Beth > Recent Status Updates

My Alphabet Manga challenge is complete, a couple days late, if a schedule mattered at all, which it didn't. I had fun, and was introduced to some great titles from my collection that had been sitting around for a while.

Best: Rose of Versailles, though somewhat by default as the sole 5-star.
Nice surprises: Land of the Lustrous, The Summer Hikaru Died.
Duds: Dazzle, Princess Knight.

The setting and world building are great. Couldn't care less about the action-story plot, so I'm missing a lot.

The construction "place, where adjective nouns verbed in adjective nouns" is getting to me, too. By the time I've gotten to the second adjective noun, my brain has checked out.

For September, I've decided to unofficially join an Alphabet Manga Challenge. "Unofficially" in that I'm not going to tell the runners, or use their forms, or whatnot. It's just for my own entertainment.

Finding titles from A through I that were unread (or read long enough ago that I remember little about them) was no problem. There's a good variety of genre/demographic, which I hope will keep things fresh.

It still might be too early for me on this one, but I'll give it a good try.

The back half of this one's been very slow going. Not entirely its fault, but some of it is.

I can't tell you how many times I've tried to get through this book. Why again? I dunno. I'm in a bit of a slump for no real reason, and this brat-sassin is almost certainly going to be ridiculously overpowered and have the two hot guys falling all over her, and the class queen types hating her, and that's simple enough to enjoy even if my mind can't stick to anything else.

Its time has come!!!

Uh-oh.

Hints of upcoming disruption of the status quo, beyond the presence of the Raadch. Feeling a desire for a dramatis personae--there are lots of factions and frictions, leaders and subordinates, families, etc., to keep track of.

I like Kappa and his interactions with the children.

I'd be happier if there were fewer video game menus and long rambles about skill trees. There's something like that after every major thing our MC does.

It's rough when a book loses its interest and momentum for me as the end gets closer, but I'm not giving up at this point.

"Intentional" is the word of the month. It's cropping up again and again.

Moving toward something at last, probably. Should have happened awhile ago.

Hm, I'm not feeling a love story is necessary or believable here. The characterization is so slight, and the two involved have seen so little of each other.

Listening to maybe ten minutes of this (if that) while winding down for bed means it's going very, very slowly. At first it felt silly for Cat and others to constantly be explaining the world-building to each other as they go along, but it's been fun now that I'm used to it. It's just the way people communicate with each other in this setting, I guess!

I have two group reads this month, and this is the one of the two that doesn't have a due date, so I'll have to put it on hold for a couple of weeks (by my guess).

Another one in present tense, huh? It doesn't seem committed to anything more substantial than vibes so far, but it has plenty of time to prove me wrong. Quick, easy reading.

Rather slow going, easily putdownable. I'm not looking for violence (which I find rather boring), so I'm not sure what's missing here.