Apr 01, 2017
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

Review – No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, Vol. 3 by Nico Tanigawa

Review: No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular, Vol. 3
By: Nico Tanigawa
Release Date: (Original Japanese) December 22, 2012; (English) April 22, 2014
Publisher: Yen Press
Series: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular #3
Rating:


Here we are again, another volume of No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, Vol. 3 down. This series by Nico Tanigawa, pen name for the two creators of the series, is about Tomoko, high school student determined turn things around from her middle school days, make friends, and talk to boys. Unfortunately, this is harder than it originally sounded. Already at the start of second term, none of Tomoko’s plans have come to fruition.

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Mar 28, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review – Lock In by John Scalzi

Lock In
By: John Scalzi
Website: http://whatever.scalzi.com/
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: Lock In #1
Award: Locus Award Nominee for Best Science Fiction Novel (2015); John W. Campbell Memorial Award Nominee for Best Novel (2015); ALA Alex Award (2015); Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Science Fiction (2014)
Rating:


There is nothing better than a stay up till three am binge read. Lock In by John Scalzi was exactly that book. I picked it up late one evening and then read the entire thing. Because who needs sleep, really? This is a science fiction novel with strong mystery/thriller themes that is easy to read and perfect for people who want to delve into the sci-fi genre for the first time.

How good is this book? Well, I immediately went out and bought his newest novel, The Collapsing Empire, two days later. So, yeah. That good.

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Mar 25, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review – Riverkeep by Martin Stewart

Riverkeep
By: Martin Stewart
Release Date: July 14, 2016
Publisher: Viking
Rating:


I had my eye on this book for a long time. As in way before it was published. I only recently got my hand on a copy courtesy of the library, and delved in immediately upon getting home. Riverkeep by Martin Stewart is a coming of age story set in a fiction world where magic and monstrous creatures lurk just on the edges of civilization.

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Mar 18, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review – It’s All Fun and Games by Dave Barrett

It's All Fun and Games
By: Dave Barrett
Release Date: August 2, 2016
Publisher: Nerdist
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


I’ve read quite a number of ‘trapped in a video game’, even more ‘trapped in another world’ books, and I’m always looking for more. It’s All Fun and Games by Dave Barrett is another trapped in a game book, but with a bit of a twist. This isn’t a video game. The main characters are LARPers. The world they wind up trapped in isn’t the video game they were playing, but a real life version on the scenario they were given during the LARP event weekend. It’s a different take on a growing theme in literature, and I was quite enthusiastic to read it.

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Mar 11, 2017
From Our TBR Pile Graphic Novels

Review – Lady Mechanika Vol. 2: The Tablet of Destinies

Lady Mechanika Vol. 2: The Tablet of Destinies
By: Joe Benitez
Release Date: April 2016
Publisher: Benitez Productions
Series: The Tablet of Destinies #1-6
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


While I’ve read quite a number of manga over the years. It would make sense to think that I’ve devoured graphic novels at the same rate. Unfortunately, the number of manga vs. graphic novels read is wildly out of proportion, with graphic novels on the low side. One of the ways I’m remedying this is by reading Lady Mechanika, a graphic novel series set in a steampunk world with great characters and awesome artwork. This week we read Lady Mechanika Vol 2: The Tablet of Destinies by Joe Benitez.

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Mar 07, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review -The Family Plot by Cherie Priest

The Family Plot
By: Cherie Priest
Website: http://www.cheriepriest.com/
Release Date: September 20, 2016
Publisher: Tor Books
Rating:


Every once in a while I just need to read a good ghost story. I haven’t picked one up in some time, so I was quite excited when I discovered The Family Plot by Cherie Priest. This is a ghost story set in the American south at a beautiful old mansion which holds more then the usual dusty family secrets and furniture for the salvage team to pick through.

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Mar 05, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review – The Six-Gun Tarot by R.S. Belcher

The Six-Gun Tarot
By: R.S. Belcher
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: Golgotha #1
Rating:


I have this bad habit of starting a series right in the middle. Sometimes it’s an accident. I don’t bother looking at the small line under the title that says ‘Book 45 of Awesome Series You Need to Read’. Other times it’s deliberate because, for whatever reason, the library just doesn’t have books one and two.

I was actually more intrigued by The Shotgun Arcana by R. S. Belcher than I was by the synopsis of The Six Gun Tarot . But I was good this time and started at the very beginning of the Golgotha series instead of with book two like I normally would.

And I am very happy I did.

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Feb 28, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review – The Beast of Cretacea by Todd Strasser

The Beast of Cretacea
By: Todd Strasser
Release Date: October 13, 2015
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Rating:


Sometimes you don’t ever hear about the best books. Not from a friend. Not from the internet. Not from the thousand and one subscriptions that hit your inbox daily. Sometimes you just have to stumble upon them. And that’s exactly how I discovered The Beast of Cretacea by Todd Strasser. I found this one at the library, tucked into the regular circulation stacks when I was busy wondering when exactly the first book in The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater was going to be returned so I could finally begin that series. And then I saw this one, the spine a mix of color with a title that made the story sound ripe with adventure.

So I did what I always do. Picked up the book without so much as a glance at the synopsis on the inside flap and never looked back.

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Feb 25, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review – Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands
By: Alwyn Hamilton
Website: http://alwynhamilton.com/
Release Date: March 8, 2016
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Series: Rebel of the Sands #1
Award: Northeast Teenage Book Award Nominee (2016); Goodreads Choice Award for Debut Goodreads Author (2016); Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2016)
Rating:


Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton was a book I’d heard mentioned quiet often, but didn’t know much about. I picked it up on somewhat of a whim when I was at the library, not quite knowing what to expect, just a little miffed that the first book in the series I was originally searching for wasn’t returned yet.

So what did I think about this book?

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Feb 22, 2017
From Our TBR Pile Manga & Light Novels

Review – No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! Vol. 2 by Nico Tanigawa

No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! Vol. 2
By: Nico Tanigawa
Release Date: January 21, 2014
Publisher: Yen Press
Series: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! #2
Rating:


Another day, another manga read. This time it was No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, Vol. 2 by Nico Tanigawa, a pseudonym used by the two creators. The second volume in the series continues with Tomoko’s misadventures in high school. It’s just as fun as the first volume in the series, and one I definitely enjoyed.

Small note here: The title is often shortened to Watamote, which is also the title the anime is known by. This is what I will be using to refer to this volume for the rest of this review.

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