I was first drawn to check out Volume One of this series after reading this Unshelved.com review. I enjoyed it enough to keep reading, and got this volume from Barnes and Noble. It's a slice-of-life story about a young calligrapher who moves to a remote village to try and recharge his creative energies, and finds himself increasingly caught up in village life - for better or worse!

This volume picks up after the events of Volume 9, with Handa preparing to meet his first winter on the island. He sends a message to his folks asking to have his winter clothing shipped over - but lo! his parents opt to bring the things themselves, leading to some very funny confrontations with the villagers. Oddly enough it's his standoffish father who seems to have a closer relationship to the village folk; his mother toggles between sweet-domestic-wife and axe-crazy-protective-mother, in scenes both funny and very unnerving. (We also meet Handa's dad's personal assistant, a terrifying individual who seems to be Fujikawa's parent - some sort of connection anyway. I think I may need to read the Handa-kun series too, to figure out who all these people are!)

Hiroshi, my favorite of the villagers, gets a chapter of his own in which a girl in his class is clearly trying to hit on him. He, sweet and oblivious as he is, doesn't get it, leading to escalating cuteness.

By the close of this volume, Handa's mother has presented him with a potentially life-changing challenge - one that she seems determined he should accept. Hmmm...

[There's a TV Tropes page on the series.]

I plan to leave this book on a window ledge inside Panera Bread at around 6 or so. Hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2016 One Word Title release challenge. ***

Found this at Panera. I look forward to reading it!