22 posts tagged “reading 2007”

The final raw numbers for everything I read in 2007 are as follows:

Books: 56 - 19358 pages
Graphic Novels: 139 - 27378 pages
Fanfiction: 213 - 412329 words/ 825 pages
Scanlations: 9 volumes, 100 chapters - 3759 pages

Re-figuring this for re-reads of the same book during the course of the year, it changes slightly. I'm going to leave the number of pages the same, but reflect the number of unique books:

Books: 55 - 19358 pages
Graphic Novels: 122 - 27378 pages
Fanfiction: 213 - 412329 words/ 825 pages
Scanlations: 9 volumes, 100 chapters - 3759 pages

I've already posted a full list of all the books I read as a poll so I'm not going to reiterate them here. The two things I haven't covered are a list of all manga series that I read (much simpler than individual volumes) and the handful of books that I started during the year, but didn't finish.

As usual, I'm going to tackle the books first. These are almost all things I intend to finish at some point, but either I ran out of time or put them down for other things and just never quite got back to them. Actually, when I went looking for unfinished books, I found more than I expected, I'm actually kind of embarrassed.

Leading off the embarrassment is Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things. It's not that I dislike short stories, or that the stories in this compilation are in any way bad, quite the opposite in fact. It's just that I tend to pick it up in between other things, read one story, and then forget about the book for another couple of months. I think I have a Diana Wynne Jones short story book that I've treated the same way, too. I'll finish these in 2008, I swear!

Next up is another book I've been reading in between other things. I picked up a remainder book called Manhunter: The Definitive History of Serial Murder Investigation as background for a story I didn't end up writing. It's not a priority for finishing any time soon, but if I do write that story, I'm definitely going to pick this back up again.

I've actually got two Doctor Who novels in the unfinished pile. One of which, amazingly, stars my beloved Eighth Doctor and Fitz. The Banquo Legacy is...well, it's not bad per se, it just really hasn't been my cup of tea. Honestly, I can't even really tell you what it's about or why I haven't been reading it, but that's not surprising because going by the bookmark, I haven't picked this up since February of last year.

The other Doctor Who novel is one I simply haven't finished. It's a Missing Adventure called Downtime and the Doctor doesn't appear in it at all. Instead, we have Victoria, the Brigadier and Sarah Jane which should have added up to a kickass novel but...didn't. Actually, the first portion of things dealing solely with Victoria and following on The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear held a lot of promise, but the actual main story bogs down and just plain gets uninteresting. Fortunately, I've only got about another thirty-five pages and then I can put that one to rest.

The next book is one I borrowed from my brother, it's the first compilation of Glen Cook's Garrett stories, The Garrett Files. I'm about thirty pages in to the first book Sweet Silver Blues. It's not bad so far, but I was reading it when my brother got sick and I just haven't picked it up since. The other book I was reading when my brother got sick was Welcome to the NHK. That one I put down because I couldn't bear to continue reading.

Welcome to the NHK is actually far too good, it was cutting way too close to home for me to feel comfortable reading it. The main character is what's known in Japan as a hikikomori. When I had this problem, I called myself agoraphobic, though I never was formally diagnosed that way*. The story is excellent, and I'm very near the end of the book, but I'm not ready to face the rest of it just yet. Until then, this book will remain unfinished and I can guarantee that I will not be reading the manga or watching the anime any time soon. I do, however, recommend it to the rest of you.

The final book left unread in 2007 was one of the Early Reviewer books I've gotten through LibraryThing. Tokyo Year Zero sounded incredibly promising. It's a novel based on a real life serial murderer who was active in post-war Tokyo. What I found when I started reading was an impenetrable stream of consciousness first person perspective. The story may yet follow through on its early promise, but I haven't been able to get past the prologue because I find the prose to be such tough going and I just haven't had the energy to put in to this book. I plan to try again in January, because I feel obligated both to give it another shot and to share my experience in a review.

And, as usual, I'm going to end with the manga. The following is a list of all thirty-five series I read in 2007:

Aishiteruze Baby
Bleach
Buso Renkin
Crimson Hero
Divalicious
Dramacon
Emma
Fruits Basket
Fullmetal Alchemist
Genshiken
Heaven!!
Hellsing
Hoshi no Koe
Kamen Tantei
Kaze Hikaru
Love Attack
Millenium Snow
Monster
Nana
Ohikkoshi
Ouran High School Host Club
Paradise Kiss
Pixie Pop Gokkun Pucho
Rin!
Rurouni Kenshin
Saiyuki Reload
Shirahime-Syo
Skip Beat
Suppli
Tramps Like Us
Trigun
Trinity Blood
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
Wild Adapter
xxxHolic

*There are a handful of people on my LJ who may remember what I was like that time

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 Jones

5 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 Takaya

Fanfiction - 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

Here's the second part of my November reading post, focusing entirely on Manga. To remind you of what I read, here's the official list:

14 Graphic Novels - 2637 pages (8 new)
Tramps Like Us 8 by Yayoi Ogawa
Tramps Like Us 13 by Yayoi Ogawa
Dramacon 1 by Svetlana Chmakova
Dramacon 2 by Svetlana Chmakova
Kaze Hikaru 7 by Taeko Watanabe
Bleach 21 by Tite Kubo
Nana 7 by Ai Yazawa
Skip Beat 6 by Yoshiki Nakamura
Skip Beat 7 by Yoshiki Nakamura
Aishiteruze Baby 7 by Yoko Maki
Crimson Hero 5 by Mitsuba Takanashi
Wild Adapter 3 by Kazuya Minekura
Kamen Tantei 2 by Matsuri Akino
Suppli 1 by Mari Okazaki

 

The Tramps Like Us and Dramacon were sort of a 'follow-on' to my shoujo-fest from the end of October. I picked up number 8 as part of 'filling in' missing books and number 13 because it had just come out. Dramacon was just me wanting more light fun and a bit of reviewing because I knew the final volume would be coming out in December.

Tramps Like Us 13 is the penultimate volume in this series, and it truly shows. Much of the focus is on Sumire's changing relationship with Takeshi. We get to see the way they adjust to love as equals and the extreme distance between them and, ultimately, the choices they make to stay together. These are reflected throughout the volume by the actions of the secondary characters, not the least of which is the Hasumi/Fukushima pairing. All in all, it was beautifully handled and I'm very much looking forward to the denouement in Volume 14.

Kaze Hikaru and Bleach were both excellent as always, as was Nana. I'm going to focus, instead, on a couple of titles that I don't talk much about, Skip Beat and Aishiteruze Baby.

Skip Beat is not a book I've gone out of my way for. I read the first several volumes in scanlation and it's on my 'to pick up eventually' list rather than at the top of my must haves. The series on the whole is pretty decent and it puts a nice spin on the stereotypical 'shoujo idol' subgenre. I like that Kyoko isn't always a particularly nice or even, sometimes, sympathetic character. I like that her motivation is as much about revenge as it is about succeeding for herself.

In these volumes, we see a lot more of the nice side of Kyoko. We see her working hard for herself as well as for Ren and even doing pretty well at things. The darker side doesn't come out again until she's directly faced with the object of her ire and her identiy is fully known meaning she must prove herself through her work.

I admit to not fully understanding the extent of all the relationships, but it feels like a balance is maintained as she manages to impress and piss off the male leads in pretty much equal parts throughout both volumes. For a series that can go a bit over the top, it has a very solid storytelling base and I'm considering actually going out of my way to get more.

Aishiteruze Baby is one of my secret, guilty pleasures. I read the first chapter in Shojo Beat approximately forever ago and hated it. Then, for no very good reason, I began to download the anime and very quickly became sucked in by the story. What at first seems like a very over-the-top cutefest is actually a much richer story of love and family -- both the family you are born with and the family you create.

This final volume can only be described as bittersweet. Just as Kippei manages to bring his relationship with Kokoro to a satisfying place, the rug is ripped out from under him when Yuzuyu's mother returns. The resolution is not reached easily and the sweetness of the ending only serves to mitigate things so much. It's the depth of feeling in these later chapters that make the overall, overbearing sweetness of much of the series palatable for me.

Crimson Hero is a series I can pretty much skip over as it's a very straightforward shoujo sports story. Wild Adapter I can sum up with a simple LOVED IT because if I try to explain why I'm probably not going to be very coherent. Kamen Tantei is bland enough that I don't feel a pressing need to go over it for you here. My only comment is to not judge Matsuri Akino by this series, she's capable of so much better.

That leaves Suppli. I picked this up after a brief review that basically said 'it's josei and it's good' which is pretty much all I needed. I've been looking for a good josei fix for after Tramps Like Us ends and I was more than happy to try this out.

I'm very glad that I did, because this has everything I've been wanting in a romance manga. It's got emotional relationships that I can, well, relate to, along with the dilemmas of balancing your work identity, your personal identity and how to fit a relationship into that mix. All of it rings true and is much more in line with my experiences than the idealism of shoujo. If you're looking for a good romance that fits in with adult experience rather than teenage idealism, this is the book to pick up.

Seriously, it's excellent. Go. Buy it. Now.

COMING SOON!

My December commentary with year-end review and wrap up to this little experiment of mine!

Oops! Being home sick meant that the days sort of all ran together. I meant to get my November book commentary posted this weekend which means, err, now.

So...enjoy, my friends! Only two more of these to endure!

7 Books - 2171 pages (5 new)
The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones
Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
Lungbarrow by Marc Platt
The Taking of Planet 5 by Simon Boucher-Jones and Mark Clapham
Lords of the Storm by David A. McIntee
Legacy of the Daleks by John Peel
Fullmetal Alchemist: Under the Faraway Sky by Makoto Inoue

14 Graphic Novels - 2637 pages (8 new)
Tramps Like Us 8 by Yayoi Ogawa
Tramps Like Us 13 by Yayoi Ogawa
Dramacon 1 by Svetlana Chmakova
Dramacon 2 by Svetlana Chmakova
Kaze Hikaru 7 by Taeko Watanabe
Bleach 21 by Tite Kubo
Skip Beat 6 by Yoshiki Nakamura
Skip Beat 7 by Yoshiki Nakamura
Aishiteruze Baby 7 by Yoko Maki
Crimson Hero 5 by Mitsuba Takanashi
Nana 7 by Ai Yazawa
Wild Adapter 3 by Kazuya Minekura
Suppli 1 by Mari Okazaki
Kamen Tantei 2 by Matsuri Akino

Fanfiction - None

Scanlations - 114 pages (none previously read)
Bleach Chapter 297. King of the Kill by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 298. Intruder23 by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 299. The Verbal Warfare by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 300. Curse Named Love by Kubo Tite/M7
Nana Chapter 68. by Ai Yazawa/Takoyakis

Total, Year to date:
Books: 50 - 16975 pages
Graphic Novels: 134 - 26018 pages
Fanfiction: 75 - 137326 words/ 275 pages
Scanlations: 9 volumes, 96 chapters - 3679 pages

I...err...got a lot read in November. This is at least partly due to the combination of me spending the better part of a week at my parent's house while my father had emergency surgery, Lohquesse providing me with an armful of crack, and the subsequent Thanksgiving holiday. I've rearranged the list some so that things make a bit more sense and I'll be tackling the books that way. It's not actually the order I read things in.

At the beginning of the month, I was looking for 'comfort reading' and, really, what better than a Diana Wynne Jones book for the right combination of humorous, warm-hearted fantasy? I realized I had not yet read the latest Chrestomanci book and picked up The Pinhoe Egg post-haste.

I was in no way disappointed with this book. The story was a beautifully told fantasy with a slightly dark edge to it offset entirely by the book's inherent sense of humor. It is neither deep nor perfectly plotted, but that's hardly what I turn to Diana Wynne Jones' books for. It was a great story that I had fun with and that's everything I needed it to be.

Later in the month, when I was looking for more 'comfort reading' I picked up an older book of hers under somewhat false pretenses. I had gotten Deep Secret completely confused with another book whose name is still escaping me, but I'm not the least bit disappointed that I did so.

Deep Secret is a fantasy book set, not unfittingly, partially at a fantasy convention. There's a great sense of humor to it, though it does tend to be a bit darker than her books aimed more directly at young adults. The story is convoluted, but interesting and ultimately resolved to the satisfaction of at least most of the parties involved. There's not much in the way of deep thought here, but I'd definitely recommend it to a teen or adult looking for a nice bit of escapism.

On the Doctor Who front...well, I read an awful lot of Doctor Who in November. I started with Lungbarrow which I re-read for the Doctor Who discussion group on Livejournal. I made a few comments there, which basically boil down to 'this book is pure crack and is not any less cracktacular the second time around'. Though, I do have to say that I was a good deal less confused this time.

Still. Pure crack.

After that, I caught up on a couple of Who books that I had started and not really gotten anywhere with. The Taking of Planet 5 was...not as bad as I thought when I started it, but still nothing I'm going to go out of my way to recommend. I might understand more if it if I knew more about the Chthulu mythos, but I sincerely doubt it. I definitely understood at least a little bit more because in the intervening time since I set this one down, I'd read Alien Bodies. The story was confusing to say the least, but at least it had Fitz in it, as he rarely fails to amuse me.

The other 'backlog' Who novel was a Missing Adventure, Lords of the Storm starring the Fifth Doctor and Turlough. I ended up enjoying this a good deal more than I had expected. It was a relatively fast-paced story involving the Sontarans and a planet that got caught up in a plot to ensnare their enemies, the Rutan. There was a lot of action, some decent secondary characters, a sprinkling of crack, and I loved the way Turlough was written. This ended up being fun to read.

The final Who book for November was Legacy of the Daleks which I absolutely loved. Seriously, loved. I hadn't looked too closely at it because it was during the tenure of Sam Jones (who I don't really like all that much) but she's not in it at all. It's an Eighth Doctor book showcasing him and...Susan!

The setting is Earth, several decades after the events in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. With so much of its resources and infrastructure destroyed, Britain goes back to a feudal-type society. The Doctor arrives looking for Sam, decides to check in on Susan while he's there, and manages to get caught up in a plot to resurrect the Daleks on Earth. It's a dark story (which may be why I like it so much), but I had a blast reading it. I thought the Doctor was great, I loved every second we spent with Susan and thought the book came to a terrific end. This is definitely going on my list of Who books to re-read.

The final book of the month was the fourth Fullmetal Alchemist light novel, Under the Faraway Sky. Really, two novellas under a single title. The first book was cute, though it used the fanfic convention of a 'childhood friend' OC to compare Ed to.  However, the second novella was devoted to Colonel Mustang with secondary roles going to Hughes and Armstrong which earns it a thumbs up from me. Pretty much any story with the three of them would get a thumbs up from me. Really, the main reason to mention it at all is because it makes a n‪ice lead-in to the manga I read. Which...I now believe I will cover in another post as this is becoming absurdly long and I would like to be kind to my LJ friendslist.

 

Okay, I've kind of been sucked in to the post-Yuletide madness as you will no doubt see when I post my year end totals and the fanfiction reading spikes. To be honest, as much as I love it, I think I need a break from the fic and since the secure server to my office is down...I'm going to get caught up on my reading posts.

Lucky you!

Here are my totals for October:

3 Books - 790 pages (2 new)
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
Aphrodite by Masaki Yamada
The Natural by Bernard Malamud

8 Graphic Novels - 1524 pages (2 new)
Monster 10 by Naoki Urasawa
Monster 11 by Naoki Urasawa
Emma 5 by Kaoru Mori
Tramps Like Us 2 by Yayoi Ogawa
Tramps Like Us 9 by Yayoi Ogawa
Tramps Like Us 10 by Yayoi Ogawa
Tramps Like Us 11 by Yayoi Ogawa
Tramps Like Us 12 by Yayoi Ogawa

Fanfiction - None

Scanlations - 75 pages (none previously read)
Bleach Chapter 293. Urge for Unite by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 294. If You Call Me Beast, Kill You Like Tempest by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 295. The Last Mission by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 296. Changed Again and Again by Kubo Tite/M7

Total, Year to date:
Books: 43 - 14804 pages
Graphic Novels: 120 - 23381 pages
Fanfiction: 75 - 137326 words/ 275 pages
Scanlations: 9 volumes, 91 chapters - 3565 pages

 

 

Thunderstruck was a book I picked up when it first came out, based on the strength of The Devil in the White City. Thunderstruck is told in a similar manner, by interweaving the story of a murder case and a technological innovation that is inextricably tied to the events. In this case, it was the stories of Dr. Crippen (so famously caught pursued via wireless) and Guglielmo Marconi. The pairing of the two made perfect sense...until I found myself wanting to skip past the Marconi bits to get back to Dr. Crippen.

In the end, I found the book to be uneven. The two stories did not have similar appeal for me, and further, I found myself more or less trying to process events as happening 'side by side' when, often, the wireless telegraphy drama had happened years before much of the action on the Crippen side of things. I enjoyed both stories to some degree, and did enjoy the book as a whole, but am left wondering if I might not have been better served by simply buying a book about the Crippen case*.

 

Aphrodite was a book that I went out of my way to acquire on the strength of the Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence tie-in novel, After the Long Goodbye. It is, as far as I can tell, the only other book by that author that has been translated in to English and I had high hopes after the quality of After the Long Goodbye which has to be one of the best post-cyberpunk books out there**.

I found myself incredibly disappointed in the story. I wish I could say that it was the fault of a poor translation but I think it may be more that the concepts do not translate well for a Western audience. Or else it's just me, that's also possible.

Aphrodite is the story of a Yuichi, a young man who is drifting through life until he finds his spiritual home on a man-made island named, oddly enough, Aphrodite. The book follows him through different phases in his life, both on and off the island until we reach the final crisis for Aphrodite and the role Yuichi plays in it.

The book never really 'grabbed' me. I felt too removed from Yuichi who, in turn, felt too removed from the world, to really become involved in the story. There was an airy quality about the prose that kept me, as a reader, at arms length. The story itself was interesting, if a bit depressing in the end, but it felt like it had been trying to teach me something and I'm pretty sure it didn't succeed. I honestly wish I could recommend this book, but I can't in good conscience.

 

The final book I read in October was Bernard Malamud's The Natural. I had been watching the movie adaptation on television and grabbed my copy of the book off the shelf as I ran up to Maryland to visit my brother in the hospital. The story is excellent, if somewhat darker than Barry Levinson's depiction of it in film. In many ways, I prefer this darker, more edged tale of loss, pain and morality to the triumph of spirit we are given on the silver screen. It has certainly earned its reputation as a modern classic.

On the manga side of things, this was when I caught up on Monster volumes 10 and 11 as well as Emma volume 5. I have extensively discussed how much I love these series in the past so I won't bore the world with that again. Also, I seem to have gone through a 'romance' phase immediately after my brother got out of the hospital***. That would account for re-reading all the volumes I own of Tramps Like Us. Which, again, is not anything I need to go into great depth about as I've discussed it before.

And that brings us to a close for October...look forward to my November post sometime this weekend and the December/Year-end Roundup on January 1!

 

 

 

 

 

*Also, how cool was it that someone actually took the time to do DNA testing on the preserved remains at Scotland Yard? I have to admit, Dr. Crippen's guilt didn't really shine through for me (despite his wife being completely awful) and I like to think the results support a theory of Belle running off and leaving him.

**Seriously, even if you're not in to Ghost in the Shell, if you like cyberpunk,or post-cyberpunk read this book. You don't need the series to understand it and it kicks that much ass.

***Reading for comfort? Yeah, not terribly surprising.

Hello! And now the post that no-one's been waiting for...the continuation of my book commentary!

In retrospect, I'm not quite sure why I decided to break September into two posts, but here is the long awaited second half of the month. You can look forward to posts for October and November sometime this week and I plan to post my December wrap-up on New Year's Day.

3 Books - 1502 pages (3 new)
His Dark Materials Omnibus Edition by Phillip Pullman
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Love and War by Paul Cornell

Graphic Novels - None

Fanfiction - 27648 words/ 55 pages

Scanlations - 36 pages (none previously read)
Bleach Chapter 291. Thank You for Defend Me by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 292. Rupture My Replica by Kubo Tite/M7

Total, Year to date:
Books: 40 - 14014 pages
Graphic Novels: 112 - 21857 pages
Fanfiction: 75 - 137326 words/ 275 pages
Scanlations: 9 volumes, 87 chapters - 3490 pages

 

The first 'book' I read in this timeperiod was the omnibus of the His Dark Materials trilogy. I read all three books (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) back to back in a relatively short period of time. My brother loaned the book to me, insisting that I must read these stories before the film came out. I hemmed and hawed a bit until a close friend of mine who does not get worked up about books easily proclaimed her undying love and affection for these stories -- to the point where we drove to several different local bookstores trying to track down an omnibus edition for her to take overseas.

My reaction was...not nearly that enthusiastic. The books were okay. A fairly decent, if somewhat straightforward, fantasy adventure. In the end, though, the story didn't engage me. I was never left wanting more. I kept feeling as though there were something I was missing based on the number of people who genuinely love this series, but ultimately, I never found it.

 

The next book I read was one of my own choosing, Kitchen Confidential. As near as I can tell, this was the start of the 'cult of Bourdain' and I wanted to see what it was all about. I have to admit, Kitchen Confidential was one of the better memoirs I have read. Bourdain uses a straightforward style to bare his past and experiences, both good and bad, and opens up a world that exists just on the other side of the kitchen doors at your favorite restaurant. I enjoyed every second of the time I spent reading it and was only disappointed because it went so fast.

The final book of September was Paul Cornell's Love and War. It is another Doctor Who book set immediately after the book I had just finished. I'm not going to go over it in any detail, but my impression several months later is still one of disappointment. The book just wasn't that good. Ace deserved a better sendoff and Benny deserved a better beginning.

Since I don't normally discuss the fic I read, it looks like that's all for now. Expect more soooon!

3 Books - 585 pages (3 new)
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
Reborn on the Mars - Volume 1: The Star of Sorrow by Sunao Yoshida
Nightshade by Mark Gatiss

5 Graphic Novels - 967 pages (2 new)
Fullmetal Alchemist 13 by Hiromu Arakawa
Fullmetal Alchemist 14 by Hiromu Arakawa
Paradise Kiss 1 by Ai Yazawa
Paradise Kiss 2 by Ai Yazawa
Ohikkoshi by by Hiroaki Samura

Fanfiction - None

Scanlations - 567 pages (3 volumes previuosly read)
Bleach Chater 289. The Scarmask by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 290. The Broken Mask by Kubo Tite/M7
Paradise Kiss Volume 3 by Ai Yazawa
Paradise Kiss Volume 4 by Ai Yazawa
Paradise Kiss Volume 5 by Ai Yazawa

Total, Year to date:
Books: 37 - 12512 pages
Graphic Novels: 112 - 21857 pages
Fanfiction: 40 - 109678 words/219 pages
Scanlations: 9 volumes, 85 chapters - 3454 pages

Okay...because I like the people on my LJ friendslist so much, I'm going to break September up into two posts. Each one will be fairly long as is, so I might as well keep the long post spam to a reasonable level.

I started the month off with something different, a mystery I picked up randomly. It turns out that there is an entire series and I think I managed to get the first one. The best thing I can say about Cocaine Blues is that I would have loved it when I was fifteen. Well, that and the writing style is relatively engaging. On the whole, though, this story reads like a novel length piece of wish fulfillment fanfiction.

The heroine, Phryne Fisher, is an independent woman of means in the 1920s. The book starts off in London but Phryne very quickly relocates to Melbourne, Australia to try her hand at playing Lady Detective. Phryne is the epitome of Mary Sue perfection. She's gorgeous, stylish, progressive, and more intelligent than everybody around her. She's daring, creative, not afraid of getting her hands dirty, oh, and the stunning Russian ex-pat dancer from Paris is falling all over himself to land in her bed (as is his sister). Yeah.

The plot is a bit over the top, but still manages to be thin. The setup makes it clear from the outset what the 'big reveal' is going to be at the climax of the book which takes a lot of the fun out of it for me. The big adventure/action sequence really stretched my already extended credibility and, on a couple of levels, just fell flat.

Shockingly, I don't think I'll be picking up the next volume. I'd read it if it were on ff.net, though. :-p

Next up is another anime tie-in light novel. I read the previous release for Trinity Blood which was more a novella collection than an actual novel and I felt it suffered slightly as a first release because of that. This book solves that problem admirably, telling a single story.

The plot and characters will be familiar to fans of the anime, as it corresponds to episodes three and four of that series but events do play out differently and the book is worth your time. I am still very much enjoying the original iteration of the Trinity Blood story and will definitely be continuing to buy the books as they are released.

I have also kicked up my Doctor Who reading a bit, thanks to the DWBookClub on LiveJournal. My thoughts on Nightshade can be found in the discussion thread there.

I'm also back to a few more manga in the first half of September. Fullmetal Alchemist continues to be excellent and I don't think it needs my commentary for people to know that. Also thanks to Borders' September manga sale, I picked up some Paradise Kiss that I've been meaning to get forever and, once again, I'm pretty sure that the world does not require me to explain just how good an Ai Yazawa manga is.

The final book, Ohikkoshi was a volume of seinen 'romantic comedy' shorts by the creator of Blade of the Immortal that I picked up on a whim and which very much did not suck. As far as manga collections go, this is the best set of stories I've seen to date. The art is great, the emotions in the stories ring true and I thoroughly enjoyed it, beginning to end. I would definitely recommend this manga to anybody who is looking to escape from the latest shounen power battle with a more mature tale.

4 Books - 1175 pages (1 new)
Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones
Stardust by Neil Gaiman

1 Graphic Novel - 180 pages (1 new)
Heaven!! by Shizuru Seino

Fanfiction - 4500 words/9 pages

Scanlations - 53 pages (none previously read)
Bleach Chapter 286. Tooth and Nail by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 287. Don't Forget Till You Die by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 288. The Bad Joke by Kubo Tite/M7

Total, Year to date:
Books: 34 - 11927 pages
Graphic Novels: 107 - 20890 pages
Fanfiction: 40 - 109678 words/219 pages
Scanlations: 6 volumes, 83 chapters - 2887 pages

Between visitors, the high holidays, illness and deadlines, September ended up being a weird month. Which is why I am only just now catching up on recording my reading for you lovely folks. August will be a quickie, with relatively little read and much of that repeats, but expect me to spam you later with an extra-large September edition.

But for now...let's catch up on the end of Summer.

I'd decided to get back into reading my Eighth Doctor novels and figured I might as well catch up on the beginning of the story. Alien Bodies was the next of the 'Eight and Sam' novels on my bookshelf and it was...not awful. My notes on it were brief and state that it was slow in the beginning, excellent in spots and weird in others which is, on the whole, a pretty decent summation.

I believe this book was one of the first to introduce the Faction Paradox and they are just as screwed up and weird as I'd expected. I admit that I kind of skimmed over some of the blood ritual stuff, not because of being squeamish, but because it was kind of boring. I have to give credit where it's due and award Lawrence Miles some serious props for trying to make the Krotons badass. He almost succeeded at it, but the scene where the Kroton is trying to explain just how menacing its incoming warship is and none of the characters will take it seriously, is high comedy.

At any rate, the book was overall a fun read and may be one I go back to eventually.

Next up are several re-reads. I must've been in the mood for some 'comfort' books because I re-read the 'Castle' books by Diana Wynne Jones. They were, as always, delightful and I'm not sure there's really any need to elaborate beyond that.

I closed out the month by re-reading Neil Gaiman's Stardust. I had recently seen the movie and felt the need to re-familiarize myself with the original story. I had sort of wanted to dig out the original comics to compare visual medium to visual medium, but the prospect of going through my longboxes was a bit too daunting. Instead, I pulled out the novel and went from there. (I kind of wish I'd been able to find the cover for the edition I have rather than the movie poster one to use with this post, but oh well.)

I don't think I'd touched the book since I read it when it first came out in 1999. I'd forgotten more of the story than I'd realized, which was probably a plus when I went to see the film. This is not because the film suffers in comparison to the book, quite the opposite in fact, I think the two of them complement each other quite well. I would have focused too much on the differences, though and not enjoyed it for what it was.

The original story is a somewhat different kind of fairy tale than the film and, while an entertaining and engaging read, doesn't have much going for it beyond that. It's not moving or really memorable and I think it loses something without Vess' visuals.

Oddly, I only read one manga this month. I'm not sure if it was a slow month for new releases or if I was just holding off on spending money while I sorted out the purchase of a new car. Either way, this portion of our program is going to be short -- though not necessarily sweet.

I picked up Shizuru Seino's Heaven!! based on my enjoyment of her previous series Power!! (aka Girl Got Game in the US) and Jun'ai Tokkou Taichou. This story, however, really didn't work for me. I found the story (and art) frenetic and without the charm of either of the other series. I realize that this is supposed to be a slight variation on your usual 'girl with supernatural powers' story, but on the whole it just didn't work for me. I won't be picking up volume 2.

4 Books - 2490 pages (2 new)
Chain Mail: Addicted to You by Hiroshi Ishizaki
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

9 Graphic Novels - 1786 pages (6 new)
Bleach 19 by Tite Kubo
Bleach 20 by Tite Kubo
Divalicious 1 by T Campbell, Amy Mebberson
Hellsing 7 by Kohta Hirano
Hellsing 8 by Kohta Hirano
Kaze Hikaru 6 by Taeko Watanabe
Monster 8 by Naoki Urasawa
Monster 9 by Naoki Urasawa
Ouran High School Host Club 9 by Bisco Hatori

Fanfiction - 1200 words/2.5 pages

Scanlations - 928 pages (337 pages not previously read)
Addicted to Curry Chapter 46. The Spirit of Onions and the Volume of Beef Curry by Kazuki Funatsu/Solaris-SVU
Bleach Chapter 281. The Vulgarian Noise by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 282. The Primal Fear by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 283. You Don't Hurt Anymore by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 284. Historia de Pantera Y su Sombras by Kubo Tite/M7
Bleach Chapter 285. Eating Meat, Alone--The Loneliness of the King by Kubo Tite/M7
Emma Volume 5 by Kaoru Mori/Iichan
Emma Volume 6 by Kaoru Mori/Iichan
Emma Volume 7 by Kaoru Mori/Iichan
Emma Bangaihen Chapter 9. Friendship by Kaoru Mori/Iichan
Emma Bangaihen Chapter 10. Shopping Together by Kaoru Mori/Iichan
Gokusen Gangster Dog' My Name is Kuroda Fuji by Kozueko Morimoto/Completely Oblivious
Gokusen Gangster Dog'  A Demon's Island - Mr. Ginko's Murder by Kozueko Morimoto/Completely Oblivious
Gokusen Volume 10 Chapter 1 I hope you Understand Shin... by Kozueko Morimoto/Completely Oblivious
InuYasha Chapter 507. Hitomiko by Rumiko Takahashi/Maki Maki Scanlations
InuYasha Chapter 508. The Miko's Barrier by Rumiko Takahashi/Maki Maki Scanlations
InuYasha Chapter 509. The Bow's Spiritual Power by Rumiko Takahashi/Maki Maki Scanlations
InuYasha Chapter 510. Hell by Rumiko Takahashi/Maki Maki Scanlations
REC Take 30. Cocktail by Q-Taro Hanamizawa/XLG
REC Take 31. Proxy by Q-Taro Hanamizawa/XLG

Total, Year to date:
Books: 30 - 10752 pages
Graphic Novels: 106 - 20710 pages
Fanfiction: 38 - 105178 words/210 pages
Scanlations: 6 volumes, 80 chapters - 2834 pages

This summer has been so incredibly busy that I haven't felt that I've had time to think let alone read. Apparently July wasn't as bad as I'd thought because I managed to get a few things read after all.

I started the month by catching up on some scanlations. Three volumes of the scans were me simply not being able to wait until the English release of Emma. Volume 4 ended on  such a dramatic note that I had to go right on through to the rest of the series. The release of a pair of Emma Bangaihen chapters around the same time was a pure bonus. The stories are romanticized and unbelievable, but so lovingly told and charming that it's impossible not to fall in love with them yourself. (And I have to say that the chapter showing Hakim and William as children was made of pure squee and awesomeness.) Bleach is, of course, still fun to read, despite having fallen into the neverending cycle of beating up stronger and stronger foes. To balance that,  Gokusen, Rec and Addicted to Curry are all perfectly cracktacular -- but in that really good way. The less said about Inuyasha, the better I think. This series really needs to be brought around to a close.

In anticipation of both the release of the fifth Harry Potter film and the final volume of the book series, I re-familiarized myself with books 5 and 6 in the series. There's not much to say about these books that hasn't been mentioned elsewhere, but my notes on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoneix basically say that the book could have used a bit more editing and possibly some outside direction to keep it from rambling quite so much. My notes on Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince are very succinct. They simply read: 'Much better than OotP'.

As for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I left the following review on Librarything:

The long awaited close to the Harry Potter series delivered in a way that I think the preceding two books did not. The tone was (as expected) dark, but plot seemed much less muddied and Harry himself seemed to have moved beyond his teenage angst and found his way to resolve. Along the way, Rowling filled in backstory and motive, explained mysterious events with more fullness, and maintained a higher energy level throughout than her more recent Hogwarts-based novels have managed.

I felt that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was not only an appropriate ending to the series, but a good one. Everything that needed to happen in terms of plot resolution did, the emotional resolution was there and the story was still very clearly appropriate to its young adult genre despite the constant and occasionally heavy handed reminders that war = death. The epilogue simultaneously manages to be both too much information and not nearly enough, but it brings the message back around to one of hope and provides the ultimate reminder that even in the face of war and of death, life will go on.

The final novel I read in July was Hiroshi Ishizaki's Chain Mail: Addicted to You, released as part of Tokyopop's Pop Fiction line with an English adaptation by Rachel Manija Brown. For a 'light novel' clearly aimed at a much younger audience, I found it surprisingly engaging. As these girls lived out their twisted roleplaying fantasy, I found myself missing my own MUSH and 'play by email' days (which probably says something about me). The odd character relationships, the twists to the story and the final resolution worked well and overall, I found it to be a quick, fun read. I would definitely recommend picking this book up (or, possibly borrowing it) if you feel like reading something short and a little twisted as an afternoon distraction.

Then, of course, there are the manga.

I had read both volumes of Bleach in scanlation some time ago, but I had forgotten that Volume 20 was entirely comprised of the 'End of Hypnosis' chapters which serve to wrap up up the Soul Society arc. It can go either way when you have a single volume that brings resolution to the entire series to that point, and Bleach 20 didn't disappoint. This series of chapters took care of the major mysteries and did a great job with the foundation for the next story arc. I don't think that anybody is going to make the argument that Bleach is somehow deep or meaningful. It truly is formulaic shounen, but the story is laid out well and the dramatic resolutions don't disappoint. I'm definitely looking forward to the official translations of the books still to come, and that kind of sustained interest is impressive for a series this long.

Next up was Monster, volumes 8 and 9. To be honest, I'm not sure there's anything more I can say about this series. Each and every time I try to review it, I simply end up being completely incoherent about the quality of the storytelling I'm pretty sure that you've all gotten the point that I think it's damned good (both of you!) and I'm not sure what I can add to that right now. Maybe when volume 10 comes out.

The shoujo for this month was a very mixed bag. Kaze Hikaru volume 6 really shined for me. The book starts out strong with Kaze Hikaru's representation of the 'Ikedaya Incedent' and Okita's collapse. Then, that's followed by the tensions of the Okita/Kamiya/Saito triangle and Kamiya's dilemma when Kondo asks her to be his successor. There was a lot of action and story packed into a single volume and while it's not a portion of the story you could come into cold, I think it's one of the best single volumes to date.

Faring less well on the shoujo side was Ouran High School Host Club which was disappointingly short and felt padded out by the filler material. This series is capable of so much more than a retread, I'm hoping I see that potential again when volume 10 comes out.

The final shoujo book I read was an OEL, Divalicious 1 by T Campbell and Amy Mebberson. I had received this book some time ago, but had never quite managed to talk myself into reading it. It was some comments on Amy Mebberson's Deviant Art account about the future of the series (or the lack thereof) that convinced me to break it out and give the story a try. My final judgment, as recorded in my handy spreadsheet was: 'Cute. I liked the art, but the story was a bit frenetic.' To expand on that, the simple fact is that Divalicious is not the kind of story I'd seek out on my own, so the fact that I liked it at all is a testament to the creators. That said, I felt there were some flaws both in the content and the pacing that attractive and engaging character design just can't compensate for. It is possible that I will buy a copy of volume 2, but it will be because I want to support the work of an artist I like rather than because I am truly interested in the resolution to this story.

I've saved my commentary on Hellsing for last because I wanted to end on a high note.

Hellsing was one of the first manga I began following back when I was just 'checking out this Japanese stuff'. I have waxed and waned over the years, put off both by a storyline I felt bogged down a bit and by the lengthy wait between volumes. As I reread volume 7 in anticipation of book 8, I felt that I was coming back to the story 'fresh' and that I appreciated it more this time around. The chapters focusing on Pip Bernadette and Seras Victoria were strong and her progression meaningful. The final chapters which set the stage for volume 8 were decent and held their own surprises as well, but the real star for me was volume 8. It's difficult for me to express just how much ass was kicked in this one book alone. There was ultra-violence, and backstory and Count Dracula. There was carnage on the streets of London, the likes of which I haven't seen since Miracleman 15. There was the final showdown between Alucard and Anderson and...and...and...

Anybody who has read and enjoyed previous volumes of Hellsing owes it to themselves to read through the story up until this point. It's just that damned good and I sincerely hope it will not be another two years until the release of volume 9.

Next up! August!
(Which I promise will be considerably shorter)

5 Books - 1353 pages (3 new)
The Year of Intelligent Tigers EDA by Kate Orman
Endgame EDA by Terrance Dicks
Fear Itself PDA by Nick Wallace
Dark Progeny EDA by Steve Emmerson
Vampire Science EDA by Jonathan Blum & Kate Orman

6 Graphic Novels - 1505 pages (2 new)
xxxHolic Omnibus (vols 1-3) by CLAMP
Shojo Beat v3 i7 by Various
Tramps Like Us 12 by Yayoi Ogawa
Emma 3 by Kaoru Mori
Emma 4 by Kaoru Mori
Millenium Snow 1 by Bisco Hatori

Scanlations - 77 pages (all new)
Bleach Chapter 277. Corrosion of Conformity
Bleach Chapter 278. Heal for the Crash
Bleach Chapter 279. Jugulators
Bleach Chapter 280. Jugulators 2

Total, Year to date:
Books: 26 - 8262 pages
Graphic Novels: 97 - 18924 pages
Fanfiction: 37 - 103978 words/208 pages
Scanlations: 3 volumes, 63 chapters - 1906 pages

I've cut way back on things like fanfiction and scanlations because I just don't have the time. (That I've stuck with Bleach is an indication of just how addicted I am to that series...) However, books and manga remain a big release for me. If I didn't get a few minutes to myself to slip into some fantasy during a day, I think I'd probably lose it at this point.

On to the commentary!

I kind of didn't realize just how Doctor Who 'heavy' my reading list had become until I sat down to tally up the past two month's reading. I have had a *lot* of fun reading through Eighth Doctor Adventures over the past month, though so I remain entirely unapologetic.

The Year of Intelligent Tigers, Dark Progeny and Vampire Science were all new to me. I enjoyed the two Kate Orman books quite a bit, though I admit that either plot would have left me flat in the hands of a lesser writer. Dark Progeny was...not bad, but not quite my type of book. It certainly had some interesting elements to it and, really, having Eight, Anji and Fitz is never a *bad* thing. (At least not in my book!)

Fear Itself and Endgame were both rereads sparked by a combination of factors. Fear itself was decent enough the second time around. I really enjoyed it, though I think it's a bit dark for some. In many ways, it reminds me of Hope which is another, darker, EDA that I enjoyed quite a bit.

Endgame was something I had been intending to revisit for a while. I read it last spring and afterwards made a point of following up and learning more about the hisotrical figures involved in the story. After learning a bit more about the Cambridge spy ring, I have to say my thoughts on this book changed somewhat. I still found it to be quite enjoyable and it was a fun spy story. I also thought that Dicks' characterization of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean were pretty decent. I do think, though, that he fell down somewhat in his characterization of Kim Philby.

I understand why he did what he did, and that it was very much necessary for plot purposes, but it undercut the historical figure somewhat. On re-reading, those portions of the story rang a bit untrue which tainted my overall enjoyment. Still, it's a decent Eighth Doctor story and heads and shoulders above some of the other crap I've read in the Doctor Who line so I continue to recommend the book wholeheartedly.

This month's manga were a bit of a mixed bunch, if somewhat shoujo heavy. I'm not a big CLAMP fan in general, but I do enjoy xxxHolic so I was glad to find it in an omnibus edition. I hope to see Del Rey putting out more of these. Tramps Like Us is still rocking hard and I'm impressed to see that she's actually moving the storyline along and doing things with the characters twelve volumes in rather than just falling into the trap of running in circles with the same old gags. I love the sequence of events with Sumire realizing who and what she really wants just as the object of her affection goes and changes on her. Very nicely built through the story and beautifully executed over all. For a series that didn't impress me on a first read, I've come to love this one very much.

And then there's Emma.

I have so much love for this series. When I finally found books 3 and 4 I simply couldn't resist buying them--despite having placed myself on bookstore 'spending restrictions'. These two volumes are just lovely. They focus mainly on the new life Emma is building for herself away from London with occasional glimpses into the hole William has dug for himself back home. The climax of book 4 is the stuff that good romance novels are made of and is achingly painful and sweet at the same time. Word came yesterday from Anime Expo that both series one and two of the anime have been licensed and according to TRSI's website, the first box set should be out by December.

I know what I'm asking for for Chanukah!

Anyway, see you kids next time...whenever that may be!