Living in the moment and more importantly, making the moments count. That is the mantra I am repeating to myself and hopefully am living it.

“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” – Oprah Winfrey

And at the same time, I need to remind myself of Bertrand Russell’s quote that “The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time,” for all those moments I feel guilty about squandering (well, on things too many to be listed!!)

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“Forever is composed of nows.”
― Emily Dickinson

The Book(s)

Manga Classics

When I read the first ever manga comic, another one from this series – Pride and Prejudice, I wished that there were more books like this. And that came true with more books, a few of which I feature here today. I am yet to read the others, and hopefully will do so soon.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Book Info

My Thoughts

My son (and I) read the original just a few weeks ago as part of his required reading for school. And reading it again in this manga version was a pleasure.

With Huck, much of the original slang, spelling, and dialog is used to help with understanding life in the south at the time, as well as giving the characters their unique Twain flavor.

The team of Chrystal Chan (story adaptation) and Kuma Chan (artwork) has skillfully adapted Twain’s story into the manga format, with the details in the illustrations making up what gets lost in this adaptation.

The creators include a foreword and explanatory at the beginning (well, the back of the book as this is manga) and a note on how the chapters from the original are organized in this adaption.

Goodreads || Amazon || Book Depository ||
Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

The Stories of Edgar Allen Poe

Book Info

My Thoughts

With Poe, the eeriness of the stories are captured effortlessly with the art and the condensed text (as adapted for the manga version). The art easily captures the excitement of the moment, of every moment when we read Poe.

This collection includes the following:

• The Tell-Tale Heart (easily my favorite Poe) – illustrated by Virginia-Nitouhei (and also easily the favorite in this collection as well)
• as well as The Cask of Amantillado – illustrated by Chagen
• The Raven illustrated by pikomaro
• The Masque of the Red Death with art by Uka Nagao
• and The Fall of the House of the Usher illustrated by Linus Liu

I loved the extras included at the end of each story about the adaptation process as well as trivia about the story itself.

Goodreads || Amazon || Book Depository ||
Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

Great Expectations

Book Info

My Thoughts

I don’t have too many memories of reading the original, though I most likely did (almost a 99% sure I did) as a t(w)een. But having read the manga edition, I want to read it again, or at least, attempt to.

Here, the creators took the decision to have Pip narrate the story, and rather than pick any one of the two endings that Dickens himself wrote for this great story, the narrators of the manga version left it to the readers. I thought this was a wonderful way to end it, both for those readers who have read the original versions(both maybe) and for those who have not read the original.

As for the artwork, it is stunning (again)! I especially loved Joe’s portrayal, and the emotions and interactions between Joe and Pip are illustrated tugged at my heartstrings. Estella is beautiful and Miss Haversam is as scary-looking as she sounds.

Goodreads || Amazon || Book Depository || Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

Manga Moment

Each book’s artwork is absolutely beautiful and the adaptation as well as the storytelling is brilliant. I love that each of them include details on the adaptation process at the end (rather the beginning) of the book which help the reader understand the choices the creators made, as well as get an insight into the process itself.

These books make the classics more approachable for those who were hesitant to read them, and will definitely want them either reading more or reading the originals. And I feel either reaction from the reader is good.

If a book leaves a reader wanting them to read again, then it has done its job! And these books manage to do that while leaving the reader (me included) with a blissful feeling of satisfaction of having seen and read something beautiful.

I now look forward to getting the physical copies of these books (definitely the Poe one) as well as to reading more in the series. And yes, to trying to emulate the adaptations – both text and artwork – myself.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the digital RC of the books; these are my honest opinions after reading these books.

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” – Henry David Thoreau

My ‘M’ Book Stack(s)

I’M overwhelmed! I did not realize the number of ‘M’ books I had… And I realized only later that the camera lens needed a cleaning (thanks to some food photography by the kiddos earlier).

The Books

From the first photo

• The Man You’ll Marry
• M.C.Higgins the Great
• Mansfield Park
• Myth=Mithya
• Mahashweta
• Malgudi Days
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• The Mistress of Spices
• Memoirs of a Geisha (yes, another edition because it looked nice and was at a Friends of the Library sale)
• The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
• Me Talk Pretty One Day
• Mudbound
• Memories of Malgudi
• Midnight Angel
• The Maverick’s Thanksgiving Baby
• My Big Fake Green-Card Wedding
• The Matchmaker’s Sister
• The Millionaire’s Sister

From the second photo

• The Mystery Series Again
• The Mystery Series
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
• Mandie Collection
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma
• The Meanest Doll in the World
• Mommy’s Little Girl
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• The Mahabharata
• My Big Book of Fairy Tales
• Mother Goose
• My Book About Me
• Mangoes and Bananas
• Mother Goose
• Mandie and the Abandoned Mine
• Moby Dick
• Mr. Mysterious
• The Magic Repair Shop – The Multiplying Menace
• Margaret and the Moth Tree
• Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
• Matilda
• Mathematics Can be Fun (not pictured – found it after the fact) and this is a wonderful, wonderful book!!!

Quick Quotes

I guess I have read a few of the romance novels too (in the first list) but I don’t recall at this time 🙂 And as for some of the books, which are non-fiction/collections of essays, I have not always read the whole book but enjoyed what I read of it.

“What day is it?” asked Pooh.
“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
“My favorite day,” said Pooh.”
― A.A. Milne

Random Things for ‘M’ Day

Continuing my theme of mishmashes, here is mixtie-maxtie, which comes from a Scottish dialect, and means a random assortment of mismatching things.

And wouldn’t it be a miracle if we find a mithridate now? What does a mithridate mean, you ask? It is a cure-all or a universal antidote, aka any medicine that has seemingly endless healing powers.

And hopefully the concept of meliorism (the belief that the world can be made better by human effort) is true, and will be a mithridate of sorts in today’s situation.

I also love this one – mudscutcheon. This refers to someone who has no problem with getting dirty, or can be specifically used for a child who likes to play in mud. I do know mudscutcheons, and here is proof!

One of my favorite m words for a while now has been murmuration. It is onomatopoeic (another favorite word) and refers to a flock of starling, and the word perfectly describes the rustle of thousands of pairs of wings as they move together in stunning synchronicity.

And if you remember all these words perfectly with just one reading, then you are a mnemotechnist, or someone who has an impressive ability to recall things. If you don’t and are in the process of improving your memory, then you are still a mnemotechnist!!

“Live today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Just today. Inhabit your moments. Don’t rent them out to tomorrow. ” – ― Jerry Spinelli, Love, Stargirl

And now, the end of this post

So, dear reader, as always, a couple of questions for you. Have you read any of the pictured books in my ‘M’ stack? Any comments on them? Any interesting ‘M’ words or facts for me?

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

For previous posts, click on the links below:

Day_0(Theme) Day_1A Day_2B Day_3C Day_4D Day_5 Day_6E Day_7F Day_8G Day_9H Day_10I Day_11J Day_12 Day_13K Day_14L

Linking up to the April A to Z Blogging Challenge, and the Ultimate Blog Challenge (click on the images to learn more about these challenges)