Mary’s Comments (group member since Jan 16, 2013)

Mary’s comments from the The 104 Book Challenge - 2013 group.

Finishing recording 2013 before I start with the new year.

58. Redoubt Lackey's Valdemar, which I still love. However, her writing has gotten..... long....what would have taken 100 pages in plot now takes about 300. Seeing as I'm still buying them however, I guess I can't complain much. This continues to follow Mags as he starts figuring out his background and also gives more background to Valdemar's neighbors.

59. Nemesis The last chronologically written Miss Marple book (I believe - while Sleeping Murder was published later, I think she had written it earlier and tucked it away for after her death). I like this one - Miss Marple is sent on the trail of a crime by her friend from the Caribbean mystery and has to uncover a murder from the past without clues.

60. Elephants can Remember Whereas I hate this one. This is the last Hercules Poirot she wrote (Curtain published later, written earlier)and it's kind of a weak story with bad clues and some bizarre deductions. This is the only Christie I don't own in hard copy. To its credit, I didn't hate it as much this go around as I remember hating it as a teenager. Still, it's in the bottom three of Christie mysteries for me.

C/YA 56. and 57. Etiquette & EspionageCurtsies & Conspiracies First two books in Carriger's YA steampunk series. Honestly, I liked this as well as the Soulless series, though it's with younger characters (14-15 years) in a boarding finishing school that teaches spies. It's fun to play spot the characters in the later series (that seem to happen about 20 years later or so). Recommend.

YA 58. Goddess in Time Bridge novella between the Goddess Boot Camp character and what I assume is an upcoming novel about a third (male) character in the series. Good for 6th or 7th grade I'd say.

Onto the new year!

C/YA 51. BlindsidedWas pre-reading this to see if it's okay for 7th grade - probably better suited for 9th and up. Girl slowly loses her eyesight, and goes to a special school to learn to deal. It reads more as a PSA for challenges for blindness than an actual story - main reason I didn't like it; there's just too much that happens to the same character (blindness, attempted rape, bear attack).

C/YA 52. The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett: An Origami Yoda Book Continuation of the series, with the characters showing further development. Though light and funny, it does say some things about our current school systems.

C/YA 53. No Passengers Beyond This Point I really liked this book. I'd say it's 4-7th grade. It's a cross between realistic fiction and fantasy, with the theme of family and knowing oneself.

C/YA 54. Rachel Spinelli Punched Me in the Face Very quick read, fairly straightforward plot. Also a theme of family, a boy moves to a new town with his father and finds his place.

C/YA 55. Guitar Notes Very sweet book. The focus between the characters is friendship, not romance (refreshing!), looking at how two kids (high school) see something in each other that no one sees. Music is a key component and worked throughout the book.

C/YA 48. Peter Pan with CD - read aloud to four-year-old for bedtime. Decent adaptation.

C/YA 49. The BFG - Kids loved this book, I didn't LOVE it, but it was clever and funny. I like other Dahl books better.

C/YA 50. Island of the Aunts Eva Ibbotson is a wonderful author. Both kids liked this book - filled with funny characters and far-fetched situations, it has a lot of heart and is thematically rich. She's currently one of my ten-year-old's favorite authors (along with JK Rowling and Rick Riordan)

53. The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun Author spent a year researching happiness and trying to put what she found in practice. Informative and enjoyable.

54. Fantasy Life: The Outrageous, Uplifting, and Heartbreaking World of Fantasy Sports from the Guy Who's Lived It Part memoir, part history of fantasy sports - mostly football. I enjoyed it.

55. Her Royal Spyness Start to another mystery series. Sleuth is a (fictional) minor royal during early 20th century. Fairly well-written and enjoyable.

56. A Royal Pain And this is the second one of the series which was also fun.

M83. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel Got this for school, and I totally got sucked into this. I really want to read the book now - and I think there's now a sequel.

57. Wild Justice: A Nadia Stafford Novel Don't like the cover, but I'm so happy to finally get a chance to read this book - it's the third in a trilogy, and it wasn't a sure thing to get it published. It lived up to the wait, giving a satisfactory ending to all the characters (all hit men) and a decent story. Recommended if you liked the first two.

Christies: (still have five left to finish her off, but I've gotten through the 60s!)

49. Endless NightI was vaguely dreading re-reading this one because it freaked me out when I was a teenager. It's a unique book; hard to describe without spoilers.

50. By the Pricking of My Thumbs Tommy & Tuppence, some of my favorite characters. I enjoyed this one of Tuppence figuring out an old mystery.

51. Hallowe'en Party Enh. It's okay. The mystery seems a bit far-fetched.

52. Passenger To Frankfurt More a spy novel than a mystery. Lots of musing on politics and human nature. Didn't like this one a whole lot.

Ok, I've got some catching up to do. I've been seeing what everyone else is reading, and my to-read list keeps getting longer...maybe in next year's group... (and thanks, Jen for getting that set up!!)

M74. Skip Beat!, Vol. 32 I love this manga. I'm so glad that I've read this on-line, because the story ends on such a cliffhanger in this collection.

M75.Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 3Again, very faithful adaptation to the books. The art is pretty cool and it's a good read.

M76. Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 13 The grand plot continues to develop with the main characters' relationship taking a back seat.

M77. Otomen, Vol. 16 Huh. I thought this series was wrapping up, but they seem to be continuing. The protagonist's mother is determined to run his life and is systematically separating him from his friends.

M78-80. Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends #1Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends, vol. 2Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends Vol. 3 This is a manga series I tried out. I enjoyed it,the premise is that outcast high school students who can't make friends form a club to help them figure out how to get along with people, but there's too much sex (viewing porn and video games; not between the characters) to have my kids read it.

M81. Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within 3 Reading this to discuss with 10-year-old. Okay story line, building up to next volume that will wrap up this storyline.

M82. Dawn of the Arcana, Vol.10I know I read this, but I don't remember the plot much. The main characters have split to build resistance in their respective countries.

42. Bullying Hurts: Teaching Kindness through Read Alouds and Guided Conversations Read for a class. Idea is bibliotherapy to help elementary age kids learn civil rights and kindness. Great idea, not so much content in this book.

43. Improving Comprehension with Think-Aloud Strategies: Modeling What Good Readers Do Read for a class. A little tough to wade through, but there's lots of good theory and ideas in here to help students learn to read critically - and thus preparing them to participate knowledgeably in a democratic society. Yep, setting the bar high, which I liked. Also chock full of specific skills and implementation suggestions. Not light reading but useful. I intend to read the other two books in the set.

44. The Organized Student Read for a class. This is a breeze to read through, and has tons of ideas on how to help kids get organized and learn time management as a life skill. Also good on how to take deep breaths and keep one's eyes on the big goal of helping students. Written more for parents than teachers, but still useful. I wish it was more research base than anecdotal, but it all makes sense.

45. The ClocksStill working away at Christie! This is another Hercules Poirot and has TONS of red herrings all over the place as the main characters try to puzzle out a murder with Poirot's help. Not bad, but not a favorite.

46. A Caribbean MysteryThis Christie is a Miss Marple, and is a solid one. Sent to an island resort to restore health, Miss Marple has to use psychology to solve a murder. More fun than The Clocks, but not one of the best.

47. At Bertram's HotelThis is another Miss Marple and much more focused on character rather than plot. It's sort of a cozy mystery taking place with a background of racecar drivers and criminals. It's entertaining, though.

48. Third GirlHercules Poirot again, whose pride is hurt when a young woman decides he is too old to help her. Mrs. Oliver is present again also, always amusing as a character as one suspects it's Christie writing about herself. This one is very convoluted, and it's also rather dated as some of the main characters are in their early 20s and so get described by dress and hairstyle.

Here's the manga I've come across while cleaning up.
M61.-66.Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 8, Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 9, Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 10, Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 11, Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 12, Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 13 I like this series, and this finishes up a story arc of the main character helping a yokai queen who's in love with a human. Vol. 13 starts a new story arc of the fox servant starting to remember his past.

M67. Kimi ni Todoke, Volume 17I love this series. It follows high school romance, but nothing fantastical about it. It's very sweet. Slow moving, but sweet.

M68.-70. Hana-Kimi (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 5 The misunderstanding continue with the girl in a boys school in love with her roommate who (unbeknownst to her) knows she's a girl and is in love with her. Silly, nothing really grabbing, but still a fun read.

M71. Skip Beat!, Vol. 31 My favorite. I LOVE this manga. Kyoko continues to reason out what's bothering Ren. The series is moving slowly, but it's still got me totally hooked. I freaked out because there's not a publication date for vol. 32 and found a web source that's up to date for the manga (episode 202, where this goes up to 188).

M72. Natsume's Book of Friends, Volume 14 And this is my second favorite manga. Natsume is quietly growing as a character as he keeps trying to solve everybody's (human and yokai) problems.

M73. Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 10This continues the growth of the main character, and while it's sci-fi (sort of) its fun, and explores the concept of censorship.

C/YA 44. Witch Week Third Chrestomanci book. I found this too graphic for my ten-year-old (discusses a witch burning) which threw me off - but the rest of the book was interesting. Decent middle school fiction.

C/YA 45. 46.
Villain School: Good Curses Evil, Villain School: Hero in Disguise Start of a new series about students at a villain school. Fluff and short, but would be fun reads for 3rd grade or so.

C/YA 47. The Wonderful Wizard of OzBedtime story for the kids. More stuff than the movie, and it's interesting to see the more inherent violence that's in kids books from one hundred years ago. Both the four and ten-year-old liked it, though.

M59.-60. Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within 1, Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within 2 Manga for the ten-year-old. Once you get past the first chapter of exposition, the story actually is pretty good, and there's some nice details of foreshadowing and character development. Has generated lots of discussion between me and older child - from predictions of plot to character development to why female characters are drawn as they are to why she's not allowed to dress like a manga character. Not bad for a comic book!

Still checking off the Nook what I've read recently,

39. Nadia Knows Best Romance that was offered as a Nook Daily Deal (read as: cheaply) But I enjoyed this. Pretty light on sexytimes, but humorous. I felt that there were a few too many side stories that didn't really impact the main character, but it was light and mostly fun.

C/YA 33. The Mystery at Big Ben Read so I could talk to my ten-year-old about it. The writing strikes me as not particularly polished, but she apparently has a ton of kids' mysteries written. It's a kid-friendly mystery with a lot of London landmarks. Okay, but I wouldn't recommend it generally.

C/YA 34. After the Fear A YA dystopian novel where teens (and others) are forced to do gladiator combat. I enjoyed it, but I think it must be a little derivative of Divergent (which I haven't read). It's left open for a sequel, but it also has a fairly wrapped-up ending.

C/YA 35. book:The London Eye Mystery|1184305] I've had this one sitting in my classroom for a while, but finally took a couple of hours and polished it off. The narrator has Asperger Syndrome and tells how his cousin disappears during a trip on the London Eye. It's a decent mystery, and the narration adds an interesting layer to the story. Recommend for upper elementary to middle school.

C/YA 36.Of Giants and Ice Read at insistence of older child. It's a pretty good story - a girl gets accepted to an after school program where fairy tales are a way of life. It's funny and shows good character development. The sequel is out and is waiting to be read.

40. The Silver Linings Playbook I loved this book. I was very pleasantly surprised by the story and by the narrator's voice. It probably helped that I'm a big Eagles fan, so I have a lot of background ties to the events in the book. I thought it was a very sensitive look at mental illness. I'm much more intrigued to see the movie now - I believe the author adapted it himself, and I'd like to see the changes he made.

C/YA 37. Heroes in Training - Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom Low elementary school. This is a companion series to Goddess Girls, but focusing on boys. It's VERY quick to read, and it makes some odd adaptions to the Greek myths. Okay, but not a favorite.

41. A Life in Stitches: Knitting My Way through Love, Loss, and Laughter A memoir with the conceit of comparing a knitting stitch or project to a life milestone. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't strongly recommend it - maybe to strong knitters or to people who really enjoy memoirs.

C/YA. 38.-42. Born at Midnight, Awake at Dawn, Taken at Dusk, Whispers at Moonrise, Chosen at Nightfall+ two short stories: Turned at Dark, Saved at Sunrise Well, these five novels and two short stories are essentially one long book divided up. I admit to totally falling down the rabbit hole with this - not sure why it sucked me in so much, but it certainly did! The main character gets shipped off to summer camp only to find it's stocked with supernaturals... and she's probably some sort of one too. So, typical coming of age, typical love triangle (though it's only annoying for one of the books), with enough views on practicing abstinence that parts read as a friendly PSA. Nevertheless, I really got into this and read them essentially straight through - I'm glad the last book was published by the time I got to these! There is supposed to be a spin-off with a vampire character who was not my favorite, but I'll probably try it out.

C/YA 43. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Still reading at insistence of my older child, still enjoying them. I didn't find anything surprising about this, but I liked it. At least I can keep up with child's conversation now... as far as the second book...

Crud. Had just written up ten books when an errant backspace deleted them all.

C/YA 21. Renegade Magic Second Kat Incorrigible. Also has short story Dueling Magic that goes between both books. Takes place in Bath. Good. Will read the third one.

37. Graveminder Reads like YA, marketed as regular. Not much on plot, but I liked the writing and the characters. Interesting twist on zombies.

C/YA 22 - 25.Heaven Sent Three Girls and a GodMuses on the MoveLove or Fate Slender, fluff series for upper elementary. Three muses banished to Athens (Georgia). Quick read with some clever allusions. Ten-year-old loves all things Greek mythology.

38. A Textbook CaseTriple Threat Love Deaver, these are all good. It think novels better allow his plotting skill to be developed, but I liked these four short stories.

C/YA 26. Charmed LifeFirst in Chrestomanci series, a set of linked books by Jones without being all the same character. Required a bit of gumption to get through (one main character is really unlikeable), but it paid off at the end. I've since seen this on some "best of children's lit" list. Ten-year-old liked it too.

C/YA 27. The Magicians of Caprona Second in the series, and I liked it better. Funnier, more pleasant characters, and it's a good solid, exciting, fantasy.

C/YA 28. The Squire's TaleChecking out new series in hope that Arthurian tales will appeal to my ten-year-old. Well-written for the upper elementary crowd - readable without talking-down. Morris plays fast and loose with some of the Gawain tales, but does it to craft a coherent tale of his own. I'll try more of this series.

C/YA 29. Howl's Moving Castle I remembered liking the film (though it was long enough ago I don't remember how it was different from book)and I really liked this book as a solid fantasy. I've since read criticism that Jones focuses more on plot with no character development, and I can see the knock. She doesn't spell out how characters evolve, but they do grow. It's a good read.

C/YA 30-32 The Dragonet ProphecyThe Lost HeirThe Hidden Kingdom Read at insistence of older child. First three books in series (fourth comes out late Oct.)that are really solid fantasy for upper elementary. The main characters (all dragons, hence the ten-year-old love) have clear voices and unique personalities, and the writing moves along nicely. The politics lack some depth, but they're kids books, so it's understandable. These are very enjoyable.

And now to catch up with the Christies...

31. Dead Man's Folly Hercule Poirot comes to help Ariadne Oliver with a fete, and a body results - but why kill a teenage girl? Again, I remembered this one, but it was fun and I enjoyed it.

32. 4.50 from Paddington Miss Marple for this one, and I like this one a lot, too. Also remembered this one - mainly because the end revealing of the murderer is memorable.

33. & 34. Ordeal By Innocence / Cat Among the Pigeons Read these separately, but here's how I can find them. Ordeal by Innocence is really good - no named detectives - but it's the point that if a murder occurs and no culprit is found, the innocents suffer. It's a good read. Cat... Pigeons takes place at a girls school. Everyone is after a group of jewels, but who is murdering for them? Hercule Poirot gets pulled in to solve it during the last couple of chapters (with some nice shout outs to another Christie novel).

That wraps up the 1950s, and on to the 1960s!

35. The Pale Horse This novel is the whole reason I started re-reading my Christies. I think this is her best books and just one great mystery. Ariadne Oliver is on hand, but the sleuthing is by a one-off character. There are shout-outs, however, to at least four other Christie novels. This is a fantastic mystery with only minor dating (some talk about the fantastic new "computers", some philosophy). I highly recommend this one for any one who likes mysteries.

36. The Mirror Crack'd from Side to SideI remember this movie clearly (with Liz Taylor "an aging movie star to play an aging movie star")and while the novel has more depth, it's the same story. It's a good, solid Miss Marple and reflects how the English countryside was changing in the 1960s.

27. Sleep No More Read out of order - this is the Iris Johansen that introduces the character in Close Your Eyes. Didn't matter. This is also an Eve Duncan story - and she is one of my favourite Johansen characters. Fits in with the rest of the Eve Duncan series.

28. What Doesn't Kill You okay. Read too many of these in a row. The characters are all the same, the villain is cardboard, the situation far-fetched instead of fantastical.

29.A Royal Painpicked this up as a nook daily find. Very good sexytimes and nice characters but the book wraps up at an odd plot point to me.

30.Desperate Housedogsanother nook daily find, a start to a new mystery series. I'd try another one because there's enough character and setting to make it interesting.

C/YA 16.Hobbledown The kids liked this one better than I did. It's a decent plot, but there's too many artificially "different" words to make it a new world. Average kids fantasy that ends on a loose end so I suspect there will eventually be a sequel.

C/YA 17. MatildaKids and I both loved this. The musical rescripts some major plot points and changes some character traits, and I prefer the book (not surprisingly...) though the musical is great too. If you're not familiar with Roald Dahl, this is a good one but be aware that many grownups in his books act awfully and say horrible things to children.

C/YA 18. Danny the Champion of the World: Plays for ChildrenRead the book, not the play, but can't find a link for that. Again, Roald Dahl, but this one doesn't really have a fantastical element. It's set in rural England in 1970s, and while far-fetched it's the real world. This is a book I loved as a child, and I still love it as an adult - and both kids loved it, too. It's still mildly subversive - the father is involved in a, technically, illegal activity - but the father/son relationship is still so wonderful it doesn't matter.

C/YA 19. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's StoneOlder Child is insisting I re-read these so I can discuss them knowledgably with her. Actually, I enjoyed re-reading this. I had forgotten parts of it, and was favourably pleased with the plot and the characters.

C/YA 20. Kat, IncorrigibleThis is a light children's fantasy about a girl discovering she has magic against the background of a Jane Austen England. It's quick-paced and frothy with a simultaneously satisfying wrap-up and set-up for the next book. There's at least two more, and I plan to read those, too.

M57. Dengeki Daisy , Vol. 12 I'm still enjoying this series. Good points about this volume: character development still continues, still funny, new villain added. Bad point: very heavy on computer virus development. Necessary for plot, but boring.

M58. Otomen, Vol. 15 This volume acts as a bridge going from a wrap-up point (that, honestly, could have even ended the series) to introducing a new conflict of a would-be romantic triangle. Plus, they sill have the mother conflict to wrap up. Not the best volume, but still cute and fun.

M49.-54. Hana-Kimi (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 2, Hana-Kimi (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 3 So these six fill in the gap I had for the series - girl pretending to be a boy to go to an all-boys school to be near the boy she loves. New characters are introduced, manga situations occur. It's sweet, and reads well - the drawing is still not the best of manga, I think.

M55-56. Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 6, Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 7 More focused on action and plot than on character development, so these two volumes are more fast paced than reflective. Still a cute story.

C/YA 15. Mary Poppins Bedtime again. Some of the stories are the source for the movie, others are just in there. The main character is actually pretty prickly and snotty in the book, but the kids like the episodes that happen. The chapters are not particularly linked, so it's pretty easy to put down and pick up.

24. Destination Unknown More Christie. This reads like a second (successful) attempt at They Came to Baghdad. The pages turn quickly, the spy action and concerns don't feel (too) dated, and it manages to be exciting. One off character - not exactly a detective. This is actually pretty good.

25. Hickory Dickory DockWhereas this one goes back to Poirot. It's not bad, it feels more dated but not horribly so. The action takes place in a boarding house, so it's a contained crime with the culprits there to chose from. As I remembered this one, it was interesting to read how she worked her craft to mislead and misdirect. Not quite cheating in this book, and it was ok.

26. With Open Eyes: An Original Short StoryClose Your Eyes Ah... Iris Johansen... such a guilty pleasure. This character is so far fetched - basically a modern day Sherlock Holmes - that she's believable with only a healthy dollop of suspension of disbelief. However, if it's willing, Johansen's books are always fun. This one was lighter than usual, with the normal prickly characters who admire each other, but no sexytimes - which is unusual (though ok). The usual characters get sucked into an insidious plot that could threaten mankind.

Hey Nanci, cool to hear what you think about Garth Nix. This one looks pretty good. Always like hearing about what you read! (And I'm waiting for Perfect Scoundrels, too!)

23. A Pocket Full Of Rye Back to Christie, back to Miss Marple. She again shows up about halfway, after the scene is set. I remembered this one clearly - it's a fairly well written one, which again was nice on the re-read to see how Christie sets up everything - again, no cheating in this one.

C/YA 14. The Manga CookbookRead this through because the older daughter wants to learn how to cook. The udon (noodles), and entrees (pork cutlets, chicken teriyaki) have been very good to excellent. The dango (sweet rice flour desert) did not work so well.... Very simple Japanese food, and laid out very well for the 10 year old - 15 year old crowd.

M35-37. Hana-Kimi (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 4 Skipped a few because this was the volume on sale. Haven't seemed to miss much story - girl is still pretending to be a boy to stay at boarding school with her crush who (unbeknowst to her) knows shes a girl. It's enjoyable.

M38. Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Volume 16This is a very sweet high school one with no farce or supernatural elements.

M39. Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 9Set in a future where there is strong government censorship, the Library Guard protects freedom of press (or whatever the Japanese equivalent of that is). Not terribly deep, but amusing and does touch on the themes of censorship, freedom, and personal choice.

M40. Dawn of the Arcana, Vol. 9The plot is heating up with political intrigue in three kingdoms, and the theme of class injustice, but really, it just didn't strike a chord with me - it seemed too much on the surface and moved too fast.

M41-48. High School Debut, Vol. 1to High School Debut, Vol. 8 Whilst reorganizing my manga to fit everything in, I came across this one which I loved and therefore had to re-read. (It goes up to 13, but I only skimmed the last five). A terribly earnest hard-working sporty girl enlists the good-looking cool kid to help her get a boyfriend. While elements are farcical, it's got realistic characters and it's pretty funny.

I've had the Iron King sitting in my pile. You're inspiring me to go dig it out! Also- how are you liking the Harry Dresden? That's a series I want to get back to - after I finish with the Christies!

Okay, a manga free weekend....

C/Ya 12. A Bear Called Paddington Again, bedtime story. Never read these as a kid, but it's a lot of fun when reading aloud. Paddington is a sweet bear taken care of by the Browns and he gets into one scrape after another.

C/YA 13.Planet Explorers London 2012: A Travel Guide for Kids. Decent travel guide for kids - gives a solid timeline and good overview of the most major sights. Got as an e-book, and it has the nice advantage of hyperlinks embedded in the text to link to websites for more information. This one wasn't listed in Good Reads databank. Anyone know how I add a book?

21. After the Funeral I remembered this one as soon as I finished the first chapter. However, it was still a pleasant read, and it allowed me to see how Christie used foreshadowing and misleads the reader without cheating. Another Hercules Poirot, but it was enjoyable. An interesting motive this one.

22. Black Powder War Third book in the Temeraire series. Will and Temeraire are racing to get dragon eggs back to London and get caught up in Napoleon's campaign through Prussia. Draggy in a few parts, but the book covers lots of ground (both geographically and with characters)and maintains the series interest. A major antagonist is developed, and the theme of socially responsible social/class activism is also present.

M27., 28. Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 4, Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 5Continuing to catch up with this series. It's very sweet and funny, and it's using the dichotomy of human / yokei to examine what friendship actually means and humanity. Either this is a common theme of manga, or I gravitate to a lot of the same kind because it resonates a lot like Natsume's Book of Friends which is one of my favorites.

M29-31. Skip Beat!, Vol. 10, Skip Beat!, Vol. 11, Skip Beat!, Vol. 12 Picked these up as a 3-in-1 to keep at school, and HAD to re-read. This is a nice point in the series where Kyoko has Ren's support in learning how to develop a character while acting. Also, it was nice while re-reading to notice all the fore-shadowing for stuff that's happening in Volumes 28-30.

17. They Do It With Mirrors On with the 50's Christies. This is a Miss Marple and a fairly nice one. Bit of a relief after all the Hercules Poirot.

18. His Majesty's DragonChecking out Dragon books for older child - more middle to high school to adult fantasy. Very reminiscent of the Jhereg style of fantasy. Set in Regency (or Napoleonic) England, the conceit is that in addition to the armed forces of the army and navy, there are also mounted dragon forces. The main character captains one (named Temeraire) and it follows the relationship. A little light on plot, but it was fun to read. First time I've considered building a drinking game for a book - every time Will calls Temeraire "My dear", take a drink!! You'd be plowed within a chapter.

19. Throne of JadeThis is the second book, where the characters go to China - much more plot, and it's still a good read. No drinking game for this one.

20. Mrs. McGinty's Dead Back to Hercules Poirot, but surprisingly, I really liked this one. There's some far-fetched coincidences to solving the murder that the arresting officer thinks has convicted the wrong guy, but it doesn't feel like cheating. Pretty solid.

M32-34. Hana-Kimi (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 1 More affordable way to get manga when packaged three in one. The main character is an American of Japanese descent who pretends to be a boy to go to a Japanese boarding school (all male) to be near her love interest. Silly, fun, and mostly fluff with moments of meaning. Very far-fetched, and some drawing seems a little weird in places, but still readable.

C/YA 11. Not for Parents London Cute overview of London for kids. Each concept is presented in a two-page spread with a webpage suggestion of where to get more info. Worthwhile.

Boy. I read a LOT of manga.