Author: Ryan

WWW Wednesday – August 12, 2026

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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 still reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and progress continues to be rather slow. I’m at 300 pages now, which is about 80 pages of progress, but over two weeks that’s not great, even for me. Over the last few chapters, Edmond has covertly reconnected with old friends, using his newfound wealth to assist those who were truly faithful to him while imprisoned. It was a little indulgent and melodramatic at points, but I found myself very compelled by it despite myself. Sometimes, those tropes just hit right, and it was very satisfying. With so much novel left, it’s fun to realize that, despite feeling like I know more or less what this book is about, I actually have no idea what the next 900 pages will entail. I look forward to slowly finding out.

Recently Finished

Against my better judgment, last week I took out another graphic novel from the library, which I promised not to do so I could focus on Monte Cristo. The book in question was Nowhere by Jon Claytor, a Canadian graphic novel about growing up in small towns, struggling to fit in and make friends as you move from place to place, and navigating streets populated by giant rats, vampires, and zombies. I enjoyed it as something weird and surreal, with enough coherent going on that it didn’t feel too abstract, but I do wish there had been something a little more concrete in the narrative to anchor myself to. Overall, I’m happy I checked it out, and I liked it more than I expected to.

Reading Next

I’m really going to try to not pick up anything else so I can focus on Monte Cristo, hoping that a book I have on hold at the library takes yet longer to come in.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

New Books & Novel Discoveries (July 2026)

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July felt really long yet not nearly long enough. There’s stuff I remember doing this past month that feels like happened many more weeks ago, yet I still can’t believe we’ve reached the Sunday of summer already. I hope everybody else has been enjoying their summer, wildfire smoke and heat waves notwithstanding. I showed a fair amount of restraint this month, grabbing only a couple books early on and then another pair right at the eleventh hour.

Let’s see what I picked up.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – July 29, 2026

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www_wednesdays

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

Goodness, it has been a hot minute since I posted one of these. I’m in the unfortunate spot of being in a midst of an incredibly long book, as I’ve reported, with little else to focus on while I try to get through it. Yes, I am still reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and I’m sad to report that progress has been slow, though for good reasons. Freelance work has made me busier, and as much as it pains me for reading to fall to the wayside, I want to receive as much work as possible. Still, I’m at page 220 of the novel now, or 120 more pages over the intervening three weeks. That’s rather dismal progress. Still, I am enjoying the book quite a lot. Edmond has escaped his dismal confinement after 14 years and is finding his footing back out in the world. I’m really pleased with how enjoyable I’m finding this reading experience, it makes the size of this tome bearable.

Recently Finished

This week, I managed to finish Absolute Superman Vol. 2: Son of the Demon by Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval, and Carmine Di Giandomenico. I continued to enjoy this series quite a bit with this book, though my enjoyment didn’t quite reach the heights of the second volumes of Absolute Batman and Wonder Woman. I’m surprised with how well Ra’s Al Ghul worked as a villain for Superman in this universe, as he is usually an adversary of Batman’s. Though I’m not intimately familiar with other interpretations of the villain, I really like the version of Brainiac in this title too. There were some great narrative twists in this volume, and I was surprised at how affected I was by the loss of some characters. This dreary interpretation of the DC universe has some of the most heart. As promised, in the intervening weeks I also read a couple more volumes of One-Punch Man. I have now officially caught up to where I left off with the story after watching up to the end of season two. Now, each volume will be uncharted territory.

Reading Next

I haven’t the foggiest idea of what I will read next, as Monte Cristo will still make demands of my attention for the foreseeable future, but I am thinking about rearranging my reading habits around my schedule so I can get more done. We’ll see what I come up with and if I can still with it.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

Book Review | Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse

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Star Wars: Resistance Reborn is a 2019 media tie-in novel by Rebecca Roanhorse, released as a story bridge in the lead up to the film Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Set in the immediate aftermath of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, the novel follows General Leia Organa, Commander Poe Dameron, and the other surviving heroes of the Resistance on the run, trying to find safe refuge from the First Order in order to regroup and enlist new members—especially leaders—to their cause. Things look grim, but it only takes a spark of hope to keep a movement alive, no matter the odds. Meanwhile, in the wake of the New Republic being destroyed alongside the Hosnian system, the First Order has begun to seize control of planets of influence in order to secure their power over the galaxy.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – July 8, 2026

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www_wednesdays

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

Freelance work has continued to be fairly busy, and while in many ways I’m very happy about that, it has hindered my ability to read as a result. My priorities have perhaps been a little scattered as well. So, in the intervening two weeks I have read more of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, but I’m only further by about 70 pages, putting me at just over 100 pages into the book. We’ve a long way to go. Over the course of these pages I have learned much of the depths of the dilemma Edmond finds himself in, as well as more about French history than I ever knew before, particularly the state of politics after Napoleon went into exile and just how the re-established kingship was utterly paranoid about him trying to make moves once again (a fear not unfounded, as it turns out, but still rather inconvenient for our poor Edmond).

Recently Finished

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve read a number of graphic novels from the library; my sense of obligation to finish these more quickly has been to the detriment of Monte Cristo, so I expect I’m going to put more focus on these soon to get the rest done. The books I read were the first volumes of Absolute Flash, Absolute Green Lantern, and Absolute Superman. I enjoyed the first two about the same; I’ve never been a big reader of either character/title, but I knew enough to appreciate the twists on the idea. I liked Absolute Superman the best, especially the switch-up on his budding connection with Lois Lane and the parallels drawn between the systemic woes of Krypton and how that is reflected on Earth. His suit being somewhat technological with a degree of sentience is fun too. The only thing that has really held back every initial volume in the Absolute books for me is how tethered they are to being origin stories rather than just the beginning of the title. Once the second Batman volume escaped that I enjoyed it better, ditto Wonder Woman, and I expect the others may follow the same track.

Reading Next

I’m going to try to pluck away at Monte Cristo more this week if I can, but I really want to read the next couple volumes of One-Punch Man by ONE and Yusuke Murata before I do. Hopefully, if I clear that all away I can better refocus my efforts.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

New Books & Novel Discoveries (June 2026)

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I’ve managed to show a fair amount of restraint again this past month. There’s even a book here or there that I almost picked up impulsively but managed to return to the shelf without buying. Alas, I couldn’t help myself in some other cases, but that’s all right. I’m hoping I can get myself in a more comfortable place financially soon such that I don’t have to agonize over buying a brand new book now and again.

Let’s see what broke through my ironclad resolve.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – June 24, 2026

Ryan1 Comment
www_wednesdays

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

Last week I started reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. So far, I’ve only read the introduction, the notes on the text, and then the first 30 pages or so. Considering it’s a book over 1,000 pages long, I’ve barely scratched the surface. Still, I have come away with a few things. For starters, it’s interesting to learn that some consider this to be a children’s book due to the nature of its plot and how it is told, no matter how long it is. Having read some of it I can kind of see where they’re coming from, however, as it is very digestible so far. Whereas I often found myself struggling with the language of Moby-Dick, I have not run into the same problems here. I’m pretty happy about this, because maybe that means I’ll finish it faster than I think I will. Also, this is apparently a rather new translation that I’ve gotten a hold of, with most English versions actually dating back to the 19th century, or so this tells me. Learning that those older English versions compromised some of the original text for the sake of prudishness, I’m happy I managed by happenstance to pick up something less concerned with such things.

Recently Finished

Last week I finally finished reading Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse. I feel that this novel took me entirely too long to finish, but I’m glad I did it. It doesn’t rate among my favourite Star Wars novels—not even close, to be honest—but it was not without its charm. It felt a little hamstrung by the fact that The Rise of Skywalker hadn’t come out yet, so there was only so much they could do with the characters I really cared about from this era, but it did give a surprising and modestly distinct texture to this time in the franchise’s history, which was a bit too blurred at times in the films, and the returning characters from other expanded media was a nice touch. Despite this being the sort of book I would normally skip as of late, I actually feel motivated to write a review for this, which I’ve already started. I’m hoping I can get myself into posting reviews again more often, but time will tell.

Reading Next

I’ve got a bunch of Absolute Universe DC comics from the library as well as incoming One-Punch Man volumes to read, so I will no doubt be finishing those here and there as I pluck away at Monte Cristo.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – June 3, 2026

RyanLeave a comment
www_wednesdays

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 still plucking away at Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse. I’ve only managed about 100 pages or so in the last couple of weeks, which is a rather unfortunate pace. It still hasn’t quite hooked me yet, but I am enjoying it well enough too. With this being a book where characters from different books at the time were supposed to converge, I’ve had some dramatically opposing experiences with recall. With one character, Yendor Brethen, the book built up to revealing him, only for me to have literally zero recollection of who he is despite having appeared in Lost Stars, Aftermath: Life Debt, Aftermath: Empire’s End, and Bloodline, all of which I have read. Conversely, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ransolm Casterfo from Bloodline has made an appearance, that book being a particular favourite among the new books. I’ve yet to see how involved in the plot he will be, but his appearance is promising. I really want to get this book finished soon, but with an unexpected yet appreciated surge of working coming in I’m not sure I’ll be able to.

Recently Finished

Since I last posted I’ve only finished a couple of volumes of One-Punch Man by ONE and Yusuke Murata, specifically volumes 11 and 12. Despite the number of volumes, this continues to be more of a series refresh, as I’ve yet to pass where the end of season two left off. I’m not complaining, since it’s been a rather long time since I last watched the show, but I am eager to finally see the story progress further. Maybe I’m not remembering the show well enough, but something I’m appreciating from reading it is the amount of bonus chapters at the end of each volume that show more mundane happenings in the characters’ lives, usually with even more of a comedic bent. I enjoy these little lower-stakes stories and how they fill out the world a little more.

Reading Next

I’m still planning to read The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas after I finish Resistance Reborn. It’s only a matter of time. I’m worried I’ll take way too long reading it, though. Other than that, I’m waiting for a reservation I’ve got on the next volume of One-Punch Man to come in so I can continue the series.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

New Books & Novel Discoveries (May 2026)

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This past month, I actually sought to avoid buying any books, if possible. Things are hardly dire, but I’m trying to cut down on spending all the same—a not-uncommon feeling, I’m sure. Nevertheless, I couldn’t resist the siren’s song of a book here and there, though I’m happy to report that I at least picked up everything secondhand, so they still don’t even amount to the cost of a single brand-new book.

Let’s see what I wound up picking up.Read More »