) 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 is now officially Edgar's fairy doctor. Lydia and Edgar's help is enlisted to find a missing aristocratic girl, Doris Walpole. Her disappearance seems to be linked to her cousin, Rosalie, and something called a "fairy egg." Also, the girls and the egg are somehow connected to Edgar being kidnapped and sold into slavery when he was a child.

The mystery was relatively interesting, and I enjoyed Edgar's flirtiness (he keeps wanting Lydia to be jealous of the time he spends with other girls). Also, Nico was great as usual.

This is still only so-so for me - not bad, but not particularly memorable. 

Extras:

A brief "story thus far" section with character profiles, three humorous four-panel comics, and a short note from the author.

REVIEW: Service Model (book) by Adrian Tschaikovsky

Service Model is science fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Charles (soon to be renamed Uncharles) is a robot valet in a decaying manor, in a decaying world. For reasons unknown, he slits his master's throat one day while shaving him and is forced to go out into the world to find Diagnostics, get fixed, and hopefully find new employment. Along the way, he meets another defective "robot," The Wonk, who tells him he's been infected with the Protagonist Virus, something that supposedly lets robots behave outside of the ways they were programmed. 

REVIEW: Shaken or Stirred (book) by Georgia Beers

Shaken or Stirred is a lesbian contemporary romance. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Julia Martini is the new owner of her family's struggling bar, and she's determined to make it a success - not just because she's sunk a lot of her money into the place, but also because she wants her father to finally approve of her. He loves her, she knows that, but it feels like he's held her at arm's length ever since she came out as a lesbian.

Savannah McNally is a home health care worker who's basically been a caretaker in one way or another since her mother died. She's used to people needing her, which is part of why it stings a little that her dad and younger siblings seem to be turning to her dad's new girlfriend, Dina, more and more. Still, Dina seems to be good for her dad, so she tries to adjust. She feels vaguely guilty when she and her friend agree to meet at Martini's, a bar owned by a family that, for some reason, her dad hates - and then she meets Julia and is completely charmed by her.

REVIEW: The Periodic Table: A Visual Guide to the Elements (nonfiction book) by Paul Parsons and Gail Dixon

The Periodic Table: A Visual Guide to the Elements is nonfiction. I bought my copy used.

Review:

I realized as I was putting together some book lists for my various liaison departments at work that chemistry is one of my weak areas. This was originally published in 2013, so there are almost certainly details that are out-of-date, but I was drawn to the "visual guide" aspect in the title (pictures make the nonfiction go down easier) so I decided to give this a shot.

This book covers each of the 118 known elements, including a page or two for almost all of them. Each element gets a picture or two (either of the element in its pure form, when possible, or of something related to the element), basic information about it (melting point, boiling point, crystal structure, color, phase, etc.), and a text section detailing how/when the element was discovered, what its properties are, what its commercial and medical uses are (if any), how common it is, etc. 

Saturday, August 24, 2024

REVIEW: The Dragon King's Imperial Wrath: Falling in Love with the Bookish Princess of the Rat Clan (manga, vol. 3) story by Aki Shikimi, art by Akiko Kawano, translated by Minna Lin

The Dragon King's Imperial Wrath is a fantasy romance manga series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

It's the final volume of this series. The Bird Clan kidnappers decide to kill Ruiying because they think the Rabbit Princess is the only one who matters, but thankfully Ruiying is saved by an older Bird man. As all of this is going on, King Yawen's wrath is rapidly growing stronger. If something isn't done soon, he may completely lose control to the point that even his closest friends won't be safe.

REVIEW: Button Pusher (graphic novel memoir) by Tyler Page

Button Pusher is Tyler Page's graphic novel memoir of growing up with ADHD. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Tyler Page was an intelligent boy, but he was often hyperactive in class and had a tendency to do things without considering the consequences. His mom initially made a doctor's appointment for him because of some headaches he'd been having, but issues at school turned it into a broader evaluation of Tyler's behavior and family situation. His mom confessed that there were some problems at home - Tyler's father was prone to sudden bouts of anger - so family therapy was proposed. As Tyler's parents tried to talk about and work through their issues, Tyler went to group therapy with other children and was eventually diagnosed with ADD (now referred to as ADHD). He was put on Ritalin and showed some improvement, but his medication still needed occasional adjustment and it was never a miracle cure.

In between scenes from Tyler's childhood, there are brief informational pages about ADHD, what we know about it, some of the benefits and drawbacks of labels, misconceptions about ADHD, and more. The author also briefly touches on ADHD in adults and women and how the way it presents can be very different from the way it presented in him as he was growing up. 

REVIEW: The Earl & the Fairy (manga, vol. 2) 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 travels with Edgar to his holdings near Ireland in order to find the sword and Merrow Star he's been seeking. However, Lydia still doesn't know if she can trust Edgar and now, via Huxley, her father is also in danger.

It's been ages since I last saw it, but I think the events of this volume are where the anime ended.

Meh, this was okay. Nothing about this particular volume really stood out to me. I did kind of like Nico - grumpy, put-upon, and trying to keep Lydia alive.

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Fake Red (manga) story and art by Yusuke Osawa, translated by Caleb Cook

Spider-Man: Fake Red is part of Marvel's efforts to dip into the world of manga. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Yu is an average teen who's failing his classes, has no friends, and skips school to work out on a climbing wall. One day, he happens to find an abandoned and surprisingly well-made Spider-Man suit - and when he discovers that it includes web-slinging tech, he comes to the conclusion that it might actually belong to the real Spider-Man. When he gets spotted trying the suit on, he feels obligated to uphold Spider-Man's honor and fight nearby crime. However, he really is just an ordinary teen. Can he keep this up without getting himself killed? And what happened to the real Spider-Man?

REVIEW: Dead Eleven (book) by Jimmy Juliano

Dead Eleven is a blend of horror and mystery. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This book is structured as a reconstruction of the events leading up to sports writer Harper's sister's disappearance. Harper's sister, Willow, was grieving after the death of her young son when she discovered the words "Clifford Island" written in his room. Wanting desperately to know what sort of connection Clifford Island had to her son, Willow takes a job as the island's new youth ministries director and starts to dig into the island's mysteries. It's a strange place: it has hardly any internet presence, so it's difficult to find out anything about it. The whole island seems to be stuck in the mid-to-early '90s - teens wear slap bracelets, no one has a cell phone, no one has newer cars, etc. People even seem to be weirdly fixated on the OJ Simpson car chase, watching it every day as though it were breaking news.

The story alternates between scenes leading up to Willow's disappearance, as she investigates what makes this island tick and at the same time finds herself strangely at home in this bizarre place, and scenes in which Harper talks to folks on the island in an effort to figure out what happened to his sister. Both Willow and Harper find an ally in Lily, a Clifford Island teenager who's frustrated with the island's rules and doesn't believe in the reasons behind them. 

Sunday, August 18, 2024

REVIEW: The Dragon King's Imperial Wrath: Falling in Love with the Bookish Princess of the Rat Clan (manga, vol. 2) story by Aki Shikimi, art by Akiko Kawano, translated by Minna Lin

The Dragon King's Imperial Wrath is a fantasy romance manga series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Ruiying learns more about the Dragon Clan and starts to become closer to King Yawen, although she's relieved to hear that he isn't ignoring the other princesses. She meets and befriends the Rabbit Princess, who wanted to become a bride candidate so that she'd have the opportunity to study medicine - although the Rabbit Clan is known for its medical knowledge, women in the clan are expected to be beautiful and submissive dolls.

REVIEW: The Dragon King's Imperial Wrath: Falling in Love with the Bookish Princess of the Rat Clan (manga, vol. 1) story by Aki Shikimi, art by Akiko Kawano, translated by Minna Lin

The Dragon King's Imperial Wrath is a fantasy romance manga series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

In the world of this series, thirteen clans rule the land (think animals of the Chinese Zodiac). The Rat Clan is the weakest, while the Dragon Clan is the strongest. The Dragon Clan has summoned a princess from each of the other clans in order to find the Dragon King a bride.

Ruiying isn't interested in becoming the Dragon King's bride - she just wants access to the Dragon Clan's incredible library. However, when the Dragon King, Yawen, encounters her, he instantly declares her his fated mate.

REVIEW: Matchmaking a Player (novella) by Angela Casella

Matchmaking a Player is a contemporary romance novella, part of the author's Highland Hills series. I got my copy free.

Review:

I could have sworn I'd kept at least a few notes about this, but apparently not. I'll have to work from memory. Unfortunately, I honestly don't remember much about this other than that it was just okay.

The main character, Brittany, works at a bar and has a serious crush on her boss's brother, Logan. If I remember right, Logan was interested in her when they first met, but she was married, so he didn't say anything. Now that she's divorced, there's nothing standing in their way except their own issues. 

The romance itself didn't make much of an impression on me - it probably didn't help that I haven't read any of the other works in this series (this novella was a freebie I acquired at the last Book Bonanza). The most memorable bits, for me, were the matchmaking romance author who literally wrote the main characters of this novella into her latest book (I'd think that would feel super weird in real life, but what do I know?), and the fact that Brittany and Logan got caught having sex behind the bar by Logan's brother, Brittany's boss, and this was treated as more mildly amusing than anything.

Anyway, this wasn't bad, I guess, but it didn't prompt me to look up any of the author's other works.