I managed to squeeze in a few quick and short books this week, in between a heavier book club pick and a book requiring more concentration than I anticipated. Here are my quick takes!
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Title: Fangirl (Manga), Volume 1
Author: Rainbow Rowell, Sam Maggs, Gabi Nam
Published: 2020
Length: 216 pages
The manga adaptation of the beloved novel by #1 Bestselling author Rainbow Rowell!
New York Journal of Books
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, everybody is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath just can’t let go. Now that they’re in college, Cath must decide if she’s ready to start living her own life. But does she even want to if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
Cath doesn’t need friends IRL. She has her twin sister, Wren, and she’s a popular fanfic writer in the Simon Snow community with thousands of fans online. But now that she’s in college, Cath is completely outside of her comfort zone. There are suddenly all these new people in her life. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming boyfriend, a writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome new writing partner … And she’s barely heard from Wren all semester!
The Fangirl manga is everything I could hope for! I loved the Fangirl novel when it came out, as well as the spin-off Simon Snow books. In the manga, it’s a wonderful chance to revisit the Fangirl characters all over again. The illustrations are clever, and the dialogue and pacing is well done. I really felt like Cath and Levi’s characters came across loud and clear.
My only complaint is that the story stops in the middle! This is volume 1 (of I don’t know how many), and it felt really jarring to have to stop just when I was getting into it.
Still, so much fun! But now, I immediately want to (a) reread Fangirl (the novel), (b) reread Carry On, and (c) know when the 2nd volume of the manga is coming out! Please let it be soon!
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Title: Serpentine
Author: Philip Pullman
Published: 2020
Length: 80 pages
A brand new short story set in the world of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust by master storyteller, Philip Pullman.
Serpentine is a perfect gift for every Pullman fan, new and old.
‘Lyra Silvertongue, you’re very welcome . . . Yes, I know your new name. Serafina Pekkala told me everything about your exploits’
Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon have left the events of His Dark Materials far behind.
In this snapshot of their forever-changed lives they return to the North to visit an old friend, where we will learn that things are not exactly as they seem . . .
Illustrated throughout by Tom Duxbury, the perfect re-entry for fans of His Dark Materials and a wonderful companion to The Book of Dust.
This is a slim, hardcover volume, beautifully highlighted by woodcut-style black and white illustrations, that tells a story about Lyra and Pan set after the events of The Amber Spyglass (and before the subsequent events in the Book of Dust series).
Lyra and Pan are still dealing with their changed relationship, so terribly affected by the trauma of The Amber Spyglass. They’re still together, but everything is different. In Serpentine, it seems as though they’re finally starting to face their new reality together.
This is a lovely little book, and those invested in His Dark Materials will want to read it — but it feels a little slight to take up a hardcover of its own (and sell at a hardcover price).
(For what it’s worth, I’m glad to own it — it will look quite handsome on the shelf next to Lyra’s Oxford and Once Upon a Time in the North, two other small but lovely installments in the greater world of the series.)
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Title: Once More Upon a Time
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Published: 2020
Audiobook length: 3 hours, 26 minutes
A dazzling fairy tale about falling in love again by The New York Times best-selling author of The Star-Touched Queen and The Gilded Wolves.
Once upon a Time, there was a king and queen in a land called Love’s Keep who once loved one another, but alas, no more. Without love, they were doomed to be ousted from their kingdom at the end of a year and a day.
A year and a day passed.
This is where their story starts.
Imelda and Ambrose can’t remember why they got married. A year and a day ago, Ambrose consulted a witch, trading their love to save Imelda’s life—and they’ve been stuck with one another ever since. When that same witch pays them a visit on the day they lose their kingdom, she promises to make their deepest wishes come true in exchange for a simple favor and a short journey. With nothing left to lose, Imelda and Ambrose agree. But, over the course of their enchanted road trip peppered with a delirious cloak, cannibals, and at least one honey badger, something magical happens…little by little, step by step, they regain what they had forgotten.
They remember why they fell in love.
When the end of their journey nears and they confront parting ways forever, a new decision faces them. Will Imelda and Ambrose choose their deepest wishes, or will they choose each other—again?
I stumbled across this fairy tale audiobook while poking around on Audible and thought it would make a nice break in between longer listens. And I was right!
Once More Upon a Time is a light, fun fairy tale that takes a happily ever after that wasn’t, and turns that into a starting place. The two main characters are king and queen of a kingdom which magically dictates that it can only be ruled by people experiencing true love. The problem is, while Ambrose and Imelda were madly in love when they married, their love was traded away for a cure for Imelda’s accidental poisoning. Ever since, they’ve been living as strangers, aware that they must have once loved each other, but unable to remember what it felt like.
Forced to leave their kingdom, they’re offered a quest, with the promise of having whatever they want at the end. Ambrose wants a kingdom, Imelda wants freedom… but what they get turns out to be just what they need.
Some of the fairy tale elements work better than others, and some are just downright silly and unconvincing, but still, this was a nice, quick listen with some sweet touches.
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Of these three, I’d say my favorite was Fangirl, but I enjoyed the other two as well. Have you read or listened to any short fiction lately? Please share anything you’d like to recommend!
My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Bookshelf Fantasies 