Book reviews: more brief than usual

[terriko]

Hawkeye, Vol. 2: Little Hits by Matt Fraction, David Aja (Illustrator), Javier Pulido (Illustrator), Steve Lieber (Illustrator), Francesco Francavilla (Illustrator) — 1 more, Jesse Hamm (Illustrator)

This was decent, but I found it a lot more confusing than the last volume and was starting to wonder if it was overhyped the way some movies are when people don't understand them and don't want to admit it.


X-Men, Vol. 1: Primer by Brian Wood, Olivier Coipel (Illustrator)

X-Men Volume 2: Muertas by Brian Wood, Terry Dodson (Illustrator), Kris Anka (Illustrator)
X-Men. Vol. 1, Primer and X-Men. Vol. 2, Muertas

My goodness, it's much nicer to read these in collected volumes instead of single issues full of ads interspersed every few pages. Seriously, I don't think I'm ever buying single issues in this series again.

Other than that... it's X-men. This series made a minor splash because it's really the x-women -- the main team is pretty female dominated, just because that's the way it happened to be. But they don't make a big deal out of it. I liked the first volume quite a bit, but I think I was missing some key backstory to really feel for the characters in the 2nd. This is unfortunate because I'd thought this was supposed to be a pretty good starting point for new readers, but I'm not sure it really is... and I'm not even a really *new* reader. Still, if you don't mind feeling like there's some history you haven't seen, the art is great and the story is interesting even if it feels a little all climax no backstory without knowing the characters better.


Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 8 by Kiiro Yumi, Kiiro Yumi (Illustrator)

Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 9 by Kiiro Yumi, Kiiro Yumi (Illustrator)

Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 10 by Kiiro Yumi
Library wars : love & war. 8-10

I can't remember if I reviewed this series before, but it's set in a future japan where censorship has run rampant and only public libraries stand in the way of the censors. We're following the story of a young woman who is the first woman on her library's Special Defence Forces, a paramilitary organization that protects the libraries, the books, and the patrons. These volumes dive more into the politics and machinations around the library, and I'm really enjoying the series.


Late Eclipses (October Daye) by Seanan McGuire

After the previous novel in the series, which I found good but incredibly disturbing, I needed a break from the October Daye series. But I was reminded of it when I encountered a short story from the author on tumblr that gave a sweet little happy ending to part of this story, and realized I wanted to know what else had happened. The series is great, but dark, however, this was less nightmare inducing than the last book, and left me eager for more. Maybe it's time to finally get caught up again!


Due or Die (A Library Lover's Mystery) by Jenn McKinlay

The second in the series of library mysteries. It's a pleasant little cozy set in a town with our main character as a librarian and periodic sleuth. It's got pretty much everything I want from a cozy: fun characters, mystery, a nice backdrop and now even a cute dog. I've already gotten the 3rd one out of the library!


Chosen (Alex Verus) by Benedict Jacka

In this 3rd book in the series, we're starting to delve more deeply into Alex's (disturbing) past in order to figure out what's going on in his present. I'm a bit worried that this will go all grimdark (my problem with the Dresden Files, which this series clearly and even explicitly was inspired by), but the book is ultimately as much about friendship as it is about dark pasts. Looking forwards to the next in the series.