Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I picked a couple fun images from online, but the whole book I wish I could publish here!

Monster Cats Vol. 1? by Pandania

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What can you say about a book that is titled, Monster Cats Vol. 1? Well, you can say it is by Pandania. You can say it is fun, cute and silly. It is an easy to read manga comic that talks about, in a conversational format, about the “narrator” and their particular monster cats. No, they are not cats who have monster personalities, but are actual monsters: vampires, invisible man (woman?) cat, a yeti, sirens, and even mimics and moving chests. To be read in the […]

“I can’t bring myself to tell people how I actually feel:” Realistic Romance Manga

Takahashi from the Bike Shop Volume 1 by Arare Matsumushi

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I’m really glad I gave this a shot because it’s a great start to a romance series and I’m excited to see where it goes from here. Takahashi from the Bike Shop focuses on the relationship between Tomoko Hanno and Ryouhei Takahashi. Tomoko works at a stressful job and has trouble saying no to anyone. She starts to get to know Ryouhei, whom she thinks is a complete delinquent at first due to his dyed hair and general demeanor, after he helps her fix her […]

“Better to regret trying something than to regret never doing anything at all!” — Sweet High School Romances

Hoteri Hotette First Kiss by Coco Uzuki

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This is a very sweet volume of four short stories, each centering around high schoolers having their first kiss and first relationships. There is a nice variety of relationships offered here, from two shy nerds to a cool upperclassman and a serious girl in a calligraphy club. Each of them has to work their way through misunderstandings and nerves to get to the first kiss. I liked that after the first kiss, the continuing development of the relationships was shown and the importance of communication […]

“I hope you’ll stay here a long time” — Heartwarming Victorian Historical Manga

Shirley by Kaoru Mori

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This is a sweet collection of manga short stories about maids during the Victorian era. Kaoru Mori’s art is so beautiful and fine that this is a delight to read. I love her eye for detail and emotion — I’m always a sucker for someone who can convey deep emotion in just a few lines, and she has that ability. I also appreciate her focus on historical details, as this era is in my zone of interest. This is fiction and has a gentle tone […]

“Demi-human, seek knowledge and grow wise.”

The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms by Nagabe

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First book of the year! This is a volume of short stories set in the same wizarding school for anthropomorphic animals (The Wizdom’s School of Wizarding). A long time ago, a wizard gave animals “the shape and intellect of a human,” creating demi-humans who now go to this wizarding school. The stories are all BL themed, although some of them just have a heavily flirty atmosphere or touch upon homoerotic themes instead of all of the characters ending up in romantic relationships. I enjoyed the […]

“For I fear that the day when aliens reveal themselves to us fully will also become the first day of the end of life on Earth as we know it!”

UFO Mushroom Invasion by Shirakawa Marina

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This is the second book in Ryan Holmberg’s imprint of classic SF/horror manga from the 1970s/80s. I will say I enjoyed Her Frankenstein better but I thought UFO Mushroom Invasion was also interesting and had some striking moments that made me glad I read this. I do understand that smaller print books tend to be more expensive because they have smaller print runs and tighter economics to work out, but $19.95 is a tough price point for me here considering that most manga is ranging […]



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