TGIF Follow Friday (5): When You're Not Reading

TGIF is a weekly feature created and hosted by GReads! that re-caps the week’s posts and has different question each week.

This Friday's Question:

When you're not reading: What occupies your time when your nose isn't stuck in a book?

My Answer: There are any number of things I'm doing when my nose isn't stuck in a book, though it is sometimes book-related.  As collection development librarian, I'm always on the lookout for new as well as unknown already-published books that might help expand the library's collection.  So there's another reason I visit bookstores and online sellers.  

Secondly, I know I haven't had a DJL Dishes Dessert in awhile, but I really do enjoy baking and trying out new recipes.  Recently, I obtained a cookie press that I'm hoping will be of great help during this coming month.  

And then, there is my wonderful pastime (that sometimes interferes with my reading)...my Wii.  I wasn't always such a gamer, and compared to my beau I'm still a novice, but I love having fun both with WiiFit and now Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (thanks to my beau).  

Nothing can really top reading though once I hit my groove and I love books too much to stop reading for too long.  ^_^


This week on Denim-Jacket Librarian Dishes:


In My Mailbox (14)
Review: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Waiting On Wednesday: Katana by Cole Gibson

(Belated) Graphic Friday: Yakitate!! Japan

Title:  Yakitate!! Japan

Author:  Hashiguchi, Takashi

The Dish:  Battling...brawling...baking?  At the tender age of 6, Azuma Kazuma was introduced to the art of bread-making by a local baker with a dream to create a signature bread associated with Japan.  The French have a bread, the Germans have a bread, many countries have a bread associated in their country of origin.  And thus, Azuma's dream of creating such a bread for Japan, or Ja-Pan, was born.  

Why should people read this manga series?  Because it's a manga about a bread competition.  How many shonen series can boast this type of competition?  In most action manga, the competition is a battle royale in the sparring ring between two (or more) brutal warriors, as with Dragonball Z, YuYu Hakusho, and so forth.  With Yakitate!! Japan, it's still a battle...the ring just happens to be in the kitchen using an oven.  

This is one crazy manga starting off with Azuma competing for a position at Pantasia, the most prestigious of breadmaking brands in Japan.  While in the competition, Azuma meets formidable opponants in Ken Suwabara, a breadmaker with the heart of a samurai, and Kyousuke Kawachi, a young breadmaker with a secret past.  But Azuma has one advantage on his side in this bread competition...his "hands-of-the-sun", or palms that are warmer than normal temperature.  Azuma fairs well in the competition, but due to some scheming in part of some of the competition, he does not win the position at Pantasia's main branch.  Instead, he and Kawachi have both caught the eyes of Tsukino Azusagawa, owner of the the smaller south Pantasia branch.  How will Azuma fair working in a bakery that is in competition not only with other local bakeries but also with Pantasia's major rival, St. Pierre?  

Overall, I have enjoyed this manga simply because of the unique theme even if it does revolve around a competition.  It has the heart of the hero's journey as Azuma strives to achieve the perfect Ja-pan, or Japanese bread.  The side characters involved in the manga are what really make the story great, although I believe we dwell too much on Kawachi's "hair issues" later in the series.  Although I haven't been able to finish the manga yet, I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome of the final bread competition. 

What competition-based manga series capture your attention?