I had three days off this week because Tuesday was my birthday! I took the day off from work and spent most of my day being surrounded by books and eating free food (my perfect day). I started the day off at Denny’s where you get a free Grand Slam on your birthday and then made my way to the library. I was there for a few hours reading in the children’s section (they have the comfortable chairs!) before I moved onto Starbucks. You get a free drink on your birthday if you are a part of their club thing. So I got a drink and a cheese danish and then walked to my local used bookstore. I was really glad to have a drink because it was about 90 degrees in the shade that day. I had some birthday money to burn so I hunted down some great books from the used bookstore. My best find was three (!!!!!) of Aaron Mahnke’s books and they were all signed!! If you don’t know who Aaron Mahnke is, he does the Lore and Cabinet of Curiosities podcasts (highly recommend, they are both very, very good!). After that I headed home and hung out until we went to dinner that night at Benihana! We had a whole table to ourselves which was awesome! The food was really good and the chef put on a great show for us.
Now onto the reason we’re all here, the books!
I was able to read a pretty good amount of books this week due to all the time off. Books in blue are finished and books in purple are in progress. If there is a term that you do not understand I will have a glossary at the end of the post with some definitions!
- The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill
- This was a book that I put on hold after seeing someone on Twitter suggest it. I didn’t realize at the time that it is a children’s book but I was ok with that. The first thing that I loved about this book was the fact that the MC was a PoC named Greta. The story also has two gay characters that are in a relationship that Greta hangs out with and looks up to. One of them is a PoC who is in a wheelchair and the other is a large rabbit (I’m not really sure if he’s a rabbit. It’s never explained but that’s just what he looks like to me!). I loved the fact that nothing is really said about their relationship, it is just accepted as a normal part of life in their community. The story was very sweet and the artwork was beautiful! I would highly recommend this to anyone with children as a wonderful way to have conversations about PoC, disabilities, and relationships.
- Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff
- This was a really good graphic novel. I loved the artwork and the story was really good as well. I loved the character of Delilah Dirk. She was never ashamed of who she was or what she wanted to do with her life.
- Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
- I haven’t gotten very far into this but I’m really liking it so far. J.D. Robb is Nora Roberts pen name and I’ve read a ton of her books so far. Mostly I’ve read her romances novels though so this was a departure for me. I wasn’t sure if I would like her murder mystery series but I’m enjoying it. I’m liking the character of Eve Dallas and I’m excited to see where her story goes. There are what feels like a million of the In Death books so I’m sure they will pop up on here a few more times if I continue the series.
- Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya
- I’m only a few pages into this so I haven’t formed much of an opinion yet. So far I like the characters. I think I can see where the plot is going so I’m curious to see if I’m correct or not. Hopefully this will be one I like. If that is the case I will be continuing the series!
I ended up reading 17 books in the last week but I’m not going to put you guys through 17 reviews today. The rest of the books will be listed below with their star ratings. Most of them were manga or graphic novels so they were quick reads.
- Newsprints by Ru Xu: 5/5 stars
- Sorcerers & Secretaries by Amy Kim Kibuishi: 5/5 stars
- Demon Prince of Momochi House by Aya Shouoto (Volumes 1, 2 & 3): 5/5 stars for all volumes
- Horimiya Volume 1 by Hero: 5/5 stars
- After School Nightmare by Setona Mizushiro (Vol. 1, 2, & 3): 5/5 stars for all volumes
- Love Monster Volume 1 by Riko Miyagi: 3/5 stars
- The High School Life of a Fudanshi Volume 1 by Atami Michinoku: 5/5 stars
- Juana and the Dragonnewt’s Seven Kingdoms Volume 1 by Kiyohisa Tanaka: 5/5 stars
- Everyone’s Getting Married Volume 1 by Izumi Miyazono: 5/5 stars
- The Water Dragon’s Bride Volume 1 by Rei Toma: 5/5 stars
- The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Volume 1 by Nagabe: 5/5 stars
Glossary of Terms:
- PoC: Person of Color
- MC: Main Character
Thanks for sticking around through so much info this week! I look forward to hearing about what you guys are reading.
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