Books I've Read
I haven't done this in a while and I need to list them before I forget which ones I've read. Besides, Simtra is tired of tripping over them (I leave them out until I've had the opportunity to list them).
#32 Love Hina Volume 1 by Ken Akamaratsu: If you can't get the manga directly from Japan and/or you don't read Japanese, TokyoPop is one of the best English publishers from which to obtain titles. They keep the traditional format; books are read from the back cover to the front, upper right to lower left. rhanlav gave simtra the DVD containing the first few episodes as a present and he really liked it. When I saw the manga title, I bought it for him. The plot presents typical manga elements: a ne'er-do-well in his late teens made a promise to a childhood friend, whose name he no longer remembers, that they would go to Tokyo University together when they became adults. Unfortunately, our hero doesn't do well with academic subjects; he's either inept or can't concentrate enough to apply himself. His parents, overcome with shame, remove him from their home and he goes to find his grandmother who runs a boarding house. It turns out that the "boarding house" is actually a girls' dormitory and his grandmother has departed to do other things, leaving him as the manager of the dormitory complex. The first book introduces all of the characters --- the girls living in the dorm, his aunt who runs the coffee shop, and the main character --- and establishes their personalities, quirks, and relationships to one another. The artwork is expertly rendered without being either too dark and serious or chibi in the extreme. Comedic events are handled well and the reader develops a bond with the characters almost emmediately.
#33 Love Hina Volume 2 by Ken Akamaratsu: This volume expands upon the basic plot established in the first volume and begins exploring each of the individual issues to which the reader was introduced in depth. The girls have mistaken Keitaro, the complex manager, for someone already attending Tokyo University and he's having problems hiding the fact that he hasn't even passed the entrance exam yet. The youngest boarder, a seventh grader, has developed a crush on him and this causes all kinds of awkward situations viewed out of context by the older girls, who now label him a pervert and decide they have to find a way to get rid of him. Keitaro is also saddled with Kaolla Su (also called Kitsune, an apt nickname for her), a foreign student of undetermined origin with some serious attachment issues. No matter what happens, it seems like Keitaro just can't win. He'll never make friends with them and he'll never get into the university.
#34 Dwellers in the Crucible by Margaret Wander Bonano (out of print): This Trek novel is one of my favorites. Unlike most of the others, the novel focuses on another Vulcan-human pair attempting to form the kind of friendship which Kirk and Spock have achieved. Both individuals are Warrantors, one a volunteer to her community and the other a famous diplomat's daughter. Each has the code for nuclear strike capability embedded in a capsule in her heart, an idea based upon Vulcan culture. Should any planet in the Federation desire to create a war, he or she would have to first cut out the heart of a loved one to do so. The two began a friendship at the teaching settlement which grew from cultural exchange and the friendship is put to the test when the two women, along with four others are kidnapped off of Vulcan by the Romulans and held hostage in hope of breaking the Federation apart. The book presents some excellent writing and a detailed, sympathetic portrait of what it's like to grow up in Vulcan society.
#35 Spock's World by Diane Duane: Vulcan, citing irreconcilable differences, attempts to cesede from the Federation. Kirk, McCoy, and Spock are called to present their views during the debate phase in the hope that the infamous trio can convince the Vulcans as a people to remain. I expected better from Diane Duane. This particular book reads like a series of vignettes in Vulcan history (I would suppose they're there for background into the current situation, but they really don't have much to do with it other than being Vulcan history) interspersed with the real story, which can't decide whether to be a detective novel or a drama. The three elements clash heavily; by the time one has read through a chapter on Vulcan history, you've forgotten the events in the main plotline which led to the next chapter taking place in the present time. Even so, it gives a good in-depth portrait of the development of Vulcan society and sheds some light on their more mysterious practices such as the supposed suppression of emotion and the "killing gift" mentioned a few times in other books. Long time readers of the series will enjoy the cameos given to characters from other novels.
#36 Starting with Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: The series of which this book is part generally concentrates on Alice's adventures in the middle grades or during high school but this one goes back to when she moved to their new home in Maryland and started third grade there. I enjoy children's literature and found this book to be a fresh approach, midway between Beverly Cleary's Ramona books and Judy Blume's various adolescent characters. It has its funny moments but these are touched with a heavier sort of realism. Alice lost her mother at an early age and her father has accepted a position somewhere in Maryland. She moves away from her remaining family to a town where she's a complete stranger and her only friend is the weird little boy next door. As she struggles to cope with being the new girl, she also deals with the emptiness of not having a mother and her desire to quit doing things which others find humorous but which she finds mortifying. It's well written from a sympathetic viewpoint by an author that obviously understands the growing pains of various ages.
#37 Ribsy by Beverly Cleary: Those who are already familiar with the families living in Oregon on Klickitat Street will enjoy this story. The Huggins have bought a new car and Henry's dog Ribsy isn't allowed to ride in it. Unfortunately, he has other ideas and decides to chase them for several blocks. Henry's parents finally relent and allow Ribsy in the car. They go into a shopping mall and leave Ribsy in the car. Ribsy then steps on the window crank by accident and leaves on an adventure that takes him home in the wrong car, causes a lonely old woman to play dress-up with him, and eventually lands him on the news so that Henry can find him again.
#38 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary: Henry Huggins is your average boy --- perhaps a little too average because he thinks his life is boring and wishes something exciting would happen. "Something exciting" turns out to be a half starved stray which he finds outside the grocery store and attempts to get home on the bus. Once he has the dog home, he has to dream up all kinds of crazy schemes in order to feed and care for the dog, named Ribsy because his ribs stick out. The book's climax involves an important decision which has to be made when the original owner of the dog returns to claim him.
#39 Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary: This book explores the odd relationship between Henry and Beezus, a neighbor he describes as "sensible for a girl". Henry alternates between thinking she's not such a bad friend after all and commenting with disgust on her typical girlish bossiness and occasionally frilly ideas but when it comes down to the important things, Beezus always comes through as a friend.
#32 Love Hina Volume 1 by Ken Akamaratsu: If you can't get the manga directly from Japan and/or you don't read Japanese, TokyoPop is one of the best English publishers from which to obtain titles. They keep the traditional format; books are read from the back cover to the front, upper right to lower left. rhanlav gave simtra the DVD containing the first few episodes as a present and he really liked it. When I saw the manga title, I bought it for him. The plot presents typical manga elements: a ne'er-do-well in his late teens made a promise to a childhood friend, whose name he no longer remembers, that they would go to Tokyo University together when they became adults. Unfortunately, our hero doesn't do well with academic subjects; he's either inept or can't concentrate enough to apply himself. His parents, overcome with shame, remove him from their home and he goes to find his grandmother who runs a boarding house. It turns out that the "boarding house" is actually a girls' dormitory and his grandmother has departed to do other things, leaving him as the manager of the dormitory complex. The first book introduces all of the characters --- the girls living in the dorm, his aunt who runs the coffee shop, and the main character --- and establishes their personalities, quirks, and relationships to one another. The artwork is expertly rendered without being either too dark and serious or chibi in the extreme. Comedic events are handled well and the reader develops a bond with the characters almost emmediately.
#33 Love Hina Volume 2 by Ken Akamaratsu: This volume expands upon the basic plot established in the first volume and begins exploring each of the individual issues to which the reader was introduced in depth. The girls have mistaken Keitaro, the complex manager, for someone already attending Tokyo University and he's having problems hiding the fact that he hasn't even passed the entrance exam yet. The youngest boarder, a seventh grader, has developed a crush on him and this causes all kinds of awkward situations viewed out of context by the older girls, who now label him a pervert and decide they have to find a way to get rid of him. Keitaro is also saddled with Kaolla Su (also called Kitsune, an apt nickname for her), a foreign student of undetermined origin with some serious attachment issues. No matter what happens, it seems like Keitaro just can't win. He'll never make friends with them and he'll never get into the university.
#34 Dwellers in the Crucible by Margaret Wander Bonano (out of print): This Trek novel is one of my favorites. Unlike most of the others, the novel focuses on another Vulcan-human pair attempting to form the kind of friendship which Kirk and Spock have achieved. Both individuals are Warrantors, one a volunteer to her community and the other a famous diplomat's daughter. Each has the code for nuclear strike capability embedded in a capsule in her heart, an idea based upon Vulcan culture. Should any planet in the Federation desire to create a war, he or she would have to first cut out the heart of a loved one to do so. The two began a friendship at the teaching settlement which grew from cultural exchange and the friendship is put to the test when the two women, along with four others are kidnapped off of Vulcan by the Romulans and held hostage in hope of breaking the Federation apart. The book presents some excellent writing and a detailed, sympathetic portrait of what it's like to grow up in Vulcan society.
#35 Spock's World by Diane Duane: Vulcan, citing irreconcilable differences, attempts to cesede from the Federation. Kirk, McCoy, and Spock are called to present their views during the debate phase in the hope that the infamous trio can convince the Vulcans as a people to remain. I expected better from Diane Duane. This particular book reads like a series of vignettes in Vulcan history (I would suppose they're there for background into the current situation, but they really don't have much to do with it other than being Vulcan history) interspersed with the real story, which can't decide whether to be a detective novel or a drama. The three elements clash heavily; by the time one has read through a chapter on Vulcan history, you've forgotten the events in the main plotline which led to the next chapter taking place in the present time. Even so, it gives a good in-depth portrait of the development of Vulcan society and sheds some light on their more mysterious practices such as the supposed suppression of emotion and the "killing gift" mentioned a few times in other books. Long time readers of the series will enjoy the cameos given to characters from other novels.
#36 Starting with Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: The series of which this book is part generally concentrates on Alice's adventures in the middle grades or during high school but this one goes back to when she moved to their new home in Maryland and started third grade there. I enjoy children's literature and found this book to be a fresh approach, midway between Beverly Cleary's Ramona books and Judy Blume's various adolescent characters. It has its funny moments but these are touched with a heavier sort of realism. Alice lost her mother at an early age and her father has accepted a position somewhere in Maryland. She moves away from her remaining family to a town where she's a complete stranger and her only friend is the weird little boy next door. As she struggles to cope with being the new girl, she also deals with the emptiness of not having a mother and her desire to quit doing things which others find humorous but which she finds mortifying. It's well written from a sympathetic viewpoint by an author that obviously understands the growing pains of various ages.
#37 Ribsy by Beverly Cleary: Those who are already familiar with the families living in Oregon on Klickitat Street will enjoy this story. The Huggins have bought a new car and Henry's dog Ribsy isn't allowed to ride in it. Unfortunately, he has other ideas and decides to chase them for several blocks. Henry's parents finally relent and allow Ribsy in the car. They go into a shopping mall and leave Ribsy in the car. Ribsy then steps on the window crank by accident and leaves on an adventure that takes him home in the wrong car, causes a lonely old woman to play dress-up with him, and eventually lands him on the news so that Henry can find him again.
#38 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary: Henry Huggins is your average boy --- perhaps a little too average because he thinks his life is boring and wishes something exciting would happen. "Something exciting" turns out to be a half starved stray which he finds outside the grocery store and attempts to get home on the bus. Once he has the dog home, he has to dream up all kinds of crazy schemes in order to feed and care for the dog, named Ribsy because his ribs stick out. The book's climax involves an important decision which has to be made when the original owner of the dog returns to claim him.
#39 Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary: This book explores the odd relationship between Henry and Beezus, a neighbor he describes as "sensible for a girl". Henry alternates between thinking she's not such a bad friend after all and commenting with disgust on her typical girlish bossiness and occasionally frilly ideas but when it comes down to the important things, Beezus always comes through as a friend.