Gord’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2017)

Gord’s comments from the Vampires, Weres and Fae! group.

Uggggghhhhh. I have to go to my dentist this week and I'm not looking forward. I've got a feeling that they are going to be getting me in fast tomorrow when I explain what is wrong. I was eating an ice cream cone and suddenly part of a tooth was missing. Nothing hurts at all but it's a bit concerning.

Time for that weekly wrap up and I don't really have a lot to talk about really. This was not a strong week of reading for me. I was getting rides in the morning due to the cold which cut into my audiobook time. I also had a ton of DVD stuff to get back to the library this week so it was more watching stuff this week then reading.

Made in Abyss, Vol. 3 -4 Stars
Made in Abyss, Vol. 4 -4 Stars
I love this series but man can it be rough to read at times and I'm not talking bad writing or anything. This series get pretty intense at times and the third volume is definitely where the kiddie gloves come off. I don't want to spoil anything but lets just say that there is a scene in the third volume that made me pause before reading it. I knew it was coming and I still had to take a break, prepare myself mentally, and I still needed a kick to get through it. If you know me and what I can read that should give you a good idea how intense things were. I'm not joking when I said this series gets intense and to be careful entering it. As odd as this might sound I do plan to continue on as I want to see where this series will go as I'm now into all new material.

Hooky -3 Stars
This is another Webtoon adaptation and I wanted to like this one. It's a magic world where witches and normal people are clashing and there is a history of bad blood. At the center of the are two twins from a long standing family of powerful witches. They were supposed to be going to magic school when they miss their bus. Instead of facing their parents they go on the run basically. I enjoy the two main leads, I enjoy the side characters, the world is interesting. I think my biggest problem with this book is just the story. It really felt like the story had a hard time committing to something and was more interested in teasing the reader along. The story would set up a story line and instead of giving us a clear direction of where it's going it just keeps dragging it out. A little misdirection, a little teasing things along is all fine but at some point it just gets frustrating and I want story points to be settled so that we can move on to the next thing. I'm going to give the next book a shot but I really hope the story starts to pick up at some point.

Barbarella: Woman Untamed -DNF
I blame my reading mood on this comic right here and be forewarned this is probably going to turn into a bit of a rant. Barbarella is a name that has come up a few times for me in my life. It's from the 60's and is about the super sexy space lady having adventures and I was always kind of curious what it was all about. This book popped up in the new arrivals at the library and I figured I'd give it a shot. This comic turned out to be a shining example of my issue with Western comics. See I'm new to Barbarella and I want to know more about the character and the franchise so I pick up the first book in a series and I'm absolutely lost. The book tells me nothing about the character, nothing about the world it's set in, just nothing at all. I'm dumped into the middle of a story line and expected to know everything already. I have no idea who Barbarella is, I have no idea what motivates her, I have no idea why she is doing these things, and yet I'm supposed to be invested in her plight. Same with the world. We are introduced to these revolutionaries but there is no explanation outside of this super generic "were fighting against big corpo" kind of spiel. Who are these people, what are they rebelling against, what is their goal, why should I care? Needless to say it didn't take me long to simply get bored with things. I just wasn't invested in anything or anyone and I didn't care about what was happening. I got maybe a third of the way into this book before simply tossing it.

As for what is next..., yes, that is all I read this week. It hasn't been a good week for me.

Hell Divers
I'm a little over halfway into this book and I'm really enjoying it. This is scratching an itch I've had for a long time and was never able to find the right book to scratch it with. I'll get into it more next weekend after I finish this book.

Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives
I'm a little over 60% into this one and it's not bad but I'm not blown away either. I feel like I'm simply marking time until the clowns show up and people start dying.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives
This is the other novel I need to get to this week so I can get it back to the library next weekend. Outside of this book I have a few volumes of manga to get to as well. Hopefully next week is a better week of reading for me.

I discovered that there is a new bookstore opening locally that will cater to specifically romance novels. They will have everything from the PG to the super smutty and will offer recommendations for those that need them. What do you guys think of a store like that? Would you check it out?

I was looking at some photos of the store and they are definitely catering to a female audience, shocking I know. If it was closer I might pop in and check it out. I'd be a bit self conscious about being the big hairy yeti in a store like that but hey.

I live way to far away from anyone else to do meet ups. That being said I have met up with one person who happened to be in town for something else.

Katie❄️ wrote: "What if you wore one ear bud? That might not be ideal either though."

I could but I just don't. I really don't have a logical explanation for it but it's just how I work. Radio or speakers blasting, that's fine. Earbuds or headphones, not fine.

Kary wrote: "I love listening to the Lore podcast.. it is never boring.. and you can multitask with it??"

It's not so much the multitasking for me. It's more of a safety thing. A lot of guys I work with wear earbuds while working and I'm just not a big fan of it. I like to be able to hear what is going on around me while I'm working. It's probably just because I'm old and set in my ways.

Time for that weekly update and I have some novels to talk about this week.

Snowed In -2 Stars
This was a challenge book that helped with a lot of challenges but as you can tell from the rating I did not have a good time with this one. Before I get to my criticisms of this book I do want to acknowledge that this book was not written for me. That I am very far removed from the core demographic of this book. That out of the way lets get to my criticisms of the book.

Basically young girl moves to Michigan from Texas. She doesn't want a boyfriend and only dates boys for fun. That was until she met local hot lumberjack/jock/carpenter guy and she starts feeling all tingly. The amount of repetition in this book is astronomical. I don't know how many times we needed to be reminded that it's cold outside (no duh! you're in Michigan in the winter), that she doesn't want a boyfriend, and just how hot this guy was. It was just a constant rotation of this repetitive drivel. There is also the constant flow of all the tropes that we also need to get reminded of constantly. The tingly feelings, the curling toes, the butterflies in the stomach, the flushed/hot face, etc. There is also the fact that hot guy is actually in a relationship with someone and doesn't say anything. Then when it does come out they both keep fooling around with each other. Great, cheating and it being promoted as no big deal. Then we get some extra weirdness tossed in. The parents of these two prize winning cheaters are both single. They are in the process of hooking up in this book as well. While not incest or anything it's drifting out there into that weird territory for sure. The characters have no real depth to them and are just there to fill their role in this story. Overall I was just bored and looking forward to the book finally being over.

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent (Light Novel) 1 -4 Stars
I originally found the anime of this sometime last year and devoured the first season in a couple of days. After finishing the second season I really wanted to find the source material. This is of course one of those properties that has both a manga and a light novel version. My local library carried this weird mix where they have the first few books in the series in manga form and then the later ones in light novel. After some digging I finally found a copy of the light novel version through the library system and the wait was well worth it.

This book was just so much fun to read. It's that trope where our MC gets summoned to another world to be the chosen one. When she arrives she is not alone though and there is a lot of confusion as to who is actually the chosen one. The crown prince snubs our MC and picks the other person who was accidentally summoned. Our MC is annoyed at this but convinced to stick around for at least a little bit until things are sorted out. She finds a research facility on the palace grounds that studies herbs and potions. She wants to join them and since the palace doesn't want to upset her anymore grants her permission. This is where it settles into the flow of the book as she slowly comes in to her powers, she learns more about life in this world, makes friends and allies, and finds a little bit of romance as well. This is definitely more of a slow burn on all fronts. The first book covers something like seven months and she has discovered a couple things about her magic. We the reader know that she is in fact the chosen one but the one person who can confirm this in the world is currently in a coma. On the romance side of things I like the slower pace. Both characters are busy adults who have things on the go so they can't spend every waking moment together. She is inexperienced in the romance department and the MMC is from a noble family so there is a lot of denial about everything but things are coming around. It's just a sweet and charming book that I want more of.

Now to my usual comics and manga

Tomb Raider King, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
This was a random snag from the library and it's not bad. You can definitely see the influence from things like Solo Leveling but that doesn't make it any less fun. Dungeons appear in the world, people raid the dungeons for relics, our MC is a relic hunter, he gets screwed over by a partner and left to die, gets a powerful gift that gives him a second chance. That second chance is being teleported into the past just before the dungeons became public knowledge. Using all of his experience and knowledge of what happened he moves to get these relics first. It's a simple story but it is fun to read. Seeing how he uses his knowledge, seeing how these dungeons work, etc. Now I have the usual problem with my library. They only have the one volume and I want more.

Dark Gathering, Vol. 4 -4 Stars
Man this series just keeps getting better and better. I'm loving the creepy nature of this series and we are now starting on a story arc of going out to the most cursed sites in Japan. We also see that things are truly getting harder as our MC's barely got out of this one. Of course, now that I am hooked in deep I find myself caught up and waiting for the library to get the next volume.

The Great Cleric (Manga) Vol. 6 -4 Stars
The Great Cleric (Manga) Vol. 7 -4 Stars
Yet another series that I am caught up on and wanting more. It feels like a theme this week and it's not a great feeling. Especially with this one as the series is now caught up with the anime and I was finally getting into all new material. The seventh volume ends with the location for his next quest and right before they can depart the book ends. Hurry up with the publishing already so I can get the next one.

SAKAMOTO DAYS 10 -4 Stars
In case you haven't seen the theme yet this week this is yet another series that I am caught up on, the library doesn't have the next book yet, and I want to read more. I think I need to find where the desk is for who ever is responsible for ordering things so I can go set up shop there. I can just slip recommendations out to them from under the desk as I discover new shiny things. As for this book the story arc involving the assassin school continues. Some interesting fights and chase scenes. This feels like we are now getting to some bigger story moments coming up and of course I'm back to waiting.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 27 -3 Stars
The one series this week that I'm not as invested in. As mentioned before the shine of this series has definitely worn off for me. I really feel like the author has ran out of steam on this and is just making up things as he goes along. There was a big section of this book that was dedicated to a Komi version of Among Us and bleh. I have nothing against the game but all the memes and what not have run their course in my mind and this just feels like lazily tapping into what ever was popular at the time. Not sure why I am still reading this but for what ever reason the next volume will just show up for me to pick up so I read it. Spacing it out probably helps.

Here are my plans for the upcoming week.

Hell Divers
After that Snowed In book I felt the need to purge myself of it. This has been an audiobook floating around on my radar for a few years and with the second game everywhere right now I felt it was a good time to check it out.

On the physical front I have Clown in a Cornfield 2, some more Made in Abyss, some Barbarella, and a Webtoon book called Hooky. Basically, another packed week of reading as I chase due dates at the library.

February was an improvement for my walks but January set a pretty low bar. I was doing fine until the final week of the month when winter decided to show up and remind us that we have been coddled all winter. I have not been all that motivated to do anything outside this week really. If I had my way I would have just stayed home all week. As for the walks, I walked 126 KM or 78 miles.

I'm not going to bother with the four star books as there is a lot. Overall I read 29 books this month and it was a good month of reading.

5 Stars (The Good)
Forgotten in Death
Network Effect
I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 6: Last Gert Standing
Abandoned in Death

The Bad (2 Stars)
Snowed In
I'll talk about this more tomorrow in my weekly wrap up but this was not a book written for me and I really did not have a good with it.

Up Next
I'm really not sure at this point as I'm still trying desperately to keep up with all my various library things I have on the go and totally not ordering more, nope, not at all. Ordering more would be irresponsible of me considering all that I have currently...

I read 29 books in February for a total of $672.73 saved

Maybe, but I don't like to when I'm working on the floor. Especially when I'm using cranes and forklifts. I just have YouTube blasting music and then I zone out for a few hours.

Yup, the same thing 40 times. It's basically going to be my life at work for the next couple of weeks. It's nice to be steady and having something to work on but it's a little mind numbing at the same time.

This month was shaping up to pretty slow but that changed today and I got a large order to work on. The problem is that all 40 pieces are the exact same thing and it's all stuff that requires minimal thought. I'm two pieces in and I feel myself already going insane.

Katie❄️ wrote: "Does anyone feel really strongly about what side their gas cap opening is on? I have found after having one on the driver side that that is my preference. I cannot get used to having one on the pas..."

Hmmmm, I've never really thought of it because I don't drive but my brain tells me that it should be on the driver side. You open the door, pop the cap, and fill up all from one side of the vehicle. At least that is what makes sense to me.

I've secured my ride for this morning and I'll probably be getting a ride for the next couple of days at least. Those overnight temps are looking nasty and that is before you factor in the windchill.

I was going to be a big brave boy and walk to work this morning but in the last 12 hours we've gained about a foot of snow on top of the water that was on the ground (hint, it froze). The temps are in free fall and only getting colder. It probably wouldn't be bad if we had a normal winter but it's been super mild. We went from from 11c/52f on Friday afternoon to -18c/0f today. It's a bit of a shock to the system.

Another week and another stack of books behind me.

The Art of Classic Sci-Fi Movies: An Illustrated History -4 Stars
This was an absolute treat to read. As the title implies this is more or less an art book of all sorts of movie posters stretching from the first silent films up to the release of Star Wars. It touched on directors, artists, styles, and popular (or not so popular) movies. We would get to see movie posters from around the world for the same film and how it things were changed with different rules and different size requirements. Like I said, just an interesting read and if this intrigues you in the slightest, go read it.

Ink and Shadows -4 Stars
I read this to help with a challenge but it didn't take a whole lot of effort to twist my arm into reading this series. This series has really grown on me from the first book and I love this weird little niche that it sits in. Not a full fledged cozy but at the same time no where near as intense as a full fledged thriller. I enjoy a good cozy mystery but there are so many that just kind of feel like clones of each other. This series also isn't afraid to tap into current issues but it doesn't feel like it's being rammed down my throat. In this one it touched on the issues of religion and it's attempt to ban books they deem "offensive". Of course our MC has a strong opinion on this seeing as she is a bookstore owner and just in general a lover of books. There is also a murder that needs to solve and this is where it gets another bonus point from me. In a lot of cozy mysteries the MC inserts themselves into mystery for reasons even if it doesn't really fit the character. For instance and introverted baker suddenly grilling people on poisons, doesn't really make sense for the character. In this one the police are running the investigation and the MC investigates certain points that she is either involved with or curious about. Sometimes she finds things that might help the police. Other times she just discovers things that the police already know but haven't made public. Then there is just the slice of life stuff that happens in everyday life. Her friendship with the other members of her club, her old life popping up in this one, and just stuff like that. It's this great blend of all these elements that just feels good to read.

Dragon Ball (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 1: Includes vols. 1, 2 & 3 -4 stars
This is the other manga series I'm rereading this year with Cardcaptor Sakura. It's been several years since I read the original Dragon Ball and I think the last time I read it they were fan translations. This series originally started in the 80's and I have to day that it holds up pretty well. The art still looks good, the story is good, the characters are interesting. The humor is a bit juvenile but for time it came out and the target audience is younger so it makes sense. Now I've never really got into this series like others have. Outside of reading the original Dragon Ball manga my knowledge is limited to pop culture osmosis and memes. The biggest change I wasn't ready for was the decision to stick to the original names. I know certain characters by their English names like Krillin but in this book his name is Kiririn. The Nimbus also has it's original name as well, I can't remember it off the top of my head and I've already returned the manga. I'm looking forward to my read through of this series and maybe I'll even continue on to the other content after the original manga.

If You'll Have Me -4 Stars
This was one of those random snags from the library and it was a super cute book. It's a sapphic romance about two opposites attracting towards each other and overcoming their personal hangups. If you think the comic looks interesting then give it a try.

I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! Vol. 1 -3 Stars
I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! Vol. 2 -3 Stars
This was another random series I stumbled across at the library and I'm a bit of a sucker for isekai manga/light novels. It's... alright. I think this series has some potential but I don't feel like it has hit its stride quite yet. As the title implies our MC accidentally got summoned to another world with some other folks. He wasn't supposed to be part of this summoning and the original target was immediately swept off the be trained on his duties as the "Hero" who will perform a certain ceremony to reunite all the different factions of this world. It's pretty clear right away that they are training the wrong guy and the real hero is our MC. There is also implications of shady factions at play who may or may not want this ceremony to fail. Regardless our MC lives a quiet life in this fantasy world while accidentally attracting the attention of very powerful and beautiful women. I very much see a harem happening where our MC gets surrounded by all these various powerful characters which will lead to the unification of the factions. I'm also very much curious about this shadowy plot that has only been teased up until this point. I'll keep reading just to see how this all goes but I don't expect this series to be this super awesome and amazing thing either.

Now, what is next

Snowed In
This is my next audiobook and this is purely a challenge book. This book looks to help kick start some long stalled challenges which is good. It's a YA contemporary romance set around Christmas and I'm not expecting much of anything from this book honestly. This is very much one of those situations where I'm plugging my nose and just taking the plunge. It's short and I can finish this in under a week.

On the physical book side of things I'm still working through my never ending stack of manga and comics from the library.

My walks are back on track after the rough month I had in January. I've already walked 125 km or nearly 78 miles this month.

I just want to take a second and express my shock at something. I watch a series called Behind the Counter on YouTube. Basically the person spends a day at a local restaurant in Japan getting to know who they are and what they do. A lot of these places have been open for generations and it's so fascinating seeing some of these businesses. In the latest episode he talks with the mother who is still working in the restaurant with her son at 91 years old. She started working in the place at the age of 13 and has been working there ever since. She needs a breathing apparatus after getting the Covid that damaged her lungs and it still doesn't slow her down. That is just nuts.

I'm back for some more updates and this time I have novels to talk about.

Tomb of the Queen -4 Stars (really 3.5 but I rounded up)
This was a buddy read for one of my groups and this was an odd one. It was an urban fantasy and this was a long novel. It was 500ish pages which for an urban fantasy novel is rather long. This book had a lot of ground to cover though which would explain the longer page count. This book felt like a 500 page novel. That is a weird statement but hear me out. There are some long books that feel like you are reading something a lot shorter and then there are some shorter books that feel like they are a lot longer then they are. This book felt exactly like it should. This statement can apply to pretty much everything in this book. There was some interesting ideas in this book, the MC was interesting, etc, etc, etc but none of it really jumped up and excelled or shined. Take the MC for instance, I enjoyed her nerdy charm but I wouldn't be fanboying if she kicked down the door like some like Eve Dallas or Mercy Thompson. Don't get me wrong I would be down for some coffee and book discussions though. Same with most of the twists. It spent a lot of the book building up these reveals and they delivered exactly what they promised. There was only one twist that caught me off guard and even then my reaction was more "huh, that makes sense". I know it sounds like I'm panning the novel but it was legit entertaining. Yes, it was kind of middle of the road but it was solid. I can't really point to anything that I didn't like or that annoyed me. I'm going to read the second one and see where this series goes.

Abandoned in Death -5 Stars
One step closer to finally getting caught up with this series. I can see the end, it should be this year, as long as the series doesn't get crazy popular and I have a massive wait list blocking me. As for this book it was another solid read giving me want I want from this series. The mystery was both a ticking clock situation where you have a victim that needs to be saved and a cold case that involved the back story of the big baddie. This cold case, back story, was rather sad but also heartwarming. Just another great read in this series.

The Great Cleric (Manga) Vol. 5 -4 Stars
More of this fun popcorn series. We are starting to get to the point where story elements got trimmed for the anime and it's about the point that I figured it would be. The anime, and this series, has a few moments where you would have a large time skip. You would be reading along and suddenly you would be 8 months into the future. It makes sense here because the MC doesn't step into this fantasy world with the powers of a god. He has to train and work his but off to get ahead. As for what was cut, basically the last half of this volume was cut. It was basically a lot of training. He was learning to ride horses, Lumina and her regiment were gone on a mission, etc.

Cardcaptor Sakura, Book 1 -4 Stars
I finished this one this morning and I have two trains of thought that have been warring in my head most of the morning. This is a reread for me and I have a lot of fond memories of this series. This was the big magic girl series for me. This was series that made the whole magic girl things make sense to me. I didn't read it when this first came out as my anime/manga nerd side hadn't woken up at that point in my life. According to Goodreads I first read this seven years ago but I swear I read it before then as well. My first time reading this was with fan translations if I remember correctly. I just have a lot of memories and nostalgia tied up in this series so rereading this was a lot of fun.

That being said there are a lot of really problematic elements in this volume and I have no idea how I never noticed these the first time. Basically these all revolve around romance. On the tame side of things we have the MC, ten years old, crushing on a boy five years older then her. Not really a big deal here. Then we have the MC's best friend crushing on her. Again, pretty innocent lesbian romance until you realize that they are first cousins. Relax, put away the banjos, nothing comes of this outside of feelings. Then there is the MC's mother who got married at sixteen, to her teacher, who was twenty five. There is a lot to unpack here that is just yikes. Then we get to the really bad. One of the MC's classmates talks about dating someone older than her. It's later revealed that it's their teacher who gives this girl an engagement ring. A ten or eleven year old child is engaged to an adult. Where do I even start with this. From what I've read, understand I haven't dug to deep into this, CLAMP wanted to portray true love as a pure love that is not restricted by things like age, gender, etc which on a surface level is kind of sweet but at the same time rather dangerous especially considering the target audience of this manga which is young girls. I do plan to keep reading this as I have a lot of nostalgia tied up in this series but it would have felt wrong to not talk about these elements this time around.

Now, what is next on my list of never ending books.

Ink and Shadows
Once again this series comes in clutch to fill a monthly challenge slot. Not that it took a lot to really twist my noodly arm to read more in this series especially after the last one. I started reading this one my walk yesterday and I'm interested to see this books take on the topics it's tackling which are CBD and book banning.

After that it's more, say it with me now, manga and comics. I have the original Dragonball, a new isekai series, and a romance comic. On top of that I have a nonfiction book looking into the history of sc-fi movie posters ranging from the silent movie era up to the first Star Wars movie. I'm really looking forward to this one as I have a soft spot for some of that old art.