Kira-kira, Madame Joker, The Knight Princess of Orlelian, and 21st Century Boys

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• Chapter Book:
  
  1. Kira-kira - by Cynthia Kadohata.
     - Borrowed from BPL.
     - Read by Elaina Erika Davis.
     - The story is about a Japanese American girl growing up in Iowa, then Georgia in the 1950s, and her family.
     - It's a good book. I like it a lot.
     - I wonder what it says about me that when the father went to the rich owner of the car he had smashed to apologize and accept to pay for the damage even though he couldn't afford it, I wished he hadn't done that. I admired his action but practically speaking, he didn't afford to pay for the damage he had made.
• Manga:
  
  1. Madame Joker 1, Vol 3 Chapter 13, and Vol 4 Chapter 14 by Tomoko Naka.
     - JManga. I wished I hadn't waited this long to read the 1st volume and other of this series!
     - The main character is a young widow with 2 children, a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. I guess she's in her mid 30's, provided that she had married right after high-school. Her mother-in-law is great. I really like both characters. The art is old-fashioned but I like it. I'll try to order the takobon. The series started in 2003 and there are 12 volumes on going.
  2. The Knight Princess of Orlelian by Rin Kouduki. JManga.
     - I bought this after reading a post at MangaBookshelf about JManga, I can't remember which one, though.
     - nice short read.
     - the character design of the heroine, Aira Welburn, reminds me of Lizard Prince by Asuka Izumi.
  3. 21st Century Boys 2 - The End by Naoki Urasawa.
     - The end. Life goes on.
     - A shocking reveal that Kenji is the thief. After all, he was a kid and only human. I wonder if he and Yukiji will end up together. Kanna and her mother met, her mother bowed and went on helping other people. I guess Kanna moved on.
     - I feel a bit let down. Won't reread.

Rambling:

• I got Pride 7 by Yukari Ichijo bunko yesterday. Apparently, a year later, Moe was about to have Jinno's baby! Ran wrote music and was done with internship with Betty. Shio was making a good name in opera world and found out about Jinno's baby. I think that Jinno offered divorce but Shio has fallen in love with him, she forgave him. They got married. Moe had her daughter then died. Jinno and Shio adopted the baby. Everyone lived happily ever after. I'm not sure if I'll buy between volumes.
• I also got & 5 by Mari Okazaki, I already have 2 and 3, but I didn't remember if I had gotten 4, so I didn't. The art is so pretty. I feel bad for a character because I'm rooting for him but she apologized to him, so that's it. I hope he moved on. Not sure if I'll continue since the guy has lost in love!
• I'm surprised to read that "JManga 'Best Seller' is about 300 or so," from Yuricon. It makes me wonder about Viz's emanga number. The like on Shojo is quite low!
• I'm taking a break next week, so see you the week after. Happy reading.