Another Newbie :)

[vash137.livejournal.com]

I was recommended to this community by a friend, and I'm very excited to enjoy such a wealth of recommendations of books by people of color as well as share about the books I'm reading. Though I'm excited to read 50 more books by people of color, I'll probably also share some reviews of previous books that I've read and loved.

Currently, I'm in the middle of The Brief And Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. It was recommended to me by a number of friends and I'm really enjoying it. The book employs a lovely mix of comic tone and seriousness, and I feel as though I am being given a glimpse into Dominican culture that is both new to me and wildly interesting. I also love the high degree of nerdiness that permeates the book (as someone who is highly nerdy myself) 

I'm also reading a manga called Nana by Ai Yazawa. (do we talk about manga here?)  It's entertaining in a highly girly way.  I'm usually not really into shoujo (for girls in Japanese) but I wanted to try something new and it looked interesting.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and participating in this community.

Love and hugs :-)
Vash

Comments

[ungemmed]

AFAIK, manga is allowed. However, some people (like me) who already read a lot of it are choosing to not count it towards our totals, because it would make the challenge too easy on us.

Nana is fantastic, isn't it? How far along are you?

[sanguinity]

Hello and welcome. :-)

Please have a look at the FAQ -- lots of good stuff there, including what qualifies for the comm and how to tag your posts.

Yes, we do talk about manga here. As said above, some people have decided to not count manga toward their fifty, often because said individuals feel that they wouldn't end up with the change in reading habits that they had been looking for. You can find other posts about Nana under the a: yazawa ai tag.

[mechanicaljewel.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you on Nana-- girly stuff is almost never my thing, and characters like Hachi nearly always irritate me. The fact that Yazawa is able to make me love both Hachi and the shojo-ness of it all is testament to her immense skill as a mangaka.

I was toying with the idea of waiting until I finished the series (at least up to it's most recent US volume) and count it all as one.