Some Overdue “At the Library” Posts

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Edel in Library Haul with 0 Comments

I’ve made many library trips that I have yet to document. I’ll try my best to write them all here. Good thing I keep the receipts!

At the Library #3

Instead of going to my usual library, I went to the public library closest to my university, which was just two train stops away. I went during a gap between my classes and made it 20 minutes before my next class. Hopefully I get more gaps in my schedule in the fall.

• Poison by Sara Poole
  I love reading about the Renaissance. Even moreso when the Borgias make an appearance. I have to admit, Assassin’s Creed plays a big role in my recent Italian history craze.
• What I Talk About When I’m Running by Haruki Murakami
  I have only read one of Murakami’s novels before taking this out (After the Quake) and even from that one novel, I knew that he must be an extremely wise and intelligent man. This is the main reason why I decided to read this memoir.
• Beloved Disciple: The Misunderstood Legacy of Mary Magdalegne, the Woman Closest to Jesus by Robin Griffith-Jones
  I try my best to read non-fiction religious books, especially if they relate to my own religion. In this case, Mary Magdalegne has always been a source of curiosity for me.
• Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
  I saw this book in my high school library but never had the time to take it out. Now I do!
• The Scarlet Contessa by Jeanne Kalogridis
  Another Assassin’s Creed inspired read. One of the characters in Assassin’s Creed is Caterina Sforza, a feisty independent and often crude Italian noblewoman. The main character in this book is, of course, Caterina Sforza.

At the Library #4

• Bourbon Island 1730 by Lewis Trondheim and Olivier Appollodorus
  This graphic had an interesting style and somewhat of an interesting premise.
• Seven of Seven (Volumes 1-3) by Azusa Kunihiro and Yasuhiro Imagawa
  While I can’t say that by just looking at these books, they look like a pleasant manga series but I gave it a try anyway. It could be a gem among stones.
• Dramacon (Volume 1) by Svetlana Chmakova
  Before reading this, I’ve only read a chapter of Chmakova’s work: the first chapter of Night School. Her style is appealing enough, despite needing some anatomy fixes (note: foreheads) and I love giving original English-language manga a try.
• The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel by Paulo Coelho and Daniel Sampere
  I’ve always intended to read THe Alchemist but I decided that I would read the graphic novel at the moment.
• The Clique: A Graphic Novel by Lisi Harrison and Yishan Li
  Yet another manga/graphic novel adaptation! I’ve heard of The Clique. It didn’t seem like my kind of thing but it just might be in manga form.
• Oku: The Inner Chambers (Volume 5-7) by Fumi Yoshinaga
  I’m honestly in love with this series. The artwork is 100% top notch and the story telling equally as good. Did I mention that I absolutely love the time period? Because I do.
• Liberty Vocational: Will Supervillains be on the Final? by Naomi Novik and Yishan Li
  I actually didn’t notice that the artist for this graphic novel is the same one as the one who did The Clique. While the cover is sub-par, I really like superheroes in manga. There needs to more, honestly.
• Cardcaptor Sakura (Omnibus 1) by CLAMP
  I watched the anime when I was younger and I LOVED it. It was an awesome anime and as soon as I got into manga, I always said to myself that I would read the manga. Well, I’m starting now! I’m ready for heartbreak (Cardcaptor Sakura: Sinking my ships since 2001).
• Kimi Ni Todoke (Volumes 8-14) by Karuho Shiina
  Feel good manga that actually makes me kinda hate my life but is still feel good manga no matter how you look at it. I really love this series. It’s so cute and the artwork agrees with me.
• Assassin’s Creed: The Secret Crusade by Oliver Bowden
  Even though I had a couple of unfortunate encounters in the Assassin’s Creed novels, I had gone too far to back out now. Altair is my favourite Assassin, so I wish Bowden will do him justice!
• Mistress Fortune by Arina Tanemura
  I don’t like Arina Tanemura. Her art is flashy, her characters are all picture perfect (and look basically the same), the manga filled with cliches and overused tropes (read: silly love triangles), etc. But I can’t stay away from her! It’s weird. I was staring down at this manga in disgust and all of a sudden, it was in my bag as I walked out of the library.

At the Library #5

I don’t really remember what the circumstances were, but I definitely went to the downtown library from the university and back to the university again. I think it was mostly because I’ve always wanted to go the library and I had time to kill. I don’t remember what was happening that day but I think there was a presentation about software engineering.

• Over Her Head by Shelley Bates
  I had read one of Shelley Bates’ novels about a woman stuck in a cult and it was amazing. I was looking for the sequel but finding none, I decided that anything was better than nothing.
• It’s Easier to Reach Heaven Than the End of the Street by Emma Williams
  After watching the movie Paradise Now, I’ve been extremely interested/concerned over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the politics are there, I was mostly interested in the personal stories of the people stuck in this war. In this case, a woman and her family move to Israel because her husband is a U.N. member.
• Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, With Recipes by Elizabeth Bard
  I don’t know how I came to have this book on my to-read list, but it’s there.
• The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time by David L. Ulin
  I try my hardest to be a reader. Some times, I get distracted with other things (school, my web sites, YouTube, etc.) and I don’t like it. These are distracted times and I want something to motivate my reading.
• Book by Book: Notes on Reading and Life Michael Dirda
  Reading is personal. It affects people in many different ways. For some, it’s a way of life. For others, it’s an occasional and largely passive occurrence. I’m always interested in people and how they read so this book seemed perfect.
• The Attack by Yasmin Khadra
  Another book on Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but this time, it’s fiction. While memoirs have some leeway, works of fiction on a sensitive topic might be… Well… Sensitive. They need to be handled carefully. I mostly wanted to see how the author portrays the conflict and quite possibly, shed a few tears.
• Working in the Virtual Stacks: The New Library and Information Science by Laura Townsend Kane
  Yeah, I’m debating becoming a librarian if engineering doesn’t work out for me…

At the Library #6

• Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew
  A rather sweet looking graphic novel that I just had to pick up! An adorable little girl in a maid outfit? Yes please.
• Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
  The cover is really well done and I think the title and the cover is 90% of the reason why I picked it up.
• Ojingogo by Matthew Forsythe
  This looked like a cute graphic novel. Just by flipping through, I loved the obviously Korean art style.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! (Volumes 1 & 2) by Kazuki Takahashi
  Yu-Gi-Oh! was my jam back when I was in elementary school. I played the card game and watched the anime faithfully until Yugi himself disappeared from the show. I used to be a reader of Shonen Jump and bought issues solely because of Yu-Gi-Oh! I wanted to read the manga properly so here we are.
• Neko Ramen (Volume 2) by Kenji Sonishi
  A comedy manga featuring cute talking cat(s?). Yeah, I’m on board.
• Janes (Volume 1: The Plane Janes) by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
  I picked this up on an impulse. Always an advocate of English graphic novels.
• Janes (Volume 2: Janes in Love) by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
  Since this was the sequel to the previous book, I took it out.
• Amazing Agent Jennifer by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, and Kriss Sison
  A cute spy graphic novel with cute art. I like cute things.
• Ouran High School Host Club (Volumes1-6) by Bisco Hatori
  I’ve always intended to read this manga. It’s just one of those manga that everyone has read but I haven’t it. I also need to watch the anime.
• Otomen (Volume 1) by Aya Kanno
  I’ve read Blank Slate before and I was interested in the stark contrast between the two. Blank Slate is an action packed thriller whereas Otomen is a cute girly manga.
• The Faerie Path: Lamia’s Revenge (Volume 1: The Serpent Awakes) by Allan Frewin Jones and Allison Acton
  I love renaissance looking settings and I’m always trying to get into fantasy.
• Maximum Ride (Volume 3) by James Patterson and Narae Lee
  I really loved the Maximum Ride series and the graphic series is great as well. I love the art style Lee has. It’s almost like a typical American style but still has the Korean flavours.
• Witch & Wizard (Volume 1 & 2) by James Patterson and Svetlana Chmakova
  At this point I’ve read two of Chmakova’s works and although the art isn’t 100% great, I was certain that she had improved since then and that with Patterson’s usually interesting writing, it would be great.
• Mussolini by Martin Clark
  My mandatory non-fiction of the day.

At the Library #7

• The Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel
  This was for my brother. We were going out of the country and he had a book report due for when we get back so yeah.
• Witch & Wizard by James Patterson
  After reading the first two graphic adaptations, I definitely wanted to the read the actual novels.
• A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix
  Another book for my brother. Le sigh.

At the Library #8

• The Borgia Betrayal & The Borgia Mistress by Sara Poole
  I liked the first book in this trilogy/series and I like finishing what I start.
• Kalila by Rosemary Nixon
  I definitely maybe took this out on a whim. I haven’t read it yet so we’ll see if I made a good decision.
• The Rights Revolution by Michael Ignatieff
  Once again, another book I took out on impulse. My non-fictional fix for this checkout.
• Cardcaptor Sakura (Volume 4) by CLAMP
  I’ve read volumes 1-3 but apparently I actually didn’t because I don’t remember this happening. I remember it happening in the anime though.

At the Library #9: Flashback to 2011

I was looking through some of my library receipts and saw one dated back to September 2011. It was mostly faded so I decided to might as well record it before it disappears forever!

• A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
  I really love historical fiction, especially when they feature Victorian teenaged girls. There’s something about that era that is so charming, no matter the subject matter.
• Death Note: Another Note, the Los Angeles BB Murder
  I have to admit, I loved Death Note. It was thrilling, suspenseful, and full of heart stopping detective work. The craftiness in the anime (and the manga, as I presume) was unmatched by anything I had ever watched. So, in hope that this would reflect that, I got this book.
• Sabriel by Garth Nix
  I’ve been trying to read this series since I was in elementary school. It’s taken a long time for me to finally pick up the book.

Vacation Reading

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Edel in Blog with 0 Comments

Last week I came back from a month long trip to the Philippines. To be honest, one of my most favourite things about traveling is the journey there. Mostly, the flight. So many awesome movies to watch, a wide selection of music to listen to (got my J-pop and K-pop fix, no big deal), and eating at those little food trays. This time was different. I brought three books with me for the 14 hour flight there. I barely touched them.

I did read them during the second week. It was getting too hot to do anything, so I sat in the only air conditioned room in the house and read. What books? I’ll gladly try to tell you.

• Assassin’s Creed: The Secret Crusades by Oliver Bowden
  I persuaded my brother to write a book report on this book and therefore we had to being it with us, as the book report was due right after we came back from our trip. I’ve been previously disappointed by the other books in the series but I found this one to be quite pleasurable.
• Norweigan Wood by Haruki Murakami
  I’ve read After the Quake and Norweigan Wood is not like it at all. If you read manga, you’ll find that it’s extremely reminescent to.
• The Hours by Michael Cunningham
  Although I have to struggle to recall what happened in this book, I do recall it being an enjoyable read. The end was very crafty. I didn’t see it coming at all but after thinking about it, I don’t know what was wrong with me to not see it.

At the Library #2

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Edel in Blog, Library Haul with 0 Comments

Okay, I’ve decided that Room 304 is now officially a book log/archive with minimal blog posts. This calls for a redesign that will emphasize the fact. Why the change? It was always my intention to have Room 304 solely as a book log. But as I heard about book blogging, I decided I would give it a chance. It overshadowed the logging aspect of the site, and I didn’t feel like I wanted to update the site anymore. So yes, a “new” focus for Room 304!

That being said, the blogging part is not going away. However, it definitely will not be frequent. I’ll just be posting the books I’ve bought and/or borrowed from the library. Sometimes I’ll do stuff like Follow Fridays (minus the following) and other memes like that but those will be even rarer. So yes. My library haul for the month!

I actually took these books out on the 9th. I’ve neglected to post about it but better late than never! I’m actually returning a few of them today. In fact, I’ve finished reading all of the books except one. Mind you, 80% of the books are manga and/or are “easy” reads.

So here’s the list!

• Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love by Xinran
  While I was doing my daily browsing of all the aisles in the library, I came across this little gem! I wanted to take it out before, but I felt like I had too many books on my plate. So I came back and got it now!
• Alcestis by Katharine Beutner
  This caught my eye right away because I really love Greek myths. Especially anything to do with the Underworld. Hades you beast. And poor, sweet, dear, precious fefeta Persephone.
• Assassin’s Creed: Forsaken by Oliver Bowden
  As soon as I realized that the library actually had Assassin’s Creed books, I had to grab them! I’ve heard about this book among the fandom and a lot of people love it. Mostly because Haytham is in it? Seeing as how it’s a journal of pretty much his entire life, I was intrigued. I also can’t bear to miss any piece of canon media.
• Assassin’s Creed: Renaissance by Oliver Bowden
  Saw this one right next to Forsaken. No regrets.
• Kimi Ni Todoke (Volumes 1-7) by Karuho Shiina
  This series has been on my to-read list for the looongest time. It’s almost been over three years, actually! I’ve put it off because it’s licensed in English (I know, I’m horrible). As soon as I saw several volumes starting from the very beginning, I grabbed them all.
• Cirque du Freak (Volumes 8-12) by Darren Shan and Takahiro Arai
  Okay, I’ve been reading this series for around two years. These are the final volumes. I just have to finish what I started!
• The Limit (Volumes 1 & 2) by Keiko Suenobu
  I’m a big fan of Keiko Suenobu. I’ve read most of her series, Life and a couple of her works. I’ve always had a soft spot for over dramatic high school kids. On a more serious note, Suenobu loves to focus on bullying and I just love the awareness she’s trying to spread. She’s always a good read!

Reading Week (AKA I’m Reading Week)

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Edel in Blog with 0 Comments

I went to the library last Saturday! Quite fitting because it is reading week at university. I’m probably the only one who takes the “reading” in reading week seriously… Anyway, here is my library haul this week in order of the books I remember first:

• French Milk by Lucy Knisley
  I’m always a sucker for personal memoir-like graphic novels. The cover is just too charming to not want to read it!
• Negima! (Volume 1) by Ken Akamatsu
  The name sounded familiar so I though, why not? I picked it up. Turns out Akamatsu is the mangaka for Love Hina. I predict boobs.
• Pure by Timothy Mo
  Not going to lie, the cover is what did it for me. So pure.
• I Shall Not Hate by Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish’s
  Apparently this has been on my to read list for a while. I don’t know how or why but it’s been on there! So I finally decided to get it.
• The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
  I’ve been looking for a book I once read in elementary. This is a possible candidate for said book.
• The Selector of Souls by Shauna Singh Baldwin
  My library was doing a blind date with a book thing. I thought it would be about tapestries. It’s actually about India. Close enough.
• Daughter of Xanadu by Dori Jones Yang
  Another one that’s been on my to read list for a while.

Books that I still need to add to the log:

• Moon Boy (Volume 4)
• Moon Boy (Volume 5)
• Josephine: A Life of the Empress
• The Case for God
• A whole load more of books…

I recently got back into reading online web comics… That was definitely not a good idea…

The Best Thing About Being 18

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Edel in Blog with 0 Comments

… Is getting an adult library card. I’m not even joking. I detested the teen library card. It was too “hip” for me. So I rather like my simplistic and pretty white adult library card. The bad thing is that I have to memorize a new card number. I’m horrible at memorizing numbers. Although the number for my new card has bits and pieces of my address and home phone number so I reckon it’s not that bad.

And so I made my first library haul of the year with my shiny new library card! It took me an hour because I was pressed for time and with the fact that I probably won’t have too much time for reading. I finished the graphic novel in a jiffy though.

In case you can’t read the books in the picture, the books I got were:

• At a Crossroads by Kate T. Williamson
• The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Wind by Fuyumi Ono
• The Case for God by Karen Armstong
• Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong
• A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong

I started reading “The Case for God” first, mostly because I don’t want to find myself 2 days before the due date and finding myself just starting it. Although on second thought I just might read the shorter ones first, but I’ll see what happens.

As you can tell, I’m a big fan of Karen Armstrong. I’ve read her memoir, “Through the Narrow Gate,” and watched her prize winning TED talk, “The Charter for Compassion” and loved both of them. I can’t wait to dig into my first reads of 2013!