Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 6

 

Today's manga post is on Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 6 by Junko. It is 160 pages long and is published by Kodansha Comics. The cover has Kae, Shima, and Yusuke on it. As it is the sixth volume in the series, you need to have read the first five to understand the story. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this manga. The story is told from third person close of Kae. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the manga- It's Kae, again! After the heart-stopping showdown between the Mutsumi brothers, things looked like they might finally settle down again, but a bold confession from Mutsumi-sempai spurs all the boys into action!
It's like a real life otome game as everyone tries to plan the best romantic afternoon, but it's so much pressure to choose, much less think about having a boyfriend! Especially when there are bigger problems to worry about...
Shima-chan and I are all fired up about a new anime that's perfect for us fujoshi, but we end up not seeing eye to eye! Can a friendship built on boys' love survive a vicious shipping war?!

Review- So Kae has dates with everyone who likes in this volume. Instead of  helping her make a choice, she discovers that all her friends are wonderful and would make wonderful partners. Then Kae and Shima have a fangirl off to pick which pairing is best. Kae does a lot of character growth in this volume. She is still the girlfan she always was but as she interacts with hew new friends, she is becoming more interested in the world while still maintaining her person interests. The more I read this manga, the more I like it. 

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. 

Overdue

Today's fiction post is on Overdue by Elizabeth Spann Craig. It is 244 pages long and is was self-published by the author. As it is the second novel in the Village Library Mysteries, you need to have read the first one to know who the characters are. There is no foul language, no sex, and very mild violence in this novel. The cover has Fitz the cat on it. The intended reader is someone who likes cozy mysteries. The story is told from first person of the main character, Ann. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Carmen King is a busy woman. Not only does she sit on the library board and dabble in the Friends of the Library, but she juggles quite a few relationships at once. Apparently, this doesn’t go over well with at least one of her boyfriends—Carmen is found dead at the bottom of the library staircase.
Librarian Ann Beckett not only finds Carmen’s body, but finds herself entangled in Carmen’s mysterious death as she sets out to learn why Carmen’s death, from the killer’s perspective, was overdue.

Review- A cute second volume in a cute cozy series. The mystery is good but I guessed the killer before the end. The library setting is fun. The best thing about this volume is the character growth of the secondary characters. We get more with them than the first volume and they have started to become more than just background for Ann and the mystery. A good read and I am interesting  in reading more. 

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

Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden, Vol. 05

Today's manga post is on Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden, Vol. 05 by Yuu Watase. It is 192 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. The cover has Uruki and Takiko on it. As it is the fifth in the series, you need to have read the first four volumes to understand the story. There is no foul language, no sex, and mild action violence in this volume. The story is told from third person close of Takiko. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the manga- In the midst of a heated battle, Takiko is transported back to her own world. There, all the problems she escaped through her father's book are waiting for her: her mother's funeral, her father's disapproval, and her reunion with Mr. Ohsugi, her first love. But with the wisdom and strength she's found as the Priestess of Genbu, Takiko knows what she has to do. And when she discovers that the wishes of the Priestess really do have power in her world, she realizes that she must find a way to return to the Universe of the Four Gods!

Review- Takiko is back in her home world but she wants to get back. She wants to finish her mission as the Priestess of Genbu and bring peace to the kingdom. Of course when she returns, she has to deal with her feelings for Uruki and his for her. They decide to put them aside until after the mission is done. They also find the next Warrior and she doesn't want to go back and help. The plot continue to move forward at a good pace and the love story is becoming more important. I look forwarding to seeing why the next Warrior doesn't want to help and what trouble is coming next. 

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. 

Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives

Today's fiction post is on Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare. It is 416 pages long and is published by Harper Teen. As it is the second in the series, you need to have read the first one to understand the story. The cover is a close-up of a Frendo mask. The intended reader is someone who likes teen slasher horror movies and novels. There is foul language, mild sexual content, and lots of violence in this novel. The story is told from third person close of different characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the dust jacket- After barely making it out of the Kettle Springs cornfields alive, Quinn’s first year of college back in Philadelphia should be safe and comparatively easy. All Quinn wants is to forget what happened and be normal again. But instead, Quinn finds that her past won’t leave her alone when she becomes the focus of a host of online conspiracy theories that claim to prove that the Kettle Springs Massacre never happened. It’s a deranged but relentless fantasy, and there’s nothing Quinn can do to get people to hear the truth — not even on her own campus or in her own dorm room.
So when a murderous clown attacks Quinn at a frat party while another goes after her father in Kettle Springs at the same time, Quinn realizes that that the facts alone are never going to save her. Her only option is to go back home, back into the cornfields, back to where the nightmare began, to set the record straight the only way she knows how. Because when the truth gets lost in the lies, that’s when real people start to die.

Review- Set a year after the events of the first novel, Quinn is trying to be a normal college student that's hard when not survived a night of killer clowns but are the one who stopped them. So when her friends from Kettle Springs come to visit her and they get attacked by a man with a gun, she knows that it's not over yet. The action start quickly and never lets up. We jumped from Quinn at college back to Kettle Springs and then the two stories combine. Quinn and her friends haven't forgotten what they learned in the first novel and their character growth continues in this one. Like a good horror movie sequel the stakes are higher and the betrayals are bigger. A good second volume with a interesting ending that has me anxious for the next volume and where the story is going next. 

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

Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution

Today's manga post is on Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution by Chiho Saitō. It is 200 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. As this takes place after the end of the series, you need to have read the original Revolutionary Girl Utena series to understand the story. The cover has Utena and Anthy on it. The intended reader is someone who has the original series and wants to see what happened to the other characters. There is mild foul language, sexuality, and mild violence in this manga. The story is told from third person close of the different characters one per story. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the manga- Three short stories set after Utena’s revolution.
Utena has saved Anthy by defeating Akio in the final duel, but in doing so she has vanished from the world. Now the student council members at Ohtori Academy find themselves in their own revolutions.

Review- Utena and Anthy have been freed from World's End, but what about the other duelist? This volume is about what happens to them and how they find their own revolutions. Utena visits them all to help them remember what they were fighting for. The stories take place at different times, some close of the end of the manga and others more than 20 years after. World's End is still influencing the duelist but they don't know how to fight it. So Utena once again must become a prince to save them. This was a good  wrap up to the overall series and a good send off for the secondary characters. 

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

Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge

Today's nonfiction post is on Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge by Richard Ovenden. It i sIt i s308 pages long and is published by Belpnap Press. The cover is a book being burned through. The intended reader is someone who is interested in the deliberate destruction of books and private papers. There is foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- The director of the famed Bodleian Libraries at Oxford narrates the global history of the willful destruction—and surprising survival—of recorded knowledge over the past three millennia.
Libraries and archives have been attacked since ancient times but have been especially threatened in the modern era. Today the knowledge they safeguard faces purposeful destruction and willful neglect; deprived of funding, libraries are fighting for their very existence. Burning the Books recounts the history that brought us to this point.
Richard Ovenden describes the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria to contemporary Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets in Iraq to the destroyed immigration documents of the United Kingdom’s Windrush generation. He examines both the motivations for these acts—political, religious, and cultural—and the broader themes that shape this history. He also looks at attempts to prevent and mitigate attacks on knowledge, exploring the efforts of librarians and archivists to preserve information, often risking their own lives in the process.
More than simply repositories for knowledge, libraries and archives inspire and inform citizens. In preserving notions of statehood recorded in such historical documents as the Declaration of Independence, libraries support the state itself. By preserving records of citizenship and records of the rights of citizens as enshrined in legal documents such as the Magna Carta and the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, they support the rule of law. In Burning the Books, Ovenden takes a polemical stance on the social and political importance of the conservation and protection of knowledge, challenging governments in particular, but also society as a whole, to improve public policy and funding for these essential institutions.

Review- An interesting history about the destruction of books libraries, personal papers, and other forms of documentation and why. Ovenden covers much of known history of the destruction books and written materials. He discusses why someone might want to do that from protecting the reputation of the writer to destroying a culture's historical memory. Ovenden is an excellent writer, he helps the reader to understand the history and how important the knowledge that been lost is. He does touch on a few times were a person's personal writing was destroyed after their death to protect their public image. How that was seen at the time and how it is seen now, as it gives insight into the person and their work like nothing else. I enjoyed this book very much and I would like to read more from Ovenden.  

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

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 21

Today's post is on Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 21 by Mizuho Kusanagi. It is 192 pages long and published by Shojo Beat. The cover has Yun sleeping on a pile of books. As it is the twenty-first volume in the series, you need to have read first twenty volumes to understand the story. The intended reader is someone who likes epic fantasy shojo manga with a light love story in the background. There is no foul language, no sex, and mild actiony violence in this manga. The story is told from third person close of the main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back the manga- When Su-won hears of Riri’s abduction, he launches surprise attacks on Sei fortresses in an attempt to save her. Meanwhile, Riri leaves Yona in a forest in order to lure Sei troops away from her. Will Riri escape capture and execution? 

Review- Rin is taken by the soldiers to protect Yona and she blames herself for not being strong enough. Hak and Su-Won met again on the battle field but Hak has more control this time. He knows that he has more important tasks than revenge. The army quickly learns that the dragons are people to play with. Yona is starting to understand her feelings for Hak and how complicated they are. This is one of the manga I read currently, I just love it so much. More adventures soon!

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. 

Strike the Zither

Today's post is on Strike the Zither by Joan He. It is 368 pages long and is published by Roaring Brook Press. the cover is an illustration of the main character Zephyr. The intended reader is someone who likes Asian inspired fantasy. There is very mild foul language, no sex, and some action violence in this novel. The story is told form first person close of the main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the dust jacket- The year is 414 of the Xin Dynasty, and chaos abounds. A puppet empress is on the throne. The realm has fractured into three factions and three warlordesses hoping to claim the continent for themselves.
But Zephyr knows it’s no contest.
Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate by becoming the best strategist of the land and serving under Xin Ren, a warlordess whose loyalty to the empress is double-edged—while Ren’s honor draws Zephyr to her cause, it also jeopardizes their survival in a war where one must betray or be betrayed. When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp to keep Ren’s followers from being slaughtered, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who is finally her match. But there are more enemies than one—and not all of them are human.
An epic YA fantasy about found family, rivals, and identity, from New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He, inspired by Three Kingdoms, one of the Four Classics of Chinese Literature.

Review- An interesting and imaginative fantasy inspired by classic Chinese literature. Zephyr is the most brillant strategist and she is loyal to the weakest lordess in the realm but the most noble. Her lordess Xin Ren is trying to save the empire and Zephyr is devoted to her and the cause. But there is a twist about Zephyr that not even she knows about herself. This novel is well written, interesting reimagining of the classic novel Three Kingdoms. The author Joan He is doing very interesting work that also connects with her culture. I'm very curious about how the story is going to turn out and if Zephyr can pull Xin Ren from failure into glory. 

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. 

Captive Hearts, Vol. 03

Today's manga is on Captive Hearts, Vol. 03 Matsuri Hino. It is 216 pages long and is published by Shojo Beat. 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 the two main characters on it. There is no foul language, no sex and no violence in this manga. The story is told from third person close of the two main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the manga- Megumi sets out to China to find a cure for his curse, but it appears that even his health worsens if he is away from his master. Meanwhile, a maid in the Kogami household swears to make Megumi hers!

Review- In this volume, the reader sees what happened to create the curse. A thief steals a family scroll and the family guardian curses him to serve. A childhood family of Megumi, who has feelings for him, confronts Suzuka about the curse and how it affects Megumi. I like how Suzuka takes ownership of the curse and how Megumi is being used by it. She does her best to not trigger the curse and help Megumi get control of himself again when it overcomes him. Suzuka is a good heroine. I look forward to seeing what craziness is going to happen next. 

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