WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!
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 making my way through Dreams of Terror and Death by H. P. Lovecraft now, the last holdout of my Halloween reads. I barely started it before the holiday, but I’m committed enough to read through it nonetheless. I’m enjoying the stories well enough so far, though his writing style occasionally requires me to re-read a passage to make sure I understood what I read. He’s heavy on description, yet vague on the details, if that makes sense. The last story I finished was “The Nameless City” and while I got fairly swept away by the concept, I’m not really sure how it ended. Apparently, I’m not the only one either, as searching online has revealed other people unsure as well, who have an array of interpretations. Oh, Lovecraft.
Recently Finished
Over the weekend I finally finished Little Heaven by Nick Cutter, which I really enjoyed. It’s honestly a fantastic horror novel, I only wish I hadn’t been so slow getting through it. I won’t belabor the point anymore, but I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately. I should have a review up soon, at any rate. What helped cinch my esteem for the book was the way it ended. I enjoyed the way the story developed, but was wary of where everything was headed; the influence behind the nightmarish creatures, misery, and madness. Ancient, unknowable evil is well-tread ground in horror, after all (see above), so I was worried at how that would end up playing out. Simply put, I loved it. Not wholly original, but well executed all the same.
I also read volumes two and three of The Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing et al. These books are a wonderfully thoughtful exploration of the Hulk as a character, thanks especially to the persona the Hulk inhabits in this story. The history of Banner/Hulk’s mental state is long and complicated, and despite the uncanny intelligence of the Hulk in this book it is surprisingly faithful to this history. I also really enjoy just how subtle this series has managed to be about the cosmic horror elements at play. So many cosmic forces are given a face and identity in superhero comics in a way that brings them down to Earth—even the diabolical ones—yet the presence in this series has been surprisingly obscure, despite the characters finding themselves face-to-face with it.
Reading Next
I’ve discussed my Star Wars related reading plans for the near future already, but as a nice light read to shine onto the dreary Lovecraft I’ll be absorbing for the next little bit I’ve decided to start reading my copy of False Knees: An Illustrated Guide to Animal Behavior by Joshua Barkman. I’ve followed the online comic strips for a while now and when I heard he had a book coming out I jumped on a pre-order. I picked it up in mid-October and it’s high time I read through it as a nice little detour.
Until next week, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.
Muse with Me 
Vague confusion seems par for the course as far as Lovecraft goes to me. xD I’ve never heard of Joshua Barkman, but that book sounds really interesting. I glanced at a couple of his comic strips, and it’s a really neat premise. Happy reading!
Here’s my WWW post.
Yeah, I can’t say I’m all the surprised with how Lovecraft is turning out, it’s just I’ve never made myself read a whole book of his writing before. I’m in for it, that’s for sure. Happy reading!
Here’s my WWW post this week: https://thebookwormchronicles.wordpress.com/2019/11/06/www-wednesday-6th-november-2019/ 🙂 Happy reading!
Happy reading 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Enjoy your reading!
I’m currently reaidng house of salt and sorrows!
(www.evelynreads.com)
You as well! I hope you’re enjoying it.
Dreams of Terror and Death and Little Heaven sound interesting. I don’t read enough horror. I do like reading spooky books during Halloween time, but I don’t think they are like full blown horror type novels.
Well, if you were to dig into horror a bit more, I’d recommend Little Heaven over Dreams of Terror and Death. Lovecraft has great ideas, but his writing isn’t especially digestible.
Yes, it’s time to be done with Halloween horrors. Hulk’s history sounds like it could be interesting. I like your sidelight idea with the Barkman book. That sounds like a nice change of pace.
Here’s my week in books… https://athoughtfulreveal.com/2019/11/06/www-wednesdays-fun-7/
Well I’m not sure so about being done with them lol I don’t really sequester horror to October, I just try to up my game during that month. False Knees will indeed be a welcome change in tone, all the same. Happy reading!
I have yet to read a single thing by Lovecraft despite my love of all things horror but I’m not sure you’re really selling it to me. I’m not generally a fan of books that are heavy on description, my brain doesn’t absorb it, so I suspect they may not be for me.
One thing that you may find encouraging is I don’t believe much of his work is longer than a novella, if that. Much of even the more famous stuff are short stories.
I’ve got a copy of The Necronomicon which has many more stories in it than this book I’m reading. I’ve read stories here and there out of it, but don’t really plan to read it cover to cover. Perhaps that will work for you too.
I love Lovecraft! Plus, I have a pretty Illustrated book of the Eldritch Tales. Glad to hear your thoughts on Little Heaven. I’m always looking for good horror for a friend – not for me because I am a wuss. Reading The Shining, House of Leaves and The Haunting of Hill House over the last couple months was all the horror I can take for a bit. I feel that all houses are out to get us now. 🙂 Enjoy your Lovecraft!