Review: The Walking Dead, Vol. 11–13, Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard

Title: The Walking Dead, Vol. 11–13
Author: Robert Kirkman
Penciller/Inker: Charlie Adlard
Gray Tones: Cliff Rathburn
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Combined Length: 416 pages
Format: Paperback
Genre: Comic; Horror, Apocalypse, Zombie
Publisher: Image Comics / 2010
Cover: Charlie Adlard & Cliff Rathburn
Source: Library
Rating: ✮✮✮✮ / ✮✮✮

Reason to Read: I got hooked on The Walking Dead after a friend lent me the first ten volumes of series. And, my local library stepped up their game and acquired the rest of the series just last year.

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So, I must have a hankerin' for some zombie action this month. As I write this, I've just finished reading a hefty chunk of The Walking Dead comic book series, and I'm still wading through S.G. Browne's I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus (which is a fabulous name for a book, if ever I heard one).

I've tried to avoid major spoilers in this review, and any plot points I mention are discussed in the vaguest terms possible. But oh man, I've got to get my hands on the next four volumes of the series to find out what happens to our steadily fraying band of survivors…

Manga Review: Girl Friends Vol. 1 and 2, Milk Morinaga

Title: Girl Friends: Complete Collections 1 and 2
Mangaka: Milk Morinaga
Translator: Anastasia Moreno
Combined Length: 992 pages
Format: Paperback
Genre: Manga; Yuri, Romance, Slice-of-Life
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment / 2012
Orig. Publisher: Futabasha Publishers / 2006
Cover Design: Nicky Lim
Source: CM Collection
Rating: ✮✮✮✮

Reason to Read: Yuri's a rare find on North American manga shelves, and I want to support publishers willing to translate these collections. Plus, how could you resist a cover as adorable as that?

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"Where does friendship end and love begin…?"

Yuri fans, rejoice—it's time to clear some space on those shelves for a sweet, honest, and down-right adorable depiction of two girls falling in love. For inexperienced readers, I can't emphasize enough how rare it is to find yuri manga in North American bookstores. Sure, we have the ever-popular Strawberry Panic, and we've got newer hits like Aoi Hana and Sasameki Koto on our side, and the iconic Sailor Moon series dips into a few yuri side stories as well—but to stumble across the likes of Milk Morinaga's complete Girl Friends series in one week made for an excellent start to this year's manga reads in the Litoverse, I can promise you that.

Kumakura Mariko's a clever, soft-spoken girl who studies hard and keeps to herself. She's a natural introvert and bookish to boot, but she's spent too many lunch hours eating alone. One afternoon, Ohashi Akiko—Mariko's outgoing and gorgeous classmate—invites Mariko out on the town (and even convinces the timid girl to part with her long locks in favour of a shorter cut). Akiko aims to coax Mariko out of her shell, and she helps Mariko transform herself into one of the cutest girls in school—but what started as a simple friendship soon becomes a complicated relationship as deep feelings emerge between the two girls. Will Mariko and Akiko remain friends, or will their hearts lead them to something more?

For starters, I found the evolution of Mariko and Akiko's relationship had a natural pace to it, and the two girls played their doubts and insecurities off one another well. In the first collection, Mariko's narrative takes the lead, and we see how her admiration of Akiko becomes infatuation, which then matures into Mariko's first love. Throughout this section, readers follow the small, faltering steps Mariko takes before she's able to name her feelings for her best friend, and we're given a view of the unwitting attraction and initial self-denial that accompanies the first crush of an LGBTQ kid. Mariko tries her best to dismiss her feelings for Akiko and then explain them within the confines of their fast friendship but, of course, we all know she's in love—and it's not until she confesses to Akiko that the perspective switches and readers enter the same confused feelings of Akiko herself.

I also appreciated that Girl Friends doesn't follow a standard coming-out narrative. While the main audience of Girl Friends will likely be younger, queer-identified readers who might find themselves in the same situations as Mariko and Akiko, Morinaga doesn't turn the work into a Coming Out event. In the second collection, Mariko and Akiko do discuss their future, and the girls dream of a time when they'll share their relationship with family and friends—but for now, while the girls are still in high school, they choose to enjoy their time together. I know, it's a subtle difference here—rather than rushing toward their coming out, the girls are taking their time and letting their relationship take root before sharing the news with the people around them. Of course, readers know that Sugi, the girls' mutual friend, has been aware of Mariko and Akiko's feelings for one another since the start,—and, BTW, I love how Morinaga gives Sugi the chance to observe the two girls and to treat their feelings as a non-issue. In fact, Sugi even gives Akiko advice on how to approach Mariko (without Akiko even realizing it!)

Yuri fans will find much to celebrate in Milk Morinaga's Girl Friends series—and, according to the back of the second collection, Seven Seas Entertainment will be publishing Morinaga's short collection, Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink, in June 2013! (And, as a manga purchaser for a comic book store, I can assure you I'll be stocking up on that title for its release date.)

Ideal for: Yuri fans and queer-identified readers; Manga fans who like a well-crafted romance and the high school drama inherent to falling for a close friend; Folks who liked Sasameki Koto and Aoi Hana in particular.

33: Reading Habits Tag

I'd seen this reading tag pop up in my travels through the BookTube community, and I thought I'd give it a whirl. Here be the questions (should you like to try them out yourself):

1. Do you have a certain place at home for reading?
2. Bookmark or random pieces of paper?
3. Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter?
4. Do you eat or drink while reading?
5. Do you multitask music or TV while reading?
6. One book at a time or several at once?
7. Reading at home or everywhere?
8. Reading out loud or silently in your head?
9. Do you read ahead or even skip pages?
10. Breaking the book spine or keeping it new?
11. Do you write in your books?

Give it a shot and leave a link to your answers in the comments below!

Review: The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Length: 554 pages
Format: Paperback
Genre: Fiction; Historical Fiction, Tragedy
Publisher: Black Swan / 2005
Cover Art: Finn Campbell-Notman
Source: Friend Loan – Ms. Gustaw
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Reason to Read: Ms. Gustaw lent me this book in Jan. 2012, and I had to make amends and—at long last—read The Book Thief. I'm shocked I let this book linger on the shelf for a year…

Reading Bingo: A Book with More Than 400 Pages.

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So, here it is: the first official book review video from yours truly. I'll likely jump back and forth between written reviews and filmed reviews in 2013, but I was eager to interact with other BookTubers (while still maintaining the Litoverse proper, of course.)

And here we go:

32: Library Wars, Genshiken, and Skip Beat

Miz Moffatt returns (round two)! And you'll never guess what I've found in your room. That's right, in your room…

Featured Titles

Library Wars: Love and War, Hiro Arikawa and Kiiro Yumi (Publisher | Goodreads)

Genshiken, Shimoku Kio (Publisher | Goodreads)

Skip Beat, Yoshiki Kanamura (Goodreads)

Reading Bingo: 2013 Challenge

Leave it to the team at Random House Canada to blend BINGO with books—I spotted this 2013 reading challenge over on Twitter, and I knew I had to get in on the game. 

Beginners are encouraged to complete a line while experts are tasked with filling out the entire sheet. I know for me, I'll avoid doubling (or tripling) up on categories to keep things fair (e.g. An award-winning, Canadian-authored novel of more than 400 pages will only count for ONE empty square), and I'll keep a separate page marking my progress on the challenge. But alas, I don't think I'll get a full card if only because I don't have a trusted barista in my life. Maybe this is Random House's way of telling me to hang out in trendy café's with a book in tow…? Very crafty, I know.

So, readers, who'll be joining me in a few rounds of Reading Bingo in these parts? Better yet, who'll be dropping by my store to receive a recommendation from this local (comic) bookseller—come on, that's a whole square X'ed off in about two minutes.

Let the games begin!

2012 Book Statistics (or, Proof I Am a Loon)

photo source

And the retrospective work continues in the Litoverse Command Centre. I've anticipated this day since I cooked up those gorgeous pie charts at the end of 2011, and I'm excited to share the Official Stats behind my 2012 Book List. Numbers need to be crunched, kids. So, if you'll allow me, I'll serve you all a slice of my delicious, book-related pie charts in…

Miz Moffatt's 2012 Book Statistics

Prepare thyself.

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About the Books

Books Read in 2012: 127

Pages Read in 2012: 32,424

As readers learned in 2011, I am liberal when I define "genre". That being said, I'm still shocked by the sheer wall of manga I scaled in 2012. Over half the books I read were manga. OVER. HALF. I was more than floored to see the pie chart when it emerged from the oven. I find it fascinating that, despite finding employment at a comic book store, I still read roughly the same amount of comic book collections/graphic novels as I did last year. Fiction dropped off in favour of manga, though I imagine that's directly related to my new gig. Also, non-fiction—I need to read more of it.

First observation: Huge spike in the "No Rating" section. I blame this on manga and my reluctance to assign ratings to individual manga collections.

Second observation: I handed out more 5 star ratings this year than last. In fact, there was a 2% increase according to my anal-retentive pie charts.

Third observation: I was gracious and handed out not a single 1 star.

Fourth observation: I hate when numbers overlap on charts (I'm looking at you, 0 and 8%).

Ah, still a paperback girl, I see. Though, this is the first time EPUB files have made an appearance on my reading list, and I'm thinking there's bound to be more in 2013. Shocking!

So, my library usage plummeted in 2012—last year, 74% of my books came from 'teh Libs'. Not surprising, I've been borrowing manga and comic collections from work in order to stay informed on our products. I also opted to dip into my own book collection more often this year (that, and I've been buying more manga/comics as a result of working at the store, oh my goodness…) Also, I hope to explore NetGalley in 2013 and otherwise "feed my reader" with more glorious EPUB files and such. Huzzah.

Yeah, I'm still a New/First Reads kinda gal. Though, I upped my re-reads by about 2% vs. last year, and I quite enjoyed re-visiting some of those older books. And, based on my poor reading retention skills, I felt as though I was reading a few of those books for the first time—so, Win-Win.

Hey guys, did you know I'm a contemporary reader? SECRET'S OUT! I'm a little staggered that 94% of my books were published after 2000. And the lone "before 1900" was none other than Jerome K. Jerome's Victorian classic, Three Men in a Boat…which reads like a modern book. Random. Oh well, I know my tastes, and I'll fight you on it.

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About the Authors and Their Content

And the gents take a slight lead in 2012! In 2011, female authors wrote half the books I read throughout the year—though, to be fair, the co-authored section shot up to 7% from last year's 3%, so there were still ladies tag-teaming on a number of the books I checked out. Fascinating, I know.

So, I turned the tables this year and read far more books written by authors of colour—granted, these numbers are a touch skewed due to my year-long OD on manga, so I'm not sure this pie chart reflects newfound equality on my part. This issue will become infinitely clearer once you take a gander at the stats regarding author nationality…

Japan wields its dominance over my reading list! Again, this reflects the ungodly amount of manga I've indulged in over the past twelve months. The real kicker for me was how few Canadian authors I read in 2012. Only 8% of the books I read were Canadian-authored?! I blame this on the moment I bailed on the Giller Prize Longlist this year. I mean, in 2011, 33% of the books I read were Canadian-authored. Yeah. I know. Nande ya ne?! 

I never thought I'd read more books in translation than books originally written in English. Oh 2012, you've been overflowing with surprises. Again, manga played a key factor here (of course). I also approve of the random Danish, Korean, and Mandarin books on the list as well.

Ah, this chart depresses a touch—LGBTQ reads dropped off in 2012, especially as it relates to books with "main content" (re: a main character who identifies as LGBTQ, or a book that deals with issues specific to the community). I mentioned this in the 2012 Retrospective, but I found it odd how often I found queer characters in the most unlikely supporting roles. I'm thinking it's time to make a trip to Glad Day Bookshop to atone for the LGBTQ drought in these parts.

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So there! 2012, cleaned and pressed into colourful pie charts. All I need's a bit of glitter and a glass of bubbly to celebrate another year's worth of books. Cheers to 2013 and a host of new literary worlds to discover!