I was glad that they surrounded Tom Cruise with such a large supporting cast, because it distracted me from the fact that I was watching a movie with Tom Cruise in it. The start of the movie felt very much like an episode of Alias. I was happy to see that Greg Grunberg showed up [...]

Things at my apartment are in this state of limbo where some things are packed, and everything else is chaos.
The hallway:

When there are no more books on the bookshelves, the bobbleheads and action figures are lonely:

Boxes:

More boxes:

Tokyopop moves into kids books with lines targeted towards 6-9 year olds and 8-12 year olds. It sounds like they want to come up with their own version of those Disney W.I.T.C.H. books. It is also another way for them to push their OEL/World/Global whatever they are calling their homegrown manga. Note that “Librarians and [...]

Priceless by Young-you Lee (amazon)
For whatever reason almost every manhwa I’ve read features an absent mother. Either they’re running off to Europe (I.N.V.U), pursuing their career as a musician (Queen’s Knight), or in the case of Priceless, running away after being busted for selling illegal Chinese dietary supplements. Lang-bee lives alone in a shack [...]

Head over to beaucoupkevin.com for this most excellent scan from Rex Libris #4.

One publishing experiment I’m wondering about is the recent movement of manga companies into the YA fiction market by publishing novels based on manga. I’m not sure what the sales figures for these are, and I don’t have a comprehensive list but it looks like some of them are:
Viz
Fullmetal Alchemist novel 1, 2
Socrates in Love
Kamikaze [...]

It seems weirdly appropriate that my last day of work is winding down with a final evening shift on the reference desk. Now I bring to you the Last Refgrunt:
Yes, you can borrow a pen.
Wow, that man is sneezing a lot. Oversize books are over there.
I give students the call number for the old issues [...]

Books
Touched by Venom by Janine Cross - There was a lot of circumcision, castration, and bestiality in this book. Really a lot. It was odd. I should have known better since Jacqueline Carey of all people blurbed it as being “harrowing”. Indeed.
High Five by Janet Evanovich - Another Stephanie Plum book. I think I’ve almost [...]