WWW Wednesday – October 13, 2021

October 13, 2021 Ryan2 Comments

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

Earlier today, I decided to squeeze in some time to finally start reading The Grip of It by Jac Jemc, my first Halloween read this year. It was Thanksgiving and my birthday this past long weekend, so while I brought the book just in case I found some reading time, it surprisingly didn’t happen. I’ve only read a token amount really, only the first few chapters (about 14 pages), but I’m really enjoying the tone that’s being set so far. It’s mostly been about a couple buying a new house, but the way things feel immediately off without being outright scary has been great, the use of one detail in particular making the house strange without being such a big red flag that you think you would reject it in their position.

Recently Finished

Jingo I’m really pleased that last week I was able to finish reading Jingo by Terry Pratchett. If my schedule had gone a little differently, I’d probably still be in the middle of it right now. Even with it all said and done, I honestly feel a little at a loss for words about it. This was a really good Discworld novel, with some particularly great elements sprinkled throughout, but I still feel like reviewing it will be a little difficult. Is it possible, so many books into a series, that a book can be so solidly written it actually becomes unremarkable? I hope that doesn’t sound too harsh, but it feels apt all the same. I was too busy to review since last week, but I am hoping I can have one up by Friday. Fingers crossed.

Reading Next

My second Halloween novel will be ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, but that’s a little further down the line at the moment. I have, however, finally gotten a copy of the graphic novel adaptation of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft, adapted and illustrated by I.N.J. Culbard. I first read the story in the collection Dreams of Terror and Death a couple of years ago, and while I did enjoy it at the time, due to Lovecraft’s weaknesses as an author I anticipated it making an even better graphic novel. Now that I’ve got my own copy of the adaptation, I’m eager to dig in and see it more visually realized.

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

WWW Wednesday – October 6, 2021

October 6, 2021 Ryan3 Comments

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

Jingo I’m still reading through Jingo by Terry Pratchett, but I’ve actually managed to make a lot of progress since last week. As chance would have it, my workload has been a lot smaller these past few days, so I’ve had more time to buckle down and read more quickly. The timing has been impeccable, in a way, as I really want to get started on my Halloween reads. I feel in an odd spot with this Discworld book, because I really like it, it doesn’t feel too formulaic, yet there isn’t anything I’ve been finding especially remarkable about it either. I just think it’s quite good, and the simplicity of that is making me feel like reviewing it will be a challenge. Hopefully I’ll have my thoughts in better order after I’ve finished it.

Recently Finished

Berserk 33 I also took some time in the past week to read two more volumes of Berserk by Kentaro Miura; I specifically read volumes 32 and 33. Volume 32 brought about a thrilling conclusion to the battle taking place in the harbour between Guts and the invading forces of the Kushan Empire, before pivoting into the greater conflict separated from the main cast. The way the main villain is being represented as a saviour-like figure, nigh-untouchable, really has me curious about how he’ll eventually be confronted. Volume 33 gave us a lot of good time with the main cast at rest, having finally embarked upon their sea voyage to a fabled land. The war with the Kushan Empire back on the mainland seems to have reached a climactic point too, and I really want to see what the fallout of that will be.

Reading Next

I still have every intention of reading The Grip of It by Jac Jemc next, by first Frighteningly Good Read for this year. With Jingo so close to finished, it’s only a matter of time until I can get it started.

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

WWW Wednesday – September 29, 2021

September 29, 2021 Ryan2 Comments

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

Jingo Since last week I’ve made some decent progress on Jingo by Terry Pratchett, about 110 pages to be specific. I’m enjoying this book quite a lot, which is shaping up to be a decent mystery that seems to be about conspiracy to start a war. What I’m finding most intriguing and hilarious is the fact that the inciting incident that sparked tension between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch is the emergence of an island in the middle of the sea, which both city-states try to lay claim to. We haven’t seen much about it yet, but at first I was expecting it to be analogous to Atlantis. It would seem, however, that it’s actually a lot closer to R’lyeh. I’m curious how much this will factor into the story or just be a gag, as I’m not sure if I want an eldritch horror actively thrown into the mix.

Recently Finished

Berserk 31 Though my birthday is not for over a week yet, a friend of mind gifted me with three new volumes of Berserk by Kentaro Miura. So, last night I decided to read through volume 31, since it’s been a little while since I continued the series. I enjoyed it a lot, though it was a more action-heavy volume. This is of course all well and good, but it also means that there wasn’t a lot of forward movement in the plot. A battle broke out at the harbour while they were trying to flee the city, and by the end of the volume they’re still in this harbour. This book further cemented the fact that there are two significant villainous forces at play in the story at the moment, though, and I really like the way this is making the overall conflict less clear-cut.

Reading Next

With the Halloween season upon us, it’s only a matter of time before I start my first spooky read (after I finish Jingo). For me this year, that book will be The Grip of It by Jac Jemc, a haunted house story that I’ve had a copy of for a little while now and have had my eye on for even longer. It’s not especially long, so I’m hoping I can get it finished quickly and move on to at least one other horror read for October. The freelance editing work is feeling easier and easier as I get more of it done, so hopefully I’ll be able to better balance out work and reading in the near future.

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

WWW Wednesday – September 22, 2021

September 22, 2021 Ryan3 Comments

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

Jingo Since last week I’ve started reading Jingo by Terry Pratchett, the next book I need to read in the Discworld series, though unfortunately I’ve only gotten about 40 pages in. It has been an even more eventful and busy week than I was expecting, so progress on all things other than work was limited. No progress on the collection of Dickinson poems either. Nevertheless, I am enjoying this latest book in the City Watch sub-series so far. Pratchett’s lampooning of jingoism is transparently humorous so far, and I’m really more interested in where exactly this story will be going. I actually know very little about this book and being so far along in the series, it’s nice to have some unpredictability.

Recently Finished

Oh goodness, I finished so many books this week, you wouldn’t believe it…

Zoidberg

Reading Next

Scott Pilgrim Color Edition Digital Omnibus I’ve got some books lined up that I intend to read for the Halloween season, but that’s not quite upon us just yet. In the meantime, I’ve been continually thinking about reading the Scott Pilgrim: Color Edition Digital Omnibus by Bryan Lee O’Malley. I haven’t read through this series in well over 10 years, and back then I only had the black and white paperbacks. I think it’d be a lot of fun to revisit this series and enjoy it in glorious colour. Since it’s a bunch of volumes packed into one place, I’m sure it’ll take me longer than graphic novels normally do, but I’m really keen on reading it anyway.

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

WWW Wednesday – September 15, 2021

September 15, 2021 Ryan4 Comments

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

Nothing, I’m in between books at the moment. Once again I haven’t touched Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson either. When I have the time to read, I just don’t turn to it.

Recently Finished

Axiom's End Over the weekend I managed to finish Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis, and I must say that I ended up loving this book more than I expected to. I didn’t expect to dislike it or anything, but it struck an unexpected chord with me. I guess I’m just a sucker for inhuman characters, though I do think the dynamic between Cora and the alien Ampersand is very compellingly written, regardless of my inclinations. It serves as a great first contact story and an exploration of personal connection between two people. Intimate, but not exactly romantic. It wasn’t without its issues, as I feel a few threads didn’t go anywhere when I was expecting them to go somewhere, but the heart of the story was so good it didn’t matter too much to me. I’m really excited for the forthcoming sequel now. I will hopefully have a full review up soon.

Reading Next

A Gathering of Ghosts Any day now I’m going to start reading Jingo by Terry Pratchett, it’s just a matter of making time to read, which is harder to do when other hobbies often take precedence during downtime. With only two weeks left in September, I’m afraid it’s very unlikely that I’ll even get to start A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland, let alone finish it before the start of October. It’s not formally among my Halloween reads for the year, so it’ll probably have to be bumped until November or December. It’s on my yearly to-read list, so I’ll be trying to make extra certain that I finish it before 2022, regardless.

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

WWW Wednesday – September 8, 2021

September 8, 2021 Ryan7 Comments

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

Still no progress made on Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. She’s going to start haunting me.

Axiom's End I’ve gotten nearly 100 pages further in Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis since last week, and considering how much less reading time I’ve got right now, I’ll call that a win. I am sincerely loving this book so far, as the potential friendship between Cora and Ampersand, the alien for whom she serves as interpreter, is a slow burn, if it’s developing into a friendship at all. There was a wonderfully touching scene between the two that filled me with all sorts of warm, mushy feelings. It’s just so effective when someone/something tries to do something sincerely kind, despite not quite understanding how to do it right. The only real negative with the book so far is that Cora’s strained mental state is so effectual that I’m actually starting to find it a little exhausting.

Recently Finished

This book feels like cheating, because it’s really just a picture book, but I’ve read through art books and comic strip collections before, so to heck with that. I read through Animals of a Bygone Era by Maja Säfström, which I feel like I’ve not shut up about over the last week or so. I picked it up during my first trip to a particular museum a few weeks ago. I knew I had to get it because I absolutely fell in love with the art. I really enjoy quirky or “ignorant” styles of art and this book filled that niche for me perfectly. I also love natural history and relish the idea to learn more about ancient life (this book deliberately excludes dinosaurs). This book made for such a nice, chill read.

Reading Next

Jingo I recently got myself a copy of Jingo by Terry Pratchett, the next Discworld novel I need to read, so I’ll likely be starting that soonish. I’m hoping I can finish Axiom’s End by next week. Fingers crossed! I really do hope I can get to A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland this month too, but I refuse to let my Discworld progress slide, so it’ll have to be bumped if need be. I should probably read a comic or two soon as well, but I’m drawing a blank in terms of what I’d want that to be, other than single issues that I don’t count. We’re still working things out in these parts.

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

WWW Wednesday – September 1, 2021

September 1, 2021 Ryan4 Comments

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

No progress made on Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, I’m sorry to say.

Axiom's End Since last week I’ve gotten to page 117 of Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis, so unfortunately progress has been very slow. I’m still adjusting to the new freelance job, but the good news on that front is that I’ve gotten past the training period, so it’s great that I’ll get to continue doing editing work for the time being. Things have taken a greater turn in the novel since last week, despite the limited progress. Cora has now formed an alliance of sorts with an alien who is searching for those of his kind in human custody, both of them on the run with little at their disposal. I’m really enjoying their dynamic and the shift in their relationship, which was initially more frightening and forceful. I’m especially fond of just how alien Ampersand (the alien) is too, in body and mind, while still being able to broker communication.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week, sad to say. Reading really has taken a hit. I should probably try to get through a comic or two soon, just so I don’t fall too far behind on things.

Reading Next

A Gathering of Ghosts I did have a summer TBR planned out that was meant to extend until the end of September, but with the change in employment situation I’m not sure that I can commit to my original plans. To stay on top of things as much as possible, however, I will say that I tentatively plan to read two other books this month. The first will by Jingo by Terry Pratchett. I intend to read one of these every quarter and I can’t be falling behind on that. The other is A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland. I continue to suspect this book will be a nice lead-in for the Halloween season, but would like to get it read before October to make room for other spooky books. So there we have it. Hopefully I can get to these. I really just need to rearrange how I spend my spare time.

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

WWW Wednesday – August 25, 2021

August 25, 2021 Ryan2 Comments

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

Axiom's End Over the weekend I started reading Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis. I’ve been slacking on reading quotas once again, so unfortunately I’m only 76 pages in right now. It’s not a pitiful amount of progress, but I could’ve gotten further. Nevertheless, I’m enjoying this book a lot. The protagonist is a young woman named Cora, whose father runs a website that notoriously leaks government documents, particularly related to aliens. He’s an absentee father, but the spotlight shines on Cora and her family nonetheless. Ellis has done a great job of making the anxiety of Cora’s life palpable, almost making me feel it second-hand. The escalating extraterrestrial events on top of that have been exciting too, so I’m eager to see what happens next.

No progress made on Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Whoops 👻

Recently Finished

Sensor Over the weekend I read through Sensor by Junji Ito, which I also managed to post a review of on Monday. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this book very much. It wasn’t without its interesting ideas, and the art was great as always, but the story just lacked a solid direction. It was also constantly repeating itself, since each chapter was originally published serially. For what it’s worth, though, the first chapter functions as a pretty good little cosmic horror story. It could almost work as a short in a collection. While he may not have lost his touch as an illustrator, it seems to me that his more recent stuff just isn’t as good as what he used to produce, which is too bad, because I know how brilliant of a horror author he can be.

Reading Next

I’m not really sure what I’ll read next. No comics come to mind and I’ve only just gotten started with Axiom’s End. In the next week or so I’ll hopefully have a better idea of what future reading will look like.

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

WWW Wednesday – August 18, 2021

August 18, 2021 Ryan5 Comments

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’ve not made any progress on Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson since last week. I’m also between books at the moment. Things have been a bit busy. Essentially, I’ve started training for a freelance remote job, on top of my full time one, which has and (hopefully) will be taking up more of my time, so my reading progress will likely slow as I rearrange my priorities.

Recently Finished

Hellboy The God Machine Over the weekend I finished reading Hellboy: The God Machine by Thomas Sniegoski, and even managed a pretty quick turn-around on the review and got it up on Monday afternoon. Go me! This book has wound up being my favourite among the Hellboy spin-off, mostly non-canon novels, though ultimately I only rated it a little higher than average. The book’s focus on the villainous characters really helped it to stand out among the pack, making them both monstrous and sympathetic. A few of them were a little too one-dimensional for me by the end, but their leader and a couple others stood out well. The climactic showdown was conceptually fairly rote, but in the execution managed to be something quite memorable and exciting too.

Reading Next

Axiom's End I meant to have started reading Sensor by Junji Ito already, but like I said I’ve been busy, so I haven’t had a chance to just yet. It isn’t very long, so hopefully I can have it read and reviewed by next week. I also plan to start reading Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis. I’ve followed the author’s video work on and off for years now and even preordered this book for its release last year, but sadly I let it languish instead of reading it. Now, the sequel is coming out soon, so I’d better actually read this. Getting this done will keep me on top of the reading challenge books I put together for a Summer TBR too.

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

WWW Wednesday – August 11, 2021

August 11, 2021August 11, 2021 Ryan4 Comments

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

Hellboy The God Machine I really wanted to have finished Hellboy: The God Machine by Thomas Sniegoski by now, but you know how inconsistent I can be with those goals. I’ve wavered a little on the reading quotas this past week, so I’m blaming it on that. I should reassert those to get back on track. Regardless, I’m happy to report that there really is something to this Hellboy novel, compared to the others. The villains are really intriguing, and it’s made the wise choice of giving our titular, big red hero a more diminished role. It’s also taking a lot of inspiration from the real-world story of John Murray Spear and the Association of Electricizers, which involved the construction of “The New Motor,” a supposed mechanical messiah. It’s a wild story and it’s been fun to see how that idea has been morphed into something more unnerving and apocalyptic.

I also made a little progress on Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson last night, reading through the first section of her second series of poems. Sometimes I absorb very little while reading, it varies from poem to poem. Some of it is lovely, but it also makes me feel dumb. I’m thinking poetry like this may not be for me.

Recently Finished

Immortal Hulk The Keeper of the Door Over the weekend I read through The Immortal Hulk: The Keeper of the Door by Al Ewing et al, the eighth volume in the series. Once again I am reminded of how much I love this series, and I can’t believe I haven’t cracked open a volume since 2020. One of these days I’m going to have to read through them all over a shorter period of time. There was a great blend of physical and psychological horror in this book, as The Leader actively puts his plans in motion. A lot is taking place within mindscapes, not reality, but I really have to wonder about the fate of some of the characters. I’m surprised by how graphic some of the visuals were in this volume too. I hope the next volume comes out soon, if it hasn’t already.

Reading Next

Sensor In a surprise twist, as I forgot that it was coming out soon, I received my copy of Sensor by Junji Ito last week, the newest translated book by the horror manga author. So I’m definitely going to start reading this really soon. My expectations have been tempered the more of his stories I’ve read, but I’m nevertheless excited by the fact that I know very little about this book. It seems to be a singular story too, which I typically prefer. He does better work when he gives an idea room to grow.

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