My favourite reads in 2024, part two: mangas

Part two of my favourite reads in 2024 is about mangas, manhwas, manhuas and webtoons. I read 143 comics last year, the large chunk of which were review copies. Of those, I mostly only read the first volume, not finding them interesting enough to continue, but I’ve found some really great ones among them too. On top of those come webtoons, which I haven’t reviewed, either because they’re ongoing or because there aren’t entries for them on Goodreads. I mostly posted my reviews there, with only a couple of exceptions that I published on this blog.

Here are my favourite reads in the order that I read them. Click the titles for my reviews on Goodreads. (You can find my favourite novels of 2024 here.)

This Time I Will Find Happiness by Mamenosuke Fujimaru and Riko Saiki is a romance manga about a young woman who has lived a several lives, only to lose her fiancé in all of them for another woman. It starts a bit slow, but the story turns more complex as it goes on. I have read the first three vols and have vol. 4 waiting already.

My Ultramarine Sky by Nagisa Furuya is a lovely stand-alone high school BL manga of two classmates and childhood friends who fall in love.

Therapy Game Restart by Meguru Hinohara, of which I read vols. 3 and 4 last year, continued a fine manga of a rather difficult m/m romance between a vet and a photographer. I’m eagerly waiting for vol 5.

Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo is one of my absolute favourites. It’s about a unique found family who each hold a secret from another: father is a spy, mother is an assassin and the daughter can read minds. I read vols 11-13 past year, the last of which I got as an ARC, so it won’t come out until later this year.

Another great favourite is Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture by Toji Aio and Mikage Sawamura, of which I’ve read the light novels out so far too. It’s about a professor of folklore and his assistant exploring supernatural events in Japan. Manga vols 3-5 came out last year and I read them all.

One of my absolute favourite feel-good reads last year was Mr. Villain’s Day Off by Yuu Morikawa. It follows an alien general conquering the earth, only to be distracted by the cuteness of pandas. Five volumes are out in English and I read them all.

Tied to You by What and Chelliace is a BL romance where fated mates discover each other by a red string that appears between them. Two volumes are out, but the rest is available on Tappytoon, and I’ll finish it there, as it’s not available as an ebook.

Another feel-good, low-angst read is The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity by Saka Mikami. It’s a sort of Romeo and Juliet story between a good girl and presumed bad boy, who is actually a sweetheart like her. Four volumes came out last year and I read them all.

The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies by Cocoa Fujiwara is a bit like Mr. Villain’s Day Off, but with a romance between the conquering alien general and a magical girl. It’s a volume of the complete series, and unfortunately unfinished, as the author has passed away.

Takara’s Treasure by Minta Suzumaru is a stand-alone BL romance between two college students who make an unlikely pair. One of them has a trouble understanding social signals and the other is the coolest guy in the university. 

Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite by Julietta Suzuki is a funny manga of a vampire girl who moves to Japan to be closer to the fandom of her favourite TV series. She strikes a friendship with a boy who knows vampires are real. Only one volume is out so far, but I’ll read more.

Semantic Error by Angy and Soori Jeo is an interesting start to a BL college romance, not that there’s any romance in the first volume, as the men hate each other. I’ll definitely read more.

Worst Soulmate Ever by Haruta is a fun start for an omegaverse BL romance between two men who also hate each other. Only the first volume is out, but I’ll read more.

The Big Apple Vol. 1 by Harusari and Hodot is a Korean manhwa about a sniper for a secret agency and his businessman boyfriend. Only one volume is out so far, but I’ve been reading the official webtoon on Tappytoon, and I have to say, the first volume doesn’t do a good job giving out where the story goes.

My favourite romance manhua by far was I Ship My Rival x Me by PEPA and Qualia. It’s the sweetest and funniest BL of two Chinese idols whose fandom is convinced the two are in love, even though they’ve barely interacted. But a movie project changes things. Only one volume is out, and no ebooks, but I was impatient and located an unofficial version online and binged the entire hundred or so episodes. In my defence, the official English webtoon no longer exists, as Bilibili, the Chinese publisher, shut down their English webtoon service, so the fans had uploaded what was published and translated the rest.

Dinghai Fusheng Records by Fei Tian Ye Xiang and Qian Er Bai is a danmei xianxia manhua of the last exorcist and his martial god hero on a quest to find out why magic has died. Only one volume is out so far, but I’ll definitely read it all.

Among the cute, low-angst reads was My Kitten is a Picky Eater Vol. 1 by Migiri Miki of a man who has trouble organising his own life rescuing a little kitten who refuses to eat anything but what he cooks for him. Only one volume of 13(!) is out, but I’ll read on.

My Secretly Hot Husband by Harara and Jungyeon is a manhwa transmigration webtoon of a Korean woman reborn in a fantasy world, where her family makes her marry for her father’s debt. Only one volume is out so far, but the official webtoon is on Tapas, and I’ll continue there.

In December, I became obsessed with Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint by singNsong and Sleepy-C. It’s about Kim Dokja who finishes a webnovel he’s been reading for a decade about how to survive an apocalypse, only for the world to end and the world of the book take its place. Only five volumes are out and only as physical books, which is why I’ve postponed reading it (I don’t have room in my shelves). But I haven’t been able to leave be, so I’ve been reading an illegal version online, as the original doesn’t exist anywhere that I can access it.

Along with the Omniscient Reader, I picked Solo Leveling by Chugong and Dubu, which is about another young man, Sung Jinwoo, trying to survive an apocalyptic world too. He’s the weakest of hunters clearing dungeons in Seoul who dies and reawakens with a computer system that helps him become stronger. Ten volumes are out in English so far, but the official webtoon is on Tappytoon, and I’ve been reading it there, although I’m reviewing it volume by volume on Goodreads. So far, I’ve read three vols.

In addition to these, I’ve been reading a dozen or so webtoons on Lezhin. My favourite is Jinx, a BL manhwa of a toxic MMA fighter and his sweet physical therapist. I’ve already read what’s published so far twice. Second season just began. Dawn of the Dragon, another BL just ended, as did BL series Low Tide in Twilight, and Limited Run, just to name a couple of favourites. Ongoing comedic favourites are BL Be My Baby, and Paws and Claws, the latter of which just began. On Tappytoon, I recently began I Tamed My Ex-husband’s Mad Dog, an ongoing fantasy romance.

Jinx by Mingwa

All in all, my reading was heavy on comics of all sorts. As all my favourite series are very long, I suspect the same will continue this year.

My favourite reads in 2024, part one: novels

Year 2024 has officially ended, and so has my reading year. I wrote my last review on the New Year’s Eve, which isn’t to say we didn’t celebrate at all, but we were at home and I had time for reading. The last book I read was Solo Leveling vol 3 by Chugong & Dubu, a very good manhwa series I picked on Tappytoon, but which I’ve been reviewing based on published volumes.

I read 207 books last year, of which 64 were novels and 143 mangas, not including ongoing webtoons that I haven’t reviewed. Most of the mangas were review copies and not all were that memorable, but I’ve mostly reviewed them on Goodreads and not here. Some gems among them too, though, and I’ll be going through those in part two.

Of the novels, quite a few were Chinese serialised danmeis. They’re not always very good books, but they are entertaining and belong among my favourites. Two of the series were concluded last year, Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi and Guardian by priest, both of which were very good. The latter has a TV adaptation too, which I talk about here.

Twelve novels stood out this year. Here they are in the order I read them. Click the link on the book name for the full review.

He Who Downed the World by Shelley Parker-Chan. It concluded the Radiant Emperor duology, and while it didn’t hit me like the first volume, She Who Became the Sun, the year before, it was excellent queer retelling of real historical emperor.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet started a wonderful fantasy mystery series, Shadow of the Leviathan. Everything works, the unique world, the mystery, and especially the wonderful characters.

Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo is a great debut. It’s an UF mystery set in modern Seoul, and follows a detective who can see the spirits of living and dead.

Cascade Failure by L.M. Sagas is an excellent sci-fi debut. Set in deep space, it follows a ragtag crew trying to save the universe. I also read its follow-up Gravity Lost. It was good too, but not quite as impressive as the first book.

Death in the Spires by K. J. Charles is a wonderful historical mystery set in early 20th century Oxford. It has a lovely queer romance and an unconventional ending for a mystery.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler is a western version of more typically Asian isekai genre, where the character is transported from the modern world to a fantasy world. The main character has died thousands of times trying to save her new world, only to reborn. This time, she’ll be the bad guy.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is another great debut. An evil wizard had lost his memory and decides to turn a new leaf. It doesn’t go entirely smoothly. A fun read. 

Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee is YA sci-fi set in a unique universe where peoples’ worship upholds gravity. Two competing systems of faith create conflicting gravities, between which the main character has to choose.

Primal Mirror by Nalini Singh has to be on the list too. I love Psy-Changelling series and this addition to the long series was a bit better than the couple of previous ones.

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher is one of her fantasy retellings. It’s a great, gothic tale set in a slightly fantastical world, complete with an undead horse.

The City in Glass by Nghi Vo is a short fantasy homage to a city loved by a demon. It doesn’t have much of a plot, yet it was impossible to put down. I also read her The Brides of High Hill, an interesting gothic novella set in ancient China.

And lastly, The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap, historical novel set in the early 19th century Edinburgh where anatomic schools are in great demand of dead bodies, giving rise to a macabre industry of body-snatchers.

All in all, an excellent, varied list of books that kept me happily reading the whole year. Stay tuned for the manga edition of my favourite reads last year.

My reading year 2023

I spent the last week of 2023 on vacation and didn’t have time to publish a summary post of my reading year, so here it is now. I had a mixed year, reading-wise. On one hand, I made a personal record of titles read in a year, 230 by official Goodreads count, 52 of which I reviewed on this blog. On the other, I struggled to pick up and finish books.

Part of the problem is my shortening attention span. Even the most engaging books can lose my attention in the middle of a scene, and less-engaging books take eons to finish—if I finish them. Especially the review copies I received from NetGalley and Edelweiss suffered for this, leading to a back-log of books I haven’t even started. But partly it’s because I’ve grown bored with the same books I’ve read for years.

What saved my reading year were new genres for me, like Chinese xianxia boylove novels, Japanese light novels, and online manga and manhwa. The first xianxia I picked up randomly at a local bookstore the year before based on the cover. It turned out to be Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, and like millions of westerns in the past few years, I was swept away by it and the TV adaptation too.

I read 27 xianxias or Chinese boylove novels last year. There aren’t all that many of them officially translated and available commercially, so it didn’t take long to catch up. Next year will be slower in those, as I have to wait for them to be translated.

My favourites were Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou, of which four volumes have been translated; Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi (currently reading volume 3), Golden Terrace by Cang Wu Bin Bai, of which I’ve read the first volume so far, and a modern romance The Missing Piece by Kun Yi Wei Lou. On top of the m/m romances, they’re wonderful insights into (fantasy) Chinese past, and cultures that are refreshingly different from the western ones that I usually read. However, curiously enough, similar books by westernised Asian authors failed to engage me completely.

 

Japanese manga and Korean manhwa were an accidental addition to my reading. I requested review copies at random, realised they’re more fun to read from a tablet than in print (not that my eyesight is that poor, but still), and went a bit overboard with them. In total, I read 145 comic volumes that I added to my Goodreads count, but there were many more that I didn’t, several ongoing webtoons included.

 

Most of the review copies that I received were such that I only read the first volume and didn’t continue with the series. But there were interesting and fun pieces among them too, like The Restorer's Home by Kim Sang-yeop, a mix of modern and historical Korean culture, and What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? by MyeongMi Kim and GyeongYun Jeong, which I had to start reading online as translations weren’t published fast enough. Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo is also one of my new favourites, with ten volumes translated and published so far.

Japanese light novels were a mixed bunch. Some were rather bad books with lousy translations, but there was a gem among them that I continued with after receiving a review copy of the first volume from Edelweiss. Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture by Mikage Sawamura is a fun series of paranormal mysteries set in modern Japan, with two volumes and one manga volume translated so far.

Outside Asian light literature, I read my usual fares. Favourites included Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, which managed to be a fresh take of the dark academy genre; System Collapse by Martha Wells (Murderbot never fails me), and Foxglove King by Hannah F. Whitten, a more traditional romantic fantasy. Dead Country by Max Gladstone started a new series set in his Craft Sequence world, and Translation State by Ann Leckie returned to her Imperial Radch world.

All in all, a good reading year, if a very different from previous years. I’ll continue with my Asian streak this year too, with xianxias, light novels and mangas, but there are new books coming from my favourite authors too. I’ve pledged to read 150 books this year in Goodreads reading challenge. I’ll review as many of them here as I have time, so keep an eye on this space. The rest I’ll review on Goodreads.

 

My 2022 in books

I had an uneven reading year in 2022. I read a fair number of books, eighty-two in total, sixty-two of which I reviewed on this blog. But there were a couple of long stretches where I didn’t read at all or couldn’t finish what I’d started.

Both times, I crawled out of the reading slump by resorting to fan favourites. First time round, I reread Anne Bishop’s The Others series, eight books with the spin-off series. Second time, I read Shelley Laurenston’s utterly bonkers (like all her books are) Call of Crows trilogy.

But my year held some truly brilliant books too. There was The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood, a secondary world fantasy about an orc girl who is a sacrifice to her god, and its follow-up The Thousand Eyes (though it wasn’t quite as brilliant).

There was Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, a cosy fantasy about a former orc warrior setting up a coffee shop, and nothing else. It’s a wonderfully comforting fantasy that I’ve been recommending to everyone. In contrast, Saint Death’s Daughter is about a necromancer who is trying to save her found family that pretty much hates her. It’s dark and violent at times, and wonderfully refreshing.

The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller is a haunting story of trauma. Charm grows bones to create copies of herself, each of which has one aspect of her personality so that only one person won’t have to endure all her trauma. It’s also a murder mystery about who killed the emperor holding her prisoner that she has to solve.

I read two books in Naomi Novik’s Scholomancer trilogy of a deadly school for mages. First was The Last Graduate, and the trilogy ended with The Golden Enclaves. It’s not easy to end a brilliant trilogy, but Novik managed it perfectly.

Rachel Hartman’s Tess of the Road duology began with Tess of the Road and concluded with In the Serpent’s Wake. Again, the first book was much better than the latter, but it was a satisfying whole about personal trauma and healing.

I ended the year with four volumes of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù—well, I finished the fourth this year. It’s the series that The Untamed TV series is based on, written originally in Chinese. It’s not terribly good literature—and what I hear, even worse English translation—but the emotional attachment I have for the TV series carried to the books. Now I have to wait until May for the last volume to be translated.

On top of these there were several stables I read every year, like Nalini Singh, JR Ward, Lindsay Buroker, Janet Evanovich, and Daryda Jones, in addition to the two I mentioned earlier. Of the eighty-two books I read, thirty-five were from NetGalley, six were from my old TBR pile and forty-one were new books. Most were fantasy in one form or another (urban, epic, romantic), with only six sci-fi books, and thirteen contemporary romances and crime novels. All in all, I’d say a very good reading year.

For this year, I’ve pledged to read ninety books in Goodreads reading challenge. I have several books lined up already, so I might even reach the goal. My reading year will start with Barrow of Winter by H. M. Long, a third book in her Hall of Smoke series. Looking forward to another great reading year.