My August reading is introduced to you by my friend Tiny Frog!
Geoff Tibballs “Tsunami: The World's Most Terrifying Natural Disaster”
Sophia French “The Diplomat” [Australia]
Liz Climo “The Little World of Liz Climo” [USA]
Agatha Christie “N or M?” (Tommy and Tuppence #3) [UK]
Moto Hagio “A Drunken Dream and Other Stories” [Japan]
The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: A photojournalistic account of the first 10 days of the disaster [Japan]
Tsunami: The World's Most Terrifying Natural Disaster
and The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
☆ I needed these for research for one of my stories. Tsunami doesn't play a central role there but I needed to know more about it for reasons. Fascinating information and tragic stories...
The Diplomat
“Royal Envoy Rema is determined to broker a successful marriage between her master, Emperor Ormun, and a young princess of neighboring Danosha. The Danoshans need protection and Ormun wants their unwavering loyalty. The sanctity of a royal wedding would resolve many diplomatic issues.
Upon arriving in the Danoshan court, Rema does not discover a biddable young princess in awe of the high honor being accorded to her and her family. Princess Elise instead proves a woman of many surprises.
As her acquaintance with Elise grows, Rema’s arguments for the common sense of the marriage sound weak even to her own ears. Her duty is clear, and what belongs to her master cannot ever be hers…”
☆ A diverse fantasy/romance novel with queer characters! If you're tired of same old pseudo Medieval Europe fantasy books, this is a story for you.
Full review to follow soon!
Quotes from The Diplomat:
“My father was a poet,” Rema said. “He told me that the gods give every poet a riddle, and they must devote their lives to solving it. His riddle was peace. He believed that some day the world would no longer know war and suffering. He tried to describe how that might feel to evoke an understanding of peace so powerful that it could become real. He dreamed that anyone who heard his poems would never raise a hand in anger again.”
“I remember how proud I was the day I first donned my uniform. Back then, the imperial tailor was scandalized at the thought of fitting trousers to a woman. He offered to make me a skirt, so I offered to make him a eunuch. I got my trousers. Tell me, does he still grumble?”
The Little World of Liz Climo
“Artist Liz Climo has created a charmingly quirky animal kingdom, a place where grizzly bears, porcupines, rabbits, and anteaters all grapple with everyday life with wit and humor. Through her comics, we make unexpected yet wise discoveries: how armadillos make fast-and-easy Halloween costumes, how dinosaurs deal with their inquisitive children, or the ingenious ways that animal friends can work together to ensure their juice is always freshly squeezed.”
☆ Very cute! You can check her art here.
N or M? (Tommy and Tuppence #3)
“This novel, set during World War II, sees Tommy and Tuppence Beresford appointed as spies by the intelligence service. Their mission: to seek out the Nazis in disguise, a man and a woman from among the colourful guests at a seaside hotel.”
☆ My honeys Tommy and Tuppence strike again! I liked both the mystery itself and the characters.
Quotes from N or M?
“You know,” said the young man with enthusiasm “I think you're splendid, simply splendid.”
“Cut out the compliments,” said Tuppence. “I'm admiring myself a good deal, so there's no need for you to chime in.”
XDDD
“I have often noticed that being a devoted wife saps the intellect,” murmured Tommy.
“And where have you noticed that?” demanded Tuppence.
“Not from you, Tuppence. Your devotion has never reached those lengths.”
“For a man,” said Tuppence kindly, “you don't really make an undue fuss when you are ill.”
>u<
A Drunken Dream and Other Stories
“Forty years ago, the legendary manga artist Moto Hagio reinvented the shōjo (girl's comics) genre with an ongoing series of whip-smart, psychologically complex, and tenderly poetic stories. Here now, in English for the very first time, as the debut release in Fantagraphics Books' ambitious manga line of graphic novels, are ten of the very best of these tales.
The work in A Drunken Dream and Other Stories spans Hagio's entire career, from 1970's "Bianca" to 2007's "The Willow Tree," and includes the mind-bending, full-color title story; the famously heartbreaking "Iguana Girl"; and the haunting "The Child Who Comes Home"–as well as "Autumn Journey," "Girl on Porch With Puppy," the eerie conjoined-twins shocker "Hanshin: Half-God," "Angel Mimic," and one of the saddest of all romance stories, "Marié, Ten Years Later."
A Drunken Dream and Other Stories is supplemental with a feature-length interview with Hagio, where discusses her art, her career, and her life with the same combination of wit, candor, and warmth that radiates from every panel of her comics.”
☆ Wow these stories are so sad and touching! And the art is very very beautiful.
Pretty @o@
Sorry for posting this so late! >o<;; September reading will be posted soon too.
Those seem to be interesting books!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your writing. :)
Thank you! ^u^
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