Review: Almost Like Being in Love and My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

I think 2010 is starting great so far :D It seems that my reviewing muse has come back and my blogging mojo as well and I've already have 2 books under my belt :) Not bad right?

Next, I'll have start working on a recap of 2009 and get back to Breezing Through... In the meantime though, I want to review two books that I've read and thoroughly enjoyed: Almost Like Being In Love and My Most Excellent Year, both by Steve Kluger.


Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger
published by HarperCollins in April 2004

A high school jock and nerd fall in love senior year, only to part after an amazing summer of discovery to attend their respective colleges. They keep in touch at first, but then slowly drift apart.

Flash forward twenty years.

Travis and Craig both have great lives, careers, and loves. But something is missing... Travis is the first to figure it out. He's still in love with Craig, and come what may, he's going after the boy who captured his heart, even if it means forsaking his job, making a fool of himself, and entering the great unknown. Told in narrative, letters, checklists, and more, this is the must-read novel for anyone who's wondered what ever happened to that first great love.

Genre: Fiction (GLTB), contemporary
Series: none

The Story: I cannot summarize it better than the synopsis of the book. So I'm not going to try :)

My Opinion: This book first came to my attention a few months ago when Tracy reviewed it. I told myself I should get it and give a try, especially since my library had it (surprise!). Then, I was reminded to do so when Hilcia put up her own review. Two of my favorite bloggers loving this book... Seriously, what was I waiting for, right?

I do admit that the format of the book - narrative letters, checklists, e-mails, notes, etc. did put me off a little. This is definitively not my favorite style of books, but I'm soooo happy I decided to sit down and read it... because this is a gem!! This is a wonderful book: it's clever, funny and heart-warming.

Where to begin? First, I love Travis and Craig. These two are definitively great, unique characters. Credit goes to the author for not over-stereotyping them. Best example would be Craig... He is a jock, he does love sports, but he's not the tough, macho man. He's sensible and funny and it makes him more real. Of course, Travis and Craig are more sensible and close to their emotions than heterosexual men, but that's normal and not exactly a stereotype... I love how both were comfortable with their sexuality and never tried to deny it. Travis and Craig were at ease with who they were and I believe that made a difference in this book :) I love how unique Travis and Craig's voices were while I was reading the book... and oh, Travis' OCD behavior? Soooo cute LOL. It provided so much laughs :D

Surprisingly, Almost Like Being In Love was not exclusively Travis and Craig's story. Actually, I think these two only spent about 1/3 of the book together and that was mostly at the beginning, when they were in high school. It took a very long while before Travis and Craig reunited and that was a surprise, but in a good way. It made the book more powerful in my opinion... especially given that Craig was in a long-term relationship - 12 years!! And you can't help but like Craig's significant other, Clayton. He loves Craig deeply as well and is definitively committed to this relationship. He's a sweetheart, he's a great guy... and I was prepared to hate him. Seriously, whoever gets in between the H/H happy ending gets no love from Nath... but I just couldn't. He totally won me over... As a result, as a reader, I didn't know for what ending to root... Craig and Travis? Craig and Clay? I think I would have been happy for either ending and sad for the one who didn't end up with Craig. It was great from M. Kluger not to take the easy way out and make Clayton into a jerk. As a whole, this whole situation definitively makes the book better and the ending, more powerful. Almost Like Being in Love is really about love - first love, other love, love between friends... but still what marks me most is that Craig and Travis' first love wasn't just love, but there was a sense of belonging...

But I digress. I meant to say that Almost Like Being in Love has a great cast of secondary characters... from Clayton to Gordon, Travis' best friend. They are all lovable and a total riot LOL. There's a lot going on, interactions between Gordon and Travis, Travis and people he meets on his journey, Craig with his colleagues, Craig with his clients... and everything put together make them who they are.

And the best thing about this book is that it's fun. I LOLed so many times, I enjoy re-reading passages because they make me smile or chuckle. Today at lunch, I was talking about this book to my co-workers... and when S heard it was about two men, he made a face... and I tried to convince him that no, he should read this and give it a try... and I read passages to him and he changed his mind, he'd like to try it because it sounded fun. You cannot not fall for Travis' charm :)

My Grade: A-. Two reasons why I'm not giving this an A. 1) While it was fun to follow everything and everyone, there was a tiny bit too much going on and combined with 2) the epistolary format (yes, it did make the book stands out, but...), Almost Like Being in Love was at time a bit confusing. However, it's still a book that I strongly recommend :)


My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
published by Penguin Young Reader Group in March 2008

There are only three great loves in T.C. Keller's life: the Red Sox, his father, and his best friend and unofficial "brother," Augie. But ninth grade is the year when he falls head-over -cleats in love with Alé Perez. She's pretty, sassy, smart, and a great dancer. Alé is so busy playing hard to get that she doesn't realize that she just might be falling head-over-tap shoes for T.C.'s Boston accent, too. Meanwhile, T.C.'s best friend, Augie, is falling in love as well, but with a boy? It ma not be so clear to him; but to the rest of his family and friends, it's totally obvious that Augie, who loves musicals and old school screen sirens such as Judy Garland, is head-over-hells in love with Andy Wexler.

Genre: Young Adult
Series: none

Story: Again, not going to try :P Read it to find everything out!

My Opinion: I loved Almost Like Being in Love so much that I had to find M. Kluger's backlist. This is his most recent release, My Most Excellent Year. At first, I was a bit disappointed that My Most Excellent Year was a YA novel. I have nothing against YA, I've read and enjoy some. However, I find that sometimes they don't emotionally satisfy me as much as much as romance books because it's hard to believe in a HEA ending when the characters are only 16 y.o... I should never had doubted M. Kluger, because My Most Excellent Year turned out to be, for me, an even better read than Almost Like Being in Love!

Again, I totally fell in love with the characters. T.C. and Augie are two very charming boys... T.C. is the regular cool kid, the popular one... but he's more vulnerable and sensitive and he's not afraid to show it. Part of it is because he lost his mother at a young age, another part would be due to Augie. Augie is just your diva teenager LOL, but in a good way. It's not that he is high maintenance as in wanting the latest cool clothes or wanting everyone's attention, it's just that he demands so much of himself and how he views his entourage. It also comes from his passion for musicals, it just makes him more sensible and prone to drama LOL.

For example:

"Mom? Dad? I'm gay." Oh, please. That is like SO pedestrian. What happened to my sense of style?! Maybe I'll throw a coming-out party. With a grand entrance down a staircase. "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night." No. Engraved coming-out announcements.

Know what I mean now? LOL.

These two boys have such good chemistry... they know each other so well. I wish there would have been more scenes of them together. Then you throw in a girl, who's smart and sassy... and you have the perfect three musketeers :D Alé was another great character. I thought she balanced out T.C. and Augie so well; she was the in-between, a real mix of T.C. and Augie :)

The story was simply so cute. Augie falling in love and discovering he was gay. T.C. trying to get the girl LOL. The side-story was T.C. discovering a little, deaf, 6 y.o. boy reminding him of Augie and who waited for Mary Poppins to come live with him. That story was very touching and it was nice to see teenagers care about something more than themselves.

Again, this book is about love, friendship, discovering yourself. I do think that sometimes, T.C., Augie, Alé and their friends act too mature or perhaps the way they talked and acted didn't totally fit teenagers. They were all a bit too accepting... like nobody bat an eye at Augie being gay - not his parents, not his grandparents (who are all Asians). Nobody at school made fun, everyone was soo supportive. This is how ideally life should be, but real life is not. So I thought it was bit too Cinderella-ish at times... still it didn't deem my enjoyment at all.

M. Kluger clearly has a passion for musicals and baseball (especially Red Sox) and a lot of topics are important to him and he doesn't hesitate to include them in his novels - Almost Like Being in Love, My Most Excellent Year and Last Days of Summer... It's quite incredible that he manages for his books to be so distinctive. I mean the subjects in Almost Like Being in Love and My Most Excellent Year are very similar, but I would never mistake one for the other. Of course, I would know they were written by the same author :) He has quite a distinctive style :) What I meant to say is that being passionate is a good thing, but at the same time, adding so much of it can be a bit overwhelming. I mean, my knowledge of musicals - zero. It's basically like Jennifer Crusie quoting movies in her books. It'd be great if he could take it to a lesser degree in his future books.

Still I love My Most Excellent Year... and I said it was better than Almost Like Being in Love because he takes all the strengths and positives of Almost Like Being in Love and scale it down. The story revolved around T.C., Augie and Alé; there are still some side-stories, but they don't detract as much as they did in Almost Like Being in Love. My Most Excellent Year is still written in an epistolary format, but there is a lot more narration from T.C., Augie and Alé, as we follow their diary entries. As a result, My Most Excellent Year flows better and is easier to read. Again, the book is fun, clever and heart-warming. You can't stop smiling while reading it... and because the story focuses more on Augie and T.C., you really feel the friendship between the two which takes it a step further.

My Grade: A. I simply love it... and I'll be reading everything by Steve Kluger I can put my hand on :) I hope he writes another book soon!

Re-Read Challenge: December Winner :)

LOL, I don't feel like blabbing too much for this month.

I'm quite happy with the turn out this month, 7 reviews :) The books were varied as well: contemporary, historical, romantic suspense and young adult... That's good :) I know there were some bloggers who did manage to re-read their book, but not write a review. As long as you've done your re-read, that's good no? You go back to rediscover loved books... the review is just the cherry on top of the sundae :)

It's been a very fun year hosting the Re-Read Challenge... and that's why I'll continue in 2010. I hope old participants will continue and new participants will join :)

So the last winner of the Re-Read Challenge 2009 is...

TAJA!!!

Out of the 7 entries I got, excluding me, Taja was the only one who didn't win previously. I think it's only fair that she is the one getting the 10$ gift certificate!! Please contact me Taja for your prize... and I don't care that you live in Europe, so I don't want to hear any arguments :)

Congrats Taja and thank you to all the bloggers who participated!!

Re-Read Challenge 2010

Year 2009 is over, onto year 2010!

Originally, I didn't plan to continue hosting the Re-Read Challenge this year. Partly because many ended up not making it. I mean, the number of entries doesn't matter, but you know... Then, I remembered that people are enjoying this challenge - participants and non-participants. It makes us rediscover favorites and make other, discover new books that they've missed. So I changed my mind and decided to host it another year :)

This year though, the rules are going to be a different... as in, there are going to be less rules :)

There will be no sign-up. Whoever wants to participate can do it and bloggers can join whenever they want. Unfortunately, there will be no monthly prizes. Instead, I will do a bigger prize at the end of the year. I still haven't decided what it will be and what will be the conditions. I will let everyone know about the prize later :)

Basically, the goal of the Re-Read Challenge remains the same: re-read a book and review it at the end of the month. There is no condition for the book itself, as long as you've read it at least once before, it qualifies. As usual, I will put up a post where participants can leave the link to their review :) I'm aiming for the last day of the month for the review, but I'll extend the review period if the last day turns out to be a week-end.

And that's it :D

Since it's a new year, I've made some icons for the Re-Read Challenge 2010. I can't choose which one I like best, so I'll let everyone make their own choice :) I know, they all look pretty much alike :P If you could post it on your sidebar and link back to this post it'd be great. Putting it in the review post each month is good, but not necessary :)

*I'd like to thank the Bookstores in Spokane blog for letting me use the image for the icon!

Monthly Reads - December 2009

I can't believe 2009 is already over :) It really went by fast, especially the month of December. Personally, I'm quite happy that 2009 is over. I mean, it wasn't a bad year and actually, there were some really good moments... however, it wasn't a particularly good year either.

Back to books :) Reading-wise, December was okay. Again, I didn't read as much as I wanted, but December has been really busy. First, there was work and then, all the parties and get-togethers. So I'm quite happy with 12.


1) The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin: B


2) The Blood King by Gail Z. Martin: B

These two books are Book #1 and #2 in the Chronicles of the Necromancer. The story is about Tris, who is the prince of the Kingdom of Margolan. During Halloween, his evil half-brother kills their father to usurp the throne... Tris and his companions have no other choice than to flee. They are determined to come back to Margolan and chase away the evil king. During his journey, in addition to making valuable allies, Tris discovers that he is a necromancer... adding even more responsibilities on his shoulders. At the end of The Blood King, Tris successfully regains his throne... however, not everything is settled and dangers still await.

These are fantasy novels and while enjoyable, they're not very original - except perhaps the part where Tris is a necromancer. The story and the writing are good, the characters are likable but the wow factor is not present and as a result, they fail to distinguish themselves from other fantasy novels with similar plot. It's basically the typical story about a prince trying to get his throne back.

However, I'm more hopeful for the second story arc, since it follows the story of Tris once he is on the throne. This should be interesting and different. I already have book #3, Dark Haven, but waiting to get my hand on the conclusion, book #4 Dark Lady's Chosen, so there won't be any cliffhanger.


3) She's Got it Bad by Sarah Mayberry: C+

My first Sarah Mayberry. I think at this point, many know the plot already. I enjoyed the setting and the hero, but the heroine... meh. I understand from where she comes from, but it didn't maker her likable to me. I had difficulty connecting with her... Ah well, not a totally bad book, but not a wowzer I was expecting. Still, I'll be looking forward by more books written by Ms Mayberry.


4) Courting Miss Hattie by Pamela Morsi: B

I picked up this book at the library because Ames and Leslie have recently reviewed it. The story is about Hattie... for lack of a better term, an old maid. She's not very attractive, but she's hard-working, independent and own her farm. She's actually waiting for Reed, the man who's been helping on the farm ever since he was a young boy, to gather enough money so she can sell it to him. Reed has a dream to turn this cotton farm into a rice field... unfortunately, this mean asking his fiancée to wait. Everything changes the day a widower with 8 kids, Ancil Drayton, decides to court Miss Hattie. For some reasons, Reed is not taking it well...

I thought Courting Miss Hattie was a cute story. I liked both main characters, Hattie and Reed. I was happy that Reed stood up for Hattie, even against his young fiancée. Unfortunately, Reed is really a man and doesn't understand women's worries. It was funny when he wondered why Hattie would accept Ancil's suit. Hattie was a good heroine, strong and independent, but still vulnerable. The two of them made a good pair. The story was cute and I even enjoyed the secondary romance... my only problem really was the time period - not one of my favorite.


5) Indiscreet by Carolyn Jewel: B-/B

Hmmm, I planned to review this book, but never got around to. I read this book, mainly because I've been wanting to try this author's historical romance and because Rosie keeps singing her praise and gave me a copy of this book :) I could have read Scandal; however, Indiscreet's plot suited me better in my opinion.

So I did enjoy Indiscreet. Again, I liked the characters and the plot was interesting. Seriously, rumors can cause so much harm and Edward's friend was really despicable. I liked that Edward was different in the sense that he was not considered handsome and he wasn't afraid of marriage in the beginning. Just too bad his bride wasn't worth it. I liked Sabine because she was smart. I liked the fact that the whole scandal wasn't swept under a rug, that we could see the repercussion of what happened even after they traveled so far away from London. The first half of the book was quite good... this is where Edward and Sabine get to know each other and interact... I wish this part would have been longer. For some reasons, I still didn't totally believe the love between Edward and Sabine. The second half of the story is where I started losing interest. Some would have found it exciting, but me, I thought it was a bit too much ^_^; It is believable that someone would go to such length to possess a woman, but meh. The ending was okay...


6) Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas: C


7) Red by Jordan Summers: B-

Red got quite a buzz on blogland when it was released, but it took Lea during my trip to Ontario to convince me to buy it. Red is the story of Gina Santiago, nicknamed Red because of the amount of blood whenever she's involved in a mission, who decides to investigate a crime scene that looks like it was done by animals... but Red feels otherwise. The story takes place in a futuristic kind of world - not apocalyptic, but almost, where vampires, werewolves and psychics are the results of government experiments to yield better soldiers.

So Red arrives in Nuria and knows there is something more than the little town facade. She meets Morgan, the sheriff and alpha, and the two are instantly attracted to each other... What Red doesn't know yet is that this investigation will reveal some secrets that involve her as well.

Overall, the story wasn't bad. Red is the first book in the trilogy which include Scarlet and Crimson. I like the link between the three titles, I thought it was original. The writing was also quite good, so I can't really pinpoint the reason why I felt a bit meh while reading this book. Don't know if it was my mood or the book itself. I guess I had difficulty connecting with the characters and getting into the storyline. There is one thing that bothered me and that was the crudeness in this book. The worst is that it wasn't even that bad when you compare to erotica romance... but for some reason, it bothered me. I think it was mainly because I wasn't really expecting it ^_^; Makes me sound like a prude here LOL. Ah well. I do have Scarlet in my TBR pile... will get to it eventually.


8) Three Days to the Dead by Kelly Meding: C

I've really been in the mood for urban fantasy lately and when I came across Mandi's review for this book, I thought it fit the bill.

So Evangeline Stone is part of an organization that get rids of unwanted creatures such as goblins, demons and etc. The way the organization works is that members work in teams of three - triads - with a handler in charge. Evangeline's triad is ambushed and her two partners are killed. She's accused of their murders and try to escape to prove her innocence, but instead, gets a neutral clan of were-birds annihilated. Discouraged, Evie is ready to turn herself in till her handler, Wyatt, convince her not to. In the end though, she ends up dead and waking in a body that doesn't belong to her, with no memories of the critical last few days.

I guess I'm going to start sounding like a broken record, but once again, story was okay. The whole idea of Evie's team being murdered, Evie being wrongly accused and this all being part of a bigger conspiracy was good... however, I think that too much was happening. The author tried to conciliate the story with a complicated world building and just didn't focus enough on the background. She introduces a lot of different supernatural living creatures, gives a bit of background, but not enough for readers to link everything together. Who are the allies, who are the bad guys? What are halfies? Also back-tracking the last few days of Evie, there was a lot of action... and perhaps I think too much. Also, are regular people not supposed to be aware of these creatures when you have chimeras running wild around?!?

A definite bummer for me was also the "romance." Reading urban fantasy, I don't expect romance, but if you include it... Having the heroine tell her "love" interest that she only wanted sex to make her feel alive... yeah, not very romantic.

The saving grace of Three Days to the Dead though is the writing and the characters. As a result, this wasn't the greatest debut novel, but it wasn't the worst either.


9) The Care and Taming of a Rogue by Suzanne Enoch: C+

This is the story of Captain Bennett Wolfe who comes back to London 5 months after he was declared dead. Bennett is a very popular explorer who has written books about his journey to Egypt and other countries. In his last expedition to Congo, he was supposed to bring back maps, logs, specimen, etc. for London's Africa Association... but instead, he was left for dead by a colleague, Captain Langley, who stole Bennett's journals and published them as his own and at the same time, ruining Bennett's reputation by inversing their roles. Now, Bennett has to prove that the journals were actually his own, but first, he has to salvage his reputation... and the only way he can do so, is to mingle with the ton and the young ladies... but the only one he finds tolerable is Lady Phillipa Eddison.

The first half of the book was quite good and entertaining; however, I can't say the same about the second half. The main problem of this book was the characterization of Bennett Wolfe. At first, he sounded sane and rational... however, as the story goes, his character seems to lose it and he becomes "savage" and ignorant. Yes, this man spent his aldulthood being an explorer, vising countries and natives and I can believe that he prefers the freedom he finds during his journeys, but I cannot believe he doesn't know how to court a lady and what is considered proper behavior in England. I mean, he did stay in England between his expeditions, right? and he was raised in England... so to have him not knowing how to court a woman or how to behave in company of a lady, that was ridiculous to me.

One other problem I had was why would Langley kidnap Phillipa to Gretna Green?!? I understand him being interested in Phillipa to thwart Bennett, but to the point of marrying her?!? That didn't make sense to me. After all that, the fact that Phillipa was a homebody, someone that doesn't really enjoy traveling was superfluous as a conflict.

What saved the book was Phillipa's character, the writing and the unconventional resolution to Bennett's innocence issue.


10) Deadline by Metsy Hingle: C+

I've read and enjoyed Ms Hingle book and so, I was quite glad to find Deadline, the only one missing in my collection, when I was visiting Kristie.

When Tessa Abbott was 4 years old, her mother - the daughter of a senator - was murdered and her father accused of the crime, convicted based on Tessa's testimony and thrown in jail. Twenty-five years later, about to be released, her father commits suicide. The case should be closed... till Tessa receives a phone call telling her her father's suicide wasn't one and he wasn't her mother's murderer. Wanting to finally find the truth, Tessa decides to carry her own investigation.

Overall, the best way to describe Deadline is "okay." The story was interesting, but a bit unbelievable. Tessa is a reporter and as a whole, her character was okay. She didn't annoy me - and she could have, given her job :P All her actions in this investigation were steps that I would have taken and that was quite interesting. What I found stupid though is that all the witnesses are starting to disappear or die and Tessa is not worried. Hello!! At the end, when the hero, Spencer, finally got the message across, it was too late to convey the right emotions. Speaking of the hero, I really did like him. He was solid, even with his hidden agenda - I don't feel like he used Tessa. The romance between the H/H was a bit lukewarm, so that was a bit disappointing. The truth though was quite interesting, so points to the author there.


11) Forbidden Falls by Robyn Carr: B

Review to come.



12) Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger: A-

Review to come.


Oups, I've been quite chatty today. Some of those mini-reviews could almost be reviews on their own! LOL. Ah well :) I felt that most of my reads this month were okay. Except for Almost Like Being in Love, none really blown me away :( I personally don't know if it was my mood or if I've become more harsh with grades and jaded ^_^;

Except for Forbidden Falls and Almost Like Being in Love and some buddy reviews I have yet put together (sorry Christine, Jill, Li and Leslie!!), I'll consider my year 2009 over :) LOL, I need to focus on reviewing my new reads instead of looking back :P Seriously, I bow to all of you bloggers that review all the books you read. I don't know how you do!

Now all that is left to wrap up the year is my Best and Worst of 2009 post :) Need to start working on that :P

Re-Read Challenge: December!

Woohoo, last re-read challenge of the year!! :) Wowzer, right? How did a year go by already?!?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I will continue hosting the Re-Read challenge for 2010. I will post up the details with a new icon in the next few days :D

So last day of the year... I know everyone will be busy. So you have from today till Sunday, January 3rd, midnight (Eastern time) to post your re-read review and be eligible for the draw :)

In the meantime, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and an awesome 2010 to come! :D


Kris: Moving Target and Running Scared by Elizabeth Lowell
Taja: Tiger's Eye by Karen Robards
Tracy: Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
Leslie: Forever by Judy Blume
Nath: Deep Waters by Jayne Ann Krentz and Hunter X Hunter by Togashi Yoshihiro
Ames: Tears of the Moon by Nora Roberts
Lori: Tapestry by Karen Ranney

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

I wish you all health, joy and lots of books :)

I hope you had a nice time in the past few days :) At my house, it was very relax on New Year's Eve. Actually, my dad and I fell asleep and only my sister and mother were up to welcome the New Year :P

I've been scarce the past few days, because I was busy running some errands and mainly, cleaning my forever, perpetually messy room ^_^; I seriously don't know how it gets so messy... and so fast!!

Sigh, it was great to get some time off. I'm really dreading going back to work... although I have to admit that at times, I didn't know what to do... Besides reading, sleeping, eating, blogging and blog-hopping... what else is there to do?

I did end up going to work on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday... but only a couple of hours each day. Did the experiments and then left, so it wasn't so bad. I brought with me speakers and dvds so I had some entertainment. Today, I've worked the whole day at the Fathers' house. It went faster than I thought it'd would and it hasn't been too busy, so that's good.

My parents did organize a get-together on December 30 for New Year. Basically, we organized another's family get-together LOL. See, we don't have many relatives living close to us and so, we get invited to other people family holiday party. The past few years, me and my sister have begged off... simply because for us, it was more fun just hanging out the two of us. I mean, all the other young people are cousins - they see each other all the time. So whenever we show up, we're clearly outsiders. Oh, they don't mean to exclude us, it just happens... and when they try to include us, it's always by asking us: "Where do you work?" "Are you done school?" Blablabla. Boring. This year, my parents decided it was our turn to host - can't always be the invitee... So I basically spent Tuesday and Wednesday cleaning my room... and it took me both days ^_^; As always, my mom over-cooked and it was kind of pot luck style... There was way too much food ^_^; We ended up with 5 different desserts... Ugh. I do have a sweet tooth, but seriously?!?

I've already finished my first book of the year 2010 :D Woohoo! It was My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger. I will be reviewing it along with Almost Like Being in Love sometimes this week :) LOL, the year has only just started and already, I have so many posts to write!! Luckily, I caught up on my bloghopping :)

By the way, one of the authors I want to try in 2010 is Josh Lanyon... and guess what?!?! My library is not totally useless! I've discovered that they have 2 books by Josh Lanyon. Too bad it's not open today :( However, I'll definitively go tomorrow... and might stop by the bookstore :P

In the meantime, here are some pictures of my clean room LOL. These are for you, Ames!

The good thing is that I got rid of some junk and re-organized some stuff. Didn't have enough time to re-shelf my books, but that will come :P

Re-Read: Deep Waters and Hunter X Hunter

For this month's Re-Read challenge, you guys get a twofer. First, my comfort read of the year, Deep Waters by Jayne Ann Krentz, and a manga series, Hunter X Hunter :)


Deep Waters by Jayne Ann Krentz
published by Simon & Schuster in January 1997

You can read my review here.

The first time I've ever read this book, I was still a teen, still going to the town library and still reading in French. My, so many things have changed right? LOL :)

For years, this book has been on my mind. I remembered parts of the storyline, but did not remember the author or the title - let me tell you, it makes it hard to find the book and re-read it. Then, I decided to ask blogland and I was quite lucky, I got an answer :P So in February, I read Deep Waters and somehow, it has become one of my comfort reads this year.

I'm not going to write a detailed review, since I've already posted one earlier this year... Just write my impressions on my re-read.

My Impressions: Having read Deep Waters not that long ago, the re-read wasn't as powerful. Back in February, when I read Deep Waters, it was like discovering a new book, partly because I was reading it in English for the first time, partly because it's been so long ago... So this time, I wasn't so entranced by the book. The mystery didn't interest me at all and I focused on the romance in the book. I still really like Elias and Charity's characters... they are very different from one another, but somehow, they match. It's kind of fun to see Elias so clueless at times and figuring things out. It seems to me it's always delayed LOL. A lightbulb goes on and then, you see his mind working and finally, he jumps in. I think that only Charity could handle him :) It's also very interesting to see their relationship progresses... I think that back in February, I was so focused on the entire book... I didn't realize that their relationship wasn't that smooth. It seems to me, despite his water talks, Elias has a quick temper and too often, Charity seems to give in. Also, she was nervous and insecure in too many instances :( That did take out a bit of my enjoyment :(

Still overall, it's a pretty good story. I still enjoy their cooking contest and the "sweet" part LOL.

However, I think this is a book that the longer you haven't read, the better it's going to be on the re-read. So maybe I should wait a while before my next re-read :)


Hunter x Hunter by Togashi Yoshihiro

Hunter x Hunter is a manga drawn and written by Togashi Yoshihiro. The first chapter was published back in March 1998 and is still ongoing. There are currently 291 chapters released, compiled into 27 volumes and I have 26 of them in French.

This manga was hugely popular when it was released and even got its own anime adaptation as well as several OVAs which followed the manga very closely (those are the best). The only problem however is that the author is kind weak/sickly. As a result, the art has suffered a lot and he's been going on and off hiatus a lot. However, he should be starting up again (yay!!) and actually, chapter 291 is the first one of this come back. Hopefully, this time, he'll draw more than one volume... because at this rate, we'll never see the end ^_^;

The Story: Hunter X Hunter is the story of a young boy, Gon, who has been raised by his aunt on an isolated island. Much to his aunt's sorrow, Gon has decided to follow his father's footstep and become a professional Hunter. In this world, being a professional Hunter is quite an achievement and speaks loudly of who you are. They are several types of Hunters - bounty hunters, archeologist hunters, etc. Thus the story starts with Gon taking the exam and follows his friendship and adventures. However, the ultimate test that Gon has to face - find his father.

Like any manga, the story is divided into many story arcs. So far, we could divide Hunter X Hunter as followed:

1) Hunter exam (vol. 1 to 4)
2) Celestial Tower (vol. 5 to 7)
3) York Shin City (vol. 8 to 13)
4) Greed Island (vol. 14 to 18)
5) The Insects (vol. 19 to ?)

My Opinion: This manga is one of the best and it's really no wonder that it has so many fans and people are waiting so impatiently for its continuation. This is a fighting manga and the protagonist is very young, Gon and Killua (his best friend) are 11-12 years old when the story started and about 1.5 years has gone by. So Hunter X Hunter is mostly written for a male audience... still, I like it :)

It was great re-reading Hunter X Hunter. I have forgotten how fast the pacing of the story was. It's one great story arc after another and everything is moving swiftly. The whole story consists of clever twists and good ideas. The action is pretty non-stop, but it's balanced with a great story and world building.

I really enjoy the main characters - Gon and Killua. These boys are just fun to read and follow, quite endearing actually. Gon is pure and honest. He's quite direct, but he is not dumb. Killua is more interesting because he has more depth and dimensions... He comes from a family of assassins, so he's been trained quite strictly since he was young... So seeing him with a character so pure such as Gon, you can sometimes see Killua's internal struggles... the many shades of grey that makes up his characters. There are also two other characters worth mentioning: Kurapika and Leolio. They appear quite early in the manga (actually, even before Killua) and become very good friends with Gon... however, after the Hunter exam, they each go their own way. The characters do return for the York Shin City story arc which is very exciting. Anyway, this band of four would be invincible in a couple of years in my opinion :)

So yes, I really enjoy this manga. However, I'm not that much into the last story arc, the Insects one... and to my discontent, it's been the longest story arc :( Part of the problem I think is the slowness at which it's being written - the author having taken many hiatus. I just can't wait till he finishes and moves on. Seriously. I mean, this story arc is almost 1/3 of the whole story... I do hope that there'll be more story arcs after the Insects too. That's the problem with manga... the ending is always uncertain ^_^;

Also, since we're talking manga, we cannot forget the art. I think that Hunter X Hunter's art is very nice, easy on the eye. It's quite simple, but it works. Of course, the art also has suffered while the author was on hiatus (some of the chapters released in the magazines looked like draft @_@ Luckily, the author redrew them for the release of the volumes, phew). Still, it's a good style and I like that he plays with clothings and detailing ;)

Oh and since it's a re-read review, I'll say this... Hunter X Hunter is the kind of story that will withstand time and will become a classic, really :) As a re-read, I think that again, it depends on how long it's been since you've last read it. There's a lot of exciting moments and again, the longer it's been since you've read it, the better the re-read will be... because you'll be sitting at the edge of your seat and turning the pages so fast :)

My Grade: A-. It'd be an A if it wasn't for the last story arc...