Book Blog #32, Waq Waq

Wāqwāq 1, proof of the gods

Sci-Fi Manga                      story and art by Ryu Fujisaki

The Cyborgs, known as the guardians, and the robots have been at war for as long as anyone can remember. The guardians are there to defend against the robots, but the only way to truly stop the war is for someone to find Kami, the red-blooded "alien" whose blood can grant one wish. Shio's father dies trying to protect and find this goddess girl, and in doing so passes down his guardian duties to Shio. When Shio thinks he finds Kami, everyone starts to come after him, and all of the guardians are at war to get that wish.

This manga was very confusing, but for my first manga it was fairly good. The story was unique, but it was hard to follow because so many things would go on at one time. The other challenge to reading it was the fact that it was difficult to tell the order of the panels as every page's layout was different. One of the things that I really liked about this book were how every character looked very unique and distinguishable. One of the other things about it was that I felt like the imagery told the story with fewer words, and there weren't any descriptions of what was happening. This really drew focus to the graphics because they added a lot to the story.

I would recommend this probably to Lena, because she loves mangas. I would recommend this to people who haven't read mangas before, as well, as it is a good starting place. It is also fast-paced, so you never lose your interest.

Warning- There is some violence and death, but it is not horribly graphic. There is also very minor swearing.

TBR of Mangas:

UQ Holder               Ken Akamatsu

Attack on Titan               Hajime Isayama, Sheldon Drzka

Soulless               Gail Carriger, Rem, Juyoun Lee

Wāqwāq 2, The Three Sages               by Ryu Fujisaki

Ajin, Demi-Human               Gamon Sakurai, Tsuina Mirua

Book Blog #31, The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games                                            dystopian                                         by Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen lives in district 12, a rancid place where the miners work and seeing people die of starvation is an every day occurrence. After her father's death in a coal mine, Katniss needs to step up and feed her family, as her mother is stuck with depression. Every year, there is a reaping to decide which two tributes will take art in the Hunger Games, where the 24 tributes all have to enter an arena and fight to the death, in a bloody, gruesome battle that lasts for days, all as a reminder that the capitol reigns supreme over everyone else. When the unthinkable happens, Katniss has to enter the games, and she has to hope that she can beat the unthinkable odds of her winning.

I personally enjoyed this book, even though most of the characters are shallow, and I feel like some of it could be more realistic. This is one of the better dystopian books I have read, and I would recommend it to any dystopian fan. One of the things that I like a out his book is that it is a unique story, at least for the time it was published, and it is enjoyable and fast paced to read. I think that a lot of the characters are shallow because it seems like they have simple emotions, and it is just like: oh, I feel this, now I feel this. I think that it would be more realistic because it seems like some reactions of the characters are harsh, and they wouldn't actually be that bad, for example, when something bad happens, they just walk up to their allies and kill them. Overall, this is a good book, but it has some flaws and I would recommend it.

WARNING- There is gory death, cannibalism, rebellion, romance, killing, etc.

TBR list:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time          by Mark Haddon
Ape House        by Sara Grueno
The Shadow of the Wind         by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Lucia Graves (translator, from spanish)
The Meaning of Night          by Michael Cox
The Quincunx          by Charles Palliser

Book Blog #30, Soon I Will be Invincible

Soon I Will be Invincible                        Cliche Superhero Story                          by Austin Grossman

Doctor Impossible is a devious evil genius. He has tried to conquer the world, and he almost succeeded if the Super Squadron hadn't forced him to languish in prison. But one fateful day, when two new up and coming "superheroes" make a terrible mistake during visitation, the world will pay the price.

Fatale Is half woman, and half machine. After almost dying during a car crash, it took millions of dollars and numerous surgeries, but she somehow survived. The famous Galatea, the former robot of the Super Squadron was vanquished, and she gets invited to fill the place. She realizes that she may be getting more work than she ever hoped for after Doctor Impossible escapes, and she finds the link to him.

This book was very good, and I actually enjoyed how cliche it was. I say it was cliche because it used a lot of the typical aspects of the superhero world and used them to make a funny and entertaining book. My favorite part about this book was how balanced the two different characters that it focuses on and is from their perspectives because it gives you a clear image on the good vs the bad. The other part of it that I really liked was that there was a lot of detail from each perspective so you feel like you can understand the actions of both people. There was not really anything that I disliked about the book, other than the fact that on the Super Squadron specifically, you feel like you only know Fatale.

Sloan really needs to read this, if she hasn't already.

TBR list:

I, Robot     by Isaac Asimov

Lair of Dreams (the Diviners #2)     by Libba Bray

The Shining     by Stephen King

The Mist     by Stephen King

The Dead Zone     by Stephen King

Afterworlds     by Scott Westerfield

Book Blog #29, The Diviners

The Diviners                                    1920s supernatural fiction                                        by Libba Bray

Evie O' Neill is a Diviner. A special skill a choice few have, and the skill varies. She can learn about someones life just from holding an object of theirs, for example a hat pin or glove. But at  party, she goes too far, and she gets shipped off to New York City, filled with Ziegfield girls, flappers, pickpockets, and speakeasies, but she is simply ecstatic at the possibility. There is only one catch. She has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult and with diviners.
When uncle Will gets called to the crime scene of a gruesome murdered girl, who was branded with a cryptic symbol, Evie realizes that her gift could help catch the serial killer. What she doesn't realize is that it will get her into an ongoing chain of murders, and that she falls into a near deadly dance with a murderous spirit. And beneath the city, a dark evil spirit has awakened to exact his revenge.

This book was very good. All of the characters are very evolved, and I feel like each one has a very robust, unique personality. I like how smooth all of the transitions through all of the sections are, as each murder takes place in a different place. I also think that even though the main character moves all around New York, it is still easy to know where all of the main locations are. I also like how they develop the backstories of most of the characters into the main story, and it always makes sense. One of the things that I didn't like as much about this book was that I thought the villains were shallow, and I feel like they were just established as villains, instead of knowing why. The book was also very creepy, which fits the plot, and all of the murders are fully described.

WARNINGS! There is language, semi-described sex, rape, abortion, graphic violence, murder, serial killers, talk of strippers, very spooky characters and ghosts, and most everything that can make a book bad, although it is still worth reading.

TBR List:
Pride and Prejudice                                               by Jane Austen
2001: a space odessey                                           by Arthur C. Clarke
The Golden Compass                                             by Philip Pullman
Tumbleweeds                                                         by Leila Meacham
Soon I Will be Invincible                                      by Austin Grossman

Book Blog #28, Somerset, week 2

Somerset                                    Southern Romantic Tragedy                                    by Leila Meacham

As Jessica Whyndham grows older, the tension between the forced marriage starts to dissipate, and she falls for Silas. (If you haven't read week 1, this won't make any sense). She has two miscarriages before delivering another boy, Thomas, as a sibling for Joshua. As war between the North and the south grows more imminent, Jessica's abolitionist views grow more fierce as tension grows between her and her slave owning family. Thomas marries a woman he does not love, but he marries her because he wants spouse before he goes to war, and Jessica wonders if the so called "curse" will break her son's family, as it almost did hers.

I personally really enjoyed this book, regardless of it being a long southern romance, and found all of the connections between the characters to be fascinating. I like how developed all of the characters are because they all have very unique personalities that interact interestingly with each other. The one problem is that all of the characters become very confusing because there are three main families, each with 2-3 children, and most of their children have 2-3 children. Anyways, I'll just say it gets confusing.

Warning!!! This book does have very mature content, and talks a fair amount about sex, death, romance, scandal, it has language, and their is slavery and sexism.

I would recommend this to... Maia? It is very odd and it doesn't seem like it suits anyone that well, but she might enjoy the very different genre.
TBR List:
Crewel                                                      Gennifer Albin
The Eye of Minds                                     James Dashner
The Adoration of Jenna Fox                     Mary Pearson
Across the Universe                                  Beth Revis
The Program                                             Suzzane Young

Book Blog #27- Somerset, week 1

Somerset            Southern Realistic Fiction (think gone with the wind)             by Leila Meacham

This is the prequel to Roses, and you can see that blog here.

Jessica Wyndham just returned from her boarding school back to her house in South Carolina. Her parents are thrilled to see their daughter, until they learn she is an activist. They are in South Carolina, so this proves to be a problem. Her brother is part of the underground railroad watch, and the situation is only growing worse for her. It is the final straw when she is caught by her brother helping with the underground railroad, and this results in one of the most difficult conflicts of her life.

Silas Toliver is engaged, has a son, and is happy. Except for that his wagon train is leaving soon, and he can't get the promised funding from Carson Wyndham, Jessica's father. If he can't fix his problem soon, he might lose his wagon train and have to abandon his lifelong dream. When he is offered a life changing deal.

One day, Carson approaches Silas and offers him the chance to receive all of the necessary trip funding, if he will marry Jessica, and abandon his Fiance. If he does not do this, Jessica will be sent to a strict convent, never to see her family again.
What will they decide? Is losing the love of his life worth it for Silas?

So far, this book has been really good, even though it is a 600 page southern romance, in the style of Gone With the Wind. It is filled with romance, as it is based on a romantic scandal, but this is not overpowering, as Jessica is a strong female character. Every character is really deep, and you feel like you know everyone. The author does a good job of making sure you always know what is going on, even though it is confusing at some points. As far as being a prequel, I didn't read them in order, and so far they seem like they could be stand alone books, which I like. I also like that you have to think about the characters from the two books relationships to each other, as it is not obvious.

There are mature topics such as romance, scandal, a bit of cussing, and life on the wagon train. Overall, I would say it isn't severe, but it is definitely mature.

Big Bertha

I would have to say my favorite super hero, while I don't know anything about superheroes, would probably be: (after a quick Google search):  The Red Bee (yes, he was a thing), he had a bee in his belt buckle that he would have fight for him. seriously. Actually, scratch that, I would have to say Big Bertha (yet again, she was actually a thing) Her power was she was able to increase or decrease her body mass as she pleased, which she could jump off buildings because she was so bouncy. Yes I Google searched cool uncommon super heroes and followed one of he first links to find these... things. These are not my favorites, they are just weird ones that I find amusing.

The Red Bee

SOLC 31- 31 things to say at the completion of this challenge

 31 Things to say at the Completion of this Challenge!

We are finally done! (pause for cheer) We have made it through every day of slicing! No more commenting or slicing required anymore! In celebration of this marvelous feat I have decided to write 31 things that people will say at the completion of this challenge. I know that some of them are similar, but they all are variations of similar things.
Here they are:

Whoopee!

Hoorah!

Yipee!

Starbucks!

Yay!

Yea!

Woohoo!

Hooray!

We did it!

Yes!

Victory is ours!

Hehehe... we conquered you challenge!

It was hard, and I persevered!

Starbucks! (It will be said many times)

Soda!

Candy!

My wifi only crashed eight times!

Yay! No more promptlessness!

Yay! No more blogs about promptlessness!

Starbucks! (again)

Yay! No more writing blogs about promptlessness!

Yay! No more repeating "Nice slice!" in comments!

Yay! No more repeating "Nice slice!" in the comment section of blogs on promptlessness!

Starbucks! (and again)

Candy! (said again by AS students on sugar highs.)

Inconceivable!

I survived!

Starbucks! (still being said)

Complete!

High fives and grins! (not said, but it will happen in body language)

And finally, Starbucks! (again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again!)

We finished it, and I am happy to be one of the survivors, through the ups and downs! All 31 days of slicing, and now it is done!

Image Credit: http://www.wuft.org/news/2015/07/03/unexpected-fireworks-leave-some-veterans-on-edge/

Now, STARBUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SOLC 30- The dragon of promptlessness ... returns! (part 2)

The return, part two


Before you read this I would recommend reading this section first because it has the first part from day 2. Oh, and something worth mentioning. promptlessness should really become a word because it fits this challenge so well.

Image credit:
https://www.pinterest.com/craftwing/wall-murals/

He circles daily, around and around the laptop screen, seeking out the places where he can reek the most havoc of no ideas. He has tried to come back to me, but this time I have built up my defenses, I have striven for creativity and ideas, and it worked out in my favor. Now that the challenge is winding down, I seem to have an open hole in my head through which ideas freely flow, and I know what I will always write the next day, no problem. I could write about so many things right now. 10 lists, slices of my life (literal things I did), animations that have shaped me, poetry, my creativity seems boundless now. He still stalks however, across the top of the laptop, knowing that one of these days he will reach a weak spot, and he will use it yet again.

He found it. My one weakness. I have a good prompt, but once I get farther in than about the first 3-4 lines I have no idea what to write about it. He found a way to squeeze himself back into my slices by finding my Achilles heel. I have no idea how he, or I for that matter, found this issue, but I know it is tearing me apart. I am excited to write something, and then I falter and feel unconfident in my work. He has wormed himself back into my brain, letting me taste the feeling of victory over the challenge before cutting me off and stopping me. That evil, evil dragon! I seem to have lost any idea for what to write, so I guess I have written this about the same thing I started with. I was the second slice, and it will be the second to last slice. Hmm... I have accomplished so much, and have written so successfully, and have managed to get through. Maybe he is just in my head. Maybe he is just a part of all of us. A section of our brain that falters, maybe it is just me.