Day 4 of the read-a-thon, I spent reading 3 volumes of Return to Labyrinth. The story was written by Jake T. Forbes with awesome illustrations by Chris Lie. Baby Toby has grown up and has his own adventures with the Goblin King in the Labyrinth! Great new twist! I only have the first 3 books of the series, so need to get the 4th book to find out what happens! Had a great time with all the old characters....and some neat new ones! Adding book 4 to my wish list at Amazon! I've got to know how it ends!! This is an original English-language Manga....so it reads left to right. I've gotten so used to starting at the "back'' and reading to the "front'' for Manga, that I was a bit disappointed that this one read like any other book. :) To me, original English manga really should just be called a "graphic novel'' but the art style was reminiscent of Japanese Manga.....so, lets give it the cooler title. :)
Moving on! I thought I would read some short stories next, so I picked up this book off my TBR shelf. The cover reminds me of old horror comic books! The book is an anthology of 15 science fiction short stories. I note some familiar names among the contributors....Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Straub....but the rest are new to me! I'm excited! I love Sci-Fi....and I love trying new authors! I'm not at all sure what to expect. Sometimes Sci-Fi seems more horror/thriller than pure sci-fi.....and other times, it bogs down into too much technical science jargon until it's just too heavy to read. I'm hoping for happy medium here....just the right balance of excitement and science. :) Sort of like a Medium-rare steak.....just done enough. The back of the book promises to "reinvigorate the stay up all night, edge of the seat, fingernail biting, page turning tradition'' of short stories. So, I'm looking forward to some wow factor here.
The artwork on the front of the book caught my eye immediately. Not just because of the huge, crazy, mad scientist eyeballs (don't they just practically scream Bela Lugosi? You compare them for yourself and see if you agree with me! ) but also add in the Lovecraftian cultists, the damsel seemingly in distress, and awesome bright colors....I was completely drawn in! There was no way I was going to let this book stay on the shelf!!
Bout of Books is going pretty well for me so far......delving into some short stories and then we will see where tomorrow takes me!
Bout of Books Reading list:
1. Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott
2. Gracie: A Love Story by George Burns
3. Jim Henson's Return to Labyrinth 1 by Jake T. Forbes
4. Return to Labyrinth 2
5. Return to Labyrinth 3
6. All New McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories by Various. In Progress.
The Read-A-Thon is keeping my mind off a string of mishaps occurring this week --- car broke down, internet went down, finances in a bind......just a string of bad luck. So I'm glad to be escaping into the written word this week! Saves me from having to take myself wayyyy too seriously. :)
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