SqueakyChu Jumps Ahead in 2016 - 2nd Quarter

Continued from here.

My 2016 challenges are frogs jumping ahead in a race against the calendar. Watch them compete throughout the year!

75 Books - any books:



BookCrossing - specific categories:



Page Count:



ROOTS - acquired 2012 or earlier:



2016 Calendar:



GOAL: I will end 2016 with less than 496 books in my "to read" collection. Ha!

CURRENT TBR COUNT: as of 06/23/16: 503 books

Oopsies!

April:


Photo by Tony Alter - Flickr, CC-A

BOOKISH PLANS
1. Kensington International Day of the Book street festival on Sunday, April 24, 2016, in Old Town Kensington, Maryland, USA - COMPLETED

COMPLETED:
18. Yotsuba&! Volume 1 - Azuma Kiyohiko - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 232 pages
19. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Vol. 1 - Yasutaka Tsutsui, David James Karashima - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 196 pages
20. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 1 - Fuyumi Soryo - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 234 pages
21. Kino No Tabi キノの旅 (The Beautiful World) - Keiichi Sigsawa - TIOLI: Read a book where one letter is repeated at least three times within the author's name - 205 pages
22. Yotsuba&! Volume 2 - Azuma Kiyohiko - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 200 pages
23. Yotsuba&! Volume 3 - Azuma Kiyohiko - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 192 pages
24. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 2 - Fuyumi Soryo - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 234 pages
25. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 3 - Fuyumi Soryo - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 234 pages
26. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 4 - Fuyumi Soryo - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 234 pages
27. Yotsuba&! Volume 4 - Azuma Kiyohiko - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 200 pages
28. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating - Elisabeth Tova Bailey - TIOLI: Read a book by an author with a triple-barrelled name - 190 pages
29. Yotsuba&! Volume 5 - Azuma Kiyohiko - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 208 pages
30. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 5 - Fuyumi Soryo - TIOLI: Read a book of manga - 234 pages
31. Alex & Me - Irene M. Pepperberg - TIOLI: Read a book that gets you some JOY (smile, laugh, chuckle, bemused grin, etc.) out of your reading! - 232 pages

KEY:
* Eligible for BookCrossing Category Challenge
** Eligible for ROOT Challenge
*** TIOLI shared read
****Better Than the Movie Book Club
*****Early Reviewer

May:


Photo by Jerry Kirkhart - Fllickr, CC-A

BOOKISH PLANS:
1. Gaithersburg Book Festival on Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA.

COMPLETED:
32. Yotsuba&!, vol.6 - Kiyohiko Azuma - TIOLI: Read a manga where there is a picture of someone eating with chopsticks - 208 pages
33. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 6 - Fuyumi Soryo - TIOLI: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published - 234 pages
34. *****Tokyo Decadence: 15 Stories - Ryu Murakami - TIOLI: Read a book with a title where one of the letters is worth at least 4 points and the total number of points for all letters is at least 15 as designated in the game of Scrabble - 273 pages
35. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 7 - Fuyumi Soryo - TIOLI: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published - 234 pages
36. ES: Eternal Sabbath, Volume 8 - Fuyumi Soryo - TIOLI: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published - 234 pages
37. */**Thanksgiving - Michael Dibdin - TIOLI: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published - 182 pages
38. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes - Eric Litwin - TIOLI: Read a book about an animal with its proper name in the title - 40 pages
39. Yotsuba&!, vol. 7 - Kiyohiko Azuma - TIOLI: Read a manga where there is a picture of someone eating with chopsticks - 206 pages
40. Yotsuba&!, vol. 8 - Kiyohiko Azuma - TIOLI: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published - 224 pages
41. Azumanga Daioh Volume 1 - Kiyohiko Azuma - TIOLI: Read a book containing Murder & Mayhem starting with the first letters of Murders and Mayhem (rolling challenge) - 172 pages
42. Big Red Barn - Margaret Wise Brown - TIOLI: Read a book that has been read in the past 2 years by a student you know - 32 pages
43. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes - TIOLI: Read a book were at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet - 369 pages
44. Yotsuba&!, vol. 9 - Kiyohiko Azuma - TIOLI: Read a manga where there is a picture of someone eating with chopsticks - 224 pages
45. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 1 - 四月は君の嘘 1 - Hiromu Arakawa - TIOLI: Read a book featuring a religious ascetic, such as a monk or a nun - 192 pages
46. A Fighting Chance - Elizabeth Warren - TIOLI: Read a book were at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet - 365 pages
47. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 2 - 四月は君の嘘 2 - Hiromu Arakawa - TIOLI: Read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water (mist) - 192 pages
48. Memoirs of an American Gypsy - Reece Gesumaria - TIOLI: Read a book which has a word in the title indicating a place where a large amount of people meet - 244 pages
49. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 3 - 四月は君の嘘 3 - Hiromu Arakawa - TIOLI: Read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water (mist) - 192 pages
50. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 4 - 四月は君の嘘 4 - Hiromu Arakawa - TIOLI: Read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water (mist) - 202 pages
51. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 5 - 四月は君の嘘 5 - Hiromu Arakawa - TIOLI: Read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water (mist) - 192 pages
52. We're Going On a Lion Hunt - Margery Cuyler - TIOLI: Read a book where at least one character on the cover is wearing a head covering - 30 pages

KEY:
* Eligible for BookCrossing Category Challenge (May - A book with multiple journalers)
** Eligible for ROOT Challenge
*** TIOLI shared read
****Better Than the Movie Book Club
*****Early Reviewer

June:


Photo by Dave Huth - Flickr, CC-A

BOOKISH PLANS:
1. A BookCrossing Meet-up scheduled For Sunday, June 12, 2016 - Location TBD

COMPLETED
53. The Story of Saiunkoku, volume 1 - Sai Yukino - TIOLI: Read a book for which you have a specific reason to read it - 172 pages
54. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 6 - 四月は君の嘘 6 - Hiromu Arakawa - TIOLI: Read a YA or children's book by an author who doesn't share your nationality (Japanese) - 198 pages
55. **/*** The Danish Girl - David Ebershoff - TIOLI: Read a book with a happy individual on the front cover - 270 pages
56. Diary of a Mad Old Man - Junichiro Tanizaki - TIOLI: Read a book with something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!" - 177 pages
57. Midnight on the Moon - Mary Pope Osborne - TIOLI: Read a book where the author's first or last name begins with a letter that is one of your father's initials - 70 pages

KEY:
* Eligible for BookCrossing Category Challenge (June - a nonfiction book)
** Eligible for ROOT Challenge
*** TIOLI shared read
****Better Than the Movie Book Club
*****Early Reviewer

Hi Madeline. I hope all is well with you.

Hi Linda,

I've been busy with grandchild babysitting but everything is well. Greetings to you!

Hi Madeline! We didn't time our new threads very well, did we? It seems touchstones are down until tomorrow at the earliest. I started a new thread earlier this evening, too.

>7 cbl_tn: I was wondering what was wrong! Thanks for the heads up. I always like to make a new thread for each quarter although my threads tend to be very short these days.

>3 SqueakyChu: I always mean to go to the Gaithersburg book festival, and I always forget it - thanks for the early reminder!

>9 London_StJ: It's great. I'll add the links now. Mark your calendar so you don't miss it and look for me at the Bookcrossing booth in Gaithersburg! I should be wearing a badge that says SqueakyChu. :D

And...just a note for those who attend these festivals...

My BookCrossing group (BCinDC) will have a booth at both festivals in which they will be giving away FREE books continuously ALL DAY LONG. Both festivals are FREE with FREE parking! For what more could a bibliophile wish?!

I'll be at the Gaithersburg Book festival, but I have to miss the Kensington festival this year because it coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover. Our Passover celebration is a wonderful event as well. :)

>10 SqueakyChu: Added, and alerted friends who may also be interested.

>11 London_StJ: Great! See you in Gaithersburg!

18. Yotsuba&! Volume 1 - Azuma Kiyohiko


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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With this book, I'm continuing my exploration of manga. This series is about Yotsuba, a young girl who moves with her father into a house new to them. She meets the family next door and often engages in activities with the younger two of the three daughters of that family, although all are older than Yotsuba.

This book is very cute, with Yotsuba being gregarious and mischievous. Some frames are laugh-out-loud funny. I like the characters very much, including Yotsuba who has green hair in four ponytails, her laid-back dad, her dad's huge friend Jumbo, and the oldest of the three sisters who frequently puts a damper on Yotsuba's activities.

My favorite chapter was the one called "Yotsuba & Cicadas" simply because I love when the cicadas come out in full force some years in my own neighborhood in the USA.

Rating - 4 stars

I've read four different kinds of manga now and find reading these books quite fun. The books are short enough to read at random, and the artwork is interesting because each artist has his or her own style. I look forward to reading more books in the Yotsuba&! series as well as explore different kinds of manga. I hope fellow LTers who took me up on this month's TIOLI challenge to read a book of manga found something to like about this genre. I know I have...even though this was a genre I had ignored over many years. I guess I have my oldest son to thank for getting me interested enough in this genre to try some of his own books. Now I'll be borrowing more of his books as well as looking for other manga at the public library, in my used book store, and from fellow BookCrossers.

Happy new thread, Madeline. I am in UK presently but noticed after your new thread started the old one carried on for a goodly while!

19. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Vol. 1 - Ranmaru Kotoni


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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I'm just learning about manga so this might have colored my thoughts about this book. I read it through once very quickly and was left confused. I hardly knew what happened. I then read the synopsis of the characters on the back of the book and read it through the book a second time, more slowly. I understood it better, but parts of it remained confusing to me. I have no idea what happened in the epilogue or who those characters even were. Maybe the anime from which this book was taken would have made the story clearer? I'm not sure. I'm not a great fan of time travel stories so I think I'll look for other manga to explore and leave this story for others.

Rating - 2 stars

>15 PaulCranswick: Oops! I guess I should have officially ended the old thread, but I always just do my threads in quarters of the year.

Here's an interesting note on my exploration of manga. My public library has two sections of manga - one for teens and the other for adults. Our library was recently renovated. The librarian easily found the section of manga for teens, but had a difficult time finding the section for adults. The graphic novels were bunched together with the manga in both sections. To my son, manga are graphic novels.

My thoughts about manga

I know that my thread visitors' eyes are going to start to glaze over as I continue to list books of manga that I'm reading. Sorry about that, friends!

This came about because of my older son's second trip to Japan this year. He's a gamer and fan of anime, manga, and music related to anime and manga. I wanted to see if I would like manga at all so I asked my son to lend me some books before he left for his most recent Japan trip. I sometimes also get manga in book boxes as donations to my Little Free Library. In addition, my library stocks manga both in the teen and the adult sections among its other graphic novels.

This has been a most fun experiment. I'm happy to report that I've found some quite fun reading as well as some manga that I thought was only "Meh". The books that I did like left me wanting to read more books of the same series. I think I now know what the attraction to manga is. It's very easy to read because it's visual (some with magnificent artwork). It's an introduction to a culture and language not my own so there's much to learn. The books are inexpensive (at least in Japan), easy to carry, usually limited to about 200 pages or so, and have chapters within them. They are so portable, entertaining, and affordable that they can be read almost anywhere at any time.

My most important discovery, though, is that they are not limited to teen high school romance, but have a variety of subjects. Those subjects I've read about so far in my first foray into manga included time travel, fables, science fiction, cats, children, and gay men! I haven't gotten to a high school teen romance yet (thankfully!). I fully intend to continue reading manga, but hope to make room in the future for other genres as well. :D

20. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 1 - Fuyumi Soryo


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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What a fun book! I discovered this series in the adult graphic novels section of my library. This seems to be the largest manga series so I took a chance with volume 1. I found it really interesting. The story is of a handsome young man with extrasensory perception who is nameless at the beginning of the book. He can read the minds of others and change what they are thinking. Farther along in the book, he becomes acquainted with a young woman named Mine Kujyou who is a research investigator at the Touhou Medical University research lab. What was most interesting to me was when these two characters met and how they interacted.

There were other things I liked about this book. One was the art work in which some known places of Tokyo, Japan, were drawn realistically and I loved the intricate details in other drawings. I appreciated the annotation at the end of the book which explained how translation from Japanese has to take into account cultural differences between Japan and the west. What a fun exploration of another culture. Of course, I do distinguish between reality and fantasy!

I fully intend to read the rest of this series because the end of the book was a cliffhanger!

Rating - 4 stars

21. Kino No Tabi キノの旅 (The Beautiful World) - Keiichi Sigsawa


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book where one letter is repeated at least three times within the author's name
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I wasn't really too crazy about this story. It's what's known as a "light novel". It's a series of stories about a young woman Kino who travels on her talking motorcycle Hermes. They both visit odd cities in which the residents do away with each other in odd ways. I didn't find any redeeming features to these stories. In the end, not much happened so I couldn't see the point of it all. For manga, I'd rather read the graphic novel type of story. I think I'll stick to those in the future.

Rating - 2 stars

Happy New Thread and happy weekend, Madeline.

>22 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. Likewise.

22. Yotsuba&! Volume 2 - Azuma Kiyohiko


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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In this second volume, I found myself getting very attached to the character of five-year-old Yotsuba. She's quite a character.

I felt sorry for her in Chapter 8 (Drawing) when her drawing of a lake, trees and a duck was meanly criticized by neighbor Eno's friend Miura. At least Yotsuba had others who did like her drawing...including me!

Chapter 11 (No Bother) was hilarious. Yotsuba had to entertain herself while her dad was sleeping. She decided to draw a picture of her dad on a box,. Then she added a mustache and beard to his picture. However, what she did after that had me laughing so loudly that I woke up my husband. I don't often laugh out loud at any comics other than Pearls Before Swine (drawn by comic artist Stephan Pastis) but this Yotsuba chapter was simply too funny.

I love this book...and very much look forward to reading volume 3.

Rating - 4.5 stars

Hmm?! My racing frogs seem to be lined up pretty well at present. :)

23. Yotsuba&! Volume 3 - Azuma Kiyohiko


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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This is turning out to be a very cute series. I find the short chapters about Yotsuba, her family, and friends to be very endearing. I especially liked reading about and seeing how Yotsuba with her entourage celebrated the bon festival. This book had no translator's notes so I didn't know what some of the food was. I'm looking forward to reading volume 4.

Rating - 4 stars

>25 SqueakyChu: You're way up, Madeline. My book marks aren't that high but I've read this year so many chunksters.

>27 Ameise1: My numbers are up due to my sudden interest in manga - all of which are short, quick read. They're fun, too, so no complaints here. :)

My daughter likes manga. I haven't made it over there yet...but reading some GNs!! Have fun.

24. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 2 - Fuyumi Soryo


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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In this volume, I had the opportunity to meet the creepy Isaac who is even stranger than his clone. I'm still trying to decide for sure who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. I'm not sure I trust everyone who seems "good", but I'm having fun with this particular manga series. There is one particular thing that draws me to the art work in this volume (and in this series) more than anything else. It's the staring eyes of the main characters. These are a very well drawn and an important attribute and part of the story. I am very much looking forward to reading volume 3. Rather than a page turner, this series has been turning into a book mover. Haha!

Rating - 4 stars

>29 Berly: I'm having a ball! Which graphic novels have you been reading?

I see you're reading The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with The Sea by Yukio Mishima. I saw that as a movie many, many years ago, but I remember none of it. I love reading works by this author. I've read three of his works so far, but I hope to read more. My favorite of his novels was Confessions of a Mask.

I put many of my thoughts about reading manga here.

25. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 3 - Fuyumi Soryo


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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Well, I wasn't planning to read through this series quite so quickly, but the story is compelling. In this chapter, Dr. Mina Kujyou stays with her best friend Kimiko because Shuro is staying at her own place. Unfortunately, Shuro's clone Isaac wreaks havoc in the mind of Kimiko with a bad outcome. Dr. Kujyou is so conflicted at this point. I need to get into volume 4 to see what happens next. How helpful will Shuro really be?

This volume had some interesting translator's notes about black picture frames, the game Shogi, and Japanese bathrooms. I really like this wee peek into the Japanese culture.

Rating - 4 stars

26. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 4 - Fuyumi Soryo


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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In this volume, both Akiba and Mine are trying to understand love, but neither really have any idea what it is. I felt a little lost among some of the characters who were thugs and was not really sure what happened - other than there was mind control by Isaac. By the end of this volume, several characters died, and Akiba finally met up with Isaac, confronted him, and Isaac was injured. That scene was confusing as well. I now have to find volume 5 of this series in my public library to clarify what's going on. I thought this volume a little less intriguing than the previous volumes but I am going to follow through to the outcome of this series.

Rating - 3.5 stars

So...one of the discoveries I've made about manga is that it's not simply reading an illustrated story. It's more about following a series of stories - either with one long story across several books or short self-contained chapters across several books. It's not easy to drop those books I like and read something else. I'll probably get back to my regular reading in a few weeks, but I'm having fun on this manga tangent now! :)

27. Yotsuba&! Volume 4 - Azuma Kiyohiko


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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This book was a little less amusing than some previous volumes, but now I feel comfortable with all of the characters. I especially liked Chapter 23 (Yotsuba & Fishing) because I like to fish. It was enjoyable watching jumbo teaching Yotsuba and friends how to fish. Very cute!

I also liked Chapter 24 (Yotsuba and Dinner) in which Yotsuba and her dad go food shopping and then make a hamburger meal. The picture of Yotsuba picking up her hamburger with chopsticks at the end was funny!

I'll be very happy to continue this series. My son and I looked over some scenes from volume two tonight and had a good laugh over some Yotsuba humor. I'm glad I'm finally getting "into" some manga!

Rating - 3.5 stars

I just finished #8, Wolves, in the Fables series. Bigby is probably my favorite character in this series, and he is the star of this one, so I loved it. Glad you are getting such a kick from Manga and that you are bonding with your son over it. : )

Happy Sunday, Madeline.

Saw you elsewhere and realized I hadn't seen a thread post in awhile... missed the new thread start. I'm mostly over in the garden group these days.

>39 qebo: I haven't had any time to work in my garden so I didn't want to embarrass myself by posting there! I think I'm putting everyone to sleep by posting only reviews of manga, but I have been having fun with them, My older son brought to me tonight eight more books of manga to read. Four of them are to continue a series I've already started. As Passover draws near, I don't even have time to read!

>40 SqueakyChu: I've been semi-attending to your manga reviews, not sleepy though I confess not quite inspired to try one myself. It's sweet that you and your son are sharing books.

You haven't put me to sleep. I haven't said much but I've been enjoying your foray into manga. I think the only ones I've read were Yotsuba and I remember liking the first volume but I don't think I ever went back and read the others. Chi's Sweet Home is a story about a cat and very entertaining/sweet.

I did get pretty far into Tsubasa: Those with Wings and Xxxholic, which were interesting fantasy stories that crossed over a little bit (and it's not high school romances, like some of the others I mentioned on the TIOLI thread!).

Madeline, if manga continues to hold your interest but you want some different topics I would suggest Shigeru Mizuki's Showa series. They are well done and a very detailed and informative look at the last 100 years of Japanese history. I have enjoyed all of them.

Not asleep either, just don't know much (or anything) about manga. Yotsuba sounds like fun reading though.

> 42, 43. Thank you. I was hoping I wasn't the only adult who has found some manga to like a lot. Mary, at least read Yotsuba volume 2. it is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. I'll mark down those series you both recommend. I read the first book of Chi's Sweet Home. It's sweet, but not as much fun to read as some of the other manga I've tried.

>44 charl08:. Yotsuba, being light and funny is a good place to start.

Taking a break from manga to review a different book. Ha!

28. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating - Elisabeth Tova Bailey


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book by an author with a triple-barrelled name
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I found this story to be very thought-provoking. It tells how one woman, confined to bed and unable to tolerate being in a sitting position, draws comfort from having a land snail to watch during the most devastating portion of her illness. The snail was brought to her on a whim by a friend who picked it up from outdoors. The snail was not only a companion during the loneliest part of this woman's illness, but it kept her engaged and curious as she studied her snail and learned much about this curious creature.

As I love nature and all kinds of animals, I found reading about the habits of the land snail particularly interesting. I felt both happy and sad when the snail was returned to the wild near the end of the book. I think this story tells us to look beyond ourselves when we are in need of comfort. A lovely story.

Rating - 4 stars

>47 SqueakyChu: I read that a few years ago and loved it.

>48 qebo: It's a very special book for those of us who love nature, and I know you do.

29. Yotsuba&!, Volume 5 - Azuma Kiyohiko -


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga - 208 pages
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I'm continuing my exploration of manga. This series is what's called a "slice of life". To me, it means that the individual chapters are really not stories per se but rather a look at scenes in an individual's daily life. I think this is particularly fun with the Yotsuba series since she is a six-year-old girl, and we can see certain behaviors of young children that often are familiar to us. Some make us laugh, but other behaviors (ex. tantrums, crying to get what's wanted) might make us sigh. However, they are certainly well known to us adults.

In this volume, I particularly liked "Yotsuba & Danbo" (chapter 28) which tells about Yotsuba's visiting her friend Ena and encountering a robot in Ena's room. The robot was really Ena's friend Miura, but Yotsuba does not know this. The encounter between Yotsuba and the robot was quite amusing.

I also very much liked "Yotsuba & the Beach" (chapter 34) in which Yotsuba's dad takes her and two of her friends by train to the beach. They do just about everything I used to do at the beach when my kids were young. The last picture in the book was of everyone asleep on the train after a tiring day at the beach. I always felt the need for a vacation after a vacation at the beach!

Rating - 4 stars

>50 SqueakyChu: I took my youngest, Belle, out for food, cinema and book-shopping yesterday as the rest of the gang were in the South of the country.
She told me that she wanted to get some manga (it is the Malay word for 'mango') and I was surprised that she was preferring fruit and fibre over chocolate and ice cream. Of course she meant in books and went off to browse while I was looking at the Women's Prize shortlisted books.
She came back with a book alright in less than five minutes - The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank as she told me that she remembered going to the Anne Frank Huis in Amsterdam and this would be more interesting than the manga as she said all the characters looked like her brother. I have high hopes for the girl!

>51 PaulCranswick: Great story, Paul! There are alternative choices to manga out there. Ha!

I read The Diary of Anne Frank as a child and remember being very impressed with that book. The movie of the story was televised, and I wanted my mom to watch it with me. She refused at that time, saying she could not watch it. As an adult I began to understand why. She lost her own parents in Auschwitz and never told me anything about what happened to them when I was a kid. My mom died of breast cancer when I was 21 years old. After she died, I pieced together much of my mom's parents' story from my aunt Emma, her sister, in Israel. Now when I hear someone mention The Diary of Anne frank, it always reminds me of my mom refusing to watch that story on television with me.

she said all the characters looked like her brother.

Haha! There are some handsome young men in those books of manga! Seriously!!

>52 SqueakyChu: Belle adores her brother, Madeline.

Our family doctor when I was growing up had survived one of the Death Camps (Belsen, if I am not mistaken) but he took a different approach coming to school at least twice as I remember to relate a little of his experiences but in a profound and somehow engaging fashion. He was a lovely man and instilled in us growing up a hatred of intolerance and racism that I have tried to teach my own.

The world must really be grateful to those of unquenchable spirit who came through those darkest of days. I can fully understand your mom being too raw to sit through a depiction of her ordeal and torments - it is important though that those not so directly impacted are reminded of how easy it is for evil to flourish and to safeguard against it.

I am proud that Belle is reading it at only 12 and is probably mature enough to imagine herself in those upstairs quarters hoping against hope that she would remain undiscovered.

>53 PaulCranswick: The Holocaust Museum here in Washington, DC, and, of course, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem, Isarel, have been trying to document the stories of those who endured the Holocaust so much of what has not been spoken about in the past is archived and not lost. Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, in the 1950s, I never learned a thing about the Holocaust. It was just when the survivors became older themselves that more information was shared. It is now a standard part of school curricula. Perhaps that happened because the material was too raw years ago, or, more important, that lessons now be learned from what happened.

I now tend to be very cynical. I take the lessons of the Holocaust very much to heart, but I see such insanity in our world in other cultures over and over again. It might not be on such a large scale, but it's there. *sigh*

>54 SqueakyChu: Pol Pot, dropping chemical weapons on the Kurds, ethnic cleansing in Rwanda or Bosnia, the madness in today's middle east, weapons discharged and bombs thrown or detonated for a creed one can't decipher.
So much alters but nothing really changes.

>51 PaulCranswick: - Great story, Paul, lol!

>54 SqueakyChu:, >55 PaulCranswick: - I, too, am a cynic and wish I had more faith in humanity than I actually do. To paraphrase the philosopher Santayana, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I fear that there are more extremists today than there were back then. Back then, it seems as if it was just national leaders who did the damage. Today, any disenfranchised, oppressed group or individual seems vulnerable to being sucked into the fundamentalist or extremist vortex. It is a scary world we live in.

That said, there are always stories of hope and survival. We need to draw strength from those. There is a local connection to a Holocaust story, that goes back several years. The story is called Hana's Suitcase and, in brief, is about a suitcase that was part of an artifacts exhibit at a children's Holocaust education centre in Tokyo, Japan in the year 2000. The museum curator showed it to school children and they had any questions about the little girl whose name was painted on the suitcase. The curator decided to try to try to find answers. Her journeys took her across Europe and North America, back through some 70 years. Hannah was a child from the Czech Republic. Sadly, like Anne Frank, she didn't survive the war years. But her older brother, George Brady did. George lives in Toronto (where I live) and when Fumiko (the curator) and George connected, the story emerged. It was an amazing meeting that culminated in this book. I also saw the stage production that was created from the book and performed at a local children's theatre and it was really well done. George, his daughter and the playwright were in the audience for a Q&A afterwards.

It is great that Belle is interested in the Anne Frank story, Paul. I think Hana's Suitcase would also be a good fit for her

>56 jessibud2: It is a scary world we live in.

It is even made scarier because now any group with a bad agenda can spread it quickly worldwide via the internet and other media.

I might have to seek out Hana's Suitcase myself...and toss it onto my pile of 500+ TBR books. *sigh*

>57 SqueakyChu: - I can easily snag a copy to add to the others, for the summer ........:-)

30. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 5 - Fuyumi Soryo


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book of manga
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Okay, so this series is compulsively readable. I just sat down to read through volume 5 in two quick sittings. I enjoyed the psychological issues of this story and the uncertain attraction between Mine and Akira-san (Shuro). The uncertainty was so cute it made me laugh. Later, this story turned toward the more serious topic of child abuse.

I found the translator's notes at the end of this volume particularly helpful as it addressed the differences between the United States and Japan regarding gun control and child abuse. I very much like to learn about cultural differences such as these.

Ever onward...I'm ready for volume 6!

Rating - 4 stars

>58 jessibud2: The problem is that I already have too many books here to read. I would feel bad just putting your book on top of a very tall stack of as yet unread books. I appreciate your offer, though. I still have some unread books that you've sent me in the past. Let me work my way through those first...and see if I can now finish all the manga* series I've started.

*I can't believe that my challenge this month has created even more stacks of books to work through. Perhaps it would have been better if I ended up disliking manga. I didn't. Heh!

31. Alex & Me - Irene M. Pepperberg


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April 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book that gets you some JOY (smile, laugh, chuckle, bemused grin, etc.) out of your reading!
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This was a book that I could not put down once I started it. Because I knew from the beginning that Alex, the African Grey parrot who helped Dr. Irene M. Pepperberg with her research, was no longer alive, I wanted to find out what happened to him.

Along the way, I was introduced to two separate worlds. One was world of the investigator and how Dr. Pepperberg had to cope with the difficulties of obtaining research funding to carry on what was deemed as "off-the-beaten-track" research. The other was the world of the intellectual capabilities the African Grey parrot. Dr. Pepperberg had several of these, but Alex was the one with which she began her research and who became best-known of all her birds.

Dr. Pepperberg describes the intertwining of these two worlds in a way that is captivating, humorous, and surprising. She ends her story with a beautiful note of how all nature is connected and Homo Sapiens are really not as supreme as we would like to think.

Rating - 5 stars

>61 SqueakyChu: I've had that book around forever and haven't read it. I bet I'd enjoy it.

>62 qebo: You should read it right away. You would be amazed by it. It's a very quick read. I even stopped reading manga long enough to finish this book. Ha!

32. Yotsuba&!, vol.6 - Kiyohiko Azuma


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published
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I'm now fully at easy with the Yotsuba&! series after having read the previous five volumes. I know the characters and look forward to meeting them again in each new volume.

In this volume. Yotsuba talks her dad into buying her a bicycle, although she doesn't listen to him very well and takes off on her own throughout her neighborhood. I also wondered about another chapter in which Yotsuba's dad is helping her use a power tool (a drill). Maybe we American parents overprotect our children, but I'd be more wary of giving a five-year-old free range of the neighborhood without much oversight and teaching her use of a power tool. Even some adults can't handle these two things. Nevertheless, I do like the look into the "slice of life" the Yotsuba&! series and this book provides and wonder if this is an accurate look into the world of a young Japanese child.

I look forward to reading the next volume...

Rating - 4 stars

33. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 6 - Fuyumi Soryo


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published
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Okay. I'm still hooked on this series. It must be the mesmerizing eyes of the main characters, Isaac, Shuro, and Mine! Whatever it is, I find that I want to know what is going to happen. Shuro is being tamed by Mine who is getting into more difficulty by over-involving herself in the psychological problems of Yuri's mother. When it looks as if Yuri's mother is going to get help for abusing her child, in comes Isaac who reads her mind and causes mayhem in which two people die. This results in the end of Yuri's seeking shelter with Mine. She can't get out of this cycle of events between Isaac and Shuro even if she wants to. With both of these clones still able to read and control the minds of others, Isaac then seeks once again to meet up with Yuri. What is going to happen? I definitely need to read volume 7 to find out. What a mesmerizing series!

Rating - 4 stars

34. Tokyo Decadence: 15 Stories - Ryu Murakami


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book with a title where one of the letters is worth at least 4 points and the total number of points for all letters is at least 15 as designated in the game of Scrabble
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The stories in this collection are entertaining and striking. Be forewarned that some characters are truly dark and seamy, and there is graphic violence against women. There is enough to offend anyone, but the stories are very well told. All the characters are colorful individuals, true to contemporary Japanese society within a multiplicity of settings in Tokyo.

In the first set of stories, there is a thread which I especially liked about baseball and Takahashi Yoshihiko of the Tokyo Carp. In the next-to-last three stories, which were somewhat intertwined, there were several references to Cuban singers (Javier Olmo, Xiomara Laugart). I had to stop and listen to them on U-tube and really enjoyed doing this while in the throes of these short stories.

Bravo to the author for this entire short story collection! I've liked novels of Murakami's that I've read, but I like this short story collection the most of his writing so far. The stories were sufficiently different to keep up my interest throughout the book.

Rating - 4.5 stars

35. Eternal Sabbath, Vol. 7 - Fuyumi Soryo


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published
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This volume is the most violent and destructive yet. Isaac is mad that Yuri is on Mine's side. Yuri is distraught that Isaac killed her mother, but what Isaac does to Yuri is even worse. Now we're getting down to the basics. It's Isaac versus his clone brother Shuro.

Isaac is discovered to have a defect in which he is aging too quickly so that he turns his anger against the whole world instead of just against Shuro. Can Isaac be stopped? Who knows? All that I know is that I couldn't read this volume fast enough...and now I'm all set to begin volume 8.

Rating - 4.5 stars

36. ES: Eternal Sabbath, Volume 8 - Fuyumi Soryo


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published
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This was a great series! There was only one thing wrong with volume 8. I didn't want the story to end. However, I thought the ending was moving and satisfying, yet sad. I do hope that the author will start another series later again based on this story.

The artwork of the dream sequences and the battle between Shuro and Isaac was terrific. I really liked the sexy outfit that Mine was wearing in that sequence. Very creative.

There is so much to like about well done manga. I am very happy that I found this series in my local public library. I hope to read other work by Fyuomi Soryo in the near future.

Rating 4.5 stars

37. Thanksgiving - Michael Dibdin


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published
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This turned out to be a very intelligent, readable story. Each of the five chapters were written quite differently from each other, but, by the end, all the pieces fit together to get a full picture of what was left of one family.

The first chapter was most interesting to me. It was practically a monologue by Anthony's now-deceased wife's first husband Daryl Bob Allen. Anthony brought a gun along with him on this visit. Had I been there, I would have taken Anthony's gun just to shut Allen up. The first chapter was just that vivid.

One thing that I especially liked about this story is that I didn't know where the author was taking it although I thought I did. Occasionally the author lapsed into some beautiful prose or some creepy happening both of which just made me stop to think. I liked what he did with this story. I must make an effort to seek out more works by this author in the future.

Rating - 4 stars

-------------------

The past can't take on the present in its own terms. Anyone who's ever revisited a childhood home or a school friend knows that. But in this apparent defeat lies its abiding victory, because absence is so much more insidiously powerful than presence. Those places and people have nothing to say to us now, but they did then. We've lost something, and our very vagueness about precisely what that something is makes the brash, shallow immediacy of the present look like fast food compared to a real meal.

38. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes - Eric Litwin


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book about an animal with its proper name in the title
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I'm enjoying this book much more than I thought I would. My grandson likes it immensely, making me read it more than once in the same day. He loves when I sing parts of it as well. He himself can identify with the part of the story in which Pete the cat's shoes turn brown from the mud. The illustrations are adorable and the cat's remarks (i.e. Groovy! Awesome! etc.) are quite fun. This is a just right book for young children who love cats and are learning colors.

Rating - 5 stars

39. Yotsuba&!, vol. 7 - Kiyohiko Azuma


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a manga where there is a picture of someone eating with chopsticks
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In this volume, Yotsuba is fixated on going to a ranch. However, in the meantime, time has to pass quickly. and then she gets a fever. She finally gets to go to a ranch with Jumbo, her dad, and (Oh, no!) her nemesis Yanda. While at the ranch, she has an "encounter" with a sheep, visits some goats, and learns how to milk a cow. My favorite frame was of everyone applauding after Yotusba successfully milks a cow and she then wants everyone to show appreciation for the cow giving milk. Yotsuba loves milk. So cute!

I'm curious to know if the ranch visit will be continued in volume eight. There's only one way to find out...

Rating - 4 stars

For those of you not enjoying my manga reviews, you might be dismayed to learn that I'm in the process of getting the next five volumes of the Yotsuba&! series, either from my older son who plans to purchase them in about a month or from my public library where I have those five books on hold (the last one hasn't been released yet because it still needs to be translated into English). I'm delighted that I'll be able to get hold of them.

In the meantime, I plan to continue reading other manga, and only occasionally intersperse them with other genres. Hold on for a wild ride! Ha!

40. Yotsuba&!, vol. 8 - Kiyohiko Azuma


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published
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I've enjoyed this series enough to want to keep on reading it. I've run out of books in this series now so I'll either have to wait for my older son to buy the next five books or wait to get them from my public library. I have them on hold right now.

What I liked the most in this volume were the drawings of the typhoon. Those were simply awesome rain drawings. One of the drawings in which Yotsuba and her dad rid themselves of umbrellas reminded me of being a kid myself and running around outside in the middle of a thunderstorm just to splash through rushing puddles. I'm not sure kids are even allowed to do such things any more, at least where I live.

I also enjoyed the festival in which Yotsuba helped pull an omikoshi (portable shrine), viewed a tengu ("a long-nosed goblin thought to be dangerous but can also have protective qualities"). In this case, the tengu was just a dressed-up Jumbo. That reminds me of a time when I was a kid, and my mom used to tell me that Santa Claus and Peter Rabbit were dressed up daddies, but I didn't believe her. It was bizarre in this book to view a man's naked butt sticking out of a fundoshi (traditional Japanese loincloth/underwear") at a festival. However, I thought this festival was an especially nice part of Japanese culture to be part of this volume.

Rating - 4 stars

>69 SqueakyChu: I didn't know that he had written more outside the Zen crime series (which I enjoyed). Will look out for this one.

Hope that you continue to enjoy the manga. The joint family reading sounds great. I occasionally persuade my mum to read books I've enjoyed but she prefers to stick to her favourite genres.

>74 charl08: It's fun reading manga with my older son, but our tastes in manga differ! It seems the ones he likes the most, I like the least. :D

41. Azumanga Daioh Volume 1 - Kiyohiko Azuma


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book containing Murder & Mayhem starting with the first letters of Murders and Mayhem
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I don't care for this series at all so I'm stopping at volume 1. My older son loaned this book to me saying that he really likes the anime of this series, and I should like this manga because it's really silly. I can't keep the characters straight, except for Chiyo-chan. I like her because she reminds me of five-year-old Yotsuba in another series that I like much better by the same author.

I am missing much of the humor in this book. I don't like the four strips down because some of them carry on to other four-strips, and some four-strips stand alone. It's all very confusing to me.

Mr. Kimura is a despicable and creepy character. He's a high school teacher who gets his kicks by hanging around the teenage girls he is supposed to be teaching. Ugh!

I have to add here that this series has an extremely high rating and is mostly loved by other readers. Oh. well!

Rating - 1.5 stars

42. Big Red Barn - Margaret Wise Brown


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book that has been read in the past 2 years by a student you know
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This is a very sweet book about farm animals. It's simple, colorful, and takes us from daytime through nighttime on a farm. I enjoy reading it to my 2 1/2 year old grandson, We identify the animals we see. I define some words such as "bantam rooster", "lowed", and "bray". We do some counting together of eggs, puppies, and kittens. We also closely look at the pictures to find the field mice and to see if anyone is still awake at night. This is a lovely book for very young children.

Rating - 4 stars

43. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book were at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet
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This book is the perfect example of why I never write a book review of a book that I don't read in its entirety. I had given up this book several times as just some chick lit, but then I came back to read a bit more each time because this had been a chosen book for one of my book clubs. It honestly took me until almost the end of this novel before I became engrossed enough in this story to want to complete it. When I did, I didn't have enough tissues to quantify how much emotional turmoil it caused me. I thought I knew how this book would end. I didn't.

What I would suggest to anyone else who reads this book is to know as little about this story as possible ahead of time. The only thing you really need to know is that Louisa Clark is a hired caregiver for William John Traynor, a C5-6 quadriplegic with very limited movement in one arm only, requiring twenty-four-hour care. Then read this story...and count your blessings. Keep your tissues handy!

Rating - 4.5 stars

I gave back to my son all of the Azumanga Diaoh books without reading any more than volume 1. He laughed when I said I didn't like it. It's one of his favorite series. He did leave me with volume 1 of four other series and said, if I like any of those, he can supply me with more volumes. I'm game to try them. We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I'm also back to reading more conventional books as well. Stay tuned! :)

Happy weekend, Madeline.

>80 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara. It finally stopped raining here in Maryland, USA. Hope your weekend is equally fun.

I just borrowed another book of manga from my older son. The book is Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 1. I like it so far, and I asked my son if I could borrow more books in this series. I just learned here on LT that there are 30 books in this series. OMG!! :)

44. Yotsuba&!, vol. 9 - Kiyohiko Azuma


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a manga where there is a picture of someone eating with chopsticks
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I would describe this volume as very sweet. I especially liked the chapter in which Yotsuba goes next door to play with all of Eno's teddy bears, proceeds to convince her dad to buy her a teddy bear ("berry gair") of her own, names her Juralumin, and proceeds to carry her everywhere...even to a hot air balloon festival. That chapter was fun as well. It makes me want to attend a hot air balloon festival as well. However, I don't particularly want to get up in the middle of the night to get there as Yotsuba and others had to do. Haha!

This is such an endearing series. I'm looking forward to reading volume 10 which has now been placed on hold at my public library.

Rating - 4 1/2 stars

45. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 1 - 四月は君の嘘 1 - Hiromu Arakawa


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge Read a book featuring a religious ascetic, such as a monk or a nun (Father Cornello)
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This is the story of the Elric brothers who were injured when they tried to bring their mother back from the dead. The older brother Edward lost and arm and a leg which were replaced by steel prostheses. The younger brother Alphonse lost his body so his soul is traveling around in an empty suit of armor. Both are military alchemists who are in search of the Philosopher's stone. I've yet to learn what that stone can do.

In the beginning of this book, I thought the story was going to revolve around the theme of science versus religion, but it didn't turn out that way. I feel as if I have to at least read one or two more volumes to see if this story will appeal to me more. There is a lot of violence, but I want to get past that to see what the Elric brothers accomplish in the future.

Curious, but not overly enthusiastic, about seeking volume two.

Rating 2.5 stars

46. A Fighting Chance - Elizabeth Warren


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book were at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet
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The reason I read this book was because I've been getting overly depressed about the 2016 American presidential primary elections. As the elections have progressed, the name-calling and accusations have gotten increasingly worse. I wanted to read about a progressive politician without reading about a current election.

I loved this book. Elizabeth Warren is an amazing woman who stands for principles I believe should be the vision for my country, the United States of America. Oddly enough, Senator Warren's sentiments seem to echo exactly what presidential nominee Bernie Sanders, a Democratic Socialist, is saying, but without his repetitive stump speech clichés. I know at this date that Senator Sanders most likely will not secure a presidential nomination due to the great number of Super PAC delegates not supporting him. .

I have taken the time to look into how American presidential primaries are run and see clearly how, as Elizabeth Warren says, the system is rigged in favor of the wealthy. It gives me hope that she won the office of Massachusetts senator. It pains me to see the psychological suffering she had to endure in order to gain this office.

I very much appreciate what Senator Warren has shared with us, her readers, and wish her continued success in all of her endeavors.

"All we want is a country where everyone pays a fair share, a country where we build opportunities for all of us, a country where everyone plays by the same rules and everyone is held accountable."

Fight on, Senator Warren!

Rating - 5 stars

>85 SqueakyChu: without reading about a current election
Sigh, yes. To be fair, it's not only superdelegates. Funny, I almost got that book a few days ago.

>85 SqueakyChu:, >86 qebo: Hah, I'd recalled almost ordering then setting aside, but it arrived today so I must've clicked through.

>87 qebo: You'll like this book. It's about a woman with a normal background and upbringing, who has a normal family and who still identifies with helping others without resorting to clichés or a party line. Senator Warren had no intention of ever ending up in politics, but it is so fortunate for the citizens of Massachusetts that she did. I seriously doubt if she'll ever want to run for president or vice-president of the USA.

I personally dread having to listen to presidential campaign politics for yet another six months. I think we have already surpassed the heights of absurdity in this election cycle.

This is how Elizabeth Warren described campaigning for the position of U.S. senator for the state of Massachusetts:

"It felt as if I were running through a forest at full speed while a band of hooligans threw poisoned darts at me. I needed to watch where I was headed and go as far as possible, but I also needed to duck."

:(

>88 SqueakyChu: It seems generally considered that she can accomplish more toward her goals in the senate. Yeah, I dread another six month of this campaign too. I like the president we have and wish we could keep him.

>89 qebo: Me, too. *sigh*

Look at this!
Han Kang Wins Man Booker International Prize for Fiction With ‘The Vegetarian’

How cool is that?! I loved that weird book. I won it here on LT's Early Reviewer program. Sometimes I make the right choice! :D

Here's the book:
The Vegetarian

Alex and Me and Me Before You--You got me!!! Nice job choosing The Vegetarian!! I don't want to talk politics. Sigh.

>92 Berly:

:)

>85 SqueakyChu: What a shame Warren hadn't mounted a challenge. Trump/Clinton = Rock/Hard Place.

Have a great weekend, Madeline.

>94 PaulCranswick: She's smart. Who would even want to be president of the United States these days?

47. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 2 - 四月は君の嘘 2 - Hiromu Arakawa -


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water (mist)
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Reading this book is part of my exploration of manga. It seems as if this book is more geared toward guys because it's full of violence and fighting. The characters have more a greater sense of "super heroes" than other manga I've recently explored. I still haven't decided if I like this series enough to read it in its entirety, but the story is interesting enough, and I'd like to see where it goes from here. It is one of my older son's favorite series. He also likes the anime and video game that goes with this manga.

This is the kind of book I'd probably never have read before. It's different than American comics because, as the volumes continue, the characters begin to grow, and the reader learns about the complex history that is the background for the story. Very interesting!

One part made me laugh. It was when Alphonse Cedric, a soul encased in armor was made to travel with a bunch of sheep in order to be transported by train. "Al" was not happy about that!

In this volume, both Cedric and his brother Alphonse are severely injured and have to travel to their "mechanic" to be repaired. We encounter some nasty characters along the way, including Lust, Gluttony, and Scar. Since Edward has to be protected at all costs, Major Armstrong was appointed to travel with him. I feel as if I've invested so much time learning about all these characters and the history of the Cedric brothers, I should read volume 3.

Well, carry on then!

Rating - 3.5 stars

>91 SqueakyChu: Read an article about the translator yesterday - amazing stuff, she just decided she would be a translator and learnt Korean. Thank goodness she did too, as it seems like the books wouldn't have been translated into English otherwise.

>97 charl08: Ooops!

(I deleted what I previously wrote here as I thought you were talking about the translator for Fullmetal Alchemist)

There are so many manga awaiting translation that my older son started buying some in Japanese and is teaching himself that language to understand the books he bought. He also travelled to Japan twice this year and enjoys anime and video gaming. I think he has more friends who are Korean than those who are Japanese, though. :D

> 98 Here's the article - Deborah Smith shares the prize money with Han Kang. Was there a different translator in the US?

Man Booker International prize serves up victory to The Vegetarian
http://gu.com/p/4j92n?

Has your son thought of translating from the Japanese ? Sounds like he has the interest.

>99 charl08: No. I was confused by the books. I didn't realize you were referring to The Vegetarian and translator Deborah Smith for that book.

Has your son thought of translating from the Japanese ?

He doesn't want to translate. Japanese is much too difficult. He would like to learn more, though. He still feels uncomfortable speaking it - even when he was in Japan.

Thanks for the article. Very interesting. I thought The Vegetarian was also a good look at mental illness and how it works itself into family systems. I would definitely read more Korean-translated-to-English books...especially if LT offers them as Early Reviewers. Ha!

48. Memoirs of an American Gypsy - Reece Gesumaria


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book which has a word in the title indicating a place where a large amount of people meet (America)
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I borrowed this book from the uncle of the author. I knew the author when she was a child as her parents were my neighbors in Maryland. I'm happy to meet Reece again in the pages of this book. I must say that the cover design of this book is quite the attention-getter!

This book is a self-published book with some editorial mistakes that could use correction. Other than my noticing them, this did not interfere at all with my enjoyment of the story.

What a fun book! It reminds me of being a young twenty-something traveler myself. This book is like time travel back 40 years for me. Reece and her friend Marie traveled though different cities than I did with my own friend, but what amazes me is how similar our experiences were...chasing an Italian man down the street to punish him for his behavior, climbing to the top of a hill to explore an abandoned castle, finding friends in the middle of a vineyard... Yes, yes, and yes! I traveled once overseas alone but I never had the nerve to hitchhike anywhere alone. Some of us are more timid than Reece!

I have to say that the more I read, the more I felt a bit of apprehension for Reece. Ours is not always a kind world, but Reece is so ready to love all strangers. I began also to get uncomfortable with the amount of liquor and weed consumed and inhaled during her travels and maybe even with the episodes of nudity. Reece is a free spirit, and I do want her to be safe.

Reece has an acutely perceptive and apt way of expressing how she feels about the world around her. I love that!

"I experience a pretty intense realization that perhaps what I thought was friendship was only kind words, a shiny outer appearance filled with hot air, like one of those big inflatable flailing people you find outside of mattress warehouses."

I much enjoyed reading this book, although the longer Reece's travels went on, the more her many individual experiences seemed to blur as I was reading. By the end of the book, it almost seemed as if I were reading more of a diary rather a travel adventure.

Looking back on this book as a whole, I can see now it from two contrasting viewpoints. I remember my own carefree days of being young, independent, and a traveler. I look upon that time with great reverence and joy. I very much identified with Reece in many, but not all, of her travel adventures. As a parent, I can now reluctantly step into the shoes of my late dad who worried about everything I ever did, my independent travels included. Would I have given up my freedom to do what I wanted at that time? Never. Would I do my same travels again were I single and young once more? Absolutely, yes, because my travels were a most amazing part of my life.

Okay, maybe this book is best for those of us who once have once "been there and done that", but I love the fact that Reece was able to get that feeling of adventure so accurately down on the pages of her book. I would recommend this book highly for those whose travels as a young person are a bit off the beaten track.

Rating - 4 stars

49. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 3 - 四月は君の嘘 3 - Hiromu Arakawa


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water (mist)
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I've decided that I need to read more of this series. I like the Cedric brothers, and I want to see into what adventures they will find themselves. The book is still full of violence (i.e. fights between characters with lots of sound effects). I guess that appeals to young guys to whom shounen manga is usually directed. I am more interested in the characters of this volume. The oddest one is the pipe-smoking Pinako Rockbell who has the weirdest hairdo which looks like some kind of swollen cucumber in the top back of her head. She's an important character, though, as she and young Winry Rockbell are responsible for repairing the chain-metal appendages of Edward Cedric and metal damage to Edward's brother Alphonse. The two creepy characters Lust and Gluttony are still around to thwart the Cedric's bother's quest for finding or creating a philosopher's stone which the brothers need to bring back their own bodies and bring their mother back form the dead. I must read on...

Rating 3.5 stars

50. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 4 - 四月は君の嘘 4 - Hiromu Arakawa


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water (mist)
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I had mixed feeling about this volume. I'm not following the story as much as I would like. I'm still confused by some of the characters who look alike and am not always sure who is whose enemy. Not good as far as progressing through the series. I hope the next book is easier for me.

I enjoyed the chapter about Elisa's three-year-old birthday party because I read that chapter on my own grandson's three-year-old birthday. In addition, his dad is also a "toy maker" like Winfry. My son, a welder, replaces cheap plastic parts of my grandson's toys with hand-made metal parts. I love how real life echoes this part of the story for me.

I do like the Elric brothers and will continue to follow their adventures and their quest for the philosopher's stone.

Rating - 3 stars

>85 SqueakyChu:, >88 SqueakyChu: I'm reading it now.

>104 qebo:. Hurray! You'll like the book, I'm sure. If all Donald Trump can do to discredit her is call her "goofy"
and Pocahontas, he doesn't have much to say bad about her. She seems unafraid to take him on and call his bluff. She's also one of my heroes.

51. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 5 - 四月は君の嘘 5 - Hiromu Arakawa


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book whose title contains the word "water" or any form of water (mist)
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I found this volume much more fun than the previous one. Winry convinces the Elric brothers to take her with them as they go to visit their teacher. I like how she always teases Ed...and makes him mad. There's a ccertain chemistry between these two characters who grew up together as children but are not related.

Along the way, we meet a pickpocket with amazing automail. When Winfry sees that automail, she wants to learn how that is made. She is taken to meet the very grouchy automail engineer Dominic, but gets into his good graces by helping deliver his grandson. For a grouchy character, he did have this soft touch.

Dominic then makes provisions for Winfry to stay and work with one of his engineers. That's very nice because she is trying very hard to improve her skills. I like this character very much.

Meanwhile the Elric brothers travel on and, after they find their teacher, are left with an almost impossible task. The ending of this volume seems so unfair. These were two very young children (we've now moved into the past history of Ed and Al) who were placed in a horrendous situation. What can I say other than I need to read volume six to see what happens!

Mostly this story seems violent with everyone bashing each other. However, at times, this story can be very beautiful. I especially liked these quotes from this book:

"Try to fix whatever you can with your own hands. You shouldn't depend on alchemy for everything."

"...our souls become nourishment for the people around us, and live on through the memories of those we loved."

Rating - 4 stars

52. We're Going On a Lion Hunt - Margery Cuyler


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May 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book where at least one character on the cover is wearing a head covering
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This is a very cute book for a toddler or a preschooler. The story is colorful, with repeating phrases, animals to find and identify, children to count, and a different kind of hat to spy. There is plenty action on the pages about which to talk as the story proceeds The book is a bit scary, but not too scary. Everyone will be happy by the end of the book.

Rating - 4 stars

53. The Story of Saiunkoku, volume 1 - Sai Yukino


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June 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book for which you have a specific reason to read it (RABCK from BookCrosser GoryDetails)
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This book is part of my further exploration of manga. I already decided ahead of time that I'm not going to like this series because I don't usually like books that are based on romance. Nor do I like stories about the super-wealthy (in this case, the ruling class which includes the emperor Ryuki Shi). I am giving the first two books of this series my best shot, though, as I received them both as a RABCK from GoryDetails for winning her BookCrossing 2016 April Showers/May Flowers release challenge.

I had a discussion of shojo manga with my older son who is also not a fan, but then I realize that shojo manga is directed toward teen girls. At age 60-something, I can hardly fit that classification. In addition, I need more than romantic attraction and class difference to enjoy a story. I did some background checking and was interested to learn that this series was also a light novel, an anime series, and was the basis for CD soundtracks, drama CDs, as well as a web-based program. Obviously, this series has a large audience.

I still find it hard to keep characters straight in manga such as these. The names of characters are often very similar, and men with long hair often look like women to me. I also have a hard time keeping track of what the relationships are between the characters.

What I found extraordinary in this volume was the art work by Kairi Yura. I would love to have a coloring book of just that artist's drawing of costumes and flowers. I wonder if there is even such a thing.

The story itself is of a young emperor Ryuki Shi. The imperial palace has a librarian whose daughter Shurei, a teacher, was hired as a consort for the emperor to teach the emperor to be responsible. I think there were other ulterior motives. Maybe it was to keep him away from other men and perhaps to provide an heir? I'll have to read further in this series to know for sure. Well, I guess I'm now off to read volume 2.

Rating - 2.5 stars

54. Fullmetal Alchemist, volume 6 - 四月は君の嘘 6 - Hiromu Arakawa


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June 2016 TIOLI challenge: Read a YA or children's book by an author who doesn't share your nationality (Japanese)
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This is a really good volume because it goes into the history of Ed and Al, the Elric brothers. We learn about the trials they endured in order for Ed to become a state alchemists. We also saw what happened when they both decided to disregard the primary law of alchemy: Do NOT create a human. I liked knowing how Ed got the name Fullmetal Alchemist as well.

I've grown attached to this series because of its fun characters and story. I don't pay much attention to the characters when they noisily bash each other. That's for the readers who are teen boys and like all of that "action". As for me, I want to see how the characters develop as the story plays out.

I like how some of the mean and angry characters are portrayed artistically. There seem to be many ways of drawing this--including square or downturned mouths, bent down eyebrows, bared or jagged teeth, and/or flushed face.

I also find it amusing how many different sound effects there are in one volume of manga. I would love to hear how those sound effects sound in real life. They are are not simply "crash" and "bang".

Another thing I find curious is that the alchemy symbol is the six-sided star in a circle. For me, that six-sided star looks like the Jewish "Star of David". I didn't pay much attention to that until this volume included a significant symbol containing many Hebrew words (translated into English). I'm not sure what that symbol was supposed to represent exactly, but I wonder what it meant and how it worked its way into this volume. I'll ask my older son!

Since this series has turned out to be such fun, I'll be moving ahead to volume 7 and hope to finish the entire series of volumes that have already been translated into English.

Rating - 4.5 stars

>107 SqueakyChu: We used to do the "We're Going on a Lion Hunt" at church camp for the junior campers. They all loved it. We had them do footsteps with their arms and such. Occasionally we'd change it to "Bear" hunt.

>110 thornton37814: I learned it as "We're Going on a Bear Hunt." That sounds like a fun thing to do with my grandson who just turned three years old. I could hide a bear somewhere in the yard, and then we'd actually find one!

55. The Danish Girl - David Ebershoff


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June 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book with a happy individual on the front cover
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Greta is a woman of a wealthy California background who goes to Denmark to study art and there falls in love with Einar, a man who increasingly considers himself to be female. It is Greta who encourages her then husband to dress in women's clothing as she brings about her own artistic success from the outstanding paintings she does of him in his female persona of Lili.

This may sound like a bizarre story, but it's exquisitely written in a way that celebrates the love between Greta and Einar/Lili. As the couple travels between Denmark, France, and Germany, we fear for their relationship and, even more, for Lili's health as she suffers from mysterious bleeding episodes, becomes hauntingly thin, and endures several sex-changing operations. Though this book has a difficult theme, it is handled with tact and aplomb.

In the end, I felt that this was a sad story. That individuals who love one another have to change their station in life due to circumstances beyond their control and to endure emotional issues that are directly related to physical issues also beyond their control is distressing. The ending of this story left me with that deep kind of sadness.

Rating 4.5 stars

Yesterday, I saw a very moving fabric art exhibit at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC. Here's the link: https://museum.gwu.edu/diaspora
Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora

This is book-related because I, by coincidence, walked by the museum on my way home from a Bookcrossing meet-up. I had never before been to the Textile Museum although I had heard of it. It is now housed in a building on the campus of The George Washington University. This new museum venue has only been open since 20014. I viewed the exhibit on two floors, was very touched by its artistry and content, spent a long time talking to the docent about the history of the museum, discussed what I liked most with the women at the desk, filled in my own postcard about my family's personal immigration experience...and took home some free BOOKMARKS. :D

If you are in the area of this museum, do stop by. (Admission: $8 suggested donation for non-members. Free for museum members, children, and current GW students, faculty, and staff)

In addition, consider going to Tonic Restaurant (known for their "Tater Tots") at 2036 G St NW, Washington, DC, because it has a (Take a Book ~ Leave a Book) free book exchange shelf on the second floor.

>113 SqueakyChu: - This sounds fascinating! I wonder if this exhibit will go on tour, hopefully to our textile museum here in Toronto. I will look into it and see if I can find out. Thanks for the link

>113 SqueakyChu: The art on the website is beautiful and moving. Thank you for sharing this.

>114 jessibud2: >115 charl08: It really was a thought-provoking exhibit.

There were several things that made it extraordinary.

The first is that it was not too large so the contents of the exhibit itself were not overwhelming. I took the time to read a bit about each piece that I viewed so that I could appreciate each individual message.

The second is that each piece was so different from one another. Each piece was constructed by a different (juried) artist and spoke to me about a different issue. Each piece was also executed in a different manner.

By the time I finished viewing the two floors of this exhibit, I pretty much remembered what I liked about each piece. That is highly unusual for me after seeing a display in an art museum.

Interestingly enough, the piece that I found most moving was a rather small and kind of ordinary piece. Its message hit me like a lead balloon. It referred to the San Francisco Bay area and depicted the movement of families from urban areas to suburban areas so that white children would not have to live with "colored" children. Oh, did that bring back memories to me of 1950s Baltimore! I remembered the "white flight" of Jewish families west on Reisterstown Road so as to avoid having a black family live on the same block! "Block-busting" that was called. Of course, Jewish families lived in a "ghetto" of their own because Christian families did not want to live in Jewish neighborhoods. A riddle at that time was "What is the longest street in the world?" The answer was, "Reisterstown Road because it goes all the way from Africa to Israel."

Black women at that time were housekeepers for many white Jewish families and really beloved by them. Funny that those same families wouldn't want to live anywhere near their hired help. The black women came by bus along Reisterstown Road. I think it was the #7 bus. My parents never had a housekeeper as our family did not have much money. Blacks at that that time were referred to by the Yiddish pejorative term "schwartzes". That is a word which actually means "blacks", but it was used in a way to denote a lower class of people.

So you can see what a hornet's nest just one piece of art in this exhibit was for me! Now multiply that by the number of pieces in the exhibit. :O

I had a long discussion with two black women who worked at the museum after I saw the exhibit. I talked about exactly that "white flight" issue that I remember from Baltimore as a kid.

56. Diary of a Mad Old Man - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki


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June 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book with something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!"
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I really enjoyed reading this book. It's short and very interesting. Basically, it's the diary of a declining, aging man. In this story, he is seventy-seven years old, and his health, since having suffered a stroke, precludes him from doing much. However, he does enjoy writing in his diary. He must keep his diary secret as he is obsessed with love for his daughter-in-law Satsuko. He is always trying to entice her to be near him and to care for him away from the prying eyes of others. How this plays out makes for a bittersweet read.

I love this author's writing and, after finishing this book, quickly went out and bought another book by this same author.

Rating - 4.5 stars

57. Midnight on the Moon - Mary Pope Osborne


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June 2016 TIOLI Challenge: Read a book where the author's first or last name begins with a letter that is one of your father's initials (M.K.)
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This was a fun book to read to my three-year-old grandson. It was the first chapter book that he let me read to him. I gave him advance warning that the book is mostly words and very few pictures. I also told him that I would only read one chapter to him at a time.

He chose this book because he is interested in all things outer space and loved the cover illustration. He sat quietly and listened carefully to each chapter. After reading it to him, he said he wanted to keep this book. However, he does not want me to read him any chapter books about subjects which don't interest him. He has become quite the discriminating young reader.

With this book, I have developed an appreciation for the Magic Tree House Books and will look for others which have interesting themes.

Rating - 3.5 stars

>118 SqueakyChu: Not sure if your grandson is a dinosaur fan but Dinosaurs Before Dark held the interest of my three-year old.

>118 SqueakyChu: I love it that he enjoys chapter books, but only on topics of particular interest!

What are his preferred subjects in general?

>119 Oberon: I'll look for that one, Erik. Sadly, I had that book before, but already gave it away in one of my book projects.

My grandson already vetoed a Magic Tree House book about camels and the desert. :)

>120 _Zoe_: So far this month, his main topics are outer space and sharks. He has his own NASA astronaut space suit and a space helmet. He also loves trucks and construction.

We are actually now rereading Moonlight on the Moon because my grandson loves it so much. Today we built a Duplo model of the Magic Tree House and the moon base described in that book. He really sits and listens to the story without needing the pictures. I love it. I've always thought that pictures are fine, but I most love when kids actually listen to someone telling a story. About two years ago, I went into a children's toy and book store and asked for a book of fairy tales with no pictures. I was told by the store employee that there was no such thing. There is, though. I read those kinds of books to my kids at times when they were small.

The chapter books are so much fun because each chapter ends with suspense...and I can say, "That's the end of Chapter X" and we will read the next chapter (another time or day)!"
Is that mean? I do it to keep up his interest.

Hi Squeaky!! You piqued my interest with two of your reviews: The Danish Girl and Diary of a Mad Old Man both sound great and the Treehouse series brings back wonderful memories of reading with my kids. : )

>122 Berly: The Danish Girl was fascinating! I had no idea what that book was about before I read it. I chose it because it was made into a movie, and I had been holding on to that book for a long time. I was impressed that it was David Ebershoff's debut novel - although it was based on a true story.

I am totally addicted to reading well written contemporary Japanese fiction, and Diary of a Mad Old Man fits the bill. The only problem I'm having is finding free or relatively inexpensive copies of these books. I try to get them from used book stores or BookMooch. They almost never show up in anyone's Little Free Library.

Reading to my grandson also brings back memories for me of reading to my own kids. What a pleasure it was and is!

That was his debut novel? Wow! Never heard of the movie--same title? And I have already put both books on my list for the next time I go to Powell's, which shouldn't be too long since both Ellen and Mark are coming into town in the near future. I hope I find them--wish me luck!!

>124 Berly: You should at least find The Danish Girl without too much difficulty. Yep. His debut novel. I have to go back and reread The 19th Wife which is another good book of Eberhoff's but one I never finished because it had been due back at the library when I was in the middle of reading it.

The movie also called The Danish Girl.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810819/

Thanks!!

I just gave up on two books:

1. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami - for being too weird
2. Driving Mr. Albert by Michael Paterniti - for getting boring

I also want to give up on an Early Reviewer anthology of essays, Me, My Hair, and I by Elizabeth Benedict, but I feel as if I should read all of the essays in order to give the book a fair review. Sometimes I change my mind about a book after I read it through to the end.

I have too mamny ER books that I didn't finish through to their end yet. Maybe some day I will do that. Those books still do not have reviews by me.

>121 SqueakyChu: That's great that he loves it so much you're reading it again! And I think you're doing the right thing reading one chapter at a time, even if it's a cliffhanger. Maintaining excitement is important!

I hadn't realized quite how many Magic Tree House books there are. There's one about sharks too: Shadow of the Shark.

I have way too many unreviewed ER books as well, including at least a couple that I started but didn't feel compelled to finish.

>128 _Zoe_: There's one about sharks too: Shadow of the Shark.

I haven't encountered that one yet. I'll have to look for it.

I have way too many unreviewed ER books as well, including at least a couple that I started but didn't feel compelled to finish.

Think you'll ever get to them? I intend to do mine, but I doubt if I will really get to them. *sigh*

I stopped requesting ERs last year when I got too backlogged, but I feel guilty about the 2 or 3 that I haven't reviewed. I intend to get to them eventually, but they're low on the priority list.

>130 qebo:

I don't really want to stop requesting ER books because I do read and review the majority of them. Sometimes they have fabulous offerings!

>131 SqueakyChu: Yeah, they do. And if you're reviewing most then you're contributing more than I was to the ER program. I joined two RL book groups last year, and ER became more of a burden; my reading pace is mediocre by 75er standards, and though all of these mandatory books are compatible with my tastes, they'd rarely be top choices.

I also stopped requesting ER books, mainly because so few were available for Canada and the few that were, were ones that had no appeal for me. Anyhow, it's not like I lack for what to read! I have shelves and piles of books on the floor just about everywhere I turn in my house!

I have a few small books for you that I am hoping that Zoe might be able to take back when I see her in a couple of weeks. I hope you and your grandson will enjoy them! :-)

>133 jessibud2: Thanks! Have fun at the meet-up. It sounds as if it will be lots of fun.

>111 SqueakyChu: I've heard it both ways.

Just popping in to say Hi! Where are you? : )

I moved on to the next quarter's thread. I am here. :)