Fullmetal Alchemist By Hiromu Arakawa

This post might be on more material than the first book contains.

Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa is a manga with highly addictive qualities. It is about two brothers, Edward (Ed) and Alphonse (Al) Elric who live in a different world where alchemy exists, and the technology isn't as advanced as ours. It starts with Ed and Al walking through a desert and finally finding a thriving desert city (in the middle of nowhere), called Liore. The people told them that the city was a dump until Father Cornello came and got them on "The Sun God, Lito's" good site, thus him being able to preform "miracles". Ed and Al's back story is that they grew up in a little town in the suburbs. Their dad left when the were young, and they spent most of their time at their dad's friends house with a childhood friend, Winry. When their mom died they tried to bring her back to life, costing Ed an arm and a leg (literally). It took Al's body resulting in him turning into an empty suit of armor.

My favorite character is probably Al. I like him because he's a cute little kid, when he has his body. When he's a suit of armor, he keeps his brother from doing anything too stupid. I also like Winry, who supplies Ed with regular "auto-mail (artificial limb)" check ups and comes on a few of their adventures to assist them. Her parents were both doctors in "The Ishvalan War" and they got killed, causing great grief for Winry. My favorite part of the physical books is the extras. They're normally about some part of the book that could be made fun of or misunderstood, causing the ability to be made fun of. My favorite one is when they make fun of Ed for being short, so what happens is Ed finds a genie and he wishes to be taller. When it refuses to do that Ed gets very mad and tries to combine all his wishes to make him at least "a few centimeters taller".

Just a thing to note, if you want to watch the anime, there are two series. The first one is the english one, which only goes up to a certain point (no, I'm not telling you when) then takes a very sharp turn, and ends. The second one, which is titled Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, seems (I haven't seen it) to stick to the manga more than the other one does. Seeing as the manga is still going on, I don't know if the second series is still going or if it stopped. So, what I find interesting is that I think this is the first book that I know of that has two T.V. series, two movies about what happens after the first T.V. series, a game, an app, and a series of written books based on it.

I hope you like this book as much as I did!

This series is still coming out and I think they are up to book #27.

Keep an eye out for the others!

Post Themes

Just as a heads up, I'm probably going to be doing a lot of posts on manga right now because:
1)I'm helping a friend learn to read English, and I think manga is a good media.
2)I like them.
3)MY BRAIN NEEDS A BREAK FROM ROBERT JORDAN!
So, I'm going to have many posts on manga in the near future.

The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch

The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch is an extremely funny book. It is about a girl named Cassandra (Cass) and a boy named Max-Ernest who go on an adventure that brings into account the fact that most people can't keep a secret. The book begins with you meeting Cass, a survivalist, who carries around a back-pack that contains everything you would ever need in the case of an natural disaster (volcanoes, floods, radio activity, etc.). When a real estate agent gives Cass' uncles a box from a dead woman's home she makes a very interesting discovery. Along the way she meets a kid named Max-Earnest (named that for specific reasons) who seems to be an allergic to everything book-nerd, who helps Cass greatly over the course of the book.

My favorite character isn't in the first book (Yo-Yoji), so I'm going to write about my second favorite character, Pseudonymous Bosch. I know, I know, he's the author, allow me to explain. During the book, he makes all these really funny comments about what the kids are doing at that point in time. Also, he makes some pretty amusing footnotes on the bottom of the pages. Also, in the beginning of some of the books, it has a little bunch of pages that are mostly him going "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm chocolate.....". Also in the first few books he has an appendix that has a lot of things that he mentions in his footnotes. My favorite thing in the appendix is the recipe for Cass' banana chocolate chip trail mix. I never tried it, though it sounds really good!

I hope you like this book as  much as I did!

Keep an eye out for the sequel, If You're Reading This, It's Too Late!

Destiny's Hand By Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, Art By Melvin Calingo

Destiny's Hand by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir (Art by Melvin Calingo) is a wonderful manga. Destiny's hand is about a girl-pirate, named Olivia, and her crew. For this post I'm going to give you character bios, to help you understand the story better.

Olivia: She's Captain Belaine's (see: Captain Belaine) favorite of the crew and the only girl pirate you'll ever meet. It all started when Olivia was 13 and she was on a ship going to Volroux to get married to a man she didn't like, and on that trip her ship gets attacked by the Destiny's Hand. When the pirates come on to her ship they tie every one else up and then Olivia takes one of the pirate's swords and tells them that they would fight for her fathers life. She ends up winning that fight then asking if she can join their crew, after that the captain says that she can join them. The book time-lapses to three years later after they tell you that back-story. Olivia is the ring-finger of Destiny's hand (you'll find the meaning of that when you read the book, as with all the others). The ring finger is the finger of future.

Captain Belaine: He's the captain of Destiny's Hand, and currently part of a dying breed, gentlemen pirates. If anyone ever passes by his boat they know to strike their "colors" (meaning they surrender). Captain Belaine takes over the ship, takes your cargo, ties you to the main-mast, then returns you to the nearest port while telling you pirate stories along the way (it's much better than the alternative). At the beggining of the book he delivers the news that he's dying and he tells his crew to look for The Devil's Eye, a magical object that Captain Belaine wants to be found under his name.

Badru: He's a foreigner from the outer islands who is extremely loyal to Captain and helps aid Olivia on a very important errand. Badru is the biggest person on the crew and used in many threats, so it seems. Badru is the pinkie finger of Destiny's hand, the finger of promise and loyalty.

Diego: He's loyal to Captain Belaine, but when Olivia starts to give the orders Diego doesn't cooperate. Diego is more like the new "version" of pirates. Meaning that he's more prone to violence than anyone else on the crew is. Diego is the middle finger, the finger of aggression and discipline.

Fredrick Matthau: The crew would be lost without him to guide them through the wide, open sea. Matthau seems to be the only person (besides Belaine) who knows Captain Belaine's history with the Governor of Vickensburg, and the lady (Lady Kate) that the boat's figure head is fashioned after. He is the thumb of Destiny's Hand, the finger that leads the rest.
Elias Houghton: He is the Governor of Vickensburg's son, or so it seems. As the book goes on you find out some interesting things about his past, that may or may not include Captain Belaine. Elias is the index finger of Destiny's Hand, the finger that will point the way to the Devil's Eye.
Wyatt: He's just a little boy who snuck onto the boat when they were at port. He's been living in the crow's nest ever since he snuck on, and he's just been helping the crew with all their jobs, because everyone knows that he who eats, works. 
Owen Galviston: He's a journalist who came onto the ship to write a biography about the Gentleman Pirates (Yes... that's all I have to say about him).

Keep an eye out for the sequel, you're going to want it.

Sorry, this post is kind of long!

The Knife of Never Letting Go By Patrick Ness

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness is a very good book. It is about a 12 year (and 12 months) old boy (not a man yet) named Todd, who lives in a town called Prentisstown. Though, Prentisstown isn't like any other town, it's on an alien planet that has a germ that makes all your thoughts be heard by everyone else (and animals able to talk). This germ killed all the women in the town, so now they are a dying civilization on a alien planet. But one day Todd stumbles upon a area of silence, which leads him to discover some horrible secrets about his towns past.

My favorite character in this book is Manchee, Todd's dog (who he never wanted). I like him because of all the funny things he says during the book, here is a excerpt:

"Got to poo, Todd."
"Shut up, Manchee."
"Poo poo, Todd."
"I said shut it!"

Manchee's an extremely funny character, who's just so easy to love. Throughout the book he serves as a comedian (and I love him anyways). Todd certainly has different perspective about Manchee, than my family members and I do. Down under the picture I have a spoiler about the books that has to do with something I've been talking about.

Keep an eye out for the sequel 'The Ask and the Answer'!

I cried when Manchee died! It was so sad, because Todd had to choose between Manchee and Viola (the girl he meets in the swamp). I CRIED!!!!!!!!

Amazing Agent Luna By Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, Art By Shiei

Amazing Agent Luna by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir (art by Shiei) is a very interesting book. I picked it up because my friend from China (who moved here last year) told me to, and since I'm such a wonderful friend I read it. Though what I find interesting is that I think I wouldn't have read it if it were a written book. See, that's the magic of manga, it can make something that I normally wouldn't read into something that I LOVE!

Amazing Agent Luna is about a teenage, government-raised, super spy-ninja who has to face her greatest threat yet, going to high school! The whole book starts out with Luna breaking into the "French Embassy" to steal Count Von Brucken's files. There's also a mysterious boy that takes an interest in Luna while she's in France. When that same boy (named Jonah), who happens to be Von Brucken's son, starts going to Noble High school, Luna's already crazy life, gets even crazier.

I think my favorite character is Oliver, a guy who skateboards around the school and has a certain interest in Luna (same one as mysterious lover boy, Jonah, who I mentioned earlier). I like him because I've always liked the nerdy/un-popular guys that keep popping up over the course of the book. Also, I think he's kind of cute, in the pictures. When ever my friends steal this book to draw pictures from it (below) they always have to mention that I like Oliver. Though, when they do, I always reply "She likes Jonah!" and then we proceed to have a staring contest until the other people walk away (works like a charm).

Friend #1 drew the on on the right, Friend #2 on left

Friend #1 drew both

Friend #1 drew both

Friend #2 drew one on right, I (yay me) drew the other

Friend #1 drew this.

(I hope this makes up for the lack of cover-image)

A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup

A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup is a wonderful book about the three Cheeseman children, their father, and physic hairless dog are on the run. "From who?" you might might ask, the CIA of course! Also hot on their trail is Agents #5, #29, and #207, along with two other super-spies, one of whom happens to be chimpanzee. Now "Why?" you might ask. It's because Doctor Cheeseman and his wife Olivia, were working on a time machine. The one problem is that it's out of order at the moment so you can put out all thoughts of time travel out of your head.

I think my favorite part of the book is the "unsolicited advice" and did you ask me to tell you that? No! That's why it's unsolicited. Throughout the book he gives you all sorts of unsolicited advice that (normally) has absolutely nothing to do with the book and they aren't pieces advice, they're more like pieces of information. My two favorite pieces of information that he calls advice is the one on his mailbox which has a bowling alley, christmas lights, and many other things I can't think of right now. Though I think the best part of that advice is the picture of his mailbox. My other favorite one is the one on triskadekaphobia which is the fear of the number 13. I like that one because when he's explaining what triskadekaphobia is he says some really funny thing like "Do you fear when the clock strikes 13?" Next to it it has a picture of a clock with 13 numbers on it and the hour hand is on the 13 and the minute hand is on the 12.

Unsolicited advice #1:

READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep an eye out for the sequel, Another Whole Nother Story!