duckprintspress | Entries tagged with wednesday reads

1. What are you currently reading?

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine: I started! I read the prologue. That's. literally all I've managed.
Moriarty the Patriot vol. 6 by Ryosuke Takeuchi: okay the handling of Irene Adler is growing on me... I guess... (I'm enjoying this vol. more than basically all the others, so I def won't be giving up the series yet...)
*天官赐福 manhua vol. 3 by 墨香铜臭: I DID manage to start a second Chinese manhua still within May! I probably won't finish it this month but still, 3 vols in 2 months would still be more than one vol a month. I'll take it.

2. What have you recently finished reading?

so much manga. I haven't been able to brain much else. anyway...

The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish vol. 4 by Xue Shan Fei Hu: finished the book, and thus the series! It was fine. Vol. 4 continued to be less kid-oriented that vol 3, but overall if I'd known how kid-focused the whole series would be I doubt I would ever have read it.
My Beautiful Man vol. 3 by Yuu Nagira
Yona of the Dawn vol. 12 by Mizuho Kusanagi
Rooming with My Two Lovers by Anji Seina: poly BL. unremarkable as yaoi, but it was nice to get some poly.
Spy x Family vol. 10 by Tatsuya Endo: it was nice to get some of Loid's backstory. I was hoping we would, based on the cover.
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! vol. 12 by Yuu Toyota
Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba vol. 17 by Koyoharu Gotouge
Moriarty the Patriot vol. 5 by Ryosuke Takeuchi
Chainsaw Man vol. 10 by Tatsuki Fujimoto: I'm done reading this one. There's only one more vol in this arc, but all the characters I liked but one are dead, and next arc is apparently about all new characters, and I can't imagine why I'd give a single shit when I emotionally invested in the backstory and goals and aims of all the first arc characters only for them all to die without accomplishing any of those things. That's just not interesting to me.
Platinum Blood by Mor Ichigaya: unmemorable priest x vampire yaoi. It was fine.
Ogi's Summer Break vol. 1 by Koikawa: very odd and often uncomfortable book (modern BL, gender non-conforming lead, blind ml). Reserving full judgement until I've read the second half.
Touch Within the Abyss by Moyori Mori: another BL with a blind ml, idk how that happened twice in a row. Assassin x blind shut-in. This was surprisingly good.
Be My Love, My Lord by Adumi Nagano: modern yaoi in a world where people with animal features are enslaved; owner x enslaved dog guy. IMO did a decent job on the awkwardness of the premise and the consent issues.
Cheri, My Destiny! by Okoge Mochino: modern BL. Never really figured out the chemistry between the main characters. Meh.
My Dear Agent vol. 1 by Ebino Bisque: cute modern BL about two body guards. Didn't quite come together, and the ML was obnoxiously pushy, never really figured out why the MC grew to like him. It's only two vols tho so I'm reserving full judgement for the second (which I have like 4 week wait for, sigh.)

3. What will you read next?

I only have like 6 manga borrowed on Libby and none are due imminently, so nothing urgent there... since I think I might finally be getting a little invested in Moriarty the Patriot, probably that? Those volumes are from the physical local library so I'd like to read um and return um sooner rather than later. And Solo Leveling vol. 1 by Chugong, now that I got my hands on it (after I read vol. 2 to 8 lol).

1. What are you currently reading?

Well, I was supposed to and planned to start A Memory Called Empire last night but I was so tired I couldn't face it, so instead I started the last volume (fourth) of The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish by Xue Shan Fei Hu. I'm not particularly enthusiastic about this, either, since book 3 committed so fully to kidfic and I hate kidfic, and I might have dropped the series if it wasn't that I knew this was the last one, but as it is, well. I'll read it. At least there's some fun political stuff happening in the beginning.

2. What have you recently finished?

I had a lot of Libby borrows with very imminent due dates, so I read a lot of manga and graphic novels.

Solo Leveling vol. 6 - 8 by Chugong: unsurprisingly, I finished the remaining books.
天官赐福 manhua vol. 1 by 墨香铜臭: my Chinese manhua read of the month! I actually finished before, like, the 30th this month! I'll probably tackle vol. 2; I want to increase my pace as my language skills improve.
Hitorijime My Hero vol. 13 by Memeko Arii
Spy x Family vol. 9 by Tatsuya Endo
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen: story about Vietnamese immigrants set in the late 90s, including a lead who is a gay young man. Really interesting juxtaposition between fairy tales and real life immigrant experience, gorgeous art, all in all fantastic. Gave me deep thinky thoughts about my high school friend Minh, whose family were Vietnamese immigrants. I hope he's doing okay...
Still Sick vol. 3 by Akashi: cute conclusion to this wlw story, though the characters felt really generic by the end, like, they lost the things that had made them distinct in the first volume.
Chainsaw Man vol. 9 by Tatsuki Fujimoto: well my favorite character died and I looked up spoilers and another character I like is gonna die and I'm starting to wonder if it's worth the effort.
Sakamoto Days vol. 2 by Yuto Suzuki: continues to be cute, harmless fun
Bergamot and Sunny Days by Lyee Kitahala: cute modern BL with an age difference. Pretty standard for the type.
All You Want, Whenever You Want by Omayu: modern BL; an aggravating amount of "no, no, yes" was offset by like 70% of the volume being hot and explicit, lol.
Les Normaux by Janine Janssen and S. Al Sabado: cute modern fantasy BL from a webcomic. I like the supporting cast and the range of rep (there's an aroace character! there's a pan character! there's an ace character! no gender stuff yet tho...)
Fated NOT to Meet by Ei Eijou: modern BL. No idea what the title has to do with the story, but it was fine. A lot like All You Want, Whenever You Want, the two had almost identical plot beats (and amounts of porn).

3. What will you be reading next?

My next library graphic novel (physical) is Kirby's Lessons for Falling (in Love) by Laura Gao. And I still need to read A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine for book club, I just keep procrastinating.

It Wednesday. I'm sick, and have been getting sicker, and so I upended my reading plans because the prospect of reading a book in which I didn't already know the characters made me feel like crying. Fortunately, I have several series I can turn to in my time of need.

1. What are you currently reading?

Unusually, I have multiple reads-in-progress.

Novel: Solo Leveling vol. 6 by Chugong. I'm most of the way done. There are two more volumes left and as of yesterday, I have them both.

Graphic Novels:

天官赐福 manhua vol. 1 by 墨香铜臭: this is my Chinese read-of-the-month, and at least the fourth time I've read this volume of the manhua in some language or other. I have the vague idea that if I can finish it early in the month, maybe I'll (gasp! shock!) try to read TWO volumes of manhua in Chinese this month.
Hitorijime My Hero vol. 13 by Memeko Arii

2. What have you recently finished reading?

Novels:

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch: yeah, this was cute! I'm not sorry I read it, even if I never quite figured out what they like about each other beyond mutual attraction.
Solo Leveling vol. 4 by Chugong
Solo Leveling vol. 5 by Chugong: first time I've read a whole novel in a day in a looooong time.

Graphic Novels:

Hungry Heart by Jem Milton: a cute mlm modern graphic novel about a celebrity chef and his interviewer. Never quite figured out what they liked about each other. It was nice to have some explicit pan rep.
Cherry Magic: Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! vol. 9 - 11 by Yuu Toyota
Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba vol. 16 by Koyoharu Gotouge
The Treasure of the King and the Cat by You Kajika: a fantasy with minor mlm that had interesting world building but all kinda added together into a big nothing.
Haikyu!! vol. 25 by Haruichi Furudate
Heat x Beat: A Shut-in Omega Becomes an Idol! by Ken Homerun: omegaverse mlm. It was fine. Unmemorable.
The Way of the Househusband vol. 4 by Kousuke Oono

3. What will you read next?

Well, if I get my brain back from the sick enough to cope with new characters, I need to read A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine for book club. Failing that, if I stick to books I'm familiar with the characters, I've got the last two volumes of Solo Leveling by Chugong, and I've got The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish vol. 4 by Xue Shang Fei Hu, and I've got The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol. 8 by Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat, all of which fit the "I know these characters" bill and are on my TBR. I can't imagine I'll stay sick long enough to get through that many books. For library books, I've got a few volumes on Libby due in seven days or less: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen, Spy x Family vol. 9 by Tatsuya Endo, and Still Sick vol. 3 by Akashi. I've got some physical library books I really should get to also, but oh well.

1. What are you currently reading?

Uh, I'm halfway through Dungeon Meshi vol. 6, does that count? I'm not currently reading a novel.

2. What have you recently finished reading?

So I had a whole bunch of overdue library books that I was really determined to finish, and as such I decided not to start a novel until I got through them. I also, about 3 weeks ago, went on a Libby BL spree, and all those were gonna be due in a couple days, so I also had to read through all those (one left as of now...). So I planned to not read a novel until I finished most or all of that, but then I realized part of my problem wasn't "reading a novel," it was that I bouncing off a novel as serious as Babel, so I grabbed the next book on my pile - a fluffy, low-stakes, slice-of-life stand-alone danmei - and motored through it, AND got through all the rest too. Anyway.

You're Too Op by Yi Xiu Luo: my novel read of the week! This is a Rosmei title, modern esports BL. It was cute, and a very quick read, and I appreciated how few extras there were, it made it all more cohesive to not have a lot of extraneous stuff at the end. I never really figured out why the ML actually liked the MC, but nonetheless, I enjoyed it and am not sorry I read it.
Hitorijime My Hero vol. 10 by Memeco Arii: I feel like I've finally actually gotten invested in this; I borrowed the next few volumes from Libby. It's still not amazing but I'm enjoying it enough to keep going.
Runaways Volume 1: Pride & Joy by Brian K. Vaughan: I did a little websearching on which Marvel titles were queer, and I remembered hearing good things about this one when it first came out (I was dating a huge Marvel comic fan at the time). I actually thought? I'd read the beginning??? but ngl it didn't ring any bells. Anyway, I expect to keep going, I've always liked Marvel, and I want to support the queer titles on their catalog. Just gotta find the next vol at the library.
全球高考 manhua vol. 2 by 木苏里: my Chinese read-of-the-month for March; I finished it a little late. Vol. 3 will be my read for April, and then I'm out of vols of it and will probably move to 天官赐福.
The Snake Who Loved a Sparrow by Nina Natsuo: interesting fantasy BL with way more world to explain/justify than could possbily fit in a single volume. Definitely needed WAY more room to breathe to really do justice to the premise.
How to Be Ace: A memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess: I had high hopes for this and waiting a.g.e.s. to get it from QLL, but ultimately wasn't that pleased with it. I get that it was a memoir, but with a title that claims such definitiveness, it was frustrating how much of the book was actually about the author's OCD.
My Ultramarine Sky by Nagisa Furuya: modern BL. Utterly unmemorable among the ton of stuff I read this week.
Don't Call Me Dirty by Gorou Kanbe: modern BL. Kinda weird story about an overly friendly guy and the homeless dude he befriends. Glossed over too many of the details to really work imo, but it was fine in and of itself.
This Wonderful Season With You by Atsuko Yusen: modern BL. Cuteish HS title about a total dork and the former jock who falls for him. It was fine but unremarkable.
Navigating With You by Jeremy Whitley: definitely my read of the week, this was a GREAT f/f modern romance about two girls who've both recently moved to the same backwater bonding over their love of the same manga title.
Kaiju No. 8 vol. 12 by Naoya Matsumoto: I found this at the library, was overjoyed, and had finished it less than 2 hours later. Vol 13 when?
Still Sick vol. 1 by Akasha: weird modern GL title about a woman finding out that her coworker sells yuri fan doujins on the weekends. I can't really figure out the not-doujin-artist, her behavior is really erratic and weird. Still, I borrowed vol. 2 so eh.
Katakoi Lamp by Kyohei Azumi: modern BL. Pretty meh, definitely one of the weaker ones I've read.
Delicious in Dungeon vol. 5 by Ryoko Kui
Adversary by Blue Delliquanti: modern m/m with a trans main (who tops!) and many trigger warnings. I found the ending insanely confusing, can't say I was a fan overall.
Wails of the Bound vol. ...2??? by Keri Kusabi: very weird omegaverse modern BL that was listed as vol 1 but I think is actually vol. 2. Took me most of the volume to figure out wtf was going on.
The Black Cat and the Vampire vol. 1 and 2 by Nikke Taino: fantasy BL. My favorite manga read of the week, this was a cute duology which stayed pretty fluffy considering the premise. Might make it on to my list of books to buy.

3. What will you be reading next?

I borrow 10 volumes of Dungeon Meshi from the library, so...that, definitely. And for novels... well, I keep saying Babel but after realizing I'm not sure I'm up for something Serious, I might put it on hold and read some other random stuff first. I haven't really decided to be honest. If I do switch, next would be the last volume of The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish.

1. What are you currently reading?

I have no novel-in-progress; I did start a manhua in Chinese (I've got a self-enforced goal to read one volume of manhua in Chinese each month). It's 全球高考 vol. 2 by 木苏里; I'll actually be starting my re-read of the novel in the next day or three, too, but that's for later in this post.

2. What have you recently finished?

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle: my novel read-of-the-week. I enjoyed it! I found it scarier than Camp Damascus and I definitely liked it, though I thought the pacing of the last, like, 20% didn't quite work for me.
Witch Hat Atelier vol. 1 by Kamome Shirahama: it's charming, though I can't say I yet understand why people love it so much.
Yona of the Dawn vol. 11 by Mizuho Kusanagi
Koimonogatari: Love Stories vol. 1 by Tohru Tagura: an unmemorable and difficult to pin-down book? I genuinely can't tell if it's supposed to be about a romantic or platonic thing, like, it's a story about a gay high school student, his crush, and the crush's best friend who figures out the gay guy's crush. And platonic is fine, btw, I just wish I could read the vibes better.
Jujutsu Kaisen vol. 5 by Gege Akutami: I've decided to put this one down. There was just never any point where I really felt like I knew what was going on or why I should care about 90% of these characters.
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! vol. 5 - 7 by Yuu Toyota
The Way of the Househusband vol. 1 by Kousuke Oono: I've known this by reputation for ages so I grabbed vol. 1 from the library, and I'll own I didn't expect it to be this fucking funny, like laughing out loud repeatedly.
I Hear the Sunspot: Limit vol. 1 by Yuki Fumino: this is definitely starting to ping my "but why can't they be together NOW?" senses. (it's volume... 3 or 4?...of the overarching series.)
Spy x Family vol. 6 by Tatsuya Endo: last vol. I complained that not much was happening/it felt like it was settling a bit into silly-episode-of-the-day. This volume had some of that but it also had a big plot advancement right at the end, so I'll keep reading for now.
Solo Leveling vol. 7 - 10 by Chugong: after the most recent episode of the anime left me at a cliffhanger, I decided to go for the webcomic; I started where the last episode left off (those parts are a re-read for me), and have now continued into parts I haven't read before. This is what I want to be reading, instead of hanging out on Discord.

3. What will you be reading next?

I ended up rearranging my tbr slightly cause Bury Your Gays was a Libby loan so I had a timetable for finishing it, so next up will be the Rosmei translation of Global Examination vol. 1 by Mu Su Li (I've previously read the fantranslation) (I'm also currently reading vol. 2 of the manhua in Chinese, which is ALSO a reread, as I've read the manhua on Bilibili in English). After that is Babel by R. F. Kuang.

1. What are you currently reading?

Still in Sha Po Lang/Stars of Chaos by priest, but I'm close to done now! I finished the main story last night (so about halfway through vol. 5), now I just have the extras left. priest sure does love rushing her endings, lol.

2. What have you recently finished?

I honestly don't think I have the brain for commentary today, but I can make a list

The Flying Ship vol. 2 by Jem Milton (queer)
Spy x Family vol. 3 - 4 by Tatsuya Endo
Jujutsu Kaisen vol. 2 - 3 by Gege Akutami
Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba vol. 10 - 11 by Koyoharu Gotouge (I also put on the anime as background noise yesterday, and started vol. 12 but don't feel like putting that in currently reading)
My Love Mix-Up! vol. 3 by Aruko and Wataru Hinekura (queer)
Signals vol. 1 - 2 by Nika (full series, queer)
Cover My Scars with Your Kiss vol. 1 by Io Amaki (queer, is actually stand-alone but there's a sequel)

3. What will you be reading next?

Next novel in my pile is The Missing Piece by Kun Yi Wei Lou, a single-volume modern danmei. If I somehow manage to finish that before next Wednesday (highly unlikely but you never know), after that is Babel by R. F. Kuang. I think. Or maybe it's Global Examination (Mu Su Li) vol. 1 and then Babel. Close enough. For graphic novels, next is something I borrowed from tryslora, and a pile of manga from Libby (as always).

so I was expecting to read much this weekend but it turned out I wasn't able to do the work-related reading I wanted to at last weekend's con (required too much concentration) so I instead ended up reading a lot again.

1. What are you currently reading?

remarkably, nothing. I'm between books rn.

2. What have you recently finished reading?

I Ship My Rival x Me manhua vol. 2 by Pepa (modern mlm): did I include this last week? I can't remember. Anyway it's the third time I'm reading this series, now in print official English translation format.
Run: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin: this is an autobiographical account of a couple years of Civil Rights movement, and it was very good, and interesting to read in light of everything happening now. I grabbed it because the NYPL Libby has an "unlimited borrows of this banned book this month" thing. Totally worth it.
Stars of Chaos/Sha Po Lang vol. 3 and 4 by priest: yep, I finished vol. 3 and read all of vol. 4. I just haven't started vol. 5 yet. still loving it.
Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba vol. 9 by Koyoharu Gotouge
Haikyu!! vol. 22 by Haruichi Furudate
Yona of the Dawn vol. 9 by Mizuho Kusanagi
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! vol. 1 - 2 by Yuu Toyota (modern w/ magic, bl): I figured this would be really cute and yeah, it's really cute. I've got a hold out for vol. 3.
My Love Mix-Up vol. 1 - 2 by Aruko and Wataru Hinekure (modern, bl): this is also cute, though I struggled with second-hand embarrassment, especially through the first volume. Upside, it's 9 volumes and completely translated. Downside, turns out none of my Libby libraries have volumes 4 and 5. All the other volumes, sure, just missing those two. I'm debating what to do about it, sigh.
The Flying Ship vol. 1 by Jem Milton (fantasy, wlw, probably some gender stuff, amputee mc): this was an interesting fantasy world but I didn't find the characters that likeable and found the last section confusing. I've got vol. 2 from the library also, I'll give it a go.
全球高考漫画 vol. 1 by 木苏里 (sci-fi mlm): this was my "read one book in Chinese" for February; it's Global Examination by Mu Su Li. I've read a fantranslation of the book, and I've read this part of the manhua twice before, so it was good practice, though my brain kinda crapped out for the last section.

3. What will you read next?

Obviously Stars of Chaos vol. 5 is up next for novels, and then The Missing Piece by Kun Yi Wei Lou. For graphic novels, The Flying Ship vol. 2, and then I'm not sure, I think some of the books I've borrowed from tryslora are below that in my graphic novels pile. And more manga, of course. My brain is fried so I've been reading manga like I'm nomming candy.

so, we were traveling over the weekend and I got very little sleep so I simultaneously was too tired to function and also had fuck-all to do, which meant I read a truly ludicrous amount of manga. As such:

1. What are you currently reading?

Sha Po Lang/Stars of Chaos vol. 3! I'm a bit over 50% through and still enjoying it very much. These morons are f.i.n.a.l.l.y. using their words.

2. What have you recently finished?

Stars of Chaos vol. 2 by priest (historical steampunk China danmei/BL): still loving this
Yuri is My Job vol. 12 by Miman (modern GL manga): there's just so little to get excited about with this title, but I also don't dislike it enough to stop? idk.
Ask Me About Polyamory: The Best of Kimchi Cuddles by Tikva Wolf (modern non-fiction what it says on the tin): I was sooooo excited about this based on the title, and while I did enjoy it, it felt a little aggressively allonormative to me, lots of "love isn't a finite resource I can love lots of people" which isn't my personal aroace experience of poly at all. This isn't a fault with the book, to be clear, more just a mismatch that meant I was a little disappointed.
Haikyu vol. 19 - 21 by Haruichi Furudate: okay the last match went on a bit too long but definitely had me chewing the pages to find out what would happen.
Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba vol. 4 - 8 by Koyoharu Gotouge: finally getting a little invested in this; it helps that I found out it's finished at 23 vols, which gives me a much better sense of the arc of the story.
I Think Our Son is Gay vol. 5 by Okura (what it says on the tin): this was a nice conclusion, though I wish there'd been a little more "there" there. It really just stayed vignettes, though with a definite arc of family support and learning together. The younger bro's clear asexuality becoming explicitly canon was a nice touch.
Fangs vol. 1 - 2 by Billy Baibally (modern urban paranormal BL): sexy and interesting BL story, definitely interested for more.
Chainsaw Man vol. 3 - 6 by Tatsuki Fujimoto: this continues to be a heckin' weird story that I'm still enjoying. It'd be nice if characters stopped dying.
Yona of the Dawn vol. 8 by Mizuho Kusanagi: I continue to not enjoy this as much as I feel like I should, sigh.
Chef's Kiss by Jarrett Melendez (modern BL graphic novel): this was cute but it was a little depressing how aggressively awful all the parents involved are.
Cannonball by Kelsey Wroten (modern graphic novel with lesbian mc/wlw): it's been a while since I disliked something this much. The main character is just so deeply unappealing. The art was good! The writing was fine! But ew this people and everything they stand for.

3. What will you be reading next?

Stars of Chaos/Sha Po Lang vol. 4, obviously. This weekend I'll be traveling again, but this time with virtually no reading time, so I don't really know tbh. I've got I Ship My Rival x Me vol. 2 manhua as my next graphic novel, and other than that... probably more manga. It's on my phone cause I get most of it through Libby, and it's quick to read. (like of the manga above, the only one I read a physical copy of is Yuri is My Job, that was from the physical library.)

1. What are you currently reading?

Stars of Chaos/Sha Po Lang vol. 2 by priest! I'm about halfway through this volume (which means I'm about a third through the entire story, the English edition is five volumes) and I swear if this slow burn lasts much longer Imma start slamming heads together. Like, the glare I have for any characters when they've already kissed yet are still positive the other has no interest.

2. What have you recently finished?

Stars of Chaos/Sha Po Lang vol. 1 by priest (danmei/BL, historical China but with steampunk). Obviously I finished vol. 1. I'm really enjoying it, a delicious mix of cool world building, slow burn morons, and political machinations.
Yona of the Dawn vol. 7 by Mizuho Kusanagi (fantasy shoujo): I kinda wish I had more idea where the story is actually going? idk.
I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner (Regency/historical romance with m/f trans man): I think I liked the idea of this slightly better than I actually liked it, but I did still enjoy it. The Emma vibes have struck again, though, sigh. (TL:DR I hate Jane Austen's Emma lmao.)
Yuri is My Job vol. 9 to 11 by Miman (modern GL manga): do I like this series? I'm genuinely not sure. But I've got the vols from the library and I might as well read 'um? I've got one more vol. from the library (and I think the series only has one more volume after that??) so I'll read that then move on. shrug

3. What will you read next?

Well, Sha Po Lang vol. 3 will obviously be my next novel read. For graphic novels, as I already said, Yuri is my Job vol. 12, then the book after that on my library graphic novel TBR is Ask Me About Polyamory: The Best of Kimchi Cuddles by Tikva Wolf. When I saw the title of this one I knew I had to read it, so I'm looking forward to it. Idk anything about Kimchi Cuddles but. yay polyamory. Oh, and I Ship My Rival x Me vol. 2 came out, and so after I pick that up from the bookstore I'll probably read it basically immediately. It's a reread for me tho.

1. What have you recently finished reading?

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle (modern horror, wlw, background mlm): I motored through this to finish it before it was due, and I enjoyed it! I wish some of the suggested plot strings had been followed slightly farther to logical conclusions? but the writing was engaging and the characters believable and overall I happily plan to read Bury Your Gays based on having read this one.
Kaiju No. 8 vol. 11 by Naoya Matsumoto: spotted the latest volume at the library and immediately yoinked and read it. The next vol comes out in February, so for now I'm caught up. I want more.
Haikyu!! vol. 18 by Haruichi Furudate
Jujutsu Kaisen vol. 1 by Gege Akutami: next up in my "reading the manga of popular animes I keep seeing people talking about" plan. Spent months on hold to get this volume, went in knowing absolutely nothing about the plot lol. So far it's off to an interesting start? Long wait for vol. 2 now, sigh.
Yuri is My Job! vol. 8 by Miman (modern GL): it's been over a year since I read volume 7 and by the end of volume 8 I almost remembered all the plot threads???? I've got the next few volumes so at least I can read more before I forget again.
The Out Side: Trans & Nonbinary Comics anthology (what it says on the tin): graphic novel anthology collection of autobiographical stories by trans and/or NB authors, in many different styles. I found some more personally relateable than others but all were very honest and authentic and real, and I enjoyed the book. The shorts range from 1 page to around 10, and there were a LOT of them in the one volume. I'd been wanting to read this one for a while so I was really excited to spot it available from the Brooklyn Public Library.

2. What are you currently reading?

Stars of Chaos/Sha Po Lang vol. 1 by priest (ancient China + steampunk, BL): I have wanted to read this for aaaaaaaages and I finally aaaaaaaaaam and I am not even slightly disappointed. The only reason I haven't devoured even more is that I haven't felt well enough to focus for long periods of time. (I and both my kids have strep throat, though my wife has been spared so I guess that's something.)

3. What will you read next?

Stars of Chaos is five volumes, all of which I have, so I expect that will keep me busy for at least a couple weeks and be my primary novel-reading in that time. For graphic novels, I've got vols. 9 through 12 of Yuri is My Job! up next from the library (physical) and Yona of the Dawn vol. 7 due in 5 days (on Libby) so I'll have to read that too.

god I'm tired today. I blame *gestures vaguely at absolutely everything*

1. What are you currently reading?

My "next up" plans got a little upended because I had a long-term Libby hold request come through, so now I'm about 20% of the way into Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle. I realized right after I started just how little I knew about it, lmao. like. female protagonist and first person point of view? shock! (I don't mind either to be clear it just wasn't until I read the first sentence that I was like Oh so that's how things are). I have it from Libby only for another like 9 days, and I waited in the hold list for 7 months to get it so re-borrowing isn't a choice, so I've gotta finish it quick. I also started vol. 2 of the Dinghai Fusheng Record manhua by Fei Tian Ye Xiang but I was so busy yesterday (my brother visited) that even tho I usually read graphic novels in one sitting, I. didn't.

2. What have you recently finished?

Books:

The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish vol. 3 by Xue Shan Fei Hu: I did finally manage to finish it and didn't end up any happier with it, sigh. I loved the first two so much but I just hate kid fic so much more.
The Fall of the House of Tatterly by Shanna Miles (modern with magic, there's a little mlm for a side character): the author deserved a little better editing than this had but it was still a fun book with absolutely fascinating world building.

Graphic Novels:

Hakumei and Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods vol. 1 by Takuto Kashiki (manga): a cute little cozy slice of life manga that I'd heard good things about, but idk, I didn't love it, and not just cause I'm not a big fan of cozy. Like, that part I was expecting, it just didn't click even aside from that.
Chainsaw Man vol. 2 by Tatsuki Fujimoto (manga): I continue to like this, though it's not what I expected, or maybe it is, I mean it IS "dude with a chainsaw for a face" so there's that
Silver Vessels by Steve Orlando (graphic novel, trans sidecharacter, modern with I guess magic graphic novel???): oh man, it's been a while since I read something that just Didn't Work as thoroughly as this didn't work. Insert your own bad review here cause I really try not to be that negative about stuff but. this was a mess.
Ash's Cabin by Jen Wang (graphic novel, modern, trans main character): this is by the same author The Prince and the Dressmaker, which I loved, and I had high hopes, but idk maybe I'm just too old to vibe with a main character who acts this thoughtlessly toward the people who care about them.

3. What will you be reading next?

For novels, once I finish Camp Damascus I'm back to my previous plan, which is to read Sha Po Lang/Stars of Chaos by priest now that all five volumes are out in English. For graphic novels, next up is like 5 volumes of Yuri is My Job, cause my library bought a bunch post-vol.-7 (where I'd had to stop because they didn't have more) and I grabbed them all last time I was there lol.

1. What have you recently finished reading?

For novels, I finally finished The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol. 7. I was determined to finish it by today. It was in fact hurt/no comfort cover to cover, just as I expected it to be (since I've read the book before). Next volume will be even worse. yay, or something.

Graphic Novels

I Think Our Son is Gay vol. 4 by Okura: continues to be relatively sweet and gentle; I think the next vol. is the last one? I'm curious what the wrap-up actually is since the series is more a set of vignettes than anything.
小蘑菇 vol. 2 by 一十四洲: my Chinese copy of the second volume of the Little Mushroom manhua arrived, so of course I devoured it. It was harder to understand than vol. 1 for me, but I managed to play through and maybe learned a word or two from looking stuff up. Anyway, I've read the book, so I can follow events even if I'm not catching a lot of the Chinese, I still think it's better practice than... not. (I've set myself of an unofficial 2025 goal of reading one book (prose or manhua) in Chinese each month, cause I keep psyching myself out of pushing myself and it's dumb.)
Haikyu!! vol. 17 by Haruichi Furudate: I continue enjoying it enough to keep reading more, though it wouldn't take much for me to get bored and stop.
Coven by Jennifer Dugan and Kit Seaton (modern with magic, bi mc in a sapphic relationship, mlm in the background): this got off to a strong start and had a very disappointing end. As I was approaching the end, I was starting to really wonder how the authors could possibly bring together all the introduced threads in a satisfactory way with the length left, and the answer was... they couldn't.
Hitorijime My Hero vol. 4 by Memeko Arii (modern high school/age difference/teacher x student, mlm): I'd had to pause reading this one cause my library didn't have vol. 4, but I found it on the Brooklyn PL libby so I grabbed it. It took most of the volume to remember wtf was going on lmao.
Here U Are vol. 1 and 2 by DJun (modern college mlm): I ordered these from Aloha not knowing anything about them beyond that they were popular enough to have an artbook that I've seen for sale on Heartbeat Anime, and oh. I really liked them. Definitely looking forward to more. Grumpy dog x sunshine cat dynamics, with the cat as the mc.

2. What are you currently reading?

I started vol. 3 of The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish yesterday, and it's as gentle as I'd hoped, I needed some knives recovery lol.

3. What will you be reading next?

For novels, I think the next book on my pile is still The Fall of the house of Tatterly by Shanna Miles. For graphic novels, I technically already started Dungeon Critters by Sara Goetter and Natalie Riess; it's a middle grade graphic novel I grabbed from the library cause I thought my daughter would like it (she's 6). And she did. And I read a little of it to her (my wife read the rest) and I discovered...it's also queer. So when they finished it, I moved it to my tbr. It's hard to find queer middle grade graphic novels - not that it's not there but the discoveribility has been very poor for me, I've had much better luck finding YA and adult queer graphic novels at the library.