This one was fun. Lots of atmosphere and tension in the last few chapters! I'd pretty much figured out what was going on, apart from a few points; it's quite a fair-play mystery, even if it does try to lead you astray.

Both the female leads are completely amoral, and completely obsessed with each other. The plot's a bit all over the place, but it does come together if you're patient; I had fun.

I liked the art.

The plot is a little bit incoherent/badly paced, but I knew I had to get this one for my sister once I hit this illustration... She'll go feral for it. 🤭

(They're eating an orange slice there, that's not a tongue.)

A user at work asked permission to buy my team Christmas presents. I approved it, and so did my boss, and we provided wishlists/email addresses for everyone on my team, including me at the user's request.

I did not expect to receive all these. 😭💙💙

This volume's really cute too! It gets a bit cringe at times how Riko puts everything in terms of games regardless of audience... but it's mostly fun.

I've been meaning to read this ever since I saw it announced -- I'll probably get it for my sister for Christmas. I'm glad I'm somewhat used to the genre because of reading danmei, else I'd be a bit lost.

I like the art, they haven't been too stingy with it. Chapter opening pages have pretty designs. I think they skimped a bit on paper quality compared to their danmei though (unless everything they're printing at the moment is on thinner paper).

Very cute and silly, a nice light read.

I feel like the main plot maybe fizzles out a bit? There's a tense scene, but it feels small compared to everything before.

Still, the extras are so so cute, for the most part. It took me a bit longer to love Wangxian than it took me to love Bingqiu or Hualian, but I got there.

Last volume available for now! 😭 But I loved it, hanging out with Trom (a blind Deinonychus) and seeing the psittacos working in the petting zoo. Aaah.

The cutest thing though is the series dino consultant's fact files. He is SO excited about dinosaurs and uses a bunch of hearts and music notes to show enthusiasm (at least in translation), aaah!

This didn't work for me, pacing a bit jerky, motivations and people unclear. Might've helped to know the original source text that it's a sorta modern update of?

This volume covers Umeko's surgery, a turn with the pterosaurs, and a visit to baby Benkei (who is no longer so baby!) in the lab. Once again, Suma's enthusiasm wins converts, despite initial friction...

Is there maaaaybe a hint of romance between Suma and Kaidou? I don't know if I hope for it!

I have never had a Christmas sweater before nor wanted one, but I guess I've started now! It's technically a Christmas present from my wife, but they washed it and gave it to me early so I can have much joy of wearing it.

(Feat. Archimedes Horatio Wol, an owl-cushion who sits on my reading chair and leaned back into the shot at the last minute.)

Okay, just a first warning: this book includes a dinosaur having cancer (an osteosarcoma). That might be worth knowing since it does make it a tad less cosy to me.

Anyway, still a fun volume, but it's worth knowing. I liked the way Suma and that guy came to somewhat of an understanding but it still wasn't, like, warm liking.

There's another funny chapter opening image too.

I liked this volume a lot, though I kinda hope Suma doesn't immediately win over this guy too. 😅

Bahaha the Sherlock Holmes get-up!

Each volume is pretty similar because it's mostly "dinosaur has problem, solve it, dinosaur is happy", but I enjoy them all the same. This one had Pachycephalosaurs! I used to adore them as a kid. I didn't know we think maybe Dracorex was just a juvenile form, or that we have little skeletal evidence below the wrist for their anatomy.

This took me longer than I'd expected, I guess I didn't fully get into it. It doesn't feel much like it relies on Christmas for the mood/setting, except by getting Liane into the whole thing (which could be produced by any visit). So, not a super-seasonal read. I saw the culprit quite early, because it's pretty fair-play as a mystery.

Overall, not a favourite, but pleasant enough.

And hey, one of my #10BeforeTheEnd.

Every year during December I give my wife a present a day. Sometimes big, sometimes small, sometimes it's a fandom meme... Behold, Bingpup!

Oof, the final message from Christabel, once revealed, makes me feel more sorry for the killer than anything else in the whole book did. After seeming like an angel the whole time... that seems like a low blow.

Overall, another one I rather liked from Fitt. More psychological than most of her contemporaries' work.

I had trouble settling down to read, but this is on my #BookSpinBingo list and it was convenient so I decided to give it a try, and read 38% more or less in one go. Hurrah for finding something that could tickle my brainstem.

I'm definitely curious what's going on here, which side of the whole thing is lying/perhaps killed or conspired to kill Christabel. Curious structure to it, too.

This is super cute and I love the dinosaur consultant's commentary between chapters. The bit with baby Benkei is just aaaaah. 💙

This was the cute, fairly low-stakes manga I needed today, due to the loss of a pet (Hulk, for those who know us). I love the little fact files between chapters -- it's obviously aimed at kids, but I'm enough of a dinosaur nerd to enjoy it all the same.

Masaruuu. 💙
(That's the triceratops.)

The goriness/sex focus of this was not super my thing, but I did enjoy the way it tried to play with language/orthography (the translators' note about trying to represent the things the original in Korean does is fascinating), and how it's obviously about queerness and gender, really.

This was a silly bit of fun, I enjoyed it, though it felt a bit rushed through toward the end. Still... lots of classic mystery moments + the Great British Bake-Off setup (and gentle mockery of the format). A light pick!

I should really do a new #ComicsBingo card...

This gets a bit dry and repetitive, unless perhaps you're super super interested in genealogy and chasing down the minute details of family trees. It rarely touches on the actual content of the postcards, just confirms birth/death/some family details/occupation, and moves on.

Welp, here we go! The #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin are the ones I most needed a nudge to read, so this has worked out well. I don't do a lot of seasonal reading, but there's a couple that seem apropos (The Palace of Illusions is a loose retelling of the Nutcracker, and Death in Ambush is set at Christmas. Murder Most Actual isn't, as far as I know, but has snow on the cover.)

#BookSpinBingo

This is a pretty random set of picks, ahaha. But this format's been working for me, so let's push it one more time. #BookSpinBingo

Hm. Maybe this would've been better if I knew the original book? It just seemed like Victor's story faded out and was totally subsumed in Marie's success, and some stuff was really rushed.

Oh no, the drunk chapter... I find all the drunk chapters excruciating but oh noooo this one.

But oh, MXTX sure does torture her characters. Wei Wuxian's golden core...

Oh boy, this is all going south so swiftly. Poor Wei Wuxian.

The relationship is a bit rushed (and the hoarding is resolved super quickly, all in all), but cute. A light pick.

I loved how this never quite pinned itself down to anything about Rose and Aimé, they just enjoy one another's company and the love is perfectly clear. I liked the art a lot.

I enjoyed this and the grounding in details of the wool industry quite a bit ultimately, but waiting for the payoff had me anxious, especially given the relationship between them also gets so amped up and explosive.

And a #BookSpinBingo blackout, and it's not even the last day of the month! It just kinda. Happened.

You know, sometimes I wish it was normal to just have full plot summaries for every book out there on the internet for easy lookup. Right now I'm being too neurodivergent to read more of this book without knowing how things work out, but I keep reading a chapter at a time because I do *want* to finish it.

I got into this shortly after complaining I wasn't getting into it, and oof, what a ride. This certainly goes places. I feel like the relationship between Shane and Marguerite was more background than e.g. Piper and Galen, so that I found it less strong mattered less, ultimately.

? I was pretty certain that was what was going to happen with "Ian", but ah, still, poor Wren.

I'm not really sure why this isn't 100% clicking for me? I'd expected to adore it, but I'm much more inclined to pick up Paladin's Faith (which I'm reading at the same time). Hmm.

I know I showed an update yesterday already, but I just want to marvel again at being THIS on track for a blackout. #BookSpinBingo

I was tempted to read vol 4 of MDZS but in the end I used my internetless evening to finish this off. Now just two books left to complete my November #BookSpinBingo.

This was okay. Fairly predictable, all in all, with the main characters both stupidly keeping secrets. A very light pick, maybe a so-so. I wasn't tempted to DNF but I won't read more in the series.

The internet's completely dead and has been for five hours now. Is that an excuse to drop my other reading and start vol 4? Probably not... Unless?

Ahhh look! I don't think it'll have to come down to the wire so much this time!

I might still break each book down into a few chapters each day and finish them on the last day, because I'm currently really wanting to focus on Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, but still, three books is way more manageable than 5-6!

#BookSpinBingo

Oof, I wish it didn't bounce around in time so much!

But oh boy, that first kiss was SO cute. Ahh, Lan Wangji, you're such an idiot.

I decided to get started on this right away, so I won't fall out of remembering who's who again, and can build on what I remember from book two.

Of course, that means it's instantly gone into flashback mode with some new characters on top...

I think my favourite thing remains Greta's nerdery about Oasis Natrun and Erebus General.

I'm really not sure how there's another book after this, but now I'm all set to try it!

Ridiculously cute. Not a lot of substance or conflict, just two dudes dating and nobody having a problem with it, even with an age gap.

There's a lot to like about this historical mystery, though I found Sarah a bit too inclined to judge, and overall it was a bit darker and more filled with trauma than I usually find enjoyable.

CN: misogyny, homophobia, rape, violence, medical trauma, forced institutionalisation, forced sterilisation, probably more that aren't springing to mind.

This is a lovely concept, and inevitably a mixed bag -- some of the poems and interpretations of how to answer them speak to me or fit my taste, and some don't. A worthwhile collection.

I'm still finding myself a little lost at times; there's so many similar names, and I feel like I need to draw a dang family tree including everyone's birth names and courtesy names.

Still, I know I'll get the hang of it as the story goes on, so I'm trying not to sweat the details.

I really liked the Yi City story in the end, even if it's tragic.

My heart is a little crushed by the story of Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan. Oof.

The chapters in this volume are SO long, though, goodness.

I found it a bit slow and lacking in the urgency to, you know, go save the guy's sister. The concept is fun, though, and I enjoy how much of a scientist Laios is (though not explicitly on page called a scientist, he's clearly fascinated by how monsters work).