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LG

Familiar Diversions

I'm a librarian who loves anime, manga, and reading a wide variety of genres.

Currently reading

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Vol. 1
Dojyomaru, Fuyuyuki, Sean McCann
Progress: 103/374 pages
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Jeff Lindsay
Progress: 424/470 minutes
Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story
Mary Downing Hahn
Progress: 184/184 pages
Parental Guidance
Avery Flynn
Progress: 40 %
An Offer From a Gentleman
Julia Quinn
Progress: 102/358 pages
The Twisted Ones
T. Kingfisher
Progress: 385/385 pages
Educated
Tara Westover
Progress: 315/730 minutes
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 2
Satoru Yamaguchi, Nami Hidaka
Progress: 24/171 pages
Graphic Medicine Manifesto
MK Czerwiec, Kimberly R. Myers, Scott T. Smith, Michael J. Green, Susan Merrill Squier, Ian Williams
Progress: 26/172 pages
Ao Oni: Mutation
Kenji Kuroda, Karin Suzuragi, Alexander Keller-Nelson
Progress: 30/152 pages

Chocolate Day: Antique Bakery by Fumi Yoshinaga

Antique Bakery, Volume 1 - Fumi Yoshinaga Antique Bakery, Volume 2 - Fumi Yoshinaga Antique Bakery, Volume 3 - Fumi Yoshinaga Antique Bakery - Fumi Yoshinaga

I'm not actually participating in the #BookadayUK thing, but I'm always on board for chocolate, so I thought I'd post this. Antique Bakery was my introduction to Fumi Yoshinaga's works. It's a short series, only four volumes long. I think I own two of the volumes and need to see about ordering the other two.

 

What's it about? Well, when he was a child, Tachibana was kidnapped. Although he was eventually reunited with his family, with no apparent physical harm having been done to him, the experience affected him and his relationships with others for years afterward. All he could remember about his kidnapper was that the man liked cake and fed it to him every day. After he was found, Tachibana could no longer stand the taste of cake.

 

Years later, Tachibana suddenly quits his job in order to open a classy Western bakery. His parents take it in a stride, and his father even finds him a genius pastry chef. That pastry chef turns out to be Ono, who, when they were both seniors in high school, confessed to Tachibana that he loved him. Tachibana told Ono that he disgusted him and should go die. Both men are able to behave politely and professionally, but you can imagine the awkwardness. I remember being confused and intrigued by Tachibana - high school Tachibana was awful, and yet present-day Tachibana didn't seem all that bad. So what happened in the years between?

 

I loved this series, even though Ono's "Gay of Demonic Charm" attractiveness was ludicrously over the top. The characters were wonderfully interesting, sympathetic, and layered.

 

The chocolate connection: the various pastries featured in the series look and sound mouth-watering, and several of them feature chocolate. Also, Digital Manga Publishing released these volumes with scratch 'n' sniff covers, one of which I think might have been chocolate.