(no subject)
Feb. 26th, 2007 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckI have been reading more books (including manga) in the last month or two than at any time since Delia was born. I'd gotten to where I was reading only three or four books a month (down from about one a day). Reading on the computer is easier and cheaper.
Basically, I'm getting stuff from the public library and using holds a lot. With holds, I don't have to spend very long in the library or try to get Delia to cooperate with me. She's got very definite ideas of what she wants to do in the library, and none of them have anything to do with letting me spend more than five minutes browsing. That means that I have time to check one specific author or location on the shelves per visit, at least if it's just me and Delia. When Scott's along, I do some browsing but not much.
I am finding, though, that reading books wears me out. Even paperbacks are heavy, and most of the things I want to read are in hardcover. Every time I get my eyes checked, the doctor asks me where I hold books when I read them, and I always say, "That depends on how heavy the book is." It's getting harder, though, to hold even paperbacks at a comfortable reading distance. I can do it if I lie down on my side, propped on one arm, but I can only do that in bed (and Delia won't let me do it when she's awake).
I'm keeping a list of what I've read since some time in mid-January (I'm not sure exactly when I started the list). Most of it's manga, but I'm getting a few light novels in, too. I'm not sure I'll work my way up to heavier novels (by content not weight) again. I hope to, but I don't want to wear myself out. There are books that I look at and know that, given time and energy, I'd love, but I can't get through them or can only read a few pages at a time.
Some of the reading problem is anxiety, I think. I have trouble with even the light books if I don't know how they come out. I wish I had better filters for picking romances (or that so many of them didn't drive me utterly crazy) and mysteries. I think I may have to browse the young adult and children's sections at the public library to find some SF and fantasy that isn't too heavy. Often, when I say that something's too 'heavy' or 'difficult,' I don't mean that the themes are weighty or that that prose is complicated or that the plot is intricate. I generally mean that it's emotional work that I'm not currently up to completing.
Here's the list so far. Please don't consider these to be reviews. They're my own comments for my own use. Also, these aren't in the order I read them because I didn't see any point in separating out different volumes in a single series or by a single author.
Andrews, Donna. Murder with Peacocks
Andrews, Donna. Murder with Puffins
Andrews, Donna. Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos
Andrews, Donna. Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
Andrews, Donna. Owls Well That Ends Well
Andrews, Donna. We'll Always Have Parrots
Andrews, Donna. No Nest for the Wicket
My sister-in-law recommended Donna Andrews mysteries to me. I startied with this one, the first in the Meg Lanslow series, and with the first in the Turing series. I can't recall the title of the latter because I didn't manage to read all of it. I loved the characters and the story, but I couldn't tolerate the anxiety.
The Meg Lanslow series is a lot of fun, and I've now read all of the novels published to date. The mysteries aren't wonderful, but Meg has a great, amusing voice that makes me want to read bits of the story out loud to Scott (and make him laugh just about every time).
Fables 1. I've put a hold on v.2 and intend to read it, but v.1 didn't entirely hook me. I think I failed to connect properly with the characters. I don't generally read just for plot (probably why many mysteries and romances don't work for me), so I look for something in the characters to catch me.
Sadly, I'm bad at getting that from graphic novels and manga because I only kind of see the art (downside of not being visual). It can take several volumes or exposure to fan fiction based on the canon or a discussion with other readers to help me appreciate what I'm reading. This is why, even though most of what I'm listing here is manga and graphic novels, I'm not generally going to have much to say about them. It's also why the pretty stuff generally won't hook me in a static medium. It can catch me more easily in something with movement, but something has to be pretty spectacular to arrest my attention when it's still.
Full Metal Alchemist 5-6. I'm not in love with this series, I'm afraid. I'm curious about where it's going and about what's going to happen, but I'm not sure that I'd miss it if I never saw another volume. I do like the characters, and that helps a lot.
Kare Kano 9-11. I adore this series. I've seen the anime and decided, based on that, that I wanted to read the manga. I'm slowly collecting the volumes as I can afford them, but I'm reading it from the library rather than waiting until I can buy them all.
YuYu Hakasho 4-6. A fun read. The main character needs to be smacked upside the head a few times. Fortunately, that tends to happen often enough during the course of the series that I don't lose patience with him.
Mermaid Scar 1. I don't like horror. This simply didn't work for me. I gave it a whole volume just in case the characters or other aspects of the story might grab me (plus, I was at the library and waiting for Scott and Delia to finish something, so I figured I might as well keep reading).
Young Magician 1-2. I'm giving this series a chance because I loved Planet Ladder (by the same manga-ka). I'm still having trouble keeping the characters and factions straight, though. I suspect that that's because the characters are still being introduced. Whether or not that's a pacing problem really will depend on how long the series turns out to be. This one's skirting kind of close to horror for my taste. I guess I'll see.
Oh My Goddess: Miss Keiichi. Like others in the series, this is fairly harmless, fluffy amusement. Scott and I both enjoy these, so I pick them up when I can find them at a reasonable price.
Black Cat 1. I have a kind of vague curiosity about where the plot will go here, but none of the characters have caught my attention particularly. If the library had it, I'd read more, but I'm not likely to buy any further volumes. There are too many things that I actually *want* to read for me to budget for things I only vaguely want to read. I might feel differently if Scott had liked the book, but he was less interested than I.
Ouran High School Host Club 1-2. Silly silliness. I don't think there's much to be said about this. It's (of course) more static than the anime, but I really like having the ability to flip back and forth easily to check names and events when my memory fails me. I'll probably pick up other volumes eventually. (This is another one the library doesn't have.)
Buso Renkin 1-2. I picked up two volumes of this at Borders on the strength of having adored Rurouni Kenshin (by the same manga-ka). I will be buying more of this one because I liked it and Scott liked it. So far, I like the female lead character better than the male lead character. Not that I particularly *dislike* him. It's just fun to see a female character beating the crap out of monsters.
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic 1: Sandry's Book and Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic 2: Tris' Book and Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic 3: Daja's Book. I first tried Pierce when her first novel came out. I didn't get more than a chapter or two into it and never picked up another one until now. I also rather held it against her that, every time I saw one of her books, I had a surge of hope that Meredith Ann Pierce had finally published the third book in the Dark Angel trilogy. (Waiting for that one for so many years only to have it be mediocre... Well.)
Anyway, I'd seen so many people saying good things about Tamora Pierce's books that I'd been thinking for a while that I'd give one a try. I think Circle of Magic was a decent place to start. I liked the characters, and I didn't have to work too hard to follow the plot. I'll be reading more Tamora Pierce, I think, especially now that I know that I can finish her books.
One Piece 5-6. I haven't got a lot to say about this one. It can be funny, and I don't plan to stop reading as long as I can get them at the library. I don't think I'm going to fall in love with the series, though. The manga appeals to me more than the little bit of the anime I've seen. The anime disturbs me because the way the characters move looks wrong and my brain rejects it.
Naruto 8-10. I've started trying to collect this series because I think Scott will like it once I have a run of a few volumes to try him on. I'm reading it from the library, however, because it'll be a while before my book budget stretches that way. I'm very much liking the characterizations.
Amazing Agent Luna 1-2. This one's cute. I'm not sure I've got anything more to say about it. Maybe later in the run, the plot will catch me more strongly. Right now, I'm just liking the characters. Of course, liking the characters will carry me a lot further than liking the plot. Usually.
Rurouni Kenshin 26-28. I've been fighting with this series. I love it. I want to finish it. I know that I will. Right now, I'm cheating and working my way backward. I still have to read 20-25, you see. I've had them on my shelf for a while and simply couldn't bring myself to face the anxiety that I knew that reading them would inflict. Reading backward, one volume at a time, seems to be working. ::crosses fingers::
Severe anxiety sucks.
Prince of Tennis 3-4. I don't know that I'd read this if the library didn't have it. I rather like it, but it's in the sort of generic good way to fill in otherwise empty time way. Part of that is that I don't generally care for sports stories, and part of it is that I'm still having trouble remembering which characters are which. No, that's not it exactly-- I can remember which characters are which based on their style of play and role in the story. I just can't track their names. I also don't want anybody to lose a match except characters I dislike. That makes every match kind of sad. (That last is why I don't deal well with competitive sports. My heart always breaks a bit for whoever loses, even if I know nothing about them. I don't like successes that require someone else's failure.)
Hunter x Hunter 1-3. I'm enjoying this one a lot more than I expected to. The characters appeal to me, and the challenges they're facing amuse me. I don't know that I'll ever buy it, though, barring the sudden acquisition of wealth beyond my wildest dreams.
Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things. I wanted more from this, but at least I wasn't bothered by the horror elements. I'm not sure why I didn't find them off putting, but I didn't. Perhaps it was the element of satire. I rather like Courtney and her uncle.
Shinn, Sharon. Truth-Teller's Tale. I liked Adele and Eleda, and I liked the idea of Truth-Tellers and Secret Keepers. The story lacked depth in some ways, but in a way, that was a good thing for me. Too much depth can lead to my failing to finish a book these days (I am working on that. Slowly).
Oh My Goddess: Wrong Number. More funny fluff. Always a good thing.
Samurai Champloo 1. My impression is that this might read better if I'd already seen the anime (It's in my Netflix queue, so I'll try it eventually). As it is, I never quite managed to care. The public library doesn't currently have any more of the series, so I won't be reading more for a while. If ever.
Atherton, Nancy. Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin and Atherton, Nancy. Aunt Dimity Snowbound. The Aunt Dimity books are cotton candy. There's little substance to them. I think these two were the only ones in the series that I hadn't yet read, but I'm not absolutely certain. I also have very mixed feelings about seeing these classified as mysteries because the puzzle seldom matters much to the story (and sometimes, the puzzle is artificial). Still, these are something that I *can* read. That's not to be sneered at.
Kushner, Ellen. The Privilege of the Sword. I'm not sure I should count this one as something I read. I managed the first third and the last third but couldn't penetrate the middle. I found what I read too fragmented to catch my attention.
Galenorn, Yasmine. Witchling. I liked this a lot better than I expected to. The story felt thin, however, and I'm not sure how I'll feel about later installments in the series when they come out. I'd like to see the characters grow and find their feet. I did like the characters, sketchy as they were, and I liked the feeling that the world they came from was quite different than Earth.
Full Metal Panic! 2. Scott and I both liked this anime, so I figured we'd give the manga a try. So far, it's fun. Since both of us like it, I'll probably put it on the to-be-bought-when-the-budget-allows list.
Damsgaard, Shirley. Witch Way to Murder. I probably wouldn't have finished this if I'd had another book with me. Mysteries are very hit or miss for me, and this one was about midway along the spectrum between hit and utter miss. I'm not sorry to have read it, but I didn't really enjoy it very much. I'm not against reading more by this author, particularly if I'm stuck somewhere with nothing else, but I won't be rushing out to buy them or even to find them at the library.
Basically, I'm getting stuff from the public library and using holds a lot. With holds, I don't have to spend very long in the library or try to get Delia to cooperate with me. She's got very definite ideas of what she wants to do in the library, and none of them have anything to do with letting me spend more than five minutes browsing. That means that I have time to check one specific author or location on the shelves per visit, at least if it's just me and Delia. When Scott's along, I do some browsing but not much.
I am finding, though, that reading books wears me out. Even paperbacks are heavy, and most of the things I want to read are in hardcover. Every time I get my eyes checked, the doctor asks me where I hold books when I read them, and I always say, "That depends on how heavy the book is." It's getting harder, though, to hold even paperbacks at a comfortable reading distance. I can do it if I lie down on my side, propped on one arm, but I can only do that in bed (and Delia won't let me do it when she's awake).
I'm keeping a list of what I've read since some time in mid-January (I'm not sure exactly when I started the list). Most of it's manga, but I'm getting a few light novels in, too. I'm not sure I'll work my way up to heavier novels (by content not weight) again. I hope to, but I don't want to wear myself out. There are books that I look at and know that, given time and energy, I'd love, but I can't get through them or can only read a few pages at a time.
Some of the reading problem is anxiety, I think. I have trouble with even the light books if I don't know how they come out. I wish I had better filters for picking romances (or that so many of them didn't drive me utterly crazy) and mysteries. I think I may have to browse the young adult and children's sections at the public library to find some SF and fantasy that isn't too heavy. Often, when I say that something's too 'heavy' or 'difficult,' I don't mean that the themes are weighty or that that prose is complicated or that the plot is intricate. I generally mean that it's emotional work that I'm not currently up to completing.
Here's the list so far. Please don't consider these to be reviews. They're my own comments for my own use. Also, these aren't in the order I read them because I didn't see any point in separating out different volumes in a single series or by a single author.
Andrews, Donna. Murder with Peacocks
Andrews, Donna. Murder with Puffins
Andrews, Donna. Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos
Andrews, Donna. Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
Andrews, Donna. Owls Well That Ends Well
Andrews, Donna. We'll Always Have Parrots
Andrews, Donna. No Nest for the Wicket
My sister-in-law recommended Donna Andrews mysteries to me. I startied with this one, the first in the Meg Lanslow series, and with the first in the Turing series. I can't recall the title of the latter because I didn't manage to read all of it. I loved the characters and the story, but I couldn't tolerate the anxiety.
The Meg Lanslow series is a lot of fun, and I've now read all of the novels published to date. The mysteries aren't wonderful, but Meg has a great, amusing voice that makes me want to read bits of the story out loud to Scott (and make him laugh just about every time).
Fables 1. I've put a hold on v.2 and intend to read it, but v.1 didn't entirely hook me. I think I failed to connect properly with the characters. I don't generally read just for plot (probably why many mysteries and romances don't work for me), so I look for something in the characters to catch me.
Sadly, I'm bad at getting that from graphic novels and manga because I only kind of see the art (downside of not being visual). It can take several volumes or exposure to fan fiction based on the canon or a discussion with other readers to help me appreciate what I'm reading. This is why, even though most of what I'm listing here is manga and graphic novels, I'm not generally going to have much to say about them. It's also why the pretty stuff generally won't hook me in a static medium. It can catch me more easily in something with movement, but something has to be pretty spectacular to arrest my attention when it's still.
Full Metal Alchemist 5-6. I'm not in love with this series, I'm afraid. I'm curious about where it's going and about what's going to happen, but I'm not sure that I'd miss it if I never saw another volume. I do like the characters, and that helps a lot.
Kare Kano 9-11. I adore this series. I've seen the anime and decided, based on that, that I wanted to read the manga. I'm slowly collecting the volumes as I can afford them, but I'm reading it from the library rather than waiting until I can buy them all.
YuYu Hakasho 4-6. A fun read. The main character needs to be smacked upside the head a few times. Fortunately, that tends to happen often enough during the course of the series that I don't lose patience with him.
Mermaid Scar 1. I don't like horror. This simply didn't work for me. I gave it a whole volume just in case the characters or other aspects of the story might grab me (plus, I was at the library and waiting for Scott and Delia to finish something, so I figured I might as well keep reading).
Young Magician 1-2. I'm giving this series a chance because I loved Planet Ladder (by the same manga-ka). I'm still having trouble keeping the characters and factions straight, though. I suspect that that's because the characters are still being introduced. Whether or not that's a pacing problem really will depend on how long the series turns out to be. This one's skirting kind of close to horror for my taste. I guess I'll see.
Oh My Goddess: Miss Keiichi. Like others in the series, this is fairly harmless, fluffy amusement. Scott and I both enjoy these, so I pick them up when I can find them at a reasonable price.
Black Cat 1. I have a kind of vague curiosity about where the plot will go here, but none of the characters have caught my attention particularly. If the library had it, I'd read more, but I'm not likely to buy any further volumes. There are too many things that I actually *want* to read for me to budget for things I only vaguely want to read. I might feel differently if Scott had liked the book, but he was less interested than I.
Ouran High School Host Club 1-2. Silly silliness. I don't think there's much to be said about this. It's (of course) more static than the anime, but I really like having the ability to flip back and forth easily to check names and events when my memory fails me. I'll probably pick up other volumes eventually. (This is another one the library doesn't have.)
Buso Renkin 1-2. I picked up two volumes of this at Borders on the strength of having adored Rurouni Kenshin (by the same manga-ka). I will be buying more of this one because I liked it and Scott liked it. So far, I like the female lead character better than the male lead character. Not that I particularly *dislike* him. It's just fun to see a female character beating the crap out of monsters.
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic 1: Sandry's Book and Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic 2: Tris' Book and Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic 3: Daja's Book. I first tried Pierce when her first novel came out. I didn't get more than a chapter or two into it and never picked up another one until now. I also rather held it against her that, every time I saw one of her books, I had a surge of hope that Meredith Ann Pierce had finally published the third book in the Dark Angel trilogy. (Waiting for that one for so many years only to have it be mediocre... Well.)
Anyway, I'd seen so many people saying good things about Tamora Pierce's books that I'd been thinking for a while that I'd give one a try. I think Circle of Magic was a decent place to start. I liked the characters, and I didn't have to work too hard to follow the plot. I'll be reading more Tamora Pierce, I think, especially now that I know that I can finish her books.
One Piece 5-6. I haven't got a lot to say about this one. It can be funny, and I don't plan to stop reading as long as I can get them at the library. I don't think I'm going to fall in love with the series, though. The manga appeals to me more than the little bit of the anime I've seen. The anime disturbs me because the way the characters move looks wrong and my brain rejects it.
Naruto 8-10. I've started trying to collect this series because I think Scott will like it once I have a run of a few volumes to try him on. I'm reading it from the library, however, because it'll be a while before my book budget stretches that way. I'm very much liking the characterizations.
Amazing Agent Luna 1-2. This one's cute. I'm not sure I've got anything more to say about it. Maybe later in the run, the plot will catch me more strongly. Right now, I'm just liking the characters. Of course, liking the characters will carry me a lot further than liking the plot. Usually.
Rurouni Kenshin 26-28. I've been fighting with this series. I love it. I want to finish it. I know that I will. Right now, I'm cheating and working my way backward. I still have to read 20-25, you see. I've had them on my shelf for a while and simply couldn't bring myself to face the anxiety that I knew that reading them would inflict. Reading backward, one volume at a time, seems to be working. ::crosses fingers::
Severe anxiety sucks.
Prince of Tennis 3-4. I don't know that I'd read this if the library didn't have it. I rather like it, but it's in the sort of generic good way to fill in otherwise empty time way. Part of that is that I don't generally care for sports stories, and part of it is that I'm still having trouble remembering which characters are which. No, that's not it exactly-- I can remember which characters are which based on their style of play and role in the story. I just can't track their names. I also don't want anybody to lose a match except characters I dislike. That makes every match kind of sad. (That last is why I don't deal well with competitive sports. My heart always breaks a bit for whoever loses, even if I know nothing about them. I don't like successes that require someone else's failure.)
Hunter x Hunter 1-3. I'm enjoying this one a lot more than I expected to. The characters appeal to me, and the challenges they're facing amuse me. I don't know that I'll ever buy it, though, barring the sudden acquisition of wealth beyond my wildest dreams.
Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things. I wanted more from this, but at least I wasn't bothered by the horror elements. I'm not sure why I didn't find them off putting, but I didn't. Perhaps it was the element of satire. I rather like Courtney and her uncle.
Shinn, Sharon. Truth-Teller's Tale. I liked Adele and Eleda, and I liked the idea of Truth-Tellers and Secret Keepers. The story lacked depth in some ways, but in a way, that was a good thing for me. Too much depth can lead to my failing to finish a book these days (I am working on that. Slowly).
Oh My Goddess: Wrong Number. More funny fluff. Always a good thing.
Samurai Champloo 1. My impression is that this might read better if I'd already seen the anime (It's in my Netflix queue, so I'll try it eventually). As it is, I never quite managed to care. The public library doesn't currently have any more of the series, so I won't be reading more for a while. If ever.
Atherton, Nancy. Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin and Atherton, Nancy. Aunt Dimity Snowbound. The Aunt Dimity books are cotton candy. There's little substance to them. I think these two were the only ones in the series that I hadn't yet read, but I'm not absolutely certain. I also have very mixed feelings about seeing these classified as mysteries because the puzzle seldom matters much to the story (and sometimes, the puzzle is artificial). Still, these are something that I *can* read. That's not to be sneered at.
Kushner, Ellen. The Privilege of the Sword. I'm not sure I should count this one as something I read. I managed the first third and the last third but couldn't penetrate the middle. I found what I read too fragmented to catch my attention.
Galenorn, Yasmine. Witchling. I liked this a lot better than I expected to. The story felt thin, however, and I'm not sure how I'll feel about later installments in the series when they come out. I'd like to see the characters grow and find their feet. I did like the characters, sketchy as they were, and I liked the feeling that the world they came from was quite different than Earth.
Full Metal Panic! 2. Scott and I both liked this anime, so I figured we'd give the manga a try. So far, it's fun. Since both of us like it, I'll probably put it on the to-be-bought-when-the-budget-allows list.
Damsgaard, Shirley. Witch Way to Murder. I probably wouldn't have finished this if I'd had another book with me. Mysteries are very hit or miss for me, and this one was about midway along the spectrum between hit and utter miss. I'm not sorry to have read it, but I didn't really enjoy it very much. I'm not against reading more by this author, particularly if I'm stuck somewhere with nothing else, but I won't be rushing out to buy them or even to find them at the library.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-02-26 05:19 pm (UTC)>I can do it if I lie down on my side, propped on one arm, but I can only do that in bed (and Delia won't let me do it when she's awake).
Have you tried inviting Delia to lie down beside you and read one of her books? (I realize you've been thinking about this for a long time, so you probably have.)
no subject
Date: 2007-02-26 05:54 pm (UTC)I do have another little table that I could use for reading. I just have to declutter it and keep it that way. I've the habit of using it as a dumping ground for things I need to keep track of but don't currently have a better home for.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-26 06:16 pm (UTC)The anime for both FMA and Samurai Champloo were far more to my taste than the manga, fwiw. I'd try both before giving up on the series.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-27 07:53 pm (UTC)I do plan to try both FMA and Samurai Champloo. I've borrowed the first two DVDs of FMA from a friend, and Samurai Champloo is in my Netflix queue. Neither is likely to get watched immediately, however, because I'm trying to write. Dubs, I could watch while writing, but I prefer the original Japanese voice actors most of the time.