Bleach by Tite Kubo

My first real foray into Manga, after sitting on the floor of Borders browsing through to eliminate the endless stories of teenage girl angst with improbably large breasts. Not really my kettle of fish

AZ: "Ichigo Kurosaki has always been able to see ghosts, but this ability doesn't change his life nearly as much as his close encounter with Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper and member of the mysterious Soul Society. While fighting a Hollow, an evil spirit that preys on humans who display psychic energy, Rukia attempts to lend Ichigo some of her powers so that he can save his family; but much to her surprise, Ichigo absorbs every last drop of her energy. Now a fully-fledged Soul Reaper himself, Ichigo quickly learns that the world he inhabits is one full of dangerous spirits, and along with Rukia, who is slowly regaining her powers, it's Ichigo's job to both protect the innocent from Hollows and to help the spirits themselves find peace."

I've been reading my way through the series ever since, I think this entry is for Bleach volumes 1 and 2. I love the way you have to read manga backwards and the sense of an entirely different culture with different sexual and cultural values.

Crying Freeman by Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikigama, volumes 3 and 4

I first read the first two Crying Freeman volumes some time ago, and decided to see what the rest of the series was like. I found it disturbing and the sexual violence sensationalist, maybe I missed something! The idea of an assasin who cries when he kills is heartbreakingly brilliant, but I found the execution of the idea too disturbing for me.

The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean R Koontz

Koontz has been my constant companion since late childhood and I read everything new by him. Koontz drags you through terror and pain to redemption and the power of good. His books are deeply spiritual but he doesn't push the whole god thing. This isn't his best, but it's still better than a lot of the rest

Lucifer by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

One of a number of spinoffs from Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Lucifer is Satan, the Devil, the fallen angel who defied God and was thrown from heaven to reign over hell. Except, in Sandman, he decided to leave and gave the key to Hell to Morpheus, the Sandman, resulting in the mother of all real estate rows as he interviewed prospective new owners. In the end heaven sent down two new angels to take over the job. But that aside, Lucifer is the story of what the Devil did after he abandoned hell, and he's very charistmatic, completely narcissitic and quite funny.

Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore (SIPs)

SIPs was a monthly comic that Moore, like Gaiman with Sandman, had the courage to bring the story to an end. SIPS is, like Sandman, more like a graphic novel in scope and tone than a comic. The focus is the wonderful sexy kick ass heroine Katina Choovanski, known as Katchoo, her lovely, so down on herself, on off lover and love of Katchoo's life Francine, and David, the third point of the triangle with his own terrible history, and their loves and misfortunes. The series follows the trio through Katchoo's battles with her violent and seedy past history of love and loss and their battles to find love and happiness with each other. I think the best way of reading the series is the pocket books, they are a lovely size in your hand and the spines make a fabulous picture together.

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

I read Hosseini's Kite Runner and was worried that it might have been a one hit wonder and that his second book wouldn't have been as good. It was. A Thousand Splendid Suns focuses on the lives of two women from very different castes and to me Hosseini can write a woman's thoughts and feelings, I was enchanted and captivated.

AZ: "Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism".

A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka

I read this for the book group and although I understood that it was aiming at a dark humour about daugthers with a father going through a mid life crisis simply did not enjoy it.

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Lost track of how many times I've read this brilliant definitive graphic novel. This is what happens when superheroes grow old and retire but someone is out to discredit their reputation and murder them. Some superheroes hide their kit and bury their past, others cannot let go, the brilliant Roshach is a vile but deeply understandable anti hero

Halting State by Charles Stross - great fun

AZ: "It was called in as a robbery at Hayek Associates, an online game company. So you can imagine Sergeant Sue Smith's mood as she watches the video footage of the heist being carried out by a band of orcs and a dragon, and realises that the robbery from an online game company is actually a robbery from an online game. Just wonderful. Like she has nothing better to do. But online entertainment is big business, and when the bodies of real people start to show up, it's clear that this is anything but a game. For Sue, programmer Jack Reed, and forensic accountant Elaine Barnaby, the walls between the actual and the virtual are about to come crashing down. There is something very dangerous and very real going on at Hayek Associates, and those involved are playing for more than experience points. No cheats, no extra lives, no saving throw - make a wrong call on this one and it'll be more than game over."