Tag: favorite books

It’s been a strange few weeks…

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Rintaro from The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity

…most of which I won’t go into as it’s something that should stay personal, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s doing its best to derail me from my nightly writing sessions. The most I can say is that I’m doing my best to keep that from happening. I just need to balance it all out and keep moving forward.

Meanwhile, I’ve been doing a lot of manga reading lately, though this time via Hoopla and more often on the K Manga app that’s run by Kodansha. One title in particular that I’ve come to currently obsess over is The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity (aka Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku). It’s a YA story about two teens from opposite social circles (in this case, a boy from a school full of losers and a girl from an elite academy whose buildings are next door to each other) that fall in love against all odds. It’s quite lovely and heartfelt without being schmaltzy or too slight. It’s a high school story where there’s conflict that doesn’t necessarily have to be dialed up to eleven unless it needs it, and I’ve really come to appreciate that kind of Zen-like style of storytelling. I’ve also learned that Netflix released a thirteen-episode season just recently, which I’m yet to watch in its entirety.

It’s well worth checking out, I highly recommend it.

I’ve also been reading a few other titles both on the K Manga app and elsewhere online. There’s the competitive hip-hop dancing manga Wandance featuring a lonely teen boy with a stutter who meets a girl who inspires him to join the dance club at their high school. There’s the hilariously quirky Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, centering on an exhausted salaryman who befriends a snarky checkout girl…who happens to also be the amazingly adorable ringer that makes his heart beat. Then there’s the light and enjoyable Laid Back Camp about a group of high school girls who learn the ins and outs (and the hidden joys) of outdoor camping and all it brings. There’s You Can’t Live All On Your Own! about four young women living together in a shared apartment and dealing with the joys and frustrations of post-school adulthood.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been falling behind on my other reading (current book: The God and the Gwisin by Sophie Kim, the second Fate’s Thread book after The God and the Gumiho) so once I’m caught up with this manga binge-read, I’ll finally get back to my To Be Read pile.

Though I will say all this manga is inspiring me with some new story ideas…

Catching up on reading

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My bedside reading pile looks a little less ominous these days as I’ve thinned it out a little bit, finally finishing up some titles and getting rid of others that didn’t quite work for me. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been rereading a few books by favorite authors in preparation to read a newer title in the same universe that I haven’t gotten to yet.

Recently I’ve finished Karen Lord’s The Best of All Possible Worlds and The Galaxy Game in preparation to start reading the third in the Cygnus Beta series, The Blue, Beautiful World. I’d read them way back in the summer of 2015, and though I clearly remember loving the books, it seems I’d forgotten why, until reading them again. The style is very much in my wheelhouse, and must have inspired or influenced me in some way, as the books’ style is very similar to mine. I read these right about the same time I’d been working on self-publishing the Bridgetown Trilogy, so I must have been looking for something to inspire my future projects.

There’s also the fact that with age and maturity (even within the last decade), I hadn’t noticed just how brilliant the setting is: it’s a story regarding a dying planet that could have been grimdark and dystopian…but wasn’t. It’s about what happens to the survivors, learning to live and adjust to new planets and new cultures, and focuses on a group of people dedicated to ensuring this emigration is successful. It’s actually kind of hopeful without quite being hopepunk.

This, by the way, is similar to the setting of my current WIP Theadia: a story regarding a possible incoming war between galactic sectors…but isn’t merely about the war itself. It’s about what happens to those about to be affected by it, and focuses on a group of people dedicated to ensuring the damage is minimal. Purely coincidental, by the way, considering I hadn’t reread the two books in nearly a decade, but on the other hand, I’m kind of secretly thrilled that I feel like I’m pulling it off. Rereading this series basically said to me, yeah, you can write this kind of thing and get away with it.

My next reread will be Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station which I remember really liking as well, followed up by his recent book Neom, which takes place in the same universe. I was especially drawn to the first book with its origins as separate shorter stories that ended up telling one larger story, and that in itself inspired me to want to someday write a novel with a similar setup. My sometimes-trunked, sometimes-not project Can’t Find My Way Home briefly had a new life back in 2017, partly inspired by that.

So in short, what I’m thinking is this: perhaps it’s time for me to do some more serious catching up on reading, because obviously I’m finally being reminded where my inspirations and influences come from, and maybe find something new in the process!

Reading and Rereading (Not My Own Work This Time)

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I’ve been going through a bit of a spell where I’m having trouble sticking with some of the books I’m reading. They haven’t been terrible or anything (although there have been a few that were enjoyable but glacial). Maybe I’m just going through a phase where nothing is all that inspiring to me lately. It could also be that I’ve been doing a TON of rereading my own stuff for revision/revisit purposes; I would not be surprised if that might indeed be the case.

So it occurred to me that, even though I have my TBR pile under reasonable control, perhaps it’s time for me to finally reread older favorites? It’s been ages since I’ve reread anything, actually…I honestly can’t remember the last time I did that. Maybe the Harry Potter books three or four years ago? Either way, maybe it’s time for me to return to the Spare Oom Library and pick out a few titles.

Which is what I did the other day…with the Jack McKinney Robotech series! Yes, I know, odd choice but why the hell not? The last time I read the first couple of books in that series was back in 1995, and I never got past the third book! I’m sure there’s going to be all kinds of bonkers things going on that I’ve forgotten about…and some I do, such as Minmei singing for human troop morale (and Zentraedi pain…?) during a massive space battle:

…yeah, that’s one of those moments you don’t forget. Absolutely brilliant plot twist and completely wuuuuuut at the same time.

ANYWAY! I figure, why not? Let’s have some fun reading some light entertainment and old favorites for a bit. I don’t need to read the latest and greatest right this second. (I’ll still buy them close to the release because that helps the author’s numbers, sure! They’ll just be added to the TBR pile.)

And besides, it’ll be kind of fun to revisit some of these titles and remember why I enjoyed them so much. Like the Robotech series being good pulpy SF fun. Like the Carlucci books by Richard Paul Russo being great hard-boiled cyberpunk. Like Akira being so visually amazing it made me rethink my own writing style. I’m sure some of it may not have aged well, but on the other hand, I’m not too worried about that…right now it’s just about reading for the fun of it.