From the back cover:
Five friends continue their desperate search for Princess Sakura’s memories, which have been scattered across parallel worlds in the form of magically potent feathers. But this time Syaoran and Sakura are pulled from a tumultuous land where two factions battle over a statue of the God of Calamity—and into the realm of that very divinity! Now they find themselves on one side of a long, bloody conflict between two gods and their minions. Unfortunately the experienced fighters in their band, Fai and Kurogane, seem to be aligned with the opposition. In a war that can be ended only by the death of a god, how can Syaoran and Sakura hope to stay alive?

Review:
I liked this volume’s battle scenes and new setting, though I wouldn’t rate it as excellent. It does advance the plot with a couple of revelations, though still more remains unexplained. I’m still not fond of the creepy-haired villainous dude and his random appearances; he’s far too two-dimensional for me to care about him at all. I have the feeling that this won’t change much in the future, even when we eventually learn what he’s truly up to.

Ashura and Yasha are both extremely pretty, and I particularly liked the panels in which they appear together. I also thought Del Rey elegantly tackled the issue of Ashura’s ambiguous gender. Other publishers take note! The translation wasn’t at all clunky without specific pronouns. Now I’m left wishing for a Del Rey edition of Wish!

Book description:
This volume compiles the “Chibi-Usa Picture Diaries” and the “Exam Battle”s. These were all little side stories published throughout the series in its first incarnation, and left out and published separately for the second edition.

Review:
I’m not sure separating out these side stories was such a good idea. None of those included in this volume are particularly strong, though it might make more sense for volume two of the short stories, which includes “The Lover of Princess Kaguya.”

Some of these stories I was familiar with, as they’d been animated for episodes or specials, though a few were new. None of these are really wonderful, though if one has gotten this far, one’s enough of a Sailormoon fan that disliking them utterly probably isn’t in the cards.

Of the offerings here, I probably least enjoyed Makoto’s exam battle story. Its plot was no worse than the others, but the character was just spouting the same old trope about cooking and cleaning and pretty things and it grew tiresome. To me, the best was the last of the exam battle stories, where Minako pays a visit to Rei’s exclusive girls’ school. Minako’s typically spazzy, but there are a couple of glances of another side of Rei that make it worthwhile. Plus, it’s a little slashy! :)

From the back cover:
When Sir Hubert Handesley invited his well-to-do friends to his country estate for an amusing weekend, no one suspected it would turn into a deadly ordeal. But one of the participants in the supposedly playful Murder Game turns up dead… and Scotland Yard’s inimitable Roderick Alleyn must find out who spoiled the fun.

Review:
I’ve seen Ngaio Marsh compared to Agatha Christie a few times, but the writing is much more like Conan Doyle, complete with the occasional disdainful remark about or depiction of foreigners or poor people. Alleyn’s methods of detection are rather Holmesian, and the subplot would not be out of place in a tale of Sherlock’s exploits.

The mystery is decent, and the method of the crime quite unusual. In addition, Alleyn makes some choices that I’ve not seen a detective make before, as they’re very non-standard procedure for the Yard. While the IC basis for these is suspect, they do at least succeed in keeping a) things lively and b) the closest thing to a protagonist involved in the story.

My major complaint is that I am still left with almost no impression of Alleyn as a person. Perhaps the author has rendered him deliberately enigmatic, as he is primarily seen through the (not too bright) eyes of one of the guests at the estate, but his behavior is so changeable that his real personality cannot be known.

There were enough good things here to warrant a look at the next one in the series, but if they’re all like this, I can see myself tiring of them quickly.

From the back cover:
With wonderful delicacy and subtle insight and intimation, McCabe creates Mr. Patrick “Puss” Braden, the enduringly and endearingly hopeful hero(ine) whose gutsy survival and yearning quest for love resonate in and drive the glimmering, agonizing narrative in which the Troubles are a distant and immediate echo and refrain.

Twenty years ago, her ladyship escaped her hometown of Tyreelin, Ireland, fleeing her foster mother Whiskers—prodigious Guinness-guzzler, human chimney—and her mad household, to begin a new life in London. There, in blousey tops and satin miniskirts, she plies her trade, often risking life and limb amongst the flotsam and jetsam that fill the bars of Piccadilly Circus. But suave businessmen and lonely old women are not the only dangers that threaten Puss. It is the 1970s and fear haunts the streets of London and Belfast as the critical mass of history builds up, and Puss is inevitably drawn into a maelstrom of violence and tragedy destined to blow his fragile soul asunder.

Note: Patrick’s nickname actually has a ‘y’ on the end. It’s been changed here to avoid getting lumped in with any naughty stuff filters my employer might have in their arsenal.

Review:
I listened to the unabridged audio of this, read by the author. I highly recommend it. In addition to wonderful Irish and English accents, who better to properly interpret the speech mannerisms of Puss, which are integral to this particular character? She mixes gleeful naughty bits (which I might’ve found gross were they not said with endearing silliness) with old-fashioned turns of phrase (ex: ‘When words with Charlie on the phone she did swap…’) to create a lilting, storytelling style.

Puss does quite a few dumb things in the course of the stories she relates, which she fully admits, but she’s so incredibly easy to sympathize with, it doesn’t get annoying. Mostly, it’s just relentlessly sad. I did find it a little hard to pinpoint a timeline for a while, since some elements are told out of sequence, but happily report that it’s clear by the end.

If you’re looking for a titillating book about crossdressing, this isn’t it. It’s more about the search for warm family love and a place to belong than anything else. All the IRA stuff takes a definite back seat to this more basic concern.

From the back cover:
Curious about Haruhi’s standard of living, the Host Club members barge into her personal life by paying her a visit at home. While the guys do their utmost to be polite, everything they do seems to backfire, especially for poor Tamaki! On top of it all, he trips and lands on top of Haruhi—just in time for her father to catch them in a compromising position….

Review:
That’s a rather poorly done description of this volume, since the tripping incident happened at the end of the last volume and is where this one begins.

This volume was a little hit and miss with me. I liked episode 13, which concludes the visit to Haruhi’s house and has tons of cute Tamaki bits, and episode 16, with some nice Tamaki/Haruhi interaction. Episode 14 is all about a cavity Hunny gets, and is pretty dumb really, and episode 15 puts the cast in Alice in Wonderland. Although it’s better than I expected, it still breaks the fourth wall and doesn’t have much narrative purpose.

Fully one-third of the volume is a side story called “Love Egoist.” While I was a little annoyed at first by how much space it occupied, I ended up really liking it. It’s kind of a continuation of a side story that was in volume 2, though the main characters are different. Hopefully there’ll be more.

All in all, the good stuff was good enough to outweigh any disappointment caused by the not-so-good stuff, which really wasn’t all that bad.

From the back cover:
In Beat to Quarters, it’s June 1808 and a still young Hornblower is captain of the 36-gun frigate Lydia. He sets his course for Spain and Nicaragua in his ongoing quest to cut Napoleon’s lines wherever he crosses them.

Review:
There are two ways one might choose to read the Hornblower series. The first is to read them in order of publication, in which case one starts with Beat to Quarters, and the second is to read them in chronological order, in which case one starts with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. After some consideration, I opted to take the former path, with the notion that the first novel written would contain the most by way of introductory material.

It is, therefore, without reading any of the adventures Hornblower has in his earlier days, that I first encounter him as a thirty-seven year old captain, self-doubting and self-conscious, complex and fascinating. He hides behind a gruff exterior, so aware of how he is seen in the eyes of his crew that he stifles himself on many an occasion. He’s… well, he’s almost Darcy!

Even though I know nothing about naval matters, I had no problems following the action in the book. Forester doesn’t merely focus on battles, though they’re not neglected, but also on more pressing yet unglamorous affairs of sailing life, like obtaining sufficient provisions and making necessary repairs. Moreover, he manages to make all these things interesting. I also loved how all of the crew’s successes are due to experience, training, and a great deal of hard work, not some random deus ex machina.

Lastly, the character of Lady Barbara, while not fully fleshed out in and of herself, is used as a catalyst to challenge some of Hornblower’s preconceived notions about women (he likes “clinging incompetence”), and all the bits concerning their interaction are great. I hope we see her again in future books.

From the back cover:
Isuzu loves snooping through Shigure’s life, especially when she’s totally convinced that he is hiding something. But when Tohru finds a passed-out Isuzu in the house, she tries to drag Isuzu to the hospital. Meanwhile, Yuki goes to the ASB student council room only to find it trashed again! But as the secrets of who vandalized the room come out of the closet, Yuki accidentally gets locked in one. Who will be the one to help him get out?

Review:
There are so many things to like about this volume. Tohru’s attempts to discover more about the curse and how to break it continue, and we learn more about how the curse came to be. There are also several chapters devoted to Rin (referred to as Isuzu above) and Haru which go a long way in explaining why Rin reacts to Tohru the way that she does. Along the way, Shigure gets to do a bit more than he has recently, and there’s a nice few pages where he and Hatori have a talk.

In the realm of character development, it’s Rin who is the first to notice that Tohru seems to be suffering herself. Tohru perpetually claims to the Sohmas that she isn’t troubled, and tries to hide her problems from them, but she doesn’t seem to be keeping it together very well.

Most of all, however, it’s Yuki who’s changing. I’m not sure how this happened, but I think Yuki really has become my favorite character. I feel a little silly stating that I actually feel heart-burstingly proud of him and how he is gradually “opening the lid.” Among all of the Fruits Basket storylines, it’s Yuki’s progress that really makes me want to sniffle.

From the back cover:
Now that their fights are over, Ginji and Ban head over to the auction to retrieve the Venus de Milo. With a ploy nothing short of typical for this team, the Get Backers escape with their prize. But, alas, there is never enough cash to go around, so the Get Backers quickly take up a job to retrieve a diamond ring from a hot spring—where the women must be seen to be believed. If that wasn’t enough to drive Ban and Ginji bananas, they are pulled onto a case involving missing children and an eerie card game that not only predicts the future—it affects it!

Review:
This was sooo very much better than volume 13, at least storywise. The translation problems continue. Aside from no sound effects, except in one random panel, there were several spots of dialogue (one in an actual bubble) that weren’t translated.

I rejoice that the ‘Arms of the Goddess’ arc is finally through. A lot of new plot threads were advanced, as well, a couple spinning from the conclusion of that story and a few more spun by Kazuki (a very bad pun) in the hot springs interlude. These two chapters were ever so much better than the anime version (admittedly fuzzy in my memory), with very little focus on the monkeys, and much more on Infinity Fortress information and Kazuki’s history (not to mention his child-bearing hips).

I’m a little concerned these tidbits won’t live up to their potential, but it’s refreshing to go into a new direction, and to an arc that wasn’t animated, at that. So far, the Divine Design storyline seems pretty cool, and I’m glad to get some more hints about Infinity Fortress and its intriguing secrets.

Book description:
This volume contains Acts 55-60 of the new numbering system, comprising the final six Acts of the Stars arc. The Starlights have been deprived of a cover, and we instead get a group shot of Usagi, Chibi-Usa, and Chibi-Chibi.

The inner senshi’s sailor crystals have been stolen and there’s been no word from the outer senshi since they went to their castles to investigate the invaders. Can Usagi rescue her friends and fight Galaxia on her own? If she fails, earth will be destroyed, changing history so that the future that should be won’t come to pass!

Review:
I didn’t like this volume as much as the first in the Stars arc. It’s entirely comprised of the battle against Galaxia, and is full of people swearing not to give up, and also lots of calling long lists of names. Would anyone hailing a group of friends really name each one individually? There were some good bits, of course, particularly some explanation of the various villains’ origin and the ultimate difficult decision that Usagi makes and its implications.

The main problem I have with the volume is that I’m fuzzy on the details of what actually happened, and I’m not sure it’s entirely the translation’s fault. I don’t really get Galaxia’s backstory, or the full deal with Chibi-Chibi, or what happened at the end. A general idea, yes, but I’d like to know more conclusively.

From the back cover:
Jane Finn is Missing. Where is she? The mere mention of her name produced a very strange reaction all over London. So strange, in fact, that Tommy and Tuppence decided to find this mysterious missing lady. And once those two determined sleuths made up their minds, nothing could stop them—not international espionage, kidnapping—or even murder.

Review:
I haven’t read much Christie yet, and wasn’t prepared for something so… sprightly. The tone of the novel is rather breezy, and it’s quite funny in places, as well. Tommy and Tuppence are both great characters, and I would absolutely adore to see a BBC production of this novel.

Christie delivers plot twists and red herrings aplenty, as well as a very satisfying ending. I found the book to be instantly engaging, and especially liked the unique motivations that started the pair on their sleuthing path. If one had the time, this would be an easy book to read in a single sitting.

Lastly, a note on slang. There’s a good bit of it, including some I’d never heard of. My favorite was when one man casually described another as “pretty cute.” It seems to mean something like clever or capable instead, but it does give one slashy ideas!