WWW Wednesday – October 27, 2021

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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

Salems LotI was finally able to start reading ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King later last week, though I’m only about 50 pages in at the moment. I’m sad that I won’t be finishing it before Halloween, but I expected that possibility already. I’m busier than normal, and in previous years this would often happen anyway. I’m enjoying the book so far, though it’s taking its time at the moment. I didn’t realize there was a “chapter two switcheroo” so to speak, with the prologue taking place after what I can only assume is at least a huge chunk of the story. Though I know what it’s building to already, I’m enjoying the mystique being built around the Marsten House concurrently with the arrival of its mysterious new resident.


Recently Finished

The Grip of ItIn the middle of last week I finished reading The Grip of It by Jac Jemc, though regretfully I’ve not had the time to finish up a review for it just yet. I’m expecting I will have one up by Friday, just in time for Halloween. With all said and done, I did really enjoy this novel, and a prediction of mine from last week came true. It was specifically that the story would amount to something much more up to interpretation than concrete that came true, which is the lesser of two evils, I suppose. Upon reflection, the ways in which it leaves things up to interpretation are actually quite clever, because you cannot simply reduce everything to the perspective characters being unreliable. It’s a book I would love to have a long, in-person conversation about, but I don’t know anybody who has read it yet.

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (2)I also read through the graphic novel adaptation of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by I.N.J. Culbard, adapting the short story by H.P. Lovecraft. I was right, I did enjoy this story much more visually than I did Lovecraft’s prose, but there is definitely something lost when considered by itself rather than the culmination of a number of Dream Cycle stories. It helps that I’ve read them, of course, but I wish this book had instead been a part of something bigger. This isn’t even the first Lovecraft story to involve Randolph Carter, nor the numerous denizens of the dream lands that he encounters. Still, it is a worthwhile read and far more accessible than his prose, so it’s worth checking out if you’re at all curious about his work.


Reading Next

A Gathering of GhostsWith all of this consideration for Halloween going on, I actually hadn’t given much thought toward what I want to read next. With autumn still in full swing and myself continuing to be in a horror mood, however, I think I will make good on my old September plans and start reading A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland next. When this will be is hard to say, since I will probably be reading ‘Salem’s Lot for the next little while, but hopefully I can push for more reading time instead of other leisure activities to pick up the slack. Easier said than done, in practice, but we’ll see.

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

WWW Wednesday – October 20, 2021

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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

The Grip of ItI’m a significant amount into The Grip of It by Jac Jemc now, thanks to some free time over the weekend. I love the way the story is broken up in the small chapters, as it’s easy to say “just one more chapter” and allows for easy stopping points when necessary. I am really loving this haunted house story, which hasn’t reigned in the continually escalating sense of dread that it started off with. What I find most especially effective is that scenes that read more dreamlike are offset by others that are so matter of fact, often bringing in other characters to make events more reliable, but ultimately raising a lot more questions. My only concern right now is that all of this will lead to either something woefully open to interpretation or something dumb. It has done right by me so far, though, so I’m optimistic.


Recently Finished

Nothing this week, I focused pretty much all of my attention on The Grip of It. I expect I should have two books here by next week, though.


Reading Next

Salems LotWith Halloween approaching like a speeding ghost-locomotive, I will have to make myself read The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by I.N.J. Culbard sooner rather than later. With The Grip of It nearly finished, however, I’m also going to start reading ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. It’s a novel I’ve heard a lot about, but I really don’t know the way the story unfolds. The idea of a Dracula analog moving to and disrupting a small town community in the United States sounds really fascinating to me, though, and I hope it has some surprise scares in store for me too. As a bonus, it’ll be nice to see the origin story of Father Callahan.

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

WWW Wednesday – October 13, 2021

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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

The Grip of ItEarlier 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

JingoI’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

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (2)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 – February 5, 2020

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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

Here (away from it all)I only managed to get myself to read the first chapter of Here (away from it all) by Polly Hope last night, so I’m only just getting started. That inaugural chapter was an interesting one, as it has done a lot to set the tone for the story so far. It was a bit of a “chapter two switcheroo,” the first chapter taking place long after everything has gone badly. It’s written in a very stream-of-consciousness style that did a good job of balancing exposition and having the perspective character’s thoughts interrupt the narration. There’s a division between the island’s residents and the tourists, which I’m looking forward to seeing fleshed out. Were they cooperating first, or did the native islanders shun them as soon as things took a turn? Time will tell.


Recently Finished

The Year of the FloodI finished reading The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood over the weekend. I should have a review up soon; I’ve been relishing my days off a little too much to have one finished already. I’m surprised by how much I ended up loving this book. I figured it would be good—Atwood is no slouch—but I really enjoyed the corners of its world this book explored. With all said and done there were a few details that did nag at me, as certain developments are uncannily centred around a small group of people despite it being a global pandemic. At the time I let it go for the sake of the drama, but it has stuck with me as a negative since. All in all, though, I’m excited to see where this is heading with the final book.

The Case of Charles Dexter WardI also read through the graphic novel adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by I.N.J. Culbard. I feel this book was nearly perfect as an adaptation, preserving the story as it was originally told while adding its own little details in the visuals that flesh out it even more. It would have had the same problem as the original novella for me, had I read this first, but the format made it all much more palatable. I really liked the art style too, which was more on the cartoonish side without detracting from the tone of the story. There was an older-fashioned style to it that really worked for me.


Reading Next

I need to get back to my yearly to-read list for my next book, but as I write this I cannot decide what that book should be. I swear, I’m staring a hole into this list right now and nothing speaks to me. I’m not sure if I want to read MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood next to finish up the trilogy, or read something else a little different first before coming back to it. I guess I’ll just have to leave you all in suspense for now.

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