I managed to show a bit more restraint last month, though I couldn’t help succumbing to some random whims. I really don’t know how it is that you can decide for years that you don’t need certain books, that it doesn’t matter to you if you read them, and then suddenly your mind completely changes—for arbitrary reasons, no less.
Enough talking around it, let’s check out these books.Read More »
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?
I’m currently in the early chapters of Begotten: A Gothic Novel by Kate Cherrell, and so far I wish I liked it better. However, I’m still pretty early into it, and in no way do I think it’s bad, so I’m going to soldier on. I think the main hurdle I’m having trouble with, other than my poor sleep habits this week, is the fact that this is written as a Neo-Victorian novel, embracing both the setting and the style of novels of the period, and this book is certainly reminding me of Victorian novels I’ve read in the past in terms of style. It having been a while since I read any, I think the problem is more a deficiency on my part, one that I hope will change as I get further into this book. Style notwithstanding, I have found the pace to be a little slow too, but I’m hopeful that will pick up.
Having skipped last week, I have a number of books to report here now. First and foremost, since my last post I finished reading Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel. Though I had the benefit of reading it shortly after the previous book, I’m a little dismayed to find that I liked this book the least of the whole trilogy. As usual, when it explores more concrete sci-fi ideas this book continues to be really intriguing, but I think my main problem is I don’t particularly care for most of the main cast, and more than ever this book felt focused on them rather than a bigger picture with a cast of recurring characters. The ending, though thematically on point, felt a little too convenient for me too. Still, I’m happy I finished this trilogy, and hopefully I can flesh out my full thoughts in a review soon.
I’m happy to announce that I finally let The Immortal Hulk languish no longer and properly finished the three volumes I had left over. The big one was Of Hell and Death, the tenth volume that concludes the series’s story line. I really loved it, despite having waited literal years to pick this volume up, though I wish all the same that I’d read these closer together. Volume 11, Apocrypha, was more a collection of tie-in comics with other series and a lot of content from old Hulk comics that helps flesh out background details a little better. It was fine, but definitely below par for this series for me. Lastly, Great Power is a collection of one-shot stories that could be slotted in between issues in the main series, and I’m happy I finished off with this volume, because I really enjoyed it; this volume was a great demonstration of how to write great supplemental chapters.
At the moment, I’m not sure what novel I would like to read next, though I have some ideas lined up; I’m just not ready to commit to any yet. In the meantime, I do have more visually oriented books from the library, the graphic novel The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, which I can’t believe I still haven’t read, and An Illustrated History of Urban Legends by Adam Allsuch Boardman, a book which I suspect would have captivated me as a child. I’ll likely be giving these books a look fairly soon, especially the latter, as Maus will be more of a commitment.
Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.
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?
Last week I started reading Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel, the final novel in the Themis Files trilogy. It’s been a bit of a busy week with work, however, so I’m only 86 pages in at the moment, which isn’t terrible, but I feel like I should be a lot further along considering the transcript format of it. So far, starting this book so soon after the last one has definitely been a benefit, as I’ve been able to get right back into the story. However, this book’s approach is a little different; before, each transcript, report, etc., was told in more or less chronological order. This time, chapters are inter-cut between the main characters’ time spent on an alien planet and after they return 9 years later. It’s an interesting place to situate the reader so far, and I’m curious to see where Neuvel is going with it.
Last week I read through Dark Entries by Ian Rankin, a John Constantine graphic novel. I was very surprised with how much I ended up liking this story, especially since I have very limited experience with Constantine as a character. As far as I can tell, it is a completely standalone story that may not even been canon to the Hellblazer comics, but despite this it characterizes Constantine and the people he’s thrust into a bizarre reality TV show with really well. More than once I have picked up a random one-off graphic novel and found something about the story and/or the characters to be lacking (We Stand on Guard comes to mind) despite the strength of the premise. It was a pleasant surprise that this book, picked up completely on a whim, was full of intriguing characters and some great twists and turns in the story. A subtle stylistic shift happens halfway through that I really enjoyed as well, corresponding with a narrative reveal.
I have decided that the next novel I’m going to read is Begotten: A Gothic Novel by Kate Cherrell, the author’s debut novel that is set to come out this week. My preorder is waiting for me to pick it up right now, in fact, I just need to go get it. I’ve enjoyed Dr. Cherrell’s work concerning the paranormal on the Loopholes podcast, and I’m excited to see her storytelling skills. Considering how much I have left of Only Human, I may not get to it until a couple weeks from now, depending on how my schedule works out. I’m also really determined to finally catch up on the volumes of The Immortal Hulk that I have left to read. I will likely try to push through those in quick succession, so that’ll make for a bit of a heavier week when the time comes.
Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.
Somehow, I went absolutely ham with buying books last month. I don’t think it’s an egregiously high number, all things considered, but it was enough to make me procrastinate writing this post. I didn’t mean to indulge myself this much, I just wound up having too many opportunities to pick up new books at decent prices. I’m once again concerned I forgot one or two, but I do believe all of the are presented below.
Let’s see the damage, shall we? I’m seriously running out of places to put these things.Read More »
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?
Nothing! I am between books at the moment.
Yesterday I finished reading A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, the second Monk & Robot book. As it stands, I’ve read all current books in this series, and I assume there will be more as this was left fairly open-ended. I liked this book well enough, though admittedly a little less than the first one, which leaves things open for more but tells a fairly contained story, especially in comparison. This really feels like the conclusion of a middle section to a longer novel, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a potential third entry continues this trend of feeling like these novellas would perhaps work better as one book. I enjoy the more relaxed, introspective type of story this book is telling, but I find it a little strange how much the world doesn’t quite seem to make sense if you consider things a little more deeply. Still, it was an enjoyable character-driven jaunt, and I’d definitely read a third one.
As I said last week, I’m planning to read Dark Entries by Ian Rankin next, which is a John Constantine graphic novel, so that I can get my current library loans finished up. After that, I believe I will continue my current focus on completing series I’m in the middle of and finish up the Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel by starting Only Human, the third and final novel. Given the format of these books, I’m hoping I can get it done fairly quickly, assuming work doesn’t get too busy while I’m trying to get through it.
Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.
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?
On Monday, I started reading A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, the second Monk & Robot book. Unfortunately, it’s been something of a busy week with work so far, so I haven’t had a lot of time to read much more than about 20 pages of it. Still, I love how much this is picking up pretty much right where the first book left off, flowing together pretty seamlessly. As much as I like this, it does however highlight my suspicion that the entire narrative these books will cover could have been one novel instead of two novellas. At least I have the personal benefit of reading them back to back. It’s not wasting any time either, as Sibling Dex and Mosscap have already made their way into a town as part of the latter’s quest to learn about humanity.
At the end of last week I finished reading Uncanny: The Origins of Fear by Junji Ito, the manga author’s autobiography. After getting a good amount of background on Ito’s upbringing and experiences getting into the industry, he spent a few chapters reminiscing about specific stories and breaking down his thought and design processes, which provided especially interesting insight. I’ve encountered this before in the afterwords of some of his books, but I was struck by how sincere and humble Ito is as an author and artist, unafraid to admit when he feels he could have developed something better or had to cut corners, as well as highlighting his own perceived shortcomings more generally. It was also amusing that he admits to often having an idea for a certain horrific image first and then constructing a story to get him to it, which is an observation I’ve made in the past when reading his stuff; it was oddly vindicating. This book has renewed my interest in his manga a little, so I may pick up some of the collections I let pass me by.
I’m not quite sure what novel I will read next, but I have a graphic novel from the library that I will read soon so I’m not hanging onto it for too long: Dark Entries by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell’Edera, a graphic novel about John Constantine. I’ve not read many books featuring Constantine, but Rankin has been on my radar since my aunt told me he’s one of her favourite mystery authors. I found this book after having a random browse of the graphic novel section at the library and it caught my interest enough to take it out.
Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel is book two of three of The Themis Files. It has been ten years since Themis, a giant robot found in pieces around the world and painstakingly reassembled, was turned over to the United Nations, founding the Earth Defense Corps, which stands on guard to defend the world against extraterrestrial threats. Though Kara and Vincent, the only people known to be able to pilot Themis, are living well in their renowned positions, physicist and Themis expert Dr. Rose Franklin has struggled to come to terms with her existence, having mysteriously re-emerged five years younger than she was when she died during an explosion at Denver Airport. Her brilliant mind may not have the luxury of such a personal crisis, however, as a second, larger robot suddenly appears in London, intent on destroying Themis on sight. Unless she can figure out what these visitors want, the very future of humanity may be at risk.
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?
Last week I started reading Uncanny: The Origins of Fear by Junji Ito, the horror manga author’s autobiography. I don’t know why, but I really did assume this was more of a hybrid book with more graphic novel elements, but it really just has pictures. I have in fact committed to reading an autobiography, which I hadn’t planned on doing, but here we are. So far I’m really enjoying it, at 65 pages in, though I still feel like I’ve only just started it. It was interesting to learn that some of his earliest exposure to horror was thanks to his sisters’ shojo manga magazines (manga for teenage girls), which sometimes included horror stories. I would’ve thought horror would be confined purely to its own publications, but as a long-time horror fan and friend of women who love horror too, the idea of shojo magazines including horror sometimes makes a lot of sense to me.
Last week I finished reading The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, an illustrated Discworld novella about Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde on an adventure to return fire to the gods (with interest) and the brave men boldly going where no one has gone before in order show up in time to stop them. It was funny to eventually realize that this book seems, at least partly, to be a vehicle for Pratchett to have the characters take a jaunt through space (even if it’s just orbiting the underside of A’Tuin the world turtle, with an unplanned stop on the Moon). It was a fascinating exercise in creating a plausible scenario and means for characters of this world to actually embark on such a journey, and I must say he did a stellar job in making it all plausible without fundamentally changing anything about this fantasy world. I still prefer the more traditional, full-length novels, but this was an excellent debut for Paul Kidby as illustrator to the series, who visually realizes the characters better than they ever have been before.
My only solid plans right now are to read A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers next, as I’ve mentioned in previous weeks, since I have to return that book eventually.
Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.
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?
I’m still making my way through The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, and I’m really surprised at how slow progress has been, what with how heavy it is on illustrations. It almost feels like a hybrid between a graphic novel and a novel, though it obviously leans much more toward the latter. I have had a bit less reading time this past week or so, however, as I haven’t even had a chance to read more of it since Friday. This is considered a Rincewind novel, but it really feels more like an ensemble. I really enjoyed a recent scene where he talks with Corporal Carrot, as I don’t believe they’ve ever crossed paths before; the main characters typically keep to their one sub-series rather than getting involved in the same ordeals. Their interaction was especially funny because it’s essentially a meeting of opposites, one being the ultimate pessimist and the other a determined optimist.
Yesterday, I read through Life After Life by Joshua Barkman, the artist behind the False Knees web comics. This is the latest book collecting his “Kneesvember” comics, where he draws and posts a portion of the comic every day throughout the month of November. It’s a straightforward little tale about three chickadees in Montreal after humanity has died out for unknown reasons, embarking on a quest to find peanuts, a food they were only ever given by humans. It was a delightful little odyssey full of humour, peril, and heart. I have a particular affection for it because at the conservation area where I go for a weekly walk, I often hand-feed the chickadees, which are the very same species as the ones depicted here, I believe. Rest assured, when I feed them peanuts again I will be thinking of Pips, Fuzzie, and Patches.
I was considering buying this book, but as it turns out, Uncanny: The Origins of Fear by Junji Ito was available at the library, so I decided to just borrow it instead. Unlike typical Ito books, this is autobiographical, which is why it captured my interest better than yet more collections of his work, which I’ve been bit burnt out on for a while now. All the same, I’m looking forward to gaining more insight into his creative process and influences. I’ve still got a reservation on A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers coming in soon too, which I will start after I finish The Last Hero.
Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.
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?
Earlier this week, I started reading The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, the next novel in the Discworld series that I need to read. Like Faust Eric before it, this is an illustrated novella, so the pacing feels very different from what is typical for the series. I’m only about 40 pages in, which I feel doesn’t mean as much with how fewer words there are per page, but I’m really into the premise so far, as Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde are embarking on a quest that may just destroy the world, so the powers that be in Ankh-Morpork are scrambling to try and stop him. Despite how long it’s been, I’m really appreciating how much this is acknowledging the events of Interesting Times. What especially stands out are Paul Kidby’s gorgeous illustrations, which perfectly capture the characters like never before.
In surprisingly short order I started and finished A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, a novella about a tea monk who sets off on their own into the wilderness to visit an old ruin and encounters a wild-built robot, a descendant of the machines who stepped away from humanity into the wilds centuries before, never to be contacted again. I really liked this book, it was enjoyably brisk, but I can’t help feeling that a novel’s worth of ideas was trimmed down to novella length. It built a really interesting and seemingly elaborate world and characters that had deep motivations that were left more nebulous or glossed over when I would have enjoyed them being fleshed out more. I felt like I wasn’t given enough time to steep in it. Considering how quick of a read it was, I’m motivated to start the next one, especially since I’m anticipating a story line this one didn’t get to, so I’ve already put in a library request for it.
As I said, I want to read A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers next, the second Monk and Robot book. Beyond that, I do not have anymore concrete plans.
Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.
Muse with Me 