RELEASE: A SEQUEL TO MY FAVORITE BOOK

Hi, it's been a while. I'm reading Emma. Well, I've been "reading" it for around 4 months and haven't made any progress. I'm fine; how are you? 

BARAKAMON

A lot of anime/manga content on the blog lately... Sorry to the six people who read my blog if you're not into this content. (If I don't share my new posts on social media, which I haven't been doing, I get six consistent views, so thank you to the loyal six.)

ALL THE ANIME I WATCHED THIS SUMMER

WOLF GIRL AND BLACK PRINCE

I tried watching this anime before but stopped because it was too cringe. I felt the same when I watched it again. I powered through, and I still do not like it. Everyone talks about this character's marvelous character transformation, but that's most evident in the manga, and I don't want to read it. Neither the art nor the story stood out to me. 

KOIKIMO

SO I HAD A LOT OF TIME ON MY HANDS...

Jujutsu Kaisen
Manga artist: Gege Akutami
Studio: MAPPA
Anime release: October 3, 2020

Genres: Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Supernatural, Shounen

Why did it watch it? I'm not entirely sure. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you like the normal Shounen tropes: the camaraderie between the protagonist and basically everyone he comes in contact with, decent action scenes, and the occasional humorous/heartfelt moment. 

BOOK HAUL

I've tried writing this post before but ended up scrapping it. Since then, I have acquired a few more books (mainly school textbooks.) I purchased most of these books on Abebooks. Please comment below if you have any other recommendations for buying secondhand books at a low price online (in the US)! Also, if you know places that sell books in foreign languages (Chinese) that ship to the US, also let me know. I will be including affiliate links if you decide to purchase.

MUSIC MONDAY

Long time no see/read. Where have I been? Online summer school to learn Chinese. How am I doing? I want to drop out. Here's some new music.

READING AND WATCHING NANA + "SPOILER"

When I ask for Shoujo recommendations, the internet always recommends Nana. I have been avoiding it like the plague because it's been on hiatus for years, and I am someone who likes to read completed mangas/stories. I decided to bite the bullet, and I have so many regrets. 

THE GOOD STUDENT: BINGE-WATCHES SEX AND THE CITY INSTEAD OF STUDYING FOR FINALS

I constantly say I hate watching TV shows, but here I am reviewing another "cult classic" show. Like Gossip Girl, I have complicated feelings. 

THE MIDNIGHT LIE BOOK BLITZ + GIVEAWAY

PROVING MY LOVE FOR PRIDE & PREJUDICE, AGAIN!

Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Initial release: July 26, 1940

    In the early 19th century in the English village of Meryton, the arrival of wealthy bachelors, most notably Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier), stirs up the families with single daughters. Among those is the Bennet family, with five eligible daughters, including the spirited Elizabeth (Greer Garson) and her pretty older sister, Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan). As Mrs. Bennet (Mary Boland) aggressively tries to pair off her girls, Elizabeth crosses swords with the imperious Darcy.

MY LEAST FAVORITE MURAKAMI BOOK

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

by Haruki Murakami

Vintage International | April 12, 1994

    Toru Okada's cat has disappeared. His wife is growing more distant every day. Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has recently been receiving. As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's vague and blameless life, spent cooking, reading, listening to jazz and opera and drinking beer at the kitchen table, are turned inside out, and he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell. 

Purchase via Bookshop (Affiliate) 

HORROR BINGE | I HATE HORROR

There are "spoilers" (I don't think they're spoilers because some of these movies have been out for years,) so beware. If you don't like horror, skip the post.

BEST BOOK I READ IN 2021

The Grace Year

by Kim Liggett

read by Emily Shaffer

Wednesday Books | October 8, 2019

        No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.
        In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.
        Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.
        With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

Purchase via Bookshop (Affiliate) 

30% ON ROTTEN TOMATOES DIDN'T STOP ME

Earwig and the Witch

Goro Miyazaki

December 30, 2020 (JPN)

    A headstrong orphan discovers a world of spells and potions while living with a selfish witch.

As someone who's done a whole series about Rewatching Ghibli (this link will direct you to this blog's Ghibli label,) it only seemed right for me to review the latest Ghibli film. I had many reservations going into this movie: it has terrible ratings, and Goro is directing... If you read my Tales of Earthsea review, you know how I don't entirely trust his creative direction. I gained a little trust back after From Up on Poppy Hill, but...

A MODERN READING OF THE ILIAD BY A NON-CLASSICS STUDENT

I still don't know what compelled me to ask my past Classical Mythology professor which translation of The Iliad and The Odyssey is best, but I did. You'd think translating part of The Aeneid from Latin and studying about Troy/the Trojan War extensively would be enough to repulse me forever; my hidden masochism never ceases to surprise me. Here are my feelings on The Iliad Lattimore translation:

THE STARLESS SEA

The Starless Sea
by Erin Morgenstern
Anchor Books | August 4, 2020

    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world--a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

    Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues--a bee, a key, and a sword--that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth.

    What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians--it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose--in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

Purchase via Bookshop (Affiliate) 

TRAIN TO BUSAN REVIEW

I find this really weird. I am a book review site, but I get more views on non-book reviews, except for my old/incomplete Raven Cycle discussion post, which for some unknown reason, does very well. How do I replicate it for future posts? Granted, it's 3 years old, but even my 4-year-old posts don't get have the same view count. Anyway, here's my review of Train to Busan.

ACOTAR COULD NEVER

A Deal with the Elf King (Married to Magic #1)
by Elise Kova
Silver Wing Press | November 26, 2020

      The elves come for two things: war and wives. In both cases, they come for death.

      Three-thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until the treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella's village to be their Human Queen.

      To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she's dedicated her life to studying herbology and becoming the town's only healer.

      That is, until the Elf King unexpectedly arrives... for her.

      Everything Luella had thought she'd known about her life, and herself, was a lie. Taken to a land filled with wild magic, Luella is forced to be the new queen to a cold yet blisteringly handsome Elf King. Once there, she learns about a dying world that only she can save.

      The magical land of Midscape pulls on one corner of her heart, her home and people tug on another... but what will truly break her is a passion she never wanted.

 Purchase via Bookshop

FIRST AUDIOBOOK OF 2021

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue 
by Mackenzie Lee
Katherine Tegen Books | June 27, 2017

    Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

    But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

    Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Purchase via Bookshop 

WHY I READ MURAKAMI + REVIEW

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage International | August 2015

     In this hyperkinetic and relentlessly inventive novel, Japan’s most popular (and controversial) fiction writer hurtles into the consciousness of the West. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World draws readers into a narrative particle accelerator in which a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is simultaneously cooler than zero and unaffectedly affecting, a hilariously funny and deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.