Week 2 reading

[meganbmoore]

Got 4 books read this week, 2 novels and 2 manga.

(6) Angel in a Red Dress by Judith Ivory-This one is a rewrite of an older book written under Ivory's Judy Cuevas pseudonym.  I generally avoid the original versions of the Cuevas books because, while interesting, they're usually too unconventional even for me.  The rewrites, though, take out the more extreme elements and make the books more accessible(and it should be noted that, even then, many romance readers still find them to be too extreme.  I find them nice and original.)  This one is set against the French Revolution, a period rarely touched on in romance novels(I think because publishers don't like it when nobility gets offed, given how much they love their dukes and earls...) and features a heroine whose husband is divorcing her(a huge no-no in romance novels!) because she supposedly can't have children(unheard of!)  Anyone familiar with romances, particularly historical romances, can already see why the people who only like their historical romances to feature 18 year old society virgins who get pregnant the first time they have sex run away.  Which is a pity, as Ivory really is one of the best writers out there.  She portrayed the realities of a divorcee as realistically as she possibly could, and her characters actually act like...you know...people.  I don't know if it's my favorite Ivory, but it was pretty good.

(7) Negima Vol 12 by Ken Akamatsu-Dang...even though I always remember Negima as taking farlonger than any other manga out there to read(except Love Hina, and, you know, same mangaka...) I always forget just HOW long it takes to read.  But it's always worth it, and, really, more bang for your buck is great if it's worthwhile bang.  With it whittled down to only a few contestants left, it looks like the martial arts tournament is finally drawing to a close.  Not that it hasn't been a blast throughout(I can't pick my favorite match, they're all great, though I must say that Eva not even bothering with more than one blow on her much-hyped opponent in this volume is kinda hard to top.) but I'm ready to move on and get some secrets about Nagi addressed, and it looks like we're finally about to make it there.

(8) One Good Night by Mercedes Lackey-A very loose sequel to the awesome Fairy Godmother, this is another that starts as yet another conventional retelling of a common story--in this case, St. George and the Dragon--and then wildly veers off to tell its own story(which, of course, is the entire point of the series)  Intelligent heroine, warrior heroine, and lovable(but far from cuddly) dragons, how could it go wrong?  Not as good as Fairy Godmother, but that's only because it has very high standards to live up to.

(9) Saiyuki Reload Vol 6 by Kazuya Minekura--we finally take(for about 2/3s of the volume) a break from the boys travelling with Bishop Hazel.  Not that it's not a good story, but I'm ready for it to start warpping up, much like the Kami-sama story in Saiyuki.  I rather like Zakuro, the boys' new quasi-antagonist(and what is it with Goku becoming BFF with enemies, anyway?  Has he no concept of self-preservation?  "Oooh...you're supposed to kill us, but you're nice and cool, lets be friends!  And then, if you ever take your job, you know, seriously, I'll be horribly crushed."  *pets the monkey*) and hope he hangs around.  And I definately hope he doesn't pull Kougaiji's "I'll show up 5 pages a book" act that he's been doing for most of Reload.  *is not pleased by this, but thinks it shall be changing soon*

Currently reading:  Double Dealing by Jayne castle(aka Jayne Ann Krentz and Amanda Quick) and Inu Yasha Vol 28.  

Goal for the week: those 2, Traitor to the Blood by Barb and C.J. Hendee, and Adventures in Oz by Eric Shanower.

Comments

[surgingshark.livejournal.com]

Try digging up this book (http://acquired.trivialbeing.net/moviereview.php?subaction=showfull&id=1076475089) if you can. It's a very good read.

As in, you'll spend a good time trying to read pages like this:



Trust me, it makes sense when you're actually (successfully) reading it ^_^

[curlyjo1.livejournal.com]

Being a fan of Greek myth, I rather liked One Good Knight. I do like how Mercedes Lackey is able to create an entirely different set of rules of magic for each world she writes. Have you read any of the elemental magic books? (Fire Rose, Phoenix and Ashes, Serpent's Shadow, and Wizard of London.)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

lol. As far as I know, I've read all the elemental magic books. With the exception of this book(probably because of godmother), her books always take 60-100 pages to get going for me, but they're always worth it.

[mibugirl12.livejournal.com]

Yeah i've just finished volume 6...and I have to say the end leaves me screaming. THEY CAN'T JUST END THE BOOK LIKE THAT! Although it does mean that i'm going to buy the next one...which makes them geniuses...damn their cunning!

[(Anonymous)]

Saiyuki is like a sick addiction, at times. And Hazel? Interesting, but needs to die.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

logging in before posting is a habit i need to work on developing.

[silver-677.livejournal.com]

Negima does take forever to read. My collection is quite patchy and I haven't read all the volumes yet.

Thank you so much for saying that about Saiyuki. I want this one to end. I don't like Hazel and I want them to get him out of the picture. I'm laughing now just remembering Zakuro. Hakkai's so malicious. And I agree with you about Goku. Kougaiji's not too bad, but...

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Most manga takes an hour to read, if that. W Juliet would sometimes take up to an hour and a half, and Love Hina usually about that long. Negima, at best, can be read in 2 hours.

And yes, the Hazel story is kinda interesting, but too long. And I hear that he does things to Kougaiji later, too, which I consider to be unforgivable.

While Hazel needs to go away, Zakuro needs to hang around,because he's fun. And yeah...the rest of Sanzo's group really needs to sit down and talk to Goku about talking to strangers and sworn enemies. Though, I think they view Goku/Kougaiji the same way Kougaiji likely views them/Lirin "of good, gotta put on a show, but they're ok"(brainwashing doesn't count. Have you seen the anime? That mindset really stands out there.

[silver-677.livejournal.com]

Books like Kenshin take me 25 minutes, FMA about 30-40 (depending on how many times I gape at the book and say 'he said/did WHAT?!'), and Saiyuki and Negima take an hour or a few minutes more.

Hazel's an interesting character and important to the storyline, but I just want to wring his neck sometimes. I've heard what happens in the seventh book and I'm looking forward to it.

I'm hoping for a few more scenes with Zakuro. I've seen all of Saiyuki, the movie, and the first two of Reload.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

ooo...What happens in booj 7?

[silver-677.livejournal.com]

I don't know very much, but... Goku was shot at the end of Book 6. I'm not sure who did it, but the only person that we know of with guns is Gat.

The look on Sanzo's face at the end of Book 6 is... He's in shock. He stays in shock. Gojyo and Hakkai find them and Sanzo leaves them with Goku. Hakkai thinks that taking off Goku's limiter may save him.

Bad idea. Seiten Taisei wakes up and Hakkai has to take off his limiters to deal with him. *grin* I really, really want to see that scene. I bet Gojyo's eyes are as big as dinner plates.

I read a piece of fanfiction that happened after Hakkai and Goku, but I don't know how true it is. It said that Sanzo looked as bad as Gojyo did when he had to resuscitate Hakkai, because Sanzo had Goku's blood all over him. It fits with what that fight would be like, but I'm waiting for the book to come out.

Barnes and Noble lists it as March 27, Amazon has it at April 10.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Heh, I'm thinking Gojyo hightailed it out of there...he's no coward, but he's not stupid, either.

I hope we get to actually, you know, SEE Hakkai sans inhibitors, the occassional titles page aside, we don't get to see that, really.

[silver-677.livejournal.com]

There's a title page that's in book seven that has him without limiters. I think there's actual fight scenes with both of them, but I'm not sure.