Reading and Blogging Update: I Graduated!

Hello readers!
It’s been a hectic few months for me. I didn’t originally plan on going so long without posting, but as I started my last semester of school I realized I had to put my more mentally taxing hobbies on hold. Now, I’m officially a college graduate! And for the first time in over a decade, I am not a student. (Saying that still feels surreal to me.)

Now that I’ve had time to adjust to my new routine, I’m slowly going to start blogging again. Over the past 6ish months, I’ve read a few books I plan on reviewing, so I’m going to start with those. Hopefully, once I’ve published a few reviews I’ll be fully back into my blogging routine.

For now, here’s an update on what I’ve been reading recently:

Graphic Novels & Manga:

• Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi volumes 12-20ish & chapters 315-400
• Monstress Vol 7: Devourer by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
• *Sakamoto Days by Yuto Suzuki (idk when I started but I’ve read all 109 chapters out so far)
• *Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo
• *Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami
• The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

*Ongoing manga I read as the chapters are released

Once classes started in September, I put my fantasy doorstoppers away and picked up the comic books!

I continued with my read of the HxH manga as I collected the physical volumes until I got to the chimera ant arc. At that point, I jumped ahead to read the chapters that came after the anime ended. I wanted to save those chapters for after I’d read through everything else, but I was already tempted to skip the chimera ant arc because of its slow pacing and sharp tonal change from the rest of the story. In the end, I abandoned my organized and well-paced reread attempt in favor of jumping ahead to binge-read everything that happened after the anime ended. I was a little disappointed in myself for throwing all organization and self-control out the window, but that’s never been how I enjoy stories anyway. I’m obsessed with the direction HxH went after the election arc, and I have no regrets.

Other than HxH, Sakamoto Days, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Spy x Family are the only mangas I consistently kept up with during the school year. I briefly started a couple of other anime/manga, but soon realized I’d reached my capacity for stories I could invest myself in. I then decided to hold off on starting any more manga until the ones I’m currently reading either end or I’m ready to take a break from them.

Aside from manga, I also read the new works published by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda. Monstress was the series that brought me into the world of comics, and it has remained one of my favorite series ever since. The series is ongoing, so I always make sure to read the new volumes when they come out in the fall each year.

I also happened upon a new comic series by the same author and artist called The Night Eaters. Like Monstress, this series is horror-fantasy and explores generational trauma. But it digresses from Liu and Takeda’s other work in its modern setting, initially naive main characters, and its focus on family drama rather than war. Also, while Monstress has a more sprawling, epic fantasy plot, The Night Eaters has a more contained, horror-focused plot. I love both, but I would definitely recommend the series to different people depending on their tastes.

You might also like my review of The Jasmine Throne

Books

• The Oleander Sword (The Burning Kingdoms #2) by Tasha Suri
• Undergrounder by J.E. Glass
• *Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

*I technically DFNed Take a Hint, Dani Brown (TEMPORARILY) because I wasn’t in the right headspace and my library loan ran out, but I got like 80% in so it’s worth mentioning.

I read much fewer books than graphic novels (for reasons mentioned above), but I did finish two!

I started The Oleander Sword wayyy back in August, but I didn’t get around to finishing it until January! It was as good as (and better in some ways than) The Jasmine Throne. I actually have a review for this sequel already written, and I can’t wait to share it!

Undergrounder was the next fantasy book I finished after I graduated, and it was an interesting combination of paranormal romance and mystery. I don’t plan on reviewing this book, but I definitely recommend it to those looking for lesbian relationships in fantasy!

How do you plan your hobbies around your schedule?

Check out more of my discussion posts: Reading Growth Check