Blogs

This week I would like to recommend a hauntingly enchanting story, perfect for when you want something that’s a little spooky, but comforting at the same time. 

A challenging concept – one ancestral home, one family, three different eras, three authors, one for each era – pleasingly brought to fruition.

This week’s manga pick is called Daemons of the Shadow Realm. If the art style looks at all familiar, that’s because it’s a new release from the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist!

In the author note, Melissa Fu says she was inspired in part by Jane Yolen's book of folktales from around the world. I love the way this book revolves around Chinese tales, the stories bringing comfort to mother and son through traumatic adventures. Stories connect us and help to bring understanding of the world. But in the course of this epic of three generations, Renshu/Henry loses stories, he is unable to talk about his own experiences and so loses that connection to his family and culture. 

This week’s manga pick is the perfect read to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day. It’s the manga adaptation of a light novel by the same name, and it follows a young human woman named Kaori and her day-to-day life working in a bookstore that exists as a portal between the human world and the spirit realm.