Post-vacation post

I now have my new kitten! She was a bit scared at first, but once I broke out the jingle ball toys she got over that. She's already got me Googling ways to keep cats from playing with electrical cords, but, other than that, we're getting along fine so far. Of course, she's only actually been with me for a few hours, but watching her attack jingle balls gives me good feelings. We even played something that sort of resembled fetch.

I figured that, in addition to kitten stuff, I'd also write about my vacation reading. With all the niece-watching I did, I ended up having plenty of time to read (and massive amounts of time for TV watching, which may have reawakened my addiction to House).

Here's the stuff I managed to finish:

• Evan Can Wait (book) by Rhys Bowen - I mentioned this author and her Constable Evans books as read-alikes for M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth books, but I had never actually read any of Bowen's Constable Evans books. I decided to fix this, and it was a good decision. I can now say from personal experience that the Constable Evans books are definitely good read-alike suggestions for those who liked the Hamish Macbeth books. In this particular book, Evan Evans has the annoying task of watching out for a bunch of people filming a documentary about the recovery of a WWII plane. The most insufferable of the documentary people is murdered, and Evan must figure out who did it. The case ends up being tied to a bit of local history about some paintings that had been hidden in the slate mines during WWII.
• Evanly Bodies (book) by Rhys Bowen - I loved Evan Can Wait, so I figured I'd try another Constable Evans book. These two books, by the way, were the only Constable Evans books I could get hold of at the library right away, but it doesn't appear to matter much which book in the series you start with. Like Beaton's Hamish Macbeth books, all you end up missing out on is a little character history. In Evan Can Wait, Evan was stressing out about his girlfriend and whether she might want to go back to her ex-husband. He hoped to marry her but hadn't asked yet. In this book, the two of them are newly weds. Evan has to deal with what appears to be a serial killer who targets husbands, stressful changes at work, and a Pakistani family whose daughter runs away and may be in danger.
• Ready or Not (book) by Meg Cabot - This is the only YA novel I read during my vacation, and I almost didn't finish it. I got it because I remembered that Cabot is very highly regarded over at Forever Young Adult, but it didn't instantly grab me, so I almost quit after the first 20 pages or so. The end of my vacation swooped in, I only had three days left to read anything, and this was the shortest book in the pile of library books I hadn't read yet, so I decided to finish it - good decision. Samantha (aka Sam) has a lot to deal with in this book: she finds out her new life drawing class involves drawing naked people (in particular, a naked guy, her first naked guy ever); David, her boyfriend and the President's son, asks her to go to Camp David with him and his family, which she is sure means that he wants to have sex, something she's not sure she's ready for; and her conflict about sex and losing her virginity spills over into all sorts of other areas of her life. For those who are worrying that all this thinking about sex means that there's a graphic sex scene, rest assured that that's not the case. Reading about all of Sam's worries made me wish I could help talk her through them - she's an extremely likable character.
• Dream Gold: Knights in the Dark (manga, vol. 1) by Tasurou Nakanishi - In this volume, the main characters join a group in which each individual is dedicated to finding a mysterious treasure hidden somewhere in the city. While this one wasn't necessarily bad, it didn't grab me at all. I have no interest in reading any other volumes of the series. Something about it reminded me a little of GetBackers, only the characters in GetBackers are more interesting.
• Otomen (manga, vol. 1) by Aya Kanno - I liked Aya Kanno's Blank Slate and wanted to try this series. Happily, the library had volume 1. Unfortunately, I could find no other volumes on the shelves - I loved this volume, and definitely plan on reading more. The only issue I can see is that this could end up being a one-note series that gets stale quickly. In this volume, Asuka appears to be the proper manly ideal. What others don't know about him is that he secretly likes girlie things, like handicrafts, cooking, and cute animals. He falls in love with a clueless girl who likes macho stuff and meets a guy who starts off as his romantic rival and becomes something like a friend. What Asuka doesn't know is that this guy is actually a manga artist and author who's been basing his hit shojo series on Asuka's life. In case this description hasn't already made it obvious, this series is nothing like Kanno's Blank Slate. Kanno is a brave person to tackle such completely different tones.
• The Kindaichi Case Files: The Gentleman Thief (manga, I didn't write down which volume this is) story by Yozaburo Kanari, art by Fumiya Sato - I've liked other Kindaichi Case Files volumes I've read, although not enough to seek them out and buy them. A mysterious thief called the Gentleman Thief has been stealing works of art and altering their real-life subjects (for instance, stealing a painting of a tree and then clipping the tree to look like the thief's symbol). None of this is very sinister until the Gentleman Thief targets a particular artist who became famous after painting a portrait of his daughter as he imagined she would look like years later. Several paintings are stolen, several people are killed. This was a nice, interesting mystery - I had fun trying to figure out who the killer was. I like the art style, too.
• Millennium Snow (manga, vol. 1) by Bisco Hatori - A terminally ill girl meets a vampire who could save her life and make her live a thousand years just by drinking her blood. Unfortunately for her, he doesn't want to. If I remember right, this series is very brief, and I can see why. As a vampire romance (or werewolf romance, if you count the guy who shows up later in this volume), it's not very good. The supernatural stuff isn't very prominent, and the romance didn't prompt any fangirl feelings on my part.
• What Happens in London (book) by Julia Quinn - This one was a very good choice for a vacation read. It was fast-paced and fun, and the suspense bits didn't get very dark. When I picked it up, I had no idea that it involved characters first introduced in The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, the only other book by Quinn I've read. I found this one to be much more enjoyable than that one - for one thing, the hero was much less of a jerk. This particular book features Miranda's friend Olivia, who has more suitors than she knows what to do with, and not a single suitor who cares to look past her pretty face and figure out what she's really like. The courtship through windows was wonderful, and I loved the proposal.

These are the books I didn't finish:

• In a Gilded Cage (book) by Rhys Bowen - I didn't dislike this book, but it didn't really grab me, either, and that just won't do for vacation reading. I much prefer Bowen's Evan Evans books.
• The Black Gryphon (book) by Mercedes Lackey - This was the very first book by Lackey that I ever read - I was a teenager on a gryphon kick. I've since read this many times. I took it with me to read on the plane and did not allow myself to read it at all once I got myself a stack of library books. That's pretty much the only reason I didn't finish it.

The Kindaichi Case Files: The Undying Butterflies (manga, vol. 17) by Yozaburo Kanari (story) and Fumiya Sato (art)

While looking at a magazine article, Kindaichi, a crime-solving high school student, sees a murderer from one of his previous cases, someone who's supposed to be dead. Kindaichi, his friend Miyuki, and Itsuki (a reporter) travel to the Madarame Estate to check out this man they think is the murderer Eiji Touno. Shimon Madarame is a famous butterfly enthusiast - he has supposedly revived an extinct species of butterfly, one that is known for its ability to glow in the dark. Although Kindaichi and the others in his party have come to investigate the man who looks like Eiji Touno (Shimon Madarame's assistant, Hikage Miyama), there's something unsettling about the Madarame household. Shimon Madarame's youngest daughter hates him for some reason, and all Shimon seems to care about is butterflies - his daughters are even named after butterflies.

The Black Butterfly of Death, a butterfly with marking that look a human skeleton's ribs, keeps getting spotted, and, one by one, Shimon Madarame's family turns up murdered, beginning with his youngest daughter. Shimon's middle daughter is barely saved by Miyama (the two are secretly in love with each other), and Kindaichi must race to discover the murderer before all his or her intended victims have been killed. In the end, it's discovered that something in Shimon Madarame's past is a vital clue to discovering the identity of the killer.

I was actually kind of shocked when I discovered who the killer was in this volume - I mean, the thought of it is kind of icky, when you think about his relationship to the Madarame family and what he was doing in order to get close to them. In some ways, I enjoyed this volume more than volume 16 - the ending was so tragic. The entire Madarame family was just so messed up and doomed. Even if those daughters hadn't been killed, this wasn't ever going to be a happy family.

I loved the artwork in this volume, too. The use of the butterfly patterns in the daughters' kimonos was lovely, even if it was also kind of creepy (another example of Shimon's obsession with butterflies).

One thing I did wonder about was the single page in which Shimon Madarame had his wife tied up on a wall, wearing a butterfly kimono. It was actually somewhat disturbing. Did he torture her to punish her for once having loved someone besides him? How could she continue to stay married to someone like that? I know she explains her reasons at the end of the volume, but that's some crazily long-term vengeance.

Overall, I really enjoyed this volume, even though I've never read the volume in which Touno was introduced (volume 6). I still found everything easy to follow, and I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery on my own. As far as extras go, there's not much, other than a page at the beginning introducing newcomers to the series to the premise and three characters (Kindaichi, Miyuki, and Detective Kenmochi, who doesn't even show up in this volume).

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

• Loveless (anime TV series); Loveless (manga) by Yun Kouga - Twelve-year-old Ritsuka's life isn't very normal - his older brother died not too long ago, his mother is physically abusive, and a strange 19-year-old man named Soubi has shown up, claiming to have known his brother. Soubi says he is Ritsuka's Fighter, while Ritsuka is a Sacrifice. Ritsuka slowly comes to understand what this means, as he learns to battle other Fighter-Sacrifice pairs who may be able to lead him to knowledge about his brother's death. Those who'd like another anime with a suspenseful aspect, in which butterflies play a role, might enjoy this series.
• Case Closed (anime TV series); Case Closed (manga) by Gosho Aoyama - High school detective Kudo Shinichi is well-known in Japan as a genius crime-solver. Unfortunately, after he is drugged by two mysterious men in black, he wakes up to discover that his body is now that of a child. Shinichi hides his identity as he tries to find clues about the men in black through the clients and cases of a pathetic, second-class detective. Those who'd like another story involving a boy crime-solver and one-shot mysteries might enjoy this title.
• Black Jack (manga) by Osamu Tezuka; Black Jack (anime TV series) - Black Jack is brilliant unlicensed doctor who helps those who'll pay him, those he takes mercy on, and those who touch his heart. He doesn't need to follow the same rules other doctors do, and he can do things for his patients that few other doctors are capable of. Those who'd like another series with an old school feel (actually, this really does count as old school) and one-shot stories might enjoy this title.
• Descendants of Darkness (manga) by Yoko Matsushita; Descendants of Darkness (anime TV series) - Even after death, there's paperwork to do and criminals to catch. Tsuzuki Asato is a somewhat goofy (yet powerful) shinigami (god of death) whose job involves ensuring that the dead remain properly dead and out of the lives of the living. Tsuzuki gets a new partner, Hisoka, and the cases they investigate keep bringing them up against Muraki, a serial killer. Muraki seems to know an awful lot about Tsuzuki and Hisoka's darkest secrets. Those who'd like another story involving (at first, anyway) one-shot mysteries might enjoy this title.
• Tactics (anime TV series) - Kantaro is a folklorist who can see monsters (in the loose sense of the word) that others can't. All his life, he's been determined to find and befriend the demon-eating goblin. One day, he does, but the relationship is a bit bumpier than Kantaro might have hoped. Those who'd like another series composed mostly of one-shot stories and mysteries might like this anime. In addition, there's an episode involving a mother and her two daughters that reminded me a bit of this volume of The Kindaichi Case Files.
  

The Kindaichi Case Files: The Magical Express (manga, vol. 16) by Yozaburo Kanari (story) and Fumiya Sato (art)

Hajime Kindaichi is a high school student who is regarded by his classmates and teachers as something of a loser. However, he's actually a brilliant crime-solver, and the grandson of Japan's most famous detective, Kousuke Kindaichi. In this volume, the police have received a mysterious puzzle box containing a twisted marionette and a note from "The Puppetmaster" saying that something bad is going to happen on a certain train, on a certain date. The police enlist Hajime Kindaichi's help and plan to ride the train on that date. Also on the train at the same time is a magic troupe - after the Puppetmaster employs some misdirection, the first victim is discovered to be one of the members of the magic troupe, whose body is staged to look just like the twisted marionette.

Kindaichi and the police continue to investigate after the train has reached its destination, even as more members of the magic troupe continue to die. It eventually becomes clear that the deaths are linked to the magic troupe's past and the death of one of its former members.

This is the first time I've ever read anything in this series. It's not really the kind of thing I'd buy, since I doubt I'd ever want to reread it, but it was still fun. Basically, it's got an old school mystery feel, with the kind of clues that allow you to either solve the mystery yourself or at least get most of the way there. At certain places in the volume, previous events are summarized and all the characters are listed - the ones who have died and can therefore no longer be considered suspects are grayed out.

Overall, I liked this volume. The artwork and story are both clear and easy to follow, which is a plus for a mystery. Even though I jumped into this series at a rather late stage, the character info at the beginning of the volume helped me understand some of the character dynamics. Besides, it's not like the character dynamics and premise of the story are all that complicated (or very original) - the important thing is the mystery, and that was entirely self-contained in this volume.

As far as extras go, there's really nothing besides the page of stuff at the beginning designed to introduce new readers to the recurring characters and the series. However, since this volume costs the same amount as Tokyopop's other titles ($9.99) and is maybe twice as thick as the volumes of other Tokyopop series, there's still a lot here for your money.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

• Tactics (anime TV series) - Kantaro is a folklorist who can see monsters (in the loose sense of the word) that others can't. All his life, he's been determined to find and befriend the demon-eating goblin. One day, he does, but the relationship is a bit bumpier than Kantaro might have hoped. Those who'd like another series composed mostly of one-shot stories and mysteries might like this anime. In addition, there's one particular episode involving a doll-maker that might appeal to those who enjoyed the marionette dolls in this volume of The Kindaichi Case Files.
• Case Closed (anime TV series); Case Closed (manga) by Gosho Aoyama - High school detective Kudo Shinichi is well-known in Japan as a genius crime-solver. Unfortunately, after he is drugged by two mysterious men in black, he wakes up to discover that his body is now that of a child. Shinichi hides his identity as he tries to find clues about the men in black through the clients and cases of a pathetic, second-class detective. Those who'd like another story involving a boy crime-solver and one-shot mysteries might enjoy this title.
• Descendants of Darkness (manga) by Yoko Matsushita; Descendants of Darkness (anime TV series) - Even after death, there's paperwork to do and criminals to catch. Tsuzuki Asato is a somewhat goofy (yet powerful) shinigami (god of death) whose job involves ensuring that the dead remain properly dead and out of the lives of the living. Tsuzuki gets a new partner, Hisoka, and the cases they investigate keep bringing them up against Muraki, a serial killer. Muraki seems to know an awful lot about Tsuzuki and Hisoka's darkest secrets. Those who'd like another story involving (at first, anyway) one-shot mysteries might enjoy this title.
• Black Jack (manga) by Osamu Tezuka; Black Jack (anime TV series) - Black Jack is brilliant unlicensed doctor who helps those who'll pay him, those he takes mercy on, and those who touch his heart. He doesn't need to follow the same rules other doctors do, and he can do things for his patients that few other doctors are capable of. Those who'd like another series with an old school feel (actually, this really does count as old school) and one-shot stories might enjoy this title.
• The Prestige (live action movie) - Robert and Alfred are rival magicians obsessed with coming up with the ultimate magic trick. When Alfred performs a trick so fantastic that it appears to truly be magic, Robert desperately tries to figure out his secret. Those who'd like another story in which characters will do just about anything to get the secret of an ultimate magic trick might enjoy this movie.
• Murder on the Orient Express (book) by Agatha Christie - An American businessman is stabbed to death on the Orient Express, and Hercule Poirot is determined to discover who murdered him and why. Those who enjoyed the "murder on the train" aspect of this volume of The Kindaichi Case Files and who would like to try to puzzle through an even more complex mystery might like this book.