Tag: reading

New Books & Novel Discoveries (April 2025)

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Somehow, I went absolutely ham with buying books last month. I don’t think it’s an egregiously high number, all things considered, but it was enough to make me procrastinate writing this post. I didn’t mean to indulge myself this much, I just wound up having too many opportunities to pick up new books at decent prices. I’m once again concerned I forgot one or two, but I do believe all of the are presented below.

Let’s see the damage, shall we? I’m seriously running out of places to put these things.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – May 14, 2025

Ryan1 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

Nothing! I am between books at the moment.

Recently Finished

Yesterday I finished reading A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, the second Monk & Robot book. As it stands, I’ve read all current books in this series, and I assume there will be more as this was left fairly open-ended. I liked this book well enough, though admittedly a little less than the first one, which leaves things open for more but tells a fairly contained story, especially in comparison. This really feels like the conclusion of a middle section to a longer novel, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a potential third entry continues this trend of feeling like these novellas would perhaps work better as one book. I enjoy the more relaxed, introspective type of story this book is telling, but I find it a little strange how much the world doesn’t quite seem to make sense if you consider things a little more deeply. Still, it was an enjoyable character-driven jaunt, and I’d definitely read a third one.

Reading Next

As I said last week, I’m planning to read Dark Entries by Ian Rankin next, which is a John Constantine graphic novel, so that I can get my current library loans finished up. After that, I believe I will continue my current focus on completing series I’m in the middle of and finish up the Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel by starting Only Human, the third and final novel. Given the format of these books, I’m hoping I can get it done fairly quickly, assuming work doesn’t get too busy while I’m trying to get through it.

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

WWW Wednesday – May 7, 2025

Ryan1 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

On Monday, I started reading A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, the second Monk & Robot book. Unfortunately, it’s been something of a busy week with work so far, so I haven’t had a lot of time to read much more than about 20 pages of it. Still, I love how much this is picking up pretty much right where the first book left off, flowing together pretty seamlessly. As much as I like this, it does however highlight my suspicion that the entire narrative these books will cover could have been one novel instead of two novellas. At least I have the personal benefit of reading them back to back. It’s not wasting any time either, as Sibling Dex and Mosscap have already made their way into a town as part of the latter’s quest to learn about humanity.

Recently Finished

At the end of last week I finished reading Uncanny: The Origins of Fear by Junji Ito, the manga author’s autobiography. After getting a good amount of background on Ito’s upbringing and experiences getting into the industry, he spent a few chapters reminiscing about specific stories and breaking down his thought and design processes, which provided especially interesting insight. I’ve encountered this before in the afterwords of some of his books, but I was struck by how sincere and humble Ito is as an author and artist, unafraid to admit when he feels he could have developed something better or had to cut corners, as well as highlighting his own perceived shortcomings more generally. It was also amusing that he admits to often having an idea for a certain horrific image first and then constructing a story to get him to it, which is an observation I’ve made in the past when reading his stuff; it was oddly vindicating. This book has renewed my interest in his manga a little, so I may pick up some of the collections I let pass me by.

Reading Next

I’m not quite sure what novel I will read next, but I have a graphic novel from the library that I will read soon so I’m not hanging onto it for too long: Dark Entries by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell’Edera, a graphic novel about John Constantine. I’ve not read many books featuring Constantine, but Rankin has been on my radar since my aunt told me he’s one of her favourite mystery authors. I found this book after having a random browse of the graphic novel section at the library and it caught my interest enough to take it out.

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

WWW Wednesday – April 23, 2025

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

Last week I started reading Uncanny: The Origins of Fear by Junji Ito, the horror manga author’s autobiography. I don’t know why, but I really did assume this was more of a hybrid book with more graphic novel elements, but it really just has pictures. I have in fact committed to reading an autobiography, which I hadn’t planned on doing, but here we are. So far I’m really enjoying it, at 65 pages in, though I still feel like I’ve only just started it. It was interesting to learn that some of his earliest exposure to horror was thanks to his sisters’ shojo manga magazines (manga for teenage girls), which sometimes included horror stories. I would’ve thought horror would be confined purely to its own publications, but as a long-time horror fan and friend of women who love horror too, the idea of shojo magazines including horror sometimes makes a lot of sense to me.

Recently Finished

Last week I finished reading The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, an illustrated Discworld novella about Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde on an adventure to return fire to the gods (with interest) and the brave men boldly going where no one has gone before in order show up in time to stop them. It was funny to eventually realize that this book seems, at least partly, to be a vehicle for Pratchett to have the characters take a jaunt through space (even if it’s just orbiting the underside of A’Tuin the world turtle, with an unplanned stop on the Moon). It was a fascinating exercise in creating a plausible scenario and means for characters of this world to actually embark on such a journey, and I must say he did a stellar job in making it all plausible without fundamentally changing anything about this fantasy world. I still prefer the more traditional, full-length novels, but this was an excellent debut for Paul Kidby as illustrator to the series, who visually realizes the characters better than they ever have been before.

Reading Next

My only solid plans right now are to read A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers next, as I’ve mentioned in previous weeks, since I have to return that book eventually.

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

WWW Wednesday – April 16, 2025

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

I’m still making my way through The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, and I’m really surprised at how slow progress has been, what with how heavy it is on illustrations. It almost feels like a hybrid between a graphic novel and a novel, though it obviously leans much more toward the latter. I have had a bit less reading time this past week or so, however, as I haven’t even had a chance to read more of it since Friday. This is considered a Rincewind novel, but it really feels more like an ensemble. I really enjoyed a recent scene where he talks with Corporal Carrot, as I don’t believe they’ve ever crossed paths before; the main characters typically keep to their one sub-series rather than getting involved in the same ordeals. Their interaction was especially funny because it’s essentially a meeting of opposites, one being the ultimate pessimist and the other a determined optimist.

Recently Finished

Yesterday, I read through Life After Life by Joshua Barkman, the artist behind the False Knees web comics. This is the latest book collecting his “Kneesvember” comics, where he draws and posts a portion of the comic every day throughout the month of November. It’s a straightforward little tale about three chickadees in Montreal after humanity has died out for unknown reasons, embarking on a quest to find peanuts, a food they were only ever given by humans. It was a delightful little odyssey full of humour, peril, and heart. I have a particular affection for it because at the conservation area where I go for a weekly walk, I often hand-feed the chickadees, which are the very same species as the ones depicted here, I believe. Rest assured, when I feed them peanuts again I will be thinking of Pips, Fuzzie, and Patches.

Reading Next

I was considering buying this book, but as it turns out, Uncanny: The Origins of Fear by Junji Ito was available at the library, so I decided to just borrow it instead. Unlike typical Ito books, this is autobiographical, which is why it captured my interest better than yet more collections of his work, which I’ve been bit burnt out on for a while now. All the same, I’m looking forward to gaining more insight into his creative process and influences. I’ve still got a reservation on A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers coming in soon too, which I will start after I finish The Last Hero.

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

WWW Wednesday – April 9, 2025

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

Earlier this week, I started reading The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, the next novel in the Discworld series that I need to read. Like Faust Eric before it, this is an illustrated novella, so the pacing feels very different from what is typical for the series. I’m only about 40 pages in, which I feel doesn’t mean as much with how fewer words there are per page, but I’m really into the premise so far, as Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde are embarking on a quest that may just destroy the world, so the powers that be in Ankh-Morpork are scrambling to try and stop him. Despite how long it’s been, I’m really appreciating how much this is acknowledging the events of Interesting Times. What especially stands out are Paul Kidby’s gorgeous illustrations, which perfectly capture the characters like never before.

Recently Finished

In surprisingly short order I started and finished A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, a novella about a tea monk who sets off on their own into the wilderness to visit an old ruin and encounters a wild-built robot, a descendant of the machines who stepped away from humanity into the wilds centuries before, never to be contacted again. I really liked this book, it was enjoyably brisk, but I can’t help feeling that a novel’s worth of ideas was trimmed down to novella length. It built a really interesting and seemingly elaborate world and characters that had deep motivations that were left more nebulous or glossed over when I would have enjoyed them being fleshed out more. I felt like I wasn’t given enough time to steep in it. Considering how quick of a read it was, I’m motivated to start the next one, especially since I’m anticipating a story line this one didn’t get to, so I’ve already put in a library request for it.

Reading Next

As I said, I want to read A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers next, the second Monk and Robot book. Beyond that, I do not have anymore concrete plans.

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

New Books & Novel Discoveries (March 2025)

Ryan1 Comment

Well, I haven’t left this post too terribly late this month, but I probably should’ve had it up last week. I just felt the itch for other things, I suppose. The only other source of hesitation is the belief that I’m once again forgetting some book or other that I purchased and just hefted onto the pile. I’m pretty confident that I got everything, though. It’s a weird month, because despite the number of books, it feels like I didn’t actually get very many.

Let’s see just what the heck I’m talking about.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – April 2, 2025

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

I’m really close to finishing Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson, the second book in her Trickster trilogy. In fact, I expect I’ll be finishing it later today when I make some time to read. I’ve really been enjoying this book, which hasn’t felt its length at all. Part of me wishes it was a little more plot-driven, but I’m really enjoying its continued focus on Jared figuring his life out and becoming part of a community with his extended family, as well as him embracing the supernatural forces that surround him, despite his best efforts to ignore them. Slowly but surely, they’ve become commonplace for him, despite his resistance, and I’m curious what that’ll mean for him going forward, as so often he is warned about such spirits, but they seem benign and even friendly, at least to him. Things have reached a fever pitch from more human threats where I left off, and I’m eager to see how it all concludes.

Recently Finished

The other day I read Frogcatchers by Jeff Lemire, a graphic novel about a man who wakes up trapped in a surreal hotel. Though I thought there were some really good creative choices made with the illustrations, utilizing colour and sketchy abstraction to signify the difference between reality and dreamlike spaces, I thought the story overall was fairly pedestrian. I certainly don’t regret reading it, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge how its depiction of catching frogs in a creek resonated with me and reminded me of my own childhood, but overall it felt like a sort of story I’ve read/seen many times before. Though it’s Lemire’s own spin on the idea, it all felt too stereotypical and lacked a little something more to elevate it beyond that.

Reading Next

I’ve received my reserved copy of A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers from the library finally, so I expect I’ll be starting that later this week.

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

WWW Wednesday – March 26, 2025

Ryan1 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

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.