WWW Wednesday – January 5, 2022

January 5, 2022 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

Nothing at the moment! I’m taking a little break, and I’m still deciding what I want my line-up of books for the year to be.

Recently Finished

As I said last week, I ended up doing a blitz of reading before the New Year. I came up one book short of my goal, but that still amounted to a good handful done. To save on space, I’m going to format this section a little differently than I normally do.

The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino turned around a lot by the end. The stream of consciousness, abstract style of stories that had been vexing me were replaced by more stories done in the vein of those found earlier in the collection, which I found a lot more accessible. My feelings on the book still aren’t especially high, but I feel better about it than I was afraid I was going to. There will be a review to come soon.

Deserter by Junji Ito was a great little collection of some of the author’s earlier stories. The art was a lot rougher around the edges than I was used to, but that was more than forgivable. A tendency I dislike in some of his other stories is a compulsion to over-explain the outlandish ideas that his stories use. These had plenty of out-there ideas, but it was kept appreciably simple, with the stories more focused on characters dealing with these dilemmas than trying to explain why they are happening. I will try to have a review up for this soon too.

I also read through The Immortal Hulk: The Weakest One There Is by Al Ewing et al. I haven’t got much to say about it, other than the fact that I continue to love this series. It was a lot more action focused, but the horror visuals were great and I’m excited to see everything will resolve with Banner so compromised. One of the alternate Hulk personalities had been dealing with using Banner’s body the whole series so far, but he has finally returned to his Grey Hulk form, which I’m excited to see more of in the next volume.

I also finished Hope Is the Thing With Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, which took my a shameful amount of time to pick back up, considering I started it in June and then just didn’t ever pick it up to read occasionally like I had planned. There were definitely some poems that stood out to me nicely, but it wasn’t really for me either. It’s not something I’d ever read all the way through again, but it was still nice to go out of my comfort zone a little.

Reading Next

Thrawn Treason I don’t really know what I’m going to read next, because like I said, I haven’t really outlined what I want to read throughout 2022 yet. I have been considering starting The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett, since it is a leftover Discworld book I meant to read last year, but I haven’t gotten a copy yet, so I probably won’t start that first. I have been meaning to finish the new Thrawn trilogy by finally getting to Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn, however, so perhaps I will start that finally. It’s been a while since I’ve read a Star Wars novel, so it should make for some fun, lighter reading after that blitz.

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

WWW Wednesday – December 29, 2021

December 29, 2021 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

Though I took a small break from posting last week for the holidays, I’m sorry to say that I haven’t finished The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino since I last updated, though I’m a decent 272 pages in now. Finding reading time has been harder than I was expecting, but to be honest, I’m also having increased difficulty with reading this book. A number of the early stories were pretty easy to get into, if a little dry, but many of the last several have been far too abstract and/or stream-of-consciousness for their own good. I’ve sincerely struggled to follow along with a few of them now, and at this point I just want to reach the end to get it over with. Hopefully my feelings can turn around a little by the end, but so far it’s looking like this book will be a disappointment overall.

Recently Finished

Nothing! I’ve done a terrible job of staying on top of things, and now I’ve got a lot to do in a small amount of time.

Reading Next

Immortal Hulk The Weakest One There Is I’ve got a lot of reading left to do and only three days left to do it. At the very least, I want to finish Cosmicomics to complete my to-read list, but I will try to power through Hope is the Thing With Feathers as well. Other than those two, I want to read some comics too, which will be easier overall. Perhaps next week will have a substantial pile of finished books, we’ll see. This last week and a bit has punctuated the year with some unexpected stress for me, so it’s just been a bit more difficult to make time for reading. I hope everybody else has had a safe and happy holidays, at any rate.

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

WWW Wednesday – December 8, 2021

December 8, 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

Nothing! I’m in between books at the moment.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I managed to finish reading the bulk of A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland, though I didn’t officially finish it until Monday night because I insisted on reading the Historical Notes and Glossary at the back as well. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, with everything coming together in an excellent way by the end. The only shortcoming, which I’ve touched on before, is how slow the story is. The more thoughtful pace was definitely great for world-building and developing its characters, but it could also feel drawn out at times. So, the slower pace may turn off some people, but it’s otherwise a great historical read that incorporates mysticism of the time and place into the world. I’ll try to have a full review up soon, schedule permitting.

Reading Next

So here we are, with five more books to complete on my Goodreads challenge and one more on my main to-read list for 2021. I will be starting The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino as soon as possible, though hopefully it won’t take too long to read. It’s a short story collection, but hopefully that will help make the whole thing more digestible. I still intend to read The Immortal Hulk, Vol. 9: The Weakest One There Is by Al Ewing et al. soon, as well as finally finish Hope is the Thing with Feathers, which leaves two more books I need to read in order to meet my goal. They will surely be graphic novels, it’s just a matter of picking which ones.

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

WWW Wednesday – December 1, 2021

December 1, 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

I only managed about another 60 pages of A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland, and I’m honestly feeling a little at a loss for words on what to say about it. A lot of the conflicts established early on were fairly low-key, though promising something more climactic later on. In this vein, however, the story has gotten a little repetitive from time to time as these issues are reiterated. It has done a great job of building tension though too, and I can’t help but wonder if certain aspects will erupt into a phantasmagoria in stark contrast to the bleakness of the world so far. Either way, some more recent events have been a grisly portents of things too come. I wonder just how much horror will come into play here.

Recently Finished

Technically, I finished reading Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus by Chester Brown, a graphic novel that meditates on prostitution and disobedience in the Bible. I say technically because I’ve gotten past the Afterword and Acknowledgements, but there’s an extensive Notes section at the back that I want to read through too, so I’m not finished with it just yet. Though as a graphic novel it was an enjoyable read, it was also clearly written with more academic intent than wholly creative. The Afterword is really necessary to put the whole thing into proper context and understand where Brown is coming from, especially as I’m someone who knows very little about Christianity in practice. The main bulk of it was a rather quick read, and even as someone outside of the belief system, it was a rather fascinating interpretation of these stories.

Reading Next

The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino is still in my not-too-distant future, but I’ve still got far too much unfinished business first. In the meantime, however, I will get to more graphic novels. The next will be The Immortal Hulk, Vol. 9: The Weakest One There Is by Al Ewing et al. I bought a digital version of this volume a few days ago thanks to a sale and I’m looking forward to continuing this series after the grisly note the last book left on.

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

WWW Wednesday – August 11, 2021

August 11, 2021August 11, 2021 Ryan4 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

Hellboy The God Machine I really wanted to have finished Hellboy: The God Machine by Thomas Sniegoski by now, but you know how inconsistent I can be with those goals. I’ve wavered a little on the reading quotas this past week, so I’m blaming it on that. I should reassert those to get back on track. Regardless, I’m happy to report that there really is something to this Hellboy novel, compared to the others. The villains are really intriguing, and it’s made the wise choice of giving our titular, big red hero a more diminished role. It’s also taking a lot of inspiration from the real-world story of John Murray Spear and the Association of Electricizers, which involved the construction of “The New Motor,” a supposed mechanical messiah. It’s a wild story and it’s been fun to see how that idea has been morphed into something more unnerving and apocalyptic.

I also made a little progress on Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson last night, reading through the first section of her second series of poems. Sometimes I absorb very little while reading, it varies from poem to poem. Some of it is lovely, but it also makes me feel dumb. I’m thinking poetry like this may not be for me.

Recently Finished

Immortal Hulk The Keeper of the Door Over the weekend I read through The Immortal Hulk: The Keeper of the Door by Al Ewing et al, the eighth volume in the series. Once again I am reminded of how much I love this series, and I can’t believe I haven’t cracked open a volume since 2020. One of these days I’m going to have to read through them all over a shorter period of time. There was a great blend of physical and psychological horror in this book, as The Leader actively puts his plans in motion. A lot is taking place within mindscapes, not reality, but I really have to wonder about the fate of some of the characters. I’m surprised by how graphic some of the visuals were in this volume too. I hope the next volume comes out soon, if it hasn’t already.

Reading Next

Sensor In a surprise twist, as I forgot that it was coming out soon, I received my copy of Sensor by Junji Ito last week, the newest translated book by the horror manga author. So I’m definitely going to start reading this really soon. My expectations have been tempered the more of his stories I’ve read, but I’m nevertheless excited by the fact that I know very little about this book. It seems to be a singular story too, which I typically prefer. He does better work when he gives an idea room to grow.

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

WWW Wednesday – August 4, 2021

August 4, 2021August 4, 2021 Ryan4 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 happy to report that I’m between books. More on that in a moment. I’ve once again left Hope is the Thing with Feathers: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson to languish for another week. I guess that reading surge was a lot shorter than I was hoping. I’ll pick it back up again soon, maybe. There’s always hope.

Recently Finished

It almost didn’t happen, but last night I managed to power through and finish Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I did want it finished before the end of July, but that become a physical impossibility over the weekend. Oh well, I’m at least happy I have it done for today’s post. I’m in a weird spot with this book, because it really does feel like I’ve read a slightly abridged version of the story I beheld in the miniseries. Since it came after, of course, the miniseries is really more of an expanded version of events, but I’m working backwards here. So, as I said last week, it didn’t have much in the way of surprises in store for me. My only real gripe, though, is that I like Aziraphale and Crowley the best and they are featured noticeably less in the book. Otherwise, as expected, I thought the book was fantastic.

Reading Next

Immortal Hulk The Keeper of the Door What is this, three weeks in a row I’ve talked about reading Hellboy: The God Machine by Thomas Sniegoski next? Well, I still intend to do it. There’s not much more I can say about that. Honestly, I’m mostly wracking my brain about what comics I want to read next. I suppose the easiest option, it has just now occurred to me as I write this, is to read the next volume of The Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing et al, which I bought a couple of months ago. So there, the next book I finish will likely be The Keeper of the Door. It has been too long since I continued that series.

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

WWW Wednesday – December 2, 2020

December 2, 2020 Ryan8 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

As of last night I’ve gotten just over 100 pages into Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, the 18th Discworld novel. Surprisingly, I’ve found this novel a little slower-going than a lot of the previous books in the series. Despite how far I am into the book, I don’t feel I have a full grasp of what the story will be about just yet. Nevertheless, I am really enjoying the introduction of Agnes Nitt, a character with a good head on her shoulders that would make for a great witch if not for her desire to be a singer. The only thing I’m a little iffy about with her is how much the book likes to make fun of her weight. It doesn’t feel incongruous with how Discworld stories are told, but it has happened with a frequency that has started to feel a little mean-spirited. I do enjoy how she is actually characterized, though, so perhaps it’s just me.

Recently Finished

Over the weekend I finished reading Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. I’m not over-the-moon about the book, but I really enjoyed it as a solid reading experience. The problem of the Then/Now story line still persisted, with the “Then” story being less interesting, which I can attribute to the fact that it was connected to the Clone Wars itself. So, while it did have some surprises in store by the end, ultimately I knew that the events of this story would be of no consequence to the greater war. “Now”, on the other hand, is a side story taking place in the Imperial era but unconnected to the war with the rebels, with my only foreknowledge being that Vader and Thrawn must survive, keeping the stakes of everything else appreciably higher. I should have a review up for this novel soon.

I also read through The Immortal Hulk: Hulk is Hulk by Al Ewing et al, which reminded me of just how much I love this series. I wish I’d been able to read it a little sooner, in fact, as it was a direct continuation of the action from the end of the previous volume, which introduced a new villain. In this, Hulk’s very identity becomes compromised as an alien monster who, on the behalf of the Roxxon corporation, alters everyone’s memories of what the Hulk even is. It wrapped up a little too neatly at the end for me, but nonetheless had some great exploration of the Hulk’s various personalities within his mindscape, as well as some genuinely harrowing moments that left me shocked to remember this is a mainline series about the character.

Reading Next

I’ve got a good handful of books to choose from next, so I shouldn’t be paralyzed by choice when the time comes. That being said, I haven’t quite made up my mind yet, but I’ve still got a good bit of Maskerade left to read anyway. I will likely reading Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren by Charles Soule as my next comic book read, though, which should be fun.

I wish I’d gotten this up earlier today, but I was much too tired after my night shift. I ought to adjust when I write these.

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

WWW Wednesday – November 25, 2020

November 25, 2020 Ryan14 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

Thrawn Alliances I’m about 69% of the way through Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn, which is nice, though I wanted to have it finished by now, so not quite nice enough. I’ve slacked on reading during my days off, as per usual. I’m still enjoying the book quite a bit, though of the two eras it jumps between I’m definitely preferring one over the other, which isn’t to the novel’s credit. I just find the frictional relationship between Vader and Thrawn much more interesting. There’s an appreciable amount of intrigue to the story overall, though, as in both time periods I’m not certain what the characters will ultimately discover about their respective investigations, especially since one is implied to have led to a region of a planet becoming inhospitable. I look forward to finishing it, which I ought to do soon if I’m going to stay on schedule.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week!

Reading Next

Immortal Hulk Hulk is Hulk I’ve already committed to starting Maskerade by Terry Pratchett next, so there’s nothing new there, but I suppose I ought to actually read some books from the graphic novel pile. I recently purchased the newest volume of The Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing et al, so I’ll probably read that soon to stay on top of the series. I’m still behind on my Goodreads challenge too and slacking on comics has definitely been the reason for that.

I’ve got three volumes of Berserk by Kentaro Miura just sitting on my shelf, and manga reads especially quickly, so I’ll probably get to those soon too. I really have so much to choose from, I don’t know why I let them languish.

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

WWW Wednesday – August 5, 2020

August 5, 2020 Ryan10 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 started Into the Unbounded Night by Mitchell James Kaplan over the weekend, getting 31% into the book. I’m enjoying it so far, and I’m surprised at how widespread and numerous the perspectives are considering it’s less than 300 pages long. They’re fairly diverse too, particularly in terms of religious beliefs, so far following a young woman living in and native to Albion (Britain) during the Roman invasion, a Roman general leading part of the invasion, a Roman soldier disgraced from his Legion, and a Jewish boy in Jerusalem learning to become a priest. I wonder if these stories will only intersect thematically, Roman occupation being a common thread between them so far, or if the characters will all come within proximity of each other by the end.

Recently Finished

Last week I just couldn’t resist finishing up the volumes available to me, so before starting to read any new novels I read through The Immortal Hulk: We Believe in Bruce Banner by Al Ewing et al. This volume starts to take a step back from the more cosmic horror and moves toward what Banner and the “Devil” Hulk personality want to do to help change the world. Namely, they declare war on an evil, massive corporation. This corporation, Roxxon, is headed by a literal Minotaur named Dario Agger, who is making for a great scheming, capitalistic villain despite his own hulking appearance. I preferred the horror angle, but I’m still enjoying the stark, often grim, political shift the story has taken. It hits a lot closer to reality, as Hulk is trying to fight against systems that are wreaking havoc on the environment around the globe.

Reading Next

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet I still intend to start The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers soon, I’ve just decided to keep my focus on Into the Unbounded Night instead of reading them in tandem. That way, I should have Kaplan’s book finished well before next week, if I can keep myself on track.

In terms of graphic novels, I’ll likely dip back into the mountain of Star Wars volumes I’ve still got waiting for me. I might continue on with Doctor Aphra before starting any of the “Age of…” books.

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

WWW Wednesday – July 29, 2020

July 29, 2020 Ryan5 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

Nothing! I’m currently between books.

Recently Finished

Very early on Monday I finished reading Different Seasons by Stephen King. I posted a full review yesterday. While it still took me most of July to read through, I’m happy I was able to get through a nearly 700-page book in about three weeks. That’s pretty fast for me. The last two stories I enjoyed quite a bit. “The Body” was a wonderfully poignant and nostalgic coming-of-age story that seemed more like autobiographical fiction on King’s part that I’d been expecting. The final story, “The Breathing Method”, held the most surprises for me as, unlike the other stories, I had no idea what it was about. One notably fun thing about it was it marked the only other return of a mysterious club in New York where members share stories with each other. This served as a narrative frame in a story in Skeleton Crew, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it again here.

Immortal Hulk Breaker of Worlds Last night I also read through The Immortal Hulk: Breaker of Worlds by Al Ewing et al, the fifth volume in the series. I continue to love this series and its horrifying interpretation of the Hulk. Over the last few volumes the Hulk has been contending with a shadowy military organization hellbent on putting him down for good, and this volume has it all coming to a head in a way that brings about an end to this phase of the story. Toward the end of the volume Ewing doubles down on some of the literally cosmic horror stuff in a way that’s got me intrigued, though it was initially a little jarring. I’m excited to see where this series goes next, but am also starting to get a sense that the story’s direction may be getting predictable.

Reading Next

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet I still have every intention of starting Into the Unbounded Night by Mitchell James Kaplan soon, I just wanted a bit of a buffer between books to read The Immortal Hulk. I’ve also decided to start reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, which I’ve been wanting to check out for a while now. Hopefully reading books in tandem works out for me. I’ve come to understand it takes a lot of inspiration from Star Wars, which is always a plus for me. I also just love the tone that the title suggests. Why are the people on this planet so mad? I’ll have to wait and see.

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