Stitches Reads

Just a little blog where I talk about books I read.

[stitchesreads]

And Then There Were None thoughts

A co-worker was kind enough to lend me a copy of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” when I mentioned that I liked mystery novels. I just finished it last night and I wanted to gush about it.

WOW! I mean … just an awesome read!

This is a great example of mystery writing. You are given all the pieces as they are happening but because of the number of perspectives, and as the story goes the questionable mental state of the characters, you are never sure what is going on. As each one of the characters is killed you are having to form new theories and motives about the situation. And once the final victim falls to the crazy plot that has been set in motion you are left yelling at your book, “that’s it?!”

Of course if the reader is paying attention they already have the evidence they need. The epelouge is two police officers discussing the case. It is here that the reader is meant to review what they know and compare it to the report. But it wasn’t until the written confession at the end where the epiphany came for me. It left me with the “of course it was that” feeling that I love from mystery novels.

Apart from a rather convoluted death at the end I found the confession not just believable but fascinating. It had me thinking about the character's interactions and how and why and just… OH MAN! It was really good.

I don’t think I have to say that I recommend it here. Agatha Christie is such an obvious go to for mystery that she is a must read. “And Then There Were None” was a major influence on mystery novels and basically created the locked house mystery sub-genre. It’s still in print for a reason.

I think next time I might talk about a writer rather than a single work.

[stitchesreads]

Other light novels I have been reading

So I mentioned earlier that I was reading through a lot of light novels and I also had someone ask me about them so I thought I would write a quick blurb about some of my favorites and least favorites.

I’ll get the obvious ones out of the way first:

Spice & Wolf is one of my personal favorites. The world is properly fleshed out and the translation is easy to follow but meaty. I can really feel the effort that went into making this feel like a western style fantasy series. Plus if you do like it there is a lot of it and there is even a sequel.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a rich sci-fi world that fits in well with books by Timothy Zahn or the like. There are many threads to keep track of but I never feel lost. Even though I enjoy the books I do still tend to recommend the anime to anime fans.

Log Horizon was a good anime but I liked the quick pace of the light novel. The parts that I have read feel like a 1 to 1 adaptation with what I saw but I haven’t completed either version of the story. I’m currently on the fence about which way to finish the story.

Now the middle of the road books. These were fun reads but either the writing was off or it just didn’t grab me as much as I would have liked.

If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord. I learned about this after an interview from the CEO of JNovel Club. The title sounded interesting and I was on a fantasy kick at the time. The only issue is that the writing is a little basic. This could be down to the writer or the translation, i’m unsure which. It is more about town life for a little girl than actual action like the title implies.

Goblin slayer suffers from the same issue of either the translation or writing being a little off. The first book spends a lot of time explaining the world while in the middle of the action. It doesn’t detract from the story but it does sometimes make it difficult to follow and stay engaged.

I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse; another JNovel Club buy. I’ll admit… I only bought this one because of the title. That being said I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The story is typical light novel/anime fare. It reminded me of the harem shows from the late 90s. (Before fanservice was quite as blatant.) Since I have fond memories of these shows I really enjoyed this one. I’ll be picking up the rest of this series.

Aaaaand now the bad.

My Little Sister Can Read Kanji doesn’t really deserve to be on the bottom of the list but unfortunately it just doesn't work when translated into English. It is a satirical look at the little sister trend in the medium of light novels; unfortunately, the translation from a language with multiple alphabets to a language with just one makes for a boring read. I appreciate the story on a critical level but wasn’t enjoying it. Because of this the satire is lost and it becomes just another little sister story.

My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World has a lot of potential but it spends the bulk of its first book meandering around with the titular sister’s brother. I can’t bring myself to care about the characters and I spent the time wondering if there was going to be a second shoe drop after the inciting incident. (Which happens on page 2.)

I'm really enjoying reading through all these light novels. I'll probably have a few more of these so I'll make another post maybe later in the year. In the mean time I think I'm going to try to track down a different mystery series. Something with a bit more substance to it.

[stitchesreads]

"I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse" thoughts

I have been super into Japanese light novels recently. Some of them have been good and some have been bad. One was the worst book I have ever read in my life! (Maybe someday I will write about that one )

“I Saved Too Many Girls” was actually quite enjoyable. It’s structure and word usage is super simple so I was able to blaze through the book. My app says it took me 4 hours to finish. It’s a typical light novel; heavily based on anime and manga tropes and conventions. Where I would normally count that as a negative this book is intentionally playing on those points for humor. I can easily see this book being made into an anime but I worry that it would lose a bit of that charm. This book was kind of like ordering a favorite dish from your childhood at a restaurant that you haven’t been to before. I loved the familiarity I had with what was going on but was refreshed by what the writer added in to make it his own.

I’ll definitely be reading more of this series throughout this year.

[stitchesreads]

Cosplay photo collections

I have been reading through a lot of photo collections of cosplayers. Some are centered around a single cosplayer, some are a single photographers work. Here are a few things that I have taken away from them.

Things that I would like to see more of: - Small entries where the cosplayer talks about their work. Either the costume being photographed or their over all process; I really enjoy reading about these individuals passion. - Full body shots plz! This might not be something that every photographer can do. I understand you have to work in the space you have. It’s just nice to see the whole piece rather than hips up. - Glossy paper is better. When you are publishing a photo collection consider the paper quality. If you are putting detailed photos in your book go for a glossy paper. With a matte you risk losing a lot of the fine detail - Chapters based on where the costume comes from are great! I am seeing a lot of this in the books I have picked up. All of the video games, movies, comic books, and anime get their own sections. This makes inspiration hunting a lot easier. Sometimes I don’t want to flip through the Street Fighters to get to the Avengers. - Include cosplayers of all levels. It is so encouraging to people who might not have that many years under their belts or professional skill sets trying their hardest to create something. When flipping through these books I have fun being wowed by the skill of some craftspeople but it’s the heart of those fans that really shines through.

The only negative I have about photo collections is: Don’t go with a semi-hard cover. It’s difficult to explain what I mean since the books that I have issues with are labeled as “soft covers” on websites. It’s the cover that feels a bit like foam core. These covers crease far more easily than a traditional, card stock like soft cover and it’s the kind of crease that damages the artwork and paper covering the material. The cover is soft enough to bend slightly while flipping through the pages but even that is enough to create a crease. If that’s not a very good description the two books that I read through with this type of cover are “Cosplay World”  by Brian Ashcraft and “Cosplay: the Fantasy World of Role Play” by Lauren Orsini. Both of these are great books that have amazing work in them; but their covers lasted only a few flips before they got damaged. 

I really love photo books.  

[stitchesreads]

Mystery series disappointment

Recently I wanted to read a crime and/or mystery book. I remembered that I enjoyed reading a series of books where a writer with a cat solved mysteries. These books were quick reads that actually turned out to be fun because the writer was very good about giving you the evidence and letting you try to figure it out.

So I picked up “Murder is Binding” by Lorna Barrett.

aaaaaaaand FUCK is this main character unlikable! Examples include thinking that because she has read mystery and crime novels all her live that she is the person who will solve the murder of her neighbor, calling a person with Down’s Syndrome retarded, and commenting on how she is surprised that a phone call goes through to “an actual American, not a native of some foreign land earning pennies an hour”. I’m guessing the character is suppose to grow over time but I’m 27% of the way through the book and the writer has made no attempt to illustrate that the character is wrong in any fashion. So I’m guessing this is just the way the main character will be and the assumption of growth is just in my head. 

But the thing that is mystifying me the most is this weird kind of elitism that all of the characters seem to have about book collecting. There is a scene in which the main character fawns over a room filled with first edition books. The writer then lists 14 different authors; just lists them doesn’t describe or explain it’s just a list in alphabetical order. There is also a scene in which said main character is in her bookshop and talking about someone asking if she will look over their mother’s book collection and just sort of appraise it.  There is then a joke made that since it was an older woman’s collection it’s probably just filled with book club editions of best sellers and Reader’s Digest collection. The main character’s response? To shiver and say “we don’t blaspheme in this shop.” Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m missing something this 2008 mass market paperback is trying to tell me. Either way I don’t think I will be finishing this one. 

I think I’ll just move on to the next book in my stack. 

[stitchesreads]

Kamisama Kiss thoughts

So I finally finished the Kamisama Kiss manga this weekend and here are a few thoughts. 

*spoilers below*

I like that, even though the pair get married very young, they both go off and not just finish school but have their own goals and careers. A lot of times you either don’t see that or it’s just kind of implied that children happen and then ending. I also like that Mikage shrine gets caretakers. Here’s hoping that the shrine grows even more and Mikage and Mizuki get to know all of the future caretakers.

Akura-oh not only gets a second chance after learning of his previous failings but that he is born into the body of a tiny girl. I don’t normally care about child characters but I really what Kirara to grow up and have a fun and happy life. I also hope that Tomoe takes her to Mouseyland all the time.

I felt like Yatori was a bit flat as a character. I never fully understood his motivations. Fuzzball wanted to be powerful; someone who could stand beside Akura-oh. But then once you get to the last few volumes the whole thing about being one with Akura-oh I just didn’t understand. That doesn’t make him less compelling since Kirihito was the real villain of the story but I do wish that there were a few more lines in there to explain his madness. Maybe this is something that I will understand better after some time has passed and I read through the story again.

All in all this was a great series to read through. I read the volumes 2 at a time while it was being published and felt like that was a good way to read it. I can’t wait to read what Julietta Suzuki decides to write next.