Gord’s Comments (group member since Sep 03, 2018)

Gord’s comments from the Readers Unbound group.

Alright, that manga made my skin crawl and probably wasn't the wisest thing to read before going to bed. I feel like I need an exorcist, a night light, and a teddy bear because I've seen things that will not be leaving my head any time before I go to bed. Perhaps I just don't need sleep tonight, or tomorrow, or the night after.


If your are looking for the extremely weird and unsettling read PTSD Radio by Masaaki Nakayama. I take no responsibility for what happens to you.

Time for that weekly update and I've read things this week.

A Walk in the Dark -3 Stars
As I mentioned last week I was having a hard time getting into this one. At some point the story picked up enough for me to actually power through this book. I'll be honest I don't remember how this book ended up on my list but I think I picked it up with the expectations of something more horror based. This isn't a horror novel, it's more of those young YA/middle grade survival stories and it was alright, I guess. It's been a week since I read this and it's almost faded from my memory. Kids go into the woods on a school activity, storm comes up, kids get into difficult situation, face inner demons, grow as people. There really wasn't a whole lot about this novel that was bad per se but at the same time there just wasn't anything that stuck out for me as being really good either. If I didn't have to write this up I'd probably have already forgotten this book. A couple negatives I'd say about the ending though that kind of bugged me a bit. There was a certain "villain" kind of character that just kind of vanished from the story. It was implied that he might have been scared away by our MC's but there is also a very real chance that our MC's might have killed the character. The author tries to downplay that aspect but no, there is a very real chance that the kids left a body out there in the woods. There is also a romance in the story that just kind of pops up out of no where and feels really out of place. Overall this was a very solid "meh" that is going to easily be forgotten.

The Edge of Summer -3 Stars
Last week I got a little gushy over a romance novel that just worked for me. This is another romance novel but there will be no gushing over this one. Probably some ranting, definitely some complaining as this was just not the kind of romance that I enjoyed. Where to even start with this painful train wreck of a story? Basically this is a summer romance where our FMC travels to Cape Cod for an internship at a Marine Conservation group. While there she stumbles across MMC who is course hot and hunky. What follows is a summer of misunderstandings and poor communication. Oh and our FMC comes with a semi trailer of baggage after the death of her best friend the year before. Most of my issues with this book involve the FMC. I really did not like her at all. She just grated against me so many times. Yes, there were times where I empathized with her but more often then not I wanted to reach through the page and either throttle her or slap her upside the head. An early example, she goes out to a party during the week, gets drunk, sleeps in, and ends up being late for work. Of course she gets punished and has some mundane task to get done. She gets the work done and decides that the best course of action is to simply leave work early. Are you kidding me? You screwed up, you came in late, your boss is upset, you know your boss is upset, and you decide to just peace out early because you feel like it? Are you an idiot? I'm not saying you have to kiss your bosses butt but put in an effort to show that you are indeed remorseful for your actions as you imply.

Then there is the romance. The MMC is, well, he is borderline perfect. He is a hot hunky lifeguard, he can cook, he can can fix his truck, he can plumb. Honestly it would probably be easier to come up with a list of things he can't do. Most of my problems though with this romance though comes from the FMC. The MMC clearly states he is not in a place to date someone but our FMC gets it into her head that he has to be madly in love with her because their knuckles touched for 0.0000000000005ths of a second. Or the time she gets insanely jealous because the MMC is talking to an ex. This is after she is told by people not to worry about it by various people. That there is nothing going on there and there was indeed nothing going on there, ever. She sees them talking though and decides to storm off in a huff and not talk to the MMC for a few days. That is a mature response of course. Instead of, oh I don't know, talking to the MMC and finding out what is going on. This entire romance is just plagued with miscommunication or no communication at all. It's just maddening.

This part is a bit of a spoiler but I want to address something about that truckload of baggage.
(view spoiler)[
Basically our FMC ends up hooking up with this basketball ball player that her best friend has had a crush on forever. The two friends have been outcasts since elementary school, it's how they became friends, but now the FMC is hanging out with the cool kids who are, of course, toxic as hell. This leads to the two friends drifting apart. What really happened is the FMC dropped her bestie to hang out with the popular kids because she was insecure. Now her bestie drowns in an event that is not really clearly explained. It happened after an argument on the beach where some nasty words were exchanged. The FMC's bestie storms into the ocean, fully clothed, for a "swim". Now it's possible it was an accident, a rip tide or something but what I'm reading between the lines is that it was a suicide. This is explained towards the end of the novel so I've already got a pretty low opinion of the FMC and that might be tainting my image of her but I can't help but wonder if that is what happened. Just a thought. (hide spoiler)]

The Moth Keeper -4 Stars
I snagged this on a whim and man this book is adorable. It's from the author of the Tea Dragon series of comics which is also adorable. This is about a fantasy world where one tribe lives during the day and one lives during the night. The tribe that lives in the night follow the moon god and within the tribe there is the role of the Moth Keeper. A lonely role where an individual is responsible for these moths that are gifts from the moon god. This solitary role is key to the tribes survival and we follow our MC who is a young girl who just entered the role. This is a tale of self discovery and change that is simple but adorable. After finishing this book I immediately requested everything that that library had from this author I hadn't read yet.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 6 -5 Stars
This volume blew my mind. I've been a casual fan of the turtles since I was a kid when I loved watching the 80's cartoon. I remember all three of the movies that came out in the 90's. Outside of that I've dabbled in some of the various other iterations of the turtles. That 80's cartoon is more or less my basis for my turtle knowledge but I was aware that other iterations could be a bit darker. There were events in this comic that I just never expected followed by twists that I could have never predicted followed by hints and setup for the next big story line. I was just shocked at the end of the main story in this one and was left wanting more and wanting it now.

The Boxer, Vol. 1 -5 Stars
The Boxer, Vol. 2 -5 Stars
I was not prepared for how much I enjoyed this manhwa at all. This was a random snag from the library and I devoured both volumes in one evening. The crazy thing about this is after two volumes I still know nothing about the MC. We know his name, maybe, and that he had a troubled upbringing, again maybe. I will tell you this about the MC though, he unsettles me a lot. I can't really explain it but there is something just unsettling about this character. After two volumes he has only spoken maybe a handful of times. I've never seen him express any emotion at all. He always has this neutral dead look to him at all times. I'm just hooked into this story and want more. That's where there is a problem. This is a newer release and currently there is only three volumes out. My library has the third volume on order so it will be a wait for that one and the fourth volume comes out in October. After that, I've got no idea. I suppose I could track down the webtoon version of the story but I like physical books.

Now for what is next.

Deep Storm
This is my current audiobook and I have some mixed feelings about this book. This is a techno thriller and so far it's alright. There is a lot of techno babble in this book. It comes in either science related babble or medical related babble. The one odd thing I've noticed so far is the MC. This is book one in the Jeremy Logan series which to me would indicate that the MC is Jeremy Logan. So far Jeremy Logan has shown up once and that was in chapter thirteen. I'm now currently on thirty three and have not seen him since. I'm not sure he is ever going to show up again either which is rather odd.

Connections in Death
This is the non-audiobook that I'm currently working on and of course I am loving it. Shocking I know.

Frightmares
This is the other novel I have to tackle this week so I can get it back to the library.

This was a bit of interesting week of reading full of all sorts of emotions.

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax -5 Stars
Man this book was just a blast to read. This was just a nonstop blast of action from beginning to end. Full of spies, double agents, gypsies, and secrets. There is a communist defector who has made it to Turkey where they had sought refuge at the British consulate. While there they disappeared and now ever spy agency on the planet wants to make contact with this defector. What they don't realize is that this defector is actually an American spy. The solution, send in the agent no one suspects, Mrs. Pollifax. I just love that this little old lady is this agent of utter chaos. As soon as she gets on the scene everything goes pear shaped and kicks off a country wide chase. This series is just so much fun.

The Bookshop on the Corner -5 Stars
I had picked this up to help with a particular challenge I was stuck on. It wasn't necessarily a book that I would ever read but it didn't sound entirely outputting for me either. Basically I had no expectations going into this book outside of "read it and get that challenge moving again". I... I.... I uhhhhh... I really, really liked this book. I was charmed rather early on and in the most unexpected way. This book had an author's prologue of sorts which is not something I normally bother myself with but I was walking already and didn't feel like messing with my phone at the moment. In this prologue the author speaks of their love of reading and man did I relate to this hard. Not all of it but you felt the author's love for reading and it was relatable. We are then introduced to the MC, Nina, who is a librarian in her late 20's facing a challenging time in her life. The library she is working at is closing and getting merged into this new, high tech, multimedia center thing and it's just not working for her. She is that stereotypical mousey, introverted librarian and man did I relate to her a lot. Her love of reading is so relatable but it was more than just that. It's hard to explain but I think we all as readers, as adult readers especially, have to put down the book and deal with real life. That will sometimes lead us away from the book for a time but in doing so we are forced to deal with the real world and it can be scary at times. I don't know if it makes sense but I connected with her in a way. So our MC, with the encouragement of friends, ends up buying this van with the dream of changing it into a bookmobile. In the process she ends up having to move to Scotland and this is where we are introduced to the romance in this novel. Now I normally hate, no, loathe love triangles but this one worked for me. Part of it was that it didn't feel like a full blown love triangle. It wasn't like both men were dating her at the same time and she was all indecisive about which hot man she was more attracted to. It was rather romantic in a way and she tried to make it work with one man, that didn't work (no spoilers), and then, after some time, realized that there just might be something with this other man in her life. Listen, I'm not normally into romance novels, just not my jam really, but every once in a while one will come along, sneak past all me defenses, and land a direct hit on that weird soft squishy part of me. That was this book. Yes, it was cliched but it was also romantic and I liked it. Between the books, the characters, the location, the romance this just worked for me and I loved every minute of it.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands -3 Stars
I headed into this book with a lot of trepidation but a bit of curiosity of well. See this book is about the oil sands here in Alberta and in particular that area during the massive boom of the mid 2000's. This was when I entered the work force as a civilian for the first time and while I wasn't working up there I was still in the industry. It was a time, a very busy and wild time. I was worried about how the book would portray things and it did a pretty good job of it I think. I was worried that this book would paint things with great big strokes of generality and it kind of did but it also tempered itself by the end. This book was about what it was like for a young woman to work in a male dominated industry in a remote location. Lets cut to the chase here, it isn't pretty and there isn't a lot this book has to say that I have seen or heard before. To be perfectly honest, I've heard much, much worse. Some first hand, some second hand. I won't get into details but it made me reflect on a lot of things. How things were back then, how things are now, and just how complicated things are. It's super easy, and done so often, where that brush comes out and we get broad statements like "all men are evil", or "capitalism is evil", or "the oil sands are evil" and those statements are a massive oversimplification of a very complicated situation. Like so many things in life really. This was one of those books that just crawled inside my head and set up camp for several days. Even now, nearly a week later, just thinking of it gives me pause.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 24 -3 Stars
Yup, it's official, the magic of this series has worn off for me. There is still a sweet story somewhere in there but it's just buried under so much pointless fluff and a never ending barrage of shallow characters that it just gets lost. We might get one chapter of something sweet and then we get 20+ chapters exploring that event from the POV of every character possible. Then we get another 20-30 chapters of just filler. Then if we are lucky maybe something story related. This is just starting to feel like the author is milking things as long as possible.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1—Phantom Blood, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
Yup, it's time, it's time to dive into this franchise. For those not in the anime/manga sphere this franchise is a giant meme. It's everywhere, it's meme'd to death and back again. It's one of those things that you can't really escape in the anime/manga fandom. Even if you have never watched/read this franchise you have heard the name of Jojo. It should conjure up images of super buff men and just some weird and random things. Basically the franchise is broken down in to different parts and each part focuses on a different member of the Joestar family and their story. This part, Phantom Blood, takes it back to the very beginning of all the madness. This is where we meet Jonathan Joestar (see, JoJo) and the infamous Dio. We also get to see the start of one of the long running jokes in this series with the character Robert E.O. Speedwagon. Yes, REO Speedwagon. There are so, so, so many references in this franchise to popular things from the 80's and earlier. This is where it all began. The rivalry between the Joestar's and Dio, the magic, the weirdness, everything. It also means that in the beginning things are a bit slow as it has to set things up before everything got weird. Still, this was fun and I am looking forward to my time in this franchise.

Now, what is next. Honestly, things are shaping up to be a bit of a rough week.

The Edge of Summer
This is my current audiobook and it's another romance. Unlike Bookshop on the Corner I am not feeling this one at all. There is a bit to much drama, a bit to much "our knuckles touched for 0.00000005 milliseconds so that must mean true love", a bit to much "Does he like me? I can't like him but I want to like him, blah, blah, blah, blah" stuff going on for me.

A Walk in the Dark
I'm trying to get started on this one as I need to get it back to the library this week. I'm having a bit of a hard time getting into it though.

Welcome o the group Jeni!

Another week, another update

Undone -5 Stars
With this book I feel like this series has hit its stride. In the last two books in the Will Trent series the books were good but there was just something missing. Some element that just made them miss that 5 star mark. What it was I can't really tell you but what ever it was this book finally hit it. If I was to hazard a guess a lot of it came down to the MC, Will, himself. In the first book we were introduced to Will but I never felt we got to actually know the character. In the second book we got to see some more of the character but again that connection just wasn't there 100%. In this book I feel like we not only get to finally see his character but we get to see movement. Now in usual Karin Slaughter fashion it's not all sunshine and rainbows but I like that. This felt like the start of something. This was that moment where you can say that someone started to change. Now of course this is not just the Will Trent series you have other characters and you also have a string of violent and twisted crimes. That moment of growth and change was there for his partner, Faith, as well. We got see more of Amanda and yup, scary as well. We also get the return of the MC from the Grant County series and I have to hand it to the author. This reappearance was handled really well in my opinion. It's set up that it has been 3.5 years since the end of Grant County and the MC is a shell of her former self which makes sense considering what happened. What I loved here is that the character wasn't immediately thrust into the limelight as being this character that the whole books hinges around. This character straddles this line between side character here for a book and being part of the central cast of characters. This was all done while letting the reader know what happened in those 3.5 years and laying the groundwork for the character to work their way into the central cast of figures. All with the usual box full of secrets and hints at other things. Overall this book was just a joy to read and I can't wait for the next one.

Christmas Cake Murder -2 Stars
On the other end of the spectrum we have this cozy mystery and this book was just dull as dishwater. Now I will admit that I am jumping into things essentially at the end of the series and I only picked this up for a challenge. I haven't read the rest of the series so I don't have that intimate connection with the characters that a normal reader might have. That being said what I found here was just boring and poorly written. Normally I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to cozy mysteries since I know that they all follow a pretty standard formula but they can be entertaining. This was just people talking for 90% of the book. Not just people, the nicest people in the nicest town in the entire world. This level of happiness and politeness was so much that it slipped into that uncanny valley place. These people just felt fake and plastic. This felt less like a normal small town and more like a small town from a horror book/movie. The one where everyone in town is super nice but are secretly cannibals, crazy cultists, or some other horrifying group waiting to harvest your organs or sacrifice you to some dark being. Any way, the book revolved around primarily 4ish people who basically say there giving each other compliments while eating food for the entire book. I know that in cozy mysteries that the tense/violent stuff happens off page, hence cozy mysteries, but in this book everything happens off page. The primary driving factor in this book was the town recreating this Christmas ball for a local beloved senior citizen. How did this all happen? No flipping clue. Like I said it was kind of discussed as a group and then things just happened off page. Speaking of the mystery, this was just a dud. The book was just the characters talking like I said and then a murder happened at the 86% mark. It's not even a mystery as the murder happened right in front of the sheriff and the guy was immediately arrested. Oh and I can't even call it a murder as the victim actually lives. Just... what in the hell was that? It's like the author got so wrapped up complimenting her characters and sharing her recipes with the reader that she forgot the mystery part of the book. Then at the last second tried to crowbar it in. There was a bit more to it but the way it was set up there was no indication that there was even a mystery going on. Then the author tried to pull a twist and suspenseful ending but it was just clumsy and rushed as it was all crammed into the last chapter essentially. Just bleh but it was super helpful for numerous challenges.

Orochi: The Perfect Edition, Vol. 3 -3 Stars
This book was just two short stories and the first one was meh. It was a convoluted revenge story with a plot twist telegraphed from a mile out. Now the second story was really good. Or at least until the ending that was but more on that later. In the second story we get to meet this young boy who has the world nicest dad. This man is super kind to everyone and everything. He has become a real role model for his son who looks up to him. Now dad served during WWII, keep in mind this book was originally written late 60's, early 70's) and his son knows he served in Guadalcanal but father will not speak of what happened there. One day the young man learns a horrifying truth about his father. He learns that his father and other men on the island survived by resorting to cannibalism. This shakes him to the very core and he starts to question whether he can even trust his father. How can this super nice fan do something so horrible? It's a wonderful exploration into this dark subject. The problem comes at the end because I don't think the author knew how to end it. The story sets up a tense moment, not going to spoil anything here, and then just ends with no resolution. Now this by itself is not a bad thing as an open ending can be interesting but this just felt like there was a couple of pages missing somewhere. There was the start of an ending and then nothing. No clues what happens next, no hints at what happened, it just ends halfway through the climax. It just didn't sit well with me at all.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 5 -4 Stars
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 6 -4 Stars
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 7 -4 Stars
More Frieren and I can't really talk about anything without spoilers but this series is just a fantastic read.

Now, what is next. Well I've already got a couple of books on the go.

The Bookshop on the Corner
I'm currently a little over 30% into this book and I'm enraptured with this book. I picked this up to help with a couple of challenges with no real expectations. It's not my favorite genre but I'll give it a whirl. The authors little blurb in the beginning about her love for reading just resonated with me. Then the MC's simple joy for reading is just infectious. As an introverted book nerd I can't help but feel this bond with this mousey little librarian and her love of books. I'm genuinely excited to go out for walks just so I can hear more of this book.

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax
I'm returning to this series and this book moves at a blistering pace. I'm a little over 25% of the way into this book and it's just flying along. I love the absurdity of this series and how it places it super straight. This should be another fun ride.

After that I have to start working on my next batch of things that need to be returned to the library.

Well this has been a week and I don't really have a lot to talk about. Work has been busy since my vacation but this week things picked up even more and I don't see much of a break for at least another month. On top of that I was working through a season of a TV show that I had to get back to the library. Basically that left me with little time for reading. Any way, enough complaining, lets get to what I did get read this week.

Solo Leveling, Vol. 7 -4 Stars
This is the second last book in the series, as I've found out this week, and it was a giant buildup for the end. Revelations, power ups, etc, etc, etc. Don't get me wrong it was still entertaining but man that ending left me wanting something bad. It literally got to the final fight, the MC and the big bad make eye contact, and the book ends. *deep breathe* Leaving me hanging like that just feels cruel. What I found out about the final volume also leaves me annoyed. The final volume is 272 pages. Of that novel only 62 pages are the actual conclusion to the story. The rest are just side stories with various characters sharing the POV's of events that happened in the story. That just kind of feels a little scummy. My library doesn't have the final volume and I was going to just buy it myself to see how it all ends. Then I saw that little nugget and I'll just wait for it now.

Guilty Pleasures -3 Stars
This book leaves me rather conflicted. I have a bit of a history with this series and it kind of leaves me feeling mixed about things. Back when I was first getting back into reading in the early 2010's, man it's been over a decade of reading already, this was the series that dragged me into the world of urban fantasy. I'll be honest here, Anita was on my list of favorite characters at one point. Then the series started to change and not really for the better in my opinion. We've all seen the discussions about this before so I won't get into here again. This early book felt weird for me. This was before Anita became an action star essentially. This was before the series became a paranormal romance and long before it became pure smut. It just felt off to me. I think part of it is that I have read so much since my first time reading this and I've seen much better but I can't completely discredit the influence this book had on me.

Now I also want to talk about the audiobook itself. Now this is an older audiobook but it didn't have that whole "insert next CD now" stuff left in it. That being said I didn't think this a great audiobook. Part of it is that the narrator just didn't feel like it suited the character in my opinion. This is purely subjective I know but in my head it just didn't fit. Then there was the accents that just felt... off. Jean Claude wasn't bad, I guess. It was a stereotypical French accent really. It was a couple of the side characters, Ronnie, in particular that just felt weird. This takes place in St Louis and it's what I think is supposed to be a Midwest accent but my brain defaulted to a Newfie accent. That's what I heard and it just sounded out of place. This book also like to use dramatic music while the narrator is telling the story and it just kind of drowned out the narrator in places. While not a horrible experience this audiobook is not what I'd use as an example of what a good audiobook is.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 5 -4 Stars
Back to this ongoing series and this was an interesting one. Basically we have two side stories collection with the main story sprinkled in between. The first side story collection was Turtles in Time and it was alright, I guess. It wasn't my favorite part of the book honestly. The one upside was a little revelation at the end though. That Donatello has doubts about what they were doing. That he had thought of quitting and just walking away from everything. This little plot point tied in with the main story and led to some interesting story beats. The second side story collection was a crossover with the The Ghostbusters and this was a fun one. Then there is the main story line. I don't want to get into to many details but this was good. It felt like it was finally starting to tie all these various story lines together and man did it feel good. That ending left me shook and want the next volume something bad. Luckily my library has it and it's available right away.

Now for what is next.

Christmas Cake Murder
This is the next audiobook and it will help with a couple different challenges.

Undone
This is the next novel I'm reading and I'm more than a little hype for this one. We get to see the return of Sarah and I'm curious how all of that will be handled. Considered the author it will involve all sorts of trauma and pain.

They do. If I remember correctly you pay by the hour to use them.

I really need to finish the Yellowrock series. I wish the library had them on audiobook for me to listen to.

Another week and more reading has been completed. Forewarning here, there was a lot of manga that was read this week.

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places -3
I was going to listen to something else this week but I just wasn't in the mood for it and settled on this. Yes, it's another nonfiction which is odd for me but it's what appealed to me. This was a study into various ghosts of America and the history behind them. Now the author tried to say that he was unbiased and was going to present both sides of the case. Which he kind of did in the beginning but as the book went along it became more and more obvious he was clearly a skeptic. Overall I thought that the book was interesting and it gave you some interesting history to some famous haunted places. It also dove into how those stories changed over time to fit various narratives and concerns for the time the story was told. By the end though the book started to feel more than a bit repetitive and I was struggling more and more to stay focused. Part of that could be due to the narrator though. On the surface the man has a voice made for audiobooks. He has this nice voice that is pleasant to listen to. Or that is until you start to notice all these weird quirks. He loved using voices for various witness statements so he was constantly slipping in and out of various voices and random through out the book. He also has this weird way of pronouncing W words and in particular WH words. To the point I felt like I was in that episode of Family Guy about Cool Whip. I didn't notice it at first but once I did I couldn't stop noticing it. Especially when the book got into a section about slavery and the word "white" was bantered around every few words. It bugged me to end.

Now for the manga

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 4 -4 Stars
More of this interesting story. It was a bit frustrating as this was the last of the series I had from the library and it ended right before one of my favorite parts from when I was reading the fan translations. Needless to say I have the next three volumes and I now just need to catch up on my other reading so I can get back to this.

Orochi: The Perfect Edition, Vol. 2 -3 Stars
I really want to like this series more than I am but it just doesn't have the punch of other Japanese horror manga that I am reading. It just feels like "classic" horror stories which makes sense consider this was originally serialized from 1969-1970. A great example of this is the final story in this volume which is essentially a retelling of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. You know how the story is going to end as soon as you start reading because the story has been done so many times before. Don't get me wrong, this book is not bad and I was entertained but it lacked the punch and the chills of others that I have read.

Princess Jellyfish 2-in-1 Omnibus, Volume 8 -4 Stars
Princess Jellyfish Vol. 9 -3 Stars
This will be more of a review of the whole series but it will include these last two volumes. I started this series in an attempt to branch out into different demographics of manga. This was a highly praised Josei (manga for adult women) manga that I've been curious about for a while now. In the beginning I was really involved in the series. It's a story about an apartment building of otaku women (basically nerdy shut in types) who are facing the possibility of losing their building to redevelopment. Through the help of a cross dressing man they create a fashion brand to raise money to buy the building for themselves. This is a super simplified version of the story and there is a lot more to it than that. There is some romance, some character development and growth, there is humor. It was a slow moving story but I was fine with that. Then everything changed with essentially the last big story arc. Our MC, Tsukimi, signs herself into a deal to save the apartment building in exchange for her leaving and moving to Singapore. I was really on the fence about this arc as it felt like such a big change for the series. I wasn't willing to write it off yet as I was very curious about where things were going. It felt like things were getting set up for something interesting. Then the author threw it all out the window. It felt like the author just had enough of the series and wanted it to end. Suddenly that slow pace has a jet engine strapped to it and we are off to the ending. All that set up for the big story arc, who cares, wrap it up, get back to Amars. Back at Amars, streamline the story to the final goal, bring all the characters from the story for one last appearance, and done. The ending of this just felt so rushed and middle of the road. It felt like it was created to try to appease the fans without committing to any for sure resolution. There is a confession but there is no response to it and everyone just ends up living happily ever after in Amars. It's not a bad ending but it just doesn't feel fulfilling. I'm sure this isn't just me but I wanted some resolution to things. The romance angle, the fashion story angle, the whole last story arc that just got ended, etc. A great example of this is a character from the final arc called Hwa-Young. She was built up to be a very important character to our "villain" of the arc who has been with him since childhood. Once that final story arc starts getting bulldozed towards the conclusion she essentially yeets herself from the story to never be seen again and no one has any reaction to this at all. The guy who she stood beside for almost her entire life, nothing. Tsukimi, who Hwa was taking care of in Singapore, nothing. She was just gone from the story never to be seen again. She didn't even get an appearance at the final event where every other character gets an appearance. The ending just felt like a bit of a stumble in it's rush to wrap everything up.

PTSD Radio 1 (Vol. 1-2) -4 Stars
How do I even begin to explain this bizarre trip into Japanese horror. This isn't a flowing narrative of interconnected stories. This is just a series of vignettes that may or may not be interconnected with the other stories. This feels like everything that just unnerves me about Japanese horror. Nothing is really explained, it just happens. There is no saving you once you have been targeted. Run, hide, pray, it matters not what you do because you are already screwed. Then there is that body horror. Twisting human features into something just horrifying that just unsettles me. Like this charmer:

That is also tame compared to some of the other things that you will see in this as well. Then of course it has that other essential Japanese horror element, hair. A lot of this horror revolves around hair and let me just tell you it's unsettling. Just writing this up and thinking of the book is giving me the chills. Needless to say I am reading on.

Fist of the North Star, Vol. 9 -3 Stars
More of the muscle bound men punching holes through anything, anyone, and everything with a melodramatic story somewhere around here. I'm going to be honest here I'm kind of done with this series. I heard about how great this series was and how influential it was to media in general. I can't deny it's influence but I'm just not feeling the story anymore. Characters that are supposed to be dead aren't. Everyone is someones else's brother/sister/lover/etc and revenge must be had, etc, etc, etc, etc. It was an interesting journey with this series but I think this is where I get off.

Dinosaur Sanctuary, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
Essentially this is Jurassic Park meets a slice of life manga and I'm onboard for it. This was one of those random snags from the library and I'm glad I found it. Basically in the late 40's dinosaurs were found to still be alive on this remote island. Thanks to science they were able to breed them and increase their population. These dinosaurs now live in parks where tourists can come and visit them. Our story follows a young woman who is starting her first day as a dinosaur keeper. A person responsible for taking care of these giant creatures. You get to follow her and see what her job entails while learning more about dinosaurs. The author has professional advice on dinosaurs so this is well researched and that professional gives little lectures between each chapter. Giving you a glimpse into the scientific world of dinosaur research and what they do. This is just a fun read and I want more.

The Evil Secret Society of Cats, Vol. 1 -3 Stars
Do you like cats? Do you have a cat? Do you like looking at cat pictures or watching cat videos? Then you are already a member, probably unknowingly, of the Evil Secret Society of Cats. This manga is a four koma (four panel) gag manga about a secret society of cats and their plans for world domination. It explains all those weird and quirky behaviors of our beloved cats as actually secret and nefarious plans of this secret society. It's a fun little manga but it does suffer from the usual problem of four koma or any other internet comic. It's great as a daily quick read but as a full length book it gets a little repetitive and ultimately kind of boring as it's essentially the same joke over and over. That being said if you like cats and like reading cat manga I'd recommend this one for you. It might just open your eyes to the evil plans around you.

Up next
For audiobooks I have no flipping clue honestly. I need something for my walk tomorrow but everything I want to read isn't available as an audiobook through my library, has a wait list, or only available on Hoopla where I've maxed out my borrows for the month. Nothing on Libby is speaking to me as it all feels like super serious books. I'm at the point where I'm thinking of just buying something on Kobo. I'm only hesitating because audiobooks are generally $25-30 which for someone who relies on the library seems kind of steep.

For normal books I'm going to be reading and

I don't really have many people that would be coming over to visit. For those that I would want to see I can have a secret passage set up to bypass all my security measures. I suppose I would want to hire a housekeeper. I think I might need a really good lawyer to draw up an ironclad contract to ensure my secrets are not disclosed. Also a gardener to ensure my man eating plants are well tended to. I could set up an offsite location to have supplies dropped off at and I can go pick them up at. Can you imagine that.

"I'd like to order ten bags of vegan nuggies and could you drop them off at the creepy statue at the edge of town" "sir, there is nothing out there..." "Shhhh gimmie the nuggies, leave them at the statue and there won't be any issues"

My house would have an exterior inspired by The Addams Family. All creepy, dark, and foreboding. Basically, I don't want a house that would we welcoming to strangers. I want a house that screams "leave me alone". The interior would be odd as well. It would be inspired by the idea of the Winchester House. Secret passages, hidden rooms, doors to nothing, etc. The kitchen would be futuristic with a lot stainless steel and what not. I'd want themed rooms throughout as well. So things like a few tatami rooms, some rooms that are all bright colorful hippy like rooms, a massive tech cave. It of course needs a massive multi floor library with the rolling ladders. The big thing I want though is a massive greenhouse/atrium thing on the roof of my place. Hidden of course so that the outside world can't see it. Basically this massive jungle like place that I can go to read year round in private while observing the world in private.

Basically this house is a designers worst nightmare and something that would need more money then I would ever see in a several life times.

I always joke that if I ever stumble in a metric shit ton of money and can actually afford to have a house built it will be a doozy. To get to the front door you will need to traverse through a 20' tall hedge maze which may or may not contain packs of attack dogs, giant man eating plants, and the occasional pit trap for some randomness. Don't even think of getting to the back door either. That just won't end well.

I finished up Princess Jellyfish this morning and I have feelings/thoughts. Overall I liked the story and the characters but I think by the end the author just wanted it to end. I feel like things started to kind of go off the rails when it got to the final arc when Tsukimi ended up going to Singapore to save the apartments. I wasn't sure where the story was going as it felt like a real change from the story so far. I wasn't ready to write it off as it felt like it might be building to something bigger. The story really shifted into something much more fashion orientated. Just as I was getting into the story it felt like the whole story line was thrown out the window and a quick ending was thrown together. A kind of feel good ending that was incredibly open ended in regards to everything. I don't hate the ending but I feel a bit unsatisfied with things. I didn't feel like I got closure to pretty much anything and it was just a showcase for all the characters to show up one last time.

It's time to get back into the regular routine now that my vacation is over.

Fool Moon -4 Stars
After listening to the Eric Carter series it got me craving some more Dresden and I was looking for some easy listening after all the nonfiction that I've had this month. These are super enjoyable books and James Marsters as the narrator just bumps it to the next level. The one thing that I will say for the audiobook, and this is very specific for the version I have, please, please, please properly edit these. These were copied from CD to a digital format. What they didn't do was delete the whole "please insert audio disc XX now" and it was driving me bonkers in this one. I'd be all into the story and then suddenly everything would go silent for 30 seconds or so, then I'd here this super snarky voice stating "please insert audio disc...", more silence, and then back to the story. I've encountered this before of course but this time it was just really annoying me.

On to the story itself. Like I mentioned above it was very entertaining. Sure there are some things you just kind of have to roll with. For instance, Harry not knowing anything about werewolves and then just happening to run into all the different kinds, at one time, in the same place. The good far outweighs these things though. For instance the battle in the SIU's headquarters was amazing and it highlights one of the big differences between this series and Eric Carter. Yes, both MC's get the ever living stuffing beaten out of them but it just feels different. When Eric is getting beaten yet again you feel like he is just outclassed. When Harry is getting beaten down you are waiting for him to pull that ace out of his sleeve. How is he going to get out of this situation? What trick is he going to pull? There are actual stakes involved as well. If Harry doesn't get up really bad things are going to happen. When Eric is getting beaten up it's just a beating. Nothing really bad will happen if he doesn't get out. Sure he might lose his life but those don't feel like stakes. You know that the MC won't die because obviously the series goes on. With Harry its the lives of those around him. If he doesn't get back up and keep fighting innocent lives will be lost. It just feels different and adds a layer of tension. Any way I continue both series even if they have their differences.

In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 4 -3 Stars
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 5 -3 Stars
This was another one of those con/post con reads for me. I was just looking for some light fluffy reading and this series fits the bill perfectly. Yes, it is indeed bottom of the barrel isekai trash but it is actually kind of entertaining. Not the kind of literature that I would praise to no end but the kind that I want to read when I just want to relax and be entertained. It's a chill slice of life adventure story in a fantasy world. The MC is not really challenged by anything and it's about how he will use his powers to affect the world around him. I really don't have a lot to say about this series besides that it's good mindless fun.

One-Punch Man, Vol. 9 -4 Stars
One-Punch Man, Vol. 10 -4 Stars
I figured it was time to get back to this manga after putting it off for a few months for no real reason. It felt good to return to this world and the stories that it's exploring. It's that right blend of seriousness and goofy humor. I'm not going to let this one slide to the side again.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 2 -4 Stars
A few years back I started reading this series through fan translations and was interested with this story. Now that the anime is coming out this fall and my library has the official translations I figured it was time to throw myself back into this series. This is the story of an immortal elf and her journey. The series starts with the heroes party returning from a 10 year adventure where they defeated the demon lord. This story isn't about that though it's about what happens next. In particular for the immortal elf that does not share the same concept of time as a human. Before she knows it the party she traveled with is now old and dying/dead. She decides to travel the route they took to defeat the demon lord to explore her feelings and the remember that time. Along the way she picks up a couple of young human traveling partners. It's such an interesting idea to explore. For Frieren getting stuck some where for 6 months, a year, two years, etc is no big deal. She will just continue to explore new magics and life live as it comes. What is two years time to a person who is already 1,000 plus years old. Her human partners though don't feel the same way obviously. Time has a much different meaning for a young human. For the first couple books it's a pretty chill slice of life fantasy series. Towards the end of the second book you get to see a glimpse of Frieren's true power and it is chilling. There was a reason she was part of the legendary party to defeat the demon lord. I am looking forward to exploring this series in manga form and to see what the anime can do. I want to see if the anime can catch that same feeling.

Now for what is next.

Fake It Till You Bake It
I'm drifting back into the world of contemporary romances for a challenge. Hopefully this is the good kind of romance that I like and not the other kind that makes me question why I bother reading any contemporary romance at all.

Outside of that I have more manga that I acquired with my reckless use of my library card. I have more Frieren, some Orochi, the end of Princess Jellyfish, PTSD, Fist of the North Star, etc.

Small update from the weekend before I return to the regular world and work.

American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century -3 Stars
I learned an important lesson from this book. Don't listen to nonfiction books about serial killers while waiting in line at an anime convention. It creates odd situations shall we say. Situations such as everyone around having fun, excited, etc and in my ear I have the narrator telling about how the killer hacked a body to pieces and worse.

This was the last nonfiction book I needed for my monthly challenge and I was rather excited for this one. We've all heard of the classic and probably more than a few lesser known serial killers. This serial killer operated in the 2000's and it's a name I never heard of before. Needless to say I was interested in learning more. The subject matter itself was interesting and yet infuriating. Learning more about the killer and just getting a glimpse into what he had done, might have done, and how he did it was chilling. What was infuriating was how this case was handled by pretty much everyone but the FBI. The level of incompetence I heard described made me think of cases from a much, much earlier time. The police basically failing in simple basic investigation. The DA wanting to insert himself into the case for clout even though he had no experience with interrogation tactics and just him being in the room was an ethics violation. The correctional facility failing to take any basic safety precautions with such a dangerous convict. Failures that lead to one escape attempt and eventually the convict committing suicide. It was so frustrating to listen to. Especially because we have no idea how crimes this many actually committed due to him not being interrogated properly.

As for the book itself, it was alright. This was one of those nonfiction books that was really close to feeling like a text book at times. There were more than a few times where it felt like the narrator just picked up the official report and was reading it out loud to me. Speaking of the narrator, she had a voice that made me think of a safety training video. Those ones that we all have to listen to at work that sounds like the narrator could not be more bored to have to do this. It was just that monotone voice. It made this book feel a lot longer than it was.

Broken Souls -3 Stars
I stand by my last statement that this book fits in with things like Dresden and Sandman Slim. It just has a lot of the same beats and a similar vibe to those series. Now that being said there is just something missing from this series to elevate it to the same level of those series. Don't get me wrong, the books (so far) have been very entertaining but there is just some element missing from them. I know it's not very helpful for those that might be interested in reading the series and are using me as the canary in the coal mine (just joking) but I just don't know how to describe it. The world building is interesting, the lore used in this is interesting, the main character is alright, the side characters are alright, it's just missing something. I definitely plan to keep on reading at this point as it seems to be setting up some interesting things.

Yu-Gi-Oh! (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 11: Includes Vols. 31, 32 & 33 -4 Stars
We are finally finished the big battle city arc and have started the final arc of the series. That means we are finally getting into the Egyptian stuff. Honestly I've lost track of all the rules for these battles. It seems like one big series of McGuffins pulled out the butts of those that are battling. I'm not complaining as it makes for some interesting reading but I really feel that the author is more concerned about the rule of cool then actual rules. Regardless, I'm coming up on the end and I am very curious to see how things all wrap up. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that it involves some battles.

Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book One -3 Stars
I snagged this one as an easy option for what could be considered a pretty difficult challenge. That and I've been curious about Swamp Thing for some time. I have thoughts and opinions about this and they might not be the most popular. So this was the American debut of Alan Moore and is praised to no ends. In my opinion it was... alright. First, this isn't the actual start of the Swamp Thing story. Its the stuff that Alan Moore wrote which means that you get dropped into things mid story line (20 volumes into the story) and left to fend for yourself. The writing itself was alright. It was comic book writing. I know that sounds bad but there was a lot of thing being treated a whole lot more serious then it should be for such a goofy premise. I'm this evil villain who wants to destroy the world by raising the oxygen levels in the atmosphere. Fear my might plant wrath. I'm also not a big fan of the art work in this. I've never really been a fan of it honestly. I'm no art major but in my opinion this art just feels messy and hard to read. I completed the challenge, I still am curious about Swamp Thing, but I'm not sure if I want to read more of this.

Up next...

Fool Moon
This is my next audiobook. I'm just in a mood for more Dresden and I was meaning to reread this series this year.

Outside of that I've got a monster stack of manga from the library that I need to work through. That whole thing about plans, lack of self control, lack of respect for boundaries, and a reckless use of my library card. It's one of those situations again.

Another year another anime convention under my belt. It was an interesting year and I feel that the con is still going through some growing pains. While it's not a new location for the con, I think it has been there for 4ish years now, the last couple of years after the big C has seen explosive growth. The last couple of years have brought in 14k people over a three day event. This year they actually were selling out of passes early. They sold out on VIP badges (no surprise), three days passes, Saturday passes, and nearly sold out on Friday/Sunday passes. I'm kind of starting to feel my age a bit at these events. It's like that Grandpa Simpson line “I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary." except the weird and scary part. There was just so much Genshin stuff the last couple of years. I know of Genshin Impact and that is about it.

A bit of a funny story from the con. As many of you know I've been listening to more and more audiobooks and waiting in line to get into things is great for listening to books. On Friday I was in line waiting to get into the opening ceremony. All around me are people in costumes, dudes with glow sticks and banners supporting their waifu, just a sea of excited happy people. In my ears I am listening to a serial killer give testimony to the cops about how he couldn't resist taking a turn with the corpse after he thawed it out because it was all "floppy". That was pretty much all day Friday honestly. I was listening to a nonfiction book about a serial killer. All around me happiness and fun and in my ears is this nonstop listing of these horrible things that this guy did. Lets just say that I am so glad I finished that book on Friday and was able to move on to something a little more relaxed for Saturday.

I'm reading through Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book One and I just don't get it. First, this isn't the start of the series, it's just the parts that Alan Moore did. That already makes the story confusing because you're just dumped into the story some 20 volumes into it. The story just feels kind of off. Like it's trying way to hard to take itself seriously. I'm also not a fan of the art. It's that 80's kind of art and I just don't like it. The pages just feel like a blurry mess. I know there are some that want to burn me at the stake for being a heathen but it's just my two cents.

I'm doing a bit of an early update this week. I'm on vacation and have been reading a tiny wee bit. I'm also going to an anime convention for the next few days so I'll be pretty busy over the weekend.

Deal with the Devil -1 Star
Let's get this stinking dud out of the way first shall we. One of the groups I'm a part of was planning buddy reads for this year and this was one of the candidates on the list. The series name hooked me in hard and then seeing comparisons to Ilona Andrews made me justifiably intrigued. The series name is Mercenary Librarians and I'm sure you can see why someone like me would be intrigued by that name. My brain conjures up all types of ideas about battle hardened librarians braving the wastelands to bring back scraps of information from the old world. What I got was this boring romantic drivel about perfect people having perfect sex and generally just being perfect unless the author needed them to suddenly be as dumb as a post for a specific story beat. It's your bog standard paranormal romance with a very slight sci-fi paint job. I have so many complaints about this book so lets get started.

This author either can't write action or didn't want it in her action series. Early on there is a scene where our main party is overwhelmed by bandits and it's looking tense. Then conveniently all the bandits happened to have the same old tech and our party just happened to have this "device" that could disable this old tech. One wave of this McGuffin thingie and the scene is done and we are back to driving through the country. The worst example though is a little after this. The main part finds themselves in a situation where two of the men have to participate in a cage fight. Now this is a perfect time for some brutal action as you have two jacked up super humans beating the ever living tar out of each other in a steel cage. Instead of this bone rattling action we get the MC's holding hands for the first time and all the tingly feelings. Then another character gets their romantic set up, outside, away from the cage match. Every time the book would pan over to the cage match it would then quickly pan away to something else and it was so frustrating.

Then the book itself just felt pointless. The whole set up for deceit and backstabbing amounted to nothing when the big reveal was basically wrapped up in seconds and then everyone was BFF's. The big treasure hunt/heist was a nothing burger when it's revealed that the thing was Atlanta all along. I don't care about spoiling this either as we don't even get a resolution to this story point until the epilogue. This super important trove of information that everyone has being searching for since the end days and it's hand waved away in the epilogue. Oh, oh, oh, one other thing. Gothic villain eyes. No idea what that means? Neither do I but it was used half a billion times to describe one of the love interests.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly -4 Stars
Now we can get to the better stuff. I'm on a bit of a nonfiction kick as this is the genre selected for a monthly genre challenge that I'm participating in. I'm familiar with Anthony Bourdain from his TV shows and I rather enjoyed watching them. When I saw this book on one of the lists I had to pick from it seemed like an easy choice. One of the nice things I found with this audiobook is that it was narrated by Anthony Bourdain himself. It just added this level of connection to the story. Instead of someone telling you a story about Anthony Bourdain it was him telling you his story. Combine that with his voice and his story telling abilities and it was just a great experience. I got to learn a bit more about the man, his early career, and the food scene in New York.

No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War -4 Stars
Last week I ranted a bit about the not so good self help book that I had to read. The one nice thing that came from that book was that it led me to this book. Don't get me wrong the self help book was still bad and his portrayal of this man was frustrating but it led me to something interesting. This is the memoir of Hiroo Onoda, one of the last Japanese hold outs at the end of WWII. He continued fighting in the Philippine jungle for 30 years until he finally stood down in 1974. It was an interesting glimpse into what they had to do to survive, the struggles they faced, and how they justified the continuance of the war. It's so easy to look at it with modern eyes and modern standards like that self help book did and judge them harshly for what they did. I feel like it's a lot more of a complicated issue involving different times, different cultures, and different ideologies. Now I will admit that the book glosses over things or downplays them. For instance the author talks about merely shooting near the locals to scare them away. It's well documented though that he and the others he was with murdered a lot of people. At least 30 people from what I've read. I'm definitely glad that I found this book and gave it read.

Princess Jellyfish 2-in-1 Omnibus, Volume 7 -4 Stars
I'm coming up on the end of this story, two more omnibus editions, and it kind of feels like it. It kind of feels like things are moving into place, maybe. I'm just trying to figure out Kai and what his scheme is. I'm not sure if he is the "villain", a love rival, just a greasy dude, a sympathetic character, some combination of those. Regardless I've requested the last two volumes and I'm going full steam ahead.

Run on Your New Legs, Vol. 3 (Volume 3) -4 Stars
Run on Your New Legs, Vol. 4 -4 Stars
This series is just such an interesting glimpse in the world of para athletes and what is involved with it. It's also a glimpse into what life was like during the big C in Tokyo. I discovered though that this series is only 5 books long and that is a bummer as I feel like it's just getting started. I know it's not the story that can go on and on like One Piece or Case Closed but I feel like there is still stories to be told here.

As for what is next that is a billion dollar question.

American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century I've started this one on audiobook and so far it's a bit dry but interesting.

Broken Souls I think this might be the next audiobook I work on this weekend while waiting in line.

As for stuff that is not audiobooks *shrugs* I am really not sure. I've got a bunch of manga from the library, as usual, but I'm not lugging those around with me at the con. I'm thinking of just downloading some light novels and reading them on my phone.

What a bummer. I've been reading Run on Your New Legs and really enjoying it. I just finished up volume 4 and discovered that this series only has 5 volumes to it. It makes sense as it's not a story line that can run for a long period of time but still.

I'm also coming up on the end of Princess Jellyfish, Berserk, and Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm looking for something new to start now. I know this is a meme at this point but I'm testing the Jojo waters. I'm thinking of either Detective Conan (I know it's call Case Closed here but I just don't like that name) or One Piece. It's not my first time with One Piece but I more or less fell off at the time skip part. I figure it's time to get back in the saddle now that things are "coming up on the end". I'm getting back into One Punch Man as I need to read some more of that and I'm tackling the official translation of Frieren as well. I'm just looking for that chill slice of life like Laid Back Camp or Run on Your New Legs. Something quirky and chill.

Time for that weekly update.

Leverage in Death -5 Stars
Yet another In Death book and to no ones surprise I loved it. This was about an extreme get rich quick scheme. After 47 books there really isn't a lot that I can say about this series anymore. I simply enjoy the ongoing story, the characters, and the over arching world building.

Dead Things -3 Stars
This was a recommendation because I needed a book set in LA. Honestly on the difficulty scale for challenges it's a pretty easy one but there are just so many options that it gets overwhelming. I snagged this book because it was available on audiobook and sounded interesting. This book scratched an itch that I didn't know I needed scratched. That grittier male MC urban fantasy series. I see a lot of comparisons to Dresden in the reviews because Dresden is of course the big dog on the block but in my opinion this felt closer to Sandman Slim. The setting, the level of grit, etc. This book just reminded me more of that series. Regardless I had fun with this book. It wasn't perfect but it was a great popcorn book. Yes, the F bomb is dropped liberally throughout this book. According to one review, 182 times in 256 pages and this only the one swear word. Also, the MC gets beat up, constantly, pretty much every action scene results in our MC getting smeared across the floor, the walls, the ceiling, what ever is close and on hand. The MC is also not the most likable guy either. Now I know that this sounds like a lot of negative but there is some really interesting things in here. The hidden world of magic, the books portrayal of magic, and of course Santa Muerte being the higher power of choice. There is enough going on here that it makes me want to keep reading for now. Especially as I now need another book set in LA. Yup, that is just how some challenges happen.

On a side note I also wanted to discuss the narrator for the audiobook. His portrayal of the MC felt really good and spot on to what was put forward by the book. His other voices though ran the gambit from alright to "please just stop what ever you are trying to do". Especially his attempts at female voices. For instance the voice of Santa Muerte. At the start I was like "alright, this isn't to bad" and then it just descended into this horrible attempt at some sort of Spanish accent. I know that she is supposed to have this generic Spanish sounding voice but this voice just felt off, like really off.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life -2 Stars
Entertain me here for a second. Look off into the far distant horizon. You see that little tiny dot out there? That is the edge of what I might normally read. That is the literary fiction, the contemporary romance, the magical realism books. My wheelhouse of horror, fantasy, and mysteries can't even be seen here from the land of self help books. This was a for a couple of different challenges that needed me to read a self help book and I was not looking forward to this one. I've never read a self help book in my life and just had no interest at all in doing so. If you like reading self help books this is no shade at you. It's just not a genre that I have any interest in reading. Lets just say that this book did nothing to help with my preconceived notions of a self help books. I'll start by saying some of the messages in this book are not a bad thing. The problem is that this message comes wrapped in a frat boys level of swearing. Just to be clear, I have no issue with swearing. I swear like a sailor at times. I'm former military and have had entire conversations where the primary word used was the F bomb. Swearing can be an effective method of communication if done right. Here though it just felt like a gimmick. A way to garner attention.

Now I knew I was in for a rough ride pretty early on. I felt like I got the basic gist of things by the 20 minute mark. I then realized that I had five more hours of this book to slog through. I got pretty bored quickly after this point. This is one of those rare books that I sped things up to 1.25 speed and then eventually 1.5 just so I could get through things. While I do agree with some of the messages in this book I think that the author over simplified things several times. I don't feel that the world is black and white like that. That whole idea of "if you do this thing you are good and if not then you are bad" just isn't right. There is a grey in this world. A lot of nuances and circumstances that just doesn't fit into simple little boxes. For everything there is an exception. Hell, probably a lot of exceptions if I'm being honest. By the end, even sped up, I was just bored and wanted this book to be over. This was not a good experience for my first foray into self help books and I doubt I'll be back unless I really have to be.

Princess Jellyfish 2-in-1 Omnibus, Vol. 6 -4 Stars
This volume rather surprised me honestly. I thought that I had an idea where this story was going and this volume just tossed a lot of those ideas out the window. Or changed how I thought those ideas were going to unfold. This is an older book but I don't want to spoil anything. This book just took an unexpected turn and there is just this... how do I explain it... this real melancholy kind of feeling to things. Plans failed, life takes unexpected turns. Honestly, I was not expecting Tsukimi to do what she did. I just didn't think she had it in her and it feels out of character and yet somehow in character. I'm really looking forward to the next volume because I want to know what comes next.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 23 -4 Stars
This single volume highlights everything I love about this series and everything that I dislike about this series. When this series puts aside the silly gags and what not it has a great story. It's incredibly emotional and is a great read. The art work is amazing and I am here for what I am reading. Slight side note, this volume solidifies why Manbagi is the best character in my opinion. That is all I'm saying about that. Then this volume also shows the lows of this series. Basically, Yamai. I'm not a fan of this character and I think she is the absolute worst part of this entire series. After all the highs this book was hitting this nut bar shows up and just tanks everything. I get it, she is supposed to be a gag character but I just don't like her at all.

The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 7 -4 Stars
This series is just a treat to read and I'm glad I picked it up. I'm really looking forward to the anime that is coming out this fall for this.

Robyn Hood, Volume One -3 Star
I was bored at work on Friday. I was done my work and was essentially marking time until my vacation started so I hit up Hoopla for something to read. This is one of those "superhero" books where the female lead somehow finds the most revealing outfit possible to wear. Seriously this costume makes sense. She gets teleported into a magical version of Robin Hood. When she shows up she is wearing jeans and a hoodie and while it sticks out a bit in the setting it makes sense. She came from our timeline and it fit the character. Then the series has a time skip, the art takes a massive dip, and she suddenly has this "outfit". Where in the hell did she find it? No one else wears anything even remotely like it. She has been supposedly living in the woods for the last year so where the hell did this modern day stripper outfit come from? Considering how little fabric maybe she had it folded up in her back pocket but even then why the hell would she have it? Putting the outfit aside this was some generic violent fantasy retelling. I have to say that the whole archery thing kind of bugged me a bit. So she suddenly becomes master of the longbow but it never feels like the longbow is used as an actual longbow. A longbow has a range of 450-1000 feet yet every action scene has here using this thing from like 10 feet away or less. She would shoot someone from 10 feet away and the arrow would just barely pierce the skin. Either that bow is the weakest bow in existence or something is seriously off here. This series is just kind of meh. I might read the next one, I might not.

Now what is next? I'm on vacation for the next week or so and have a lot of things lined up.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
I'm currently listening to this on audiobook and really enjoying things so far. Plus it's actually narrated by Anthony Bourdain which just adds to the experience.

For physical books I'm not sure where I'm starting. I have a giant stack of manga that I just got from the library. I've also got Deal with the Devil that I need to get started so I can return it on time. I also have No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War I want to get read this week as well.