Goodness me, this has been a month for book buying. I had the means this month, so didn’t feel as inclined to hold myself back, though it’s certainly not the most I’ve ever picked up in a month. Funnily, one of these books I stopped myself from buying while I was out running errands. I was nearby the next day, however, and wound up getting it anyway. I’m making a point of reading it this year to justify that. We’ll see how that goes.

Anyway, on to the books!

New Books

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Mahnke is a book I’ve flip-flopped on picking up. I’m a fan of the podcast series and some of the entries (if not most or all) are written adaptations of episodes. When I began to recall my childhood fascination with some books about ghosts, cryptids, and other paranormal topics that my dad had I decided to get this for the sake of posterity, if nothing else. If I like it enough after reading it I’ll consider getting the other two books in this series.

I picked up Pet Sematary by Stephen King because I saw the newest film. It was good, but after speaking with my dad he informed me that they took an easier way out plot wise, rather than dealing with the heavier themes of the book. He didn’t go into specifics, so I’m eager to check out the book and see how it turns out here.

A Slip of the Keyboard is a collection of essays by Terry Pratchett, the author of the Discworld series. I’m a big fan of those books and would love some insight into the author’s thoughts and views. As a bonus, this book matches perfectly with the Discworld books on my shelf.

Planting Gardens in Graves by R. H. Sin is a poetry book that’s caught my curiosity. I’ve been wanting to read some more poetry lately and the cover and title of this book are evocative enough for me to want to check it out. There are two more volumes so if I like this I’ll pick them up eventually too.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2 by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill I picked up so I could finally continue the series. I read volume one years ago and re-read it last month. I’ve already read this book now too, in fact, and you can check out the review here.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1954 and 1955 by Mike Mignola et al I’ve been meaning to pick up for a long time. I read the first two volumes late last year and wanted to finally continue the series.

The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola I picked up because I’m a fan of the author and want to read some more of his stuff outside of Hellboy. After getting it I was excited to discover it includes “The Magician and the Snake” which is an Eisner award winning story Mignola collaborated on with his then 7-year-old daughter.

In Absentia

I got my copy of Smashed by Junji Ito this month as well, but I have it lent out to a friend since I finished reading it. I would be remiss to her reading experience if I were to ask for it back just to snap a photo, so it is not pictured above.

The only digital purchase I made this month was B.P.R.D. 1946-1948 by Mike Mignola et al. I haven’t started the B.P.R.D. comics yet (which is a spin-off of Hellboy), and I’d prefer to get the omnibuses in physical editions, but this is a standalone omnibus as far as I can tell and it was on sale for $6. Hard to argue with that, love for physical books notwithstanding.

Novel Discoveries

I could have sworn I shelved more books “to-read” this month, but apparently not. Literary Chickens by Beth Moon was a suggested read on my local library’s Facebook page. Apparently it contains a lot of photographs and excerpts from literature. It was just bizarre enough that I want to head down to my library and give it a look for myself.

Creating Character Arcs by K. M. Weiland I heard about from a short video essay on YouTube. I’m always passively on the lookout for good resources to help with writing, so I decided to shelve this one for future reference.

Closing Thoughts

Another reason I picked up Planting Gardens in Graves is because I want a little subset of my reading to be purely for the pleasure of it. It’s the reason I enjoy watching The Joy of Painting; it’s not a show I feel I need to analyze or think critically about. I can just relax, watch, and listen. I never especially enjoyed analyzing poetry in university, but I did enjoy reading it sometimes. I’m hoping if I approach poetry now with the mindset of reading it just for the sake of it that I can get myself into a similar headspace.

Thank you for reading!