WWW Wednesday – March 5, 2025

March 5, 2025 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’ve made some decent progress with Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes, though my attention has been a little divided this past week, so I haven’t gotten as far along in it as I would have liked. There’s a dry humour to the writing I’m really enjoying; Haynes is doing a good job of injecting wry remarks here and there without the jokes detracting from the more serious analysis and examination of these figures and the different ways they’ve been interpreted. One of the biggest reminders about Greek mythology that this book hits you with is just how varied these stories really are; it’s hard to tell where believed-in myth ends and ancient art/literature begins, especially with some of the accounts covered being plays. Did the playwrights take artistic liberties or are they just adapting a version of the tale? Also, having just read the Medusa chapter, I have a new appreciation for just how much Perseus was some sort of maniac.

Recently Finished

This week I read through We Stand on Guard by Brian K. Vaughn and Steve Skroce, a graphic novel set 100 years in the future about the United States invading and occupying Canada in order to extract the country’s water resources, armed with giant robotic weapons of mass destruction. On paper, it sounds like a fairly compelling idea, but this was a surprising miss from an author whose work so often hits. Overall, it was a rather middling, pedestrian story about oppressive occupation, rebel fighters fighting the good fight, and light political commentary with a cast that felt more like cardboard cutouts and stereotypes than real people. The art was quite good, and there were some legitimately impactful moments, but overall this feels like a good idea that was rushed out before it was fully developed.

Reading Next

I’m not sure what I’m going to read next, as I’ve exhausted my line-up of library books and I haven’t settled on any comics that I actually own that I want to read next.

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

WWW Wednesday – February 26, 2025

February 26, 2025 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 decided to pick another book from my winter TBR list and finally started reading Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes, a nonfiction book discussing women from Greek mythology, both how they are represented in the surviving art and literature from ancient times and how they have been depicted in more modern times. So far, I’ve only read the first chapter, on Pandora herself, and I am really enjoying this book. As much as I love Greek mythology, reading some texts about it can be unfortunately dry, but Haynes’s writing style reads like an engaging lecture, so it’s been easy to hang onto every word. It’s also reminding me about details I’ve sadly forgotten from my university days, as I’ve read Hesiod before but had no recollection of his depiction of Pandora, especially the idea that she’s supposed to be the first woman. I’ve come away learning/relearning so much already.

Recently Finished

Last week, I read through Bomb by Steve Sheinkin and Nick Bertozzi, a graphic novel telling the story of the Manhattan Project’s creation of the atomic bomb and the network of spies working to steal their plans for the USSR. As I had been worried about last week, this book very much was more of a Middle Grade read, although considering some of the language choices perhaps YA would be more appropriate. In any case, the target audience didn’t matter, as it made for a rather good (if simplified) telling of a world-changing development in world history. Most notably, funnily enough, I’ve never come away from something understanding how a nuclear bomb works better than I did with this book. It’s written for younger readers, so that tracks, but perhaps it should always be explained a little like this, since adulthood doesn’t magically make nuclear physics any easier.

Earlier this week, I also finished reading Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel, the second book in the Themis Files trilogy. Something changed in my feelings toward this book as I was getting further through it last week. Though I still have some ambivalence towards certain aspects of the story, the real gravity of the threat that humanity was facing started to take hold as I realized that, like the first book, this novel about people piloting a giant alien robot isn’t really about piloting a giant robot. I still came away from this book finding it weaker than the first one, but it also gives such a stark and dismal look at facing an all-powerful alien threat, with some great hard science thrown in as the characters try to understand the threat before them and how to deal with it, that I got a lot more invested by the end. The ending felt unfortunately more like a tacked-on sequel hook than a satisfying ending, but I’m hoping that the third one ends things on a high note.

Reading Next

The book I read next will likely be We Stand on Guard by Brian K. Vaughn and Steve Skroce, a graphic novel about a group of Canadian civilians turned freedom fighters defending their country from invasion by the US, who are equipped with giant, robotic war machines. I don’t feel like I’m on a giant robot kick, but it’s starting to look like I am. I’ve actually been meaning to read this for a while, and recent events have reminded me of this book’s existence, so I thought now would be as good a time as any to take it out of the library and give it a read.

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

WWW Wednesday – February 19, 2025

February 19, 2025 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 still making my way through Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel, the second book in the Themis Files trilogy. At the moment, I’m exactly halfway through. I’m not sure why, but this book isn’t quite hitting with me the way that the first one did. I think part of what’s hurting things is that it’s been a few years since I read the first book, but the format of these books is such that they could just flow together. So, I’m spending a lot of mental energy on reminding myself of who people are and how I felt about them, which isn’t working in the book’s favour. This one feels a lot more action-oriented too, with less of the intrigue of the first book. I still like it quite a lot, and I’ve got half of the book to go before I truly settle in my opinion, but it’s unfortunate that I’m not liking it as much as the first one. One thing I want to do to help rectify these feelings is read the third book this year too so things stay fresh in my mind.

Recently Finished

Since last week, I read more of the stack of library books I had waiting on me, the first being Hellboy in Love by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, and Matt Smith. Now this is a Hellboy book. I’d been reading too many of the spin-off novels lately, I think, as this reminded me of the true joys I have in reading this series and why I became a fan in the first place. It helped that I’ve had a bit of a primer thanks to those novels, funnily enough, which first introduced the love interest featured in this book, Dr. Anastasia Bransfield, but this book made me care about their relationship more than those novels ever did. Some details have been retconned too, as it turns out, but I’m fine with deferring to the comics anyway. This volume left things on something of an unfinished note, however, so I hope they plan to produce more in the near future, if they haven’t been doing so already.

I also read Like a Trophy from the Sun by Jason Heroux, a poetry collection by a poet residing in my neck of the woods in Canada. This is why I go out of my way to read poetry when a book happens to catch my interest, because I really liked this one. I’m not sure if this would be considered free verse or not, as they’re more paragraphs expressing surreal ideas/abstractions poetically rather than following more typical structure (there may be form to it I wasn’t able to notice, as I’m a bit stunted with poetry, as I’ve said) and don’t seem to be laid out in the way free verse typically is. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the way that these were written, and they evoked ideas that have stayed with me long after finishing the book. I even took photos of a few of the poems that I especially liked so I can read them again if I want.

Reading Next

I haven’t settled on any books that I want to read next, but I do have another library book that I need to read: Bomb by Steve Sheinkin and Nick Bertozzi. Adapting a nonfiction book of the same name, it tells the story of the Manhattan Project and the creation of the atomic bomb. I didn’t realize when I took it out that it might be a Middle Grade book (if Goodreads labels are anything to go by), but I’m hoping I don’t find it to be too simplified. I can’t remember why I decided to take this book out, to be honest, as I believe I even reserved it rather than just happening across it. At any rate, the library has been a great resource for graphic novels I wouldn’t typically buy, so that was probably the motivator as much as anything else.

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

WWW Wednesday – February 12, 2025

February 12, 2025 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’m in the middle of reading through a selection of comic book volumes, I thought I ought to start reading a novel as well. After giving it some thought, I decided upon Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel, the second novel in the Themis Files trilogy. It’s been nearly three years since I finished the first book, but luckily this story is taking place after a significant time skip, so it seems much will be recapped for my benefit. I’m only about 30 pages in so far, but I’m enjoying the briskness of it, especially after reading Moby-Dick. Another robot has suddenly appeared in London, and it’s just standing there menacingly, so the UN is in the process of deploying Themis to see if these presumed visitors mean any harm. After a good deal of restraint in the first book, I’m wondering if this one will start with a big robot fight.

Recently Finished

For the better part of the back half of last week I read through 2120 by George Wylesol, and I’ve got to say, I think this book might be brilliant. A choose-your-own-adventure comic presented like a point-and-click adventure video game, this comic actually emulates the experience of playing one of those video games in book form. I got stuck and didn’t know how to progress, actually wandering halls and wondering where to go—in a book. Turns out there are many puzzles to solve along the way, and if you’re not properly paying attention to the strange, anomalous rooms you explore, you’ll have to do some backtracking to figure out how to progress. It could get tedious at times, and the story (while good) wasn’t exactly profound or groundbreaking, but I think this is a truly brilliant blend of two different media. This will easily be in my top 5 books of 2025.

I also read the comic book adaptation of Hellboy: The Bones of Giants by Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola. This story was originally one of the spin-off Hellboy novels, which I read back in 2018. At the time, I recall thinking that the story would perhaps make a much better comic, and while in some ways that is true, I actually found the reading experience to be about the same. A lot of the fat gets trimmed and Matt Smith’s work as the illustrator is fantastic, but it ultimately read like a shallower version of an already fairly shallow novel. So, I’m happy this was a library read rather than a purchase, as I don’t really feel like I’ll need to add this book to my collection of Hellboy books.

Reading Next

No plans for the next novel I want to read, but the next comic I’m going to start is Hellboy in Love by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, and Matt Smith. This is another library book, and seeing as it is standalone and not adapting anything that already exists, as far as I know, I’m hoping it’ll tell a more enjoyable, original story.

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

WWW Wednesday – February 5, 2025

February 5, 2025 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! I am between books. Finally.

Recently Finished

Yesterday, I finished my great undertaking by completing Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, including the excerpt at the back that tells of the real-life incident of the whale-ship Essex, which was wrecked by a sperm whale. This book was a greater challenge than I was anticipating, as the writing style was particularly difficult to parse. Fairly often I would read summaries and/or reread certain paragraphs to make sure I understood what happened in the chapter I’d just finished. I sincerely found this book more difficult than translations of Homer. Nevertheless, I’m proud of myself for finally overcoming this personal reading white whale, and despite my trouble with it I definitely gained an appreciation for it as a great piece of literature. I thought I knew how the story played out in a basic way too, but I was surprised by how some things turned out at the end, which was a nice bonus. Though the bulk of the book is about whaling, the narrative does pick up at the end in a rather more engaging way.

Reading Next

I feel like I need something of cool-down period after finishing such a massive novel before I begin another. Luckily for me, I have five different books that I’ve taken out from the library; four of them are graphic novels and one a book of poetry. To start, I’m going to finally get going with 2120 by George Wylesol, which I’ve been waiting on for an especially long time. It’s also due back this Saturday, so I’d like to be courteous and finish it by then, as somebody else has requested it. Then, I will likely read the two Hellboy comics I borrowed: a comic book adaptation of The Bones of Giants and Hellboy in Love, both of which are by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, and Matt Smith (illustrator).

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

WWW Wednesday – January 22, 2025

January 22, 2025 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

Last week I hadn’t made enough progress for a good update, but in the two weeks since my last WWW post I’ve managed to read quite a lot more of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. At writing, I sit at 367 pages in, or a little over half way. I’ve certainly been having mixed feelings about starting the year with this book, as for a good while I found it frightfully dull reading. It wasn’t until about the 300-page mark that I started to feel a growing appreciation for it. I suppose I just had to adjust to its voice, and staying committed has paid off. The plot is surprisingly scant, as this really is mostly about whaling; I’d been told this, but I sorely underestimated how much this was about whaling and cetology of the time, as well as talking trash about poor depictions of whales in art. Highlights from recent chapters include an encounter with a giant squid, which was surprisingly naturalistic, and the haunting description of sailors who have fallen overboard in the Arctic being found later frozen in ice flows “as a fly is found glued in amber.”

Recently Finished

Yesterday, I decided to set Moby-Dick aside briefly and finally read through Teeth by Dallas Hunt, a Canadian book of poetry. I’ve said it many times before, but I always have a bit of trouble with poetry, especially in retaining what I’ve read. I really don’t know what my issue is, but I try to read some when a book catches my eye anyway to keep my horizons broadened. This book is mostly written in a free verse style, which I appreciate a lot as I find it to be accessible. One that I especially enjoyed had Hunt venting frustration with the expectations of poetry and literature written by Indigenous authors and the cliches therein. It reminded me of how, even when trying to be supportive of a marginalized group, it is important not to forget they deal with the same mundane tribulations as anybody else.

Reading Next

I finally got 2120 by George Wylesol from the library after it being on order since September, so I’m likely going to be reading that soon. I’m really intrigued by it, but part of me is a little apprehensive about the choose-your-own-adventure aspects of it, as I’m a little worried it will feel more like a gimmick.

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

WWW Wednesday – January 8, 2025

January 8, 2025 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

Making good on my word last Wednesday, I started reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville on Thursday. Progress was a little slow at first, as this book is hard to get into, but I’m now sitting at page 132, so I’d say I’m getting through it at a decent pace. Goodness, is this book ever challenging, though. Part of me wants to blame its age, but it’s actually a younger novel than Frankenstein, which has a far more accessible writing style, so I’m going to chalk it up to the dialect it was written in. Still, I’ve been able to get into it fairly well, when Ishmael is focused more on what is happening around him and sermons aren’t going on for pages and pages. The Pequod has left Nantucket and it seems we’re finally about to meet Ahab. I found it surprisingly raw that Ishmael’s reason for working at sea is that this is essentially his self-treatment for depression.

Recently Finished

Nothing yet, as I’ve still got much of this daunting novel to read.

Reading Next

Teeth I haven’t settled upon the next novel I want to read to keep my focus on Melville, but I am certainly thinking longingly about some novels I would rather be reading. I’ll be moving on soon, if I can stay disciplined. Meanwhile, I have picked up my first library book for the year, as a book of poetry caught my eye at the bookstore, and as luck would have it the book was available at the library too. This book is Teeth by Dallas Hunt. It looks like it is more free verse poetry, which works for me, as I find this style to be the most accessible; it may not be the most elaborate structurally, but it helps me to read poetry when I otherwise wouldn’t, so I consider that a net positive. I’m sure I just need to set aside some time on a single day here or there to get through it.

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

WWW Wednesday – January 1, 2025

January 1, 2025 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, as I write this. Happy New Year! 🎉

Recently Finished

I took a break for Christmas last week, so I’ve got a lot more than normal to write about here this week. First up, we have A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll, which I read on Christmas Eve. Though it is not my favourite of Carroll’s work, I nonetheless really enjoyed this graphic novel, which turned out to be a rather unique spin on a ghost story, especially thanks to the sapphic elements playing a crucial role in the story. The only thing I feel mixed about with it is that I can’t really say that what’s going on is ambiguous; aspects of it are, but the character is so prone to flights of fancy and has such an overactive imagination that you can’t say that none of it was just in her head. I choose to believe the supernatural elements are real, at least partly, but it could’ve been a little more definitive.

Next, I managed to finish Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, the 26th Discworld novel and the 5th Death novel. Overall, I quite liked this book. Despite supposedly being a book about Death, it was really about Lu-Tze and his apprentice Lobsang Ludd of the History Monks, who can control the flow of time and oversee history. I would have preferred the book be more about Death and his granddaughter Susan, who really only play supporting roles here, a problem I actually find I have with a lot of the Death books, but I was so endeared to this book’s two leads that I didn’t really care. I only wish this wasn’t Death’s final outing, but at least I know he’ll still show up whenever somebody kicks the bucket. I do wonder if I’ll see Susan again, though.

With only a couple of days until the new year, I endeavoured to read only short things after finishing the last book, because I don’t want things to cross over into the new year, for the sake of reading challenges. So, on Monday I read the novella This is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau, a horror story about a woman spending a weekend at a remote cabin with her mother in an attempt to reconnect and mend their relationship. At times, it was a little-on-the-nose with the parental issues (though still very believable) and predictable, as it bears a lot of similarities to Misery by Stephen King, but I found the reading experience so profoundly stressful that I ultimately regard it quite highly. Once again, I regret that I didn’t stick to Halloween reads like this one instead of the duds I picked up from the library.

Slaughterhousse-Five GN Finally, to close out the year and leave me at 42 books read in 2024, yesterday I read the graphic novel adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five, or the Children’s Crusade by Ryan North and Albert Monteys. Slaughterhouse-Five is one of my favourite classics, and after coming across a copy of this adaptation at the library, it was an easy choice for a final quick read to close out the year. I’d actually consider owning this graphic novel at some point too, as the visual aspects of the new medium were utilized in exceptional ways to depict Billy Pilgrim’s experiences with being unstuck in time. The form was used in other great ways to tell the story as well, really making the adaptation feel worthwhile and unique while still staying true to the source material.

Reading Next

Moby-Dick Thanks to my new work schedule, which has allowed for a greater amount of reading time, I have decided to embark upon what I expect to be a more challenging read: I am finally going to read Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I’ve owned a copy of this book for well over 10 years now, originally purchased out of a feeling of obligation to read the classics, perchance, rather than actual interest in this story, and it has languished on my shelf long enough. I may start it today, but with it being a holiday I may hold off until tomorrow. We shall see. Either way, I’m sure we can all look forward to the next several of these post being mostly about Moby Dick. I hope y’all like whaling.

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

WWW Wednesday – December 18, 2024

December 18, 2024 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

With all of the reading time afforded to me at the moment with my new schedule, I decided to really go for it and started reading Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, the next Discworld book that I need to read and the final in the “Death” subseries. It’s a little bittersweet to know that this will be the last one, I think for the first time during my read through of this series, but it’s been a long time coming too. So far, I’m enjoying it quite a book at about 160 pages in; in typical fashion it still feels like things are ramping up, though the stakes are fairly clear at this point. Once again an Igor is playing a supporting role, so apparently Pratchett really loves the idea of these characters, though I find reading their accents a little tiresome at times. Another small character from a previous book, Lu-Tze, has returned in a major role here. I love how seamlessly he brings characters back around like this.

Recently Finished

Last week I finished reading Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer, the third and final book in what used to be the Southern Reach trilogy. Skimming some of the reviews on Goodreads, I was surprised to see a fair amount of ambivalence and negativity about this book, as I personally loved it as a conclusion to the series. It provided enough information that I don’t feel like I was strung along grasping at comprehension, but it continued to be just so weird and nebulous that it preserved a sense of something ineffable going on. Though I’m very intrigued about what the newest novel, Absolution, could be about, I would be very satisfied if this was indeed the final word on this series. I think this is the first time I’ve finished a novel series in a year (I did not anticipate a new release, so I don’t count it). I’m hoping I can maybe turn this into a personal trend, at least occasionally. Better sometimes than never.

Reading Next

With things starting to ramp up and get busier with the holidays, I probably won’t try to read anything more than A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll; it’s irrational, but I hate the idea of starting a book at the end of the year and continuing it into the next.

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

WWW Wednesday – December 11, 2024

December 11, 2024 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

My new work schedule is actually allowing me to get a good amount of reading done on a regular basis, so I’m well on my way to finishing Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer, the third novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. This is a nice change of pace after I took a little too long reading Authority. I know I mentioned this a little last week, but I really like how much this novel is providing clarity and revelation about Area X while still leaving me feeling like I don’t fully understand the why of everything that’s happening. A particular theme in this novel (perhaps the whole trilogy but emphasized here) is the limitations of human subjectivity and how that hinders its ability to understand something truly alien. It seems like further, deeper explanations are still forthcoming in the 100 or so pages I have left, and I hope I’m still happy with where it leaves me.

Recently Finished

Over the Garden Wall Tome of the Unknown Last week I read through Over the Garden Wall: Tome of the Unknown by Pat McHale and Jim Campbell, which was simply a delightful read. I’ve read some tie-in comic books to cartoons I like before, and I have always found them to be a little spotty. I expected this to be a little more throwaway, with its chapters containing random stories of little consequence to the series, and while that is somewhat true in that you don’t need to read this at all to have a fulfilling experience with the show, it does serve as a wonderful companion to the series, structuring each chapter in such a way that they actually fit between episodes and complement some of the character development we see in the show.

Reading Next

A Guest in the House I’m thinking I have to seriously consider another book to read, as I think I may finish Acceptance well ahead of the end of the month, and I’m not going to abstain from reading just because I finished something faster than I expected to. While I’m making up my mind about that, however, there are some graphic novels I want to read, namely A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll, a comic I wish very much that I’d taken the time to read during Halloween instead of the mediocre fare I did end up reading. A consolation to getting to it this late is that it should make for a fine Christmas ghost story, a tradition I’ve been meaning to embrace but never really have beyond enjoying adaptations of A Christmas Carol.

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