Voyage Visit: Graphic Novels/Manga

On Wednesday, I went to my regular library and got some books. I browsed my usual sections, young adult and adult fiction. Then I decided to look at graphic novels and manga because it was conveniently located next to the new arrivals.

A little back story, when I was fourteen, I really liked manga. We did not have a section at this library at the time, so I had to go to a different library and check out stacks upon stacks of it at a time. However, I eventually grew out of this obsession and started reading other books. So when graphic novels started becoming more popular over the past few years, I didn't pay much attention, since I had already had a phase with manga and just had a little, "been there, done that" attitude. What I didn't realize is how graphic novels and manga are different.  

The difference between between graphic novels and manga is the way the book is formatted and, I would argue, the style of the art. A graphic novel is formatted like a typical American book, left to right and the art is not in the Japanese style. Manga, however, is formatted in the Japanese format, from right to left. It can take some getting used to, but I find that it's really easy to pickup on.

In terms of recommendations, I haven't read any graphic novels.Right now, I have Beautiful Creatures, Amulet: The Stonekeeper, and Jane Eyre. As you can see, I haven't really delved into graphic novels outside of ones based on books. For manga, I've read most of Fruits Basket, which I enjoyed. I've recently started the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series, which I've also been enjoying. I'm currently trying to acquire the second volume. Once I've finished some of these series, I may review them here.

Do you have any suggestions for graphic novels or manga I should read? Leave them in the comments! 

Voyage Visit: The To Be Read Jar

So yesterday, I was sitting around my room at home thinking, "Wow I have a lot of books out from the library.; Not to mention the ones I own and the ones for my Nook..." And then I realized I had no idea what I wanted to read next after my current reads are finished. So I decided to create a TBR jar. Or mug, in my case. 

For this, I decided to do all the books I owned but hadn't read, books I had out from the library, and books on my Nook. To give you an idea on the number of books, I thought I would show a few pictures.

By my nightstand

My actual bookshelf

My other bookshelf

For my "jar", I used the Mug my initiates in Phi Sigma Pi made me last semester. It is almost full, which means I will hopefully never run out of things to read!

The rules are not that I have to finish the book that I draw, but that I have to give it a fair shot. This means 50-100 pages. If I'm not feeling it, but still think I might like it, it will go back in the jar. If it's really not my thing, it gets taken off the list. 

I will hopefully be choosing my first book from this jar sometime within the next week! Stay tuned to see what I get!

Happy travels!