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• What are you currently reading?
Ash: The Secret History by Mary Gentle - I got this from work's library! It's the all-in-one tome, so a little too big for me to lug back & forth from work :/ I'm almost halfway through, which I think means I've read most of Carthage Ascendant. I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH?!?!


• What did you recently finish reading?
the numbness or the pain (so intense to feel) by [archiveofourown.org profile] only_because3 - Glee fic set after Finn's upcoming death (which will happen in episode 3, as Cory Monteith died), trying to explain why Quinn wouldn't attend the funeral. (It was revealed that Dianna Agron who plays her won't be in the episode/wasn't asked to be in the episode.) This is the only fic I've read so far incorporating Finn's death, & it's because it was written by an author I trust. Short, pretty good. I miss reading Glee fic, & I should read more.

Gwen Ifill book on race in politics - I ended up liking this quite a bit, although I don't have anything more to say about it than I said last week.

Basara, volumes 22-24 - I'm circling toward the end and it's pretty good?! I think I'll probably be adding this to my list of all-time favorite manga. I just hope that I can find copies of the series eventually, & buy them for myself. I assume they're all out of print -_-
The plot/etc. is dropping off a little bit for me - the intense one-on-one battles that are all happening simultaneously can be a little ugh. BUT the artwork has really stepped up its game these past few volumes. So it's a wash.

Cross Game, volumes 4 & 5 (as released in the US) - This series is picking up a little bit for me. The baseball annoys me less, mostly because those scenes go really fast! And the relationships between the various characters are becoming more interesting, especially Aoba & Kitamura. Still, I feel like this series would be much more interesting to me if Aoba were the protagonist instead of Kitamura. The occasional pantyshots continue to telegraph to me, "This story is not meant for you!"
I love the background art in this series, & also the wordless panels and pages. Scenes change by showing the readers what life in this part of the city is like, by reminding characters of Wakaba, etc. I do really like the way the manga-ka tells the story. You can definitely tell he's been doing it for a long time.


• What do you think you’ll read next?
Not sure! I'm a little stressed out at the moment, so I could see myself turning to something for comfort. But probably mostly things I've still got checked out from the library. I'll also be rereading Saga for [community profile] beer_marmalade.
laceblade: Cardcaptor Sakura, smiling at viewer, surrounded by pink. Text: RESOLUTION (CCS: Resolution)
• What are you currently reading?
The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill - I picked this up on a whim at the library. So far it's a fairly quick read & extremely well-written. I watch the PBS News Hour every evening, and I <3 Ifill. It's awesome knowing that she's a good writer, too.
This book is also helping me fill a gap in my knowledge about black politicians in the US.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Moar Basara manga (volumes 18-21) - AUGH so fun/awesome. Everything's tipping toward war & I want them to find other solutions. I liked the arc including the Purple Lady (I think?! At this point things are already hazy lol).

Ash #1: The Secret History by Mary Gentle. I'd read this post by [personal profile] starlady a while ago. On Friday evening, I found this book while perusing a used bookstore with friends, & kind of devoured it over the weekend.
It's a very realistic look at medieval war? But through the POV of a woman knight who hears a voice (which she refers to as "her saint") that guides her through battles. She's a mercenary who commands her own troops, & is a total badass.
TW for rape.

I was upset to get to the end & then find that my library doesn't carry the other three volumes in this quartet! >_<
Luckily, my employer's library has it, although it's the UK version, which is 1,000+ pages, so I might not be toting that to/from work, ^^;;
I did buy Rats and Gargoyles from her at the same time, so that may tide me over.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
WELL, the rest of the Basara series is waiting for me at the library, so I expect I'll pick that up in one swoop & plow through it, likely this weekend when I go Up North to hang out with my family? Plus other books hanging around.

Last weekend we set up a table of The Boyfriend's at the foot of our bed. My peace lily looks really handsome on it, but I also took the opportunity to create a stack of "books I'm reading right now." Seeing them all in a stack makes me want to finish them all! So maybe I'll turn back toward stuff I've started but not yet finished (The Other Boleyn Girl, the Marquez, Kokoro, etc.).

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