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

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

I started listening to Lets Get Textual today and it took me a bit to warm up to it. When it opened up I was rolling my eyes pretty hard at the romance. The blushes, the tingles up the spine, etc, etc, etc were just not a welcoming start for me. Then we get the first phone call with Zach and I'll admit my brain defaulted to douche canoe. The whole situation just didn't sit right with me, I can't really explain why but it just didn't. I also think it was the voice the narrator used. It just short circuited something my brain that just fast tracked the character to douche. That being said as things went along my brain went from douche, to suspicious, to warming up to the stupid nerdiness of things. I might have even chuckled a couple times at some of the stupid exchanges.

I still think the whole situation is kind of weird and the way the story is being told is odd. I'm 28% into the book and it's been mostly text messages which just feels odd for me.

Lamia (if you know you know)

Cream

Another week has gone by and this week I have a couple of classics to talk about.

-3 Stars
I tried reading this before and didn't get far before tossing it. This time I listened to it on audio and got through the entire thing. Overall it was alright, I guess. I think a lot of this comes down to its age but not a lot really happened. They were chase scenes, some more chase scenes, some science mumbo jumbo, some more chasing, a sort of big climax, and then an open end that hinted at more... maybe. As a modern reader though it was just kind of underwhelming. You have an invisible man and there are so many things that could be done both evil or virtuous. In this he punched/kicked/hit a few people, stole a few things, tossed some rocks through windows. Oh and I guess one person was killed... off page. I don't know, I'm approaching this as a modern reader and it was alright but I was left wanting more. Oh and don't think I didn't notice you over there racial slur. Different times and all that but I noticed you there.

-4 Stars
Another classic novel and I found this one much better. I'll admit that for the longest time I never knew of this novel. I knew of the animated movie from the 80's that was dark and scary for a young child which tainted my preconceptions of this book heading into it. I heard about this years ago and had it on my list of things to read but this month it came back up and helped with a few challenges so here we are. First, this novel is no where as dark as my vague memories of the cartoon from my childhood. Second, this book is pretty damned good and makes me think of Charlotte's Web in some ways. Not that the plots are similar or anything but both are children's books that surprised me with how good they were.

Lets get into the book itself. To me this was two different stories that we dropped into in the middle and then left long before they ended. On one hand we have the story of Mrs. Frisby, a widow raising four children and trying to do her best. On the other hands we have the Rats of NIMH and their story of trying to build their own place in the world. For a few brief days these two stories overlapped before parting and going their own ways. I liked Mrs. Frisby honestly. She was a hard working mother trying to take care of a sick son and doing what she need to do to take care of her family. She journeyed far from her comfort zone to do this. She even visited an owl. A predator that she knows eats mice just to see if she can get some help. Then we have the Rats. This was a story with a definite tinge of sadness and a philosophical feel to it. Instead of the question "what does it mean to be a man" it's "what does it mean to be a rat". I loved their story from the capture in the market place, the testing at NIMH, their escape, their growth, and the eventual Plan. Like I said, for a few brief days these stories overlap, secrets are shared, and then they part. I like that the ending was this hyped up epic conclusion that felt like an ending to the stories of either party. It was a moment in time for both parties and then they carried on. Their stories didn't stop because the book came to an end. It leaves me wondering what happened next but not enough to read the rest of the series. Yes, this is a series and I understand the next two books are really, really bad. They are written by the daughter of the original author after his death and are just not good. I'll leave this story here and appreciate it for what it was.

-4 stars
More Yugi and a lot more battles. I love how the battles seem to fall into two groups. One one side you have the regular battles that are going on and on the other hand you have the batshit insane battles that Yugi is involved in. For instance there is a battle in this book where there are giant saw blades connected to their health bars. The lower the health bar the closer that giant saw blade gets to the person. The loser doesn't just lose the battle they loose their lives. Then there is the final battle in this book. Yugi and Kaiba are forced to team up and are having a team battle. The battle is taking place on a skylight on the roof of a 13 floor building. There are explosives attached to each pane of glass that a contestant is standing on and those explosives are tied to your health bar in the game. If you lose the game then explosives blow out the pane of glass and the contest drops 13 floors to their death. It's just so absurdly over the top and there is no need for it but man is it glorious to watch.

-4 Stars
This was yet another random snag from the library and yes I have a lot of those. I watch the recently acquired tab closely at the library and snag interesting comics as they come in. Picture that grumpy old grizzly sitting at the top of waterfall slapping salmon out of the water as they upstream. Anyway... back to the book. This had hints of Harry Potter (magic school) and hints of Sabrina (dark horror kind) mixed in with its own story. You have a school full of young witches, urban legends of a demon in the forest, a missing student that may or may not be connected to the myth, and a mystery. Combine that with some really nice artwork and it makes for an interesting read.

-3 Stars
I saw these at the library while looking for something else and realized that I hadn't read any monster girl manga in a while. Then I read this and I'm about 90 something percent certain I read this before but I'm not 100% sure. A lot of this seems really familiar. Not a lot to really say about this manga as it feels like a fluff read. A little comedy, a little slice of life, a little ecchi, and monster girls.

This week here is shaping up to be a busy week of reading as I have a lot to get done.

On audio I have and . Both are books that I've heard great things about.

On the other side of things I have which I'm kind of struggling with already. I'm reading it for a challenge and I'm down to only a few days left on my loan. In the first three chapters already we have had present time, visions of the future, and now flashbacks. This is supposed to be a retelling of Arthurian legends and I'm lukewarm at best on the book. After that I have to get and the next two volumes of Komi done as well.

Tape

Knives Out was a dang good movie that felt like a good mystery/thriller/whodunnit kind of novel. I don't really watch movies but this was a good one and now I'm going to request a copy of the latest one that just came out.

Alrighty, I may be starting to have some doubts in my theory. Some shakiness is starting to appear.

My early prediction for the big twist is that (view spoiler)[Harlan was the one who did it (hide spoiler)]. I could be wrong as there is still some time left and a couple characters left unexplored but that is the canon I have in my head. It just fits so well, or at least in my head it does.

I'm watching the fist Knives Out movie right and this is interesting. I'm about 45 minutes into it and I genuinely don't know where this mystery is going to go.

I slept in this morning. This is so beyond rare that I don't even remember the last time it happened. Normally I'm awake anywhere from 2-4 in the morning. Yes, I'm aware that it's obscenely early but I like being up at that time of day. Today I slept in until 6. I must have been a lot more tired than I thought.

I'm currently reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and it's an odd experience. It's a decent story and I'm enjoying it so far but I have this impending sense of dread. I vaguely remember watching the movie as a wee young kid and it being scary and dark. As a result I keep expecting this book to take some dark horrifying twist.

Feeling... something... Lets go with feeling good for myself. As I mentioned I'm trying to get into the routine of going for walks in the evenings. Today my brain had a scroll worth of excuses as to why I should just stay home and relax today. I was so tempted to just get home and kick my feet up today. I didn't though. I got home, got ready, and did my walk. Now I'm extra tired and my legs feel a little sore but I did it.

I'm listening to The Invisible Man currently and having it on audiobook has definitely made it better. I tried reading this before and barely made a dent before tossing it aside. I've been listening to the book now on my walks the last couple of days and I'm nearly done. It's not a bad book but I'm far from blown out of the water.

Well today went better than expected and was what I needed. Honestly work has had me in a bit of a funk and I was, lets say, a tad negative about everything. Now some of that was rightly deserved in my opinion. My review was glowing. It was a lot of thanks and praise for my hard work and everything. That really helped me shake my funk.

I also completed my second evening walk. If I can keep this up it won't be long until it's routine for me.

Katie❄️ wrote: "Gord wrote: [bookcover:Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor|60..."
Sorry you saw me reading this and it turned out to be a dud!
I get what you were saying about parts of this novel. I didn't mind wh..."

Don't worry about it being a dud. It genuinely sounded interesting and I wanted to read it. Besides not every book will be a smash hit.

I get what you are saying about the MC and I can understand that. It just felt like it was to much. It got into this weird flow and MC complaining was part of that flow and I just didn't like it.

I completely agree with what you said about the other two kids. Simon got a little bit of personality but the girl was just a vessel for the emperor.

Well that was a rough start to the work week. Plus I have my midyear performance review tomorrow. How fun and exciting.

On a more positive note I did my first evening walk today. Just a short stint around the neighborhood. About 3km or 2 miles total for the trip. My plan is to go out each day for a walk when I get home. I'll see how that plan holds up with how busy work is.

Time for that weekly update and be forewarned. If you don't like comics or manga then turn away now because that is mostly what I read this week.

-3 Stars
This was a challenge book, curse you dreaded Z, and it looked like a book that was going to be an easy read for me. On one hand this book does do some interesting things that I enjoyed but on the other hand this book was beyond frustrating. It was dancing right on that line and nearly got kicked down to two stars. If this book went on for much longer it would have.

Lets start with the good. I loved the idea of possession by Emperor's that gives them mystical powers. I love the idea of shifting legends that give and take powers from these Emperor's including modern things like video games, movies, and comics. There were several fight scenes in this book that were pretty cool that tapped into this unique powers.

Now for the not so good and all I'll promise is that I'll try not to rant to much here. That's the best you're getting out of me at this point. The earliest thing that started to turn me off of this book was the MC himself. It just felt like it was a constant stream of "I miss my mommy", "I miss my daddy", "I don't know what is going on", and "I want to go home". Listen, I get that the MC is in over his head in a lot of ways but just this constant whining about everything gets draining. I also felt like the MC was less a person and more a check box and mouth piece for the author. The MC is Muslim Chinese who also happens to be gay. Nothing wrong about that but it felt like he was those things more for diversity reasons then because he was an actual person. The story would get to those quiet movements between things and the author would have to remind you that the character was gay or that he was Muslim. It just didn't feel like it was there for natural reasons. Speaking of natural reasons there were times where the MC would say things about the Chinese government that just felt less like a 12 year old speaking an more like an adult speaking through a 12 year old. Again I have no issue with what is being said but it just didn't feel natural. It didn't feel like it was the character speaking to me.

This ties into the second thing that started to turn me against this book and that was just the flow of things. After a while it got into this flow that was just draining. Something cool would happen and then the story would stop for the MC to whine a bit. About how he misses his mommy or something, then there would be a history lesson, then you would get teased about something cool to then get another history lesson. There were so many times in this book where it just felt like the story was put on hold for book to tell you stuff. Even the fights that happened started to feel like they only happened so that the author could give you a history lesson on something. That is backed up by the fact that the big bad doesn't show up until the 85% mark. We are told who he is early on but he just has no presence in the book until basically the end. Of course he shows up after a big twist that has our MC not trusting his friends anymore. The big bad appears, the MC trusts him completely for some reason, and then the conclusion happens. Speaking of the conclusion, what a let down. Instead of being this epic show case of all the cool things that we have seen that have been teased at for the entire book its basically two characters working our their daddy issues in this big conversation. Then some kind of cool things happen but by that point I was done and just waiting for the book to end. It ends with that movie trope where it hints and teases at a sequel. If it happens, fine, but I won't be there for it. I'm not upset that I read this book but I am glad that it's done.

Now for the comics and manga

-3 Stars
A kind of generic space story where all the parents are killed off and the ships AI is forced to take care of all the children on the ship. Not a bad concept but I just felt like I wanted more.

-3 Stars
This is the sequel to Garlic and the Vampire and the weirdness continues. Like the first book if you take it at surface value it's a cute story with some important life lessons. If your like me though you disappear down this rabbit hole of trying to figure out this world and just the weird, and kind of messed up, implications that the story hints at. So in this story Garlic is facing a big change in her life. She is turning human. Apparently, this is normal in this world and everyone does this. So is this how this world reproduces? You plant some seeds in your garden, get some sentient veggie helpers for a while, then they turn into humans and you kick them out into the world. Do other humans reproduce how we do? If so are there genetic differences between these two kind of humans? What happens if you mate a normal human and a veggie human? There are just so many questions.

-3 Stars
This is an odd one. This was a translation of a Spanish comic that was loosely based upon real events. From what I remember looking up earlier this week an exploration crew found a sunken galleon and claimed it, and the treasure on board, through international law. Spain then contested this and it ended up going through the courts. In real life it took something like five years and then there were all the additional cases that were tied to the main one. The comic did an alright job of taking these events and making essentially a thriller of things. The head of the American exploration company was much more of a villain who somehow had connections to all level of government both domestic and foreign. The court case seemed to only last a year with what seems like a cartoonish deadline at the end for extra tension. There was a bit of romance sprinkled in as well for some spice. It wasn't bad overall.

-3 Stars
This was read to help with a challenge and I think I will continue on reading. I went into this with expectation of this being a historical Samurai drama and I got that and more. It was indeed a historical drama but the art made it into something else. The art would bounce between what one would expect for a historical manga and art from either a horror manga or a gag manga. I'll be honest some of these faces made me think of Junji Ito. The heavy line work, the eerie distortion of the human faces, etc. I also like that this wasn't just a book full of duels and politics. Our MC specializes in running away and it's about this young kid learning how to utilize this ability to regain his home land from the bad guys. It's an interesting start and I want to see where things go.

-4 Stars
This was a random snag from the library and a pleasant surprise. The way this comic started had me concerned that it was supposed to be some sort of allegory for the mental stress of a young kid having to move to a new school or something. Instead we get something alien with hints of a greater mystery going on that has me intrigued. Of course I want more and this is currently the only book that is out.

-3 Stars
A random snag from the library and an interesting take on the superhero genre. In this world superheroes don't exist but things like vampires and what not do. One of these vampires that is laying low doing all the human things to not get noticed happens to like superhero movies. One day he notices some people getting mugged and in a spur of the moment action dons a masks and saves them. This inspires him to make a superhero costume and take to the streets. It allows him to use his vampire powers out in the open. This of course gains the attention of others in the supernatural community and the less savory elements want to join in. That gives birth to the super villain. It's an interesting premise and some nice twists at the end that makes me want more but like the above comic this is the only material currently out.

-4 Stars
This was a cool book that caught my eye early last year and I've been waiting for the library to get a copy. This is a throw back to books I remember from a kid that had anatomy of various animals. The pages would give you a glimpse inside the animal and would be sprinkled with facts about the animal. It's like that but for heroes and villains of the Marvel universe. It's framed as case files done by the Black Panther who is preparing for a Skrull invasion. Talking about the powers of the individual, how that works in a scientific sense, what role they could play in the invasion, and whether they could be trusted. This book was massive (dimensionally) with a ton of full color images and I think most Marvel fans would enjoy it. In my opinion it's more of a coffee table kind of book that you pick up and read a couple pages or flip through looking at the images instead of a read from cover to cover kind of book. I read it cover to cover and the science babble got a bit much by the end. On a side note, this book is stupid expensive. I keep track of how much money I save by using the library and this book is $115 Canadian. Not even manga omnibus editions are that expensive. That price is getting into out of print rare book territory.

Now, what am I read next. Well my self control at the library has not been good and I currently have 25 books out.

I have four audiobooks currently on the go and I think I'm going to tackle the hardest one first. That will be and then I'll go from there. If I need some fluff I have or if I want another challenge book I have or . All of them needs to be finished this month.

For regular books I'm still trying to get caught up on all my manga and comics from the library. I have two big stacks on my table that need to be read.

Alright I'm going to give Let's Get Textual a chance. I've got a bunch of things to listen to now on Hoopla.

It was some free romance from Kindle/Kobo about this young couple that crashed their plane into the Amazon jungle. It was just so bloody awful.

Does anyone know of any good New Adult books? I've read one that was tagged that and it was a scarring experience.