Mars Needs Brian Blessed!

[Steven]

#142 - One Piece, Volume 10: OK, Let's Stand Up! by Eiichiro Oda
#143 - One Piece, Volume 11: The Meanest Man in the East by Eiichiro Oda

The big fight against Sawtooth Arlong continues, with Luffy nearly drowned and Usopp discovering his personal honour. Despite everything Luffy keeps going and going. Once Arlong is town, the very petty, corrupt Captain Nezumi of the World Navy is next, leafing to Luffy and his crew gaining an outsize reputation as they sail for the Grand Line.

That leads to the pirate hideaway island — the beginning and end of the Grand Line. As it turns out, it’s also where somebody Luffy’ s enemies catch up — first Alvida, then Buggy. Zolo gets new swords, one reputedly with a curse on it, Nami buys clothes, and Sanji buys a giant fish.

The humor is back again, happily, so things get pretty silly after Arlong is defeated. And the legend is starting to build.

[Steven]

Quirkyreader wrote: "Yea, only 7 more🐸"

6! :)

[Steven]

#143 - One Piece, Volume 12: The Legend Begins by Eiichiro Oda

The humour continues to come back in this tankobon, as the Straw Hats figure out how to get into the Grand Line, only to end up inside the giant whale Loboon, where they meet the whale’s friend, Dr. Crocus, and run into a couple of fancy whale hunters. From there, it’s off to Cactus Island, where the crew gets a warm welcome...one with well-disguised evil underlying it. No worries, Zolo is on it, using the situation to gleefully home his skills.

The series continues to be surreally silly, fortunately.

[Steven]

#144 - FukuFuku: Kitten Tales 1 by Konata Konami

Vignettes about an elderly Japanese woman and the kitten she adopts. It’s literally nothing more, and it’s the most gentle fun I’ve had from a book in a while. It’s thoroughly cute and often silly, and anyone who’s raised kittens will recognize little FukuFuku in all her madcap behaviour and quieter moments.

This book genuinely brought me joy.

[Steven]

#145 - One Piece, Volume 13: It's All Right! by Eiichiro Oda

Battles, reverses, secret princesses, and Luffy vs Zolo thanks to Luffy, busy digesting a mountain of food, having slept through a number of events. Before long the crew is off to another island, this one full of dinosaurs. There’s a couple of giants, too, battling each other daily, though they’ve forgotten why.

[Steven]

#146 - Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich

I’m still in the midst of unpacking from the move earlier this year, and when this turned up in a box of older TBR books I figured it would be a fast, fun read...which it was. The Stephanie Plum books are like episodes of a TV series — it’s about the characters and their lives, but by the end the status quo more or less remains.

This time around the story revolves around a college fraternity, which ties into two murders and a goofy mad scientist plot. As usual Stephanie and Lula also have to handle a few other bond enforcement cases, including a serial killer who nearly kills Stephanie. Her on-off boyfriends, Morelli and Ranger, also get into the story and, as always, the cars she drives have a limited lifespan.

Utterly lightweight, even with the brief violence, but good comfort food.

[Steven]

#147 - The Empty Hours by Ed McBain

Continuing the 87th Precinct read-through. This time it’s a collection of three shorter works, with the squad in the city tackling the mystery of a young woman’s murder...which might not be a murder. There’s an actual murder, though, but the victim doesn’t seem to be who she’s supposed to be. Nor does the first victim.... The second story tackles the brutal murder of a rabbi, challenging Meyer Meyer to examine what kind of Jew he is. The third story takes Cotton Hawes off one a skiing trip...and murder ensues, bringing him into conflict with the local cops. This is the weakest of the three stories, reading like a repurposed TV episode.

[Steven]

#148 - Strange Dogs by James S. A. Corey

An Expanse novella, a prelude to Persepolis Rising. The planet Laconia, site of a five year science mission, is suddenly taken over by Martian Admiral Duarte and his Free Navy, extending the science mission’s stay. Earth seems to be unreachable, and no-one knows what’s going on.

This is when Cara, the ten year old daughter of two of the scientists, comes into contact with four strange dog-like creatures. When Cara accidentally kills a native bird, the “dogs” seem to revive it, leading her to ask them if they can fix a drone she accidentally broke. They do. Then her brother is killed in an accident and....

It doesn’t quite turn into the full-on horror story you might expect, however. It does, unfortunately, run just a little long.

[Steven]

#149 - The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan

From the Riyria Chronicles, but meant as a stand-alone. A pair of thieves are hired to retrieve a legendary Treasure belonging to a long-deceased Jester, and bring along a motley (and prone to bickering) team. A snappy, lightweight read.

[Steven]

#150 - Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann

An episode by episode walk-through of the series, with some interview excerpts and occasional behind the scenes bits. It’s *extremely* lightweight, with neither text nor pictures being all that interesting.

[Steven]

Quirkyreader wrote: "Hurrah you made it.🐸"

I wasn’t sure I would, to be honest, especially as the last push included idly getting a book out of the boxes of TBR books while I was unpacking.

I’d have kept going, but I still have the virtual mountain to finish climbing.

[Leslie]

Steven wrote: "#150 - Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann

An episode by episode walk-through of the series, with some interview excerpts and occasional behin..."

Woo hoo!! Well done on reaching your goal!

[Steven]

Thanks, Leslie.