What I read this week:
My youngest is really into tennis and not so into reading so I thought some tennis manga might be a good fit. Since not all manga is appropriate for an 8 year old, I previewed The Prince of Tennis by Takeshi Konomi. I skimmed most of the 42-volume series.
While The Prince of Tennis is mostly OK content-wise, I found it a little boring. I skipped whole volumes of random tennis matches to get back to reading about the protagonist. There wasn’t enough backstory, or character development, or much of anything except tennis. I would have liked if Ryoma grew a little more as a person and not just as a tennis player over the course of 40-some books. As a tennis fan, I found the tennis descriptions overly dramatized and hard to follow. I’m going to buy the first couple of volumes for my son to see if he likes them, but it is not my favorite shonen manga.
What I’m reading:
I made no progress on China Mieville’s Kraken (speculative fiction, New Weird, apocalyptic). I couldn’t read a gory book after dealing with my son’s gory accident (Gearbox knocked out two teeth and gashed his leg badly).
Inside the Shadow City (Kiki Strike #1) by Kirsten Miller is a great MG/YA adventure novel for kids and tweens that liked The Name of This Book is Secret or The Mysterious Benedict Society. Fast paced with strong, smart, and fascinating girl characters — I’m 75% done with this book and really enjoying it.
What I reviewed this week:
Zip. Zilch. Nada.
What’s on my TBR pile this week:
Kraken. I’m going to force myself to finish this one or I’ll lose all momentum and never finish it.
1Q84 (speculative fiction, magical realism) by Haruki Murakami is going to get pushed down on the TBR pile.
I need some light reading this week. Nothing dense, sad, or scary… Suggestions?
For more It’s Monday, What Are You Reading, visit Sheila at Book Journey and Kellee and Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts.
I want to try IQ84 but that may be a winter project :)
Hope the teeth are getting better, Katya. Sorry about the reading. I don’t know what kinds of books you like for light reading, but I enjoyed The Story of Charlotte’s Web last year very much, a bio of E.B. White. It was a good story and I guess you could call it light, but really interesting. Best wishes for the boy and the reading!
IQ84 – I tried to read it but couldn’t get into it :/
Happy reading this week :)
The Brunette Librarian Blog
I recently read Calling Invisible Women, it’s light and funny but with a good message too.
http://therelentlessreader.blogspot.com/2012/07/wolf-hall-calling-invisible-women.html
I really liked IQ84 but it’s definitely a dense read!
Have a great week of reading :)
http://therelentlessreader.blogspot.com/2012/07/its-monday-073012.html
I have wanted to read Kiki Strike for years. It just looks so intriguing. Good to know you’re enjoying it.
(1) I’m glad your comment section gave me an easy math question because math not my strongest area ;)
(2) For lighter YA reads I would suggest: I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You (the Gallagher Girl series…they go to a secret spy school); Heist Society; 52 Reasons to Hate My Father; Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging (Georgia Nicolson series).
Happy reading!
I’m reading Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan. I’m right smack in the middle of it. If you’re looking for a lighter read that will keep you engaged, then try this book out. Every chapter has a different character’s perspective. Love it.
Inside the Shadow City sounds like it could go down well in my class. Thanks.
Kathryn
I just finished The Chaperone and it was really good historical fiction if you like that sort of book. It’s not too heavy, but enough is happening to keep it interesting.
Have a great week and I hope that your son recovers quickly!
I hope you can find something you love to read this week! Good luck!
Thank you for participating in the meme :)