I've not been reading as much lately (I binged the first two Danganronpa games and played Paradise Killer), but I think with the new year I have some themes I want to start getting into so I'm excited! I think I want to read some Pico Iyer, Erich Fromm, Byung Chul Han, the Murderbot series, more novellas, and manga of course. We'll see how it goes. I rather enjoy letting the winds of my interest take me on my book travels and don't plan too much of it.
I read Cells at Work: White Brigade Vol. 1-4 and Cells at Work: Platelets Vol. 1-4 and really enjoyed them! I find all the Cells at Work series to be nice cozy before bedtime reads. I've read the original series and a few of the spin-offs and I felt these two were a bit fluffier and didn't get into them as much as some of the others. But... it's semi-low stakes (most chapters have happy endings), slice-of-life (literally haha), and I always end up learning a lot, so I don't regret continuing to read them. One cannot help but appreciate one's body more when we know all the work our cells put in to keep us ticking smoothly ^_^ I keep meaning to check out the live-action movie too. I saw a little clip on YouTube of the platelets and ohhhhh... SO CUTE 🥰 I also heard they are doing a cat version? Definitely hyped to check it out when it gets translated.
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The All You Need is Kill manga was my last book of 2025 and it was as good as the hype implied. The time loop was handled in a fresh way and I loved the art style. The pacing was pretty solid and worldbuilding was deftly woven in a way that didn't need a massive info dump to understand what the heck was going on. I do feel this was a rare case of something needing one more volume to pace the ending more coherently. There's an anime version of this story coming out this year and I really want to make sure I check it out.
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Automatic Noodle was my first book of 2026. It's a pithy novella about a future where CA goes to war with the rest of the US and becomes its own nation. Annalee Newitz uses this backdrop as a vehicle to make sociopolitical statements. I do agree with her take, but there were some issues for me. One: I agree that society needs an overhaul, that social media brings out nastiness, and our economy is jumping the shark. Soooo, I agree and didn't gain new insights because this is targeted to me. So it's kinda an echo chamber pandering to my existing framework. Another is that it veered to preachy territory and was a bit too binary. One human was nice, everyone else was an unapologetic asshat. I wish there had been more nuance. Another is that it was tone deaf as corporations are strategizing to strip people of work in the name of unfetterred growth. So as adorable as the bots are, it's hard to make the plot sympathetic when people are losing their jobs and inflation is a hot mess, etc. That being said, that characterization was very good! I felt connected to the adorable bots, the found family theme was amazing, and the food talk was cozy. Because it was a short novella, I felt that I wasn't stuck with the bad bits for long so overall I enjoyed the story. Oh... the pacing was a bit off I think, the ending cut off without handling major plot points which made it feel like a longer short story.
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I went into Inward by Yung Pueblo hoping that the theme of the book would yield some poetry that would feel like a balm to my spirit. And... it started well. But the book is these one-liners of recycled and repackaged self-help propaganda. YOU must find the silence within you and give and turn the other check and all that jazz. ¡Por favor! Yes, there is some small piece in the book about society, but these books do more harm than good. I read once that in western medicine, you are safer if you get a heart attack than if you have a chronic syndrome. Self-help feels the same to me. Human suffering cannot be unpacked using one lens to try to fix things. And I get it. It's so empowering and easy and clean to think we can fix ourselves. The only way to unravel why we feel this way is to take a nuanced approach where we can start to sort out what we can tackle ourselves, and what needs to be advocated for on a broader scale. Plus, when I tried to find interviews from this author it was the usual guest appearances at cringe podcasts where everyone looks sacred and had advice, but are lining their pockets advertising for snake oil crud. </rant>
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What would it be like to reflect on his days, rather than trying vainly to forget them?
– Annalee Newitz (Automatic Noodle)