NetGalley Review Grab Bag Vol. 5 - Year End Edition

Time for the fifth edition of NetGalley Grab Bag Reviews! I am working on a deep dive into my favorite video game series but that's going to take a little while. In the meantime, I have some books I'm very excited to review. Unless something really good pops up on NetGalley soon, this will be my last review set of the year.

I received free review copies from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Title: Bruce Songs: The Music of Bruce Springsteen, Album-by-Album, Song-by-Song

Authors: Kenneth Womack and Kenneth L. Campbell

Rating: 5/5

Published by Rutgers University Press and available September 23, 2024, Bruce Songs is a complete study, and celebration, of my favorite singer.  I absolutely love Springsteen. Born To Run changed my life and I actually wrote a paper in college about what "Backstreets" means to me. Suffice it to say this book was written for me. It's an academic-level breakdown of everything you could want to know about Springsteen's work -- how the albums were put together, the historical context of each album era, and what reviewers of the time said. As a historian, I especially appreciate the historical background, which contextualizes these timeless albums with what was happening in the world when they were written. Despite all this information, it never gets dry. As I said, it's a celebration as much as a study, and fans of the Boss will love this unique look into everything he's done.

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Title: Dante's Inferno: A Graphic Novel Adaptation

Illustrators: Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi

Rating: 4/5

Published by Abrams ComicArts and available November 19, 2024, Dante's Inferno is a Dantean's dream -- a gorgeous visual retelling of the first canticle of the Divine Comedy, Inferno. The artists couldn't be better chosen, Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi worked on Disney films in the past (including the spectacular Firebird segment of Fantasia 2000) and their illustrations here are fantastic, in their signature graphite. They remind me a bit of Gustave Doré's famous illustrations, but with more modern sensibilities. I first read Inferno as a high schooler and would have loved this. My one complaint is the font -- it's nearly impossible to read and I tried viewing it on three different screens. I don't know if this is an issue with the proof provided by NetGalley or a bad font choice but I hope it cleans up by publishing because otherwise this is a graphic novel to treasure, for fans of medieval literature and expressive art.

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Title: Destroy All Humans. They Can't Be Regenerated., Vol. 2

Author: Katsura Ise

Illustrator: Takuma Yokota

Rating: 5/5

Published by Viz Media and available January 14, 2025, Destroy All Humans. continues in its second English volume (in Japan they're up to 16 volumes, as it's been going since 2018). I reviewed the first volume previously, and as a Magic: The Gathering fan, I really enjoy this series. In fact, it's my favorite new license of 2024. The second volume has more cards, more battles, and, surprisingly, some fanservice for those of you interested more in girls than Magic cards. This volume also introduces a new character and deepens the relationship between the main characters Hajime and Emi, and it looks like the rest of the series will be just as good as the first two entries.

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Title: Shimazaki In the Land of Peace, Vol. 1

Author: Gouten Hamada

Illustrator: Takeshi Seshimo

Rating: 5/5

Published by Kodansha and available November 26, 2024, Shimazaki In the Land of Peace combines action with slice-of-life storytelling, and it's a great combination. The titular Shimazaki was trained to be a terrorist and now just wants to live a normal life, working sedate jobs such as manga assistant and café waiter -- though he puts his old skills to use when necessary. The publisher's blurb calls it a "fish out of water comedy" and that sums it up well. The art is excellent and very detailed, especially in the action sequences, and it's some of the best seinen work I've seen this year. This series will appeal to fans of series like Sakamoto Days and in general those looking for a day-to-day look at a reluctant secret agent. I'll definitely look into selecting this series for our library's collection. 

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Title: Tokyo Alien Bros., Vol. 1

Author and Illustrator: Keigo Shinzo

Rating: 3/5

Published by Viz Media and available January 21, 2025, this is the first volume of a series by Keigo Shinzo. I've already reviewed his other series Hirayasumi before on this blog, and I've really enjoyed that. I like his approach to slice-of-life stories so I was interested in how he would take that theme into science fiction. Tokyo Alien Bros. does what it says on the tin, following two alien brothers as they scout out our planet from the vantage point of Japan's capital. As always with Shinzo, the art is charming and the world feels lived in, and there were parts that made me laugh out loud. It is important for fans of Hirayasumi to note that this series is much more explicit. It was a surprise to me when I saw the mature content notice on the cover and again when I read the book. Maybe it's for that reason -- the adult content feels at odds with the chill atmosphere and what I'm used to from this mangaka -- that it feels so jarring. This book will appeal to fans of slice-of-life who don't mind some sexual content and profanity in their manga. While I sound a little negative about this series, I do want to see how it progresses.

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Title: Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow, Vol. 1 

Author: Asao Takamori

Illustrator: Tetsuya Chiba

Rating: 4/5

Published by Kodansha and available December 24, 2024, Ashita no Joe is about as classic a manga series as you can get. Originally published in Weekly Shonen Magazine from 1968 to 1973, it has that early Western-influenced style from before manga developed into what it is today. This story follows Joe, a drifter, down on his luck like everyone else in the slums, who turns out to be a great boxer. The action is intense and the world is dark and grimy and the story doesn't shy away from the dangers of life as a boxer. This omnibus is the first time Ashita no Joe has been published in English and it will appeal to fans of combat sports as well as those interested in the early days of manga. It wasn't really for me but I can tell it's good. Its influence can be seen in everything from other sports manga to fantastical series like Naruto. Now having got some experience with it, I'll keep an eye out for its influence elsewhere.

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Title: Vagabond Definitive Edition, Vol. 1 

Author/Illustrator: Takehiko Inoue

Rating: 5/5

Published by Viz Media and available January 21, 2025, Vagabond Definitive Edition, Vol. 1 collects the first three volumes of one of the most highly regarded manga ever. It's the third highest rated manga on anilist.co and even from reading just the opening chapters it's easy to see why. The art is perfect -- it's realistic in a way I've rarely seen before, even in other seinen series and the action is awesome. As it should be, it's about the legendary 17th century swordsman and philosopher Miyamoto Musashi. This series will appeal to fans of both fantastical action series like Berserk and history-based series like Vinland Saga, and I'll look into getting this volume for work once it's released.

Tech Review - Onyx Boox Go Color 7

I recently found myself wanting a new e-reader and, after some (probably too much) research I settled on the Boox Go Color 7, by the company Onyx. This is my review of the reader after having it for a couple of weeks. 

This review isn't sponsored (though if Onyx would someday, that'd be cool, hint hint).

Image from B&H - 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1836428-REG/boox_opc1210r_7_go_color_e_reader.html

Even though (or probably because) I'm used to reading on my phone screen, I wanted an e-ink display. While most tablets have a clear, glassy, LCD color display, e-readers are known for having basic, black and white screens. While they look dull next to an iPad, e-ink displays have the benefit of looking much like real paper, making them easier on the eyes. This is what I wanted the most. 

I initially looked into getting a Kindle, but for two reasons decided against it -- Libby and Hoopla. I read a lot on these library apps and Kindles don't let you download any apps or use any services other than the proprietary Kindle system (Libby can work with Kindle, but it's a workaround). The Boox tablets, in contrast, are full Android tablets, and the Color Go 7 runs Android 12. The Google Play Store is included and allows the user to install any Android app (though I wouldn't try running games like Genshin Impact), including library apps like Libby, Hoopla, and Flipster; as well as other e-book apps like Kindle and Kobo; and manga and webcomic apps. This gives me the flexibility of reading I wanted -- I like manga (no kidding) and I especially use Hoopla, so being trapped in one ecosystem to me is a waste of the resources e-publishing can offer.

A book in the Kindle app

Besides any e-reader app you could want to install, Onyx has its own reading program, BOOX Neo Reader, as well as a built-in storefront made up of free public domain books from Project Gutenberg. It's just public domain texts and the categories are a little janky (it put Jack London's White Fang under, inexplicably, fanfiction). I imagine most readers will add their own books or use apps like Kindle and Libby rather than this store. Books can also be added via cloud services like Google Drive, Zotero, and Dropbox, as well as several Chinese services such as Youdao Note and Baidu Cloud. 

Anyone else reading Dan Da Dan?

The Go Color 7 has a 7 inch color e-ink Kaleido 3 display, with a density of 300 ppi for black and white and 150 ppi for color. Colors are muted, unlike the vibrancy you'd expect from an LCD screen like on an iPad. I would liken the visual feel of the screen to roughly that of newsprint. This is not an issue for reading text or manga, but for manwa, webcomics, and Western graphic novels this may be a dealbreaker. (Don't know what manwa is? Take a look at my previous post to find out!)

The MANGA Plus app, demonstrating the color e-ink screen

The unit has a 2.4 Ghz octa-core processor, which is definitely enough to handle the daily work of an e-reader. As I said before, it's not going to be your new streaming or gaming device, but it does what it needs to do well. In fact, I've noticed it downloads apps from the Play Store quite quickly. It's certainly faster than my old 2017 Kindle Fire. It has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB storage, which can be expanded with a micro SD card. Audiobooks can be listened to via the built-in speakers or via Bluetooth, though I'll keep using my phone for audiobooks.

My current lockscreen - Edward Gorey

Customization is limited, but possible. You can set your own lockscreen and power off display. This is far nicer than the Kindle's omnipresent ad screens -- one of the reasons I was tired of my Fire was the ads -- especially the lockscreen, which you have to pay to remove.

The build quality is good. I've heard complaints that the back, which is textured, feels cheap, but since I keep mine in a case I haven't noticed anything. Having the page turn buttons is really nice, even if there are only a few apps the work with -- they work with the built-in reader, Kindle, and Libby, but not Hoopla or MANGA Plus, but that's an issue for the app developers, rather than the hardware. The 7 inch screen is just the perfect size for reading, and the unit as a whole feels really nice in the hand. 

After spending a few weeks with the Boox Go Color 7, I like it a lot. It's as flexible in its apps as any Android device, and it feels great to hold and look at. It won't replace your smart phone or tablet in everything but it doesn't need to -- all it needs is to be a solid e-reader.

Manga and Its Cousins - An Introduction to the Art of Asian Comics and Novels

Recently one of my coworkers asked something relating to book formats: What is a light novel? This got me thinking that a great idea for a post would be an introduction to formats like manga, its cousins manwa and manhua, and the aforementioned light novels. This can be confusing for newcomers, especially librarians and patrons encountering these differences for the first time. So here's a quick rundown of the comic formats of manga, manwa (as well as webtoons), manhua, and the novel format light novel.

Welcome to the manga section

Manga

Dinosaur Sanctuary, Vol. 5

Manga (漫画) is a Japanese word meaning "whimsical pictures" and is used to describe comics originating in Japan. Manga is read from right to left, with spines on the right side of the book. This is because manga follows the tradition of writing text vertically rather than horizontally (horizontal written books are read left to right). Manga is traditionally published in an anthology magazine, like the famous Weekly Shōnen Jump, published by Shueisha, with a new chapter in each issue. After so many chapters have been published, they're collected in volumes called tankōbon, much like how American comics are often published in short issues and then gathered into graphic novels, often as trade paperbacks. Manga is generally published in black and white (if color is used, it's usually reserved for just a few pages) and is known for its stylized art, though some series, especially those aimed at adults, use more realistic art. Popular manga are often made into anime.

To the right and below are examples of manga, using the seinen (adult male target audience) series Dinosaur Sanctuary by Itaru Kinoshita. 

Dinosaur Sanctuary vol. 5. Notice that the dialog and pages read from right to left.

Manwa

The Hellbound

Manwa (만화) is the Korean word for comics, coming from the same linguistic root as manga. Despite being influenced by Japanese manga, manwa has its own style. Manwa tends to be in color and is read from left to right, like an English book, because Hangul, the Korean alphabet, is read left to right like English. While manga is often very stylized, manwa is often more realistic. While its start was in print media, today manwa is largely an online format, with collections like manga's tankōbon being published physically. Many manwa are published on websites and apps like WEBTOON, Tapas, and Manta. Just like how many popular manga are made into anime, popular manwa are often made into TV series-- often live action K-dramas. 

To the right and below are examples from the one manwa I was able to get my hands on today -- The Hellbound by Yeon Sang-Ho and Choi Gyu-Seok. Of course it's black and white rather than color.

The Hellbound. Notice how this book reads left to right, and how the illustrations are more realistic than the manga example.

Webtoons

A webtoon on the platform Naver WEBTOON,
displayed on a color e-reader, in Korean.

In the section above I mentioned that many manwa are initially webtoons. Webtoons (웹툰) are online comics that are generally designed for reading on devices like smart phones. Panels are laid out in vertical format to allow easy scrolling. Since they're published online, they're in color. The most popular site/app for webtoons is WEBTOON, owned by the South Korean company Naver. While not all webtoons on the English app are originally Korean (for example, the English-language Lore Olympus, by an author from New Zealand), a good number are. Popular webtoons often get turned into physical manwa, which are reformatted to flow better as printed books. Thanks to the ease of online distribution, webtoons and manwa have become popular outside of Korea, especially in the United States

Manhua

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, vol. 1

Moving over to China we have manhua (traditional: 漫畫, simplified: 漫画). Manhua has also been growing in popularity in recent years, though it's not yet reached the height of manga or manwa. Like manwa, manhua often starts online on sites like Douban and Weibo. Manhua art tends to be realistic rather than stylized and in full color. They generally are oriented left to right, following the way modern simplified Chinese is read. Popular series have been turned into live-action TV series, or animation called donghua (which means animation in general, but outside of China specifically means Chinese animation, much like how anime is used to mean Japanese animation). My example to the right and below is the popular series Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, which began as a webnovel (later printed physically) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and has since become a manhua, a donghua, and a live-action TV series.

A page from Grandmaster. Note the left-to-right speech bubble orientation.

Two light novels in our collection: Spy x Family: Family Portrait 
and Reincarnated As the Last of My Kind

Light Novels

Light novels (ライトノベル), abbreviated LN, are a kind of novel from Japan. I've heard them described as "like manga, but with fewer pictures/more words." This is incorrect. They're a specific format of novel, rather than sequential art like manga. They're short, usually
about 50,000 words, and have a few illustrations -- often one per chapter. They're generally targeted at young audiences -- teens and young adults. Some light novels began as webnovels, published online -- for example, the popular series Sword Art Online began life as a webnovel before being published physically as a light novel (and receiving manga and anime adaptations). Other light novels are spinoffs of already existing media, auch as Spy x Family: Family Portrait, which is a companion to a popular manga/anime series. Light novels are also infamous for often having very long titles that summarize the plot -- for example, I Parry Everything: What Do You Mean I'm the Strongest? I'm Not Even an Adventurer Yet! is a title of one series.

Reincarnated As the Last of My Kind is a light novel, so instead of sequential art and speech bubbles, it reads like any other standard novel.

Hopefully this introduction helps anyone who has come across requests for light novels, or has wondered what the difference between manga and manwa is. Feel free to post any questions you may have, I'm my library's selector for these formats.

NetGalley Review Grab Bag Vol. 4

 I need to stop apologizing for making so many of these review posts and just own them. I have a lot to review so we might as well get started. Some of these are late being posted to my blog due to being busy elsewhere at work but I did get them up on NetGalley in time. This one is particularly long because I had a lot to review and, for several books, had a lot of thoughts.

I received free review copies from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Title: I'm the Grim Reaper, Vol. 1

Author/Illustrator: GRAVEWEAVER

Rating: 4/5

Published by Viz Media and available September 10, 2024, I'm the Grim Reaper is the most visually striking webtoon I've seen. Most of the art is in a black and red palette, and backgrounds are taken from photographs and turned gray to match the color scheme. I'm very impressed, as most webtoons I've read have felt artistically generic and same-y. The story follows a newly-dead sinner who's made into a grim reaper with the job of collecting more sinners for Hell. This will appeal to fans of manga series like Death Note with for the focus on morality and who gets to live or die. This volume is a solid start to the mystery of who Scarlet is and what she did to deserve the ninth circle of Hell.

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Title: Destroy All Humans. They Can't Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga, Vol. 1

Author: Katsura Ise

Illustrator: Takuma Yokota

Rating: 5/5

Published by Viz Media and available October 8, 2024, Destroy All Humans immediately caught my nerdy eye. You mean there's a manga about Magic: The Gathering? Sign me up. Destroy takes place in the 1990s, following middle school rivals who step up their rivalry through MTG. The manga does a good job of introducing the reader to the different types of cards and how the game is played, and will appeal to existing fans of the game as well as newcomers interested in learning it. The art is very cool, bringing the in-game action to the reader. Fans of Yu-Gi-Oh or After School Dice Club will really enjoy this. As a fan of MTG, it's fun reading a hobby manga about something I'm into myself. I immediately recommended it to my friend and coworker A-Chan, who's our library's selector for teen manga and they loved it too and selected it for this coming month to go on the shelf, and they have no experience with MTG. Perhaps the best part of this is the relationship between rivals Hajime and Emi, and how they interact with the framework of the game they share.

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Title: Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games

Author: Samuel Sattin

Illustrator: Steenz

Rating: 4/5

Published by HarperCollins Children's Books and available October 8, 2024, Side Quest appealed to me because recently I've been getting into Dungeons & Dragons. Guided by the author (I've read his excellent introduction to anime and manga for kids, A Kid's Guide to Anime & Manga: Exploring the History of Japanese Animation and Comics) Samuel Sattin and the illustrator Steenz, who are TTRPG (table-top roleplaying game) players themselves, the reader explores the history of roleplaying from its historical precedent in ceremonial performance and theater to the development of war gaming to our more familiar games like D&D (in fact, this book comes at the perfect time as D&D celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024). I never really thought about the historical non-game background of games, though it makes sense. My two issues with it were 1) it could have discussed how RPG video games are connected in the history of RPGs, especially since they're wildly popular today with games like Final Fantasy, and 2) I had some trouble reading parts on both my phone and computer screen, which may be the fault of not reading a paper copy. That's more a publisher issue though. Other than that, this book is a great introduction to RPG history and will appeal to gamers and people interested in how a popular medium developed over time.

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Title: Home Office Romance

Author/Illustrator: Kintetsu Yamada

Rating: 3/5

Published by Kodansha and available November 12, 2024, Home Office Romance follows two housebound neighbors falling in love during the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm not a romance fan but I was interested in this since I heard about it in a webinar held by Kodansha and I'll admit I found it cute. There's been some nostalgia for the pandemic, which at once does and doesn't make sense to me-- the time was traumatic, deadly, and in my home country of the United States, stupidly controversial, so why would you miss it? At the same time, we have a tendency to romanticize traumatic things as a way of coping with and making sense of them. For many people working remotely was a revelation that work doesn't need to be conducted the way we've always been told it must. Home Office Romance gives us the chance to explore our contradictory feelings in the safe environment of fiction. My two issues with this book were 1) the male lead, Nokoru, didn't seem to be falling in love with the female lead, Natsu, as much as she was with him, but this might be because, as I stated at the beginning, I'm not a romance reader so I may not have picked up on things as much as a more seasoned reader would; and 2) I felt there could have been more pandemic content. To me it at times didn't seem to evoke much of the atmosphere of 2020, but that could be chalked up to cultural differences. I don't know how Japan handled the pandemic (probably better than America did if just for Japan's common courtesy of wearing masks when sick being an ingrained thing in society). So I really can't say how well it handles the pandemic. Overall, if you'd like a cute work romance that's complete in one volume, Home Office Romance is a good bet.

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Title: After God Vol. 1

Author/Illustrator: Sumi Eno

Rating: 3/5

Published by Viz Media and available November 19, 2024, After God is a new (to the English market) seinen battle manga, taking place in a post-apocalyptic Japan where being called gods wreak havoc. It's a decent start and I don't have much to say beyond it having Kaiju No. 8 vibes with the main character being a human with the powers of a god, so the story isn't particularly original, but the art is absolutely fantastic and I recommend reading it if just for the art.

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Title: Third Shift Society Vol. 2

Author/Illustrator: Meredith Moriarty

Rating: 4/5

Published by Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group and available October 29, 2024 (just in time for spooky season), Third Shift Society Vol. 2 continues the supernatural exploits of Ellie and Ichabod. In the previous volume, Ellie discovered her psychic powers and began working for Ichabod, a supernatural detective who happens to have a pumpkin for a head. The illustrations are charming and spooky and the world is populated with diverse monsters, making it a treat for fans of series like All Saints Street. Ellie continues to be a likeable and relatable protagonist-- who among us wouldn't spring for a monster-hunting gig with a cool boss that pays well? This volume will most appeal to people who have already read the first volume/season on WEBTOON, but the series as a whole will appeal to fans of weird and wonderful media like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural.

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Title: Godzilla's 70th Anniversary

Authors/Illustrators: Various

Rating: 4/5

Published by IDW and available October 29, Godzilla's 70th Anniversary is a comics anthology and as a Godzilla fan I had to request this, even though it's not my selection area. This comic celebrates 70 years of Toho's iconic kaiju. With thirteen stories and a full cast of your favorite monsters, there's something for everyone in thies collection. The book contains onshot stories and selections from series, including the first issue of one of my favorite Godzilla comics, Godzilla In Hell. Besides GIH # 1, my favorite inclusion might have to be "Ain't No Place for an Angel," written by Casey Gilley and illustrated by Liana Kangas and Brittany Peer, which places Mothra in the Old West. The book's varied art and storytelling styles make each part unique. This is sure to delight kaiju otaku and other sci-fi fans.

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Title: Hirayasumi, Vol. 3

Author/Illustrator: Keigo Shinzo

Rating: 5/5

Published by Viz Media and available November 19, this is the third volume of the iyashikei series Hirayasumi that I've read and reviewed. And I continue to be charmed by the art and story of this unique series. Hiro is a great laid-back character who brings a chill, kind presence to everyone in his life, and Nat is a relatable nervous wreck trying to become a mangaka. I find it hard to review subsequent volumes in a series because to fully enjoy them the reader has to have read the previous books, so I'll just say this series as a whole will appeal to fans of slice-of-life stories-- ones that deal with day-to-day experiences and people looking for a relaxing, heartfelt read.