Ulysses Moore, 13th princess, Goong, and Yona

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• Chapter Book:
  
  1. Ulysses Moore #3: House of Mirrors by Pierdomenico Baccalario.
     - Borrowed from APL.
     - Read by Michael Page.
     - They are back to their hometown.
     - I like the characters.
     - Suspense, fun book.
  2. The Thirteenth Princess - by Diane Zahler.
     - Borrowed from APL, download audio.
     - Read by Jenna Lamia.
     - Retell of The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimms.
     - The 1st half was good. The ending drags out a tad too long for me.
• Manga:
  
  1. Goong 14 by So Hee Park.
     - Borrowed from ILL.
     - Finally the crown prince figured out who was behind the divorce. So did the queen and eventually the king.
     - I thought prince Yul will go away, but no such luck, Hyo-Rin and he now form a team!
     - Chae-Kyung graduated from high school and now is at college.
     - Lots of heartaches in this volume.
  2. Yona Princesse de l'aude 1 by Mizho Kusanagi - in French.
     - My amazon.fr box arrived yesterday and I had to read this volume first, even though I have others from the last box!
     - Soo won's timing is terrible.
     - When he was caught killing King Il by Yona, he told her that his father was a good warrior and the first born who should have inherited the throne, but the previous king chose Prince Il instead. Soo won's father accepted that decision and said he'd continue to fight at the front line to protect his brother and his people. When King Il ascended the throne, he killed his brother. Since then Soo won vowed that he'd avenge his father and become King of Koka. That's why he killed King Il.
     - He didn't expect Yona to come to King Il's chamber and witnessed this.
     - my comments: Why did he choose Yona's birthday to kill her father? Sure, there's celebration and people get drunk and all that, but there are other celebrations that he could have chosen.
     - I feel that he was used. Someone was telling him half truth about the circumstances of his father's death. The flashback when everyone was little, Prince Yu Hon looked a bit malicious and mean. I wonder if Soo Won had a rosy picture of his father as kids do.
     - Why did the previous king choose the younger brother instead of the older one to succeed the throne?
     - He seems to care for Yona, was it a lie? And he also seems to cherish the friendship with Hak.
     - Apparently, Hak seems to like Yona since a long time!
     - It seems that Soo Won sees Yona as a younger sister.
     - Kiddie Yona, Hak, and Soo Won are too cute for words. I really like Hak with the feather on his head :)
     - Volume 2 is out in August! I can't wait.

New French licenses, tankobons, and romance novels:

• Via Manga Conseil
  • Le Maître des livres by Umiharu Shinohara, 8 volumes ongoing, Komikku, volume 1 and 2 will be out Aug 2014 (here)! This is based on a light novel series, about the life of a bookstore owner. Maybe.
  • Plus question de te fuir (Douse Mou Nigerarenai) by Kazumi Kazui, the author of Socrates in Love 8 volumes on going josei, Soleil , out in September 2014 (here). Office lady's love story. Maybe.
• What I got last week from Kinokuniya
  • 今日から兄貴です!! (Kyou kara Aniki desu!!) 2 by Yuki NAKAJI: cute story, cute kids :) happy ending and a wedding.
  • Hanasakeru Seishounen - Tokubetsu Hen (花咲ける青少年　特別編) 5 by Natsumi ITSUKI: more side stories, I'm not sure what they are about even though I looked at them for a couple of times. Will do again maybe I can glean something from the drawings.
  • Samihiihito (さみしいひと) by Saito Ken: this is also hard, it has something to do the main character and a concert pianist. Maybe he was in a slump and she was helping him getting over it and be able to perform again, in the process, she's also grown (?) It seems to be open ended ending. Again, I'm not sure. It seems that her mother is sick or something.
  • Sora no oto (そらのおと) by Sakura TSUKUBA: the main character plays guitar and is in a local band which disbands when a member had to move, so she becomes a street performer (?) There's a glass-wearing man boarding in the same house. Seems like a cute story. The characters seem to be in their 20s. working and all that.
  • Tezuka gakuen (手塚学園) is a collection of one shots of these 4 mangaka: Sakura TSUKUBA, Kure Yuki, Yaeko Kashi, and Kei TANAKA: as the title implies, the stories are about the characters from Tezuka mangaka's other stories: Black Jack, Budha, Phoenix, Princess Knight. Looks fun, but I haven't read much Tezuka except Princess Knight and I don't read Japanese, either, so the fun was lost to me. Black Jack was the school nurse :) Buhda as a high-schooler is interesting!
  • 嘘解きレトリック (Usotoki Rhetoric) 3 by Ritsu MIYAKO: another murder mystery involving Japanese dolls. A new character is introduced, she's older and wearing western clothes - dresses/skirts.
  There are a couple more volumes to be continued next week.
• What makes a romance novel endure? from DearAuthor.com