Reading 2007 - December 1-31
6 Books - 2383 pages (2 new)
Dreamstone Moon by Paul Leonard
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Christopher Bulis
Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
The Crown of Dalemark by Diana Wynne Jones5 Graphic Novels - 1360 pages (4 new)
Dramacon 3 by Svetlana Chmakova
Genshiken 9 by Kio Shimoku
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Omnibus (vols 1-3) by CLAMP
Love Attack by Shizuru Seino
Fruits Basket Fanbook - Cat by Natsuki TakayaFanfiction - 275003 words/ 550 pages
Scanlations - 80 pages (all new)
Bleach Chapter 301. Shut Up & Die
Bleach Chapter 302. Pride on the Blade
Bleach Chapter 303. Dumdum-Dummy-Dumbstruck
Bleach Chapter -15. Death in the Field of Ice
Preliminary Yearly Total:
Books: 56 - 19358 pages
Graphic Novels: 139 - 27378 pages
Fanfiction: 213 - 412329 words/ 825 pages
Scanlations: 9 volumes, 100 chapters - 3759 pages
Here we go! The penultimate posting for my Grand Reading Project in 2007. After this, you'll just have to suffer through a year end wrapup including the books I didn't finish and some musings on 2008. It will all be relatively painless, I promise.
Books this month were mostly re-reads with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Gaudy Night having been prompted by their film counterparts. I re-read To Say Nothing of the Dog because I was just in that sort of mood and The Crown of Dalemark because I was inspired by Yuletide stories (which are, by the way, solely responsible for the vast increase in fic reading).
The new books were both Doctor Who novels, one a Missing Adventure and one an Eighth Doctor story. Of the two, I vastly preferred the MA, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which featured the first Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan. In it, the TARDIS lands on a world where 'science' (in this case, pretty much anything electronic) is crippled and magic seems to rule the day. To take the every so faintly bizarre situation a step further, the society seems to come straight out of an idealized mythological view of medieval Europe.
The action is brisk and, over the course of the story, manages to straddle the seeming divide between science and fantasy quite well. I thought the characterization was decent over all with fun moments for each of the characters, though I must admit I particularly enjoyed the bits with Susan as a 'damsel in distress' and the Doctor trying to overcome his skepticism and place events in context. This was a fun read and I don't hesitate to recommend it to anybody looking for a decent First Doctor story.
I had a lot more going on with manga in December, with the final volumes of both Dramacon and Genshiken along with the first volumes of two other series and a Fruits Basket special. I have to say that Fanbook - Cat was a decent companion to the series, filled with fun detail and a priceless moment or two of its own (Ritchan/Mitchan FTW!). It's not something I'd sit down and read cover to cover, but taken in chunks I enjoyed it quite a bit. In fact, if I were still doing Furuba roleplay, I'm pretty sure I'd find some of it completely invaluable.
Dramacon was, overall, a satisfying end to the story. I thought the direction she took with Bethany's family was a bit over the top, but she clearly has a point she's been making over the course of of the story and that was her mechanism for presenting that aspect in this volume. Also, the fact that 'Drama' is in the title should probably be a tip-off for what to expect. At any rate, this title is frequently recommended as the main example of what OEL can be and it clearly earns that distinction, holding up well against most, though hardly all, import shoujo.
After focusing so closely on Oguie and reaching a sort of 'closing point' to her story in the previous volume, this final volume of Genshiken returns to a broader approach. There is no great revelation or resolution, nothing you can point to as a climax to the ongoing story, but more a sense that this particular chapter has been brought to a close for these characters as the three who entered as freshmen in the first chapter graduate. You see more of all the characters through the volume and come away with a clear sense of what's next for nearly all of them. As an end to this 'slice of life' it's decent and in keeping with the tone of the series over all, even if it's without a specific 'impact'. I was satisfied with it and continue to love the series as a whole.
I don't need to comment on Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle as I'm not reading it and I haven't quite decided if I'm going to continue to not read it. I do, however, have something to say about Love Attack. I've mentioned it here before, if briefly, under the name Jun'ai Tokko Taicho. It's by the same mangaka as Heaven!! (which I hated) and Girl Got Game (which I quite enjoyed) and is a relatively straightforward comedic shoujo story about a pair who are more than a little bit rough around the edges. Despite having previously read scanlations, I found that I came to the material fresh and enjoyed it all over again. Further, I found myself comparing this story to Heaven!!--almost entirely in a positive light. The action is far less confusing this time around and the characters more engaging and three dimensional right off the bat. This is a series that I can, and will, recommend unreservedly.
That about wraps things up on the year, though I've a few more comments that I will make in another post. Thank you all for putting up with me on this project, I hope I've at least managed to entertain a bit in the process.
~MsC
