Tag: Adam Ellis

WWW Wednesday – October 7, 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 still haven’t finished The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas yet, but I’m currently at page 1005, so it really feels like I’m in the home stretch now. I actually endeavoured to hit the 1000-page mark before October, since I’ve taken a brief hiatus from reading it so I can pick up some horror novels instead for the Halloween season. At this point in the story, the Count has almost completely fulfilled his revenge against Fernand, or so it seems, with his plans deviating in one crucial way due the intervention of Mercedes. I really enjoyed the scene where she confronts him, revealing she knew he was Edmond the second she first heard him speak. It’s a scene I’d been anticipating for many chapters and I found it struck like lightning, and it was very satisfying. I also appreciate that it seems their relationship will not be rekindled, though their affection for each other is as strong as it was. The damage has been done and there is no going back, and I like this poignant approach to it. I hope it stays this way by the end.

I’ve already started my second Halloween read for this year, which is A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs, containing two novella-sized tales of cosmic horror. The foreword by Chuck Wendig hypes up Jacobs considerably in a way that caught me off guard a little; though this book caught my attention some time ago and I recall it being well liked, Jacobs is not an author I hear talked about all that much. Starting the first story, however, his talent as an author is very apparent. Especially compared to my most recently finished book, I found myself immediately immersed in the prose of the first story in this book. So far, I’m rather enjoying the cosmic horror elements too, evoking a bit of The King in Yellow to me so far, and I hope it pays off well.

Recently Finished

Though I didn’t quite finish it ahead of October, on the first of the month I finished reading Calypso by David Sedaris. Though full of the usual humour and wit, I enjoyed this book for its more poignant tone and he reflected a lot on loss and aging among members of his family, framed around a lot of time spent at a summer beach home called the Sea Section. It’s a bit sobering that I still regard this in my mind as one of his more recent essay collections, which is more or less true, but it’s already eight years old, and so much has happened since it came out. I wonder what he might have to say about the pandemic, for example. I’m not sure if I want to pick up his latest collection of essays or dip back to an older one I haven’t read yet.

Over just a couple of reading sessions, to kick of my selection of horror books, I read A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck, a novella about a Mormon man who dies of brain cancer and finds himself condemned to a Zoroastrian hell where he must search a literal Library of Babel to find the book containing his life story, without errors. Initially, I had a bit of trouble getting into the story, as I found the prose to be somewhat awkward at first, but I adjusted rather quickly and got really absorbed in it. Although some sequences do become horrific and violent, the most effective part of it was the existential dread it instilled in me. I found myself actually trying to bargain a little on the character’s behalf and reason a way out of his nigh-insurmountable task. I highly recommend checking it out, especially considering how quick of a read it is.

Reading Next

What I read next depends on how quickly I can finish A Lush and Seething Hell. If it ends up dragging out a little bit into the month, I will prioritize reading Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. Otherwise, if I feel I have enough time, I’m going to start reading Night Shift by Stephen King, since it’s been a while since I read one of his short story collections. Also, I have a couple of graphic novels from the library that I want to read too. First up, which I may have finished by next week, is Bad Dreams in the Night by Adam Ellis, a collection of horror stories. I’ve actually already read his second collection of stories, so I’m technically reading these out of order, but they’re standalone tales so I don’t believe that’s going to matter.

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

WWW Wednesday – May 20, 2026

RyanLeave a comment
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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

At the moment, I’m reading Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse, a novel set between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. At one point I actually intended to read this book before the latter film, but I didn’t want to buy the hardcover, so I picked up the TPB that came out later and it has languished on my shelf ever since. Admittedly, I’m not especially enthusiastic about this book. In part this is because I’m not especially enthusiastic about reading any prose right now, regrettably, but also because I’m afraid I’ve come to this book a little too late. Apparently, this was meant to be a culmination of a lot of what they had going on in the new canon novels set after Return of the Jedi, with many characters from books such as the Aftermath trilogy making appearances, but it has been so long since I read those books that I’m afraid I won’t be able to recall very many of them, though so far I’m not completely lost. I think some characters were in the Poe Dameron comics, though, which I haven’t read, so that’s a shame. I’m only about 80 pages in right now. I certainly don’t hate it, but I’m not hooked yet either. It’s mostly just dealt with the aftermath of TLJ.

Recently Finished

I’ve read a number of graphic novels in the last two weeks. First was Let Me In Your Window by Adam Ellis, a collection of short horror stories. Overall, it was a fun collection with some rather good creepy stories within, though some were rather weaker than others. It reminded me of things like Tales from the Cryptkeeper, so I’m happy it exists, even if some of them stretched credulity a little too much, and some of them were legitimately quite good. I’d like to read the first collection now. I also read The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg, which is an imagined, mythologized history of people who lived on Earth before our own history began. I enjoyed its folkloric approach to weaving its web of connected tales and the theology it crafted for its world while having elements that resemble stories familiar to us. Lastly, I read Absolute Wonder Woman: The Last Amazon by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman. Though I find the origin-story approach of jumping back and forth between past an present a little tiresome, I really loved this book and the way it introduced this version of Diana Prince. It’s a more hardcore interpretation of the character, having her raised by the witch Circe in the underworld, but she’s full of such heart and innate goodness that it was balanced out really nicely.

Reading Next

First and foremost, I’m going to read Absolute Wonder Woman: As My Mothers Made Me by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman next. I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow the second volume so soon after reading the first, so I’m going to make sure I get through it. After that, I have two more volumes of One-Punch Man on loan that I need to get through. Then, I will be embarking upon a more substantial undertaking: I’m going to start reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Maybe this isn’t the best of ideas as I’m in a bit of a reading slump at the moment, but I’m actually hoping that something a little more challenging will engage me better and help me get out of it. Time will tell, I just need to finish up these graphic novels first so I don’t let them run overdue.

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

 

WWW Wednesday – May 6, 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

Nothing at the moment! I am between books.

Recently Finished

I skipped last week because there wasn’t much to report, but since then I have managed to finish a few books. First, I was determined to read through Vermis III: Old Curses & Buried Horrors by Plastiboo, which seemed to follow a structure more similar to the second book but set things up like the first volume; namely, it told what seemed to be a singular character’s journey through these dark and strange lands with an ending unique to that character, yet it started once again with a selection of characters one presumes you’d be choosing from. It made things feel a little disjointed, as I wasn’t sure which it was truly going for at times. The settings, scenarios, and monsters contained within were truly inspiring though, and I continue to really love the art, so it didn’t detract from the experience too much. If a fourth volume is made, I hope things are taken in a somewhat different direction, however.

I also finished reading Dictionary of Fine Distinctions by Eli Burnstein. I don’t have much to say about it except that I loved it through and through. It’ll be great to have around as a reference book to recheck things, and I’m glad I read it cover to cover first so I could see all it had to offer.

Earlier this week I finished reading Absolute Batman Vol. 2: Abomination by Scott Snyder, Marcos Martín, and Nick Dragotta. I liked but didn’t love the first volume, as it had to juggle setting the stage for a new Batman origin story and tell of a compelling conflict in the present. With all of that groundwork laid, I really loved this book. I’ve not read many Bane stories before, but from what I’ve heard about how the character was presented at his inception, this seemed to me like a great return to form for a villain who is supposed to be one of Batman’s greatest rivals. Batman is so often presented as a man who can handle almost anything too, so it was great to see him put into such a vulnerable position by an adversary he is seemingly no match for physically or mentally. Seeing him overcome this challenge and the cost it incurred was sensational.

Reading Next

Next I plan to read Let Me In Your Window by Adam Ellis, a graphic novel collection of horror stories. There are some books I own that I really want to start reading, but I borrowed a bunch of library books like this one again that I really want to read and return first.

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