Beautiful art with eerie storytelling. I wish this was a series. I would so keep reading these. I still intend to read the original stories, but this was great as a visual format to some great classic horror I hadn't yet got around to reading except for one very scary story by Hearn I read in an anthology. If you like Japanese horror movies, check out the source material.

Book 8 in #PaperbackSummer is Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide. While this book introduces the reader to ghosts, monsters, and demons that are much less known but that are a traditional part of Japanese folklore, it is... somehow boring. In a way, it read like an ecology textbook. Of course, is interesting to know the characteristics of each yokai and their traditional locations, but the book lacks excitement even when it does share bits of the actual tales the yokai come from.

Positives:

Names and pronunciations of the yokai

Color artwork

Strengths/Weaknesses, in case we ever meet them in real life

Brief history of where each yokai would be found

Negatives:

Books reads like a textbook rather than a collection of folklore

Some yokai include stories of when yokai were seen, but many others don't

*Library copy*

What did you recently finish reading?

I finished reading Mind Fuck by Manna Francis some time ago. It dragged a lot by the end -- not enough sex and too much focus on the boring investigation in my opinion -- but I still enjoyed it. I am considering if I want to get involved with the sequels. There are seven books out so far and they all sound promising, especially in terms of how they explore the relationship between the two protagonists -- Toreth and Warick. The relationship is set up nicely in the first book (remember all the awesome BDSM sex?) but hardly taken anywhere meaningful. Also, I am really interested in the overarching conflict that's bubbling up between Toreth and The Administration but I am not sure I am patient enough to see it through 7 books, especially if there is going to be a ton of focus on crime/investigations like there was in the first book. Not that Manna Francis didn't handle the crime aspect nicely (actually, the plotting was really clever at times) but it's not something that personally appeals to me. So basically, I just want good world-building and sex without any sleuthing. I am in the wrong series, I know. 

What are you currently reading?

I am still reading Pantheon Collection of Japanese Tales and Sex at Dawn. I WILL NEVER FINISH READING THEM. And this is why I don't start on non-fiction books. In my defense, I did finally get through the introduction section of the Pantheon Collection and started reading the actual tales, and MAN, THEY ARE TRIPPY. Some of the are really preachy and remind me of Russian басни, others are really silly and sexual (like there is this paragraph long one about a magistrate who took out his penis in the palace) and some are really cool (like the one about a tree that grew over a whole province and the people had to chop it down because it was blocking the sun and ruining crops). 

I also made good progress on Sex at Dawn and foresee finishing it within a reasonable period of time (which could be the next year, but whatever). A quote from it that I really like:

"Societies in which women have lots of autonomy and authority tend to be decidedly male-friendly, relaxed, tolerant, and plenty sexy. Got that, fellas? If you're unhappy at the amount of sexual opportunity in your life, don't blame the women. Instead, make sure they have equal access to power, wealth and status. Then watch what happens." 

What do you think you'll read next?

The Monk came in today and it's that nice Penguin Classics edition so I can't wait to start on it. I am also thinking I need to read the two Heinlein books I shamelessly stole from BF many a moon ago and still haven't touched.