laceblade

• What are you currently reading?
Cross Game, volume 7. Almost done?!

A Woman Wrapped in Silence - I've mentioned this before, basically the all-in-verse fic about Mary. In the passages I read over the weekend, Jesus was born - yay!
I'm not sure how I'll feel about this long-term. As implied by the title, it's basically about the silence/mystery surrounding Mary during moments of high emotion/drama. It's not really compelling to me for a woman's silence to be the most important thing about her, ;p


• What did you recently finish reading?
Basara, volumes 25-27 - Wow, the end! Yumi Tamura really knows how to pull all her threads together. As for the past/future after-stories, I really only cared for the ones about Sarasa & Shuri and the one about Hayato (OMG HAYATO). Someone should write a paper about how Sarasa views her own gender, kthx.
I just really loved this series. Definitely one of my favorites. I'll now spend my life hunting for these volumes in used bookstores!
Maybe now I'll read her current series, 7 Seed, like all the cool kid?? It's only available to me in scanlation format, though, & I vastly prefer reading manga in paper format. Before switching to another apocalyptic one, I'd like to finish some other things I have downloaded, like Gokinjo Monogatari.

Cross Game, volume 6 - Still gr9. I was wary about Akane at first, but I like her quite a bit.

The Last of Us #4 (final) - this was good, although as predicted, now I just want to play the video game for which this mini-series is a prequel. Unfortunately, it's for the PS3. Who knows, maybe I'll get a PS3 after the PS4 comes out & there's a price drop?? WE'LL SEE. I just love Faith's art. I'll read any story she's drawn/written. Post-apocalypse is so much the better. I'm glad I read this mini-series!

Mara #5 - That's how it ends?? Meh. I won't be keeping these issues, so look for my upcoming "take my stuff" post, because my current paper grocery bag marked "sell" is full ;)

Buffy, season 9 #23/24 (The Core, parts 3 & 4) - I love that Spike has Xander entered in his phone as "Wanker," :*) UMM THESE WERE INTENSE BUT I DON'T HAVE MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THEM?! The final issue comes out today. Overall, I've liked Season 9 more than Season 8.

Angel & Faith #24/25 (What You Want, Not What You Need, parts 4 & 5) (final) - umm, wow, I just really loved Angel & Faith a lot, this entire run. Go Christos Gage for being a great writer, & I really loved Rebekah Isaacs's art, too. The characterization has been spot-on, & the emotional arc was super compelling for me (I <3 angst-ridden stuff about finding your own way/meaning in life, so ymmv).
GILES'S AUNTS! GILES'S AUNTS! GILES'S AUNTS! Also ( spoiler )
I'm sad it's over, & will definitely reread this. I loved it way more than Buffy season 8. I'm interested in the details regarding Buffy season 10 - when it's going to start, obviously, but what the partner titles will be, too.

X-Men #3 & #4 - I <3 the art in this series. I still don't know who the fuck anybody is, but I like it enough to keep going & I want to make an icon out of Jubilee working on a tablet from issue #3.


• What do you think you’ll read next?
I've been organizing/catching up on my comics (can you tell?!). I have a larger stack of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which I'd really like to read & get through, & decide whether to continue to keep it on my pull list or not.
Since I don't know who the hell anyone is in X-Men, it seems like it'd behoove me to read some more X-Men stuff -_-

• What are you currently reading?
Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh. This is the first thing I've ever read by this author. We're reading the first 1/3 of the book for beer_marmalade.
I'm grumpy that the back cover of my copy ruins a major spoiler that hasn't happened yet in the first third of this book :[ I'm glad I powered through the first multi-page info dump. I HATE STRAIGHT-UP INFO DUMPS IN SCI-FI NOVELS UGH. I probably retained nothing.
Aside from the info dumps, this novel is dense-but-great. Lots of politics & trying to outmaneuver people. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE. Also huge ethical issues to think about, like human cloning and etc. It's a great intersection of interesting things for me, & I sort of feel like this book was written specifically for me.
I wish my brain were a little more with it right now, because I feel like I'm missing stuff.

Anna Karenina - need to finish part 5 today. This book club meets in a bar tomorrow, instead of someone's apartment (ty baby jesus).


• What did you recently finish reading?
Captain Marvel #11. I just love this current story arc so much, & I want Filipe Andrade to do the artwork for this series FOREVER. Captain Marvel talking to her cat. Using assistive technology! Dealing with medical bullshit and mundane life stuff in addition to being a superhero. I <3 it.

The Last of Us #1 of 4. By Faith Erin Hicks & Nick Druckman. FEH is one of my all-time faves. I've been reading her stuff since Demonology 101 was being posted online (it's a web comic). This 4-part series is a prequel to a PlayStation 3 game that's coming out in June. I don't have a PS3 unfortunately, but this game looks really good. As for the comic:

It has been nineteen years since a parasitic fungal outbreak infected and wiped out the majority of the world's population. In Boston, one of the last remaining quarantine zones, a young girl named Ellie is being transferred to the military prep school that all orphaned teenagers must attend upon turning thirteen.

So, yeah. Post apocalyptic society with a group of freedom fighters in the background. Ellie fights hard, and also seems to be suffering PTSD. I loved this so much I immediately reread it. Very excited for the next issue, & sad it won't come out 'til May 29th. And now I want to buy a PS3 so I can play this game :3 (and Final Fantasy XIII, I guess)

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search, part 1. This picks up right where The Promise left off. (The Promise picked up right where season 3 ended.) Gene Luen Yang did a great job with the first one, & is still killing it.
We start off with a simple premise: as the gaang try to lead the Four Nations with a bunch of adults, one of the adults says that families are like nations. Zuko worries about his ability to lead the Fire Nation, given that his dad's in prison and Azula has been institutionalized. He decides to focus on his missing mother.
I'm down with finding out what happened to Ursa (his mom), but I'm a little annoyed that Zuko is at the center of the super serious plot like last time.
This series also tells Ursa's story in flashbacks, while Zuko tries to find her in the present. Grateful that Ursa is getting a lot of screentime in her own right.
Disappointed that Toph isn't around for this arc. I still feel that everyone's characterization is spot-on, as is the humor. It's like watching the show.

Mara #3 - We got a little more explanation here, but mostly I really think it'd be better to read these issues all in a row. It's getting hard to keep track of wtf is going on. This series really isn't written to be read one issue at a time. Makes me grateful for things like Saga and Hawkeye, which definitely are.

Hawkeye #1-4 - W O W. I don't even know whether I can be coherent about it.


• What do you think you’ll read next?
More Cyteen, more Anna Karenina, more Hawkeye comics.

I'll need to go buy the new issue of Saga that just came out today. The Internet says Apple won't allow people to buy it through its store due to its depiction of gay sex. They seemed to have no problem with the het sex in previous issues!
Anyway, this makes me glad to buy physical issues of comic books from the brick & mortar store a few blocks from my apartment, instead of big corporations through the Internet.