This month was light on prose and heavy on manga, since I was working my way through a bunch of review copies.

Books

Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

Manga

Emma #7
Gun Blaze West #1
Good Witch of the West #5
B.O.D.Y. #1
Blood Alone #4
ES (Eternal Sabbath) #8
Queen’s Knight #10
Nana #10
Yurara #4
Honey and Clover #1
White Night Melody #1
Tea For Two #1
Samurai Deeper Kyo #1, 2
Fairy Tail #1
Hellgate #1
Heavenshield #1
Foxy Lady #1
Pearl Pink #1
Knights of the Zodiac #1
Your & My Secret #1
Teru Teru x Shonen #1
A Wise Man Sleeps #1
Yumekui Kenbun Nightmare Inspector

Books

Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams – Very readable mystery story, probably best for the pre-YA reader.
Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls by Bennett Madison – YA mystery involving mistaken identity, a missing handbag, and romance.
The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman – I thought I hadn’t read this book before, but there were several scenes that seemed vaguely familiar. So I think I read it close to the time when it first came out, and totally forgot about it.
Lord of the Fading Lands and Lady of Light and Shadows by C.L. Wilson – Totally cheesy fantasy romance novels. What can I say, my brain really is not capable on focusing on complex literature at the moment.

Kids Books
Swinging for the Fences and The Lonesome Puppy

Manga and Graphic Novels

Night of the Beasts #6
Tramps Like Us #14
Basara #26
Boys Over Flowers #29
Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden #6
Tail of the Moon #9
Hana Kimi #22
Kitchen Princess #4
Crossroad #3
Suppli #2
SOS
Apothecarius Argentum #2, 3
Good Witch of the West #4
Life Sucks
Yozakura Quartet
Kaput and Zosky

Books

Rouge Male by Geoffrey Household – I did not realize that a book about a man hiding in a hole in the ground would be so suspenseful.
Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig – There was not as much swashbuckling in this book as I was used to from the previous volumes in this series.
A Girl’s Guide to Vampires by Katie Macalister – This was a very cheesy but funny romance novel.

Manga and Graphic Novels

Love Com #3, 4 – I continue to read this in the bookstore, because I don’t want to get sucked in to buying a long, currently running series. But it really is one of the better shojo series currently coming out.
Be With You
La Cordo D’Oro #1 – Comics like this based on dating sims seem to have slightly more cliched characters than usual. I did like the music school setting though.
My Heavenly Hockey Club #2
Doom Patrol: Crawling from the Wreckage
Nana #8
Aria #1
Legion of Superhero Archives 3 & 4
Tenshi Ja Nai #1
Dokebi Bride #1-3
Canon #4
Yurara #3
Sand Chronicles #1
Penguin Revolution #5
Walkin Butterfly #2
Variante #1
Orfina #1

Books

Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart – This book might be good for fans of Ellen Raskin and Lemony Snickett.
Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

Manga and Graphic Novels

Haunted House by Mitsukazu Mihara
Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify by Yu Yagami
Love Com #2 by Aya Nakahara
Zig Zag #1 by Yuki Nakaji
Skip Beat #10 by Yoshiki Nakamura
Flower of Life #1 by Fumi Yoshinaga
Monkey High #1 by Shouko Akira
Fall in Love Like a Comic #1 by Chitose Yagami
High School Debut #1 by Kazune Kawahara

Lots of Cybils Reading:

The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Flight Volume Four edited by Kazu Kibuishi
Laika by Nick Abadzis
The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
The Professor’s Daughter by Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert
Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel
Babymouse #6: Camp Babymouse by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
The Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa
Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
Yotsuba&! Volume 4 by Kiyohiko Azuma

So, for 2007 I read:

46 fiction books, 4 non-fiction books, and I reread 18 books, for a grand total of 58 books read. This is way down from last year’s total of 86 books but being a new parent to twins certainly doesn’t leave me nearly as much time to read, so I think I’m doing pretty well with an average of a little over a book a week! this year I continued to enjoy reading Charles McCarry’s literary spy novels. I think my favorite book this year was Eva Ibbotsen’s delightful and humorous historical romance A Countess Below Stairs. One of my biggest disappointments for books I read was Stefanie Meyer’s Eclipse. I really hope she’s able to come up with a different plot for her next book, because after reading 3 books about Bella needing to be rescued by vampires the premise is wearing a little thin. Also, Shannon Hale’s Austenland sucked big time.

I read 129 new manga and 13 graphic novels (mostly Fables collections). I reread around 30 volumes of manga, for a total of 172 manga/graphic novel volumes read. Some of the new series that I really enjoyed were the wacked-out retro sci-fi classic To Terra, the historic romantic comedy Tail of the Moon, and the works of Chika Shiomi (Yurara, Canon, Night of the Beasts).

Books

This was a month of reading reference books devoted to my hobbies.

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
Manga: The Complete Guide by Jason Thompson
The Knitter’s Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes
Scandal of the Season by Sophie Gee

Manga and Graphic Novels

Basara #25
Suppli #1
Venus In Love #1
Cantarella #8
Skip Beat #7,8
Hana Kimi #21
Dramacon #3
Fruits Basket #18
Fables: Animal Farm
Fables: Homeland
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together
Gemma Bovary

Books

Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner – A sequel of sorts to Swordspoint, Privilege of the Sword is about Katherine, a down at the heels noblewoman who is educated as a swordsman by the whim of her uncle the Mad Duke Tremontaine.
Swordspoint By Ellen Kushner – After reading Privilege of the Sword I realized it has been many years since I read Swordspoint, so I went back and reread it. I’m having a hard time finding the other book in the series, The Fall of Kings.
Bloody Jack and Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L.A. Meyer – The first two books of this series about an orphan girl who disguises herself as a ship’s boy and experiences adventure on the high seas were very entertaining.
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr – I can see why this is considered a readalike for people who like Stefanie Meyer’s Twilight series. Except here, instead of vampires there are various types of fairies, both good and evil.

Manga

Yotsuba #5
Tail of the Moon #7
Nana #7
Tramps Like Us #13
Night of the Beasts #5
Her Majesty’s Dog #7
Boys Over Flowers #26

It is difficult to keep up my normal reading pace, what with the whole needing to take care of the babies thing, but I was still able to read a few things.

Books

Kushiel’s Justice by Jacqueline Carey
Skellig by David Almond
Owl Service by Alan Gardner

Manga
Hana Kimi #20
Yurara #2
Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne 1-4
Crossroad #1
Devil Within #1
INVU #4
Emma #5
Nodame Cantible #4, 5

Books

Third Woman by Mark Burnell
Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotsen
Eclipse by Stefanie Meyer
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
Storm Front and Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Manga

To Terra # 3
Wild Adapter #2
Tail of the Moon #6
Penguin Revolution #4
Canon # 2
I Hate You More Than Anyone #1
Gon #1
Blood Alone #3
Yakitate Japan! #6,7
Kitchen Princess #3
Nodame Cantible #3
Xxxholic #9
ES (Eternal Sabbath) #5,6
Queen’s Knight #9
Crimson Hero #6
Oyayubihime Infinity #6
Fruits Basket #17
Basara #24
Boys Over Flowers #25
Walkin’ Butterfly #1

I spent a bunch of time rereading books this month, because it is too hot outside to go to the library or a bookstore.

Books

The Looking Glass War by John le Carre
Of Darkness, Light and Fire by Tanya Huff
Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Deception of the Emerald Ring, Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig (rereads)
The Rhythm Section by Mark Burnell – This was a retread of La Femme Nikita.
The Curious Conspiracy by Michael Gilbert
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (reread)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Manga and Graphic Novels

Boys Over Flowers #23
Emma #4
Death Note #12
Love Com #1
Skip Beat #7
Yotsuba #4
Hikaru no Go #5,6
Kagetora #1
Le Chevalier D’Eon #1