My January and February Reading

Stuff I read in January is introduced to you by Dankie!

Fuyumi Soryo “Mars” vol. 10-15 [Japan] 

Terry Pratchett “Hogfather” [UK]

Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) “Career of Evil” [UK] 

Mars

I didn't want for this manga to end. Very, very good story!

Hogfather

“Susan had never hung up a stocking. She'd never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn't that her parents didn't believe in such things. They didn't need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn't.”

Christmas fun in Discworld! 

Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3)

“When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg.

Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.”

Welp this wasn't a cheerful reading! But despite the darkness, the book left a good aftertaste. Also, I adore Robin and Cormoran. : 3

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Stuff I read in February is introduced to you by Tonttu Family!

Saladin Ahmed “Throne of the Crescent Moon” [USA] 

Ales Kot “Wolf. Volume 1: Blood and Magic” [Czech Republic, USA] 

Cherie Priest “Maplecroft” [USA] 

Liquid City, Vol. 1 [Southeast Asia] 

Zhao Yinong, Pan Yuanyuan “Panda's Adventure in the Crystal Valley of Lapland” (Pandan seikkailu Lapin Jäälaaksossa / 熊猫明明拉普兰冰谷历险记) [China, Finland] 

Agatha Christie “The Sittaford Mystery” [UK] 

Poetry:

Kanchenjunga by Ajapa Sharma

Not With Flowers by Deepthi Gopal [UK]

Gorgon Girls by Saira Ali [USA]

Two Children by Tendai Rinos Mwanaka [Zimbabwe]

In the Courts of the Khan by Lisa Bao [Canada]

uprooted by Kit Hamada [USA]

The Hawk-Woman's Prophecy by Kavitha Rath [USA]

Throne of the Crescent Moon

“The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings.”

Arabic fantasy full of magic and adventure!

Wolf. Volume 1: Blood and Magic

“Los Angeles, California: Antoine Wolfe, a hard-boiled paranormal detective with a death wish, has to cope with sudden responsibility for an orphaned teenage girl who might be the key to the impending apocalypse. The road to hell and back begins.”

A confusing story but with memorable characters.

Maplecroft

“The people of Fall River, Massachusetts, fear me. Perhaps rightfully so. I remain a suspect in the brutal deaths of my father and his second wife despite the verdict of innocence at my trial. With our inheritance, my sister, Emma, and I have taken up residence in Maplecroft, a mansion near the sea and far from gossip and scrutiny.

But it is not far enough from the affliction that possessed my parents. Their characters, their very souls, were consumed from within by something that left malevolent entities in their place. It originates from the ocean’s depths, plaguing the populace with tides of nightmares and madness.

This evil cannot hide from me. No matter what guise it assumes, I will be waiting for it. With an axe.”

Wow! Two sisters, a scientist and a warrior, fighting supernatural evil in a beautifully written novel.

Liquid City, Vol. 1  

“Volume One features Robots, Monkey Kings and Giant Whales, bringing together artists and writers from South-east Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, as well as collaborators from beyond the region.”

Very diverse art styles, not a single story looks like another.

Panda's Adventure in the Crystal Valley of Lapland

Cute children's story about panda's adventures in the heart of Lapland!

The Sittaford Mystery

“M-U-R-D-E-R. It began as an innocent parlor game intended to while away the hours on a bitter winter night.

But the message that appeared before the amateur occultists at the snowbound Sittaford House was spelled out as loud and clear as a scream. Of course, the notion that they had foretold doom was pure bunk. Wasn't it? And the discovery of a corpse was pure coincidence. Wasn't it? If they're to discover the answer to this baffling murder, perhaps they should play again. But a journey into the spirit world could prove terribly dangerous-especially when the killer is lurking in this one.”

She placed so many hints and I didn't guess the murdered, and now it seems so obvious in retrospect. Agatha Christie knew how to trick her readers well. ^^

A quote:

“And when you are painting the garden furniture, there is no need to paint your face as well. It doesn't improve it and it wastes the paint.”

“Sorry, Aunt Caroline.”

>o<