WWW Wednesday – March 26, 2025

March 26, 2025 Ryan1 Comment

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

Making good on my intentions last week, I started reading Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson, the second novel in the author’s Trickster trilogy. I’m a little over 130 pages in at the moment. Despite it having been nearly three years since I read the first book, it has done a good job of easing me back into where Jared is at in life and the state of his relationships. All the same, I wish it was a little fresher in my mind. Though this is far more magical realism than a typical fantasy, I’m enjoying how this book continues to play with the fantasy trope of secretly having magical parents by having Jared realistically struggle with coming to grips with the otherworldly and sincerely just wanting to get his more mundane life on track. With him striking out on his own more in this book and connecting with extended family he’s never met, I’m curious to see what upheaval might be in store for him.

Recently Finished

Yesterday I read through Berserk Vol. 42 by Studio Gaga with Kōji Mori, the first volume in the series that has not been worked on by creator Kentaro Miura due to his unfortunate passing. Before resolving to wait for this volume, I had tried reading translations online and had worryingly found it to be quite bad. I maintained cautious optimism, however, and decided to just wait for an official publication. I’m happy to report that while it doesn’t feel precisely the same as Miura’s work, this volume was a very worthy continuation, especially in terms of the illustrations, which do not look dramatically different at all. I really liked how this volume finally puts Guts at odds with the reality of his adversary; the methods he’s always relied on simply will not work, at least not conventionally. I’m excited to see how this will develop and eagerly await the next volume. Who knows when that will come.

Reading Next

As it turns out, I have a few library books sitting in the wings waiting for me, so the next few reads will not be from my personal collection. For one, I decided to just go for it and requested Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, which is currently on its way to my closest library. I’ve been wanting to read it for a while but have balked at the price of it compared to its length, so I think this is the better compromise all around. I also found a random graphic novel at the library which immediately caught my interest, Frogcatcthers by Jeff Lemire, which I will probably read by next week. I really liked Lemire’s graphic novel Essex County and look forward to something a little more surreal.

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

WWW Wednesday – March 22, 2023

March 22, 2023 RyanLeave a comment

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 finally started reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, though I’ve only gotten about 30 pages in so far, covering two chapters, which is at least enough to make a distinct impression. So far, I’m a little worried that this will be a bit of slog. The first chapter was definitely more interesting, as we are introduced to some of the insufferable people Patrick Bateman keeps as company, himself included, to a lesser extent. A bunch of superficial jerks being superficial jerks, though I’m interested in how Patrick himself seems disillusioned by it while still being completely embroiled in it. The second chapter was so much about Patrick’s morning routine and all of the products he uses to maintain his looks, with which he’s obsessed. I’ve been told a lot of the book is focused on details like this, though I’m hoping it’s more tolerable as a whole throughout than it was in this chapter.

Recently Finished

Berserk 41 Unlike last week, where I did not post because I had no real updates to share, I’ve engaged in veritable blitz of volumes of Berserk by Kentaro Miura. I read four of them in total—38, 39, 40, and 41—which has caught me up completely with the volumes currently published in English. It’s a bittersweet completion, however, as volume 41 marked the last manuscript penned by Miura himself before his untimely passing. This volume was especially enjoyable, full of touching moments and heartache, as the characters are finally at a perfect place for quiet introspection and more restful growth. Volumes had been consistently good up until this point, but a little unremarkable; 41 had exceptional payoff to the characters’ hard-fought journey, with substantial emotional stakes added to keep things compelling. It also included a bombshell of an ending that has me eager for more, if we do indeed get a continuation of this story in some way.

I also finished reading Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss over the weekend, and my enthusiasm for it kind of tapered off by the ending. I think this was due to the fact that at a certain point, I’m not sure when, the focus seemed to shift away from The Simpsons too much. Especially in the final chapters, this book became about Mike Reiss’s career, and we get quite a lot of information on his work after departing from the show for a while. It still managed to hold more interest for the most part, but I did not pick up this book to read about Mike Reiss. I picked up this book to read about production on The Simpsons. When it’s talking about that, it’s quite good. A lot of it doesn’t talk about that, and it ultimately suffers a little as a result. Reiss’s writing style came off as increasingly hacky the further I got too, which hurt it more so.

Reading Next

Right now, I don’t have especially concrete plans on what I want to read next. Finishing Berserk was a big deal for me, and I think I want a little breather from comics after pushing through those last four volumes. I do have some ideas about what book I want to pick up next, but I need to properly get into a groove with American Psycho first before I can look that far ahead.

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

WWW Wednesday – March 1, 2023

March 1, 2023 RyanLeave a comment

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 still reading Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss, and I’m continuing to enjoy it a lot. There are insights I really hadn’t even considered before, like how Ralph was not initially written as Chief Wiggum’s son, he was just a kid in Lisa’s class. They decided to connect the two characters at a later time, simply because they could. Though the writing is funny and I’m enjoying it revealing the history of one of my favourite shows growing up, it is really great just for how it works to depict the creative process in general. So much of what we now consider iconic happened by accident, it really goes to show that it often isn’t a matter of a singular creative genius behind everything.

Recently Finished

Berserk 37 Over the weekend I read volume 37 of Berserk by Kentaro Miura, which I’m happy to report finished up with the things I was getting a little tired of. The sea god is good and dead, and it seems the story will be moving forward soon. I’m surprised I’m not disappointed that it didn’t move forward even more, however, as a good chunk of the volume includes a flashback to something that happened to Guts when he was still rather young, working as a mercenary with no direction in his life. It essentially depicts an early brush between him and the spiritual realm through a sprite connected to a flower in a jail cell, who saves his life. It feels like they were filler chapters, but I sincerely enjoyed them as a lower-stakes interlude from what we’re used to in the series now.

Reading Next

Other than more Berserk, I’m still not sure what novel I will be starting next. However, I do think I ought to get myself reading Galatea by Madeline Miller. I wanted to read that short story book back in December but never got around to it. I’m sure it wouldn’t take me too long, so I really should make sure to read it soon.

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

WWW Wednesday – February 22, 2023

February 22, 2023 Ryan1 Comment

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 managed to make a pretty decent start at Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss, which tells the author’s history and experiences working on The Simpsons for over 30 years. I’m nearly 100 pages in, and I’m really enjoying how light and fun it is to read. If I play my cards right, I should have this book finished up relatively soon. It’s quite something to hear how arduous the process of putting an episode together is, even just as a numbered list of steps. It really hammers home how there is no room for ego in production, as at best only remnants of an original script exist by the time the episode is complete. I’m also learning about fan speculation I was never aware of before, such as one of the writers of the show, John Swartzwelder, not being a real person (he just doesn’t like doing interviews or DVD commentary). I’m not sure I’ll have huge amounts to say each week about this, but I’m looking forward to reading more and more of it.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I took advantage of some unexpected reading time to go through a couple of volumes of manga. The first one was the second volume of Manga Diary of a Male Porn Star by Kaeruno Erefante. I continued to find it to be an amusing read, especially in how it depicts the realities of working in that industry and the less glamorous expectations and pressures put on performers, but the novelty also wore off a bit compared to the first book. I suppose this goes with it being semi-autobiographical rather than focused on plot. At least I’m only borrowing these, so casually keeping up doesn’t feel like a poor investment. I don’t think it helps that it takes a while for a new volume to come out too, with the build up only really leading to more of the same. I’m not sure if it could have been done, but I wonder if this series would have benefited from being put out as one complete work.

I also read through the 36th volume of Berserk by Kentaro Miura. Guts and his compatriots continued to battle the nightmarish tentacles of the sea god, with Guts eventually going into the belly of the beast to try and put an end to things once and for all. It was consistently good, but I’m getting a little fatigued. I’ve had enough of Guts jumping around killing hoards of something or other. I just want their journey to progress now. It was nice to see some growth in Farnese’s abilities, but I’m still hoping this wraps up near the start of the next book. It feels like I’ve been watching a vicious cycle on repeat; the plot needs to move forward more for the core group. At least this promises a definitive end to the threat they’re currently facing. Maybe I will enjoy the actual conclusion of this more than the toil along the way.

Reading Next

Other than cracking open some more Berserk to keep up with my recent commitment to finishing the series by April, I don’t have any other new reading plans. I’m just going to stick with Springfield Confidential on its own for now, rather than my previous thought of it being supplemental to a novel.

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

WWW Wednesday – February 15, 2023

February 15, 2023 RyanLeave a comment

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 actually between books at the moment. Go me.

Recently Finished

I managed to have some good reading time this weekend, and I used it to finish Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle. I’m happy to report that the twist that I was afraid was coming did not in fact happen, so things did not go in a disappointing direction for me. I’m actually finding it a little hard to pin down quite how I feel about the book, though, as I can’t say I was deeply enthralled or in love with it, but it had the more unique effect of altering my state of mind in the wake of finishing it. Perhaps this isn’t that uncommon, but it’s rarer that the feeling isn’t something more joyful. It’s something altogether more poignant. I also feel like I didn’t fully “get” the novel, if you take my meaning. Some things definitely resonated with me, but I found the stream of consciousness a little hard to follow at times. I’m going to need some more time to reflect on it before reviewing.

Paper Girls 3 I also won’t have to eat my glasses this week like I threatened myself last week, as I also made to time read the third volume of Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughn and Cliff Chiang over the weekend. This marks the end of reading through all the volumes of this series that I currently own, so I’m going to pick up more this year so I can get it finished up. As it turns out, I’m halfway through the series now, and I’m feeling especially hooked by this point. I really like the way this story explores time travel, specifically having only one timeline rather than branches. Each member of the core cast has had a good amount of focus by this point too, so I’m pretty invested in all of them. They’re handling themselves pretty well, all things considered, but I love how they still feel like they’re just flying by the seat of their pants. Tentatively, I’d like to commit to finishing this series before the end of the year.

Reading Next

Springfield Confidential Speaking of reading commitments, one I decided to make over the past week was to finish the Berserk series by Kentaro Miura by April, which is when I will post my next blog update about reading challenges. I’m playing at them a lot looser this year and decided I would rather take on goals as they come to me rather than set up a bunch in January that I may be less enthused about come June. Since I’m not in the middle of any novels anymore, I suppose I should have made up my mind exactly what I want to read next, but I have not. So, I guess I’m going to start reading Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss in the meantime, as that’s been at the top of my mental to-read list for a while now.

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

WWW Wednesday – May 18, 2022

May 18, 2022 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

SleepingGiants I’ve managed to make some decent progress in Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel since my drought last week. I’m coming close to having it finished, I just reached part five last night, which is nearly 80% of the way there. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but this novel really does a great job of balancing more exciting, escapist elements with real-world consequences. I would’ve thought a novel about building an ancient alien mech shaped like a person like this would have gotten pilots into the cockpit and fighting a lot sooner, but this story is really well considered. Since last week their inability to understand how it works had disastrous consequences, causing a substantial halt on research for the characters for the sake of preventing global war. I wonder if the trilogy preserves this tone throughout, or if it will turn a little Pacific Rim even by the end of this book.

Recently Finished

Berserk 35 Over the weekend I read through volume 35 of Berserk by Kentaro Miura, which I enjoyed as usual but had me thinking about everything with a little less enthusiasm. The reason is that the story shifted focus back to Guts and company, which is great, but things kind of just boiled down to Guts swinging his sword around at a bunch of monsters and needing to use the Berserker Armour again, putting his mental state at risk. This is all well and good, but it all feels a little too similar to everything that just happened before they embarked upon their sea voyage. It’s not terrible by any means, I guess I’m just disappointed that things feel a little too formulaic at the moment. Perhaps this current skirmish will have compelling consequences and I just need to get there.

Reading Next

At this point, I keep thinking I already made up my mind about what I’m going to read next between Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss and Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson; I keep assuming I’d already decided on the latter, but apparently I still hadn’t made up my mind last week. I guess this means my subconscious chose for me, so I’m going to be reading Son of a Trickster next. Now I just need to settle on another comic to read next.

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

WWW Wednesday – May 11, 2022

May 11, 2022 RyanLeave a comment

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

Things turned out rather busy this past week, so I unfortunately did not find any time to read further into Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. Here’s hoping I’ll turn that around this coming week.

Recently Finished

Berserk 34 I did however find some time to read through a volume of Berserk by Kentaro Miura last night. It continued the conflict between Griffith along with his demonic Band of the Hawk and the newly transformed Emperor of Kushan. It was really interesting to see humans and monstrous Apostles fighting together against a common enemy. I don’t trust Griffith, but I do wonder what this new world he seems to be forming will be like, if the fantastic creatures spawning will be entirely hostile or something the world can adapt to, and if he plans to bring all such creatures as well as people under his domain. I’m probably going to read the next volume soon, as I’ve got it on hand and I have many unanswered questions.

Reading Next

I still haven’t made up my mind whether I want to read Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson next or Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss. I’m sure I’ll make up my mind as I get closer to finishing Sleeping Giants. As I said, I intend to read volume 35 of Berserk soon as well, which will also help push me along with my Goodreads challenge this year. Other than those, I’m hoping I can get a review written for The Crossroads at Midnight by next week. I don’t review every comic that I read, but this graphic novel is definitely worthy of it.

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 – June 9, 2021

June 9, 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

I’m currently only 15% of the way through Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, the 20th Discworld novel, so the story is really only getting started. I am loving the setup so far, as I wasn’t completely aware that what Death and his granddaughter Susan will be dealing with is, essentially, the assassination of Santa Claus (named the Hogfather on the Disc). The assassin Mr. Teatime is spearheading the plot, and while it has yet to be executed upon, he’s so elegantly deranged I can only assume he will be successful, at least at first. He’s actually been the greater focus of the story so far, so I look forward to learning more of what Death and Susan specifically get up to. I’m weirdly familiar with this book, but in a vague way, so I don’t actually know a lot of what precisely goes down.

Recently Finished

Over the last week I’ve mostly been reading volumes of Berserk by Kentaro Miura, specifically finishing Vol. 28 and then making much shorter work of Vol. 29. I’m continuing to enjoy it a lot, though it feels a bit like its spinning its wheels at the moment. I had expected they would have made more progress trying to get to Puck’s homeland, but Vol. 28 was a lot of just fighting crocodiles and then a sea monster. The last few chapters of that volume did have some good character stuff with Schierke the witch, though, which bled into 29, where there was then some good stuff with Farnese. I’m realizing that lately Guts goes through stages of fighting and being hurt, with a lot of character focus going to his companions.

Reading Next

Alien River of Pain I’m still going to read Berserk Vol. 30 before I even push hard toward finishing Hogfather, but I still have my next novel decided anyway. I need to get further along with my challenges, darn it. In keeping with reading a holiday(ish) book out of season, I’m going to read Alien: River of Pain by Christopher Golden, which tells of the events at the colony of Hadley’s Hope that the marines are deployed to in the film Aliens. I read the first two books in this trilogy around Halloween, but I’ve realized that I’ve set myself up to read so many horror books this year that I don’t want to read yet another Alien book during the spooky season this year.

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