WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’m still getting through Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King, which has slowed down considerably after I finished “Low Men in Yellow Coats.” It was a great story and I’m not sure the rest of the book will be able to live up to considering I’m pretty sure it was the only one with the connection to The Dark Tower. I’m on the story “Hearts in Atlantis” itself now, which interestingly feels very different in writing style from “Low Men,” but still hasn’t quite grabbed me. I plan to power through it over the next week or so.

I started reading Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh since my last entry, and I’m about half-way through at the moment. This is the book I’ve been putting the most energy into. The prose is quite beautifully written, the perspective in each story feeling wonderfully distinct while having clear thematic connections and similarities in a way that I feel is deliberate. It’s almost like the book sets out to convey a core human experience in as many different ways as it can.

Recently Finished

Since my last entry I finished Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris. It had some of my most favourite essays of his I’ve read so far, most notably “Loggerheads,” and I felt I learned more about him as an author, whereas in When You’re Engulfed in Flames it was focused more on his personal life and history. I’m not sure which I prefer, but it was an interesting expansion on my understanding of the writer of these pieces nonetheless. The “Forensics” sections were good insofar as they would be interesting to hear performed, but otherwise were too obvious for me and interrupted the flow of the book more often than not. A good collection, but my least favourite thus far.

I also started and finished The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman and J. H. Williams III. I loved the story and how it tied into elements in the main series, while also expanding upon my knowledge of the world Dream inhabits, specifically the hierarchy of forces at play. It was a little jarring because the impression I got of the story when I read issue #1 when it first came out was quite different from what the story was actually about, but I fault myself for that. William III’s art is absolutely gorgeous and the colours employed by Dave Stewart really made the visuals pop. It really makes me want to read through The Sandman all over again.

Reading Next

I still want to start The Dark Tower (Dark Tower VII), but I’ve resolved myself to finish Hearts in Atlantis first so that the list of books I’m reading doesn’t pile up. I’m hopeful that I will begin it long before March is over.

I’ve been eyeing some of the Star Wars books on my shelf, particularly Tarkin, though I can’t say for sure I will get to it yet. I’m also considering starting What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions as a supplemental read once I clean up what I’m currently reading.

I finally got a copy of Hellboy: The Crooked Man and Others, the elusive 10th volume that I needed in order to continue finishing the series. I will likely read through that over the next few days. I also just got Death by Neil Gaiman, a collection about the character Death of the Endless from The Sandman. It includes chapters focused on her from that series, as well as collecting her miniseries The High Cost of Living and The Time of Your Life. I will likely read this soon too.