Too Fond of Books

For day 13 of Fandom Snowflake, we're reccing things! XD

Infinite New Possibilities, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with about a billion spoilers for the entire movie, rated General but with warnings for mentions of past torture. This work is what I go to fanfic for: it's filling in the blanks of what was missing during the movie; it gives us more character development for almost everyone who I care about, and the first chapter contains a lovely, touching scene where Poe gives Rey a tour of the Resistance base, and the two of them talk about what's to come. I haven't read the second two chapters yet, but I'm really impressed with the way the first part went, and I'm glad to recommend it.

Edited to add: The Force Awakens as an adorable manga-esque High school AU. This may just be the most adorable thing I've ever seen. It fits in with emo!Kylo Ren's twitter account nicely, too.

The Please Help Me Cosplay! tumblr is still chugging along, and there's a comprehensive list in the top entry right now that gives a ton of book and website references for everything from homemade foam armor to costume patterns.

American Captain is a diary comic about Steve Rogers' experiences in The Avengers and beyond. It's a rocky story: Steve struggles with PTSD and survivor's guilt; 2010 is alternately amazing and terrifying; and his new teammates are supportive but often confusing. I like how small it feels, and I don't mean small as in insignificant or stupid, but it feels small and right, the way things would if your universe suddenly exploded and reformed itself into something sort of familiar but not really. Such a great fan comic.

In Books:

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb: This book is the definition of a vital read. It's not easy, not by any stretch of the imagination, to read Malala's account of being shot in the face by a Taliban soldier and her recovery, or to hear the story of how the Taliban temporarily forced her family (and many, many others) to relocate twice in a very short amount of time. But this work a testament to Malala's vision of what an education can bring her, and so many girls like her. It's also a testament to her family as a whole, who weathered this whole storm with amazing resilience. In particular, Malala's father stands out as a brave man who believes in his daughter's rights and intelligence, and never lets her down. I hope many people will read this book and have it renew their dedication to fighting for social justice and education for all, worldwide. Heartily recommended.

In Manga:

Sweet Rein, Volume 1, by Tsukuba Sakura: This is an adorable manga with perhaps the silliest premise I've ever read: high school student Kurumi discovers that she's a Santa Claus (yes, that Santa) and that a handsome boy named Kaito is her servant, a magical reindeer bound to do whatever she orders him to. (Now that I type it out, it does sound pretty ridiculous.) I bought this out of sheer disbelief more than anything else, and what sells this story is the sincerity that Tsukuba puts into almost every panel and line of dialogue. Like many shoujo manga heroines, Kurumi's a good-hearted girl who wants to do what's right, and this story gives her ample opportunity to do just that. The threadbare will-they-won't-they-fall-in-love romance subplot between her and Kaito gets played more for laughs than any serious conflict; it's pretty clear that they'll be a couple by the end of the series, if not sooner. The only remaining problem is how to construct any other obstacles for Kurumi to overcome, since there doesn't seem to be a Grinch-like character lurking on the horizon. Honestly? It's adorable and sweet, and I liked it despite myself. Definitely be looking for Volume 2.

Angelic Layer, Volume 1, by CLAMP: Somehow, I missed out on this classic CLAMP title a while back and am only now just getting to it. It's not my favorite work of theirs (at least, not yet, but I do have a full second volume to get around to) and in some ways, it highlights what's weakest about their work: characters who little to no clear motivation; ridiculously fast plot that comes, seemingly, out of nowhere; and the barest excuse for conflict (in this case, a televised game between psychic toys connected to their owners.) On the other hand, though, it's tremendously entertaining despite all these problems, and I'm looking forward to the next installment, even as some plot twists loom (in a highly untwisty manner) over the story as a whole. Our erstwhile heroine, Misaki, finds herself drawn to the game Angelic Layer after arriving in Tokyo and seeing it on TV for the first time. She's aided in this by an eccentric genius who counsels her on how to craft her own doll (or, Angel), who, of course, is not what he seems. For plot reasons, Misaki is an able controller/fighter and quickly finds herself in the midst of a high stakes tournament, making allies and enemies along the way. CLAMP brings their trademark gorgeous artwork to all of this, particularly in varied character design for humans and Angels alike. There's also a lot of amazing, dynamic artwork for the battle sequences, which are surprisingly exciting and very easy to follow. So, even with the poor points, this is still an entertaining, fast-paced read, and I did enjoy it rather more than I expected.

In Comics:

Octopus Pie: There are No Stars in Brooklyn, by Meredith Gran: As an antidote to the shoujo sweetness above, I read this delightfully subtle story about Brooklynite misanthrope Eve Ning, her roommate Hanna, and a handful of other characters who inhabit the newly-college-graduated, still-sorting-out-their-lives scene in NYC and its environs. I'm betting that a lot of the New York jokes sailed right over my head, but fortunately, there are plenty of other jokes that ring true. Gran's artwork is perfect--distinct and funny, and with an eye for just the right details to make the story ring true. A lot of fun.

In the stand-alone book department, I finished Who Could That Be At This Hour?, the Lemony Snicket sort-of-prequel to A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was an odd read: familiar themes were hit on (adults being utterly indifferent/unhelpful to children, wacky definitions of "difficult" words, vague conspiracies tip-toed around) and at least one of the characters was made of win. (For the record, 'Ellington Feint' is my new favorite pseudonym.) But the whole affair never quite congealed properly, at least for my tastes, and at times felt overly forced. Still, there are some very funny bits, and perhaps the sequel will illuminate some (most definitely not all, this being Daniel Handler's work) of the odd conspiracies and contrivances that this volume hinted at.

Switching genres, I have finally gotten around to seeing the live-action Rurouni Kenshin movie, and I am most pleased. ( Spoilers, although if you've read the manga or seen the anime all the way through, you won't really learn anything new. The good news is, you don't need to read or seen it previously to appreciate it as a movie. )

In Books:

The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold: This was an excellent book, although reading it felt, at first, felt like a real slog. Bujold is a highly accomplished storyteller, of course, but her prose is so dense that the first quarter of the book felt like an overstuffed lasagna. Just when I thought I'd finished with one layer, bam! There was another, and it had more meaty detail than the last! And once I got used to this, then it was fine. I enjoy lasagna-books, even if they're a little slow to get into. At times, though, it was so dense with personal politics, royal intrigue, and character development that I forgot that I was reading a fantasy novel. Mentions of magic would eventually make their way back into the story, and about halfway through the book, when we came to the titular curse, I finally got into my stride with the characters and the setting and it was a fantastic read. I loved the scope of the conflict, and I was highly impressed that minor details, mentioned only a few times in passing, turned out to have a large influence on the plot as a whole, and that no character was forgotten. Greatly enjoyable overall!

On DVD:

Happy: This popped up on Netflix, a documentary that neither Yebisu nor I had ever heard of. It turned out to be a solid piece of short filmmaking, although there were still a few sequences that were overly long. The ideas and questions the film asks ("what is the nature of happiness?"/"why are some people happy and others are not?") are simple, and the answers they produce are incredibly interesting. My only problem with the story was somewhat problematic depiction of African tribes, a sequence that made me worry that the writer and producer had never taken any sort of anthropology courses in their lives and were romanticizing the events they saw in an irresponsible fashion. But the rest of the movie was so interesting, and the people profiled are highly compelling. The individual stories of happiness reveal some amazing people who've overcome tremendous odds or are giving of themselves in a wholly beautiful way. (The European banker who quit his job and moved to India to minister to the sick and dying in one of Mother Theresa's charity homes brought tears to my eyes. This is compassion at its absolute best and most essential.)

On TV:

Doctor Who, "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" & "A Town Called Mercy": ( Cut for any spoilers... but mostly general thoughts here. )

In other, random notes, I have seen two horror movie trailers recently that involve people moving into a house, finding a box of old movie reels/VHS tapes and watching them to REVEAL HORRORS that happened to the previous residents of said house. Besides "twisting" (read: sneaking around it in an effort to appear clever) the found footage convention that is making its way onto so many people's bad lists right now, I can't think of any narrative reason for any character to watch these movies. If I found any movies/photos/personal memorabilia from previous residents of a place we were living, I don't know what I'd do, but it sure as hell wouldn't involve nosing through any of it. I mean, who says, "Oh, hey, let's watch these old, unlabeled movies! For kicks!" What if it was gross amateur porn? You'd sure regret that choice in a hurry.