Tomie by Junji Ito

Title: Tomie

Author: Junji Ito

Publisher: VIZ Media

Genre: Manga Horror

Pages: 752

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Quarter of a Century - 2016

Where I Got It: Library

Tomie Kawakami is a femme fatale with long black hair and a beauty mark just under her left eye. She can seduce nearly any man, and drive them to murder as well, even though the victim is often Tomie herself. While one lover seeks to keep her for himself, another grows terrified of the immortal succubus. But soon they realize that no matter how many times they kill her, the world will never be free of Tomie.

I do love Ito’s Tomie stories. You just know going in that everyone is going to die, even Tomie, and somehow she will come back in some creepy way. Most of these stories were great fun and I enjoyed seeing how Tomie manipulates various people. I will admit that over 700 pages of Toomie stories got a little repetitive. But I still really enjoyed this collection of stories.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Shiver by Junji Ito

Title: Shiver

Author: Junji Ito

Publisher: VIZ Media 2015

Genre: Manga Horror

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Quarter of a Century; I Read Horror - Frightening Cover

Where I Got It: Library

This volume includes nine of Junji Ito’s best short stories, as selected by the author himself and presented with accompanying notes and commentary.

An arm peppered with tiny holes dangles from a sick girl’s window… After an idol hangs herself, balloons bearing the faces of their destined victims appear in the sky… An amateur film crew hires an extremely individualistic fashion model and faces a real bloody ending… An offering of nine fresh nightmares for the delectation of horror fans.

As this is an anthology, I’m doing a one sentence review for each story.

Used Record - Meh. Not my favorite, slow and lacking in the horror.

Shiver - Loved this horrifying take on a cursed object.

Fashion Model - Monsters are always a favorite story focus.

Hanging Blimp - My favorite of the collection. This was so disturbing!

Marionette Mansion - Puppets are always creepy; loved it.

Painter - A Tomie focused story. Interesting, but not my favorite of the Tomie stories.

The Long Dream - Weird premise of this one, but I really enjoyed it.

Honored Ancestors - Creepy creepy creepy. Loved the twists in here.

Greased - This one was very gross, even for me.

Fashion Model: Cursed Frame - Yes! A bonus monster story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Demon's Bargain by Katee Robert

Title: The Demon’s Bargain (A Deal with a Demon #5)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Trinkets & Tales 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 123

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Quarter of a Century - 2022; She reads Romance - Erotic

Where It Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 7

Lenora made a mistake. She trusted the wrong man, and in a moment of weakness, he stole a family heirloom from her. Her only chance to get it back will be during Samhain, when the Shadow Market opens and magical folk gather for three days to celebrate, and unfortunately she can’t do it alone. She needs a demon.

Ramanu’s entire existence is making bargains. They’re a bargainer demon, after all. They’ve had their eye on Lenora for some time now, so they’re pleased when she summons them to help with her little thief problem…especially because it means spending time in close proximity with her.

Lenora thought she could get away with a bargain that didn’t require seven years of service, but when Ramanu informs her those are the terms, she decides to go it alone…even though the demon wants to tag along to the market. But as the clock ticks down and all Lenora’s attempts to reclaim her amulet fail, making a deal with Ramanu might be the only option she has…

And they might take her heart right along with her soul.

The library finally got this book in circulation, and I finally got it off hold. Thank goodness! I was really hoping that Ramanu would get his own story. This one was a bit different as there wasn’t a bargain made to kick off the story. Instead, we meet a witch who summons a demon to help get back her magical necklace. Lenora is a prickly character, but I appreciate her take charge attitude and Ramona’s soft-boy bodyguard position. The story is super short, but lots of fun and very spicy. Excited to finish out the series with Azazel’s story.

A Deal with a Demon

• #1 The Dragon’s Bride

• #2 The Kraken’s Sacrifice

• #3 The Gargoyle’s Captive

• #4 The Succubus’s Prize

• #5 The Demon’s Bargain

• #6 The Demon’s Queen

Next up on the TBR pile:

Ruins by Dan Wells

Title: Ruins (Partials Sequence #3)

Author: Dan Wells

Publisher: Balzar + Bray 2014

Genre: YA Scifi

Pages: 464

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series; Quarter of a Century - 2014

Where I Got It: Library

Kira, Samm, and Marcus fight to prevent a final war between Partials and humans in the gripping final installment in the Partials Sequence, a series that combines the thrilling action of The Hunger Games with the provocative themes of Blade Runner and The Stand.

There is no avoiding it—the war to decide the fate of both humans and Partials is at hand. Both sides hold in their possession a weapon that could destroy the other, and Kira Walker has precious little time to prevent that from happening. She has one chance to save both species and the world with them, but it will only come at great personal cost.

I finished the trilogy, but I will admit to being a bit disappointed here. The last book introduced way too many elements and cluttered the storyline. I wanted to see Kira and company come back together and reveal the secrets, but instead, for most of the story they are scattered even further. The inclusion of the gilled Partials took me slightly over the edge and made me roll my eyes. I kept pushing through the story and then we reach the climax and there was just too much confused action on the page. I wanted to see a bit more of laying out of the secret and the final choices of the characters. It was fine. I wasn’t incredibly angry about the ending, but it definitely could have been better.

Partials Sequence:

• #1 Partials

• #2 Fragments

• #3 Ruins

Next up on the TBR pile:

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Title: Romantic Comedy

Author: Curtis Sittenfeld

Publisher: Random House 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 309

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Quarter of a Century - 2023; Romanceopoly - Festival Barn

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 4.5

Sally Milz is a sketch writer for The Night Owls, a late-night live comedy show that airs every Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life.

But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actress who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show—and in society at large—who’ve gotten romantically involved with incredibly beautiful and accomplished women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch called The Danny Horst Rule, poking fun at this phenomenon while underscoring how unlikely it is that the reverse would ever happen for a woman.

Enter Noah Brewster, a pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models, who signed on as both host and musical guest for this week’s show. Dazzled by his charms, Sally hits it off with Noah instantly, and as they collaborate on one sketch after another, she begins to wonder if there might actually be sparks flying. But this isn’t a romantic comedy—it’s real life. And in real life, someone like him would never date someone like her . . . right?

With her keen observations and trademark ability to bring complex women to life on the page, Curtis Sittenfeld explores the neurosis-inducing and heart-fluttering wonder of love, while slyly dissecting the social rituals of romance and gender relations in the modern age.

Oh goodness. I truly disliked this book. My main issue with the book is actually the format and writing style. The “Dear Diary” style of relating the week at the non-SNL production got old really fast. It felt super immature and distracted from the characters. The second section of emails was tired and repetitive. I couldn’t even imagine having to listen to that on audio. Thank goodness that I was reading it with my eyes. The third section was the only part that I was okay with. It’s written with first-person narrative, but seems normal. My other issue with the book is the story itself. There’s an attempt to show a story focused on insecure woman as she attempts to not fuck up a New Romantic relationship. I appreciate the attempt, but found Sally so unlikeable and annoying in many ways. I would have liked to see so much more between her and Noah, but instead we don’t get them together until the 70% mark of the book. As an extra note, I hated reading the COVID section. The entire section where Jerry contracts COVID seemed out of place and took my out of the point of the book. This is going to be interesting book club.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab

Title: The Near Witch

Author: V.E. Schwab

Publisher: Hyperion Books 2011

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 284

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; Quarter of a Century - 2011

Where I Got It: Kindle

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. 

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. 

There are no strangers in the town of Near. 

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. 

But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. 

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. 

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy. 

I was randomly perusing my Kindle app looking for a lighter fantasy read and this one caught my eye. I have really enjoyed many of Schwab’s books. Apparently this is her first published book. I went into the book with no expectations and immediately fell into this folk story featuring a lost girl and a lost boy finding their way through the world. I loved the mix of folklore and supernatural aspects. We get some great scenes with the sisters and The Near Witch. It ended up being a shorter book, but was a great lighter fairy tale-esque read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

Title: The Keeper of Lost Things

Author: Ruth Hogan

Publisher: HaperCollins 2017

Genre: Magical Realism

Pages: 288

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Quarter of a Century - 2017; Cover Lover - Piece of Jewelry

Where I Got It: Library

Anthony Peardew is the keeper of lost things. Forty years ago, he carelessly lost a keepsake from his beloved fiancée, Therese. That very same day, she died unexpectedly. Brokenhearted, Anthony sought consolation in rescuing lost objects—the things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidently left behind—and writing stories about them. Now, in the twilight of his life, Anthony worries that he has not fully discharged his duty to reconcile all the lost things with their owners. As the end nears, he bequeaths his secret life’s mission to his unsuspecting assistant, Laura, leaving her his house and and all its lost treasures, including an irritable ghost.

Recovering from a bad divorce, Laura, in some ways, is one of Anthony’s lost things. But when the lonely woman moves into his mansion, her life begins to change. She finds a new friend in the neighbor’s quirky daughter, Sunshine, and a welcome distraction in Freddy, the rugged gardener. As the dark cloud engulfing her lifts, Laura, accompanied by her new companions, sets out to realize Anthony’s last wish: reuniting his cherished lost objects with their owners.

Long ago, Eunice found a trinket on the London pavement and kept it through the years. Now, with her own end drawing near, she has lost something precious—a tragic twist of fate that forces her to break a promise she once made.

As the Keeper of Lost Objects, Laura holds the key to Anthony and Eunice’s redemption. But can she unlock the past and make the connections that will lay their spirits to rest?

A sentimental novel full of ridiculous coincidences, conveniences, and a lackluster protagonist. I absolutely struggled to get through this novel less than 300 pages. It should have taken me a few days. Instead, it took me over a week. Right away, I knew that I was going to dislike Laura. She’s a 35 year old women who’s just a sad sack of nothing. She continues to be a sad sack for almost the entire book. I could not handle her constant pessimistic attitude. From there, I just kept cringing at her actions and dialogue with other characters. It was painful. As for the plot, it was all coincidence and timely magic. I just could not. The book club discussion for this one is going to be brutal.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker

Title: A Song for a New Day

Author: Sarah Pinsker

Publisher: Penguin 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; Quarter of a Century - 2019

Where I Got It: Amazon Kindle

In the Before, when the government didn't prohibit large public gatherings, Luce Cannon was on top of the world. One of her songs had just taken off and she was on her way to becoming a star. Now, in the After, terror attacks and deadly viruses have led the government to ban concerts, and Luce's connection to the world--her music, her purpose—is closed off forever. She does what she has to do: she performs in illegal concerts to a small but passionate community, always evading the law.

Rosemary Laws barely remembers the Before times. She spends her days in Hoodspace, helping customers order all of their goods online for drone delivery—no physical contact with humans needed. By lucky chance, she finds a new job and a new calling: discover amazing musicians and bring their concerts to everyone via virtual reality. The only catch is that she'll have to do something she's never done before and go out in public. Find the illegal concerts and bring musicians into the limelight they deserve. But when she sees how the world could actually be, that won’t be enough.

Nerdy Bookish Friends’ first selection of the year and it was a bit of a dud for me. I don’t actually think that this is a bad book at all. I just started reading it, got about halfway through, and realized that it put me in a terrible melancholy mood. I deeply felt the loneliness of both of the main characters as they navigated an isolated world. At times, I was very intrigued by how the world has changed since the pandemic. But… the story meandered and seemed to get stuck in places. More importantly, I was having a lot of trouble really connecting to Rosemary. She was so incredibly naive that I couldn’t even root for her. While I didn’t love the book, I am excited to discuss it with my online book friends.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Partials by Dan Wells

Title: Partials (Partials Sequence #1)

Author: Dan Wells

Publisher: Balzar + Bray 2013

Genre: YA Scifi

Pages: 528

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Quarter of a Century - 2013

Where I Got It: Book Outlet April 2020

Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. But sixteen-year-old Kira is determined to find a solution. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that that the survival of both humans and Partials rests in her attempts to answer questions about the war's origin that she never knew to ask.

Playing on our curiosity of and fascination with the complete collapse of civilization, Partials is, at its heart, a story of survival, one that explores the individual narratives and complex relationships of those left behind, both humans and Partials alike—and of the way in which the concept of what is right and wrong in this world is greatly dependent on one's own point of view.

This book has been sitting on my shelves for almost five years now. I was searching for something fairly breezy with lots of action and grabbed onto this one. Thankfully, it delivered on the promise. We get a very fast paced scifi post-apolyptic novel featuring lots of action and surprisingly, lots of science. As this is young adult, the main characters were annoying at times, but that’s to be expected. I also thought that Wells’s writing was fairly simplistic and immature at times. But the only part that I really disliked was the teenage romance angle. Truly it served no purpose whatsoever. By the end of the book, I was invested in the series. I want to find out what happens between the humans and the Partials after the revelations in this volume.

Partials Sequence:

• #1 Partials

• #2 Fragments

• #3 Ruins

Next up on the TBR pile:

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow

Title: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

Author: Cory Doctorow

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2003

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 208

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Quarter of a Century

Where I Got It: Prospero’s in Kansas City, October 2021

Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World.

Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the care of a network of volunteer "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches.

Now, though, it seems the "ad hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself.

Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war: war for the soul of the Magic Kingdom, a war of ever-shifting reputations, technical wizardry, and entirely unpredictable outcomes.

Another absolute dud. This felt like Doctorow’s attempt to create a story a la Snowcrash, but it falls extremely flat. This future full of terrible fucking men is not a place that I’m interested in reading about. And yes, I understand that this is supposed to be future that we don’t want, but I still don’t want to read about it. Jules is a terrible narrator and main character. I couldn’t find reasons to root for him to feel anger at his “death.” Why do the female characters have to be wet blankets or villains? I think this book may just have turned me off to Doctorow’s writing.

Next up on the TBR pile: