Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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About GentleRain

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Your jack of all trades eccentric. Knows a little about a lot and a lot about a little. Tends to mainly read non-fiction (history, true crime, old gossip, etc), SF/F, horror, graphic novels, "genre" books. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: GentleRain's Quick Questions interview.)

GentleRain's Reviews:

A Truly Great and Horrific Series Continues

100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Own Death (Volume 3) by Anji Matono

100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Own Death (Volume 4) by Anji Matono

by 2 Comments

This is such a great series!!! I have been following it since before it got translated and published over here, so every new physical volume is a treat and I put them right on the shelf with a very satisfied feeling. This series is basically what the title proclaims. Every chapter is a ghost story told by a young boy, Yuma, which is a framing device that really works. He is telling the ghost stories straight to camera in the first page of every chapter […]

“I’m bored if you’re not around.”

Here and There and Us (Volume 2) by Thanat

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Major spoilers follow throughout this review! This was a letdown from the first volume. In this book, university entrance exams are coming up and initially Sokoki and Majima get dinner together after cram school every day, so their friendship continues. However, the assumptions that they keep making about how the other person feels, especially combined with Sonoki’s nervousness around Majima and his decision to pull back from their friendship, means that they spend a lot of time here talking to other people about what’s happening […]

Very Delightful Slice of Life Manga About Looking Past Exteriors and Being Your True Self

Suzuki-kun's Mindful Life (Volume 1) by Yuhki Fujimoto

Suzuki-kun's Mindful Life (Volume 2) by Yuhki Fujimoto

by 2 Comments

I’m so glad I randomly saw this at the bookstore this weekend! I actually got both volumes even though they were shrinkwrapped and I couldn’t see inside them, just on the strength of the covers. And what a nice treat! Suzuki-kun’s Mindful Life is about a high school freshman who looks tough and scary, but he’s actually a huge softy who loves cooking and baking and helping to take care of his little sister. Suzuki is used to people being afraid of him and bullying […]

“She’s got a strong will and a kind heart. She’s not just some cutesy princess. It’s as if she sees things differently compared to the rest of us.”

Fall in Love, You False Angels (Volume 4) by Coco Uzuki

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Light spoilers are in my review below. There’s a bit in a shoujo story where the plot either takes the turn to allowing the main characters to get together or the author decides to string the reader along for an unknown amount of time. We’ve reached Volume 4 of Fall in Love, You False Angels and we’ve entered stringing me along for no good reason territory. The basic plot of this series is that Otogi is the picture perfect, most popular girl in school, but this […]

Some Really Delightful High School Manga

Here and There and Us (Volume 1) by Thanat

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Futekiya has been publishing BL titles that are only really sold at Kinokuniya (and online), so once a month I wander to the bookstore and see what awaits me. Here and There and Us is a real treat and an example of why I end up buying somewhat random books that fall into my interest areas — this first volume is a real delight, with a compelling narrative and fluid, lovely cartooning. It’s also a thick edition for only $15.99 and the pages are dense, so […]

“I want to satisfy my kind boyfriend the way he satisfies me.”

Do You Really Want Only a Meal? (Volume 2) by Yasu Tadano

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This is the second volume of a very light and fluffy romance between Masamune and Natsuki. It was a while since I read the first volume and I was racking my brains at first for memories of who these characters were and what had happened previously, so that wasn’t a great sign as to how engaging the first book was. But the plot here is gentle and cute enough that I was able to bop along, and I didn’t feel like re-reading the first one. […]



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