Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey #1) - Dorothy L. Sayers

This is one of those public domain mysteries I wanted to check out.

Lord Peter is a private detective who teams up with Mr. Parker, a Scotland Yard DI to solve two cases. Or are they connected? A prominent financier is missing, and nearby, a naked man is found in a bathtub. With little to go on, these two have an uphill battle to untangle the webs of the mystery.

This book didn't really grab me the way some of the others have. Lord Peter got under my skin with his high energy personality. It felt like he was trying to be a Sherlock but without any charm to back it up. His valet, Bunter, was my favorite character. He had some neat little zingers in there.

The end of this was a bit irritating. Not only did Wimsey "warn" the suspect, we had a whole confession that went on forever. Things were explained in excruciating detail, and it was a bit much. I still don't really understand the killer's motive. The confession seemed more like he was focused on how to get away with a murder than revenge for a perceived wrong.

Anyway, that one's over and done with. Lord Peter can go drink a bottle of Napoleon and enjoy himself. I'm moving on...

City of Fiends (Knights Templar Mystery #31) - Michael Jecks

This is one of the paperbacks I picked up on the HPB jaunt. I 100% loved the cover, and the summary drew me in. Side note: the price sticker was covering the smoldering man in the corner, so when I peeled it off, I had an interesting surprise!

There are a few different threads that will come together throughout the course of the story. Murders are occurring in Exeter, a rogue knight is ravaging the land in the name of who he perceives as the rightful king, and there's tons of little subplots with priests, tenants and love affairs. With the amount of stories going on, I won't say much about the plot itself.

I really liked the writing in this, and the story itself. I didn't realize it was part of a series until I was looking up the cover for this review. Also, there's a few different titles for the series, but I took the one from the cover of my book. This book is historical fiction, so there's some basis in fact, but it's also fiction.

I liked the mystery for sure. I had parts of it figured out, but not everything. There's some carnage in there and rape as well, so if that bothers you, just know it's there. It's not super detailed and graphic, but it's there. I appreciated the character development that happened. Usually when I pick up a book this long, there are parts I feel could've been left out or were unnecessary. I didn't feel that way in this case. With all the characters, I was invested in them, so it was nice to get updates on them at the end. Also, other than the tiny print, I don't really have anything negative to say. 

Overall, I really liked this one and wouldn't mind reading more of this series. I think it says a lot that I had no idea it was part of a series when I started it, let alone #31! I didn't feel like I was missing anything, and the time period is new for me. I enjoyed it, though, and wouldn't mind reading more of it in the future! Good Book!

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Volume 3-8) - Koyoharu Gotouge

So, these are a bit on the shorter side, and I want to just leave a brief summary of what happens for my own memory. To save some space, I'm going to combine multiple volumes. They are only around 189 pages, so I don't have a ton to say about them.

In volume 3, we head off to a really weird house. Tanjiro finds two children outside claiming their brother is inside with monsters. The inside of the house isn't straightforward, though. There are multiple demons, and the rooms change with every beat of the drum. There also seems to be a boar/bear demon slayer in the house with his own agenda. Tanjiro is able to get his blood sample of one of the twelve and send it back to Tamayo, and we learn the secret of Zenitsu. Unfortunately, it revolves around him whining and being scared. I'm really liking the variety of powers the demons have and the imagination Tanjiro has to use to defeat them.

Volume 4 - We're still dealing with the boar guy, who is just gung ho about fighting literally anyone or anything, but once everyone is recovered, they're sent to a mountain where the group encounters a nest of demons who have teamed up as a family. While that's unusual, the worst part is they're frickin' spiders! Zenitsu is having fits again,  and he's hit, but he manages to take out the one that spewed upon him before seemingly succumbing to the poison. This one ended before I got resolution on that, but I'm hoping there's a way to heal him. He's a nut!

Volume 5 - We're still dealing with the spider demons. Eww. Unfortunately, it seems like these are going to be more than the new Demon Slayers can handle. On the plus side, there are others on the mountain that have the skills to help them out. I like the new characters. The butterfly one cracked me up a bit. She was all sweet, and then delivered an epic zinger to the dead demon. I had to send that one to my kids. They found it amusing as well. I already saw the first page of volume 6, and I love it for Zenitsu. On a more serious note, I liked how Tanjiro challenges the new slayer about his blanket statements about demons. Tanjiro is willing to extend sympathy to demons who show regret and remorse for what they've done once they are able to tap back into their human side. It's intriguing how he judges the demons on an individual basis as they're dying, even though they were trying to murder him mere minutes before.

Volume 6 - Love the cocoons at the beginning. In this one, Tanjiro has to prove himself to the premier Demon Slayers. They want to kill Nezuko, but he'll do anything to protect his sister. It's going to mean taking out one of the Twelve Kizuki, and that isn't going to be easy! Tanjiro finds something of an ally in Shinobu, even though it seems like they'd be on opposite sides at first. Zenitsu and Inosuke are still being their crazy selves and getting into trouble, but that's not shocking. While Tanjiro focuses on learning while he's healing, the other two are whining and quitting. Eventually, they all learn what they need to and are ready for the next challenge.

Volume 7 - Tanjiro is wanting to find out how he knew a fire breathing technique, and he needs to find a Hashira named Rengoku. They all end up on a train where they have to deal with a dream demon. This particular demon has human minions that do their dirty work for him. He infiltrate dreams and go to the Demon Slayer subconscious to destroy their soul cores. I felt bad for the one who ended up in Tanjiro's dream, as he was so affected by what he experienced. Enmu 's plan falls apart, but he has a backup plan. His true body isn't what Tanjiro sees. It's actually the train they're riding on! It's going to take a lot of teamwork to take this one out for sure. Also, the bonus manga telling Kanao's origin story was super cute and heartbreaking.

Volume 8 - Rengoku wasn't in the story for long, but it's super sad to see him go. Tanjiro takes it hard and goes to his new friend's house to convey a message and retrieve a book on flame power. It might tell Tanjro more about the mysterious flame power his father taught him. Little does he know Rengoku's father will identify Sun Breathing as the real source of the power. Toward the end, some of the girls are being kidnapped when Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu offer to take their place for the mission. And they're on their way!

I'm really enjoying this one. I like the bits of humor in it, especially coming from Inosuke. I also love the humility and little gator guy Gotouge that pops up. He's super informative and cute. I love him. I'm ready for the next set for sure! Good Manga!

Berserk #9 - Kentaro Miura

Guts and his friends are dealing with the trolls in the city. Schierke still doubts her magic skills, but she's able to pull it off in the end. Casca and Farnese are abducted and taken to the realm of Slan, one of the God Hand. And she's in the Uterine Sea...eww. The Skull Knight shows up and helps out, and everyone ends up escaping.

They travel back to the place where they left Flora, the witch that initially helped them. Her place is on fire, and the newly reformed "Band of the Hawk" made up of abominations is there to capture the witch. Guts tries to fight one of the Apostles, but his body can only take so much. Flora uses the last of her strength to guide Schierke to put the Berserker armor on Guts. It's the only way he'll survive.

I'm still waiting for Casca to regain her memories. I'm struggling with her continued issues with Guts. I can't wait to get into the next one. I feel bad for Schierke, and I think it'll be nice for Farnese to have something to focus on besides what she believes are her inadequacies. I really liked this one, and it had some of the most striking images I remember seeing thus far. Especially when Guts first got the Berserker armor on. Good Book!

Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot #9) - Agatha Christie

This book probably has one of the best mystery twists I've ever read. It's also probably one of the most famous. The problem is, you can only have one first time. My first experience with this story was the Hercule Poirot show with David Suchet. He's always been my favorite Poirot.

I'm not saying one word about the plot of this book. If you've never read this book, and you love a good mystery, you should read this one. Or watch the show. I've never seen the 2017 film. It seems like the mustache is its own character in that one, but I'm just not interested in it regardless. I don't think you can go wrong with the book or David Suchet, though.

The book is great. Nothing else to say. Agatha Christie was a genius! Great Book!

More Lives Than a Ship's Cat - G. A. Stoke, Jeremy Stoke

G. A. (Mick) was a highly decorated midshipman in the Royal Navy. This book covers his service in detail through personal letters, descriptions and excerpts from memoirs of men he served with.

I think the sheer number of sources used in this book was a tad overwhelming for the flow of the story. Sometimes, it would almost feel like it wasn't really Mick's story anymore, but then one of his letters would pop back up.

As someone who's worked on family genealogy for decades, I feel like someone who is part of Mick's family would love this book. They would get to read how other's viewed their ancestor. For me, it wasn't quite as interesting. The letters are the best part, and they're more sprinkled in there than the main "meat" of the book. The pictures are hidden at the very end after a few appendixes and most of those are documents. My favorite one had to be of Douglas V. Duff. He was the author of May the Winds Blow. He was just so happy!

 

Douglas Duff

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Volume 2) - Koyoharu Gotouge

For the second volume, Tanjiro gets a mission to protect a town from a demon. This monster is pretty complicated in that it can split into three demons and come up from the ground. Also, Nezuko joins the fight. Tanjiro gets a lead on a way to heal his sister and finds the demon that might have the answers, but there's a problem. Muzan has a human family. Tanjiro has found some friends with demon blood, but Muzan has some new friends as well.

I really liked this one. Again, the uncluttered, straightforward art drew me in, and I love the crow. Muzan is sending out his new friends to track down Tanjiro. We'll have to see what happens in Volume 3!

Berserk #8 - Kentaro Miura

Update on Berserk:

We're headed off to fairyland!

The gang meets a witch who knows a bit about Guts and Casca's situation. A nearby village is slowly disappearing from troll attacks. Guts is struggling with the curse that's trying to take possession of him. He's being tempted to leave Casca behind and pursue Griffith. The Hawk is on his own mission and has an army of monsters that are taking care of the Kushans.

I'm getting worried about Guts and Casca. Guts took some pretty large steps backward with her in this tome, so that was frustrating. I did cheat a bit, and at some point, she's supposed to get her memory back. It's just so hard to see her in this state. The trolls struck me since they didn't look anything like I expected them to. I really liked the little bits of whimsy here and there, which is interesting, because I don't think I did at first. I'm curious to see what happens next. Volume 9, here I come!

Nevermore - William Hjortsberg

This was a find from HPB. I'm always up for a good mystery, and this one had Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini teaming up! I thought it would make for an interesting story, especially when I read the murders were mimicking Edgar Allan Poe tales. 

I've basically summed up the story in the sentence above. Harry and Arthur butt heads when it comes to spiritualism at times since one is a believer, and the other goes out of his way to disprove the theory. There doesn't seem to be any obvious suspects, but strange things are happening to both men. Doyle is seeing Poe's ghost, and Houdini is being pursued by a medium calling herself Isis.

This book started out pretty good for me. I liked the atmosphere, and the premise was interesting. The problem began to arise when random tidbits were inserted for no reason. Events that occurred during the time period are just crammed in there for no reason. Doyle goes to a baseball game. Why? So, he can see Babe Ruth! Another thing was the sex scenes. There weren't a ton of them, but the ones with Houdini were detailed and wholly unnecessary. The other thing, and this is 100% personal, was referring to Houdini as "the magician" and Doyle as "the knight." For some reason, that irritated me, and it was constant.

I had the villain figured out pretty early on. I don't know why it was so hard for them. I don't understand what the purpose of Poe's ghost was. He didn't have a role in the story other than to annoy Doyle by crushing his ideals of the afterlife. Overall, this book was one I started out enjoying and ended up being glad it was over.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Volume 1) - Koyoharu Gotouge

I'm going to start this review with a side note story. Because I want to...I have a fairly decent list of manga I want to read. It's a problem, I know. Well, I read finished this one the other day. My husband and I went for haircuts over the weekend, and we were early so we stopped in GameStop. I hadn't been in there in a while, so it was strange seeing so few games in there. Anyway, I saw Demon Slayer all over the place. The first thing I saw was a figure, and I felt impressed with myself I could identify it for my husband. Then I saw a game and a T-shirt. Then I was confused. Because I live under a rock and had no idea there was a movie coming out! LOL!

And now on to the review.

Tanjiro heads down the mountain to sell some coal, but when he returns, he finds his family has been slain by demons. His sister, Nezuko, has been turned into a demon, but she doesn't attack him. Tanjiro is determined to find a way to save her. He defends her from a demon hunter and is led to Urokodaki, who trains him to take the test to become a true Demon Slayer. He's going to need those skills if he wants to avenge his family and find a way to heal Nezuko.

I liked the first volume of this one. The art wasn't too busy, and the story was easy to follow. I feel bad for Nezuko, hiding from the sun and having that thing in her mouth to keep from biting people. I don't know if she's a demon the whole time, but I hope not. It seems really uncomfortable. Maybe that's just my TMJ talking! Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next one! Good Story!

The History of Caliph Vathek - William Beckford

I have no idea where this one came from. It's been on the list for a while, so who knows?

A caliph has power go to his head. If scholars dare to contradict him, they end up in prison. One day, a merchant comes and sells the caliph some swords where the words on them change from day to day. An old man was able to read them one day, but not the next so Vathek burned off half his long beard...rude! The merchant disappears before the caliph is done with him, but when he's caught the merchant is turned into a ball and kicked by the caliph and later the town until he falls into a chasm.

Later, the caliph does all sorts of things to make the merchant's spirit (?) give him the keys to a Palace of Underground Fire. Normal things, like sacrificing 50 children. The caliph has numerous chances to repent and change his ways, but the caliph, his mistress (that he basically stole from someone he was staying with) and his crazy mother (that traveled around on some kind of zombie camel and had mute ninja-type slaves) are doomed for eternity. 

This story was so weird, and I could go on and on about the strange things in it. I kept thinking I was reading it wrong or missing something. It wasn't that long, and I was about to quit on it when it ended. I was at the 37% mark, and I guess the rest of my copy was notes. Since I finished it, I looked up the story to see what I missed. I hadn't missed anything. The story was just weird. I think the biggest mystery was: how did it end up on my To Be Read pile?

A Silent Voice - Yoshitoki Ōima (manga)

I read about this manga in an article a while back and thought it sounded interesting. The story revolves around a boy who bullies a deaf girl. Years later, he tracks her down to try and make amends. It's not an easy task, and wounds heal slowly.

The story in this was super good. There were many times when it was emotionally heavy as well. I wouldn't recommend it to really young kids. Things like violence and suicide are in there, so just be aware if you're sensitive to those topics.

A movie was made from this story, and I'm not sure if I'll track it down or not. I was really invested in the manga and had trouble putting it down. The end was a bit open-ended, and at first I was a bit sad about that. But, after thinking it over, it made sense.

The only criticism I have is the similarity in the names. Shoko and Shoya are so close in spelling that I would have to pause and think about who was who. Any time names have similar spellings, I have this issue. Most of the time, it was obvious who was being referred to, and many times they were referred to by their surnames, so it wasn't a major deal.

Overall, this was a really great story, and it was much more emotional than I was expecting. If you're ready for something this heavy, I totally recommend it. Good Series!

In the Woods - Tana French

This is one of the paperbacks I picked up during the HPB trip. I was excited for the plot of this one. Psychological thrillers are my jam! Also, warning: there will be spoilers in this review!

Detective Ryan is a survivor of a mystery that resulted in the disappearance of his two friends. He was only a child at the time, but he's never been able to remember what happened. The murder of a 12-year-old girl brings him back to the scene of the crime, but he's not going by the same name, so he stays on the case. Are they connected, and will they finally solve the mystery of what happened all those years ago?

No. The answer is no. I'm just going to be upfront and let you know my biggest problem with this book. The whole story keeps bringing up Ryan's memories, his issues with what happened, little possible connections, and then at the end, he's okay not remembering any of it except for one happy afternoon? Yeah, okay. I hated that. Also, he's a jerk and that never changes.

The other thing is the present day mystery is not as mysterious as Ryan would have us believe. He says, "well, you were fooled just like me." Sorry to say this, man, but it was just you. I had the mastermind figured out.

The writing started out pretty good, but then it started turning into a slog. I felt like a lot of the random nonsense could've been removed, and I wouldn't have noticed. The way he acted after the night with Cassie was just ridiculous. He didn't deserve anything good, and in the end, he didn't get it. I guess that's a win. Skip this one unless you like unsolved mysteries you've spent hundreds of pages investing your brainpower trying to figure out.

Dog Heroes of September 11th - Nona Kilgore Bauer

It took me awhile to get through this one, and that's because it was heartbreaking. It had me on the verge of tears numerous times. Also - I didn't finish it...

The book tells the stories of many of the canines that were involved in recovery of remains from the World Trade Center site, a place where they took rubble from the initial event (Fresh Kills), the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania site. There are lots of pictures, and those really would've looked better in color (I was reading this on my Paperwhite). It really was a great book. I loved how the dogs performed their duty, but almost all of them also served as therapy dogs. Those were the stories that really got me. Stoic firefighters, policemen and other rescuers wrapping their arms around these dogs and sobbing for a few minutes because they've lost their friends in one tragic morning. It was just heartbreaking.

I didn't finish it because about 2/3 of the way through, it switched from telling the stories of the individual dogs to describing the history and role of search and rescue in general. I read a bit of that, but I realized it wasn't what I was looking for in this book. I have great respect for working dogs and their handlers, but this part of the book just wasn't as interesting for me.

I'd definitely recommend this book. I think it's important to recognize the role that was played by so many after the disaster that was 9/11. It was a long process that isn't talked about enough. Every one of these wonderful workers have gone over the rainbow bridge by now, so it's important to never forget. Good Book!

The Mystery of Cabin Island (Hardy Boys #8) - Franklin Dixon

I wanted to get through something light and fun, so I picked up the next Hardy Boys in public domain and settled in for a quick read. Little did I know, this one was a bit different.

The boys want to spend the Christmas holiday camping on Cabin Island. They get permission from the owner (a man whose car they recovered in a previous mystery), but there's a man scoping out the island for his own nefarious purposes. And what's on the line? A missing stamp collection!

Okay, this one was fairly fun, but I did not like the whole fox hunt. I'm a critter person, so when we're hunting for tiny pieces of paper and shooting foxes in the same book, I'm a little upset. It wasn't just, "oh, hey, we shot a fox." No, they describe the hunt, the kill and took trophies back to the cabin. Blech. 

Other than that, I suppose this was okay. The villain was mid-tier if you ask me. They even let him go in the end, since I guess the worst he did was hide some food and trespass. Maybe some menacing? He never got his greedy little hands on the stamp collection, so there wasn't any crime there. Anyway, this one sits lower to the middle on enjoyment for me. And yes, it's all because of the fox hunt...

A Song of Crows (Bloodborne #3) - Ales Kot, Illustrated by Piotr Kowalski

This is the final graphic novel in my box set.

Honestly, I don't know how to describe this one. It's the story of Eileen, a hunter from the game, but it's a lot of confusion and "When is this?" She's remembering her friend who died, but she also sees him all the time.

Comparing it with the other two, I'd have to say this is my least favorite - story-wise. But! I loved the artwork in this one. The normal dark tones are brightened with lighter colors that I didn't expect. The result was a dark beauty that I can't really put into words. Many of the pages had few or no words, and it was a very visual journey.

Even though I had to look up the meaning of the story, I would still give this a Good Book! review. The art was really good, and I still liked the story. It may not have been my favorite, and I may have needed some help with it, but I still liked it!

The Healing Thirst (Bloodborne #2) - Ales Kot, Illustrated by Piotr Kowalski

I finally finished my Kindle book, so as a reward, I pulled this one out to read. I'd been looking forward to it.

A "doctor" and a priest are both working on trying to discover the source of the disease and why it's affecting different people different ways. They end up meeting in the sewers and end up trusting each other...but not entirely.

I liked the back and forth in this one. The story was dark and sad. The art, again, was wonderful. I don't have much more to say. It was a Good Book!

Memoirs: Ten Years and Twenty Days - Karl Dönitz

As the father of the wolfpacks, Karl was admired by his men and feared by his enemies. It was ten years as U-boat commander and twenty days as President of Germany. This book was written in 1958, so he didn't have all the information of what happened during the war.

The book is very thorough when it comes to the U-boats. It gets really dry after a while. It seemed like a significant portion of the book was "U-boat 123 (Lieutenant Soandso) found a convoy and sunk 10,000 tons." And it felt like it was that over and over and over. There were little parts sprinkled in there that were a bit interesting, but then it was back to convoys and tonnage. I stuck with it because I wanted to find out about what happened after the war when he was President.

Toward the end. I was interested in the story, but it felt pretty sugar-coated. He claimed he didn't know anything about what was going on in the camps. He was on his boats and isolated to the point he couldn't have heard anything. By his own words, he was summoned to Hitler's presence more than once, and that wasn't on a U-boat. Other sources are claiming Karl was a dedicated Nazi and anti-Semite. These are things he didn't really address, and when he did, he acted like he was on the fringes of it. I've found that in a few of the German autobiographies I've read. I also found it interesting how he'd bring up attacks by the Allies he felt were inappropriate, but he wouldn't acknowledge the loss of life created by the war in the Atlantic. It was all about the tonnage.

The book was rough for me. I stuck with it mostly to read the recollections from postwar Germany. The problem is, when I feel like I'm slogging through a fairy tale from an unreliable narrator, I feel like I've wasted my time. I actually think I fell asleep three or four times while reading this. I don't doubt the accuracy of the submarine information at all. But once I got past that, I ended up being disappointed. I can't deny that he was a genius naval tactician, but I can't praise him for his regard for Hitler. If you're interested in the details of wolfpack tactics and the chaos they wrecked on shipping in the Atlantic, I think you'll get the information you're seeking here. Otherwise, you might want to skip this one.

The Death of Sleep (Bloodborne Vol. 1) - Ales Kot, Illustrated by Piotr Kowalski

I've always had a soft spot for the Bloodborne franchise. That might sound kind of strange, considering how dark and somewhat enigmatic the overall story of it seems to be, but I yam what I yam. I can't even really pinpoint what exactly draws me to it.

I've had my eye on these graphic novels for a while, and when Amazon had a buy 3 for 2, I got the box set that contains volumes 1-3. It sounds like they're all separate stories, so I'm going to review them separately.

The story of the first volume revolves mostly around the hunter and his internal fight against the dream. He is aware that he's dealing with the same things over and over, but he isn't really aware of how, or what to do about changing his situation. A small child may provide the answer, but they're going to have to escape the city of Yharnam.

I really liked this novel. I need to make sure to give the illustrators more credit when I'm reading these graphic novels. The art in this was 100% amazing. The book brought back elements of the game and gave them an interesting story. I loved it. Next up is The Healing Thirst. 

I'm still trying to muddle through my Kindle book, but I am making progress. My goal is to reward myself for making progress in that book by reading one of these. On the surface it sounds like I should give up on the Kindle book, but you'll have to wait for the review on that one to find out why I'm hanging in there. Anyway, this graphic novel easily earns a Good Book! review. My only regret is not buying it sooner!

Akira (Volume 6) - Katsuhiro Otomo

This is the end. The story of Akira comes to an end with the sixth volume where we learn the fate of Akira, Tetsuo, Kaneda, Kei and many others. I won't go into details.

I'm not going to lie. I had no clue what happened at the end and had to look it up online. When I was scrolling through the results, it looked like I wasn't the only one who had that issue. I really did enjoy the entire story, even though on the surface, it isn't really the kind of story that sounds like it would appeal to me. It was just at the end, everything went all strange, and I got confused. In that respect, I'd usually take many points off, but for some reason, I still enjoyed this a lot. It was unique and something out of the norm of my usual genres. This particular manga was instrumental in spreading the artform beyond the shores of Japan, especially in France and America. I think that's pretty cool.

I watched the movie a while back, and apparently it was different from the manga. I mentioned that I'd like to watch it again, so I'm going to have to track it down again and give it a watch. I can't really remember the end, so I'm wondering how it compares.

Overall, it's getting a Good Story! review. I didn't understand all of it, but I was able to get some clarity from the internet. I read a couple different views, and it was interesting to see how people interpreted the story. If you're interested in a good, cyberpunk manga with some cool themes, you might want to check out Akira!

Akira (Volume 5) - Katsuhiro Otomo

Next up, Tetsuo is gaining more power. It's beginning to be too much, but he doesn't seem to realize it. He's able to teleport and ends up showing his power on the American ships off shore.

The children are back together, and Lady Miyako convinces Kei she needs to be the conduit for all their power. It's the only way they will have a chance against that power. Kaneda isn't keen on that idea, so he goes off on his own to try and take out Tetsuo. On the flip side, they're trying to bring all the people together to witness the power of Lord Akira to keep up morale. At the end, we're getting ready for the showdown.

The cliffhanger in this one was pretty brutal, which is why I didn't wait long to read the next one. I also read the last one in a single day, so there's that. This one was really good, and I liked the time taken on the arc of Kei and Kaneda. Good Book!

Akira (Volume 4) - Katsuhiro Otomo

I'm up to book 4 in this series. It's just so convenient to read these on my tablet!

The two remaining kids, Kiyoko and Masuru are being hunted down by the new ruling power of Neo Tokyo: Akira and Tetsuo. Lady Miyako tells Tetsuo the pills he's basically eating for meals are inhibiting his true power, but he just can't seem to stop eating them. Some guy with great hair can't really get through to Tetsuo, so he eventually takes over and decides to storm Miyako's place. The two kids are trying to meet up there, but it becomes a bloodbath. Eventually, Kaneda appears as well. I've missed him.

I was getting a bit confused at the end. Things were ramping up, and I couldn't figure out how there could only be one more book, but guess what? There are two! Anyway, sometimes when these people are fighting, I can't tell who is who. And where did the weird person with the eye and super sight come from?

I'm happy Kaneda appears to be back, and I'm ready for the next one. It's waiting for me, and I'll be getting to it soon! Good Book!

Eaters of the Dead - Michael Crichton

This was a book I'd been wanting to read for quite a while. It's also known as The 13th Warrior, and apparently, there was also a movie. One of my favorite books is Timeline, which was also written by Crichton. It's a book I've recommended more than once, and a tale that has never disappointed. As long as you don't watch the movie.

In this tale, a traveler named Ahmad ibn Fadlan (a real person) is sent from Bagdad to visit certain people. He gets waylaid and ends up stuck with a group of Northmen (Vikings) who are being sent to deal with a threat. A small group is put together, and one of the group is supposed to be a foreigner. And it needs to be 13 people.

This book was very weird for me. I know the narrator was making a record of his travels, so he felt the need to write down everything. And I mean everything. I didn't need to know about whether or not they wiped their butts or anything regarding their sex lives. I really didn't need to know about those.

The story picked up for me once they started dealing with the monsters in the mist. But one of the main issues I had with the book were the footnotes. They were all over the place, and it was a toss up whether they were interesting or not. Most of the time it was telling me something related to some other manuscript or expert.

I think I only found the premise of the book interesting after I read the facts at the end. Reading why the author wrote the book and all the work he put into it was truly fascinating to me. SPOILER: I wasn't as fond of the whole Neanderthal bit. I would've preferred to leave it as some undiscovered people or just don't say anything. It completely ruined the mystery of the mist monsters. Also, I didn't make the connection to the source material until I real those facts at the end. Once I read that, though, I'm sure there was a bright light over my head from the light bulb going off. It all made sense at that point. I still hate the Neanderthal bit and the footnotes. Timeline reigns supreme!

Akira (Volume 3) - Katsuhiro Otomo

This was my first manga I got to read on my new tablet. I was happy it worked out so well. 

In the continuing saga of Akira and Tetsuo, this volume focuses on Akira. There are a lot of people after him, some of them don't even know what he looks like. Two different groups of children are tracking him down, and the city is under attack. Strong robots are on the streets, and you don't want to break curfew. At the end, the groups come together, and Akira's power is unleashed.

Tetsuo doesn't really pop up much in this one. He's probably recovering from the whole "arm torched" thing. I was really involved in this one, and I have the next one ready to go on my tablet! Good Book!

Ultimate Hawkeye #1 - Jonathan Hickman

This was a hardback my daughter had lying around, so I read through it.

Hawkeye is on a mission from Nick Fury to grab a serum. Some high-powered enemies are attacking and taking over SEAR, and it's a problem the leaders there created.

I wasn't a big fan of this one. Hawkeye is a character that rides a line between sarcasm and one-liners most of the time. In this, he jumps over the line and turns into a putz. At one point, he tells Fury, "She was already pregnant." Umm, what? 

And this is going to sound crazy, but I think the number one thing that bothered me about this Hawkeye? His hair. On the cover, it's not too bad, but inside it's awful. And I'm not a fan of his suit. Where's the signature purple?

The story itself sounded like it could've been interesting. The villains, especially the more open-minded of the two Xorn/Zorns (I can't remember which one was which) was really a cool character, and I was somewhat curious to see where that went. But I don't think I can deal with this version of Hawkeye. I'm glad my daughter doesn't have more of this series, so I don't feel obligated to keep going.

Hawkeye (2012-2015) #1-4 - Matt Fraction & All-New Hawkeye #1 - Jeff Lemire

This is one of the Hawkeye series I needed to catch up on. It's my daughter's favorite. It's numbered 1-5, but the fifth one is actually the beginning of a different series, so that was weird. I wish they would name these things better. Seriously, trying to differentiate this one from all the other ones was fun.

Anyone who watched the Hawkeye TV show will see all the little details that inspired the show. It's not even close to being beat for beat, but I like that. The overall story was really great, and I can't say enough about all the different perspectives. My favorites were the one with Lucky, the Winter Friends, and the one with sign language. It was great how Kate ended up sticking with Clint, even though she did take a break in LA for a while. I'll talk about the other one separately.

For some reason, the All-New Hawkeye #1 was styled and labeled as part of the series I was reading, so I ended up reading the first part of a series we don't actually have. I was really struck by the watercolor style used for the past in that one. The "present" problem with the kids reminded me of Akira, where kids have exceptional powers, and people are trying to use them as weapons. The art wasn't as good compared to the past in my opinion. This series is by Jeff Lemire and has five books.

When Kate was done in LA, she mentions trying to find her father, but this series doesn't really follow up on that. From what I was able to find out, supposedly it's in Hawkeye (2016-2018), a series focusing on Kate Bishop and has three books. It's by Kelly Thompson. Good grief, there has to be a better way! Hawkeye first appeared in comics in September 1964. He joined the Avengers in May of 1965, but we're still labeling the series "Hawkeye." We should be to the point where we use colons! Hawkeye: My Life As a Weapon would have been a great title. Ok, I'm done ranting now.

I really liked the Hawkeye series. I don't know that I'd keep going with the Akira-esque series, even though the art was really cool at times. I never figured out why All-New Hawkeye was labeled as part of the original series, but it was worth the read. Good Books!

Daemons of the Shadow Realm #1 - Hiromu Arakawa

I've been reading Fullmetal Alchemist on WebToon, and I saw this manga recommended. I finally got around to reading the first volume.

Yuru lives in a small, mountain village where his sister, Asa, is kept behind bars. One day, "dragons" come and attack the village. Yuru's world is torn apart. The girl he thought of as his sister is an imposter, and he's introduced to his Daemons, Left and Right. They escape the mountain, and from there, it's time to discover the truth.

This surprised me. It's got some elements that are unusual and really creative. There were some little notes at the end that I'm glad I didn't miss. They explained some things that were pretty important and worth knowing. I liked how everyone's Daemons were different.

I'm excited to learn more about Yuru, Asa, and the world they live in. The first book didn't really get into too much of the details, it didn't really have time, but it'll be cool to read more in the future. At present, there are only 10 volumes, but this manga is still ongoing, so I may eventually catch up to this one. Good Book!

Black Widow & Hawkeye: Broken Arrow - Stephanie Phillips

Hawkeye is a fan favorite here in this house. Way back in 2019, I said, "I did read a few of the comics, but I'm not as keen on them." (Living in a Marvel House, May 1, 2019) Wow, how times have changed. Now, I don't only read comics, I watch anime and read manga. I've probably surpassed my kids with my dedication to all three of those genres. Surprisingly, I hadn't actually read my daughter's Hawkeye comics that she already had before picking this up. I'm working on remedying that now.

Black Widow and Hawkeye always seem to be pulling each other out of trouble. It's a cycle that never seems to end, but neither of them are going to leave the other one out to dry. Clint is in real trouble this time, and it seems like everyone wants him dead. Natasha has an extra boost, a symbiote, who she's working on controlling, and it's going to play a vital role in bringing this crisis to a resolution.

I'm not a hardcore comic person. I don't keep up with every release, so at first I thought I was missing something. Apparently, the only thing I needed to catch up on was Natasha's symbiote. I appreciated the way the past and present were meshed together, and I liked the art style. I thought it was a good story, and it gets a Good Book! review from me.

Lucifer (Volumes 1-3) - Mike Carey

I am a big fan of the show Lucifer. It got me interested in the world of Sandman, and then I decided to dive into the minor character of Lucifer. For some reason, I didn't review the first two volumes when I finished them, so I'm going to ignore the story for the most part and focus on my overall impressions.

Lucifer has left Hell and opened his nightclub called Lux. He isn't completely separated from the "family drama," though. It follows him everywhere and won't leave him alone.

I was all in after the first volume. I liked the story, and the way the character was used. It was pretty creative. As I went through volume two and then this past one, I was noticing that Lucifer wasn't really going through any kind of noticeable arc. One of the things that draws me to characters is their reactions to the events and how those shape them. Lucifer just kind of stays the same.

I wasn't planning on comparing this character to the show, because they're not the same at all, but the show Lucifer excels in one thing in particular: growth. Lucifer has a therapist on the show, and while he doesn't seem to learn anything from her, he still ends up growing. Unfortunately, by the end of the third volume, I could see no real growth in his character, so I think this is where I think my journey with comic Lucifer ends.

Odd Thomas - Dean Koontz

This is one of the paperbacks I picked up at HPB. I was recommended this particular book by my uncle. My history with the author made me extremely wary to pick this up. When I was a teenager, I somehow got my hands on a Koontz book that scared the crud out of me. All I remember is that it had something to do with rats, and my mom ended up taking it away from me. My uncle assured me this one wasn't as scary.

Odd (yes, that's really his name) has a special gift. He can see the dead. It doesn't always feel like a gift. At the beginning, Odd is solving the murder of a young girl. Later, dark beings he calls bodachs start to pop up around town, and he links them to a mushroomy-looking guy.

Odd has some friends around town who are aware of his gifts, but certain people only know different parts of the truth. With his friends by his side, alive and dead, he's going to try and prevent a tragedy from destroying his town.

This book was really good. The end wasn't what I was expecting at all, and I love that. It wasn't a fairy tale ending, so that was somber, but I wasn't scared. This book is actually part of a series. Odd Thomas has seven novels, two novellas, and three graphic novels. I might read more of the novels one day. I will say, this is one of the genres I have to be in the mood for. Not necessarily because of the supernatural aspect, but happy endings are my thing. Odd Thomas does his thing, but people still get hurt. 

The writing in this was good. There's a reason Koontz is a bestselling author. The story kept me engaged, and I give it a Good Book! review.

Six Days of the Condor - James Grady

After watching the movie, Three Days of the Condor, I was curious about the novel and where the other three days went.

Malcolm goes out for lunch and comes back to find his whole CIA group has been murdered. He goes on the run and basically takes a woman hostage. She ends up falling in love with him and helping him. There are double agents, but Malcolm has no idea where they are or what to do. His department was just reading books and looking for patterns.

The first part of this book was a mini autobiography of the author and his journey getting this book published. I thought that was really interesting. I started to wonder if it would be more interesting than the book itself.

It wasn't quite better, though. It might have something to do with the fact that this book is so short. At 192 pages, you wouldn't think it would have time to waste on sex scenes or describing strep throat symptoms, but you'd be wrong. The sex scenes weren't overly long, though, thank goodness. Just weird. I did find out what happened in those other three days - he was in bed. For the above stated reasons.

The action was pretty good. There were a few times when I wasn't sure if I was supposed to know who someone was. When an unfamiliar name would pop up, I'd wonder if I was supposed to already know who it was or if it was a reveal. I'll lay that blame on me and my memory. The book ending a bit abruptly, but it still gets a Good Book! review. I still think the autobiography at the beginning is almost just as interesting, though!

Berserk #7 - Kentaro Miura

Just a brief summary for my own benefit.

I was hoping Guts would be able to catch up with Casca in this tome, and as I got closer and closer to the end, I was getting more and more worried. The one thing that gave me a bit of hope was that she wasn't cringing away from him when she actually did see him.

Not sure how I feel about Isidro. Sometimes he seems okay, and other times I want to punch him in the face. It's similar to how I felt when introduced to Puck, the fairy.

I can't fault Casca for retreating into her mind. I swear. It seems like there's always someone or something that wants to "ahem" her. Daggone.

I'm curious to know where we go from here. Griffith popped up briefly, but I didn't really understand everything that went on there. I might have to go through that part again. Egg boy was weird, but what happened to the baby? Maybe these things are answered in the next one, so I've got my peepers on it. Good Book as usual.

And eww. Father Mozgus and his crew were just...eww.

 

Blackout (Cyberpunk 2077) - Bartosz Sztybor

This comic is about a braindance repairman who has a lot of business due to blackouts. They're happening all the time, and no one knows who's behind them. It could be anybody. The repairman has an idea that BD can be used for good. It can be therapeutic, and he tries it out on a friend and gives relief to a man in prison. This gets him in trouble, and he ends up losing his job. Pain pays.

Once I understood more about the world of Cyberpunk in general, this made a lot more sense to me. The end is sad, but not really unexpected. I liked the art style, and the story was surprisingly relevant even though we don't have the technology that's being referred to in the story. The depth wasn't something I was expecting, and I appreciated it for sure. If you're familiar with the world, this is pretty good. If not, you're probably going to be a bit lost. I liked it, though, and it gets a Good Story! review from me.

The World of Cyberpunk 2077 - Marcin Batylda

So, my husband started playing Cyberpunk 2077 a bit ago, and I got the graphic novels from a Humble Bundle a while back. When my husband started playing the game, I was pretty lost. I normally "watch" aka half pay attention, so I wondered if I was missing something. I thought I was reading the graphic novels in order when I started with Blackout, but I was still lost when I finished that one. Fortunately, this was up next.

This novel is set up closer to a magazine that introduces a newbie to the history and current state of things. It talks about politics, tech and the role of corporations. It's thorough and interesting. I think a lot of things would've been clearer to me if I'd read this first before trying to read Blackout, but hindsight is always 20/20.

There's not much to say. If you're interested in learning about the world of Cyberpunk, this is a great way to do it! Good Book!

The Age of Odin (Pantheon #3) - James Lovegrove

This paperback was from the recent trip to HPB. The cover caught my eye, and I like Norse mythology, so I was interested.

Gid and his friend are on their way to join the Valhalla Project when there's a car accident. Gid is pretty banged up, but they figure they can still make it to their destination. When Gid arrives, he's the only one who made it, and he's surrounded by what he believes is a cult. A man in a hat believes he's Odin, the All-Father. Others think they're Thor, Freya and other gods/goddesses from Norse mythology.

When Gid tries to get away, the truth is made very clear to him. From then on, he uses his skills to fight on the side of the Aesir to protect them from the threat that is coming. In the end, do they have a chance against a power that's growing while the powers of the gods are fading?

This book had an interesting story. I really wanted to know what happened next, but I kept putting the book down. Why? Gideon. The main character in this book was such a jerk from beginning to end. He didn't seem to care about much, and his sarcastic quips in every situation grated on my nerves. And one of the goddesses was his lover? Yeah, ok.

I thought the use of technology was pretty cool, and I had no idea this was part of a series when I started reading it. I also wish the main character was slightly less irritating and a complete jerk. Gideon 100% hurt my enjoyment of this book. I also had an issue with the call sign of his friend. Of all the words in the English language, did his friend need to be called Abortion? Anyway, the story had real potential, and I wanted to find out what happened at the end, but the protagonist hampered the story for me.

The White Witch - Barbara Cartland

Barbara Cartland needs no introduction. She wrote tons of cheesy romances, and every once in a while, I'll break one out and read it. I also don't look into what the book is about. It's more fun that way. Also, sometimes I like the covers. They can be pretty strange. Take this one for example. What the heck is this woman doing? I've finished the book, and I still can't answer that question!

This book is about a Marquis who believes he's being bewitched by a woman named Locadi. His butler finds a rock in one of his pockets, and since the Marquis has travelled the world, he's suspicious that Locadi is using black magic. To escape her power, he decides to go to his family home in the country.

When he gets there, he finds that his estate in a state he can't understand. The servants are gone, the vicar has left, and the school has shut down. He finds a young woman helping his grandmother with herbs, and he senses that he hasn't quite escaped all kinds of magic.

Flora is just trying to help people the only way she knows how. She's suspicious of the Marquis at first, but he quickly proves himself in her estimation. When Locadi turns up out of the blue, it becomes clear that she's not going to give up her prey easily.

This book was wild. Flora senses that Ivor (interesting name by the way) is being weighed down by an evil and sets out to help him. I don't know why Barbara Cartland used Satan worship in her books, but this book reminded me of The Flame is Love. If you've never seen it (and you probably haven't), it's a terrible movie that stars Timothy Dalton as not James Bond. He's a devil worshipper who kidnaps a virgin (even though those a rare in Paris - it's a line in the movie) to sacrifice to his weird puppet god. Basically the same thing happens here, except Flora will get sacrificed out of jealousy. I wonder if that's a good enough reason for sacrifice? 

Anyway, the whole good magic/bad magic thing was weird. I really didn't care about it either way. I did like that Flora and Ivor weren't doing the whole "look into each other's eyes and swoon" the entire book. They were just working together toward a common goal and only acknowledged feelings later on. I guess they made up for it at the end when they were mumbling about their love for too many pages. Overall, this one was pretty good in the Cartland universe. I haven't read the book for The Flame is Love, but it kind of feels like I've had the experience now. Good Book! (for a certain crowd)

The Secret of the Caves (Hardy Boys #7) - Franklin W. Dixon

Next up in the adventures of the Hardy Boys, they're sent on a mission to find a missing man. Fortunately, for Chet, it leads them to Rockaway, where the Honeycomb Caves are located. It just happens that Chet really wanted to go there to begin with. He has a metal detector and is anxious to use it. Biff is also excited to go to the caves for the fishing. 

The father of the Hardy Boys is checking on some problems at a site where they're building an antenna (I think, I can't remember), but it's being sabotaged. The two cases will end up being connected!

Okay, so I am concerned these people don't know what a concussion is, and it's concerning. Biff gets knocked out TWICE, and the boys are just like, "you'll be good" and "sleep it off." Bad ideas. Then, they just feel comfortable borrowing his speed boat. With the amount of kidnapping, fires, and general chaos that surrounds these boys, I don't think I'd let them borrow anything I enjoyed having. Especially if it cost more than a dollar. Also, Chet gets blown up. Daggone. These friends need to re-evaluate their friendships. 

Anyway, they solve the mystery. As usual. There was a cantankerous hermit, who I loved. I was so bummed when he ended up being part of the gang. That's what you get when you pretend to be a hermit. This book made me angrier than some of the others. I just didn't appreciate the way the boys used their friends. Sure, the kids were willing to help, but the Hardy brothers throw the girls at a potential shady business, one get assaulted - twice, and the other one got blown up. I didn't like this one.

Twelve Years a Slave - Solomon Northup

This book tells the story of a man who was kidnapped from Washington and taken to Louisiana. He spent the next 12 years as a slave, even though he was technically a free man from New York.

There's not much to say about the content. It's about what you would expect. I will say that this is a very well put together narrative. It was easy to read, and it was interesting to see how Solomon (named Platt after he was kidnapped) was able to be reunited with his family after so long.

I can't imagine living through this time period. I know Solomon experienced both the kind and the cruel slave owners, but he shouldn't have had to live through that at all. It's disappointing the people responsible just made up a story to avoid responsibility. Unfortunately, it was all too common, and I'm a little shocked worse didn't happen to Solomon considering some of the incidents between him and the overseers.

I recommend this book if you want an insight into what things were like for people that deserved to be free. Solomon's account is interesting and worth the read. Good Book!

Killing Mr. Griffin - Lois Duncan

I picked this one up because I wanted to revisit a blast from my own past. When I was a teenager, I read many of Lois Duncan's books. I remember on one vacation, I brought seven books with me. Most, if not all of them, were Lois Duncan. I finished five before we finished the over 8 hour car ride. It made for a long vacation for me. I was an only child spending a week at a fishing cabin with my parents and grandparents. It was loads of fun, but there was lots of down time as well. After that, I learned to ration my reading materials.

Anyway, this is a young adult thriller about a group of kids who think their English teacher is too hard on them. They decide to kidnap him and scare him into treating them all better, but things don't go quite as planned, and the title kind of gives it away. After that, high schoolers are trying to act like hardened criminals. Some of them are cracking right away while others seem to hold out longer. I won't say much else. The book isn't long. I finished it pretty quick.

This one's held up pretty good. At the time, you didn't have a bunch of security cameras to catch things, and not everyone had a cell phone. I remember really loving the writing, and I still do. I looked into what happened to Duncan, and I was saddened to learn that she moved away from writing thrillers and horror after her own daughter was murdered. The worst part was that the murder went unsolved until five years after Duncan's death.

Anyway, this book is so good. I'd like to keep track of some of the others I remember having. I remember some of the covers of the books I had, and I put the cover I remember on this post. The one connected to my Kindle version has unsurprisingly been updated. Good Book!

RIP Mr. Griffin.

Freedom in the Air - Hamish Ross

Bozdech is a Czech who wanted to fight against the Nazis during WWII. That desire brought him to sign up with the RAF, and he picked up an Alsatian pup along the way. Antis became quite the celebrity, and every award and moment of recognition was well earned. The dog was a hero not only during the war, but he also helped Bozdech escape from the Czech communist regime. Bozdech had to leave his wife and son behind, and he was never able to go back to his homeland again.

This isn't the first book I've read about Antis and his owner. I'd read One Man and His Dog by Anthony Richardson in the past. The reason I bring it up is because the book is also mentioned here. Apparently, Bozdech wasn't happy with the finished product of One Man and His Dog. When I read that one, I was curious where the author got his information. It appears he was given a manuscript by Bozdech, but Richardson changed some of the writing. Examples are given. It's also worth noting that One Man and His Dog has more reviews, so it seems like it was more popular than this one.

I looked at the acknowledgments for this book, and the first one is to Bozdech's wife. He was given access to documents, manuscripts and audio tapes. The structure of it is also different than I'd initially expected. I'd break it into three parts: Bozdech and Antis, Bozdech after Antis, and the evolution of Czech politics near the end of Bozdech's life and after his death.

Overall, I liked this book. I think if you temper your expectations that you're not reading a whole book about Antis, it's a good read. Once I caught on to the structure, I liked that it followed Bozdech after the war. It followed both heroes to the grave. Good Book!

Akira (Volume 2) - Katsuhiro Otomo

It's been a bit, but I finally got around to reading the second installment of Akira.

Tetsuo is still crazy, but he's on the loose now. He's obsessed with facing Akira, and he's discovering more powers. The other "children" are trying to keep him contained, but he's just too powerful. Meanwhile, Kaneda and Kei are trying to intercept him as well.

This story is a bit different from the other ones I'm reading in that it isn't broken down into sections. The whole book is what you get. That's nice, but it pushes me to get it done faster. There aren't easy places to stop. It's not any kind of criticism, just an observation.

I'm still on board with this one, but where does it fall in the list of what I'm currently trying to read? I'd say Berserk has priority, but I'm trying to get those when they're a reasonable price. Then we have Dr. Stone and Akira. I wanted to read Fullmetal Alchemist, and it popped up on WebToon, so I'm caught up with it on that platform. Finally, when we were moving my daughter into her apartment over the weekend, one of her friends told me his favorite manga was Frieren. It sounds really interesting, so I think I'll be looking into it eventually.

So, saying all that, I think Akira is in the second position. I'm anxious to find out what will happen with Kei and Kaneda after they've gotten away from the Olympic site. Good Book!

The Dummy Case (Professor Caldwell #3) - Milton K. Ozaki

This was one of the finds from Half Price Books I was really interested in. The size of the book was unusual, and the cover was interesting.

Professor Caldwell is planning a little experiment for his psychology students. He gets his sidekick, Bendy Brinks, to set up a little demonstration down by the lake. When the police show up, they expect to find a dummy in the lake, but instead, they pull up the body of a woman.

The case has a lot of twists and turns. The professor is the Sherlock of the team, while Bendy is the somewhat amorous sidekick. The inept copper, Phelan, is present as well. Bendy was always checking out the women. Even Anita's mother was getting examined.

It was pretty obvious this wasn't the first Caldwell mystery, but I had to hunt a little more than normal to find the list. Apparently, this is the third one out of three. The author himself wrote approximately two dozen detective novels.

While Ozaki's writing style was pretty cool, I think his life might be more interesting. From what I read, he actually made a Yahtzee style dice game called Murder. The most intriguing parts were the cons he pulled. One of them was a device that was said to increase gas mileage. I think my favorite was the fraudulent mail-order college degrees from places like Colorado State Christian College and Hamilton State University.

Back to the book. It was pretty good, but Bendy was irritating. He would kiss whoever, so I felt bad for the girls, especially Wanda. In the end, the case was solved, and I enjoyed the book. I had parts of the mystery figured out but not much. Good Book!

Dr. Stone #1 - Riichiro Inagaki

My daughter was spending some time at home before she could move into her apartment, so we did a mother-daughter trip to...where else? Half Price Books! We had a great time and got some epic finds. I was on the lookout for some manga I wanted to start (because even though I'm currently reading 4-5, that's not enough) and found Dr. Stone.

All of humanity was turned to stone. Taiju awakens and finds his friend, Senku. Taiju was getting ready to profess his love when he was turned to stone, so he vows to free his love as well. Senku says he can help her, but first they have to face predators and the reanimation liquid is used to awaken someone to protect them. Unfortunately, that has unforeseen consequences, and now the two friends have even more to worry about.

This looks like it's going to be another one I'm going to want to read. I keep saying I'm going to finish/catch up with one before I start another one, then something happens, and I end up breaking my own rules! Honestly, I'd like to say it isn't my fault, but it really is. I like how Senku is going to be using science to rebuild civilization. I definitely want to read more in the future, but I have to come up with a schedule of reading to organize myself. Good Book!

Another Monster - Naoki Urasawa

After finishing up Monster, I wanted to find out if there was anything else. It couldn't end the way it did. Could it?

The book is mostly going over the plot of Monster from an investigative standpoint. In that respect, it's a lot of summarizing of things I already knew. Here and there would be some information of how people were doing in the present, but other than that, it wasn't as expansive as I was expecting.

I was hoping to feel a sense of closure once I finished this book, but I really didn't. It wasn't bad, but I feel like Monster was on a much higher level. I'll leave this one on the fence and stick with the manga/anime.