Books

Book 679: Our Dining Table – Mita Ori

This is another great introduction into manga in that it’s easy to follow the reverse (for western readers) style of reading any type of book. The lack of explicit sex and (often internalized) homophobia also make this more appealing to western audiences that might not necessarily want to read/see something that explicit.

I think I’m narrowing in on a type of yaoi that I enjoy reading. This is a lot like Go for it, Nakamura!, in that there’s a purity around 95% of it. It’s so stinking adorable and this is definitely one of those books where you read a page/panel and put the book to your chest and sigh with a goofy grin on your face.

Continue reading “Book 679: Our Dining Table – Mita Ori”

ARC, Books

Book 674: Am I Ugly? – Siobhan Hill

What a fun quirky read! When the author reached out about reviewing the book* I had some hesitations as it’s self published and I haven’t had great luck with that in the past, but I realized as a graphic artist I could check out her site and get a taste of her style to see if I’d like it. I took a look liked what I saw and said sure, and that was definitely the right decision.

Continue reading “Book 674: Am I Ugly? – Siobhan Hill”

Books

Book 672: Go for it, Nakamura! – Syundei

Adorable.

I could probably leave it at that, but since this is a blog and not just Twitter, I won’t.

Go for it, Nakamura! is a Japanese manga that’s on quite a few Best LGBT+ manga lists, so I thought I’d give it a try. I honestly wasn’t sure if it was going to be closer to My Brother’s Husband, Vol. 1 and My Brother’s Husband, Vol. 2 or more like Don’t Be Cruel #1 and #2 or #3 and #4. Thankfully, it was more like the latter, with no sex scenes (these are high school kids after all).

Continue reading “Book 672: Go for it, Nakamura! – Syundei”

Books

Book 668: Charlotte Brontë Before Jane Eyre – Glynnis Fawkes

I stumbled across this illustrated biography of Charlotte Brontë after one of my google alerts (“Boston” and “Brontë”) alerted me to this article in Seven Days, Vermont’s Independent Voice publication. I’ve been meaning to read an actual Brontë biography forever really, but specifically since the 2017 release of To Walk Invisible on PBS and my visit to the Parsonage in 2018.

I read The Mother of the Brontës last year which covered a good portion of this and some of the inspired works cover similar time periods because they were all so young. The downside of the Brontës and Austen are how short their lives were and we can only glean so much from the few letters and drafts of their works that exist, but there are instances where a little creative license and ingenuity can make these well known facts and situations seem new again. And that is the case with this Fawkes work.

Continue reading “Book 668: Charlotte Brontë Before Jane Eyre – Glynnis Fawkes”

ARC, Books

Book 661: Poorlier Drawn Lines – Reza Farazmand

When the publisher reached out about this and a few other books, I recognized the style and remembered enjoying it, so selected this one as a light read between other books.* But the most miraculous thing is that I’m actually publishing this post the day the book comes out (November 19!). Usually, I’m weeks behind and struggling to catch up, but I guess with a book of comics you can meet any deadline 😀 This is a short review because it’s a pretty small collection (under 200 pages), but even shorter review: worth the read.

Continue reading “Book 661: Poorlier Drawn Lines – Reza Farazmand”