Selections from What I Read in December: Digest Version, Part 3 of 4

Okay. 

b 20th Century Boys 12: Oh, I love it.  Urasawa knows how to keep the suspense going and how to veer off in directions you never expected.
b Clover omnibus: I always have to read it the original way and then backwards.  You have to be really careful not to break the spine (or buy it used with the spine pre-broken), but those color plates are amazing.  This is such an odd, sad story both artistically gorgeous and gorgeously told.  There's more mood and atmosphere than actual story, but I don't care because it's so beautiful.
b Crimson Cross: Wow.  Great mood and creepy content.  Nice art, too.
b Cross Game 1: Well, with that bummer out of the way at the beginning . . .  This is such a unique manga being published here in the U.S (being a sports manga and a slow-moving shonen drama).  I hope it does well because it is great. 
b Gente 2: Sort of low-key, relaxing stories about a bunch of middle aged Italians.  What's not to love? As long as you like leisurely pacing and the quirky art, a chapter every so often will do wonders for your blood pressure.
b House of Five Leaves 2: Whoa.  Natsume Ono somehow makes even danger, intrigue, and action seem somehow more languid . . .  I love it.  Who are these people?  How did they get together?  The more I learn, the more I want to know!
b Library Wars 3: Oh, no!  What a crappy cliffhanger!  Still digging this fun and quirky series about armed librarians in the not-so-distant future and contemplating the evils of censorship and how easily good intentions can turn into totalitarian oppression.  Also romance and action.
b Love*Com 7: Oh, dear.  I do love this series.  Goofy fun even on the re-reads.  Especially on the re-reads, actually.
b Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy: Yeah, I already gushed about this one.
b Tsubasa 28 of 28: Well.  So.  Was that a happy ending?  It was definitely a CLAMP ending, anyway.  I'll need to marathon this some day, I think, possibly at the same time as xxxHolic.

I read so many books in December that weren't manga, but I also got a manga marathon or two in.  That will be part 4, I think.