June Book Round-Up

June was a slow reading month for me, well…. not really but some of my reading is a surprise for later 😉

Literature

The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi is a collection of popular classic detective stories written almost a century ago. I found this story a bit slow for my liking. I kept putting it down and forgetting about it. But it does have a sort of Sherlock Holmes vibe to it. I definitely recommend checking it out if you’re a fan of classic detective novels and historical Japan.

Fantasy and Magical Realism

The Rainfall Market is a fantasy tale about the disappointments in life and how we would change them if we could. This story follows a young woman who is disillusioned with the life she leads and longs for a new one. At the Rainfall Market, the doekaebbi who live there offer their guests the opportunity to choose a new life. I found that the audiobook was a much better read than the ebook as the narrator was able to bring the writing to life. Unfortunately, the story itself is simply a series of vignettes showing the girl that nobody’s life is perfect. The writing is dry and the story is pretty basic. I kept forgetting that I was reading it. I don’t remember if I finished it or not.

Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe is a YA Sapphic fantasy novel about teens who meet in a magical coffeeshop. Despite what the cover and the jacket blurb suggest, this is NOT a cozy fantasy. This is a very typical YA Chosen One story. There are extremely high stakes and very little of the story involves the coffee shop where the girls meet. I found it relatively predictable as these stories go and was mostly annoyed by the false advertising. If you are someone who enjoys a chosen one trope and is looking for a YA fantasy, then this might land better for you than it did for me.

Manga

Cells at Work is the popular story which brings the inner working of the human body to life. This is the first volume of the original series which follows a red blood cell just trying to do her job while infection threatens everyone and a white blood cell keeps showing up in the nick of time to save them. The story is fun and there is a lot of very detailed real science. One of my teenagers impressed their science teacher with some obscure biology knowledge that they learned from reading this series. If you like great artwork with a side of useful facts, I definitely recommend checking it out.

Like I said, a bit of a slow month. Hopefully I’ll have more for you all next month.

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