Welcome to our To Be Read pile! Or what was recently a part of our TBR pile. Here you can find reviews of the books we meant to pick up for months, sometimes years, and have only recently gotten to read. These are reviews of books that aren’t quite new, but not quite old either.
Universal HarvesterI was intrigued by the synopsis of this book, despite hearing some mixed opinions. Universal Harvester by John Darnelle is a mysterious tale, one that evokes a sense of horror in early chapters, but ultimately winds up pittering out with too many characters and an ever shifting point of view.
I Am A Hero Omnibus Vol 1Zombie stories is a hit or miss genre for many people. Perhaps this is simply due to oversaturation; it isn’t as if zombie novel, anime, manga, or movies are in any short supply. Yet, one such zombie stories I have heard nothing but praise for is the manga series I Am A Hero. I Am A Hero Omnibus Vol 1 by Kengo Hanazawa is a slow, careful look at and the events that set off an outbreak of a zombie virus.
The Book of JoanI really love dystopian books. I really didn’t love this dystopian book. The Book of Joan by Lidia Yukinovitch was disappointing conglomeration of ideals that at once said nothing of substance and beat the reader over the head with what messages it did convey.
Tales of the Abyss: Asch the Bloody Vol 1I’ll be honest. I think I may have actually squealed out loud when I discovered Tales of the Abyss: Asch the Bloody in their manga collection. I have been a fan of the ‘Tales of’ games for a long time, and Tales of the Abyss remains my favorite of the franchise. Though I initially picked it up out of pure fandom, I found myself intrigued upon reading the description. Tales of the Abyss: Asch the Bloody by Hana Saito and Rin Niyjo follows the story set in the game not from the point of view of Luke, the original main character, but that of Asch, one of the villains and someone very close to Luke.
Down Among the Sticks and BonesI have always loved portal fantasies, those books where a group of children fall through the back of a wardrobe and enter a world of fantasy and magic. Last year, Every Heart A Doorway piqued my interest based on its new spin on this familiar scenario – what happens when someone comes back to our world? Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire is dark, stunningly written, and utterly beautiful.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones has some of the loveliest prose I have read in quite some time. It’s the sort of writing that normally makes my father look fondly at the book in hand and say ‘people don’t write like this anymore’. Reading McGuire’s work is a real treat. I devoured this book; it was a one sitting read.
Dreamland BurningIt has been a long time since a book has struck me in the sort of way Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham struck me. It’s the sort of book that is devoured, read with the sort of all-consuming fervor that makes a person look up bewildered when the phone rings, or wondering when exactly the sun set. I loved this book. This book is important. It matters.
I have made a point to borrow as many manga from my local library as possible. This decision was fueled partially to fray the costs of buying hundreds of volumes a year, but also as an attempt to get the library to purchase more manga titles. One of my recent borrows was Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto Vol 1 by Nami Sano, a manga in a genre my husband refers to as ‘strange people doing strange things’ but but would also fit into the wonderful ‘beautiful boys who do things well’ genre.
The Ghost and the Lady Vol. 1My husband recommended I read The Ghost and the Lady Volume 1, not because he knew anything about the story or that it was created by the same mangaka that created Ushio and Tora, but because he saw the fabulously dressed man with a fabulous hat on the cover. And boy do I like fabulously dressed men with fabulous hats. Hey, he knows me well. As it turned out, this was a fantastic move as it has nearly everything I love in it – fabulously dressed people, a healthy dose of fantasy, awesome fights, some brilliant artwork, and (my favorite) history.
Chi's Sweet Home Vol. 1There are certain books you stumble across repeatedly whether they are mentioned by friends or are included in lists or articles online. One manga I kept coming across is a story about a cat that looked absolutely adorable. I’ve finally read Chi’s Sweet Home, Vol. 1 by Konata Konami.
The story follows Chi, a cute little kitten that gets separated from its mother and siblings only to be found by a little boy visiting a park. Chi is taken home by the family even though they aren’t allowed pets in their apartment. What follows are a series of cute happenings and hi-jinks around Chi’s new home.
Food Wars! Vol. 1Out of all the many genres of manga, shonen is hands down my favorite. I haven’t read every shonen title, but I’ve certainly read a lot of them. I thought I’d seen every sort of battle shonen there was. And then Food Wars! strolled into my life. Food Wars! Volume 1 by Yuto Tsukada and Shun Saeki is a shonen manga based on food.
That’s right, folks. Behold the bold creativity of a shonen battle manga based on cooking!
Welcome to Looking Glass Reads! We review speculative fiction novels as well as manga, light novels, and graphic novels.
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