Waiting for Spring, vol 5

Today’s review is on Waiting for Spring, vol 5 by Anashin. It is 176 pages long and is published by Kodansha Comics. The cover is yellow with Aya-chan on it. As it is the fifth in the series you need to have read the first four volumes to understand the story. The intended reader is someone who likes shojo manga, sweet high school love stories, and just a little basketball. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this manga. The story is told from third person close of the main character Mitsuki. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- IN CIRCLES

Summer vacation is in full swing! When Mitsuki and her friends go to the amusement park together, she's faced with plenty of romantic date spots and superstitions. When she finally works up the courage to ask Towa to ride the Ferris wheel with her, her plans are interrupted and she has to think of another way...but just when Mitsuki's about to throw in the towel, Towa picks up the game right where she left off. Alone together on the Ferris wheel, Towa's confession of a secret past may be more than Mitsuki is ready to hear.

Review- In volume five we pick up right where we left at volume four with Aya-chan winning the Regional Tournament but when he is interviewed he dedicates his win to Mitsuki-chan.  She still doesn't understand that he is interested in a romantic relationship with her, and that causes some issues between her and Towa.  But Towa was getting his stuff in line and working up the courage to express his feelings for her.  All in all not a lot of plot movement in this volume but more getting things in line for the character to move forward. Mitsuki-chan knows that she has feelings for Towa  but is unaware of Aya’s towards her. I'm curious where the club is going to go now that Aya and Towa  are going to be practicing basketball together. 

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

The Toll

Today's post is on The Toll by Cherie Priest. It is 334 pages long and is published by Tor. The cover has a road that goes into darkness. There is mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this novel. The intended reader is someone who likes horror, southern Gothic, and just a touch of Cthulhu. The story is told from third person close of the main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- State Road 177 runs along the Suwannee River, between Fargo, Georgia, and the Okefenokee Swamp. Drive that route from east or west , and you'll cross six bridges. Take it from west to east, and you might find seven.
But you'd better hope not.
Titus and Melanie Bell are on their honeymoon, and have reservations in the Okeenokee Swamp cabins for a canoeing trip. But shortly before they reach their destination, the road narrows into a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car.
Much later, Titus wakes up lying in the middle of the road, no bridge in sight. Melanie is missing. When he calls the police, they tell there i no such bridge on State Road 177...

Review- This is an excellent horror novel. Priest is a master storyteller and this novel is no different. We have several different plot threads that join into one monster. Titus is looking for his wife, Dave is looking for what happened to him, and everything leads back to the stone bridge that only appears every thirteen years. The mystery of what is going was less interesting to me than what is the monster in the swamp. Until about half way into the novel I was thinking it was just a ghost story until the monster in the back ground was shown to be real. The writing is great, the plot does take a little while to get going but once it does it is a downhill ride all the way. If you like slow burn horror novels then you should give this one a try.

I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

Code Name Madeleine: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-Occupied Paris

Today’s post is on Code Name Madeleine: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Arthur J. Magida. 306 pages long and is published by W.W. Norton and company. The cover is a rust colored photograph of a woman walking away from the camera and towards the Eiffel Tower. The intended reader is someone who is interested in War World 2 history and forgetting women’s history. There is no foul language, no sex, and some violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the inside of the book- Noor Inayat Khan, secret agent for the British in occupied France.

During the critical summer months of 1943, Noor Inayat Khan was the only wireless operator transmitting secret messages from Nazi occupied France to the Special Operations Executive in England. She was a most unlikely spy. As the daughter of an Indian Mystic, raised in a household devoted to peaceful reflection on the outskirts of Paris, Khan did not seem destined for wartime heroism. Yet, faced with the evils of Nazism, she could not look away. She volunteered to help the British; was trained in espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance; and returned to France under the cover of night with a new identity and a code name: Madeline.

Khan transmitted countless details crucial to the  allies' success on D-Day, until she was captured and imprisoned by the Gestapo. She attempted to daring Escape before being sent to prison in Germany. Three months after the Allied invasion of France she was executed at Dachau. Her last word was liberte.

Review- Inspiring story of a woman who when faced with the choice between her values and the lives of others she managed to find a way to satisfy both. Noor  was a child of privilege, given access to knowledge, teachers, and the truly impressive things in life.  There was no reason for her to volunteer to be dropped into France to be a wireless operator when all of the others have been hunted down and killed. But Noor refuse to back down when she looked and said that  evil was being done and she could not turn away.  So she went into France and for almost six months played a dangerous cat and mouse game with the Gestapo, but eventually they caught her and eventually they killed her. Like all World War II Memoirs of people fighting to survive, fighting to see better days, this is both inspiring and incredibly tragic. Noor had family waiting for her, had plans for the future, but just like millions of others that future life was taken away from her. But they never broke her spirit and that is something we can all take away from her life and her struggle. An inspirational if sad World War II memoir that is well-researched and well worth reading just to continue to shine light on women's work during the war. 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I was given a copy of this book as a gift.

Gunparade March volume 3

Today's book review is on Gunparade March volume 3 Hiroyuki Sanadura. It is 241 pages long and was published by ADV Manga. The cover has four of the main characters on it with dramatic looks on their faces.As is the third volume in the series you need to read the first two in order to understand the story. The intended reader is someone who has read the first two volumes, likes Mecha manga, and very Japanese story lines. The story is told from third-person close of the main character Hayami.  There is mild foul language, implied sexuality, and violence in this manga. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- The war against the Phantom Beast rages on, and absolute victory for Army Unit 5121 seems impossible. Hayami’s latest preoccupation with heroism won't stop the enemy from easing its way through the gun smoke, and these extraterrestrial invaders don't play by the rules of war! with enough bone-splitting mecha under their belts to flatten the teenage troops, the Phantom Beast will stop at nothing to annihilate the soldiers of Earth!

Review-  An interesting conclusion to a complex series, that asks more questions than it answers within the frame of the story. So it's discovered that the Phantom Beasts are actually humans who have somehow been transformed through despair or something along those lines in their heart, it's not very clear. The war is won, if not very clear how, but at the end of the volume Humanity has somehow managed to push the Phantom Beast back. I did enjoy this series. I found it a very nice mix of the different series that I have watched and read over the years in particular Fafner in the Blue and Neon Genesis Evangelion, but without all of the Christian imagery. Revelations of the title which is apparently a song about soldiers carrying on no matter how bad circumstances look, and that was nice to see where the title came from. If you can get your hands on this, as ADV is a defunct company at this point, I would recommend the series if you enjoy mecha stories.

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this mango with my own money. 

The Priory of the Orange Tree

Today’s post is on The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. It is 827 including notes and the like. The cover is orange with a blue dragon twisting around a tower on one side. The intended reader is someone who likes epic high fantasy, deep plots, and lots of characters. There is mild foul language, mild sex and sexuality, and violence in this novel. The story is told from third person close of the main characters, moving as needed within chapters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- A World Divided. A Queendom Without An Heir. An Ancient Enemy Awakens.
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction- but assassins are getting closer to her door.
Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages, Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.
Across the dark sea, Tane has trained all her life to be a dragonrider but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.
Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

Review- This is one of the best fantasy novels I have read in a long time, if not one of the best I have ever read at all. It has everything that should be in an epic fantasy: magic, dragons, action, interesting characters, deep plot without getting too bogged down in the details, true love, it has it all. The plot is broken up by parts of the world when in the west the reader is with Sabran and her court, in the east with Tane and Niclays, as the reader moves the chapter heading will tell them where they are and they will know who the characters are going to be. This world is so richly imagined, the characters are interesting and easy to understand, the plot is so intense and interesting; I hardly know where to start with my praise. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who like epic fantasy, do not be put off by the length because this story is well worth it.

I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.

Hunting the Unabomber: The FBI, Ted Kaczynski, and the Capture of America’s Most Notorious Domestic Terrorist

Today’s review is on Hunting the Unabomber: The FBI, Ted Kaczynski, and the Capture of America’s Most Notorious Domestic Terrorist by Lis Wiehl. It is 315 pages long and is published by Nelson Books. The cover is red with Kaczynski’s mugshot in the center. The intended reader is someone who is interested in the Unabomber, true crime, and the FBI. There is foul language, no sex, and discussion of violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- On April 3, 1996, a team of FBI agents closed in on an isolated cabin in remote Montana, marking the end of the longest and most expensive investigation in FBI history. The cabin's lone inhabitant was a former mathematics prodigy and wunderkind professor who had abandoned society decades earlier. Few people knew his name, Theodore Kaczynski, but everyone knew the mayhem and death associated with his nickname: the Unabomber.

For two decades, Kaczynski had masterminded a campaign of random terror, killing and maiming innocent people through bombs sent in untraceable packages. The FBI task force charged with finding the perpetrator of these horrifying crimes grew to 150 people, yet his identity remained a maddening mystery. Then, in 1995, a "manifesto" from the Unabomber was published in the New York Times and Washington Post, resulting in a cascade of tips--including the one that cracked the case.

With access to new primary sources and exclusive interviews with key law enforcement officials, New York Times bestselling author and former federal prosecutor Lis Wiehl meticulously reconstructs the white-knuckle, tension-filled hunt to identify and capture the mysterious killer. A revelatory, historical thriller of the years-long battle of wits between the FBI and the brilliant-but-criminally insane Kaczynski, Hunting the Unabomber is the spellbinding account of the most complex and captivating manhunt in American history.

Review-  A fascinating account of the hunt for America's most notorious serial bomber told by someone who has access to the original documents, the FBI and other agents who worked the case, and even to Kaczynski's brother himself. Wiehl was a federal prosecutor but now she has decided to write about the hunt for the Unabomber across some 14 years from the time they realized that they had a serial bomber on their hands to the time that he was arrested and in court. Because she was a prosecutor, people were willing to speak to her that otherwise might not be willing to speak to another true crime author because they understand that she knows what they went through to catch this man.  The writing style is engaging narrative without being pedantic, and the notes are fantastic in the back. Being able to hear first-hand from the agents who worked the case gives this book an edge over other pieces that may have been written about the Unabomber and the hunt for him. Wiehl gives the reader insight into Kaczynski's mind, his past, and what potentially drove him to send the bombs. All of the sympathy is given to his victims and to the agents that worked his case tirelessly and at times against politics to catch this man; Kaczynski is seen as a very mentally sick man but one who understood what he was doing to others every time he sent out a package. If you were interested in the Unabomber or the hunt for him in general I highly recommend this book. 

I give this book of Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Skip Beat!, vol, 17

Today’s review is on Skip Beat!, vol, 17 by Yoshiki Nakamura.  It is 200 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. The cover has Kyoko and Ren on it.  As this is the 17th volume in the long-running series you need to read the first 16 in order to understand the story.  There is no foul language, no sexuality, and no violence in this manga. The story is told from third-person close of Kyoko but sometimes changing to Ren to get his perspective on things.  There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Dark Moon is getting excellent ratings, and Kyoko is getting tons of offers for more acting jobs! But all the offers are for twisted, damaged characters like Mio. Kyoko doesn't want to get stuck as a character actor, and she certainly doesn't want to play freaks for the rest of her career. But if she refuses all these jobs, will she even have a career left?!

Review-  We wrap up most of the complications with Kyoko stalker, he's going to New York so he'll be out of her hair for a little while. But now Kyoko is afraid she's going to be typecast as a mean girl.  But all of that is background noise because Ren’s father has returned to Japan for the first time in 20 some years and she has been assigned to be his assistant while he's here. He is giving her a lot of trouble at the end of this manga and I'm very curious to know if he knows about Ren’s feelings for Kyoko and that's why he's giving her problems, we haven't seen it yet so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. As it is Ren's father he might want to back off because his son might come after him but I think Kyoko is about to release her grudges on him and I don't think he has Ren’s invulnerability to them. Hopefully we will understand what president Lori is trying to do in the next volume by putting them together. I'm interested to see where we're going to go now, and I still highly recommend this whole manga series. 

I give this volume  a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

The Arrangement

Today’s post is on The Arrangement by Mary Balogh. It is 366 pages long and is published by Delacorte Press. The cover has the main character Vincent on it looking handsome. It is the second her The Survivor’s Club series but you do not have to have read the first one volume to understand the story. There is mild foul language, sex, and no violence in this novel. The story is told from third person close of the main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Desperate to escape his mother’s match-making, Vincent Hunt, Viscount Darleigh, flees to a remote country village. But even there, another marital trap is sprung. So when Miss Sophia Fry’s intervention on his behalf finds her unceremoniously booted from her guardian’s home, Vincent is compelled to act. He may have been blinded in battle, but he can see a solution to both their problems: marriage. Reluctant at first, Sophia agrees to Vincent’s proposal. But how can an all-consuming fire burn from such a cold arrangement?

Review- A cute story about to kind characters making a life together and being happy. I enjoyed the simplicity of this novel with likable characters making the best of their lives. Vincent is trying to retake control of his life and Sophia needs someone to give her a chance to have a life at all. Sophia is not going to let her unscrupulous family members trick Vincent into marrying her cousin and Vincent is not going to let a young woman be tossed into the gutter. So they make a choice to have an arranged marriage between the two of them. Of course people wonder about it and them but Sophia and Vincent make themselves known and they make it work. There are no big misunderstandings, no big fights, just two reasonable people who want to have lives of their own. A very enjoyable read.

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Sweat and Soap, volume 1

Today’s book review is on Sweat and Soap, volume 1 by Kintetsu Yamada. It is 208 pages long and is published by  Kodansha Comics. The cover has the two main characters in an embrace facing the reader. The intended reader is someone who likes josei manga, office romances, and likable characters. There is no foul language, talk of sex and sexuality, and no violence in this manga. The story is told from third-person close of the main character of Asako.  There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book-  Heaven Scent

Asako’s living her dream, working at the toiletry remaker Liladrop. But she has a secret: The reason she loves the company so much is that she's ashamed of her body odor, and their soap is the only thing that's ever helped her. So when the company's lead  product developer, a perfuming genius, approaches her in the lobby and wonders what “that smell” is, she's terrified-  but could it be that he likes it? that he likes her? and most surprising of all, she just might like him back…

Review-  A fun josei romance manga with very likable, adult main characters. Now when I say adult, I am not just referring to the sexuality in the manga, I'm referring to the maturity with which they handle their relationship. They talk about things, they talked about their relationship, they talk about their feelings, their insecurities, and what they would like their relationship to be. It was quite refreshing to read a romance with two characters who act like adults. Asako has her insecurities but she's honest with herself about them. The male lead is very quick to pick up on her feelings, admittedly he can smell the hormone changes in her body a bit silly but whatever, and while he doesn't force her to tell him things if she's not ready, he does let her know that he is willing to listen to anything she has to tell him. I'm interested to see where this relationship and the series will go, so I would recommend this if you like josei romance manga. 

I give this manga a Four out of Five stars. I did nothing for my review and I bought this book with my own money

Bloodborne: The Veil, Torn Asunder volume 14

Today’s post is on Bloodborne: The Veil, Torn Asunder volume 14 by by Aleš Kot and illustrated by Piotr Kowalski and Brad Simpson. It is 29 pages long and is published by Titan Comics. The cover has a hunter fighting some monster on it. The intended reader is someone who has rea the previous issues and likes the world of Bloodborne. There is some mild foul language, implied sex, and mild violence in this comic. The story is told from first person close of the main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the blurb on Hoopla- The city of Yharnam: an ancient gothic metropolis and home to the Healing Church.
The Healing Church is known for its miraculous blood-based curatives, of which many – citizens and travelers alike – seek to exploit.
Recent days have seen the city fall foul to a nightmarish plague known as the Ashen Blood disease, the source of which remains a mystery.
Trapped in a threatening world of gods and monsters, where reality is never what it seems, one man resolves to welcome the madness, and the truth it may reveal…

Review- We are still with our madman, still nameless as far as I can tell, and he is going even deeper into the madness that is around Yharnam. He has no idea about what is going on and he is really starting to lose touch with reality. Something is speaking to him but it is not clear what or what intention it has. I am still not sure what is going on or what the nameless man is doing in Yharnam but it is still interesting to see and I am curious about what is going to happen in the last issue.

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this comic from my library’s Hoopla account. 

Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World

Today’s Nonfiction review is on Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World by Tara Isabella Burton. It is 320 pages long and is published by Public Affairs. The cover is an illustrated stained glass window. The intended reader is someone who is interested in modern culture and society. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex and sexuality, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Fifty-Five years have passed since the cover of Time magazine proclaimed the death of God, yet while participation in mainstream religion has indeed plummeted, Americans have never been more spiritually busy.

While rejecting traditional worship in unprecedented numbers, today's Americans are embracing a kaleidoscopic panoply of spiritual traditions, rituals, and subcultures- from astrology and witchcraft to SoulCycle and the alt-right. As the internet makes it ever easier to find these new tribes and consumer capitalism forever threatens to turn spirituality into a lifestyle brand, remarkably modern American religious culture is undergoing a revival comparable with the Great Awakenings of centuries past. Faith is experiencing a renaissance. Disillusioned with organized religion and political establishments alike, more and more Americans are seeking out spiritual paths driven by intuition, and not institutions.

In Strange Rights, Tara Isabella Burton visits the techno-utopias of Silicon Valley, Satanist and polyamorous communities, witches from Bushwick, wellness junkies and social justice Advocates and devotees of Jordan Peterson, proving Americans are not abandoning religion but remixing mixing it. In search of the deep and  the real, they are finding meaning, purpose, ritual, and communities and ever-newer, ever-stranger ways. 

Review- A fascinating treatise on modern culture and society viewed through the lens of how Americans are expressing their spirituality if it's not their religion. Burton does excellent research interviewing many people from all walks of life, other peer-reviewed sources on sociology and other topics about current culture, and she comes to some interesting conclusions. The main conclusion is that Americans are not less religious than ever but they are more spiritual than ever. Unfortunately what is spiritual and spirituality is really hard to define and Burton does spend some time discussing that. She talks about how people are saying they are spiritual not religious and in the way that they reflect that be that in self care and wellness or in general advocacy for those who are downtrodden in our society. Burton’s conclusions are easy to follow, and are backed up in my personal experiences with people out in the world. But I'm not sure what the point is. I don't know if Burton is wanting to examine this from a religious perspective, a sociological perspective, or just more of a treatise on modern society. If you were curious about the spiritual not religious rise here in America or just more interested in the way modern society appears to be living in a religious sense I would recommend this book.

I give this non-fiction book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrow this book from my local library.

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, volume 3

Today's post is on My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, volume 3 By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka. It is 154 pages long and is published by Seven Seas. As it is the third volume in the series you need to have read the first two volumes to understand the story. The cover has Katrina, Maria, and Siruis on it looking at the reader. The intended reader is someone who has read the previous volumes likes Otome  games and over the top comedy. there is no foul language, no sexuality, and no violence in this volume. The story is told in third person close of Katrina with the ending chapter being told from Siruis’ perspective. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book-  Falsely Accused!

Katrina Claes, reborn into her favorite dating sim, as finally met and befriended Maria Campbell, the heroine of the game, in the hopes of avoiding exile or death. But when Maria disappears, it's up to Katrina to figure out who's behind it. Could it be the same people who are accusing her of Miraak harassing Maria? Or is there something even more Sinister at work? Doom approaches, and the vilification of Katrina is about to begin!

Review- An excellent next volume in what is fast becoming one of my favorite series. Katrina meets the judgment part of the game in which she survives it because she did not bully or harass Maria at all. The people who are accusing her are very odd and that's what ends up to Maria disappearing because she realizes that she can see some kind of darkness around them and goes to investigate it. The volume does end on a cliffhanger with the reveal of the person behind the prosecution of Katrina, who then puts her into a coma. It is a bit heavier than the previous volumes but considering we're getting into what is the most concerning part of the story for Katrina i.e. her vilification, it's understandable. If you have not tried this series I strongly recommended it is funny, it has good art, and some of the best characters in manga/anime currently.

I have this volume of Five out of Five Stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this mango with my own money.