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

Gord’s comments from the Readers Unbound group.

I know it has only been a couple of days since my last update but I've been kind of reading up a storm as of late.

Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. Light Novels, Vol. 3 -4 Stars
Not a lot to really say about this one. I'm continuing on with my reread of this series and this is the book where Maple kind of gets a little more broken then she already was. This was the perfect light read that I needed after Tanya and Tales from the Cafe.

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent (Light Novel) Vol. 8 -4 Stars
This is essentially the end of the anime and there was definitely a lot of material that was cut from this book as there was with the last one. They were basically getting caught up on the material that was out and they were trying to cram it into the show. That and what they cut wasn't horribly important. I mean, it is, in a story telling sense and a world building sense, but for romance aspect not so much. I've got one more book in this series right now and then I am back to "patiently" waiting but it's going to a be a long wait as volume 10 isn't even out in Japan.

Murder on the Christmas Express -2 Stars
Oh man, this book, this book, this thing actually killed my interest in reading today. There will be spoiler warnings in this one and that is hiding some trigger warning stuff for SA.

I was looking for a Christmas book for a December challenge and I didn't want yet another sappy Hallmark style romance, just not my cup of tea. I was poking around figuring I could either take the horror route or the mystery route which lead me to this book. As you can guess by the title this is a Christmas mystery that is in the style of Murder on the Orient Express and you can see why this might interest me. Now, to be fair to the book, there are elements of this classical style of mystery in this book. The MC is a retired cop trying to get back home on Christmas Eve as her daughter is giving birth. She is taking a sleeper train to Scotland and of course it gets snowed in. There is a large cast of characters and a murder. That part of it was the good part. Then there was everything else. This was a modern take on the mystery so everyone had cell phones, social media, etc. While not a horrible thing it kind of took away from things when our MC can simply pick up her phone and ask a buddy at the police department to do a background check for her. There are some tonal issues and this is where the book kind of goes of the rails for me. In one scene you can have this cozy Christmas like scene where things are nice and people are making train puns. Then we are suddenly in the hospital talking about the complications with the daughters birth. Then we are getting flashbacks to the MC's past where she is (view spoiler)[raped at 20 while pregnant (hide spoiler)]. This created this really weird shift in tone from scene to scene. Then we get to the ending. The ending is basically 1.5 hours of (view spoiler)[ rape stories (hide spoiler)] from various people on the train. It just got so heavy in the end and it just never ended. The trauma just kept piling up and it just got to be to much. I was here for a Christmas classical style mystery and I just got flashbacks and trauma.

Uhh manga/comics

Swing -3 Stars
A middle grade comic about finding out what makes you happy and standing up to bullies. It's not a bad comic but I think I've just outgrown this kind of message.

The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 3 -4 Stars
The Moon on a Rainy Night 4 -4 Stars
More in this series and we are starting to get some more backstory into at least one of the MC's and hints at the backstory for the other. I'm liking how this is handling the drama so far. It is there but it feels kind of grounded. Especially with the one backstory that we got. The breakdown in that friendship feels like something that could easily happen and it wasn't just "keeping secrets" or some other common trope. I really can't wait for some more in this series.

SAKAMOTO DAYS 14 -4 Stars
More Sakamoto days and more great action. Not a lot to really say about this one.

What is next?

For audiobooks I'm not really sure. I don't have anything downloaded currently but I'm probably going to have to find one for another December challenge. If anyone knows of a shorter book published in December let me know.

Outside of that I have a bunch more comics and manga. I also have a cozy mystery called Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop from the library I need to deal with.

I suppose I should do an update now that I am kind of caught up on everything.

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 2: Plus Ultra -3 Stars
I have such mixed feelings about this book and this series so far. The anime left so much of this book on the cutting room floor and then made up things that weren't even in the book. As annoyed as I am by this fact I can kind of understand. While the anime was much more interested in the action side of this story the book is much more interested in all the stuff surrounding the action. That means that a lot of this book is just people talking but it's not all bad. We will get a big event that happens involving the MC. Leading up to that event we get to see the MC's point of view, the point of view of her command structure, the point of view of the enemy, and the point of view of the enemies allies. This allows for a lot of detail to be included in the story. For instance there is one point where our MC is saddled with new recruits to train while on the front lines. You get to see how our MC feels about this, partially how some of her men feel about this, and, most importantly, how the new recruits see our MC. At this point in the story our MC, and her unit, have a bit of a reputation. To see how this small child is so utterly terrifying for full grown men is hilarious but also a bit terrifying. The down side to all this detail though, is that there are times where the books feels like an absolute slog to get through. Where the book is merely talking to hear its own voice. It feels like the author just hasn't quite hit that perfect balance between action and talking.

Tales from the Café -5 Stars
This book is much like the first. You have some short stories, four in this one I believe, that are all about someone time traveling to meet someone while being interconnected with various stories. This story picks up about 6-7 seven years after the first book and continues to expand the lore of the cafe and the folks that run it. The other big thing that this book is good at is the emotional damage. This book made me cry throughout and that is not a surprise considering the type of stories that the book is telling. It's a simple book with some simple stories but they are just done so well.

Now for the manga

Trigun Deluxe Edition -5 Stars
I was so excited to see my library getting a copy of this book. Back, way back, in the day when I knew next to nothing about anime this was one of the ones that really hooked me in. This story of this goofy character called Vash who was hiding a lot about himself from others. All of it set on this dusty desert planet deep in space. I've wanted to read the manga over the years but for the longest time it was really hard to find them. That and there were two series, Trigun and Trigun Maximum. Since I could never really find them I never really dug all that deep. This book was the perfect excuse to jump in, read them, and figure things out. For those that might be curious, Trigun is the original series and it ends mid fight. That happened because the magazine it was originally published in was shut down. Trigun Maximum is the same series but it was published under a new magazine. The author got picked up by another magazine and was allowed to continue his series.

As for the story itself, it was just a blast to read. From what I remember of the anime it followed the manga pretty close. There were moments in the manga though that were a bit more adult. Instead of someone just disappearing from the story they choose a much permanent exit from the story shall we say. There were some panels what were more more violent or explicit then the anime but overall it was pretty minor. If I had to nit pick something I would have to say that some of the action scenes were a little hard to follow. There was just a lot of things going on in a single panel and it can sometimes become a bit confusing. This was a fun read that took me on a nostalgic trip and now I am ready to start on Maximum.

Home Office Romance -5 Stars
This was one of those things that started popping up on my radar lately and since it was a standalone manga it didn't take much to twist my arm and make me read this. This was a romance set against the Covid pandemic. Our MC is forced to start working from home and that is where he meets his neighbor who is a grad student. I'll be honest, in the beginning I wasn't exactly feeling this. The main male lead was just weird and awkward. The art made him look like he was either a zombie or well on his way to being one. At some point in the story something shifted and I started to understand the male lead. Sure he was a bit awkward and weird but his brain is just wired differently. He is a programmer and he has a this weird, precise and detailed way of looking at things. After this shift I was just swept up in the romance of this series and was cheering these two on. With this being a standalone book it also didn't engage in a lot of the more annoying tropes of romance manga. It had a definite end and there wasn't time to be playing around. If you were on the fence about this one I strongly encourage you to pick it up.

Now, what is next now that I am on vacation.

Murder on the Christmas Express
This is my "Christmas" read. The synopsis has this old school murder vibe that just intrigues me.

Outside of that I have a stack of manga that I need to get done this week. Library due dates and all that.

A bit of a shorter update for this week.

The Teller of Small Fortunes -3 Stars
Don't let the three star rating fool you, I thought this was a good book, just not a great book. This book started popping up on my radar a month or so ago and I'm always intrigued by a cozy fantasy. My copy from the library showed up a whole lot sooner then I ever expected so it got slotted in. This was an entertaining read but there was something just a little bit off about this one. This book is tagged as cozy fantasy and it definitely has some elements of it in the book but I feel like there is something missing from the book. I spent a while pondering this over and from my experience with the genre, both in the west and the various light novels I've read, that thing is community. When I think of some of the bigger cozy fantasies I've read there is sense of growing and integrating into a community. This sense of bonding with new people and creating a home for yourself. This book was close but it was more of a found family kind of situation and I think that the traveling cart element was the big factor for that. Instead of settling into one location and building those community bonds you were constantly traveling from one location to another. This gave you a sense of things more on a larger country level then in a smaller community sense. You never got to build that familiarity with any one place and it's community before you were rattling off to the next location. Now, just to be clear, this is far from a bad thing, but it does change the feeling of the novel.

The story also has a weird setup that I'm not sure I've fully seen before. We never really had a start to this novel where the big events of the book started. As the reader, we just kind of dropped into the middle of the story. Our MC had been plying her trade for several years at this point. As for the two gents looking for the lost child, again, we are just kind of dropped into the middle part of their story line. Then we wander about doing things for a while before things kind of escalate into the conclusion. It's this weird vibe where things kind of feel like a normal fantasy novel but with the low stakes cozy fantasy approach. You would have situations that would normally be a lot more tense, or are set up with higher stakes, that would just kind of quickly resolve themselves with little muss of fuss. Some of them would even be resolved off page. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing but it changed the vibes of the novel. It felt like this book was trying to have a foot in two different worlds and I'm not sure how well those two worlds mixed.

Overall I found this be an entertaining read and I don't really have a lot of negative to say about the book. This book just had a bit of a weird feeling to it as it was trying to do two different things. I can easily see a world where this book leaned either direction and you would still have a great novel that would be fun to read. If you are curious about this book I'd say give it a chance. At least you will have an entertaining read.

The Book of Three -3 Stars
This series popped up on my radar again and I realized I've never really made it past the first couple books. Considering how short the audiobooks are I figured I'd slot this into my rotation and finally finish this series. After listening to this first book again my biggest take away was just how annoying Taran was. Don't get me wrong, I understand that it's all part of his journey to being a better person but holy smokes was he insufferable in this book. There really isn't a lot to say about this novel though. It's got that older fantasy vibes where the heroes journey template is pretty clear. The assistant pig keeper in the middle of no where is suddenly thrust into this grand adventure that he always dreamed about. Along the way he starts to understand that this adventure is not all the glitz and glam that you hear about in the stories as he steps up to do what is right. It's a classic set up for a reason. A couple quick notes about the audiobook, before I move on. There is an introduction by the author that is also supposedly narrated by the author. I could listen to this author speak for a long time. He has that warm grandfatherly feel to his narration that was just so fun to listen to. The regular narrator was good and he did various voices for the various characters. I'd say the only voice that just kind of landed off for me was the voice of Gurgi. This is a classic situation where the voice in my ear does not match the voice in my head. I've always pictured Gurgi with this more childlike voice which made it really weird when the narrator choice this very deep mans voice for Gurgi. It felt like someone else playing the role of Gurgi instead of it being actually Gurgi. It just felt weird every time I heard the voice.

Now for the manga section.

Cthulhu Cat -3 Stars
This was one of those silly little premises that I knew I had to check out as soon as I saw it pop up. The title really tells you all you need to know. This is a book about cute cats but all the cats are the old gods from the Cthulhu mythos. It's this silly, stupid, premise that I just love. It's got that webcomic kind of feel to it where there isn't really a story to the book. It's more like a series of strange events from this world. It was a quick read that was, well, silly.

Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More (Manga) Vol. 6 -3 Stars
I think this was more on me but man I just wasn't vibing with this volume much. There were some elements of invention, food, and adventure but a good chunk of this book was people jockeying for power. Either political or business power and that kind of stuff is just something I normally feel invested in. It also probably doesn't help that a good chunk of time has passed since I read the last volume. So I'm trying to remember what was happening in this series while slogging through all this power struggle double speak. It just wasn't clicking with me. To the point where I'm not sure if I'm going to continue with this series.

Now, what is coming up next.

Tales from the Café
Time for me to sob uncontrollably while listening to this. I started this one yesterday and I can tell the first story is already setting itself up to hurt me. One interesting thing I noticed is that this is not an immediate sequel to the first one. This one is set a good sixish years after the first one.

Trigun Deluxe Edition
I'm reading this today and I might just be a wee bit excited for this one. I have been waiting for this for over a year at this point and I can't wait to crack the cover on this one. Outside of that I have the usual never ending stack of things from the library.

Time for that weekly wrap up and yes it is on a Monday morning. Honestly, until January, my schedule will be a bit wonky. I'm on that holiday grind of trying to burn off vacation before the end of the year.

Monstrous Regiment -4 Stars
I recently joined a Discworld challenge and of course one of the first challenges was to read a Discworld book. I've tried to get into this behemoth of a series a few times over the years to various degrees of success and it continues to be one of those series that intrigue me. My biggest problem was this broad sense of not knowing what the heck was going on. So many of these books are interconnected and if you don't read things in the right way then you are lost. This was one of those books that was recommended as a stand alone read. The story was self contained and the references to other parts of the series was minimal and not essential knowledge. I rather enjoyed this one. I'm not saying that this is a perfect book or anything but this was a fun read that got a few chuckles out of me. The basic premise of the book is that a young woman joins the army to find her missing brother. The hitch in this entire thing is that she is in a country that worships an insane god who decrees that anything he doesn't like is an abomination. Things such as chocolate, women doing basically anything, the color blue, etc. As a result that country is a bit insane itself and a bit of a bully that has been picking fights with literally everyone around it. So our MC being in the army, wearing pants, being able to read and write, all abominations. The unit that she ends up joining is a rag tag band of new recruits who happen to be the last unit standing in the country. From here it's the usual shenanigans you would expect and not expect from this kind of novel. Probably my favorite thing in this novel was the vampire suffering Vietnam flashbacks, sorry hallucinations, while going through coffee withdrawals. I did not expect this in this novel at all and for some reason this just tickled my funny bone hard. Now there were some issues with this novel. For instance, the running reveal (view spoiler)[ that basically everyone we meet in the army was a women (hide spoiler)] kind of got a bit tiring by the end. I get why it was but it kind of took some of the punch out of everything. I will also say that I can clearly see the authors connections to real world happenings in this one. I've heard that the author likes to put a lot of real world connections or parallels with real world happenings and I've not always seen them. In this one though the connection was very obvious. Both to things that were happening at the time it was written and even to things that are happening now.

Treasure of Lima -3 Stars
After several longer audiobooks as of late I was looking for something lighter. Especially as several of my turn to audiobooks had a wait list and I needed something now. The fact that this helped with not only a stalled challenge but several other ones was just the cherry on top. As for the book, I don't really have a lot to say. This is the 46th novel in this series and it's what you would expect. Action, adventure, pseudoarchelogy, and something turn your brain off and have fun with. This one has Annja in Costa Rica looking for a missing scientist and some long lost treasure. It was what I expected and it was a fun read.

Now for the manga/comic stuff

-4 Stars
More fun and shenanigans in this world. What I really liked with this one was the flashback/back story to Loid and he became a spy in the first place. That was a nice touch and something I didn't realize that I needed.

The God of High School, Vol. Two -4 Stars
More of the tournament happened in this one but it also got into what was happening outside of the tournament. The stuff happening in the background and in a much larger picture kind of sense. We also get a glimpse that there is a lot more to these martial arts then simple martial arts as well. I'm so glad that this series got physical print and that I can read through it again. Now all I need is a physical print of Girls of the Wild but I doubt that will happen.

A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch Vol. 3 -3 Stars
I think I'm done with this series. I remember loving the simple story in the first book where a lonely cat from our world found itself in a fantasy world with a lonely old women. They filled that missing niche in each others world and it was sweet. Then in the second volume we got this tonal shift to a more darker fantasy world full of betrayal and what not as we started to get some back story on the old woman and the world in general. This continued into this volume and I had a really hard time getting into this one. I'd pick it up to read it and almost immediately I'd find myself putting it back down. Either of these stories as separate things would have been fine. The slice of life about a giant cat and an old lady living together out in the woods or the darker fantasy story full of betrayal. I'm just not feeling them jammed together though. I wanted those sweet vibes from the first volume. I don't know, I'm just not clicking with this one anymore.

A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 5 -4 Stars
A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 6 -4 Stars
Reading this was a bit of a sucker punch to the guts this weekend. Normally I follow the series length by looking at it on Goodreads but for this one I was just requesting the next volume from the library figuring I had a bunch more books to come. It wasn't until the end of volume six when I found out that the sixth volume was the end of the series. It was just that unexpected end to something I had been enjoying that hit me a bit hard. Don't get me wrong I knew this was a series that couldn't go on for decades like One Piece or something. It was a gag manga with a niche idea but man was it a fun read. Reading the author's notes at the end made sense why things ended as well. The series had run it's course and the magazine it was being published in had switched from a physical to a digital medium. These last couple volumes were fun though and the ending worked well with the series. It was crammed full of references as the others have been and the jokes were good. I'm going to miss this series.

Don't Call it Mystery (Omnibus) Vol. 7-8 -4 Stars
What I've already said about this series still stands. The writing is great but the art is not as good. This volume had the usual mysteries that were "not" mysteries. Sprinkled in was some social commentaries that I wasn't expecting. Commentary on the roles of men and women in society. Commentary on SA victims and the problems with SA, allegations, and in particular the impact of false allegations on other victims. It also had a twist that I did not see coming that left me teary eyed. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone else but it just came out of left field and it hurt. I'm still kind of processing it honestly.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 3—Stardust Crusaders, Vol. 9 -4 Stars
Not a lot to really say for this one either. I'm coming up on the end with only one more volume to go and I'm kind of looking forward to moving past this one.

Tomb Raider King, Vol. 8 -4 Stars
More of our MC being a morally grey jerk in general and that is fun. I feel like we are on the verge of a big power up for our MC and the story in general. The last part of this book was basically the MC getting beat down which hasn't really happened so far. No one really won that fight and events happened that led to a whole bunch of new strong characters. That is why I feel like we are on the verge of a big power up for everyone. This series is just a fun ride in an action movie kind of way and I'm here for it.

Now, what is next.

The Book of Three
I ended up starting this audiobook next for a couple reasons. First, the other audiobook I had lined up to read next I just wasn't in the mood for. It's Tales from the Café and if it's anything like the first one there will be a whole lot of tears. Second, I was seeing something about this series and realized that I have never finished it. I've started it a few times but I have never finished it. I plan to remedy that this time.

The Teller of Small Fortunes
This was a cozy fantasy I've seen floating around recently. I requested a copy from the library not expecting to see it for several months. It showed up a little earlier then expected so I'm going to jump in now. Outside of that I have another giant stack of manga that I just got from the library that I need to address.

Time for that weekly wrap up and I have a few things to talk about this week. Honestly the next few weeks are going to be busy as I move into more of a holiday schedule where I'm frantically trying to burn off left over vacation days.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -4 Stars
The next book in my reread of this series and it was fun. I've written something for this book a few times and have ended up deleting it. I think a lot of my enjoyment with this book and this series comes down to nostalgia and just having a good time while reading the book. I can see some of the criticisms and I just don't care. I also know that there is a ton of criticisms of the author that spill over to books. I'm not touching any of that but I will say that this is one of those books where I have a firm line separating the artist and their works. As for the book itself, like I said, it was fun. I like the expanding lore, the raising stakes, and it left me feeling satisfied at the end.

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent (Light Novel) Vol. 7 -4 Stars
This is the first novel in this series where I really noticed a departure from the anime. Not that anything was changed but there was a lot of stuff that was chopped out. Some of it I can see leaving out of the anime but there are elements that would have been nice to leave in. I'd say about a good two thirds of this book got chopped out. One of things that I wish had been kept was Prince Ten'yuu's story line. In the anime, if memory serves me correct, basically he got the panacea and returned to his home country. That was the end of it and we never heard more. In the book we get into what he was doing before coming to the palace, the deal that was brokered between him and the king, and, most importantly for me, the follow up that the panacea actually worked. Sure we could imply that it worked but to see it actually worked was a very satisfying feeling. After that we get a bunch of fluff where Sei attends a tea party and is convinced to host her own social gathering. She ends up putting together a food festival where people are able to gather to sample various foods she has made. This was pure fluff and I can see why this was cut but it was a fun part to read. Then the end of the book was her visiting the Hawke domain. I like this part but this part also felt super rushed especially in comparison to the fluffy and slower paced start to the book. The story didn't even end in a good part either. It ends right as the big bad thing is defeated with zero follow up. I'm really loving this series and this book continues that good vibe but the pacing was a bit wonky in this one.

Now for the comics/manga

Dwellings -5 Stars
This was a random pick from the library and I am so glad that I did. This is a horror anthology and it's one that I actually liked. All the stories take place in this small town in Ontario, Canada that has a dark and tragic past. All the stories are connected in some way or another but it's not always overt which makes finding the connections fun. The book is also very adult meaning the stories don't suffer from that problem I have with most YA/MG stuff where it feels like the author is playing it safe. These stories are gory and horrifying and just satisfying to read. Of course, like most anthologies, some stories are better then others but the overall experience was great. The icing on the cake with this collection though is the art. This art style gave me such a blast of nostalgia. The entire comic was done in the Harvey Comics art style. Younger folks might know what that means but Harvey comics was the company who put out Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, Little Dot, etc. These were one of the many comics I grew up on and I would find them routinely at garage sales growing up. What was the cherry on top of the icing though was the advertisements in the comics. Hear me out, hear me out. I am tired of the constant deluge of ads in everything now a days and if it was more of that I'd be disappointed but it's not. Just like the art style is a homage to something older so are the ads. The ads in this comic are all done like the older comics. The big white page full of little ads for junk like x-ray glasses, hand buzzers, decoder rings, spy glasses, binoculars, robots, etc. Then there was the full page ads for toys or movies connected to the events of the books. Honestly, I think the only thing missing was the ads for Hostess fruit pies. That is probably due to copyright issues but I was seriously expecting to turn the page and find one while reading this. This book was just a blast to read with such a blast of nostalgia that it took me straight back to my childhood.

His Majesty the Demon King's Housekeeper Vol. 7 -3 Stars
Not a lot to really say about this fluffy little read. It was more of the budding romance, more cleaning, and more fantasy stuff.

Monster Crush -3 Stars
This was another random snag from the library and honestly it wasn't bad but I will be hard pressed to remember this by this time next week. It was a simple sapphic romance but with monsters, well one person in the couple was a monster. Everything about his comic was alright but it wasn't mind blowing either. The story was pretty basic and there was a lot of things I felt were explored or fully explored. Everything was just kind of surface level.

The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World, Vol. 2 -4 Stories
Alright, this story kind of surprised me a bit. I think the author originally meant for this to be only a two book series. After reading the first book I was getting the vibes that this would be slow paced shojo style romance and I was all on board for that. The second book continued that vibe as well, until it kicked it into high gear. The big tension was resolved, there was confessions of feelings, hands were held, dating started, official couple status was confirmed. It felt like this was supposed to be a two book deal that did better then expected and the editor suddenly wanted more. This felt like everything was neatly wrapped up in this book and then we suddenly got a splash page at the end, not even art either, just some words promoting new characters and adventures in the next volume. I'm very curious to see what happens next.

As for what I am reading next

Monstrous Regiment
This is my current audiobook and so far I'm enjoying the story but hating the audio quality.

Outside of that I still have a giant stack of manga to work on so I can get them back to the library.

Couldn't he just email it to himself to print it out?

Time for a short update from this week.

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult -4 Stars
This is one of those light novel series that I wanted to get into when I got into my light novel kick a while back. It took me a while to get to this one because there were a few holds on this book. It also took me a little longer to get through this one because I forgot how different this light novel was. Most light novels are YA books with a lighter writing style that makes for a quicker and easier read. This book is not YA and has a very dense writing style. The author, while anonymous, is clearly someone into some nerdy subject matter. This book is an alternative history version of Germany in the 1920's. WW1 never happened and the country is on the track towards an inevitable world war. Our MC is a young girl (9-11 years old) who is an orphan. She had one way out and that was joining the military and she is able to do that because her magic ability is incredibly high. Yeah, magic, there is that alternate history thing coming in but here is the big twist. This little girl is not just a little girl, she is the reincarnation of a modern day Japanese business man. A man obsessed with rules, and probably a borderline sociopath. To this man the only thing that matters is the rules and using them to get ahead in life. Human emotions just don't factor into his thinking. So you take this man, shove him into the body of a little girl, throw him into a military setting where everything is about rules and you have a frightening individual. This little child is emotional and mentally way to advanced for their age and is gaming the system so hard. Now there is a counter to this person and it will not be what you expect. This man is in a battle with God. God is upset with humanities lack of faith and is basically taking it out on this guy. Trying to prove that in a bad enough situation everyone will eventually turn to God. It's a weird book. For the most part it reads like a military alternate history kind of novel. Then every once in a while God just kind of shows up and throws a monkey wrench into our MC's life.

Now, one other thing I want to address and that is the anime. I love the anime but it is so different from the book and I can kind of see why that decision was made. The anime is pretty quick paced and there is a lot focus on the action that happens. In the novel things are much slower paced as the book loves to focus on a lot of other characters. It also loves to get into a lot of detail about human resources, supply chains, troop movement, etc. This element is what makes this novel so dense. Instead of "the troops moved here and fought this country" it gets into all the challenges of moving those troops, the various other options, the philosophy behinds these decisions. It really gets into the details of things and the action scenes are just kind of sprinkled into things. There is also one other element that pops up towards the end of this novel that is not in the anime and I hope sticks around in future books. There are parts of the book that are told from some 40 years into the future. You have a reporter working on a documentary about the great war and there is this thing that no one will talk about. It is redacted in every countries documents, no one dares speaks of it and if asked they change the subject. Who ever this person is, and the unit that they were in charge of, were massively influential to the war. As the reader we are well aware that this person is Tanya but it just raises so many questions. Is the world hiding this because of how horrifying it is? Is Tanya still alive? What happened? I am really looking forward to reading on in this series and seeing how things progress. It can only get more frightening as Tanya now has a her own battalion of hand crafted mages who are extremely loyal to her.

Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. Light Novels, Vol. 2 -4 Stars
Now this is more of the light novel style that I know. Just a low stakes popcorn read about our MC being a silly goober in this online video game. Seeing the devs losing their minds as she accidentally breaks the game in new and creative ways. This is just a fun read that I can unwind with and simply enjoy.

The manga section is also short

The Great Cleric (Manga) Vol. 11 -4 Stars
The 11th book in this series, what can I really say about it that I haven't before? We finally get the next dragon in the story and it was alright. It fits with the narrative shift from our MC being this lone warrior to being a leader of a large group. It just wasn't as satisfying to see our MC basically sit in the back lines while everyone else does the fighting. Granted, he is a healer and being in the back is kind of their whole thing but still.

As for what is next, again, it will be short and sweet. Still working on Harry Potter on audio and I'm having a good time with that. For things that are not audio I'm shifting from novels back into comics/manga as I've kind of acquired another giant stack in the last couple weeks. Shocking, I know, who could have seen this coming.

Time for that weekly update once again.

A Bad Day for Sunshine -3 Stars
This was a buddy read and far from my first Darynda Jones novel. I've read most of the Charley Davidson series, I've read The Betwixt series, and now, here we are with this series. It's kind of what you would expect from this author honestly and this novel has me feeling a bit mixed. The premise for the novel is good, the quirky main character and her daughter are great, the humor is bit hit or miss depending on your taste, and then there are some things that took away from the novel. One of the big ones for me was that this novel felt like it had way too much going on. There was the main plot, there was the backstory for the MC, there was the daughter getting bullied, the romance line, the daughters romance line, the escaped prisoner line, the local running jokes, and on, and on. As a result it made the book feel really cluttered and hard to keep track of what was going on. You were never sure if what you were reading was a random thing happening or something that would popup chapters later, looking at you escaped prisoner. It also took the main story about the young girl getting kidnapped and kind of shuffled it into the background as it cycled through all these various story lines. The other big thing that annoyed me, and this is an issue I have with this kind of book in general, was the constant reminder about how hot all the main male characters were. When you were introduced to a male character it wasn't so much about their character but how hot they were. The only personality aspects you got were ones that helped emphasis how hot they were for the female lead. Now if this happened a couple times in the novel it wouldn't have been so bad but I swear it happened every time a male character reappeared. Is if we had somehow forgot about their hotness since we last met the character. With a tighter story this might not have bothered me so much but this felt like just more fluff that was distracting from the main story. I do intend to continue as we are buddy reading the trilogy but it's now a little lower down the priority list.

Encore in Death -5 stars
This is going to be a bit of an odd In Death review and that might be due to the week break I took part of the way into the book. This break wasn't really planned. I had started this as something to read at work while it was slow and then suddenly it got busy. I then had to factor this book into my much busier outside of work reading schedule. For the first half of the novel it was giving me what I want from an In Death book but the mystery wasn't really grabbing me. Then we get into the second half and the book started going through some twists and turns that I wasn't fully expecting. This is where things really started to pick up for me. After one arrest I was wondering where things were going as it was way to early in the book for this to be happening. This is where the twists really started kicking in and the novel really took off for me. Overall it was more In Death which is always a plus for me but the mystery was kind of weaker in this one.

Now for the manga

I Want to Be a Wall, Vol. 2 -3 Stars
I Want to Be a Wall, Vol. 3 -4 Stars
I'm going to be talking about this more as a series then as individual books as this was a short trilogy. I appreciate the message that it was sharing and the characters for what they were representing. It was interesting to see an asexual character as a story lead especially in a story from a different culture. The biggest issue I had with this trilogy was how it was, what is the best way to put this, how it was chopped up. This was a trilogy with three super short manga, 150ish pages versus the normal 190-200ish pages, which wasn't so bad but I think this story would have been better if it was two books. Reorganize the story a bit, spread it over two books instead of three, and I think I would have had a better time with this. The first book could have covered some of the current day stuff and the backstory all in one, the second book could be more of the current day moving into the big resolution, with a satisfying "years later" epilogue. I suspect that splitting this into three was a publishing companies decision to try and milk profits a bit. Normally this doesn't bother me as much bit with this one it just didn't feel right, if that makes sense.

The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 2 -4 Stars
I don't get this one guys, I really don't. Normally this is one of those manga that would frustrate me with all the drama and the whole dragging the romance aspect but for whatever reason it's working for me here. At least for now anyways, this is the kind of story that could sour for me real fast. For now, I'm here for the ride and I want more.

Dragon Ball (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 8: Includes vols. 22, 23 & 24 -5 Stars
Alright, alright, I think I'm getting the appeal of DBZ. I never grew up watching the anime and most of my knowledge about it comes from pop culture osmosis just because of how big this series was and still is. I had no interest in it as it seemed like it was just guys screaming for a few episodes before a quick fight. Reading the manga though has opened my eyes. This volume was a really good read. Yes, it was trope heavy but it showed what a story can do when it handles those tropes well. You knew a character was going to lose a fight before it started because it was a set up fight. This was a fight to show you how strong the villains are so that you could see how strong Goku was when he finally arrived on the scene. A lot of your major story elements are all towards setting up the inevitable big fight with Frieza which we haven't gotten to yet but it just feels so satisfying. It's that classic moment in a story where the bad guys do something monumentally stupid, like kidnapping the MC's kid, and now the story becomes this inevitable march towards the MC dealing out some sweet, sweet justice. I was enjoying the story already but there was something about this volume that just clicked fully with me.

Now, what is next
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
This is my current audiobook from the library and I'm looking forward to this one.

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult
This is the physical book I'm currently reading. This not so light novel that just feels so different from its peers. More on this next week once I'm done.

Alright, time for that weekly update and I've been a busy little reader this week. This has been a bit of a weird week of reading as I've kind of bounced all over the place with various results.

The Way I Am -4 Stars
This was one of those weird things that popped up while browsing through the new books on my local libraries website. At the time I figured it would be an interesting read so I requested myself a copy. Overall this was an interesting read for me and it was a pleasant mix of stuff I knew, stuff I didn't know, and stuff I kind of knew. This book talked about his early life before becoming a superstar and that helped really put his early actions into perspective. It delved into his early challenges with fame and again it was something I knew about but getting an actual glimpse behind the curtains was interesting. The two big stand outs for me was seeing him break the cycle of abuse and poverty with his kids. His decision to step back from touring entirely and making his recording times into a 9-5 job allowed him to be there for his children. The other thing, and this was something I've heard of before, was his writing. I've heard for a long time that he was always jotting down lyrics as they popped into his head. Towards the end of this book was shots of some of these sheets of paper and holy smokes was that weirdly personal. These weren't neat and organized notes they were just scribbles at all angles on a random sheet of paper using whatever he could find to write with. Some were written in pencil, some were in pen with all colors of ink, it was just all over the place. It was kind of weird seeing this part of the creative process. One big thing that bummed me out with this book, and this is kind of on me, was that it came out in 2009. When I saw it pop up in the queue of books on order I figured it was a new book and that was part of what intrigued me. There was nothing wrong with the book but I would have loved to have read something from the last few years. A book a little further down this path of self reflection and growth. Overall it was a quick and interesting read.

Who's That Girl?: A Memoir -3 Stars
I had no intention of reading two biographies in one week but the library decided otherwise. Like the Eminem one I found this in the queue of new books coming at the library and figured I would give it a whirl. I remember Eve from the early 2000's and liking her music at the time. Unlike the Eminem one this was not a good book. This is the kind of nonfiction book that makes me not like nonfiction and was drifting hard into the two star territory. The first part of this book was just alright. It basically went over her early life in Philadelphia, her signing with Dr. Dre, getting let go from there, signing up with Ruff Ryders, her first three albums, etc. This part of the book was structured and flowed from one point in time to another. The biggest problem I had here was that it all just felt painfully generic. This is the bog standard biography kind of flow and the writing wasn't anything special. If this was the entire book this would have been a painfully average three star rating. Then we get the later half and this is where this boring book just turned into a slog for me. I had two major issues with the latter half of this book. First, the time line completely got chucked out the window and instead it felt like a boring version of Dr. Who hopping all over the time line. There was one chapter that started after the funeral of DMX in 2021/2022, then it flew back to 2006, then forward to 2017 all in one chapter. Every chapter in the latter half of this book was just all over the time line from about 2006 to the early 2020's. It made it hard to follow and to get invested in anything. The other big issue, and this is a weird one, is that the second half of this book had this weird PG-13 heavily sanitized feeling to it. It felt like stories were cherry picked for how safe they were and few names were shared. Instead of using names it was "another female rapper", "another rapper", "a man", etc. Here is the thing, I get not wanting to spill everything and playing stuff close to your chest but when every story feels like this it just takes on this weird feeling and gets really boring. It's not like I didn't learn anything in the second half of the book I just don't think the slog was worth it.

City Spies -3 Stars
I'm not sure how this popped up on my radar but it was the perfect filler audiobook for me to listen to between some longer ones that I am working on. This is one of those middle grade spy novels where the adults figure the best course of action in espionage is to form a unit of child spies, in this case early to mid teens. Our MC is of course the newest recruit so we get to learn all about the unit and how they work before going on their first mission. The mission that perfectly uses every element that was foreshadowed in the book up until this point. I know it sounds like I am ragging on this book but it was a very entertaining book, it just wasn't mind blowing. It took the formula for one of these novels and wrote a very solid book by coloring inside the lines. I do intend to continue with this trilogy as there are only three books and they are the perfect length to slot between larger things I am working on.

Now for the manga and comics

I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 7: In the Mean Time -4 Stars
I was bored at work this week and was cruising through Hoopla when I discovered the latest collection of this series that I love. It was a quick and easy read but I felt like there was something off with this one. This one was basically just a collection of what felt like meta jokes instead of any real story. The first volume was essentially one long joke about Taylor Swift, that football player she is dating, and farting. Then there is another about how bad Hollywood is, I Hate Fairyland getting selected for a movie, and all that junk. Not sure if this actually happened or if it was just commentary about Hollywood in general but I'd say it was the latter one. It still has all the hallmark stuff that I would expect from this series, it was just lacking a story.

A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 3 -4 Stars
A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 4 -4 Stars
I'm not sure I can properly describe my love for this silly and stupid series. This is a great example of how to do a meta or referential joke so perfectly. If you don't understand what it is referencing to you aren't lost and there is still humor there. If you do get it though it just makes everything even funnier. In these two volumes we had various references to publishing companies and authors that I've come to expect. What I did not expect was the Girls und Panzer reference that was out of left field. Then there is the wild meta joke in the fourth book. Basically the Magiket is preparing for the latest one when they get told by the adventuring guild that they have to cancel for this epic battle of heroes. This then goes into this tournament arc where the MC makes her way to the top of the tournament by essentially doing nothing. This whole story line was great by itself and had me laughing. Then I read the notes in the book that helps explain some of the references and my mind was blown. This entire story line was a reference to the 2020 Olympics. Comiket has always been held at the same time every year since it started except in 2020 when the Olympics were in Tokyo. The both had the venue booked for the same time and Comiket ended up getting bumped to a later date. The fact that the author could cook this into his series and make it fit so well into the in world lore was great.

The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
Alright, I think I might have a new favorite series and this is after only reading one volume. This thing hooked me in hard from the very beginning with our MC. It started with a rather standard Isekai set up where god was telling our MC that they have been selected to travel to a fantasy world to be their savior. They will grant the MC with any wish and make them powerful in either combat or magic abilities. Our MC's response to this was "Nah, I'm good". She is in her thirties, loves to cook and read, and loves just relaxing after work on her couch with a good book and some good food. All this adventure sounding stuff was just not for her and she wanted none of it. Turns out she has no real say in the matter and uses her smarts to set herself up good in the next world. Not as an all powerful adventurer or any such nonsense. She has herself a book cafe in one of the safest countries in this new world, it's near the capital but still remote so she wont be bothered, and she has a laundry list of magical abilities. This allows her to essentially cook and read to her hearts content while being bothered by basically no one. Of course this is where the more Shojo like elements slide into the story. She gets one guest who is this long haired super hot guy who loves to read, oh and he is the captain of the guard. He is looking for a particular book and a quiet place to read. The romance hasn't started yet but the ground work has been firmly laid. There is a little conflict being set up with the previous savior and her being an absolute spoiled brat abusing her powers. I really loved this first book and I want more. I even want to see if I can track down the light novel.

Spy x Family, Vol. 9 -4 Stars
More of this manga and I'm having a great time with this series.

One Piece, Volume 4: The Black Cat Pirates -4 Stars
More One Piece, in this one we get into the main battle between the Luffy's crew and Black Cats.

Hirayasumi, Vol. 2 -4 Stars
Another manga that I have a hard time explaining why I love it. This is just a chill slice of life manga about a 30 year old man living his life. He was a former actor who retired and is now just living life. His cousin, who is attending art school, lives with him. There is the real estate agent who takes or of the house he lives in, his weird friend, and just things happening in all their life's. I love slice of life things but normally with a fantastical element to spice it up a bit. This is just a well written slice of life story about a dude living a slow paced life. I can't explain why I love it but I do.

Now, what is next

A Bad Day for Sunshine
This is my next audiobook and it is a buddy read. I'm about 11% of the way into the book and it's alright so far. I feel like it's way to early to be forming a strong opinion one way or another.

Outside of that I have some more manga, the next In Death novel, and some more light novels to work through.

Time for my regular scheduled weekly update where we have the good, the bad, and some stuff in between.

The Sword of Shannara -3 Stars
I'm so happy to finally be able to talk about my experience with this book after the last couple of weeks of working through it. This book was one of the original books that got me into fantasy way, way, back in the day. My aunt had a copy on her shelf and I remember picking it up and loving my experience with it. Here I am some 25ish later and I'm finally rereading the book. I've been wanting to do it for a while but the length intimidated me a fair bit as well as seeing all the negative views. There are a lot of negative reviews slamming this book, calling it a LotR clone (Lord of the Rings for those that don't know), and everything like that. I was a bit concerned coming into this book since I wasn't the naive reader I was when I first read this. I'm not bitter and jaded or anything but I am much more experienced, if that makes any sense. I know more about tropes, other fantasy that came before this, etc.

So what do I think of this book? It was alright. I know that sounds a bit lackluster but hear me out. This book is far from the one star reviews claiming that this is a LotR clone and the worst thing ever written. If you think this is the worst thing ever written then you obviously haven't been around much. Either that or I've been slumming it in some really skeevy reading circles. I also want to address the whole clone stuff as well. I don't think it's fair to this book to call it a clone of LotR. That being said it's super obvious that it was heavily inspired by LotR but that is not necessarily a bad thing. If your reading a book that was heavily inspired by something would you rather it be inspired by something considered to be the very peak of the genre or by something that is mid or worse? I think it's a pretty clear answer. I also don't think this was the very best thing ever written either. It had some flaws for sure and I'll get into that here in second but overall this was a great start to a series.

Now for the more personal thoughts where I'm not addressing larger narratives. I was really surprised when I was reading through this book that I could still remember things from this book even after 25ish years. I'd start reading a scene and all of a sudden I'd remember stuff about what was to come. Not super detailed obviously but I was still able to remember some broad strokes. There were a couple of things I found a bit annoying while reading this. For the most part the author was great at naming things. Whether that was races, locations, characters, or what not. Then we have the larger land location naming and this hurt. The land is divided into four locations, Eastland, Westland, Northland, and Southland. That just immediately hit my pet peeve of naming stuff. You're trying to tell me that the best you can come up with for the traditional homeland of, say, the elves was Westland. Nothing fancy in Elvish, or whatever race lived there. It's a weird thing to be hung up on but it's just one of those things that bugs me in a book. It was also very apparent that the author has a certain love for a particular trope. That trope is convincing the reader that a certain character has died off only for them to return pages later perfectly fine. Used sparingly and properly this trope can be very effective. This book used this five or six times in the first half of the book alone. After the second or third time this happened it removed any tension from the setup as you knew that in a few pages that character would be back. One final weird thing that my brain got hung up on, gnomes. This book confused me so much. In my head gnomes are either lawn gnomes or a shorter technologically advanced fantasy race. In this one they were a yellow skinned human? Maybe? Yet separate from the human race? I'm really not sure. There were times where my brain injected what I thought gnomes where and then the book would basically describe them as humans. I'm kind of confused on that.

Overall, this was a fun read and the first step on my journey to read through this entire Shannara series. While it was a bit generic at times it had some interesting ideas cooked into it as well. In particular the sci-fi/fantasy element where it's implied that this is a world that takes place long after we nuked it. That makes me very curious.

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea -4 Stars
This was one of those books that kept popping up on my radar so I finally caved and requested a copy. After several weeks of waiting it finally came in. I was a bit hesitant to read this book as I was seeing a lot of negative reviews panning this book. After reading this book and reading those negative reviews I think there are just a lot of people who don't understand cozy fantasy. This isn't supposed to be a high stakes, high adventure, adrenaline fueled thrill ride. Cozy fantasies, in my opinion, are more about those quiet moments spent by the fire reading books and drinking tea. As some one coming into this genre from more of the manga/light novel side of things I am loving seeing more western style fantasy like this. Where it's more about the quiet everyday life in a fantasy world then stopping some evil dark lord hell bent on world domination. If you can't guess by now I loved this book a lot. I immediately got Legends and Latte's vibes from this and the author admits to her inspiration in the ending comment section. This isn't as low stakes as something like Legends & Lattes but it's far from world ending plot lines. If anything those middle ground stakes, where something needs to be done but you have plenty of time to do it, is a great tool to set up future books and that is exactly what this book did. I love the romance between these two characters and the setting was great. This was exactly what I needed after a rather stressing week.

Now for the manga and and the comics

Don't Call it Mystery (Omnibus) Vol. 5-6 -4 Stars
This volume was a great representation about what I love about and dislike about this series. On the bad side of thing, as I've mentioned before, is the art. There are so many characters that look so alike that I get so confused at times. Outside of that the art is just kind of meh in general. Then on the other side of things we have the writing and holy smokes is the writing so good. The first main story line in this volume was so well written. I was just sucked into this ongoing mystery about an arsonist killing the parents of abused children. The logic of the killer, the logic of the flunky helping him, the mystery itself. Then there was the twist that came towards the end that I had no idea was coming and literally had me stun locked for several minutes as I tried to process what I had just learned and the implications it had on the story. The writing keeps me coming back to this story and it delivers, for the most part, there are some not as stunning moments but overall the writing is amazing.

Godzilla: Monster Island Summer Camp -4 Stars
This was another random snag from the library. I saw the whole Godzilla angle and knew I had to check it out. Now, fair warning in advance, this is not a classic Godzilla story by far. This is a summer camp story that happens to have Godzilla, Mothra, and several other Kaiju. Overall this book was a super sweet read. You have a young girl heading to what she believes is an art camp for the summer. Her mom had saved up all year just so she could go and she was super excited to finally hang out with other artists. To her dismay the summer camp was changed to an extreme sports camp after her mom bought her registration. Our MC is then sent to the basically the outcasts cabin where other "people" like her are sent. This is a cabin of three young women who become friends over the summer. Now you are probably wondering how in the heck Kaiju factor into all of this wholesome vibes. Well, I'm not spoiling that for you. You will have to read the comic and find out. I'm really glad I took a chance on this comic and would recommend it.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 3—Stardust Crusaders, Vol. 8 -4 Stars
More JoJo's, more weird fights, more bizarre adventures. We are finally at the house of Dio and so much closer to the end of this part of the franchise.

The Sprite and the Gardener -4 Stars
This popped up on my radar when someone said I had recommended the book. The thing was I had never read it so I had to fix that. This was a short but sweet book about sprites finding a new way of life and gardening. It was one of those feel good comics that just leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. I never recommended this book but now I do. If you are looking for something short and sweet or have kids getting into reading this would be a great one to dive into.

The Agent -2 Stars
This was another random snag from the library. I read the synopsis and it sounded like something right up my alley. It's kind of a standard urban fantasy setup where you have a cop involved in a drug bust where things get "weird". This brings her to the attention of a special branch of the government that doesn't exist. This branch deals with crimes involving witchcraft. Here is where I'm going to get a bit harsh towards the book. This concept/setup was about the only good part of the book. Everything else was just painful. The story felt so clunky and disjointed. It tried to achieve all this great stuff, and I can see what it was trying to do, but the execution just fell flat on it's face. This story telling lead me to not really liking or caring about any of the characters. The artwork was this grittier and darker style that I just wasn't vibing with. If this book was any longer I would have either dropped it or ended up in some kind of reading funk.

Now, what is next

City Spies
This is my current audiobook and pretty fun so far. It's one of those kid espionage stories where a government agency, in this case MI6, feels the need to create an elite unit of spies consisting of nothing but kids/teens. A totally silly idea but a fun one.

Outside of that I have this giant leaning tower of library books beside me that I need to address. I'm going to shift from tackling what is due next to what is due next that I can't renew. Stuff I can renew will be pushed until later.

This is going to be a smaller update as I try to get myself back on to my normal schedule.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear (Light Novel) Vol. 2 -4 Stars
Yup, the next book in my reread of this series. Not a lot to say about it either. Yuna is still the bear girl who molds the world to her whims.

Now for the manga

Dinosaur Sanctuary Vol. 5 -3 Stars
I also don't have a lot to say about this one either. It's the fifth volume of this slice of life story about working at a dinosaur sanctuary. There is science, dinosaurs, and people stories.

I'm the Grim Reaper, Vol. 2 -3 Stars
Worry not, not all of my updates will be one or two sentences where I wave my hand and move on. This book has left me feeling kind of conflicted but intrigued. Basically it opens with the MC in line for judgement to hell. She has no memory of who she is or what she did. Before she can figure anything out or receive her judgement she is snatched out of line by the devil themselves. She is informed that she is one of the worst sinners and she is destined for the ninth level of hell or she can become their grim reaper. As you can guess by the title of the book she takes him up on the deal and is sent back to the surface. The deal is she reaps one sinners soul a day and she can remain on the surface. Alright, lets start getting into my thoughts on this one. There are parts of this book that piqued my interest and others that left me feeling kind of lukewarm. For instance the surface world looks very similar to ours but there are hints that there is more going on then we are aware of. It kind of has some sort of sci-fi dystopian feel to it. It makes me really curious about what is going on. Another thing that makes me curious is the back story of the MC herself. We get little hints here and there that they did something horrible but nothing concrete. Then there are moments where the story feels a little clunky. Every time she reaps a soul we get a scene in hell where the devil themselves passes judgement on the individual. We get their backstory and their punishment. This feels like an attempt to explore what is right and wrong and how things can quickly get morally grey. For me, this just felt clunky and not the best exploration into this topic I've seen. I have the same opinions in regards to the art. There are some scenes that feel like standard manga/webcomic inspired art. That's not a bad thing, it's just kind of meh. Then there are these scenes where we get a whole bunch of crazy colors and designs that are just fun to look at. You can see some of that on the cover as well. Overall there is enough here to make me want to come back for the second book that releases in a month or so.

The God of High School Volume One: A WEBTOON Unscrolled Graphic Novel -4 Stars
I've read the first arc of this story a couple times on WEBTOON now. Needless to say I was rather excited when I saw that there was a physical translation and that my library was getting a copy. The first story arc is basically just a giant tournament called The God of High School. Invitations are sent all over the world to recruit the best fighters in the world from all forms of martial arts. The winner of the tournament gets one wish, any wish, granted. This first book covers the introduction of our three main MC's, the chief villain for this part, the preliminary round, and the start of the first round. This is just stupid martial arts fun and I am here for it all. I love reading this series and I'm so glad that it's getting a physical release. I really hope that my library keeps bringing in the physical editions so I can keep reading them.

Now, what is next.

For the audiobook side of things I am still working on The Sword of Shannara. It's a 27 hour audiobook and I only listen on normal speed. I'm getting through it and I've currently got 8 hours left so I'll be finishing this up in the next week. I'm enjoying the book but I'm also looking forward to something else. Two weeks of working on this is a lot.

As for physical books, I still have this giant stack from the library and I'm getting another giant stack today. A combination of getting a little click happy and a bunch of holds coming in. I swear I'll catch up someday... just in time to do it all again.

Much later then normal but that is because I've had some long weekends and it's messing with my normal schedule of things. This week I'm going to be talking about a lot of manga and comics as that is just what I have currently from the library.

Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. Light Novels, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
My one and only novel this week and I don't really have a lot to say about it. For me this is more or less in the same vein as Kuma Bear and I love the easy vibe of it. This series is about a VRMMO where our MC creates one of the most broken characters in the game by dumping every single point she gets in defense. Combine that with some pure dumb luck allowing her to find some absolutely broken skills and she essentially turns into the final boss for the game. She is a slow moving fortress of cuteness and I love it. I started reading this a few years back when the English translations were first coming out and I got caught up super quick. I picked it up again when I was stuck on a challenge needing a shield on the cover. I remembered this one and my noodle arm of resistance got twisted again.

Now for all the manga and comics

Dragon Ball (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 7: Includes vols. 19, 20 & 21 -4 Stars
This series is now literally a sci-fi with everyone going to space. How did we get here again? It's wild looking at where things are now versus how this series started. This is the end of the fight against Vegeta and the introduction of Frieza. This is definitely in the realm of new material but it's not completely new just due to pop culture osmosis. DBZ was massive and it feels inescapable in the anime community. Not in a bad way or anything, it's just this juggernaut that is always there.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Deluxe Edition 5 -5 Stars
This is the final book in this series and I feel like I took away a totally different message from what seems to be the main one I see. I totally see the ones about the beauty of nature and the simplicity of small town life that others see. I also felt there was this depressing message of the inevitable flow of time. How it stops for no one and that nothing will be forever. Our MC is an android who never ages so we don't see the passage of time in her but we see it in everything around her. How the small town she lives in is getting reclaimed by nature, how her cafe will be eventually swallowed by the sea, etc. There are characters we start the series with seeing them as young teens who by the end have moved away for work, gotten married, and have had children of their own that comes back to see the MC. Not as infants but as children themself. I also noticed that by the end all the old folk in town were missing. I'm not sure if that was just a story thing or if they too fell victim to times relentless pace. It's a beautiful series that I am so glad that I have read but man was I little blue after finishing it. Partially because of what I talked about here, partially because it was over. If your into manga and you are into slice of life stories like I am then I recommend this series. It's a classic for a reason and the recent omnibus re-release of the story makes it pretty accessible.

SAKAMOTO DAYS 13 -5 Stars
I have gushed, more then a few times, about how amazing the action in this series is but this volume was just beautiful when it came to its action scenes. I highly doubt that we will get this far in the anime adaptation coming out next year but this is one I want to see on a screen. This volume was a flashback to when Sakamoto was in assassination school and the action was just mind blowing. I know I'm kind of repeating myself here but it really stuck with me. There was more then a few times where I had to take a break just to process what I just read. This volume was just amazing.

His Majesty the Demon King's Housekeeper Vol. 6 -3 Stars
This was more of this series. The MC cleaned, more aspects of the world were explored, and the budding romance got nudged along. Not a bad series but not mind blowing either.

Space-Mullet -3 Stars
This was towards the end of Saturday and the first of a couple of books that I wouldn't call duds but they left me in a bit of a funk. Both books were random snags from the library that seemed interesting. This comic started out strong with this ex-space marine turned trucker getting pulled into this conspiracy involving a video about the mission that led to him going AWOL. The book, while cliche, started out strong and I felt invested in what was going on. The art style even started to grow on me. Then the first part of the story line wrapped up and it just started this spiral in meh that it never recovered from. What started out so strong eventually ended on this weak story about mold on the ship. We just kept adding characters without fleshing out the ones that were already there. The story that was there in the beginning just faded away. From what I understand this is the authors first attempt at a comic and this was originally a webcomic. The last half of the comic never got published and I'll be honest I have no interest in trying to find it online. Just meh over all.

Brielle and Bear: Once Upon a Time -3 Stars
This was the other comic that left me feeling in a bit of a funk. I snagged this one because it seemed like something right up my alley and on paper, it should have been. It's this sweet romance about two opposites finding each other and romance along the way. I don't know how to explain this properly but none of this comic clicked with me. Not the characters, not the romance, not the setting, not the art style, nothing. I don't think it was bad though, I can even see how this could be really popular with people, but for me, this was just underwhelming. I never felt a bond with the characters and there were elements of the romance that just didn't sit right with me. It just left me feeling meh by the end.

I Married My Female Friend Vol. 3 -4 Stars
More from this sweet slice of life romance and it was nice. There was a new character introduced, the romance made some progress, it was just sweet and what I liked about this series.

Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord, Vol. 3 (Volume 3) -5 Stars
I love this series and the romance in it. The story moves forward in this one and we get a confession in this one. I really do love the pacing in this series, it just makes everything feel so much sweeter.

One Piece, Volume 3: Don't Get Fooled Again -4 Stars
This marks the end of the Buggy arc and the start of the Syrup Village arc. I've watched/read much further ahead in the series so it's interesting to revist the beginning and to catch things that you won't see fully explained until much, much, much further in the series. Like the first sighting of Silvers Rayleigh. He isn't named but he is there on the page and you recognize him when you see him. Like I mentioned this is also the start of Syrup Village and the introduction of Usopp. I kind of have some mixed feelings about this arc really. There are elements of the story I don't mind and there are elements that I'm just not as stoked for. Mainly, early Usopp.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You 03 -4 Stars
Another chill slice of life romance, listen, I was on a kick lately and I had a bunch of these come in all at once. I truly love this series and the budding romance between these two idiots. It's more smoking, more supermarket, more shenanigans, and a new character. The worst part about this was realizing that I am now caught up and that there won't be more for a while.

Hirayasumi, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
This was me rolling the dice and taking a chance with an unknown series. This is a slice of life about a man in his late twenties living in Tokyo with little a care in the world. There is also his young cousin who is attending art college and ends up moving in with him. Maybe this was some PTSD but I was really worried about some weird romance vibes popping up but nope. It's about two different people living their life and finding their way. The young man works a part time job and truly marches to the beat of his own drum. He lives life at a much slower pace then those around him and it is interesting. As for the young cousin, it's a story about a young person from a small town being overwhelmed by a massive city like Tokyo, about going to college and trying to fit in, etc. There are some truly heartfelt moments in this series and I really want to continue. Like many on this list though there are not a lot of these out yet and I don't think it will take me long to catch up.

I Want to be a Wall, Vol. 1 -3 Stars
This is a book about a relationship but not so much a romantic one and I'll explain why here in a second. This book opens with two young people getting married but you quickly learn that these two people know little of each other and this is more of a marriage of convenience. The young man is gay and has an unrequited crush on his childhood friend, and the woman is asexual with a BL (boys love) addiction (this part is explained in a good way). Most of this volume is about their back story and a bit about the challenges they face as two strangers now living as a married couple. I have some weird feelings about this one. I think this could be a good trilogy but this first volume left me wanting in a bad way. I appreciate the back stories and the glimpse into their life but the big thing I was missing was just how this all came to be. From their backstories, and what we see in present day, they appear to be strangers so how did this all come to be. How did they meet? Why the marriage? The volume is pretty short and I just wish it could have been a bit longer to explain this import part of their story. Overall there was enough there to hook me in and considering it's a trilogy I will read the other two volumes.

There, I'm caught up on my week. I warned you it was a lot. As for what is next there isn't a lot there. I'm still working on the Shannara novel, I'm about 25% of the way into it or about 6 hours currently. Outside of that I got a little click happy at the library and I've replaced my giant stack of things with another giant stack of things. I think this is a common story amongst those of us who use the library a lot.

Sean wrote: "By the way Gord, have you read She Loves to Cook etc vol 4 yet? I just got it recently from my library and ran right through it. This is what Beauty and the Feast should have been if done right."

I have, and now I am stuck waiting for the next volume. It's such a great series and so much better then Beauty and the Feast.

It's a bit later then normal but here is my update for the week.

Sunken Pyramid -3
This was another Rogue Angel book and there isn't a lot to say about it. I'm now 45 books deep into this series and I'm getting exactly what I expect out of these books, especially now that I am listening to the Graphic Audio versions. These books are simple popcorn that I can turn my brain off and just enjoy. For this one, the book had a bit more of an archeological spin to it then the regular high octane adventure story. There was still various fights and what not but they were more there because they had to be there then anything else. Most of it was coming from this relics smuggling ring that was a B plot and when I look back at it I'm really not sure what it had to do with the main plot. Outside of being the thing to poke it along at times.

Raven of the Inner Palace (Light Novel) Vol. 1 -3 Stars
This is a series that has been popping up on my radar a lot ever since I got into Apothecary Diaries. Basically if you liked Apothecary Diaries then you will like this series kind of stuff. After reading through this I can see the comparisons but there are some pretty big differences as well. This is set in Chinese imperial setting with it being mainly focused on the inner court with the consorts of the Emperor. The MC's are both highly intelligent young women who are a bit stunted on social graces. There are mysteries to solve where the young women use their unique skill set and intelligence to solve. That's where the similarities kind of end and the differences start to set in. First, and this is a big one, in this universe magic is very real and the supernatural is very real. Second, also another big one, the MC in this novel is one of the consorts. Granted, she is not a consort in a normal sense and that is one of the things that immediately hooked me into this novel. She is a consort but she does not perform, as the book described it, her "nightly duties". In fact the Emperor will not call on her at all. She is not someone who works her way up through the ranks either. A Raven Consort is chosen by a higher power and is almost a religious position in the inner palace. If one is brave enough you can go to her to help find things, exorcise a ghost, or maybe, if rumors are to be believed, she will curse someone for you.

I think the comparisons to Apothecary Diaries kind of tainted my expectations for this book. It wasn't a bad book but it also didn't click with me as much, yet. The mysteries feel much more independent without a lot of that overarching mystery to tie everything together. That being said there is an interconnecting story and it has some good twists. One that I was not expecting was the revelation of just what the true position of the Raven Consort really is. That was a surprise and I hope it plays a bigger part in future books. I'm also hoping that we get a bit more variety in the story types going forward. This felt like it was kind of samey by the end. Regardless of my criticisms I will be reading more in this series if I can find them.

Ghosts -3 Stars
I'm kind of ashamed to say that I kind of forgot about this series after reading the first one earlier this year. It wasn't until I was trying to find something to listen to that I remembered that I wanted to keep listening to this one. This book is the second book in the series and it has a bit of a weird vibe to it. This book felt like more a first book in a series then the actual first book and I have a theory why. It almost feels like the first book was meant as a standalone and this was only written when someone realized how popular the first one was. There is a time skip, much more lore explored, new characters established, etc. There is also this feeling that this book is trying to set up much more of a longer story line and the ending really solidified that feeling. I also feel that this leans a bit more into the generic popcorn action kind of feeling. Don't get me wrong, I was still highly entertained while reading this and I will read more in the future as long as I don't forget it on my TBR again.

Now for the manga

Fullmetal Alchemist (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 4 -5 Stars
More of this amazing story and more reveals. Just a great time.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You 01 -4 Stars
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You 02 -4 Stars
I've had this pop up on my radar a few times and I was kind of on the fence about it. Then my library got some copies of it and I had to try it. This series is a chill slice of life romance series and I have to say that I am really starting to love this subgenre. I love the slower pace, I like how the romance takes time to develop, and it just doesn't feel like it needs that drama edge to it. So this series is basically about two people relaxing after a hard days work and having a smoke. Here is the weird little twist to this story. The guy has a bit of a thing for the cashier who works till #2 in the grocery store and has no idea that the woman he is having a smoke with is the same person. I know this makes the MC sound super dense and yeah he is a bit dense but I can kind of see this one. The guy is swinging by the market after putting in a 12+ hour day where he is treated like crap by his boss. The man is exhausted and just looking for that one little ray of sunshine which is this cashier. He really doesn't know her outside of this brief encounter where she has her customer service face on. When he runs into her behind the store she isn't in her uniform and she has dropped her customer service face. She is a fairly different person then the one he sees briefly at the till. I love how the two characters bond and become friends even though there is a 20 year age difference (he is 45 years and she is 24). There is also an interesting cast of side characters and hints that this might not be the first time they have met. I'm just having fun with this one and can't wait for the next one.

Now, what is next

The Sword of Shannara
This is my next audiobook and my next big fantasy journey. This audiobook kind of intimidates me though as it is 27 hours long. Needless to say I'll be working on this one for a couple weeks.

Outside of that I have a giant stack of things I need to work on from the library for the next couple weeks.

Time for that weekly update and I have a bit of things to say about one book in particular.

The Ghostly Grounds: Murder and Breakfast -DNF (all the negative stars)

I don't normally talk about books that I DNF just because they're not really all that common and, generally speaking, I don't really have a lot to say about them. Then there is this one. I DNF'd this book at about the 5% mark in the audiobook and really it took just one line to make me want to throw this book out the window. To set the scene, the MC has just quit her job and is trying to call her boyfriend. This is the part of the book where the MC reflects on their significant other/the author describes him to us. He is a 40 year old game developer who she thinks can be be immature because he likes playing video games and likes going to comic book conventions. Before I get into my personal opinions on this steaming pile of hot garbage lets just look at this from the professional aspect. The man is a video game developer. I don't think it takes a massive stretch of the imagination to see how his hobbies influence his work and his work influences his hobbies. Playing video games, this is probably a great way for him to hang out with his buddies after work and to just relax. It's also a way to see what is the latest trends, the latest duds, finding inspiration, etc. Then there are comic conventions. How can you not see that this would be fun for someone who likes video games? Second, see all my stuff above about work and personal life. It all applies here as well. Depending on what game he is making, the size of the studio, etc there is also a great chance he could be working at conventions like this as well.

Now we get into my personal opinions on this. Without getting to nasty here this MC and this author can go pound sand. This kind of mentality is toxic as hell. I've personally heard stuff like this in my adult life and other variations on it. Comics/cartoons are for kids, comics/manga are not real books, your just wasting your time playing games, etc, etc, etc, etc. I know that many others with nerdy hobbies and passions have also heard these kind of comments as well. These kind of comments can be damaging for people. Why share my hobbies with people if I'm just going to get ridiculed for it. The other aspect of this is how does someones personal hobbies have any reflection on their maturity? It doesn't. It's as simple as that. It simply doesn't. If you know me then you know I am into some nerdy stuff (manga, anime, vtubers, comics, light novels, video games) but I've also explored other fandoms as well. While the subject matter might be different there are a lot of similarities as well. What is the difference between someone memorizing the lore of Warhammer 40K, someone memorizing the stats of all the major football players for the last 40 years, or someone who knows a ton about wine (tasting, ages, vineyards, etc). Unless you are directly involved in those industries they probably have little real life use. Here is the thing, they are something people are passionate about and are invested in. They also have no link to maturity at all. Simply linking someones maturity to a hobby or passion you don't understand is stupid. I could keep ranting here for a while but I'm going to move on.

Ophie's Ghosts -4 Stars
I needed a historical fiction book for a challenge and found this on my TBR. I've liked other stuff from the author so I figured it was a safe bet. As you can tell from rating I rather enjoyed this book. This book is about a young black girl who is forced to move to Pittsburgh after her father is killed in Georgia. It's set in 1923 and she can see ghosts. This was kind of a mystery novel as she unravels what happens to this ghost that she became friends with. My biggest worry heading into this novel was that this was a middle grade book and it was some heavy subject matter. I've seen some stuff try to tell stories in this time of history that just glosses over the horrible stuff that happened. That worry was quickly eased though. Sure it didn't get it the nitty gritty of things but it didn't shy away from the horrible things said and done in that time. This book was an interesting read with a great MC. It did feel a little bit middle grade at times, some of the clues were super obvious but it was written as middle grade book. It's not a knock on the book at all. It's kind of nice to read something that is not actively trying to deceive me.

Now for the manga (bite lip on maturity comment)

Spy x Family, Vol. 7 -4 Stars
Spy x Family, Vol. 8 -4 Stars
More of this series and it was a really fun read. It was also super nice to get a Yor based story line and I hope we can see more in the future.

The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
This was a random snag from the library and another yuri romance. The big twist is that one of the MC's has hearing loss but she is not fully deaf. This causes her to pull back from everyone around her and live a very isolated life. I love reading manga like this, ones that gives me a glimpse into world that I know little about. I'm also loving the pacing of this one. It's not instant love or anything. They start as strangers that have become casual friends. My biggest concern with this series will be the drama. I know it's inevitable that there will be drama but I worry about what kind and how it's handled. I really hope it avoids a lot of the cliche high school romance tropes. In particular the lack of communication one.

Don't Call it Mystery (Omnibus) Vol. 3-4 -4 Stars
What is up with this series? Why am I so hooked on it? It's just the MC yapping all the time but I find myself just drawn in to it. No, the art hasn't improved at all but I don't really care about the art anymore. I'm fully here for the story. Now one small criticism about this volume. I felt that the family story line we started in the last volume and wrapped up here kind of dragged a bit. It was far from horrible but I kind of wished it had been a bit shorter or broken up into smaller individual mysteries that linked into a larger one. Kind of like what we see later in the book.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 3—Stardust Crusaders, Vol. 7 -4 Stars
Every volume in this series just solidifies my love/hate relationship I have been developing. I love the art, I love the creativity of the fights and the stands, but the main JoJo and the story really took a back seat in this one. Joseph Joestar who was the main JoJo from the last series has more of a presence in this series then the actual main JoJo. Jotaro Kujo almost feels like a background character in this series. I think that is one of the problems with have a large cast of over the top characters. Someone inevitably fades into the background and in this one it just so happens to be the MC.

As for what is coming up next, I've got a week of great reads ahead of me

For audiobooks I have
Sunken Pyramid
Ghosts
I'm almost done Sunken Pyramid and it's another Rogue Angel book. It was the one I started after DNF'ing a certain book mentioned above and it was what I needed. Mindless popcorn to make me feel good.

For physical books
Raven of the Inner Palace (Light Novel) Vol. 1
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear (Light Novel) Vol. 2
I started Raven this morning and after only 15 pages I am finding myself hooked. Hopefully it continues to be good.

This will be a short one this week as I was lost in the novels this week and didn't have the chance to read any manga yet.

Like This, For Ever -5 Star
This book was a wild one to read. Of the three books I've read in the series so far I think this is my favorite which is kind of odd because the main characters were barely in this one. They were there but they felt more like side characters or the B plot to the main story. Their involvement with the story was more about pushing their character arcs forward then the actual story. That is until they inevitably get pulled into the story. I want to be very careful with what I say here to avoid spoilers. As the previous book established the author is very good at using red herrings. This book really solidified that feeling for me and then it had a couple of really good twists on top of everything. Just an intense read that I could not put down especially in the last half of the book. At this point I am very tempted to check out the author's standalone works to see what else she has to offer.

A High Tide Murder -3 Stars
I remember reading the first one and feeling like it was a breathe of fresh air. While it was a cozy mystery it flipped some of the expected tropes on their head. This second one felt more like it was sliding back into the expected tropes of a cozy mystery. I liked the character stuff a lot more then the actual mystery itself. The mystery, like I just mentioned, felt like a bog standard cozy affair with one really annoying habit. The MC would find a clue that was pretty obvious and not just in a reader knowledge kind of way. They would then get puzzled by it and ignore it until several chapters later when it was once again needed for the story. I hate this trope of ignoring the super obvious clue until just the right time. It makes everyone involved feel kind of stupid when they obviously are not. Overall it was an entertaining read and if there is a third one I will check it. That being said, some of the initial shine for this series has already worn off for me.

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent (Light Novel) Vol. 6 -4 Stars
Another book in this series and we start to see the involvement of other countries. I'm not sure if that involvement will change the overall story going forward but it was interesting. Not a lot to really say about this one overall. Some advancement on the romance, a bunch of research, some behind the scenes political scheming and maneuvering.

Now what is next

Ophie's Ghosts
This is my next audiobook. I needed a historical fiction book and I've liked what I read from this author before so it should be good.

Outside of that I have a stack of manga from the library that I need to get caught up on

I do believe Japan has those as well. Or at least I think I remember seeing them in anime before.

Time for some more updates. I need a side tangent before I get to the actual updates though. Last month I suddenly got the urge to start reading some more novels. As usual, with so many other things this year, my brain took this signal and twisted it. I am requesting a whole bunch of novels from the library, Japanese light novels. Yup, my brain took manga and just moved into the novel format. Thanks brain. It's all stuff I've been wanted to read but still. Any way, on to the usual content.

The Ambitious Card -3 Stars
It was not easy finding a book set in Minneapolis but I settled on this one. It wasn't a bad book, it was just a bog standard mystery, but with a magic twist. Magic as in stage magic and not fantasy magic either. Considering what I normally read I felt I might want to clarify that one. I really don't have a whole lot to say about this book. It was entertaining but it didn't blow my socks off either.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear (Light Novel) Vol. 1 -4 Stars
If you have been following me for long enough you might have seen me talking about this book/series before. I'm going to be brutally honest here, this is your standard isekai novel. MC logs into a VRMMO, wakes up in a fantasy world, starts their new life there. MC is, of course, over powered to the point that nothing is ever a threat to them. There is "tension" but basically the MC is so over powered that this basically becomes a slice of life. For some reason this series just lands for me though and I love it so much. I've read fan translations of the webnovel, the manga, the light novel, and I've watched the anime. This series is pure mindless fluff and I love it for that. I've started yet another reread of this series so expect to see more of this in the future.

Now for the other stuff.
Skinner -3 Stars
This is a perfect shining example of everything I enjoy and yet hate about horror. Basically a plane load of social influencers crash in the Northern woods and have to survive but there is a killer in the woods that they don't know about. The killer picks them off one by one until you have the final girl who survives. I love the aesthetics of horror but this was about as deep as a puddle on a hot sidewalk. You might as well have cardboard cutouts move from trope to trope. Everything about this book was just a trope. The setting, the victims, the killer, the plot, everything. This might not be so bad if there was anything done to explore those tropes, to elevate those tropes, to subvert them, anything at all to give it something extra but it doesn't. It's just "we are in the second act so we need the nerd, the jock, and the goth over here. The killer is going to kill the hot one over there.". This is just plain white bread that hasn't even been toasted yet. Your book can't be even remotely scary if we have already seen it a thousand times already.

Dragon Ball (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 6: Includes vols. 16, 17 & 18 -4 Stars
For the anime this book would have been the transition from Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z and I love the way this transition was handled. It felt like a bit of a tonal shift from something more goofy to something more serious. It was a pivot from essentially fantasy to something much more sci-fi. It immediately set up the new threat and how scary they were. It immediately got rid of the safety net by removing the ability to keep resurrecting people with the Dragon Balls. All of this was handled with in world explanations and a surgical use of the amnesia trope. While reading this I was blown away by how well this was all handled. I was very impressed with this book and I'm excited to see where this all goes.

Now, what is next
Like This, For Ever
I'm a little over halfway through this audiobook and I am enjoying it so far. I really can't wait to start getting some explanations for what is happening in this book.

I will need another audiobook after this one but I currently have nothing lined up and no plans, yet.

As for things that are not audiobooks I have The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent (Light Novel) Vol. 6 next and then some more manga.

I think context is super important to this discussion. If it's just a light romance and we are talking about things like kissing, holding hands, even sexy times as long as everything appears to be above board then I don't need the consent spelled out for me. If both people involved seem to be in to it, no one is resisting what is happening, etc then it would all appear above board. If we are getting into darker subject matter like say one partner is a survivor of SA or we are getting into some of the more extreme kinks then I'd want at least an establishing scene showing the characters talking about things. I don't need consent for every scene but at least something establishing that all parties involved are fine with what is happening.

This has been a really busy week of reading for me and I have truly done a number on my library pile. Needless to say I will have a lot of things to talk about this week but at the same time not a lot to really say about some of them. You'll see below what I mean. Also, this will be a shotgun blast of books from all over my interest spectrum. From the violent and gritty to the super sweet slice of life.

The Night of Baba Yaga -3 Stars
I was scrolling through the new books at the library and the cover/title for this one simply jumped out me. After reading the synopsis I just knew I had to give this book a try. This book was an interesting read that kind of felt all over the place. There were elements of the book just felt like a solid three star book and then there were moments that felt like something from a solid four star book. This book was full of a lot of gore and violence with fight scenes a plenty which were good but nothing mind blowing either. Our MC is an absolute beast when it comes to hand to hand fighting and her willingness to scrap is what led us to this stories plot. She got into a fight, got overwhelmed by the Yakuza, and essentially blackmailed into being a bodyguard for the bosses daughter. All of this was pretty standard in my opinion. There was a particularly great twist though and the ending, while open ended and kind of rushed, felt pretty good. I was really struggling last night trying to think of a way to explain this book. It wasn't until I read a review where I found the perfect way to describe this. This book felt cinematic. I can easily see this as a movie and not like a summer blockbuster but more of an artistic action flick. Honestly the movie that I immediately thought of was the original Old Boy movie. Some of the action scenes in that movie would match this book so well. Overall this was a short, quick read that I'm glad I found. If you don't find a graphic and violent book then maybe give it a shot.

Now for all the comics/manga

Spy x Family, Vol. 6 -4 Stars
Another entry in this series and it's still fun. This one we get story progression and an underground tennis tournament. This is second time I ran into an underground, illegal, sports tournament and I have to say, I think I'm a fan of this trope. It takes a normal boring sports tournament and turns everything on it's head with the wacky insanity.

Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord, Vol. 2 -5 Stars
I simply love this super sweet, borderline romantic, slice of life stories. They make my brain happy. Not much to say here.

The Ribbon Queen -3 Stars
This comic is what happens when you slap a police procedural together with a horror/body horror theme. This felt like a book written for the here and now as it dealt with two big themes, police corruption and violence against women. Yes, violence against women is not anything new and this book addresses that but the topic feels for topical for right now. Male members of a SWAT team start turning up dead in horribly violent ways and this book is about what they did and what is happening. The start of this book felt really good and the first time you see one of these men die is horrifying. After a while though the deaths kind of stop having an impact as they all die essentially the same way. The book really stumbled for me when it got towards the end and everything was explained. It just felt like the story went on hiatus for this massive info dump and it never really picked it back up again. Like the first part was full of mystery and horror which was really good and then then ending just felt like talking. Not a horrible read but I kind of clocked out of it before the final page.

Fullmetal Alchemist (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 3 -5 Stars
More FMA! I love this series and I am loving my reread of it.

A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 2 -4 Stars
I saw that there was more volumes out for this series so I figured it was a good time for a return to it. I forgot how fun and absolutely nerdy this series was. Don't get me wrong I don't get most of the references in this series but I get some of them. I just love the idea of someone getting transported to a fantasy world and creating a fantasy version of Comiket. For those that don't know what Comiket is it's short for Comic Market and it's a semiannual event in Tokyo where people gather to sell self published works. This is a massive event and has become the worlds largest fan convention with over half a million people normally attending. Taking that concept and putting a fantasy twist on it is great. Outside of the Magiket our MC also runs a publishing company and we get to see the shenanigans that happen there. Like I said before, this is just a fun read.

Navigating With You -5 Stars
Just putting this out there early, this was probably one of the best comics I've read in a long time. It's a simple slice of life romance and it just clicked with me on all fronts. It's a simple set up, two young women start at a new school, one is an introvert and one is an extrovert. One is looking to just blend in and get through the day while the other is out to make friends with everyone. As you can guess these two personalities clash and it's only when they discover a shared interest in an old manga series do the walls start to come down. They start a book club where they track down and read the volumes to this series. As the story progresses they become friends and then more then friends. There is just so much that I love about this book. The romance isn't an instant romance, it takes time and communication to be formed. Both women have their own issues that need to be worked out. Sometimes alone, sometimes with the support of the other person. The chemistry between these two is amazing and the book is just so sweet and yet there are moments that will make you cry. I love how the diversity aspect of things were handled. It never felt like either character was defined solely by one thing. Being a lesbian, having a disability, being Black/Latino, etc wasn't the only thing that defined their personality. It was an element of who they were as a person. The other thing I want to talk about is the manga series that they were tracking down. As they would find a volume you, the reader, would get a condensed version of it as well. The art style and story would change to this completely different series with it's own story line, characters, and everything. It was just this really nice touch and I loved it. This is a strong recommend from me if this sounds even slightly interesting at all.

The Boxer, Vol. 7 -3 Stars
I now have to end this wrap up with a bit of a downer. I have been reading this series all year and have become oddly fascinated with it. I'm not normally a fan of sports related stuff but this just pulled me in I found myself just devouring them. I love how the "protagonist" kind of became this barrier that other characters had to overcome, but couldn't. I loved how the author would make you feel sympathetic for the opponent of the MC. Then we got to the current story arc. Our MC was going up two brothers, one was the manager and the other the fighter, who were well known for using the most vile and underhanded tactics in and out of the ring to win at any cost. Volume six set this up so well and the beginning of this volume set up the fight beautifully. Our MC, who is normally silent, usually ends the fight in the first round or two promises to make the fight last all twelve rounds. Basically stating that he won't knock his opponent out and will spend all twelve rounds beating him to a pulp to make him pay. As the reader you are stoked because his opponent deserves every horrible thing coming his way. Then the author tries to do a hard pivot. He tries to show that the brothers are not as bad as we all thought and the manager/team behind our MC is just as bad as they are. There was no real set up for the MC's team to be this "evil" and I just didn't care about the brothers back story. Sometimes you just need the bad guys to be bad guys and the good guys to be good guys. There is nothing wrong with this as a story element. This twist just didn't work for me and it kind of put a stain on the whole series for me. I don't thing the MC is bad necessarily but it calls his manager and their team into question. I just don't like how any of this was handled at all. I'll still be back for volume eight but I'm a little less excited for things now.

As for what is next
The Ambitious Card
Like This, For Ever
These are the audiobooks for this week. I'm hoping to have The Ambitious Card done today and then I'll get started on the next one.

Outside of that I have my never ending pile of things from the library. Probably the first thing up will be Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear. Yes, I am rereading this series again. I was just in a mood and I wanted to read this again because it makes the brain happy. I also have some more Dragonball and a horror comic. I also have the entire second season of Steven Universe I need to finish before next weekend as well.