WWW Wednesday – March 29, 2023

March 29, 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 made a small amount of progress in American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis since last week, and I’m happy to report that most of what I have read since my last update has not resembled that one chapter that spent a little too much time on products for my liking. I’m curious in what way Bateman’s murderous tendencies will come into play. Is he already committing murders or is something going to set him off? For now, all I know is that he and his friends are pathetically superficial, so I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if his reasons for killing people follow those lines. It’s also kind of fun to realize that I don’t actually know what the meat of the plot is for this story, despite it having a significant enough cultural presence that I feel like I should. I look forward to figuring out what’s at stake, beyond being a killer and not wanting to get caught.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week.

Reading Next

This is talking about something further down the line, but I have been thinking a lot lately about rereading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I’ve committed to this so much, in fact, that I’ve already bought myself a copy. I haven’t read it since middle school or high school, so it’s been quite some time, and as corners of the Internet and emerging fan-made lo-fi horror content remind me how much darker the books were than the films, I feel like perhaps I didn’t fully appreciate what I was reading back then. So, I think there’s a good chance this will be the novel I read next, though I don’t expect I’ll be done American Psycho any time soon. I won’t be posting about it again here until I’m actually about to read it, but I figured with things being lighter this week, this would be a good time to talk about this.

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 8, 2023

March 8, 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

I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made with Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss since last week. I’m quite close to finishing it and might possibly be done with it by next week. We shall see, I have a history of such things not following through and I don’t really want to fully commit, especially since I’m hoping some more work will come in. At any rate, I’m enjoying this work quite a lot and you can definitely see Reiss’s imprint on The Simpsons through his style of writing (and honestly, probably its imprint on him in turn). It does come off a little corny sometimes in writing, however, I must admit. I wonder if I’d enjoy some of the quips better in an audio book. Also, the way he characterizes executives and their meddling really has me curious about how the sausage is made with a lot of the movies/series I love.

Recently Finished

Galatea (book) The other night I decided to read Galatea by Madeline Miller, which is definitely a book, though specifically a specially bound short story. I really loved Miller’s novels The Song of Achilles and Circe, so I knew I had to read this one of these days. I’ve actually owned it digitally for a while, but I’m happy I waited until I had a physical book in my hand, especially with the added context by the author in the new afterword. It was a rather brisk read and quite enjoyable, authentically adding onto a classical source of Greek myth while also being critical of it by offering a new point of view that challenges Pygmalion and the so-called happy ending he has with the ideal woman he crafts for himself.

Reading Next

I still have plans to continue with Berserk, but I think I’m finally starting to commit to something else that has been a long time coming, a book that I have literally owned since I was 19 years old: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. I’ve been putting off reading this for so long that I’m pretty sure I know what the eventual twist is, though it’s quite surprising how much the twist isn’t brought up considering the meme culture that has popped up around the film adaptation. Nevertheless, I want to finally read this; I’ve owned for too long without doing so. Honestly, if I didn’t own it I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to read it at all, but my uncle recommended it to me among a number of other books when I was more seriously getting into reading, which is why I bought it, so I really want to cap those off finally.

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 – February 8, 2023

February 8, 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

Wolf in White Van I did not end up posting last week because, due to a deeply unfortunate turn of events that came out of nowhere, I literally did zero reading. Utterly scandalous. So, there didn’t seem to be a point to putting one of these up since nothing had changed. Fortunately for this week, I did manage to read some more of Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle, though I’m still got a bit to go despite how short the novel is. More and more details around the tragic incident with some of the players of Sean’s game are slowly being unearthed, and I’m starting to wonder if he isn’t something of an unreliable narrator. I suppose that shouldn’t come as a surprise, all things considered, but if the story goes in the direction I think it’s going in I believe I will be unhappy with the outcome. We shall see.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week! I am ashamed; I have not been reading comics like I’ve meant to. This could easily change at any time, but look at how that’s worked for me so far.

Reading Next

Paper Girls 3 The books I want to read next haven’t really changed, so maybe we’ll be seeing some Paper Girls or Manga Diary of a Male Porn Star or even some Springfield Confidential in the near future. The possibilities are limited and specific. I should have some time this weekend, so let’s just commit to Paper Girls volume three right now, shall we? I’ll eat my glasses if I don’t. Also, I’m not too sure about Springfield Confidential, to be honest. I definitely want to read it soon, but I’m still feeling in the mood for fiction, so I might try to juggle it with something else. What that something else will actually be I cannot say at this time, but I do have a few things in mind.

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

WWW Wednesday – January 25, 2023

January 25, 2023January 25, 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 was hoping I’d have made more progress with Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle since last week, but work comes first, so I did not end up having as much reading time as I was anticipating. Still, I have made some decent progress and have a better picture of what this whole story is all about. It’s made clear from early on that the main character, Sean, is facing some legal trouble related to the pen-and-paper role-playing game he operates for people via the mail, and up until the point I have reached, the details of the tragedy leading to his legal troubles have been slowly elucidated. It’s painting an interesting picture of how a disfigured loner has found a way to form his own little sense of community and the baffling yet believable misunderstanding that led to the tragedy which puts an unfortunate spotlight on him. With so much of that case uncovered already, I’m curious to see what details are yet to be revealed or if there is a turn in store for Sean.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week!

Reading Next

I’m still not anticipating that I will have another book in my hands by this time next week, since I should be more realistic about my time, but I do intend to read more comics by next week if I can. Of course, I really want to keep myself going on Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughn and Cliff Chiang with the third volume, but I would also really like to read volume two of Manga Diary of a Male Porn Star by Kaeruno Erefante, which I intended to read back in December but never actually made time for. Despite the length of time since volume one, this is at least not a narrative-heavy series, so it will be easy enough to jump right back into it.

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

WWW Wednesday – January 18, 2023

January 18, 2023January 19, 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

Finally I’m posting one of these in 2023 (albeit quite late in the day). I have started reading something new this year, Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle, though I’ve only just read the first chapter, so I haven’t gotten far enough to have any substantial impressions to share about it. So far, I’ve gotten a vague understanding of the state of mind the main character exists in and impressions on life-changing bodily harm he inflicted upon himself. With luck, I’m hoping to make some good progress on it by next week. I enjoyed Universal Harvester well enough, which was the last Darnielle novel that I read, but a lasting impression is that it didn’t quite meet my expectations either. With virtually no expectations for this book, I’m hoping for a better result by the end.

Recently Finished

Finally, I finished reading A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris. This book was the reason I hadn’t posted one of these yet in the new year; I just really didn’t want to be banging the same drum about having to finish this book. That being said, I really enjoyed the reading experience. I believe I had been doing it a disservice by initially going at it slowly. All things considered, 400 or so pages really blew by, and his perspective on the world was enjoyable to behold, exploring subjects humorous, mundane, and poignant. What became most surreal about this book was how familiar the events he comments on were as the years became more and more recent. It’s a bit unnerving to see 17 years condensed in such a way on its own, but the emergence of the pandemic and other huge political issues of the last 6 or so years was a stark reminder of how candid these diaries are.

Paper Girls 2 I also read the second volume of Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughn, finally. I really wish I had read this closer to the first volume, as I’m still having a bit of trouble keeping track of who is who among some of the main cast, though only with a couple of the characters. I’m honestly a little tempted to go back and read it again, just so I can appreciate it a little better. I’m not sure what it was, but something clicked for me with this volume and now I’m into it in a way that I wasn’t after finishing the first volume, so that’s nice. I’m really enjoying the idea that this story’s time travel doesn’t allow for branching timelines, so I’m curious as to what the capabilities and constraints are under this system. Can things be changed or is everything set in stone, it’s only a matter of the order we’re seeing things happen in? I have the third volume already, so I’ll hopefully be reading that soon.

Reading Next

With my focus being on getting into Wolf in White Van right now, I haven’t really decided what I definitely want to read next, but I do know that Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss is still of great interest to me, so I may be reading that in the near future. I’m trying not to stress reading specific books too much though, so we’ll see where whims take me.

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

WWW Wednesday – December 28, 2022

December 28, 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

A Carnival of Snackery Last week I was absent from making one of these posts, as I was celebrating an early Christmas out of town with my family, though I don’t believe I had made much progress on anything to have had much to say anyway. Fortunately, I have finally been making some progress in A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris. I really have been remiss in letting this book sit for so long, because I am reminded upon picking it up just how much I enjoy his writing, even just these bite-sized diary entries. Based on certain entries, it seems like he’s an author who would be really fun to see at a meet and greet, though I feel like I would succumb to the self-imposed pressure of wanting to have something interesting to say or talk about briefly with him. Hopefully, I can finish this book by the end of the year, but seeing as that is on Sunday, I have my work cut out for me. I’ve made progress, but I still have several hundred pages left.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week, since I was busy visiting family last week and I’ve actually been busier than you might expect with work this past week. I’m hoping I can fit in some short stuff alongside A Carnival of Snackery, but we’ll see.

Reading Next

Anything I’m going to read next I have talked about already. Right now, though, so long as I haven’t started them yet, I’m happy to let them wait until the New Year. What’s really going to bug me is if I don’t finish what I’m currently reading, so that’s going to take priority.

I hope everybody has a fun and safe New Year’s weekend. My inhuman work schedule still has me working, despite it landing on a Saturday this year, but I will try to make merry in my own time.

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