Update: Will Post Reviews Later

Finished "Watch" by Robert J. Sawyer on August 10, 2010. (Novel, Sci-Fi)
Finished "Stopper Busujima" by Harold Sakuyushi on August 15, 2010. (Manga, Sports, Slice of Life, Shounen)

Started "H2" on August 15, 2010 (Manga, Sports, Slice of Life, Shounen)
Started "My Years as Prime Minister" by Jean Chretien on August 20, 2010. (Novel, Autobiography, Politics)

In Progress:
Chapter 15: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by JK Rowling (Novel, Young Adult, Fantasy)
Chapter 33: "Bartender" by Araki Joh & Kenji Nagatomo (Manga, Seinen, Slice of Life)
Chapter 88: "Holyland" by Kouji Mori (Manga, Seinen, Slice of Life, School Life, Fighting)
Chapter 45: "Oishii Kankei" by Satoru Makimura (Manga, Josei, Slice of Life, Career, Cooking, Romance)
Chapter 67: "The One" by Nicky Lee (Manhua, Josei, Slice of Life, Career, Modelling,
Drama)
Chapter 66: "Addicted to Curry" by Kazuki Funatsu (Manga- Shounen, Comedy, Cooking, Romance)
Chapter 162: "Skip Beat!" by Yoshiki Nakamura (Manga- Shoujo, Comedy, Career, Acting, Romance)

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi by Nagaru Tanigawa

Format: Light Novel
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Amazon


Plot and Writing: 7/10
I rated the story a 7/10 because it was well written and thought out. The pacing was excellent, and didn't seem to leave anything out. Also the storyline didn't feel like a recycled plot.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I gave this story an enjoyment rating of 8/10 because it kept me interested from the beginning to the end, and made me laugh throughout.

Review
Told from a first person perspective, The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi is centred around five students (including the narrator) who make make up a club called the SOS Brigade. The SOS Brigade was a club created by Suzumiya in order to research and study paranormal phenomena which she was interested in. It seemed that none of the club members freely joined the club, but were dragged into it by Haruhi somehow.This story has a couple of moments that make you wonder what just happened, but you quickly get over it, as they are explained shortly after.

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi is not a story to take seriously. It is a comedy with more than a dash of science fiction thrown in. From the very first page to the last, there was rarely a moment I didn't get a chuckle. The tone is set from the first page of the prologue which starts off:

When did I stop believing in Santa Claus? In truth, this sort of silly question holds no real significance for me. However, if you were to ask me when I stopped believing that the old man wearing the red costume was Santa, then I can confidently say: I have never believed in Santa, ever.

Sure, it's cynical and disparaging but that's what to expect when the narrator of the story is a boy looking back on his high school days, and his acquaintance with Suzumiya Haruhi and other strange members of the SOS Brigade.

I will admit this was the first light novel I had read, and I will continue to read light novels as they are a quick read and a nice break from traditional novel format. It was very dialogue heavy, but that seems to be a trait of light novels in general.

My Literary Adventures- As I turn the pages

I have tended to have been a heavy reader for as long as I can remember. This summer I've decided to document my forays into the worlds created by others. As you go through my selections you'll see that I mostly read fantasy and science fiction novels. I have also travelled into the world of manga and have read and am currently reading a large selection.

As I read each story I will try and post an entry about each one. Whether it be just a couple paragraphs or a full review. The novels I'm reading will have the most changeover as a majority of the manga is either being published and scanlated as it comes out, or just scanlations of older series.

What I'm reading as of June 29, 2010:

Novels

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling

The final book in the Harry Potter franchise. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, travel together to find the Deathly Hallows which will allow them to confront Voldemort (Tom Riddle) in a final battle for all of Human kind. Join the three youths as they go through the trials of friendship, love, moral issues, war, and death.


• Storm Front Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden is a wizard and a private investigator. His business is barely staying afloat as he struggles to pay the rent for his office. As he leaves his office for a break, he gets a phone call from the police to consult on a bizarre and gory murder case. Once he arrives he walks in a scene which can only be described as gruesome, and only done by a dark wizard.

Light Novels

• The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Nagaru Tanigawa

A comedic story told in first person person perspective about a strange girl named Suzumiya Haruhi.

Manga

• Eyeshield 21 Riichiro Inagaki

Sena is a small and meek high school freshman with an over-protective best friend. Unknown to her he joins the American Football team as manager. While running from bullies through the streets and subway system of Tokyo, the quarterback (and captain) of the aforementioned football team notices how he runs and recruits him as the running back for the team. In order to hide Sena's identity from the other sports teams within and outside of Deimon High School, Hiruma (the quarterback) gives Sena the uniform #21, and a helmet with a green eyeshield. From this comes the legend of the Lightspeed Running back Eyeshield 21 who was groomed at a Notre Dame University affiliated middle school in the United States. Through football Sena gains confidence in himself, and makes close friends through the team.
A comedy with extreme use of the word "F**k"


• Ciguatera Minoru Furuya

Ogino and Takai are high school students who are bullied in extreme ways by Taniwaki. Takai seems obsessed with trying to get back at Taniwaki, while Ogino has become apathetic about the bullying. What Ogino is obsessed with is motorbikes. Despite his school's regulations he is working a part-time job, and taking a motorcycle course in secret. At this course Ogino gets a crush on a girl who sits on the other side of the room. One day this girl's friend gives Ogino a piece of paper with her phone number, saying that her friend likes him. This story is full of angst and teenage whims.


• Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) Sakae Esuno

Yukiteru is a high school student who is bored with life and only sees himself as an outside observer of what everyone else does. He records everything he sees in a diary on his cell phone. To escape from the boredom he has created an imaginary world where Deus ex Machina rules.
Imagine Yukiteru's surprise when one day it seems his imaginings have become reality, and he's hand picked by Deus to take part in a competition to determine who will become the next ruler of time and space. Yukiteru's cell phone diary is transformed from a record of past events into a record of everything that will happen in the world around him. From this moment his mundane world is transformed into action, excitement, and life and death situations.


• Sun-ken Rock Boichi

Ken falls in love. The girl Ken falls in love with moves to Korea to become a police officer. After seeing her on TV, he moves to Korea find her. One day they happen to run into each other on the streets of Seoul, she asks Ken how he's doing, and why he's moved from Japan to Korea. Ken lies and says it was because of his job in IT (he is clearly unemployed and extremely poor). After this they continue to meet occasionally, and somehow through bizarre twists and turns Ken becomes the leader of a gang.


• Bartender Joh Araki

Ryuu Sasakura is a genius bartender who is known for his glass of the gods. A drink which can soothe the soul, no matter what your issue in life is. Bartender chronicles Ryuu's life, learning all of the professional skills and tricks of the trade. This is a story to be enjoyed slowly


• Skip-Beat! Yoshiki Nakamura

Kyoko moves from the country to Tokyo to be with boyfriend (and childhood friend) Sho as he makes his professional debut in the music world. Sho sees Kyoko only a maid and annoyance, and not his girlfriend. He soon leaves her behind, only complaining about her.
Instead of becoming sad about being left behind, Kyoko closes her heart to love and vows to get revenge on Sho by becoming more famous than him. She signs up with a rival talent agency with plans of becoming an actress. Unfortunately Kyoko seems to lack the skills needed to become an actress, but her persistence with every audition catches the eye of the company president. He creates a new section within the agency called "Love Me" to help Kyoko learn that she lacks love.
In the agency she meets another actor Ren, whom she immediately dislikes from her bias as he was a rival to Sho. She initially cannot give up these feelings of intense dislike and it takes a while until the two of them form a close working relationship. Kyoko steadily improves on her acting skill, and her heart throughout the story as she completes various tasks, classes, and film/television roles.



• Addicted to Curry Kazuki Funatsu

Makito is a curry chef on a mission to make the perfect curry. On his travels throughout Asia to perfect his style, he makes his way to "Curry House- Ganesha"; a small indian-style curry restaurant on the verge of closing. The restaurant had been left under the care of the owner's high school age daughter Yui, as he travelled elsewhere. Unable to do anything about the restaurant she lets Makito help, and soon the restaurant gets quite a following and is revitalized. This angers the competition- a group of unsavoury people who had wanted to buy "Curry House- Ganesha", for dirt cheap as it went under. Time and time again Makito is challenged to various cooking and sales and competitons for the sake of the restaurant.


• Butterfly Yu Aikawa

Genji is a young man who wants nothing to do with the supernatural. He refuses to believe in aliens, ghosts, and things of the such. One day he meets a girl much younger than himself who claims to be a person who can destroy ghosts, but only with his help. At first Genji flat-out refuses Aghea, but eventually goes along with her as she paid a large debt of his. With Ageha's ability to trick people into believing that their ghosts are real, and Genji's refusal to allow ghosts to exist the two form a team, to free people from their fears and beliefs. (As well as copious amounts of cash.)


• Oishii Kankei (A Delicious Relationship) Satoru Makimura

Momoe Fujiwara is a young woman trying to find her way in the world. After her father had passed away suddenly in Momoe's 18th year, her upper middle class lifestyle changed significantly. Instead of deciding to go to university or get married she decided to get a job and help support her mother. While on the job hunt, Momoe stopped at a small French diner, and recognised the taste of the food. From this Momoe asks to meet the chef, and on a spur of the moment asks if she can train underneath of him.
Follow Momoe as she learns how to start a life on her own, a career in a male dominated field, as she comes to know herself, and as she falls in love.


• Kaichou wa Maid-sama! (The Student Council President is a Maid?!) Hiro Fujiwara

Misaki is the student council president and one of the few female students of Seika Academy, which had until a couple years earlier been an all boys school. On top of being the student council president Misaki is the top student in school. She works hard to reform the rowdy boys to encourage more female students to enrol in the next year. Due to her family being poor, Misaki also works outside of home and school in a cafe. This is not an ordinary cafe, but a cafe where all of the waitresses are dressed in French Maid costumes to serve the customers. Misaki is very embarrassed by this job, and told no one where she worked. By coincidence, a classmate of hers goes to that cafe, and finds out her secret. Because of this he becomes interested in Misaki, and starts hanging around with her at school, and going to the cafe everyday.


• Holyland Kouji Mori

Due to bulling Yuu had become reclusive in middle school, choosing to complete his mandatory education online and refusing to leave the house. On one day that he decided to leave the house he came across a book about boxing, and started reading it. One he went back to his he practised one more repetitively in his room to calm his mind. After three years Yuu finally enters high school, and feels like he doesn't fit in. He takes to the streets in the evenings, and earns a reputation known as the thug hunter. As more and more gangsters and thugs try to fight with Yuu, he refines and practises his techniques in order to protect the only place he feels he fits in.