Apr 09, 2019
From Our TBR Pile

#UltimateBlogTour Review – After the Green Withered by Kristin Ward

After the Green Withered
By: Kristin Ward
Release Date: May 13, 2018
Publisher: Self Published
Series: After the Green Withered #1
Rating:


I am thrilled to be a part of the Ultimate Blog Tour for Kristin Ward’s novel After the Green Withered, winner of the 2018 Best Indie Book Award. This dystopian novel is the first book in a series, also titled After the Green Withered, which is aimed at a young adult audience. The story follows an eighteen year old named Enora as she graduates high school and is enrolled in an academy where the elites and heads of society graduate and are doled jobs. Despite not wanting to go, Enora has no choice. The change would give her parents more water credits, which they desperately need. But the lack of water isn’t the only thing Enora and her world struggle with. There are other forces at work. Everything isn’t as it seems, and secrets better left hidden are slowly brought to life.

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Mar 25, 2019
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

#MangaMonday Review – Giant Spider & Me: A Post Apocalyptic Tale, Vol. 2 by Kikori Morino

Giant Spider & Me: A Post Apocalyptic Tale, Vol. 2
By: Kikori Morino
Release Date: July 3, 2018; (original Japanese) September 8, 2017
Publisher: Seven Seas
Series: Giant Spider & Me #2
Rating:


Quite some time ago, I read the first volume of a manga about a young girl and her pet giant spider living in a post apocalyptic world. Finally, I’ve read the second volume. Giant Spider & Me: A Post Apocalyptic Tale, Vol. 2 by Kikori Morino continues the story of Nagi and her giant spider, Asa. The second volume ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and the story picks right back up where we left off here. Nagi’s home was damaged in a storm. Unable to repair the roof herself, she must venture into town and find someone willing to do the work. However, most people see giant spiders as monsters, not pets, and contention arises.

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Feb 25, 2019
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

Review – Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano

Nijigahara Holograph
By: Inio Asano
Illustrator: Inio Asano
Translator: Matt Thorn
Release Date: March 9, 2014 (English); July 25, 2006 (Original Japanese)
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Rating:


Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano, the creator of the award winning Solanin, is a standalone 300 page manga, and perfect for those who aren’t looking to get into yet another long-running series. The story is one involving alternate timelines, violence, and the surreal. There are frightened whispers among the children about a monster that lives in the tunnel behind the school. The usually beautiful butterflies hold an almost ominous presence, suddenly being found everywhere. The lives of the students and teachers are interwoven in ways unforeseen on the surface, ways that aren’t always visible or expected.

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Feb 22, 2019
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

Review – Occultic;Nine Vol 2 by Chiyomaru Shikura

Occultic;Nine Vol 2
By: Chiyomaru Shikura
Illustrator: pako
Translator: Adam Lensenmayer
Release Date: Feb 25, 2017
Publisher: J-Novel Club; Seven Seas
Series: Occultic;Nine #2
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


It has been quite a while since I’ve binged a series like I am with this one. Occultic;Nine, Vol. 2 by Chiyomaru Shikura is a truly great second volume in this series by the creator of Steins;Gate.

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Feb 17, 2019
From Our TBR Pile

Review – The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin edited by Lisa Yaszek

The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K Le Guin
By: Lisa Yaszek (editor)
Release Date: September 25, 2018
Publisher: Library of America
Rating:


Anthologies can be tricky beasts. Even in themed anthologies, authors and their stories can be very varied, sometimes wildly so. The Future is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories By Women, From Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin is an anthology from editor Lisa Yaszek that defies all expectations. Each story is better than the one preceding it. Each one is memorable, lingering in the back of your mind long after moving on to the next tale. Each one is the sort of story that could be pointed to and said, ‘This is the heart of science fiction. This is our legacy. This is what we aspire to.’

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Feb 04, 2019
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

Crayon Shinchan Vol. 1 Omnibus by Yoshito Usui

Crayon Shinchan, Volume 1
By: Yoshito Usui
Illustrator: Yoshito Usui
Release Date: (original) 1990; (English) October 15, 2012
Publisher: One Peace Books
Series: Crayon Shinchan Omnibus #1
Rating:


Crayon Shinchan is a very long running anime in Japan which had a shorter run in the US. It’s also an anime I’ve watched over and over again. When I saw the Crayon Shinchan, Volume 1 by Yoshito Usui was available to read on Scribd, I jumped on it.

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Feb 02, 2019
From Our TBR Pile

Review – Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

Blackfish City
By: Sam J. Miller
Release Date: April 17, 2018
Publisher: Ecco
Rating:


Blackfish City is a dystopian science fiction novel from Sam J. Miller whose novel The Art of Starving won the Andre Norton Award. The story takes place on an earth drowned by the sea. Climate change has shrunk livable land, countries have fallen, and refugees migrate to places like Qaanaaq – a floating city near a geothermal vent close to Greenland. But as much as Qaanaaq is a savior for the displaced, it has its own problems. Steeped in corruption and with no housing or work for incoming refugees from “drowned cities,” disease is rampant. A disease referred to as ‘the breaks’ spreads among the people while outside the city a mysterious woman riding an orca and with a polar bear companion can be seen, a woman steeped in mystery and rumor.

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Jan 31, 2019
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels Throwback Thursday

#Throwback Thursday Review: Buso Renkin Vol. 1 by Watsuki Nobuhiro

Buso Renkin, Vol. 1
By: Watsuki Nobuhiro
Release Date: August 1, 2006 (English); 2004 (Original Japanese)
Publisher: VIZ Media: Shonen Jump
Series: Buso Renkin #1
Rating:


If there is one genre of manga and anime I love above all else it’s shonen. Recently, I began Buso Renkin, Vol. 1 by Watsuki Nobuhiro, a series I know through the anime but have never read.

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Jan 28, 2019
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

#MangaMonday Review – Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha by Dragongarow Lee

Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha
By: Dragongarow Lee
Illustrator: Dragongarow Lee
Release Date: November 6, 2018
Publisher: VIZ Media: Shonen Jump
Rating:


Every once in a while something magical happens. Sometimes we’re blessed with fanfiction that gets sanctioned by the series. Sometimes, we get manga like this. Dragon Ball: The Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha is by Dragongarow Lee, a fan artist who is well known in the community.

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Jan 21, 2019
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

#MangaMonday Review – All-Rounder Meguru, Vol. 1 by Hiroki Endo

All-Rounder Meguru
By: Hiroki Endo
Illustrator: Hiroki Endo (artist); Daniel Park (lettering)
Translator: Adam Hirsch
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Series: All-Rounder Meguru #1
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


One of the genres of manga that quickly became an unexpected favorite was sports manga. I’d not heard of All-Rounder Meguru Vol. 1 by Hiroki Endo before so, obviously, I read it immediately upon receiving a copy.

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