Author: Ryan

WWW Wednesday – July 13, 2022

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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

The Dictionary of Obscure SorrowsI’ve made a little bit of progress in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig since last week, though only a bit. This week’s word is probably a relatable mood for a lot of people right now. Certainly seems to be the vibe going around, at any rate. The word is kuebiko, “a state of exhaustion inspired by senseless tragedies and acts of violence, which force you to abruptly revise your expectations of what can happen in this world, trying to prop yourself up like an old scarecrow, who’s bursting at the seams yet powerless to do anything but stand there and watch.”

Dark Lord of DerkholmI also started reading Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones since last week, and I have gotten nearly 100 pages in, which is better than I expected of me. This book is also 500 pages long, which I wasn’t expecting. Why are some paperbacks deceptively long? At any rate, I’m really enjoying the tone and premise of this story. It’s about a fantasy world beset upon by a great evil: capitalism. A business man from another world runs tours for people wishing to have a fantasy adventure, sending them to a magical land that he keeps at his beck and call thanks to the powers of a demon he has made a compact with. Naturally, the denizens of the world are terribly exploited, and the only way for them to get out of it, apparently, is if the wizard Derk plays the Dark Lord for the current year’s tours. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this goes, I have no idea what to expect.

Recently Finished

Animosity Vol. 2Over the weekend I also made sure to read through Animosity, Vol. 2: The Dragon by Marguerite Bennett et al. I did like this volume better than the first one, but I’m really not sure I want to continue with these books. It managed to make itself a lot more interesting when the characters were at rest, as they each puzzled over how The Wake happened in the first place and whether or not they and their fellow animals have souls, but it didn’t exactly make for a great narrative. The back of this volume actually had a collection of text entries about different states of America and the world at large, detailing events that have gone down, and I couldn’t help but wonder why in the heck that was all more interesting than the comic book itself. I won’t say never, but it’s unlikely I pick up volume three.

Reading Next

I’m really not sure what I’ll pick up next, I’m just getting into new stuff. Ought to figure out another comic to crack open.

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

WWW Wednesday – July 6, 2022

Ryan2 Comments
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

The Dictionary of Obscure SorrowsPardon the unusually late post this week, I’ve had a bit of a day. I’ve only made a small amount of progress in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, but considering this past week as a whole, I’m seeing this as a positive. I’ve actually recorded a new word from what I’ve recently read as well, so I’m not just pulling from a backlog. This week’s word is moledro, “a feeling of resonant connection with an author or artist you’ll never meet, who may have lived centuries ago and thousands of miles away but can still get inside your head and leave behind morsels of their experience, like the little piles of stones left by hikers that mark a hidden path through unfamiliar territory.”

Recently Finished

Son of a TricksterI’m happy to report that I used may available free time more wisely this past weekend and finished reading the last hundred or so pages of Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson. I quite like this book, it has certainly gotten me interested in reading the whole trilogy, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I can’t help having mixed feelings about it. I guess I was expecting the magical elements to expand more meaningfully than they did, but the novel still does something interesting and different with the whole “teen discovers they have a connection to magic” type of story. The ending was actually rather bittersweet/poignant, I’m not sure which best describes how I feel, and it was tied mostly to very grounded, real-world problems. The magic is no longer a secret, but I do have to wonder what the future has in store for Jared, as he doesn’t suddenly have endless possibilities open to him.

Reading Next

Dark Lord of DerkholmRight off the bat, I want to read volume two of Animosity by Marguerite Bennett et al. soon so that I can figure out if I actually want to stick with this series or not. Hopefully I can read that by next week. I’ve also decided, right this moment, that I will read The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones next. This is the first book in a pair that I have had my eyes on reading for a while, and it has been too long since I’ve read any of Jones’s work. It actually feels criminal how little of her fiction I’ve actually finished. It’s time to change that.

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

Book Review – Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

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SleepingGiants

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel is the first novel in the Themis Files series. Seemingly at random, a mysterious object of massive scale is found in a sinkhole in South Dakota after a young girl crashes her bike into it. Rescue crews working to get her out are baffled by the fact that she rests in a giant metal hand. Seventeen years later, the hand’s purpose and origins are still a complete mystery. Some can’t let secrets lie, however, and Dr. Rose Franklin, the girl who first stumbled upon the thing, is now a physicist who leads a top-secret team determined to uncover the truth. The work is challenging, but the object’s hidden power is greater than they could have imagined. As they get closer to unlocking its secrets, it becomes impossible to keep such a thing hidden from the world, which may not be ready for it.Read More »

New Books & Novel Discoveries (June 2022)

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June was  a weirdly dizzying month. As per usual, I’m a little stunned that it’s finished already, but at the same time it felt oddly drawn out. I think the main thing making me feel this way is the fact that I feel stuck on the books I’m reading at the moment. This is the first time in a while I’ve gone through an entire month without finishing any of the books I’m in the middle of. I don’t dislike them or anything, so I’m troubled by this reading rut I’m in at the moment.

Anyway, enough disgruntled introspection. On to the new books!Read More »

WWW Wednesday – June 29, 2022

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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

Son of a TricksterStill chipping away at the same books. I feel like I’m so close to finish Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson, all I need is a good window of time to read it. Unfortunately, I have been especially busy since last Wednesday, which hasn’t allowed  me a lot of time for leisure reading, nor the drive to be honest. It has been quite exhausting. I did manage about 20–30 pages, but that isn’t a huge amount of progress in a week. With so little left in the book, seemingly, I must say that it isn’t what I was expecting from a story about a youth discovering a familial connection to a mythical figure. I’m eager to see how things wrap up, but I’m worried a lot of the story will end up amounting to wheel spinning. Perhaps that is the point.

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig has once again been neglected outright, but I do have another word saved for you all anyway; the word this week is manusia, “the ambient feeling of being a human being; a baseline mood that everyone feels intensely every moment of their lives, but can never pin down because they have nothing else to compare it to.”

Recently Finished

Animosity Vol. 1I actually made good on some plans I’ve been talking about all month and read Animosity, Vol. 1: The Wake by Marguerite Bennett et al. It was interesting, to say the least, though I’m afraid I’m not exactly hooked yet. The idea of “the wake” is that, seemingly inexplicably, every other animal on Earth has gained sapience and the ability to speak. As can be expected, a lot of chaos ensues, as many of them don’t appreciate how humanity has treated them. I feel like this first volume was in far too much of a hurry, however, not taking the time to plant its characters in the situation and just let in unfold. In a few spots the art is confusingly laid out too, where I found myself actively baffled by the events unfolding, such as a character within sight seemingly 20 feet away somehow not seeing a fight between to others. If the second volume doesn’t improve, I think that’s going to be it for me and this series.

Reading Next

Once again, I have still not made up my mind on anything new I might want to start. Too much to finish that has hung around all month. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this stuck in a rut with some books. Not that I dislike them, but the fact that I’ve genuinely finished neither of them this entire month troubles me. On top of that, I still have a Sleeping Giants review to finish. Ah, what a month.

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

WWW Wednesday – June 22, 2022

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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

The Dictionary of Obscure SorrowsUnfortunately, I didn’t get a whole lot of reading done this past week. I’m not sure what happened, but all of the potential reading time just slipped through my fingers. I’ve been feeling a little burnt out, so I guess I gave that time to more carefree hobbies. I only read about 20 pages of Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson since last week, so I don’t really have much more to say about it. I really want to make a push to finish this book in particular before June is done, so I’ll try to make a greater effort to prioritize it. I didn’t pick up The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig  at all either, though I do have another entry saved from my last reading, so I can share another word.

This week, the word is solysium, “the unhinged delirium of being alone for an extended period of time—feeling the hours stretch into days until a weird little culture begins to form inside your head, with its own superstitions and alternate histories and a half-mumbled dialect all your own—whose freewheeling absurdity feels oddly liberating but makes it that much harder to reacclimate to the strictures and ambiguities of normal social life.”

Recently Finished

Nothing again. This is a really unfortunate trend.

Reading Next

I still want to read the first volume of Animosity by Marguerite Bennett et al. and start Stories of Jedi and Sith. I’ll probably need to start thinking about whatever will properly follow Son of a Trickster too, I just need to get my in gear with what I’m currently reading.

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

10 Books on my Bookish Wish List

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is to list 10 of my bookish wishes with access to a wish list so that somebody might grant that wish for me, if they so choose. I’d rather abstain from that aspect of this list, while still thinking about what books I might especially want, generally speaking. I’m just not comfortable with doing that, personally, no judgment to those who do want to.

I feel like a list like this would have been easier for me 10 years ago when I still had many books yet to purchase. As I write this intro, I haven’t even completely figured out all 10 entries yet. I’m thinking, however, that at least a few of them will probably be books I have already, but nicer or deluxe editions. But who knows, let’s see what I come up with.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – June 15, 2022

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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

The Dictionary of Obscure SorrowsI’ve gotten a chapter further along in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig since last week. Progress is slow and steady, but I happy I’m making regular progress regardless. This week’s word from the book is the wends, “the frustration that you’re not enjoying an experience as much as you should, which prompts you to try plugging in various thought combinations to trigger anything more intense than roaring static, as if your heart had been inadvertently demagnetized by a surge of expectations.” I’ve definitely felt this, though usually with experiences I’ve had many times before.

Son of a TricksterI’ve made more progress in Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson as well, though perhaps not as much as I think I should have. I may have even been able to finish it over the weekend had I focused solely on it, but my attention was too divided between other things. Nevertheless, I’m happy some progress was still made and I’m continuing to enjoy this book, though it’s still feeling more like a slice-of-life story, with little in the way of a precise plot having emerged. There’s a new character that’s been introduced that I have mixed feelings about, though I appreciate that she too isn’t exactly a positive influence in Jared’s life, despite being very different from everybody else. I’m eager to see what it’s all building toward, as one incident of the possibly supernatural variety was rather creepy.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week either. I’m going through a bit of a bad spell it would seem, as I’m having trouble getting myself motivated to read comics more so than usual. Hopefully I get out of this funk sooner than later.

Reading Next

Stories of Jedi and SithI still have grand designs to start reading this or that, such as the first volume of Animosity by Marguerite Bennett et al. or Stories of Jedi and Sith by various, but I just haven’t gotten myself to crack them open just yet. I had a peak at the story I was most interested in checking out in the latter book, the story about Rey, and while it’s not quite what I was hoping it’d be, it does still sound interesting and it explores a relationship that is only touched upon in the films, so I’m still looking forward to checking it out. Maybe I’ll be able to start these by next week. Should probably finish one of my other books on the go too though.

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

WWW Wednesday – June 8, 2022

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

The Dictionary of Obscure SorrowsI’ve had a bit more reading time this past week, so I’ve made some decent progress on both of my current books. First is The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, which has continued to be a nice leisurely read. Since it’s mainly definitions, I’ve decided to share a word or phrase that’s stuck out to me since the previous week. This week the word is proluctance, “the paradoxical urge to avoid doing something you’ve been looking forward to—opening a decisive letter, meeting up with a friend who’s finally back in town, reading a new book from your favorite author—perpetually waiting around for the right state of mind, stretching out the bliss of anticipation as long as you can.” If that ain’t me.

Son of a TricksterI’ve made especially good progress in Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson this past week; I’m now nearly 100 pages further than I was last week. So far the story feels like a slow burn, going through the ups and downs of Jared’s tumultuous, adolescent life. The magic elements are still only just creeping in so far, as mundane life has far too much going on for him to be seeking some sort of fantastical escape. This poor kid has to deal with so much, and I have a hard time imagining his mythical father will be a positive influence. The only thing about the writing I’ve found a little jarring is that on occasion it tries to use what sounds to me like “gamer speak” circa late 2012, and it felt just off enough that it came off as a little forced to me. Hopefully that’s more anomalous overall, as I’m enjoying the writing a lot otherwise.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week either. Shame!

Reading Next

Stories of Jedi and SithI’m still thinking about reading the first volume of Animosity by Marguerite Bennett et al. soon, I just need to set aside time for it. However, I’m also thinking about starting to read Stories of Jedi and Sith by various, which is currently waiting for me at the bookstore. It’s more of a Middle Grade book, which I don’t typically go for, but I’m interested in some lighter-reading short stories about the various characters included. I’m thinking I could slowly read through it at a story or two a week—a supplemental supplemental read. It’ll help justify buying this now too instead of just waiting for a paperback. We’ll see what I actually manage.

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

Comic Book Review – The Crossroads at Midnight by Abby Howard

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The Crossroads at Midnight

The Crossroads at Midnight by Abby Howard is a graphic novel collection of short horror stories. The five tales within explore the lives of everyday people who have become entwined in some way with beings beyond natural understanding. Some are dangerous and not to be trifled with, best left alone, some will seek you out unbidden, and some can be a surprising source of comfort and companionship. There’s no way to know until you’ve cross the precipice, however, and by then it is already too late.Read More »