Make Manga!
Focusing on composition and coloring, Make Manga! is a great next step for pencil artists. While sketching is almost a sixth of the book, it seems too brief for most beginning manga artists. The inking and especially coloring sections are extremely well done. Most pages explain both what to doContinue Reading
The Sixth Day
A complicated and engaging thriller incorporating modern technology, a real-life unreadably manuscript and Romanian legends. The fifth in the Brit in the FBI series, The Sixth Day brings together a serial killer, drones, computer viruses, falconry and Dracula. Nicholas, Mike and the Covert Eyes team return in the latest BritContinue Reading
Batman Detective Comics Vol 5: A Lonely Place of Living
Batman Detective Comics Vol 5: A Lonely Place of Living (Rebirth) mines the history of the Robins instead of including a straight-out mystery like the other volumes in this series. Be prepared for Red Robin (Tim Drake) from two timelines and universes. The older Red Robin has come back toContinue Reading
The Cutting Edge
Any new Lincoln Rhyme book is a cause for celebration. However, too much information about diamonds makes The Cutting Edge one of the least interesting books in the long-running series. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are chasing a serial killer targeting engaged couples in The Cutting Edge, the 14th bookContinue Reading
Rice Boy
Equal parts Alice in Wonderland and the Lord of the Rings with a pinch of politics and religion plus maybe some leftover LSD from the 60s. Rice Boy is a true quest tale with the survival of the world at its core. The One Electronic, T-O-E for short, is lookingContinue Reading
Scot Free
Cozy mystery Scot Free is my #FrugalFriday short review this week! Marriage counselor Lexy Campbell moves to California to marry and quickly divorce. The husband of her client, Visalia, is murdered by fireworks. Visalia is arrested. Lexy decides to solve the crime since she co-signed Visalia’s bail bond. Born and livingContinue Reading
Lonelyheart 4122
The fourth in the Flaxborough Mystery series is much better than the third. Lonelyheart 4122 is the anonymous number of the enigmatic man who possibly murdered two lonely women and may be working on his third. Inspector Purbright and Sergeant Love are searching for two missing middle-aged ladies. Mrs. BannisterContinue Reading
Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History
Meticulously researched biography about the world’s most famous conjoined twins. Chang and Eng were joined by a small tube of skin and shared a liver. Today they would have been separated soon after birth. In the early 1800s, they were purchased from their Chinese/Siamese mother for $500. They were shippedContinue Reading
Too Close to Breathe
Nothing is as it seems in the new top-notch thriller Too Close to Breathe by debut Irish novelist Olivia Kiernan. Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan is back to work after being stabbed in the line of duty. Frankie is placed in charge of a large team looking into the deathContinue Reading
Tart of Darkness
The characters and romances are better than the mystery in Tart of Darkness. Dani Sloan inherits a Victorian half-finished bed and breakfast. A former Human Resources executive, Dani really wants to be a chef. She decides to share her house with three college students: Ivy, Tippi and Starr. In returnContinue Reading
City 1
City 1 is a surreal fast-moving episodic Sunday Comics-style manga. Nagumo (20) doesn’t have her rent money. She tried to double her money by playing the horses and lost. Her landlady, called the Granny, is insistent. Niikura, Nagumo’s best friend cannot loan her the rent money. Nagumo goes through manyContinue Reading
Hopjoy was Here
Droll rather than humorous, Hopjoy was Here is definitely different from the standard English village cozy. Inspector Purbright receives an anonymous letter from a neighbor of the male roommates Hopjoy and Periam about a fight in their bathroom. Hopjoy is working for a mysterious (CIAesque) agency. Was Hopjoy or PeriamContinue Reading
Body and Soul
Self-centered, oversexed and unsympathetic French characters populate Body and Soul. Mrs. Lopez, a 50-year-old woman, is trying to use plastic surgery to maintain her youth. Her husband, Victor, is working himself to death. He is trying to get the rights to a book from an elderly woman named Mrs. Fruttero.Continue Reading
Magnus: Between Two Worlds
Dark sci-fi noir set only two years in the future. Magnus: Between Two Worlds pairs fantastic artwork with a unique storyline. In 2020, Artificial Intelligences (A.I.s) work as butlers, maids, pets and toys. In return, they receive a federally mandated four hours of time off each day. The A.I.s haveContinue Reading
Damselfly
Combine Lord of the Flies and Mean Girls. Stir in a pinch of the Stanford Prison Experiment and you have Damselfly, a new young adult novel. A teenage fencing team from an expensive prep school is stranded on a deserted island after the crash of their private aircraft. Soon theirContinue Reading
Practical Solutions for Back Pain Relief
80% of the world’s population has had back pain. 25% have had to dial back their life to deal with it. 14% have had back pain that lasted longer than two weeks. Back surgery rarely works completely. Pain drugs often lead to life-altering addictions. So what is the answer toContinue Reading