Book Logging
Jun. 21st, 2009 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckThis is a fraction of what I've read in the last several months. I'm way behind on book logging. I'm going to post these and keep working on the rest. I may end up needing another amnesty in which I post titles with no comments. I'll see how things go over the next week or two.
Amazing Agent Luna 5 - For an arc (and possibly series) ending volume, this left a lot of loose ends. I think, too, it suffered from the gap between my reading it and my reading of previous volumes. Not that that's at all unique. I read so much serialized stuff that I forget what I'm reading. In this case, though, I think I mostly want to read the stuff that would come much later, the stuff with deeper implications and more complications. In some ways, by staying light and aimed at younger teens, the story suffers.
Balliett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer - I think my habit of reading both ends toward the middle of a book worked heavily against me here. I was confused, and very little seemed to connect up properly. There was an awful lot of coincidence and things that skipped off at tangents. I know people who liked this book very much. I wish I had because I found the two main characters charming and wanted to love their adventures.
Bizenghast 4 - I totally did not see that coming. I'm not sure I like it as a development either. Maybe it wasn't what really happened.... This series is still on the border of too much horror for me, and I suspect it's going to cross over the line soon. I hope I'm wrong though.
Cantarella 8-10 - That's it? I have mixed feelings about the idea of further volumes. I want to know what happens next, but the fragments of history that I know don't fill me with optimism (even without looking at what's been happening in the story). Still very pretty and very filled with DOOM.
Case Closed 12, 17-19 - More murders. More bizarre solutions. More head shaking about how Ran can miss what's going on with Conan. At least the library replaced (or rediscovered) the lost v.12.
Chevalier d'Eon 1 - I'm having an easy time so far in separating this from the anime. It starts in quite a different place with d'Eon already working for the King, already aware of what happened to his sister, already understanding his transformation. I'm rather amazed that she can fight in those outfits, but she puts them on deliberately.
I hope that the poets get more thorough explanation. I'm curious enough about them to brave the gore to go on with the series.
Chronicles of the Cursed Sword 20-21 - I've forgotten who most of these characters are. I also have the impression that I'm missing some things due to my lack of familiarity with Korean mythology. Heaven and Hell seem to mean something quite different from what I'm used to.
So, anyway, there's a war between several massively powerful supernatural factions. I think there's Heaven, Hell, (formerly) human magic users and (maybe?) chaos powers that pre-date all of them. Heaven's definitely trying to destroy the human world. I've got that part down. There are also two guys with swords that eat souls.
Claymore 11-12 - Some day, I need to gather all of the volumes of this series so that I can read them all at once and try to track names. I'm afraid I can't remember who's who or what they've done in the past so that I lose a large chunk of the character development and interactions. (This is part of why I read spoiler posts. They help.) Scott has given up on the series because he's lost track of the characters, so it's not just me having trouble.
Desert Coral 1 - I only managed a few pages of this, so I'm not sure I should list it. If I'd gotten it from the library, I'd probably have pushed through because I'd know that more volumes were (at least in theory) available. This was a BookMooch book, however, so I may never see later volumes. I decided not to force myself. There was too much black space on the pages so that I couldn't see what was going on. I didn't get far enough to have an opinion on plot or characters.
Diabolo 2 - There's actually plot in this volume! The first volume was so episodic that I wasn't sure that there would be plot at all. Apparently six seventeen year olds are avatars for demons who will destroy the earth. It's not wildly original, but I'm curious to see how it plays out.
This volume, like the first, is very violent with sex and murder and brutality. I'd prefer less focus on that part of it, but it is what it is.
Dragon Eye 1 - The cover blurb for this gave me the impression that the series is about a girl. That turned out to be misleading. She's a main character, but I think she's not going to be the center of the story. She's the supporting character who gives the reader an outsider's point of view on the (male) lead.
The story's interesting enough so far. A highly infectious monster creating disease has spread over the earth. Unaffected humans live in high security enclaves. A few humans have a natural immunity to the disease and spend their lives hunting monsters. The 'dragon eye' of the title is an artifact that grants an individual extra powers to fight the monsters while gradually eroding his or her humanity.
I'll be getting more of this from the library.
Dunkle, Clare B. Close Kin - This world gives me the impression that disaster is inevitable. It may not hit these characters or their children, but it's coming. This book, because it deals with the end of the elves as a species and as a culture, carried more weight of that than the previous book in the series. I simply get the impression of the goblins and their King as collecting pieces to try to keep things going rather than being able to build anything new, and that depresses me.
Elf Quest: Wolfrider 1 - My eyes crossed looking at the art and the text, and I gave up. I think I could have read it if everything were at least half again as big, but there was too much on each page for me to process. Were these originally published at the size of a standard manga volume or were they bigger? Is it worth my while to get a magnifying glass and try again?
Emma 7 - Yea! I reached the end of a series! I liked that things weren't magically perfect at the end. I was a little surprised that Emma and whatshisname stayed in England. I still highly recommend the series for those who love romance.
ES: Eternal Sabbath 5-8 - I've also finished this series. I have mixed feelings about it. I think I'd have preferred it to be happier, but I'm not sure how it could have been without warping. I'm not sure I can even entirely explain what the series is about, the underneath of it, I mean. There's a thread of hope entwined with threads of both the terrible things that people do to each other and the good things that people do to and for each other. I wouldn't read this series to feel good, but it didn't leave me feeling bad either.
Et Cetera 1 - If this weren't a series owned by the library, I'd probably not read more. There's too much broad comedy in it. Only a couple of weeks have passed since I read it, and the details are fading already. The setting is the wild west with dashes of mad science and mysticism (I think). Most of the events are ridiculous.
Evil's Return 1 - Eh. I have no strong feelings about this one except for a suspicion that the female lead will spend a lot of time both partially clothed and helpless. There seem to be a lot demonically possessed would-be rapists after her. I won't avoid further volumes if I see them, but I don't think I'll go looking for them, and it wouldn't take very much to tip me into the avoid-like-it's-toxic camp.
McKinley, Robin. Chalice - I liked this rather a lot. If I owned a copy, it might end up as a comfort read. I can't be sure because I haven't had time for comfort reads during the last few years (I miss them, but there's so much new stuff to read). I had seen some comments on the book that expressed frustration with the narrator's repetition, but I felt that it fit the character. Those were things she believed to be true rather than things that were objectively true. People do that to themselves.
I wanted something more in the ending of the book. I'm not sure what, and I can't figure out exactly where it would go. I just finished it with the feeling that I was looking at a sketch defined by empty space that hinted at what ought to be there.
Miller, Kirsten. Kiki Strike Inside the Shadow City - I picked this up from the library expecting something other than what I got. I didn't dislike what I got, but I missed what I'd hoped it would be. What I'd hoped it would be was a Mad Scientists' Club for girls with episodic adventures and lots of creative solutions to different problems.
The actual story isn't all that episodic. Anyanka notices an odd girl, Kiki Strike, at her school and starts trying to find out more about her. Kiki, as it turns out, is collecting allies with unusual talents-- an expert chemist, a mistress of disguises, a forger. Anyanka fits in because she has access to a private library with a lot of specialized information.
Kiki Strike's official story is that she wants to explore the part of New York City that can be found deep underground, but the other girls soon discover that there's more to it than that and find themselves unsure whether or not they can trust her.
Miller, Kirsten. Kiki Strike The Empress' Tomb - I still want the Mad Scientists' Club for girls, but I really like these books and the characters. I like being able to assume that the characters are competent and go on from there. I hope there are more books in the series and that my library buys them (yes, I'm going to ask for them if they aren't purchased).
Negima 18-19 - I still like this series against my better judgment. I don't at all like having all these girls obsessed with romantic relationships centered on a kid several years younger than they are. That's creepy. I also don't like the bath scenes and the panty shots. Those are icky rather than funny. There's just something in the story that I do like, something that balances out the factors that normally would repel me. I want to know what's going on in the magical world. I want to know who all these characters are, where they come from and who they're going to become.
PInkwater, Daniel. The Neddiad - I can tell that I'm in bad shape when I'm bored by a Pinkwater book. I suspect that the problem was more me than the book, but I simply didn't have any fun reading this. I also had some problems with the era in which it was set because I wanted more information about that. Not that Neddie would have thought about any of the things I thought about. At any rate, I can't say whether or not I'd recommend this because I can't tell how much of my lack of enjoyment was me and how much the book (I lean toward it being me as there's not much about the book that isn't classic Pinkwater, and I've liked many of his other books).
Prince of Tennis 21-25 - Part of me still expects the They Fight Crime! plotline to pop up here to make use of the characters' superpowers. I can't seem to see this as a sports story even though that's what it is. I think I'd have done better reading these with shorter breaks between volumes. I kept losing track of which team was which and couldn't refer back to earlier volumes because I'm getting the series from the library.
Psychic Academy 10-11 - The end of this series frustrated me. It didn't answer most of the questions that I cared about. Is there a sequel series? That would explain most of the dangling threads being left that way. I didn't like the resolution of the love triangle. I thought it was too easy. I'm not sure what I would have liked better given that I disliked the triangle intensely. Maybe I'd have liked less romance, less fan service and more fights and ethical/moral dilemmas. Guess I have standards in superhero stories. I should have known that already.
Rowling, J.K. The Tales of Beedle the Bard - I'd have labeled these stories as overly simplistic if my ten year old nephew hadn't told me (repeatedly) that he just didn't get them. Of course, that might be his way of saying that he was bored by them. I think he'd have liked more action, character development and witty dialogue. I think I'd have liked that, too, but I don't expect it from folk/fairy tales, and that's what these are. They're kind of dull, too. The only reason I'd consider buying a copy is to support the charity.
Skip Beat 4-7 - I have to fight my way through these because they hit my embarrassment squick a little too often. If the library didn't own the series, I'd have given up on it by now. I do like the characters and find their lives amusing. I just-- I don't deal with headlong rushes into embarrassment well. It hurts too much.
Tsukihime Lunar Legend 1 - Kind of gory for my tastes. Okay, more than kind of. Still, vampires are involved, so I shouldn't have been surprised. I'm not sure how I feel about going further given the main character's homicidal tendencies. After all, there's no indication (yet?) that he isn't going to attack people who can't survive it. His first attack was on a vampire who was able to put herself back together. I'm not sure I want to read if he's going to cut up normal people. Not even curiosity will carry me that far.
Utopia's Avenger 5 - Hm. I'm definitely not reading this for the plot. I can't remember who's doing what or why or who the various women (fan servicy eye candy in skimpy clothes) are. Guess I'm here because I think at least some of the male characters look hot. Is that a good reason to read a series? I feel a bit weird about it.
Vampire Doll 1-4 - I can't take this seriously. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to take it seriously. How could I? A powerful ancient vampire gets his soul shoved into a cute, female doll and is forced to work as a servant for a sorcerer who's crazy enough to think that cooking and cleaning are a sensible use for a powerful minion. Then there's Vincent the bat.... Part of me wants to mother him. He's sweet and well meaning and really not very bright. He'd probably drive me crazy if I actually met him because I'd want to shake him.
Vampire Knight 6 - Vampires. Politics. Angst. Hm. This is still only sort of my type of series. It's pretty, and I like that this volume talks more about vampire power structures. I just...want more.
Wallflower 9-14 - I still love this series. I can't remember the names of the four guys even after all of this time, but I don't get them mixed up while I'm reading. There's exactly the right mix of silliness, romance, angst and so on for me. I'd put this with W Juliet and the first half of Kare Kano as teen series (with romance) that I adore. Maybe I'll get lucky at some point and wander into the library when several volumes are available at once. I'd go through them rapidly and enjoy myself vastly.
Winterson, Jeanette. Tanglewreck - I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think my main problem was that I didn't find depth in the characters. I could tell that they were supposed to have depth. I just couldn't find it. It was sort of like they were the reflections of the characters they could have been and so all surface.
The story involves time travel and playing with the flow of time in order to gain power or to preserve the universe. There's some very creepy stuff with using twins (and using them up) for extending life and other purposes.
I never felt that Silver, the heroine, quite had a plan or an agenda. She could have, and I simply missed it, but.... If so, I missed it.
The story had its Roald Dahl elements. The woman looking after Silver was awful enough. There just wasn't any humor in it. I suspect there was meant to be, but again, I missed it.
Still not an awful book. I just can't recommend it to anyone who doesn't love this sort of story.
Wild Ones 3 - This is still sweet and funny. I'm glad the library finally picked up more volumes. I'm glad not to have reality intruding into the story.
A Wise Man Sleeps 1 - This rates a shrug. I never connected with the characters or with what was going on. I have a squishy impression that there was a story involving spiritually toxic gems, but I wouldn't swear to it. Not really recommended.
Yoki Koto Kiku - I got lost in this. I suspect that not knowing the works being parodied didn't help, but I also felt rushed. I never managed to differentiate the characters as characters (rather than as faces and names). Maybe this would have been better if it were longer but maybe not. Longer would be no guarantee.
Zaring, Jane. The Return of the Dragon - I can't say if I'm too old for this book or if it's too young for me. One or the other is certainly true, however. I read it all but never cared much. The main character is a dragon who is trying, through good deeds, to earn the right to live near where he was born. There are a bunch of odd animals who help him.
Zatch Bell 19-24 - I'm still charmed by this. There are things that aren't there that I'd like to see (like some black characters who don't look caricatured), but I still appreciate that the characters mostly win their fights by being smart and cooperating with allies rather than by being the strongest.
I do keep marking characters as female only to have them labeled as male later on. I'm not sure if I'm missing cues or what (and the problem isn't confined to this series. I have it with certain other shonen series, too). I'd much prefer to have those characters be female as I'd like to have more of the stronger fighters be female.
Has anybody tried this anime? Netflix thinks I won't like it, but I'm curious about it.
Zombie Fairy 1 - This one caught me right away. I hope that later volumes keep up the pace and remain interesting. The find-the-stick part of the plot isn't likely to be vastly interesting, but I liked the way the characters interacted with each other, and the reasons they'll be searching for the 'sticks' also interests me.
Amazing Agent Luna 5 - For an arc (and possibly series) ending volume, this left a lot of loose ends. I think, too, it suffered from the gap between my reading it and my reading of previous volumes. Not that that's at all unique. I read so much serialized stuff that I forget what I'm reading. In this case, though, I think I mostly want to read the stuff that would come much later, the stuff with deeper implications and more complications. In some ways, by staying light and aimed at younger teens, the story suffers.
Balliett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer - I think my habit of reading both ends toward the middle of a book worked heavily against me here. I was confused, and very little seemed to connect up properly. There was an awful lot of coincidence and things that skipped off at tangents. I know people who liked this book very much. I wish I had because I found the two main characters charming and wanted to love their adventures.
Bizenghast 4 - I totally did not see that coming. I'm not sure I like it as a development either. Maybe it wasn't what really happened.... This series is still on the border of too much horror for me, and I suspect it's going to cross over the line soon. I hope I'm wrong though.
Cantarella 8-10 - That's it? I have mixed feelings about the idea of further volumes. I want to know what happens next, but the fragments of history that I know don't fill me with optimism (even without looking at what's been happening in the story). Still very pretty and very filled with DOOM.
Case Closed 12, 17-19 - More murders. More bizarre solutions. More head shaking about how Ran can miss what's going on with Conan. At least the library replaced (or rediscovered) the lost v.12.
Chevalier d'Eon 1 - I'm having an easy time so far in separating this from the anime. It starts in quite a different place with d'Eon already working for the King, already aware of what happened to his sister, already understanding his transformation. I'm rather amazed that she can fight in those outfits, but she puts them on deliberately.
I hope that the poets get more thorough explanation. I'm curious enough about them to brave the gore to go on with the series.
Chronicles of the Cursed Sword 20-21 - I've forgotten who most of these characters are. I also have the impression that I'm missing some things due to my lack of familiarity with Korean mythology. Heaven and Hell seem to mean something quite different from what I'm used to.
So, anyway, there's a war between several massively powerful supernatural factions. I think there's Heaven, Hell, (formerly) human magic users and (maybe?) chaos powers that pre-date all of them. Heaven's definitely trying to destroy the human world. I've got that part down. There are also two guys with swords that eat souls.
Claymore 11-12 - Some day, I need to gather all of the volumes of this series so that I can read them all at once and try to track names. I'm afraid I can't remember who's who or what they've done in the past so that I lose a large chunk of the character development and interactions. (This is part of why I read spoiler posts. They help.) Scott has given up on the series because he's lost track of the characters, so it's not just me having trouble.
Desert Coral 1 - I only managed a few pages of this, so I'm not sure I should list it. If I'd gotten it from the library, I'd probably have pushed through because I'd know that more volumes were (at least in theory) available. This was a BookMooch book, however, so I may never see later volumes. I decided not to force myself. There was too much black space on the pages so that I couldn't see what was going on. I didn't get far enough to have an opinion on plot or characters.
Diabolo 2 - There's actually plot in this volume! The first volume was so episodic that I wasn't sure that there would be plot at all. Apparently six seventeen year olds are avatars for demons who will destroy the earth. It's not wildly original, but I'm curious to see how it plays out.
This volume, like the first, is very violent with sex and murder and brutality. I'd prefer less focus on that part of it, but it is what it is.
Dragon Eye 1 - The cover blurb for this gave me the impression that the series is about a girl. That turned out to be misleading. She's a main character, but I think she's not going to be the center of the story. She's the supporting character who gives the reader an outsider's point of view on the (male) lead.
The story's interesting enough so far. A highly infectious monster creating disease has spread over the earth. Unaffected humans live in high security enclaves. A few humans have a natural immunity to the disease and spend their lives hunting monsters. The 'dragon eye' of the title is an artifact that grants an individual extra powers to fight the monsters while gradually eroding his or her humanity.
I'll be getting more of this from the library.
Dunkle, Clare B. Close Kin - This world gives me the impression that disaster is inevitable. It may not hit these characters or their children, but it's coming. This book, because it deals with the end of the elves as a species and as a culture, carried more weight of that than the previous book in the series. I simply get the impression of the goblins and their King as collecting pieces to try to keep things going rather than being able to build anything new, and that depresses me.
Elf Quest: Wolfrider 1 - My eyes crossed looking at the art and the text, and I gave up. I think I could have read it if everything were at least half again as big, but there was too much on each page for me to process. Were these originally published at the size of a standard manga volume or were they bigger? Is it worth my while to get a magnifying glass and try again?
Emma 7 - Yea! I reached the end of a series! I liked that things weren't magically perfect at the end. I was a little surprised that Emma and whatshisname stayed in England. I still highly recommend the series for those who love romance.
ES: Eternal Sabbath 5-8 - I've also finished this series. I have mixed feelings about it. I think I'd have preferred it to be happier, but I'm not sure how it could have been without warping. I'm not sure I can even entirely explain what the series is about, the underneath of it, I mean. There's a thread of hope entwined with threads of both the terrible things that people do to each other and the good things that people do to and for each other. I wouldn't read this series to feel good, but it didn't leave me feeling bad either.
Et Cetera 1 - If this weren't a series owned by the library, I'd probably not read more. There's too much broad comedy in it. Only a couple of weeks have passed since I read it, and the details are fading already. The setting is the wild west with dashes of mad science and mysticism (I think). Most of the events are ridiculous.
Evil's Return 1 - Eh. I have no strong feelings about this one except for a suspicion that the female lead will spend a lot of time both partially clothed and helpless. There seem to be a lot demonically possessed would-be rapists after her. I won't avoid further volumes if I see them, but I don't think I'll go looking for them, and it wouldn't take very much to tip me into the avoid-like-it's-toxic camp.
McKinley, Robin. Chalice - I liked this rather a lot. If I owned a copy, it might end up as a comfort read. I can't be sure because I haven't had time for comfort reads during the last few years (I miss them, but there's so much new stuff to read). I had seen some comments on the book that expressed frustration with the narrator's repetition, but I felt that it fit the character. Those were things she believed to be true rather than things that were objectively true. People do that to themselves.
I wanted something more in the ending of the book. I'm not sure what, and I can't figure out exactly where it would go. I just finished it with the feeling that I was looking at a sketch defined by empty space that hinted at what ought to be there.
Miller, Kirsten. Kiki Strike Inside the Shadow City - I picked this up from the library expecting something other than what I got. I didn't dislike what I got, but I missed what I'd hoped it would be. What I'd hoped it would be was a Mad Scientists' Club for girls with episodic adventures and lots of creative solutions to different problems.
The actual story isn't all that episodic. Anyanka notices an odd girl, Kiki Strike, at her school and starts trying to find out more about her. Kiki, as it turns out, is collecting allies with unusual talents-- an expert chemist, a mistress of disguises, a forger. Anyanka fits in because she has access to a private library with a lot of specialized information.
Kiki Strike's official story is that she wants to explore the part of New York City that can be found deep underground, but the other girls soon discover that there's more to it than that and find themselves unsure whether or not they can trust her.
Miller, Kirsten. Kiki Strike The Empress' Tomb - I still want the Mad Scientists' Club for girls, but I really like these books and the characters. I like being able to assume that the characters are competent and go on from there. I hope there are more books in the series and that my library buys them (yes, I'm going to ask for them if they aren't purchased).
Negima 18-19 - I still like this series against my better judgment. I don't at all like having all these girls obsessed with romantic relationships centered on a kid several years younger than they are. That's creepy. I also don't like the bath scenes and the panty shots. Those are icky rather than funny. There's just something in the story that I do like, something that balances out the factors that normally would repel me. I want to know what's going on in the magical world. I want to know who all these characters are, where they come from and who they're going to become.
PInkwater, Daniel. The Neddiad - I can tell that I'm in bad shape when I'm bored by a Pinkwater book. I suspect that the problem was more me than the book, but I simply didn't have any fun reading this. I also had some problems with the era in which it was set because I wanted more information about that. Not that Neddie would have thought about any of the things I thought about. At any rate, I can't say whether or not I'd recommend this because I can't tell how much of my lack of enjoyment was me and how much the book (I lean toward it being me as there's not much about the book that isn't classic Pinkwater, and I've liked many of his other books).
Prince of Tennis 21-25 - Part of me still expects the They Fight Crime! plotline to pop up here to make use of the characters' superpowers. I can't seem to see this as a sports story even though that's what it is. I think I'd have done better reading these with shorter breaks between volumes. I kept losing track of which team was which and couldn't refer back to earlier volumes because I'm getting the series from the library.
Psychic Academy 10-11 - The end of this series frustrated me. It didn't answer most of the questions that I cared about. Is there a sequel series? That would explain most of the dangling threads being left that way. I didn't like the resolution of the love triangle. I thought it was too easy. I'm not sure what I would have liked better given that I disliked the triangle intensely. Maybe I'd have liked less romance, less fan service and more fights and ethical/moral dilemmas. Guess I have standards in superhero stories. I should have known that already.
Rowling, J.K. The Tales of Beedle the Bard - I'd have labeled these stories as overly simplistic if my ten year old nephew hadn't told me (repeatedly) that he just didn't get them. Of course, that might be his way of saying that he was bored by them. I think he'd have liked more action, character development and witty dialogue. I think I'd have liked that, too, but I don't expect it from folk/fairy tales, and that's what these are. They're kind of dull, too. The only reason I'd consider buying a copy is to support the charity.
Skip Beat 4-7 - I have to fight my way through these because they hit my embarrassment squick a little too often. If the library didn't own the series, I'd have given up on it by now. I do like the characters and find their lives amusing. I just-- I don't deal with headlong rushes into embarrassment well. It hurts too much.
Tsukihime Lunar Legend 1 - Kind of gory for my tastes. Okay, more than kind of. Still, vampires are involved, so I shouldn't have been surprised. I'm not sure how I feel about going further given the main character's homicidal tendencies. After all, there's no indication (yet?) that he isn't going to attack people who can't survive it. His first attack was on a vampire who was able to put herself back together. I'm not sure I want to read if he's going to cut up normal people. Not even curiosity will carry me that far.
Utopia's Avenger 5 - Hm. I'm definitely not reading this for the plot. I can't remember who's doing what or why or who the various women (fan servicy eye candy in skimpy clothes) are. Guess I'm here because I think at least some of the male characters look hot. Is that a good reason to read a series? I feel a bit weird about it.
Vampire Doll 1-4 - I can't take this seriously. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to take it seriously. How could I? A powerful ancient vampire gets his soul shoved into a cute, female doll and is forced to work as a servant for a sorcerer who's crazy enough to think that cooking and cleaning are a sensible use for a powerful minion. Then there's Vincent the bat.... Part of me wants to mother him. He's sweet and well meaning and really not very bright. He'd probably drive me crazy if I actually met him because I'd want to shake him.
Vampire Knight 6 - Vampires. Politics. Angst. Hm. This is still only sort of my type of series. It's pretty, and I like that this volume talks more about vampire power structures. I just...want more.
Wallflower 9-14 - I still love this series. I can't remember the names of the four guys even after all of this time, but I don't get them mixed up while I'm reading. There's exactly the right mix of silliness, romance, angst and so on for me. I'd put this with W Juliet and the first half of Kare Kano as teen series (with romance) that I adore. Maybe I'll get lucky at some point and wander into the library when several volumes are available at once. I'd go through them rapidly and enjoy myself vastly.
Winterson, Jeanette. Tanglewreck - I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think my main problem was that I didn't find depth in the characters. I could tell that they were supposed to have depth. I just couldn't find it. It was sort of like they were the reflections of the characters they could have been and so all surface.
The story involves time travel and playing with the flow of time in order to gain power or to preserve the universe. There's some very creepy stuff with using twins (and using them up) for extending life and other purposes.
I never felt that Silver, the heroine, quite had a plan or an agenda. She could have, and I simply missed it, but.... If so, I missed it.
The story had its Roald Dahl elements. The woman looking after Silver was awful enough. There just wasn't any humor in it. I suspect there was meant to be, but again, I missed it.
Still not an awful book. I just can't recommend it to anyone who doesn't love this sort of story.
Wild Ones 3 - This is still sweet and funny. I'm glad the library finally picked up more volumes. I'm glad not to have reality intruding into the story.
A Wise Man Sleeps 1 - This rates a shrug. I never connected with the characters or with what was going on. I have a squishy impression that there was a story involving spiritually toxic gems, but I wouldn't swear to it. Not really recommended.
Yoki Koto Kiku - I got lost in this. I suspect that not knowing the works being parodied didn't help, but I also felt rushed. I never managed to differentiate the characters as characters (rather than as faces and names). Maybe this would have been better if it were longer but maybe not. Longer would be no guarantee.
Zaring, Jane. The Return of the Dragon - I can't say if I'm too old for this book or if it's too young for me. One or the other is certainly true, however. I read it all but never cared much. The main character is a dragon who is trying, through good deeds, to earn the right to live near where he was born. There are a bunch of odd animals who help him.
Zatch Bell 19-24 - I'm still charmed by this. There are things that aren't there that I'd like to see (like some black characters who don't look caricatured), but I still appreciate that the characters mostly win their fights by being smart and cooperating with allies rather than by being the strongest.
I do keep marking characters as female only to have them labeled as male later on. I'm not sure if I'm missing cues or what (and the problem isn't confined to this series. I have it with certain other shonen series, too). I'd much prefer to have those characters be female as I'd like to have more of the stronger fighters be female.
Has anybody tried this anime? Netflix thinks I won't like it, but I'm curious about it.
Zombie Fairy 1 - This one caught me right away. I hope that later volumes keep up the pace and remain interesting. The find-the-stick part of the plot isn't likely to be vastly interesting, but I liked the way the characters interacted with each other, and the reasons they'll be searching for the 'sticks' also interests me.
