Review – Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Two chairs at a coffee table with cat. Before the Coffee Gets Cold
By: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Illustrator: Sunmark Publishing Inc (Cover illustration)
Translator: Geoffrey Trousselot
Release Date: September 19, 2019
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Series: Before the Coffee Gets Cold (#1)
Rating:


Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s novel Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a slight first volume in an ongoing series expertly translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot. The entire story takes place within a certain coffee shop, the type of tiny, cozy place only known to locals. This shop is one filled with secrets, though. A ghost occupies a certain chair, drinking her coffee just as diligently in death as she did in life. People claim that on the rare occasion she leaves her seat, the new chair’s new occupant is able to go back in time and have one more conversation with a loved one.

Review – This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This Is How You Lose the Time War
By: Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Release Date: July 16, 2019
Publisher: Saga Press
Award: Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novella (2020), Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novella (2019), British Science Fiction Association Award Nominee for Best Shorter Fiction (2019), Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction (Ray Bradbury Prize) (2020), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Science Fiction (2019) Reddit r/fantasy Stabby Award for Best Novella (2019)
Rating:


If you like time travel, romance, and epistolary style novels look no further. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is an utterly fantastic novel and so very deserving of the many award nominations it’s been nominated for recently – including a Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novella (2019), British Science Fiction Association Award Nominee for Best Shorter Fiction (2019), and Ray Bradbury Prize (2020).

#UltimateBlogTour Review – A Different Time by Michael K. Hill

A Different Time by Michael K. Hill A Different Time
By: Michael K. Hill
Release Date: July 2, 2019
Publisher: Tangent Press
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


A Different Time by Michael K. Hill is a standalone novel that is sure to tug on heartstrings. The novel is set in two time periods – present day and 1989. Each time features a different protagonist. In the present day Keith Nolan finds a home video VHS. On that VHS is a young woman recording a sort of diary – a young woman he finds he can speak to. That young woman is Lindsey Hale. Living with her mother and stepfather, Lindsey is looking for her place in the world, a vocation to follow. In limbo and living with a man she doesn’t like and doesn’t trust, she turns to recording her thoughts on VHS tapes.

Review – Chronin Volume 1: The Knife at Your Back by Alison Wiglus

Chronin Volume 1: The Knife at Your Back
By: Alison Wiglus
Release Date: February 19, 2019
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: Chronin #1
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


It’s no secret I love manga, but what may be less known is my propensity for the Meji Era. The crash of modernity and tradition provides a fascinating backdrop to any story (and tends to speak to my history major heart). Surprising no one, I immediately downloaded an e-arc of Chronin Volume 1: The Knife at Your Back by Alison Wiglus as soon as I saw the cover art.

#MangaMonday Review – Again!! Vol 2 by Mitsurou Kubo

Again!! Vol 2
By: Mitsurou Kubo
Release Date: April 10, 2018 (English); November 17, 2011 (Original Japanese)
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Series: Again!!
Rating:


Earlier this year I read Again!! Vol 1. I enjoyed it, and said I was going to continue on with the series. So here I am having just finished the second volume, making good on my promise to report back you all on what I thought about Again!! Vol 2 by Mitsurou Kubo.

The story continues with Kinichirou trying to thwart the cheerleading club’s efforts to get rid of the ouendan club once and for all. The overall pacing of this volume was extremely fluid. Sections from Kinichirou and Akira’s points of view flowed together very naturally, more so than the previous volume. Several new characters are introduced with extremely varied personalities.

Review – The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch

The Gone World
By: Tom Sweterlitsch
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Rating:


Telling me there are time travel aspects to a book might be one of the quickest ways to get me to read a book. I’m a sucker for a good time traveling story. And that is certainly a major aspect of The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch.

Review – Again!! Vol. 1 by Mitsuro Kubo

Again!! Vol. 1
By: Mitsuro Kubo
Translator: Adrienne Beck
Release Date: February 27, 2018
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Series: Again!!
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


Does the name Mitsuro Kubo sound familiar? If you like anime it probably does. This week sees the English release of a high school sports manga from the creator of the anime Yuri on Ice.  Again!! Vol. 1 by Mitsuro Kubo is a high school slice of life sports manga that focuses on the characters and their interactions.

Review – Extracted by R. R. Haywood

Extracted
By: R. R. Haywood
Release Date: March 1, 2017
Publisher: 47North
Series: Extracted
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


Have you ever read a book and, when it was finished, wondered why you sat there through everything? Usually I read books I’m not liking very much because I feel like I must be missing something. Surely there is a twist that will make everything worthwhile. Perhaps I’m simply not looking deeply enough, missing some sort of grand metaphor for all the trials and tribulations of the universe. Sometimes the plot, characters, or writing simply doesn’t live up to expectations.

Extraction by R. R. Haywood sounded like a fast paced time travel novel. I always love a good time travel story. Unfortunately, this book was the opposite of paced, and quickly proved to unravel in other aspects throughout the novel.

Review – your name. by Matoko Shinkai

your name.
By: Matoko Shinkai
Illustrator: Ranmaru Kotone
Translator: Taylor Engel
Website: http://shinkaimakoto.jp/
Release Date: (Original Japanese) June 18 2016; (English Translation) May 23, 2017
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating:


I almost always read the book before I watch the movie. In this case it happened purely on accident. I wound up picking up a copy of your name. by Makoto Shinkai from Barnes and Noble during a buy two get one free sale.

Review – The Tourist by Robert Dickinson

The Tourist
By: Robert Dickinson
Release Date: October 16, 2016
Publisher: Redhook
Rating:


I’d seen The Tourist by Robert Dickinson at the library several times before I picked it up. I was intrigued. The cover looked generic, the synopsis sounded like a typical thriller novel, and the spine was marked as science fiction. I was equal parts confused and intrigued. I stumbled across this on Goodreads more recently and on my last trip to the library I finally picked it up.