manga

Ascendence of a Bookworm: Part 1, Vol 2-3

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by Miya Kazuki
Illustrated by Suzuka
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there (vol 2, vol 3)!
Content: There is some violence and talk of death. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.
Others in the series: Part 1, Volume 1

We pick up where volume 1 left off: Myne is still trying to figure out how to make aper so she can make herself a book. She has got one of her father’s soldiers to teach her the alphabet, she tried making clay tablets but they exploded. She tried weaving paper but it took so much. So she focused on other things: being strong enough to walk to the forest. Heping her friend Lutz with his goals of being a merchant instead of a carpemnter. Figuring out the rules of this world she has found herself in.

It’s not easy: she is always rnning up against limitations with her body and the expectations of the adults around her. But she perseveres and keeps trying to achieve her goal.

It’s really a fun manga; I’m enjoying Myne and her story and the fish-out-of-water element as she brings the knowledge of her former life to this world. It’s a clever concept andit’s really well executed.

I can’t wait to read more!

Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 1, Volume 1

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by Miya Kazuki and Suzuka
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: Aside from it being a manga, which is kind of tricky to learn to read, there’s nothing. It’s in the manga section of the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

Urano is a college student who loves books. Loves them so much that she surrounds herself with them. And, unfortunately, that is her downfall: she dies in a book-related accident. And then wakes up, reincarnated into 5 year old Myne, as a peasant in a world with a low literacy rate. It becomes Urano/Myne’s goal to find a book, and when she can’t find one, to make one.

My youngest told me that I would really like this manga series, and she’s right: it’s bookish, it’s cute, it’s fun. And unlike other isekai manga, this one is centered on a girl with a goal is really quite fun. I adored the fish-out-of-water aspect as Urano tries to figure out how to operate in this new world and body. And her focus on inding and then making a book is completely relatable.

So, yes, I have picked up the next few volumes of this one. I have found a magna that I like!

Fullmetal Alchemist

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by Hiromu Arakawa
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There’s violence and some mild swearing as well as some graphic injury images. It’s in the manga section at the bookstore.

So I read this one kind of weirdly… I could only get my hands on volume 2 at the bookstore,  so K suggested I watch the anime to catch me up on the story, and then I read volume 2 (and put a hold on volume 3, but volume 4 isn’t available at the library, so maybe I’ll just finish the story watching the anime, because — believe it or not — I’m invested in this one…) Maybe that’s the way to go — watching the anime before reading — because I found myself more invested in this manga than I have in the past ones I’ve read.

This one’s the story of the Elric brothers, young, talented alchemists who had a devastating accident while attempting to use alchemy to bring their mother back from the dead. Edward (he’s the actual boy) lost a leg but his brother, Alphonse (he’s the armor), lost his entire body. Edward was able to save Alphonse by putting his soul in the armor, but it cost him his arm. And so, now, they’re searching the world for something — possibly the Philosopher’s Stone — to make them both (but mostly Alphonse) whole again. On their adventures, they meet dangerous people (not the least of which are the seven deadly sins personified, though I’ve only met Lust, Greed, and Envy so far) and fight to keep together.

Oh, I really liked this manga (K finally recommended one I really, really liked!). I liked the relationship between the brothers, and I liked the side characters. This is a huge, complex story that just got huger and more complex, and even though I’ve only read one, I’m dying to know what happens and how it all plays out. If it just means watching the anime, I definitely will finish this one.