2021 Book Reviews April - June

Here are my book reviews for the second quarter of the year. My fun reading has been greatly reduced while I have been working on my current graduate degree. I try to make up for it between classes when I binge read as much fun books as I can while still prepping for my next course. All the books you will find on this list are books, manga, and graphic novels that have an ISBN.  

Fiction

Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection Vol. 19: Assassin Nation, By David Michelinie and Gerry Conway (3 stars out of 5 or a C)

Picture from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/42656850-amazing-spider-man-epic-collection-vol-19

Batgirl Vol. 3: Mindfields, By Cameron Stewart (2 stars out of 5 or a D)

Picture from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/28109909-batgirl-volume-3

Gordon's daughter is Batgirl and her life is crazy as she helps to fight crime. What I liked about this comic: a positive view on interracial relationships and girl power. At the same time, even though this comic covers a lot of ground and was jam packed with events/action it really didn't hold my attention. It was boring. It took me several days to read because I just wasn't interested enough in it and I had to force myself to complete it. I can't put my finger on what specifically was wrong, but it just wasn't good.

Dark Shadows: The Original Series Story Digest, By D.J. Arneson (3 stars out of 5 or a C)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/13226100-dark-shadows

This could have been so much better. They had a good storyline, but there was just so little detail that I felt it made huge jumps that leave you wondering what happened. Even for a short work there were just too many half thoughts or incomplete ideas.

Dragon Ball (3 in 1) Vol 5: Includes Vols. 13,14,15, By Akira Toriyama (4 stars out of 5 or a B)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18775131-dragon-ball-3-in-1-edition-vol-5

As a fan of DB I will admit that most of my experience at this point with it is in the sections after Goku and Chi-Chi get married. I’m still catching up on his younger days. That’s one of the reasons I decided to pick this one up at the library. I liked all the information that they had in this one and how even if you hadn’t read the previous mangas they gave you enough information so that you didn’t feel lost. I had never seen how Chi-Chi and Goku came together and this manga covered it. It was so funny and fit the couple completely.

As a side note: for those not familiar with manga they are a Japanese graphic novel. These originally came out in the 1980s. I did want to point out one thing I did notice about both the time period and the culture. In this manga there are a few characters that are stylized to look like the stereotype of Native Americans. I just want people to be aware of this this because many times people only see ‘white’ people as making stereotypes of other cultures, but this is a good example that shows how all cultures are ’guilty’ of stereotyping. This is actually a good subject for people to look into if they are interested in either DEI or JEDI movements. It’s interesting how a manga can be political or be a social commentary even when it isn’t trying to be. Just food for thought.

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, By Mariko Tamaki (3 stars out of 5 or a C)

Picture from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/38506832-harley-quinn

I understand that there are many different versions/universes in comics and each one fits into its own place. While reading this one I did find myself liking it as a stand alone for the story of Harley, but it does not set up how the relationship between her and the Joker would develop into romance. It also does not fit well into her getting her doctorate later. I actually like the other version of her better where she meets Joker later in life and it changes her. In this version the personality traits are already in place and make for a less interesting story. I did like the parts with MAMA. I wish they would have blended the universes better. At times this comic gets very political. In comics this can be both good and bad. It is good in that it can start conversations or point out issues in society. It is bad when this seems to overload the storyline to the point where readers want to just deal with an overall story. This one was just political overload. When I read comics, I do it for fun and do not mind some political commentary. This one takes it to an extreme and the plot can only move forward through these commentaries. There is no plot without them. I’m giving it an average score because even though there were parts I liked and it had potential, I just feel that the creators allowed the politics to over run it and it turned it into a mess.

Kiss of the Rose Princess Vol 1, By Aya Shouoto (5 stars out of 5 or a A)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/21412051-kiss-of-the-rose-princess-vol-1

This series is both funny and cute. It is very well drawn and the male characters are beautiful. I'm looking forwarding to reading more from this story just to see how crazy the story will get.

Kiss of the Rose Princess Vol 2, By Aya Shouoto (5 stars out of 5 or a A)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/21412475-kiss-of-the-rose-princess-vol-2

The Legend of Zelda Vol. 2: Twilight Princess, By Akira Himekawa (4 stars out of 5 or a B)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/34055091-the-legend-of-zelda

Ms. Marvel Vol 2: Stormranger, By Saladin Ahmed (4 stars out of 5 or a B)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51299073-magnificent-ms-marvel-vol-2

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Vol. 3, By Hideyuki Furuhashi (4 stars out of 5 or a B)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40639145-my-hero-academia

This is actually the first manga I have read in this expanded universe. I liked the characters well enough, but they did not have the same likeability as the main characters in the original series. I’ll be reading more of this series to see where it goes. It does bring up some interesting concepts like of vigilantism would work in a society where most people have a special ability of some sort or another. Actually the part I liked the best in this manga was when his mother showed up and how she interacted with the other characters.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Vol. 4, By Hideyuki Furuhashi (3 stars out of 5 or a C)

Picture from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40639166-my-hero-academia

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Vol. 6, By Hideyuki Furuhashi (3 stars out of 5 or a C)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/43909386-my-hero-academia

Wish Vol. 1, By CLAMP (4 stars out of 5 or a B)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/936906.Wish_Vol_01

I actually really liked the start to this series and will read more if I can get my hands on it. It's a very cute series.

Nonfiction

Australian Legendary Tales: folklore of the Noonghburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies, By Katie Parker (4 stars out of 5 or a B)

Picture From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36115449-australian-legendary-tales

I love learning how other cultures think animals and land marks came about. This would be a good book if you are doing a comparison between different beliefs of cultures and looking for commonalities. One of the interesting ones relates to the Pleiades star cluster. It's also good if you are looking for folklore outside of the mainstream.

Haunted London, By Rupert Matthews (3 stars out of 5 or a C)

Picture from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/11952732-haunted-london

I wish that there just would have been more to this book. It is very slim and tries to pack in a lot, but I feel because of that it just didn't go into anything very deeply.