Tsugumi Oba

The State of the Writer: 1/13/19

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<–The State of the Writer: 12/30/18          The State of the Writer: 1/27/19–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 3

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 255,627
Prior Word Count: 256,067
Word Difference: -440
Status: Editing
Progress: Chapter 14 First Edit

Tiny tiara on top of an open bookThis is a much longer chapter than the prior and more stuff happens in it.  I partially want to split it up, but the chapter title really encompasses everything that happens, so any of you enjoying this fanfic will have an extra long chapter to read when I post it 🙂

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Death Note by Tsugumi Oba (Vol. 1 – Vol. 12)

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Title: Death Note
Series: Death Note
Author: Tsugumi Oba
Artist: Takeshi Obata
Date Added: January 7, 2017
Date Started: September 11, 2017
Date Finished: March 29, 2018
Reading Duration: 199 days
Genre: Manga, Graphic Novel/Comic, Fantasy, Horror

Death Note Box SetPages: 2424
Publication Date: October 7, 2008
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Media: Paperback (Library)

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects – and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note , a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal…or his life? 

Light tests the boundaries of the Death Note’s powers as L and the police begin to close in. Luckily Light’s father is the head of the Japanese National Police Agency and leaves vital information about the case lying around the house. With access to his father’s files, Light can keep one step ahead of the authorities. But who is the strange man following him, and how can Light guard against enemies whose names he doesn’t know?

Pride goeth before the fall.

Note: This is the first manga/graphic novel series I’m reviewing in this way.  I was previously reviewing each installment at a time, but since series like these are usually one overarching story, it makes sense to me to read them all and then review.  Since I started and reviewed Saga book by book before I decided this, I chose to continue with that method for Saga, but going forward, all manga and graphic novels will be reviewed when I’ve completed the series.

Note: Minor spoilers.

I went into Death Note blissfully ignorant about it.  I’ve still never seen the anime or the (heavily reviled) Netflix version.  I did and do still know exactly whose names I would write in any death note I found; in fact I have even more to add today.  Boredom, the title of the first manga, is the exact catalyst for everything that occurs, but we’re led to believe it’s Light Yagami’s boredom that drives everything when it’s really Ryuk’s, the Shinigami (death god), who is nothing but amused by humanity.  Light, who’ll I’ll admit is a bored, Japanese honors student, is just a specimen to him, one of the most interesting one he’s seen in thousands of years, but a specimen nonetheless.  It’s like if an entomologist found a really fascinating bug.

Ryuk the shinigami

I do share his love of apples though

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The State of the Reader: 3/14/18

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<–The State of the Reader: 2/28/18          The State of the Reader: 3/28/18–>

A weekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Purchased: 2

Books DNF: 1

Title: All’s Well That Ends Well
Author: William Shakespeare
Date Added: September 15, 2017
Date Started: January 26, 2018
Date DNF: March 2, 2018
Reading Duration: 35 days

Media: eBook/Kindle

Shelved.  Too many books to read to spend time on one that doesn’t interest me, even if it is by The Bard.  He has numerous other plays that I’ve enjoyed, and I’m sure I’ll find more as I continue to go through.

Books Finished: 3

Title: Deletion
Series Title: Death Note
Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Date Added: March 1, 2018
Date Started: March 1, 2018
Date Finished: March 8, 2018
Reading Duration: 7 days

The cover of Deletion (Death Note) by Tsugumi ObaI liked this one a bit better than the past few…but I still hate Misa.  I’ll review the entire series when I finish the last two.

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The State of the Reader: 1/3/18

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<–The State of the Reader: 12/20/17          The Final State of the Reader–>

A weekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Purchased: 0

Books DNF: 1

Title: The Prophet of Yonwood
Series Title: Book of Ember
Author: Jeanne DuPrau

Media: Paperback
Percentage Finished: 21%

Not nearly as engaging as the other books.  This prequel wasn’t compelling in the least, and it’s disappointing since the lead up to what caused the existence of Ember could’ve been a rousing tale.  We could’ve found out if there were other underground cities and/or how the rest of humanity survived, but the author choose to focus on prophecy and proselytizing instead of that.  I still have the final Book of Ember to read, which I’m looking forward to, as it involves Lina and Doon’s return.

Books Finished: 3

Title: Strange the Dreamer
Series Title: Strange the Dreamer
Author: Laini Taylor
Date Added: April 18, 2016
Date Started: August 26, 2017

Media: Physical/Hardback

Oh my god this book was so good.  I don’t know how I’m going to review it, since I can’t say much without spoiling, but it took so many familiar tropes, cliches even, and yet they didn’t come off as trite.  While I figured it out about a chapter or two before the reveal, I still covered my face with my hands.  All the pieces just fell together beautifully, and I think it worked because it’s not like the author doesn’t give away an integral part in the very prologue.  I kept going back and forth from there to my current place just to make sure all of the ends matched up.  They did…to tragic effect.  I hope the sequel comes out sooner rather than later sometime this year.

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The State of the Reader: 12/20/17

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<–The State of the Reader: 12/6/17          The State of the Reader: 1/3/18–>

A weekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Purchased: 2

  1. All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater – $15.19 @ Target: I couldn’t resist the hype train for this one, plus it’s impossible to go into Target and only pick up what you went to Target for…especially when it comes to me and books.  I’m just thankful I resisted the video game section, but then I’m more likely to pick up a book anyway.  Not only because it’s cheaper, but also because I’m less likely to receive it for Christmas.  I already had her Scorpio Races on my TBR list, but the blurb for this (which you can find at the end of the link) was just too compelling to pass up.  Definitely something I’d expect from the author of The Raven Cycle.
  2. Sins of the Father by Anthony Vicino – $0.99 @ Amazon: I’d just finished reading Mr. Vicino’s novella Parallel, which I’ll talk more about below, so I added and bought this one when I saw how cheap it was.  Supporting indie authors is part of life.  This book is about a murderer who has no idea why he killed his grandmother.  The lack of motive presents a psychological conundrum.

Books Finished: 2

Title: Parellel
Author: Anthony Vicino
Date Added: May 9, 2015
Date Started: November 19, 2017
Date Finished: December 12, 2017
Reading Duration: 23 days

Media: eBook/Kindle

This story did not turn out as I expected, and that’s an excellent thing.  I like when novels do something different with tropes, and Parallel (ironically, in a titular sense) could have gone a number of different ways.  It’s a sci-fi that even non-sci-fi aficionados can appreciate, the elements serve to support the metaphor and message without overriding it.  The story is also realistic as well as bittersweet.  It’s only $0.99 on Kindle and less than 100 pages, so if you’re interested in a poignant sci-fi and would like to support an independent author, I’d pick this one up 🙂

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The State of the Reader: 12/6/17

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<–The State of the Reader: 10/25/17          The State of the Reader: 12/20/17–>

A weekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Do people like reading news/updates in the beginning or end of regular posts?  I think I like the beginning so I immediately know what’s going on, but I’m sure some of you might prefer just reading the weekly, and then dealing with any news.  Well, as mentioned in my End of Hiatus post, I’m not going to be doing this weekly anymore, but rather biweekly.  I’m also cutting down on the number of books I read at once.  Instead of two Kindles, I’ll be reading one and only on on weekdays during my lunch break if I’m at work.  Instead of reading a classic and a non-fiction/reference, I’ll alternate between the two.  Since I just finished reading a classic and I’m already in the midst of a reference, the latter’s reading days will be moved to the former’s.  Once I finish the  non-fiction, I’ll read another classic and so on.  Then I’ll read one physical fiction/fantasy, which could be a book borrowed from the library; however, I’m not necessarily going to read an additional book from the library anymore.  I was going to keep it at three, but graphic novels/manga are really easy to breeze through.  Cutting down from seven books to four is going to help tremendously (it already has), especially considering I have a shit ton of reviews to catch up on.  So that’s my update.  Biweekly SOTR posts and less books at a time.

Books Purchased This Month: 0

Books Finished This Month: 5

Title: The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Author: Amy Tan
Date Added: August 16, 2012
Date Started: October 19, 2017
Date Finished: November 12, 2017
Reading Duration: 24 days

Media: eBook/Kindle

I think I might have read this book before, but forgot I’d finished it, so didn’t include it on my Read shelf.  Regardless, like Amy Tan’s other books, I adored it.  She tends to write about mother-daughter relationships using some of the most eloquent language possible, and I’ve been reading her novels since high school.

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The State of the Reader: 10/25/17

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<–The State of the Reader: 10/18/17          The State of the Reader: 12/6/17–>

A weekly post updated every Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Purchased This Week: 2

Title: Icefall
Series Title: The Clearsky Chronicles
Authors: Walt Stone & Mica Stone
Date Added: August 31, 2017
Date Purchased: October 19, 2017

Media: eBook/Kindle
Price: $1.99
Retailer: Amazon

Title: The Thirteenth Gate
Series Title: Dominion Mysteries
Author: Kat Ross
Date Added: October 25, 2017
Date Purchased: October 25, 2017

Media: eBook/Kindle
Price: $2.99
Retailer: Amazon

An easy buy after finishing The Daemonaic.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, and the prospects for this one look good, too.

Total Price: $4.98
Average Price: $2.49

Books Finished This Week: 4

Title: Death Note, Vol. 2: Confluence
Series Title: Death Note
Author: Tsugumi Oba
Date Added: September 23, 2017
Date Started: October 8, 2017
Date Finished: October 21, 2017
Reading Duration: 13 days

Media: Paperback (Library)

This volume focused more on the enigmatic L, which makes sense since the first volume did an excellent job establishing the rules of the Death Note and how it works.  Confluence stayed true to its title showing the merger of numerous factors and how the two rivals L and Light move closer together though they don’t yet know it.  What strikes me most about this series is how young they both are.  L looks like a messy teenager with gigantic eyes rimmed in either eyeliner or the need for sleep.  I’m honestly not sure which it is, though artistically, it looks more like the former.  Though Light definitely displays traits of a cold, calculating sociopath, catching him seems more like a game or diversion to L, as opposed to the polices’ reasons i.e. to stop a dangerous criminal.  I’m hoping the next book is available for pickup by the time I need to go back to library (spoiler alert: it was).

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The State of the Reader: 10/18/17

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<–The State of the Reader: 10/11/17          The State of the Reader: 10/25/17–>

A weekly post updated every Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Instituting some updates/changes to this weekly update.  The way it’s currently done is too time consuming to sustain, so I’ll be removing and altering sections.  In terms of the former, the Sample section has been axed.  It’s redundant insofar as I include those books when I add them.  If I decide not to keep something per sample that will be noted; otherwise, assume if I add it to my TBR section that I’m planning to read it.

Books Purchased This Week: 3

Title: Ubik
Author: Philip K. Dick
Date Added: August 29, 2017
Date Purchased: October 13, 2017

Media: eBook/Kindle
Price: $2.99
Retailer: Amazon

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The State of the Reader: 9/27/17

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<–The State of the Reader: 9/20/17          The State of the Reader: 10/4/17–>

A weekly post updated every Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and where I am with them in addition to what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads to make it easier for interested parties to add any books that might strike their fancy.  I attempt to use the covers for the edition I’m reading, and I’ll mention if this is not the case.  If you have a Goodreads account feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Samples Read This Week

  1. Ink and Bone by Rachel  Caine: Kept (RWTR) – A world where the Great Library of Alexandria wasn’t destroyed, and the opening chapter/prologue is one letter from some pompous ass who happens to be royal stating that women don’t need to be education and/or only need such education as men decree, and the answer letter from his “inferior” essentially telling him to fuck off and that his daughter will be educated.  I’ve dabbled in the idea of the Library of Alexandria existing, and I have intentions of writing a story where education is freely given to all, so I’m very interested in reading this book.
  2. Behind Closed Doors by B. A. Paris: Kept – More psychological and depraved thrills!  Things are never what they seem when the veneer is perfect.
  3. Scythe by Neal Shusterman: Kept – When I was in Target I read the first few pages of this book, so I count that as a “downloaded sample,” since I “downloaded” it into my brain.  Regardless, I read a sample, liked it, and added it.  It’s about a world where death only exists through Reapers whose job is integral to keeping the balance.
  4. We Are the Ants by Shaun Hutchinson: Kept (RWTR) – So this book has a gay main character who consistently is abducted by aliens who tell him he can press a button to stop the end of the world in 144 days…but he doesn’t want to do it for reasons that will be explored.
  5. Eon by Alison Goodman: Kept – It’s given away right in the blurb that Eon is really Eona, a girl masquerading as a boy, because only boys are allowed to use dragon magic *huge sigh* I guess no one i this universe has read A Song of Ice and Fire.  I like the eastern influences I see in this book so far.  I hope they continue and are properly conveyed.
  6. Legend of the Guardians by Kathryn Lasky: Kept – I must have missed this one when I was doing my sample downloads, because I added it a long time ago.  This is the book that owl movie Guardians of Ga’hoole was based on.
  7. Reliquary by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child: Kept – I passed on the first book in the series The Relic, but was told that this one might be a better fit.  It seems good enough to add to my library list.
  8. The Swan Riders by Erin Bow: Kept – I’m not even sure why I downloaded the sample for this since I loved the first book in the series The Scorpion Rules, so I knew I was going to continue the series.

I finally, finally caught up on all of my samples, meaning I’ve downloaded everything up to what I’ve currently added.  There may be a few I missed, but as of now I’ve either read samples of everything on my TBR list or they’re not books I’m going to or can’t download samples of (non-fiction/reference, graphic novels/manga, pending publication and not available for download),  Bow when I add something, I’m going to try to remember to download the sample as well if applicable.

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The State of the Reader: 9/20/17

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<–The State of the Reader: 9/13/17          The State of the Reader: 9/27/17–>

A weekly post updated every Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and where I am with them in addition to what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads to make it easier for interested parties to add any books that might strike their fancy.  I attempt to use the covers for the edition I’m reading, and I’ll mention if this is not the case.  If you have a Goodreads account feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Samples Read This Week

  1. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris: Kept – Now that I’ve added the correct book, I like it so far.   Vampire boyfriends are always cool with me.
  2. Half the World by Joe Abercrombie: Kept – Now that I’ve read the blurb, I have no idea why I was so reluctant to add this.  The main character is a young woman who is as shunned from warrior life/culture as Yarvi with his one hand was…if not more so.
  3. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas: Kept – I liked Maas’s Thorn and Roses series, so I’m hoping I enjoy this one, too.
  4. The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley: Kept – There’s an ASOIAF vibe to it, but I suppose that’s going to be true of all fantasy, political dramas at this point.
  5. Don’t Close Your Eyes by Holly Seddon: Kept – Definitely a “fucked up” vibe to this one.  I believe this is the book about the two different women who don’t know each other at first, but tragedy brings them together.
  6. Winterspell by Claire Legrand: Kept (RWTR) – It’s been a while since I put a book on my really-want-to-read list, but I love retold fairy tales, and this is one for The Nutcracker.  I love the music to it and the magic of it, and this novel reads like both have been captured.
  7. Something from the Nightside by Simon Green: Kept – Not five minutes after I read the sample for this (and purchased it), one of my good IRL friends replied to one of my IRL BFF’s (I know so much internet speak OMG) about “the best Urban Fantasy.”  I didn’t have an answer for that since it’s not typically my genre, and though I believe there is one I really like, I can’t recall what it is.  My friend whom I’ll just refer to as Nightmare, since that’s his nickname AND he recommended Nightside, mentioned that novel, and it was one of those coincidental things I always seem to fall into.  I need to send him his birthday card with some money in it.  I made a promise!  Plus he’s trying to get a car and I have to help him out ♥
  8. Angelfall by Susan Ee: Kept – Angels fall and I buy.
  9. Heartborn by Terry Maggert: Kept – This is the second angel based novel I’ve sampled (and purchased, as you’ll see below), and I was looking up “seraph/seraphim” and “nephilim” yesterday for a book review.  Doing so put ideas into my narcissistic noggin.  I already have a huge angel head canon, but I kind of feel like writing it down again and maybe gathering more ideas.  The phrase “dark seraph” keeps popping back into my head.  I first thought about it when I was editing Northern Lights (shock), since that’s the perfect term to describe a particular fallen angel.  In shamefully narcissistic news, it’s a moniker I’d pick for myself of give to my mythical publishing company.  Dark Seraph Publishing sounds pretty boss, and Ash Rose the Dark Seraph sounds pretty final boss *headdesk*  (FYI – Ash Rose is my other and much older internet name).  You know…I need to figure out someplace to use that.  It sounds way too epic to pass by.
  10. Waste of Space by Gina Damico: Kept – I’m not usually one for either reality TV shows or bratty teens, but this seems like an absurd and comical Truman Show in space, and that’s too delicious to pass by.

Books Purchased This Week: 7

Title: Something from the Nightside
Series Title: Nightside
Author: Simon R. Green
Date Added: July 1, 2017
Date Purchased: September 17, 2017

Media: eBook/Kindle
Price: $2.99
Retailer: Amazon

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