SHUT IN THEATER: Weekend Reading 179

As September concludes, Weekend Reading 179 arrives. As usual, our elite team will be holed up in Stately Beat Manor, getting lost in a good book!

What will you be paging through this weekend? Give us a shout-out in the comment section and let us know!

AVERY KAPLAN: This weekend, I’m starting with the graphic novel Hide by Kiersten White, adapted by Scott Peterson, illustrated by Veronica and Andy Fish and lettered by Greg McKenna (with a font by Nate Piekos, cool). Then I’m going to continue to mine my interview with Wendy Xu on The Infinity Particle for more science nonfiction reading: to finish out September, I’m checking out Lab Girl by Hope Jahren.

KELAS LLOYD: I’m jumping into reading Perfect World, a manga series written and illustrated by Rie Aruga about living in a relationship with disabilities, and continuing my read of the latest from V. E. SCHWAB, The Fragile Threads of Power, to get my fantasy fix.

MERVE GİRAY: After reading so many good reviews, I’m diving into The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter by Kazuki Irodori and Yatsuki Wakatsu. Currently with 3 volumes out from Yen Press, this BL title tells the story of an accountant Kondou accidentally being summoned to a parallel world along with the holy maiden.

Justin Guerrero: Currently catching up to Fawnduu’s webtoon, My Dragon Girlfriend. It’s my favorite slice-of-life GL to read on rainy days such as today, also the art is just adorable! At the same time I started reading this new webtoon that was suggested on the app which also doubles as an advertisement for a mobile game. The webtoon is called Warhaven: Vengeful, by Sehoon Kim. The art style is very eye-catching, as well as the action with how it delves into the lore and rules of the mobile game in an engaging way that surprisingly doesn’t feel disconnected by the end of each episode.

YAZMIN GARCIA: This weekend I’m continuing Mars, a manga series written and illustrated by Fuyumi Soryo. It’s a romance series that follows the love-story of an introverted artist and a playboy who is a professional motorcycle racer. The art and fashion in the series are stunning and I’m excited to jump into volume 3. I will also be starting the GL Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon written and illustrated by Shio Usui.

TAIMUR DAR: After Joe Grunenwald’s recent interview with Mark Waid about revisiting the world of Kingdom Come in the next story arc of World’s Finest, I suddenly have the urge to revisit the Elseworlds miniseries myself. I first encountered Kingdom Come from Waid and Alex Ross at my middle/high school library and I haven’t given it a proper read in over 15-20 years. So now that I’m older and wiser, I think reading it again is in order.

CY BELTRAN: Since I’m still on a Stephen King sabbatical, I’m checking out Crying in H-Mart, the memoir from Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner. I meant to read it for a book club at work, and that was about three months ago, so I think it’s time to finally get into it. As for comics, I’m also planning on reading the entirety of Ultimate Invasion, from Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch, since it just wrapped up this past week. I was mixed on the first issue in my review, but I’m hoping it reads well all together.

ADAM WESCOTT: Still working my way through the first volume of Stars of Chaos: Sha Po Lang, the danmei fantasy series by priest. Set in a steampunk world of mechanical armor and violet gold, it tells the story of a young boy named Chang Geng swept up in games of politics and empire by his good-for-nothing godfather. priest is one of the most popular authors of danmei alongside MXTX, and is known for her complex plotting, her spiky sense of humor and her ability to blend escapist fantasy with contemporary themes. I’m glad that with Stars of Chaos (as well as the upcoming Guardian: Zhen Hun) her work is finally accessible to English-speaking audiences.

AIDEN CHURCH: This weekend, I’m continuing my read-through of Kodansha’s ongoing fantasy series Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama. The series follows a young girl named Coco as she enters the world of magic and trains to become a witch. The setting and illustrations are lush and full of details, which is fitting given the creator’s background as a Marvel and DC variant cover illustrator. The series feels like just the right sort to get lost in during the Halloween season.

REBECCA OLIVER KAPLAN: I wasn’t feeling well this week (story of 2023, am I right?) and already plowed through my original weekend reading plans: volume one of Chibi Vampire, a manga series about a vampire with blood to spare written and illustrated by Yuna Kagesaki, and GOTH, a horror manga about two high school students obsessed with murder written by Otsuichi with art by Kendi Oiwa—both enjoyable reads, leaving me hungry for more horror. Wanting more seasonal stories, I stopped at Barnes & Noble to buy Paru Itagaki‘s Drip Drip to read this weekend, then plan on re-reading Wonder House of Horrors by Miyako Cojima.

BILLY HENEHAN: Brooklyn Public Library came through again for me, providing me with copies of both That Texas Blood Volume 2 and Volume 3 by Chris Condon and Jason Phillips. If I read through these at fast as I did the first volume, I’ll need to look for something new to read by Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, a review copy of Transformers #1, the hotly anticipated return fo the Transformers by Daniel Warren Johnson landed on my desk. Expect my review of that one on Wednesday! And if you’re looking for something new to read today, and you happen to live in Baltimore, MD, you can check out Comics Klatch at Atomic Books at 3:30 PM today. Last month’s Klatch is what got me started on my current That Texas Blood obsession!