What Am I Reading Wednesday - January 25

What I Just Finished Reading

Yoga for Athletes – Ryanne Cunningham
The reservations I expressed last week aside, this book was very well done. There are a lot of good poses here, with helpful visuals and the jargon-free directions will be useful to any readers more familiar with muscle groups than Sanskrit vocabulary.

Injection vol. 2 – Warren Ellis
Although I didn't find the art in this volume anywhere near as evocative as that in the first, it's still a winner. This arc centers around Red (yes, that Red) and Vivek Headland, Ellis' take on the traditional Sherlock Holmes genius inspector trope. And damned if Ellis didn't sell me on both here. I eagerly await the next issues.

Three – Kieron Gillen
I bought the first five issues of Three a couple of years ago. Unbeknownst to me, that was the entire run. Three is the story of an epochal period in Spartan history, told from the perspective of its helots. The premise is interesting but Gillen is hampered by having to shoehorn so much into too few issues. It's a bad sign when any work of fiction requires copious notes to explain to readers what's going on; this former Classics major found Gillen's notes necessary here. That they're riddled with typos doesn't help. I'd recommend anyone interested to check this one out from a library before purchasing.

彼方者の困惑 – 直野儚羅 (Atchimono no Konwaku – Naono Bohra
This volume was cute although I would probably have enjoyed it more had I read the first in the series.

What I Am Currently Reading

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For reasons.

Shutter vol. 2 – Joe Keatinge
Keatinge and crew have kept the series' momentum going in this volume. I'm really enjoying Shutter's world, which is sorta China Mieville meets Promethea meets Adult Swim cartoon, with a little bit of Jim Butcher thrown in. Kate is a kickass lead and I think we're about to get into some interesting back story. I have already acquired the third volume.

アーシアン 1 – 高河 ゆん(Earthian vol. 1 – Kouga Yun
This tankoubon was published over twenty years ago. That blows my mind. The art is obviously Showa Era, but what's surprised me during this read is how the narrative structure, to say nothing of character interactions, have changed since that period. (Or maybe I've just found better mangaka to follow.) It's an odd feeling, because some of these elements strike me as endearing in their naivete and lack of awareness, which is an uncomfortable feeling, because what they involve is in many ways dreadful.


What I'm Reading Next

Currently Shutter vol. 3 and Planetes vol. 1 are on deck, but these are subject to change as my whims take me.

これで以上です。