WWW Wednesday – November 11, 2020

November 11, 2020 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

I’m just over 60% of the way through Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh. I’m still enjoying reading it, but my goodness is this story a slow burn. It is still building up toward some fateful event that has Eileen disappear from her dreary life. There has been more intrigue and new developments than the beginning of the story, so it doesn’t quite feel like the story is dragging its feet, but I’m surprised it’s still yet to happen all the same. It’s actually holding me in a good deal of suspense, as Eileen narrates in past tense and continually drops hints about what’s going to happen next. She does spend a great deal fantasizing about running away, so I really want to know what happens that actually gets her to do it, considering how miserable her life is already.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week!

Reading Next

Making a last second decision as I write this, I have decided I will read Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn next, the second book in the new canon Thrawn trilogy of Star Wars novels. Hopefully I can get it and a third book done fairly quickly this month, so I can keep to my last-minute revision to my reading schedule. This novel has Thrawn tackling a threat to the Empire alongside Darth Vader, intercut with their first encounter during the Clone Wars when Vader was still Anakin Skywalker. I’m excited to see how this pans out. I’ve still got a number of Star Wars comic book volumes to read too, so I’ll probably start chipping away at them soon as well. I mean it this time.

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

WWW Wednesday – November 4, 2020

November 4, 2020 Ryan8 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

Eileen In a last minute decision the other day, I decided to start Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh as my next book off of my to-read list for the year. It’s been more than a bit since I last read one of her books, this being earlier than the previous two, and apparently her first book to really blow up in popularity, if the number of Goodreads ratings is a good indicator. I’m only 18% of the way through so far, and it’s been fairly slow-going, but I am enjoying the way it is building out the main character and her dreary life. As with her other books, she captures a sense of human misery very well, but in a way that feels mundane in a rather haunting way. I eagerly anticipate Eileen’s impending disappearance, which she plans to enact herself.

Recently Finished

Alien Sea of Sorrows On the morning of Halloween I finished reading Alien: Sea of Sorrows by James A. Moore, and with all said and done I’m really quite fond of it. It did have some glaring continuity issues related the previous book, unfortunately, but I can forgive them. It doesn’t stand out as all that unique, especially after all of the setup is done with, but I became decently attached to a number of the characters and I really enjoyed the glimpse into the way the aliens themselves think and feel. It gave us a peak behind the curtain into their psyche without spoiling too much of their mystique. I also loved the ending and look forward to any possible sequels the future has in store (if one hasn’t come out already). I should have a review up soon.

I started Adventures into the Unknown Archives Vol. 1 on Halloween night, but I didn’t get it finished until the morning of November 2. This was my last Frighteningly Good Read and goodness was it a strange little trip. Horror comics in 1948 were weird, or at least these were. Not exactly in a good way, though. The pacing was all over the place and I could never really take any of the “horrors” seriously. One such figure called “the Living Ghost” appeared in two stories, depicted as what looked like a cross between the Devil, Dracula, and Frankenstein’s monster. He was an all-powerful demon with command over the undead who got up to such deeds as strangling switch operators and pushing cars off of cliffs. Captivating stuff.

Reading Next

Initially, I was planning to start Moby-Dick by Herman Melville instead of Eileen, but now I’m wondering if I can finish everything on my to-read list except for that book. It’s still a long shot, but we’ll see. It’s the most daunting book and if I can read all the others except that one I’ll be pretty satisfied. Don’t know what will follow Eileen yet.

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

WWW Wednesday – October 28, 2020

October 28, 2020October 28, 2020 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

Alien Sea of Sorrows I’m currently a good chunk of the way through Alien: Sea of Sorrows by James A. Moore. I’ve made good progress since last week, though I wanted to have it done so not quite the progress I was intending. Nevertheless, I’m happy to report I’m enjoying this book a lot more than its predecessor. It still has its connections to Ripley from the core films, but they’re removed enough from the events of this story that it doesn’t feel contrived. I quite like the cast of characters introduced in this story too, especially the main character, who is very put upon by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation as they attempt to engage with capturing xenomorphs more directly. It’s a nice change of pace for the franchise and I’m intrigued to see where things will lead.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week!

Reading Next

Adventures into the Unknown Archives Vol. 1 I’ve got one other book to finish for Frighteningly Good Reads this year, and that is the second graphic novel I chose: Adventures Into the Unknown volume one, an archive volume of old horror comics. I’m getting a lot of Creepshow vibes when I imagine reading this, so I’m hoping the collection delivers. I think I got this book for free on Comixology, but I can’t remember why. Must have been a promotion? I just hope they don’t feel too old-fashioned while reading. At any rate, I’m hoping I can get all this readings finished up by Halloween.

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

WWW Wednesday – October 21, 2020

October 21, 2020 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

Nothing at the moment, I’m between books.

Recently Finished

Monday night I finished reading The Night Will Find Us by Matthew Lyons, my first Frighteningly Good Read for this year. It was quite the trip powering through it over the last week. By the end my feelings were a little mixed, though leaning more positively. Since the early chapters last week there were a lot of unexpected twists and turns in this book, which was one of its strengths. For a good while I really didn’t know where the story was going, though eventually it got a little meandering in this way. It did have some pretty creepy moments too, though the source of the horror was a little too nebulous for its own good, which became a big problem. I should have a full review up very soon.

I also read through Tremor Dose by Michael Conrad and Noah Bailey last night, my second Frighteningly Good Read. I liked this graphic novel, it had some great ideas and very unique art, but the story kind of fell apart by the end for me. There’s a tantalizing afterword by the authors that discusses how every question the book raises can be answered by the content itself, but I’m not sure I actually care to reread and dissect it. I do keep thinking about doing it, so there’s a chance, but I don’t want to be dwelling on this one book too long. It’s not a very long read, though, so I still haven’t made up my mind. I should have a review up for this book too, regardless, within the next week or so.

Reading Next

I’m staying the course with my reading plans, so I’ll be starting Alien: Sea of Sorrows by James A. Moore very soon.

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

WWW Wednesday – October 14, 2020

October 14, 2020 Ryan12 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

Since last week I’ve started reading The Night Will Find Us by Matthew Lyons, though I’m only about 20 pages in. Between my birthday last Friday and the Thanksgiving long weekend, I didn’t have a lot of time for reading. The book has all been setup so far, though I am intrigued. There’s a good handful of characters to keep track of, but Lyons has done a good job of making them feel fairly distinct off the hop. The characterization of some of them feels a little cliched, but with a bit of a twist that promises something more interesting further along in the story. I want to try to have this finished as soon as possible, so hopefully I’ll be done by next week. Where has October gone?

Recently Finished

Nothing this week, I was just too busy.

Reading Next

Alien Sea of Sorrows I’ve got a lot lined up for the Halloween season, as I’ve said before, so for once I know a lot of what I’ll be reading next. Tremor Dose by Michael Conrad and Noah Bailey will be read any day now, I just need to buy a digital copy. As far as novels go, once I’ve finished with Lyons’s book I’m going to start Alien: Sea of Sorrows by James A. Moore. The more I’m thinking about this book and refreshing myself on the premise the more I’m hopeful that I’ll like this one. It sounds like it’ll be incorporating some of the good elements from the previous book, while not making the same glaring mistake.

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

WWW Wednesday – October 7, 2020

October 7, 2020 Ryan9 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 between books.

Recently Finished

Last night I ostensibly finished reading Thermopylae by Paul Cartledge. I’m still combing through some of the appendices, but I don’t expect that to take me much longer. I got to the end of the epilogue, so that’s the text itself done, darn it. I enjoyed this book, but I have an issue with reading ancient history, namely all the names: places, people, peoples. It’s a lot that I’m not 100% sure I’m pronouncing correctly in my head, which makes recollecting important information harder for me as I go. I liked the book, it provided some interesting insight into the societies concerned with the battle and the politics around it, but I wasn’t in love with reading it either. A pretty middle-of-the-road experience. I don’t think I’m going to review this one either, since I’m much too eager to move on from it right now.

Reading Next

Tremor Dose Since it’s now October and I’m participating in Frighteningly Good Reads, I’ve got a nice handful of horror reads lined up. As I said last week, I’m going to read the ARC copy I have of The Night Will Find Us by Matthew Lyons next, about a group of teenagers tormented by cosmic horror while lost in a seemingly infinite forest. I’m hoping it will be quite thrilling. I’m also going to read Tremor Dose by Michael Conrad and Noah Bailey soon, which is a horror graphic novel I’ve had my eyes on for a while. It’s inspired by the “Have You Dreamed This Man?” hoax, which is such a creepy idea I’m eager to see fleshed out in fiction.

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

WWW Wednesday – September 30, 2020

September 30, 2020 Ryan6 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 read another chapter of Thermopylae by Paul Cartledge since last week, but that’s it. Not really enough for me to comment any further on the book. I was much too fixated on reading what I recently finished.

Recently Finished

solutions-and-other-problems Over the last week I spent most of my time reading through Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh, the follow up to Hyperbole and a Half. This is one of the funniest reading experiences I’ve had in a long time. Her art style is so abstractly evocative that so many relatable sensations come across through her illustrations alone. There are certain chapters and moments from the book that can still get me laughing just by thinking about them. It touches upon some rather heavy topics too, sometimes managing to find an appreciably humorous side to things like existential dread. There could occasionally be a bit of tonal whiplash between chapters, but I highly recommend checking it out. I should have a fully review up sometime soon.

Reading Next

The Night Will Find Us I feel I should go off of my to-read list a bit for October, since I didn’t actually add many horror novels to it, despite the fact that I love reading spooky books around Halloween. I guess I thought I’d have a better handle on this list.

In any case, I’ve decided that once I finish with Thermopylae I’m going to read The Night Will Find Us by Matthew Lyons, an ARC I recently received. I’m not familiar with any of the author’s work, so I’m excited to check out some new horror. I’m also going to check out Alien: Sea of Sorrows by James A. Moore, to give one of these new Alien novels a shot after I didn’t quite like the last one.

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

WWW Wednesday – September 23, 2020

September 23, 2020 Ryan20 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 started reading Thermopylae by Paul Cartledge, though I’ve read very little of it so far; just the preface and the prologue, in fact. Getting to this point involved skipping over a fair amount of front-matter too, as I realized that out of a sense of obligation I could read through a timeline of significant dates that revolve around the history I’ll be told about, but I won’t really be able to retain that info in a meaningful way. It was oddly freeing to just admit that to myself and move on. Cartledge’s writing style is good so far, not too inaccessible, but just as with the science books I occasionally read, I can already tell it will require a little more mental legwork. I just hope I won’t be stuck on it too long despite its relatively short page count.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I finished reading Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett, the 17th Discworld novel. I meant to have a review up yesterday, but life happened and I didn’t have the review finished in time. Just a minor bump in the road, I’m sure. I should have it up by Friday. I didn’t like this novel as much as I wanted to, but I’m still coming away from it pretty satisfied, especially for how it reintroduced Rincewind as a character to the series. It did a good job of tying events to what happened in the very first books too, which was appreciable. I was surprised to find it ended by setting up his next book, which takes him to yet another strange locale. I’m intrigued to see how that will play out, if only for the fact that he wound up there by chance this time.

Reading Next

I hopefully won’t be on Thermopylae long, but in typical form for me I haven’t actually decided which novel I’ll be reading next. What I do know, is I’m definitely going to read through Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh as soon as I can. The author is known for her Hyperbole and a Half webcomics and book, which came out a number of years ago now. I’ve been eagerly waiting for this book to release, the date of which had been unknown for a while. All of a sudden I learned the date and found it was coming quite soon, so I preordered it and now it’s finally in my grasp.

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

WWW Wednesday – September 16, 2020

September 16, 2020 Ryan6 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?

Goodness, I am running behind today.

Currently Reading

I didn’t make as much progress with Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett as I would have liked, but I’m right smack in the middle with hope that I can get it finished by next week. Since arriving in a strange land, Rincewind’s travails have amounted to a lot of running away and being put on a pedestal as something he’s not. It’s been amusing character stuff, but I’m waiting to see what it’s all building toward. I had higher hopes at the beginning, and so far I’m not sure if he’s just going to bumble his way to success or if he’s going to develop into a somewhat better version of himself. It has still been an enjoyable read, at any rate, Pratchett is nothing if not consistent, so I’m just waiting to see if this novel is among the higher pedigree.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I read Fangs by Sarah Andersen, the author better known for her Sarah’s Scribbles webcomic. This book was another collection of strips, though of a different style and tone about a vampire and a werewolf in a relationship. I had read a lot of these online as they were coming out, but when I found out such a gorgeous hardcover was going to published, I decided to wait until I had it in my hands before I finished them. They’re cute, funny, and more adult that her usual strips, so much so that I was actually craving a plot line. There is a continuity, but story developments are typically contained within a strip. It’s a wholesome, macabre little collection worth checking out if it strikes a chord with you.

Reading Next

I’m still planning to read Thermopylae by Paul Cartledge next, it’s just a matter of finishing up Interesting Times. I’m also considering starting The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America by Matt Kracht as a little supplemental read, though that will invariably become something I have to power through so it’s not hanging around forever. It just looks cute and funny and I want to actually read it rather than occasionally peak at a page or two.

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

WWW Wednesday – September 9, 2020

September 9, 2020 Ryan10 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

The other day I started reading Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett, the 17th Discworld novel. I’m just over 20% of the way in, and so far it’s feeling like it might be above average in the series. After 16 books patterns do emerge, so it’s good to see things mixed up. It’s kind of dizzying how long it’s been since Rincewind was a lead character. The faculty of the Wizard’s College has been so well-defined for so many books, but here it dawned on me that Rincewind had never interacted with Archchancellor Ridcully. That was quite enjoyable. There is a good balance between Rincewind acting exactly like his old self, while still giving the sense of all the development he’s had in the past. He is a seasoned adventurer, after all, even if he’s always running away.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I finished reading Kong Unbound, a collection of essays about the 1933 King Kong film, and I was simply elated to get it finished. It wasn’t awful, but the fluff problem persisted throughout most of the book. Also, if I ever have to read about what someone thinks of Kong ripping off Ann’s dress again it’ll be too soon. One essay by Joe DeVito started like many others, just an old guy reflecting on his childhood love of the film, but fortunately developed into talking about a Kong book series he made that I’d never heard of before. I’d certainly like to check those out, so the experience isn’t a total loss if I come away with some new books. Alan Dean Foster had a good essay too, but I’m still pretty adamant about not reviewing this. I have little else to say.

Reading Next

I want to stay on top of things better, with time being of the essence for completing my reading list, so I’ve decided I’m going to try and quickly read Thermopylae by Paul Cartledge, a history book about the titular battle between Greece and Persia, known by many for the famous 300 Spartans who held the position for so long, despite the odds. I read another book about Spartan history by the author many years ago. I meant this to be a companion read to that, but I didn’t actually crack it open in a timely fashion. Better late than never.

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