Tag: WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday

Posted January 7, 2021 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

It’s been a while since I posted one of these here! But I’m trying to be more present again now… So let’s have a reading check-in!

Cover of The Gabriel Hounds by Mary StewartWhat are you currently reading?​

Long Live the Post Horn! by Vigdis Hjorth. It is… not really my thing; the rambling reflective narration is not working for me. It’s mostly for Postcrossing’s blog, though, so I’m forging my way along, slowly. Presumably the main character is going to care about working with the Norwegian postal service sometime soon.

I’m also partway through rereading The Gabriel Hounds, which I have fond memories of — partially memories of buying it while I was in Italy, my BA graduation present oh these many years ago, and reading it on the train between Naples and Rome.

What have you recently finished reading?

Cover of Holy Shit by Melissa MohrGriffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock, also for Postcrossing’s blog — it never rains but it pours; I’m stocking up blog posts for the next little while in case I come over all contrary and don’t feel like reading anything about postcards/postal systems. (This is bound to happen at some point.) I loved it; it’s a very tactile experience, since it actually contains the letters in actual envelope-like pouches, so you have to carefully slip them out and unfold them. I’m intrigued by the mystery of it.

Before that was Holy Shit, by Melissa Mohr — thank you to whoever recommended me that, though I’ve forgotten who. It was great; the chapter on oath-taking in the Bible was particularly fascinating.

Cover of The Books of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin and Charles VessWhat will you be reading next?​

Sadly, it will not be Sabine’s Notebook (the sequel to Griffin & Sabine) because that’s in the post to me, having been only ordered today when I closed Griffin & Sabine on that cliffhanger. As ever, the answer is probably a shrug emoji, though I do want to go back to and finish Monstrous Regiment (Terry Pratchett), and a revisit of A Wizard of Earthsea seems indicated, because it’s a book club book (we all got together and picked our favourite books, then 12 of those got picked out of the hat to serve as prompts for a year of reading) and I still haven’t read the illustrated edition.

What are you currently reading?

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WWW Wednesday

Posted December 9, 2020 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

Well, it’s been a minute since I did this. Oops.

Cover of The Mortal Word by Genevieve CogmanWhat are you currently reading?

I’m in the middle of The Mortal Word, by Genevieve Cogman; I was bemoaning the lack of Peregrine Vale in the previous book, and lo and behold, this one’s a murder mystery. Here’s hoping there’s plenty of Vale in this one (though I hope Kai isn’t as relegated to the sidelines as he appears to be here).

I’m also reading Murder Underground, by Mavis Doriel Hay. I can’t remember how I felt about Death on the Cherwell, but Murder Underground is doing okay — even if Basil is a silly ass who would do a lot better by not lying to the detectives!

What have you recently finished reading?​

I finished up Meteorite: The Stones From Outer Space That Made Our World, by Tim Gregory. I love non-fiction books of all kinds where you can really feel that the writer loves their subject, and this is one of those. Cosmochemistry isn’t my thing at all, but Gregory’s so excited about it, it made me excited to read.

Cover of Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuistonWhat will you be reading next?​

As usual, I’ve no idea. My wife’s thinking of reading Red, White and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston, so maybe I’ll buddy read that with her? Or I’ll get back to something on the Shelf of Abandoned Books… ahem.

What are you all reading?

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WWW Wednesday

Posted November 25, 2020 by Nicky in General / 1 Comment

Greetings, friends! I just caught up on all the unanswered blog comments I could find — and I’ll try to be better here on out!

Cover of MetaZoa by Peter Godfrey-SmithWhat are you currently reading?

Without much enthusiasm, Peter Godfrey-Smith’s Metazoa. I remembered really liking Other Minds, so I am disappointed by this one, which I’m not finding very readable. I don’t expect much popular science stuff that focuses on biology to be new to me except in the finer details — I read it for a) obscure factoids and b) comfort through familiarity and order — but this one isn’t new and it’s slooow.

I’m also partway through Abaddon’s Gate (James S.A. Corey), and a reread of Fire & Hemlock (Diana Wynne Jones). It’s fun to rediscover the latter now I have a more than passing familiarity with the Tam Lin story.

Cover of Network Effect by Martha WellsWhat have you recently finished reading?​

Uhhh, good question… I think the last thing was Network Effect (Martha Wells) and The Churn (James S.A. Corey). The former was a lot of fun; it is nice to hang out with Murderbot. The latter was… superfluous, I think, if you’ve read the main series. It doesn’t tell us much more about Amos than we already knew.

What will you be reading next? 

Nooo idea. My brain isn’t cooperating very much, so I think it’ll be a while before I get to reading something else.

What’re you folks reading?

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WWW Wednesday

Posted November 19, 2020 by Nicky in General / 3 Comments

Quick update, because I am tired!

What are you currently reading?

Actually, pretty much nothing. There are some books on the Shelf of Abandoned Books that I need to pick back up, but I finished a book earlier and that was pretty much all I had on my plate actually in progress at the moment.

Cover of Caliban's War by James S.A. CoreyWhat have you recently finished reading?

My reread of Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey. I remembered it pretty well, in broad strokes, but some stuff I’d forgotten. I’m enjoying getting stuck back into this world: the books are chunky (500-600 pages) but somehow I can easily sit and read 100 pages at a pop.

Cover of Goldilocks by Laura LamWhat will you be reading next?

I will be returning to some books from the Shelf of Abandoned Books, including Network Effect (Martha Wells) for the Mini Battle in the Clear Your Shit Readathon. I’m also planning to start on Laura Lam’s Goldilocks again (which I put down because my anxiety ate my brain right before it came out) and also steam on with rereading The Expanse books, with Abaddon’s Gate up next.

What’re you folks reading?

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WWW Wednesday

Posted November 12, 2020 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

Almost belated, but we’re still calling this Wednesday…

Cover of Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon JamesWhat are you currently reading?

I’m still partway through Black Leopard, Red Wolf (Marlon James). I don’t love it, but I’m appreciating it more now that I’ve got used to the narration. I don’t think it’ll ever be a favourite, and it doesn’t much inspire me to read more Marlon James, I’ll admit. So much violence and death… but mostly the narrative style just doesn’t work for me.

I’m also still reading Murderous Contagion (Mary Dobson). I think I’d have loved it a few years ago, and it’s more meh now because I’ve read so much on various different diseases since. There’s not much new to me here.

Cover of Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. CoreyWhat have you recently finished reading?

Leviathan Wakes (James S.A. Corey), which I just reviewed. It’s really compulsive, though some of the more horror-leaning bits are aaaalmost too much for me.

What will you be reading next?

I happen to know that I’ll be starting on How to Tame a Fox (Lee Alan Dugatkin and Lyudmila Trut), for the Clear Your Shit Readathon prompt of “a book with an animal in it”. Had to sneak non-fiction in somehow!

What are you reading?

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WWW Wednesday

Posted November 5, 2020 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

Oops, it’s late! Okay, real quick, here we go, my WWW Wednesday!

Cover of The Progress of a Crime by Julian SymonsWhat are you currently reading?

Since it’s about to be 5th November (Bonfire Night, in the UK), I decided to pick up the recently reissued The Progress of a Crime, by Julian Symons. It’s in the British Library Crime Classics series, so it was pretty much an auto-buy; I’ve found Symons’ books very readable, though I don’t always find them pleasant — there’s something about the characters he centres that just feels too clever by half, and just generally unpleasant (and that’s not something that has to be the case with crime fiction! there are plenty with pleasant leads).

There are a few other books on the go, but this one is the top of the pile at the moment.

Cover of This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen CallenderWhat have you recently finished reading?

The last thing I finished was This is Kind of An Epic Love Story, by Kacen Callender. Very fun as a short read, though very YA in level, meaning it slipped by just a little too easily. That said, the portrayal of sign language and the way Callender avoids over-explaining the sign (or just treating it as “translation” and putting it in full English sentences) is pretty cool.

Cover of Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. CoreyWhat will you be reading next?

I intend to get properly stuck into my reread of James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes, for SciFi Month! I also want to start rereading Shards of Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujold; I’d like to crack on with reading the Vorkosigan series in honour of SciFi Month, too. Finally, I need to read Evie and the Pack-Horse Librarians, for the Clear Your Shit Readathon.

As ever, it’s also entirely possible I’ll head off in some other weird and wonderful direction, too.

What are you currently reading?

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WWW Wednesday

Posted October 28, 2020 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

Here we go! I’m actually pretty on time to post this for once… Check out the host’s post and find others from the comments!

Cover of Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon JamesWhat are you currently reading?

I’m still working on Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I’ve sort of ended up just letting it wash over me, and see where it goes, and that’s working for me a bit better. I still don’t love the narrative style, and it’s hard to hold onto the clues that will be important later, because it feels unstructured.

I’m also reading Luke Arnold’s Dead Man in a Ditch, which is — like the first book — pretty fun but not amazing. It’s a nice pulpy read, like some of the noir it imitates in fantasy-form, and I’m still so frustrated by how much of an idiot Fetch is.

Non-fiction wise, I’ve got Mary Dobson’s Murderous Contagion on deck; it’s okay, but I know a lot of this stuff already, of course, and it doesn’t often go into the kind of tasty depth I was kind of hoping for (which pop-science/pop-history is perfectly capable of doing). Perils of the type of book it is, really!

Cover of Blackout by Mira GrantWhat have you recently finished reading?

Ugh, what have I? I’m having trouble focusing on reading at the moment, being honest. I did recently finish Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy, and I’ve also read a book called The CBT Toolkit to evaluate whether it can be used alone. (The answer is no, I wouldn’t recommend it.) I also joined in part of the 24-hour readathon on Sunday, and finished a couple of books then, so I think mostly my brain is just too tired to hold onto stuff right now.

Cover of Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha LeeWhat will you be reading next?​

Well, I have four books on my “next up” pile. This doesn’t mean I’m definitely going to read them next, but it means they’ve been plucked off the shelves to sit prominently in my field of vision, increasing the chance I’ll pick them up. So that’s Phoenix Extravagant (Yoon Ha Lee), Cemetery Boys (Aidan Thomas), The Angel of the Crows (Katherine Addison), and The Animals at Lockwood Manor (Jane Healey). I should add a fifth book — Dead Man in a Ditch just came off the shelf, so it needs to be replaced.

What are you currently reading?

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WWW Wednesday

Posted October 22, 2020 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

Hey folks! I’m having a tired and overloaded week, so I’ll try to make this quick!

What are you currently reading?​

A bunch of things, as ever! I’ll keep it to the three most “on deck” at the moment: I’m reading Blackout, the third in Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy. I keep restarting the trilogy and having to reread the first book, because a lot of the themes are a bit anxiety-making for me, but this time I am determined to get all the way to the end. There’s so much goodness here, even with the anxiety-making.

Cover of The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary SutcliffI’m also rereading The Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosemary Sutcliff. I love the way she put some historical facts together to make this story, and I love Marcus and Esca, and I love the fact that I’ve finally managed to track down another copy of the edition I read to pieces, with the illustrations that are so familiar and the right cover and everything (not the one pictured here). It’s odd how much shorter some bits of the book seem now than I remember them to be. I had this with Narnia, too — I feel like as a child I roamed a lot freer in imagining the bits between chapters and scenes, and made it longer as an experience.

I’ve just started The Little Free Library by Kim Fielding, today, and I’m halfway through. The impulse-buying of books thing is — ouch! I feel called out. I’m finding the rapport between the love interests believable, though, and I’m enjoying watching them get where they’re going.

Cover of Deadline by Mira GrantWhat have you recently finished reading?​

Oof. I’ve been bad at actually finishing books, lately, so it might have been Mira Grant’s Deadline. Bit middle booky, now I look back at it, though with some good stuff.

What will you be reading next?​

I really couldn’t tell you. I just got Joyce Chng’s Dragon Physician, and I’m intrigued. It’s also short, which suits my current attention span.

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WWW Wednesday

Posted October 15, 2020 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

Here we go as usual, the weekly reading update!

Cover of Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon JamesWhat are you currently reading?​

I’m still working my way through Black Leopard, Red Wolf, and I actually feel like I’ve got a bit more of a handle on it. I don’t like it very much, I’ll admit, but I’m finding my way with it and no longer so disinclined to finish.

I’m also about 70% of the way through rereading Mira Grant’s Deadline, which feels more middle-book-y than I remembered.

Cover of Stuck by Heidi J. LarsonWhat have you recently finished reading?

A bunch of things all in one go, but the most-most recent was Heidi J. Larson’s Stuck, about vaccine rumours and why they stick around. I can summarise the book for you in one sentence: “vaccine rumours are the fault of public health for not explaining things to people nicely enough, and the fix is for public health initiatives to be nicer.”

That’s about as good as it gets. Preeeetty disappointing.

Cover of Murderous Contagion: A human history of disease by Mary DobsonWhat will you be reading next?​

Well, I have a few different books on my ‘next up’ shelf, including Mary Dobson’s Murderous Contagion, which should be fun for me. But I’m not sure; the shelf isn’t a hard commitment, more ‘hey, remember these books you were keen to read?’

What are you reading, or excited about reading?

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WWW Wednesday

Posted October 7, 2020 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

It’s Wednesday again! So here’s the usual check-in. You can go to Taking On A World Of Words to chat with everyone else who has posted what they’re reading right now!

Cover of How to Change Your Mind by Michael PollanWhat are you currently reading?

Oh, far too much at once! Non-fiction: still working on Michael Pollan’s How To Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics. Mostly the point so far is that the science isn’t so very new at all; psychedelic drugs were originally expected to be useful in treating mental health disorders, and go figure, now we’re figuring out that that was probably true.

Fiction: I’m rereading Mira Grant’s Deadline, in the firm hope that one day I’ll actually get onto Blackout and finish the whole book. It’s not that I don’t like the trilogy — I’ve read the first book several times! It just hits hard, and especially so at the moment, given the themes the zombie pandemic raises in the book…

I’m also reading Black Leopard, Red Wolf, and I kinda hate it. I can’t get into the narration, and it’s hard to find a story past the narration. I know, I know, I hear everyone on Twitter shouting at me that I’m just asking for all books to be typical European narratives, and that probably has a part to play. But… I don’t know, I’m not a fan of any of it so far; what I do understand is that there’s a lot of violence, including sexual violence. Just not the sort of thing I enjoy, without other high points.

That’s not all I’m reading, but that’s enough to be getting on with!

Cover of Entangled Life by Merlin SheldrakeWhat have you recently finished reading?

Non-fiction: Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake. I had been really looking forward to this, and it is really fun. I enjoyed all the facts about fungi! I think Sheldrake loves his subject a lot, and that always helps. Need to ponder my review a bit more, though. Obviously this had some odd parallels with How to Change Your Mind, since Sheldrake also mentioned psilocybin mushrooms!

Fiction: I finished my reread of Feed, basically all in one go now I’m not so dang anxious!

Cover of The Angel of the Crows by Katherine AddisonWhat will you be reading next?

Not sure, but I ordered Stuck: How Vaccine Rumours Start and Why They Don’t Go Away by Heidi J. Larson, and that just arrived today, so maybe I’ll get stuck into that before I shelve it and it goes out of sight, out of mind! Larson’s a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where I now study, so it especially caught my eye — and public health initiatives like encouraging vaccine uptake are something I’d be interested in getting involved with myself.

Other than that, rereading The Goblin Emperor for a book club reminds me I really need to get round to reading The Angel of the Crows.

What are you folks reading?

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