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.
SumoI was completely unfamiliar with Sumo before stumbling across it when browsing shelves in the library. The cover was bold, with an amazing image of a sumo wrestler seemingly parting water, and I picked it up immediately without bothering to read any sort of synopsis. Sumo by Thien Pham is a quiet, beautiful story about a young sumo wrestler.
Blame! Vol 1Recently, I’ve had Blame! recommended to me a few times so when I had the opportunity to read the first volume of the Master Edition, I jumped on it. Blame! Vol. 1 by Tsutomu Nihei is a manga set in a post apocalyptic world which follows a lone man on his search for the Net Terminal Gene.
Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3)Back to the world of Alera we go! For anyone following along, book three continues to impress. We see character development, new characters and an increase in the danger for the characters.
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files Welcome to the JungleI’ve been a fan of the Dresden Files since the series early days. I have all the novels lovingly sitting right next to my Harry Potter collection. (Look, having all the fantasy books with protagonists named Harry together just makes sense to me). What I don’t have are any of the assorted graphic novels. Recently, I picked up a copy of The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher and Ardian Syaf.
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.
Welcome to Looking Glass Reads! We review speculative fiction novels as well as manga, light novels, and graphic novels.
Brittney's Posts Kate's Posts
Social Profiles