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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
Judyth has commented on (5) products
Manga Dogs, Volume 1
by
Ema Toyama
Judyth
, October 29, 2014
I was not quite expecting this. I’ve read and enjoyed both of Toyama’s other series released, and was looking forward to picking this one up as well. Her art is just so pretty, and her characters are also very enjoyable. And given that her two other series were rather different from each other, I was looking forward to seeing what this one was going to bring to the table. I was definitely expecting a reverse-harem romance, along with some comedy. But this is actually pretty straight-forward with the manga-making parody. It’s full of comedy, and while there are some hints of romance (since Kanna is very inexperienced and is suddenly surrounded by three boys), none of it is really brought to the forefront. There isn’t really even a leaning toward one particular boy. It’s more comedy, all around. And the comedy bits are quite funny. Kanna is a new mangaka, having debuting but still trying to make a name for herself. And the three boys want to become rich mangaka, only they’re thinking about everything but actually drawing manga. And the chapters are short, too, dealing with one of the boys’ ideas at a time, like a pseudonym or research by reading or what to do with the money. The boys are similar, but different enough�"one a quiet ‘smart’ type, the cutesy boy, and the happy-go-lucky type. Then we meet a new boy at the end, who seems to have a problem with people debuting. Not to mention that they’re in a manga program at school, consisting of them, with no real teacher. It all adds up to a lot hilarity, and frustration for loner Kanna. There are only three volumes in this series, and I’m looking forward to reading more, especially now that I’m expecting comedy. This should be good. [More reviews available at Geekyreading.blogspot.com]
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The Summer I Became a Nerd
by
Leah Rae Miller
Judyth
, May 18, 2013
~4-4.5/5 I really enjoyed this book. Like, a lot. I was expecting to, as well, and it’s really nice when I enjoy something as much as I was hoping to. Maddie is a cheerleader, the girlfriend to the quarterback, and hiding that she geeks out over comic books and science fiction and, when she starts doing it, LARPing (Live-Action RolePlaying). When she was younger, she got teased for being a fan of comic books, and decides that she didn’t want to feel that way ever again, and so started hiding her geek tendencies and sometimes pretending to like the things that everyone else does. This book was a really fast read. I hadn’t even meant to really start it, since I was trying to get through a different book, only to get half-way through this one in one night, and then of course finish it the next morning. Because it went by so quickly, and it was so good that I didn’t want to stop. So. I liked Maddie. She was very misguided and much too afraid of what other people think of her, and kept making these stupid mistakes because of those reasons, but I still liked her. I liked being in her head, hearing her thoughts as she dreads and over-thinks things and geeks out over certain things/people. And even while she was being dumb and thinking a bit too much about herself at times, she was also loyal, as best as she could be. And when she finally smarted up, she did a very good job of trying to make up for it. I also very much liked the love interest, Logan. He’s a geek, and he’s adorkable, and he’s sweet. I felt bad for him several times because of how Maddie was treating him, and annoyed when he gave in too easily. But I still liked him and their interactions, and think him and Maddie fit well together. The way they got together, their pre-attraction to each other, it was all just adorable to me. I like Logan’s best friend, Dan, who’s crude and loud and funny but loyal to his friends. I liked Maddie’s best friend, Terra, and also felt bad for her because of what Maddie was doing, although I do think that we could have gotten to know her better, given how little we saw of her. I also really liked Maddie and Logan’s parents, who we saw a pretty good amount of. I liked what I saw of Maddie’s brother, and would have liked to have seen him more. I loved all of the geeky things. I liked the fangirling, and the radio show, and the comic book store, and the comics, and the LARPing was awesome. For some reason I always like reading stories when one of the characters, usually the girl, already has a boyfriend/girlfriend, but one who they don’t really get along with for some reason. And so I liked the situation that Maddie was in, as well as the somewhat similar one that Logan was in. So, pretty much, I really liked this book. Kind of loved it, even. I’ll probably end up re-reading/skimming it in the future for the best scenes (i.e. the romantic ones), and I will definitely be picking up Miller’s future books. [This review is also available on my blog.]
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Last Days Of Summer Updated Edition
by
Steve Kluger
Judyth
, April 20, 2013
~4.5/5 [This review is also available on my blog.] First of all, I love Steve Kluger. He only has, I believe, four novels out, and I’ve only read one other, but I love that one (even more than this one), and that’s enough for me. It took me forever to get to this book, but it was fantastic. I have another book of his, and I don’t doubt that it will also be very good. I don’t think I want to spoil anything from this book, and my main message is: “Go read this. Right now. It’s amazing.” But I do want to talk about it a little, so… This is set in the 1940’s, in America, during WWII, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was President. It’s told in letters and recorded dialogue and grades and all other formats of not straight-up narrative voice (aside from the prologue and epilogue). Kluger does this with all of his novels, I believe, and he does it amazingly well. He knows his characters, and so it’s easy to get a good sense of who they are. This book is sweet and funny (very funny) and witty and sad. Joey, a kid growing up in Brooklyn, has a big mouth, never stops talking, can come up with stories at the drop of a hat (usually fake, but not always); he sends letters and gets responses from the President and his assistant, and then starts harassing Charlie Banks, a famous baseball player, via letters. Charlie, at first, tries to get the annoying kid to leave him alone, but quickly ends up being a stand-in father to him. They’re the main characters, but there’s also Charlie’s girlfriend Hazel, who is awesome, and Joey’s Japanese best friend Craig. Then there’s Joey’s mother and aunt and absentee father. Those are the main characters, but there’s also mention of Joey’s teachers, and Charlie’s friends. And they all have very distinct personalities and voices and you can’t help but love them all. This book is simply amazing. The writing, the characters, the rapid and witty dialogue… Just go read this book, okay?
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Cry Wolf Alpha & Omega 01
by
Patricia Briggs
Judyth
, March 09, 2013
~4-4.5/5 [Also available on my blog.] I ended up picking this book up because, (1) my local bookstore had this book and On The Prowl in (which has the beginning story to this series), and (2) the bookstore didn’t have the next Mercy book in. Oddly enough, I’d had my eye on this series before I even thought of reading the Mercy books, but couldn’t seem to find On The Prowl, and somehow ended up with the first Mercy book instead. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to read this one soon, but started the first short story and liked it, and so continued onto this one immediately. When I started this one, I hadn’t realized that it was about Sam’s brother, and that it would be based in the place that Bran lives. I was pleasantly surprised by this, especially to see all the ways that this story intertwines with Mercy’s. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the two main characters, Anna and Charles. Anna is the omega, which I didn’t know what meant until I started this. An omega is someone who is kind of left out of the hierarchy in a pack. They have an alpha, and they’re part of the pack, but they don’t have to succumb to commands, and they tend to calm the people around them very easily, and can help with unruly and/or hurt werewolves. It’s awesome, really. One of my favorite parts to this was how easily Anna is able to stand up for herself, to anyone, and how she grows into being able to do that. I love reading about characters that have been abused in some way, and Anna has definitely been abused, and I like seeing the ways in which she grows from that. She’s having a bit of a hard time, but she’s dealing really well, and she’s growing and not letting anyone push her back down, which is great. I was surprised by it, but I really like Anna, and am really looking forward to seeing how she continues to grow in the next book. Next: Charles. He’s the, um, ‘enforcer’ of the pack? He takes care of unruly werewolves; he’s the one that has to go and kill them, or deal with the messy situations, when there is no more avoiding it. And I really like Charles. He’s strong, and protective, and sweet to Anna. I love the relationship between Anna and Charles. Now, I’m a big sucker for romance, and I definitely like that their romance started right from the beginning, given that their wolves decided they wanted each other (also, how it didn't feel, or act, like insta-love). And how Anna and Charles have to deal with that, and accept each other after the fact their wolves want to mate. I like their dynamic, too, and seeing how they’re growing used to each other, getting to know each other more. I also liked seeing Anna stick up for herself, not let Charles be the big dominant man (not that he's particularly possessive or pushy in a jerk way). (I also liked, in the anthology story, how she told him that she doesn't like sex, and the anticipation that gave me toward some nice sex and how he's prove her wrong -- I believe there was one sex scene in this story, kind of skipped over, although I'm not surprised.) There was a big case in this book, and we got to see Sam and Bran, including Bran worrying over Charles and Charles worrying about Bran, and there was a very-not-nice death. At the end of the book, the official mating happened, and Anna got to see her family after two/three years, which I would have liked to actually have seen instead of gotten a recap in the last chapter. I like how quickly these books go, even if there are some slow parts. I would like more romance, but I know that’s not a big part of what Briggs’ tends to write. The writing was a bit different in this book as opposed to the Mercy series: this book was written in multiple points-of-view third-person. So, aside from being in Anna’s head, we also get to be in Charles’, and Brans’, and maybe some other people… I like multiple points-of-view, so I did enjoy this. I really liked this book; surprisingly so, and I am really looking forward to reading the next one. It's actually rivaling with how much I like the Mercy series, and I'm not sure which one's winning, because I'm wary to say it's this one. I think the main reason is the relationship between Anna and Charles, and just Anna herself; I just really liked them.
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Jiu Jiu, Vol. 2
by
Touya Tobina
Judyth
, February 03, 2013
I love this series. I’m only two books in and I love it completely. I want more, and every time I finish a volume, it takes me forever to get a review written. And one of the main reasons (aside from me being slow and lazy) is that I never know what to say. It’s just amazing and adorable and I love it, and that’s all I can ever think. Words do not happen when I try writing about this series. It’s like… like, you know, when something makes you feel so much that you’re left with absolutely no words? Something, be it a book or movie or meme or even a person, that blows your mind so much that you have no words to describe it? Usually in a good way, but sometimes in a bad way as well. Well, that’s what this series makes me feel. I love it so much, and I always want more, and I have no idea how to explain all the things it makes me feel. This series is probably, at the moment, at five stars for me, even if the single volumes haven’t been given that high a rating (although they’re very close, just on the edge of 4.5 and higher). I don’t want to jinx it, though, and give it the chance of turning bad somewhere down the line, since I’ve only just started the series. Anyway, once again, I am going to try and form words to convince you to read this series. If you haven’t read my first review, in which I also try to do that, here it is. In this volume, we meet some new characters. First, there’s this little vampire bat boy, Meru, who hasn’t grown into his full powers yet, and is set on biting Takamichi in order to get them. He also turns into an adult form, and starts going to school with the group. Then there’s Lily, a girl who was haunting a house while waiting for her mistress to come back, who later becomes attached to Takamichi. It really just seems like people are starting to attach themselves to Takamichi, which I don’t really mind. After that, there’s a fight between Takamichi and Snow, and then there’s a small Birthday plotline, where Snow and Night find out what a Birthday actually entails, and try celebrating Takamichi’s. There’s also a short at the end, featuring when Snow and Night were younger and unsure of Takamichi’s feelings toward them. They end up talking to Moon, Takamichi’s father’s jiu jiu, who is older and rather blunt and crude. This was a great mix of sweet and funny and sad, which is a rather good example of the whole series so far. This short was five pages and it still had the perfect mix of emotions that Tobina seems incredibly able to put together. It’s just so great. This series is just so fantastic. I love it unconditionally. Takamichi is a tsundere, and she’s protective and hard edged. She has a hard time expressing her emotions at first, gets embarrassed easily by them, but always ends up just jumping forward and exclaiming them in some way, which usually turns out sweet. Then there’s Night and Snow, whom I totally and completely love. There’s Night, who studies and is more quiet and calm, and there’s Snow, who’s more loud and outgoing and high spirited, and they both love Takamichi so much and want her attention and affection. They are both very different, and yet so similar; they are different characters, and I love them both equally. I don’t know which one I prefer at the moment, which is just another thing I love about this series. There isn’t an obvious way to lean, like there usually is. I just fully love them both and want them both to be happy. Ah, they make me ache inside because I love them so much. It's just... perfect. They're perfect. Really, though, this whole series makes me hurt inside, in such a good way, because I love it so much and feel so strongly about it and I just… there are no more words. Just nonsensical noises. Just… just go read it. Right now. Okay? Now that that’s finished, I’m ready for the next one, immediately. [This review, and many others, are available at my blog: geekyreading.blogspot.com ]
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