Tag: Lindsay Ellis

Top 5 Books I Read in 2021

Ryan3 Comments

This is hardly an original thought, but it feels especially surreal to me that 2021 has already passed us by. I’m not sure I like how much recent events have me being hyper-conscious of the passage of each year. It’s certainly been an eventful year personally, however, with some significant life changes. My second job, which has me doing a fair amount of freelance editing on a regular basis, is giving me a lot of valuable experience, but reading lagged behind as a result too.

Nevertheless, I can still look back at the year and consider, as I do every year, my top five books among all that I read. This is not ranked in any particular order, these are just my five favourite reads from 2021.Read More »

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Book Review – Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

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Axiom's End

Axiom’s End, the first book in the Noumena series, is the debut novel of author and video essayist Lindsay Ellis. A science fiction tale about first contact, the story is set in an alternate history 2007, shortly after a document known as “The Fremda Memo” has been leaked online, which seems to confirm that the U.S. government has had first contact with extraterrestrials. This leak was only a short while after a supposed UFO crash-landed in California, lending credence to what the document suggests.

Cora Sabino, a hapless college dropout trying to make her way in the world, is the daughter of Nils Ortega, the infamous whistleblower-in-hiding who leaked this world-changing memo. She and her family want nothing more than to sever their ties with Nils, who has routinely put his “transparency advocacy” before his family. His notoriety makes that impossible, however, keeping the eyes of his fans, the media, and the FBI on them all too often. After yet another impact event has people breathing down their necks like never before, Cora’s loose connections to it all bring her face-to-face with a terrifying alien visitor.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – September 15, 2021

Ryan4 Comments
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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

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 EndOver 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 GhostsAny 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

Ryan7 Comments
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

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 EndI’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

Animals of a Bygone EraThis 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

JingoI 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

Ryan4 Comments
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

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

Axiom's EndSince 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 GhostsI 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

Ryan2 Comments
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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

Axiom's EndOver 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

SensorOver 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.