April reading: South Africa, birds and Japan

My April reading is introduced to you by The Bookend Horses. I read a few South African books because a certain person made me curious about that land. And reading the world is fun!

There will be LOTS of photos in this post. :)

• Suzanne van Rooyen “Obscura Burning” [South Africa] 
• Niki Daly “The Herd Boy” [South Africa] 
• Vuoden lintukuvat [Finland] 
• Deon Meyer “Devil's Peak” [South Africa] 
• Lauren Beukes “Zoo City” [South Africa]
• Aya Kanno “Otomen” ( オトメン / 乙男) vol. 1-5 [Japan] 

Obscura Burning

When I finished the book (at 10am! I couldn't stop reading and sleep is overrated anyway), I was mostly like “Wooooow” and “She tricked me!” There were hints everywhere, and I noticed some of them but didn't realize where it was going. Those writers! 

Obscura Burning is a dark science fiction story with LGBT characters. Main character Kyle is shifting between two realities. In one of them his friend Danny is dead, in the other – his friend Shira. He can't control the shifts, and they are killing him, and he might have done something horrible, and oh, there is a strange planet in the sky and the world might end soon. It's a fierce little book! This is my favourite read of April. And how could I not adore the story where such similes were used:

“My hands are trembling, the blood beating black metal drums in my ears...”

\m/

The Herd Boy

What a lovely tiny book!

“Malusi is a herd boy, which means that he must look after his grandfather's sheep and goat and keep them from being harmed on the grazing slopes. It is a big job for a small boy, but it is one that Malusi does well. Even when a hungry baboon attacks the herd, Malusi isn't afraid.”

- from Goodreads

Cuteness overload almost on ever page. ^o^

Vuoden lintukuvat

This is a book about Finnish birds with lots of photos.

My friend Pirozhok read it with me.

Pirozhok approves of this bird's roundness.

kokokokokoko :D

Real life angry birds.

Goldfinch for Agnia Tikli.

Devil's Peak

A crime novel recommended by Rurousha. Dankie! One more dark story populated by interesting, diverse characters. Devil's Peak starts with a few separate subplots, and eventually they all merge together, and things get very intense.

“A gruesome abuse case has hit the newsstands, and one man has taken it upon himself to stand up for the children of Cape Town. When the accused is found stabbed through the heart by spear, it's only the beginning of a string of bloody murders - and of a dangerous dilemma for detective Griessel.”

- from Goodreads

Zoo City

This urban fantasy novel was dark as well, I'm sensing a pattern here. :) The beginning was hard to read because I barely could understand what everyone was saying – so much slang and plentiful pop culture references that were unfamiliar to me. I was lost. But then the plot got tighter, lots of action (and blood) showed up on the pages, and it got exciting.

“Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty 419 scam habit and a talent for finding lost things. But when a little old lady turns up dead and the cops confiscate her last paycheck, she’s forced to take on her least favourite kind of job – missing persons.”

- from Goodreads

Such a cool cover!

Otomen

This manga is about boys with girly tastes and girls who are very manly (according to society's ideas about girly and manly, of course). Main character Asuka loves cooking, sewing and reading shoujo manga but hides it from everyone. Then he makes friends with people who accept him as he is, and many cute things happen. ^^

Asuka even gets rescued by a girl knight on a white horse! ^o^

Many, many adorable toys...

Even food was cute in this manga.

An obaasan for Rurousha.

Bonus! I didn't read this one but I looked at all the photos.

Michael Bright “Africa: eye to eye with the unknown”

This penguin species can found in South Africa and Namibia.

A different kind of rainbow nation?

D'aww.

New fave bird!

Stylish.