Tag: Currently Reading Page 5 of 13

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my kidney removal–and what a year it’s been. This is not much of an introduction to a WWW Wednesday, but it’s all that I’ve got in me. Well, I mean–I’ve got one kidney in me, as well as a full roster of other organs, that was more of a figurative “all in me,” but then I realized how it sounded and, well…I now realize I should’ve skipped the intro.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky	Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn, read by Jane Oppenheimer & Christina Delaine

I’ve been wanting to read Tchaikovsky for years, so I was excited to get the chance. This is a fun combination of creepy, fun, and solid adventure. I can see this not being my last time with Tchaikovsky–I just hope the next books by him that I read aren’t quite so arachnid-heavy. (Shudder)

I was hoping that the sequel to Killers of a Certain Age would be better than it was–sadly, Raybourn is nice an consistent. It’s good enough to keep listening, but that’s about it. I liked the idea and some of the characters, I just don’t think it’s enough to come back for volume three (assuming it comes)

What did you recently finish reading?

Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up by Dave Barry	Back After This by Linda Holmes

Here’s a shocker–Dave Barry’s memoir is a hoot. It’s more than just funny, but that’s a good start.

Holmes’ book was delightful. I think I’m going to have to look into her other novels.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Hive by D.L. Orton	Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

This is a revised version (I’m not sure how much) of a book I listened to four years ago. It should be fun to see this version.

Foxglove Summer is one of my favorites in the Rivers of London series, I’ve been looking forward to it

What are you working through?

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis	Back After This by Linda Holmes

I should be finishing Lewis’ Space Trilogy here this evening–if nothing else, each book in this trilogy is radically different than the one before. I’m very curious about how he wraps this all up.

I really have no idea why I picked up Back After This but one of my favorite (non book) bloggers recommended it, and our tastes generally align. I’m less than a chapter into it at the moment, so I really can’t say anything about it yet.

What did you recently finish reading?

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick	Orconomics: A Satire by J. Zachary Pike, read by Doug Tisdale Jr.

A Scanner Darkly was something, that’s for sure. I’m not sure what, though. Really well-written, fantastic ideas, but I’m not sure about the whole package.

Pike’s satire was everything I’d hoped it’d be–and more.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Good Trouble: The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972 by Forest Issac Jones	The Mercy Chair by M.W. Craven, read by John Banks

I’ve been reading a lot of dark and heavy things, so as an antidote, let’s see what Good Trouble has in store. Oh, more of the same. Okay, then.

At least at the end of the latest Poe and Tilly book, there’s a somewhat happy ending after all the dark and heavy.

What are you escaping into lately?

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick	Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

The Sci-Fi Book Club at Shared Stories is doing a great job of getting me to read things I’ve meant to get around to forever. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly is just one of those books.

I just realized that, if I want to finish this re-listen through The Rivers of London in time to read the new book when it’s released, I’d better get moving. Broken Homes is one of my favorites, so that helps incentivize me.

What did you recently finish reading?

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson	Summer Knight by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters

I love it when a sequel surpasses the original, and Stevenson succeeded there.

I (as expected) thoroughly enjoyed Summer Knight, I’d forgotten how much happened in this particular novel.

What do you think you’ll read next?

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis	Orconomics: A Satire by J. Zachary Pike, read by Doug Tisdale Jr.

I’m a little behind schedule with my Lewis read for the month, but better late than never for this conclusion to the Space Trilogy–the only one I haven’t read before.

I remember wanting to pick up Orconomics when it came out in print a few years back, but I remember nothing else about it. I guess I’m about to see if I was right.

What are you reading?

For a few years, April 15 was the apex of my professional life–months of effort led up to it, weeks of effort spent dealing with it, and then we had a couple of months of reprieve before starting the cycle again. I left that employer almost 4 years ago, but it’s still in the back of my mind to be stressed right now. It’s always such a relief when I realize I don’t have a reason to be, even if my subconscious is convinced I should be. I do feel bad for former coworkers who are still there, and the long hours they “get” to work.

I can’t remember where I was going with that, but I can’t think of another introduction for this. So pretend I had a punchline, and let’s get on with today’s WWW.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

The Impudent Edda by Rowdy Geirsson	Dark Neon & Dirt by Thomas Trang	Happy Jack and the Scary-Ass Book of Doom by Rich Partain, read by JP Adams

The Impudent Edda bills itself as a translation of the last Edda, this time made by a Bostonian. It is ridiculously fun. It’s also hard to take in large chunks, so I also started Trang’s debut, which is almost the complete opposite–it’s fun, but only because it’s gritty LA noir done right. Assuming I survive the mental whiplash between these two, the next couple of days are going to be great.

Yeah, it’s a couple of weeks after I said I was going to listen to the Rich Partain book but Library holds came a calling.

What did you recently finish reading?

One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman	Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green

It felt like Waxman turned her comedy up a few notches with this one–while delivering a strong mystery novel filled (as you expect from Waxman) with fantastic characters.

I learned far, far more about Tuberculosis than I ever expected to (including how much I have yet to learn–and it’ll likely stay that way). In the midst of this history/social commentary is the (true) story of a very sick teenager. It’ll surprise no one to learn that Green is very good at talking about sick teenagers.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson	Summer Knight by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters

Why did it take me so long to get to Stevenson’s sequel? No one will ever know. But I’m hoping to take care of it by the end of this week.

My Dresden Files re-listen got derailed last year, so I might as well get back on track, right?

How are you faring in the post-Tax Day world?

This is my third post for the week, should be my seventh or eighth. On the plus side, if you are seeing this, it means I stayed awake long enough to put it together yesterday 🙂

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

My Documents by Kevin Nguyen	I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You by Miranda Hart

If anything was going to make Butler’s Parable of the Sower feel less prescient, it’d be Nguyen’s. It pulls off this odd combination of sweet, comfortable, slightly satirical, and utterly horrifying.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of Hart’s book, but I’m looking forward to pressing on.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Price of Power by Michael Michel	Baby City by Freida McFadden & Kelly Stoddard, read by Phillipa Miller

Michel’s relaunched book is just fantastic. I’d be counting the days for the second book in the series if it had a firm release date (phew! Saved from Math!!)

Baby City was utterly fine–and now I can say I’ve dipped my toe into McFadden’s work (even if it’s a far, far cry from a Domestic Thriller)

What do you think you’ll read next?

Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang	Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green

I’ve heard nothing but good things about Wang and this book. Eager to dive in.

What could be more entertaining than a book about TB? It’s about time I try a John Green (past time, really), might as well try this one.

Are you working on anything good?

Poking my head up long enough to post this–hopefully first of two for today.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

The Price of Power by Michael Michel	Baby City by Freida McFadden & Kelly Stoddard, read by Phillipa Miller

Last night I pulled the “well, just one more chapter and then I’ll get to work” move three times with Price of Power, and that’s a testimony to my self-control. I easily could’ve kept going.

I’m not sure how Baby City ended up on my holds list, but I’m going to trust past me…for a little while, anyway.

What did you recently finish reading?

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler	A Little History of Music by Robert Philip, read by Zeb Soanes

I’ve been thinking almost non-stop about Butler’s book for days now. I’m not sure when I’m going to stop.

I learned a little about music from Philip, almost enough to justify the time spent listening.

What do you think you’ll read next?

My Documents by Kevin Nguyen	Happy Jack and the Scary-Ass Book of Doom by Rich Partain, read by JP Adams

The ARC for Nguyen’s novel looked like a chilling look at what could easily go wrong in the U.S. when I requested it. Now, it just looks chilling. I may regret picking this up.

On the other hand, Partain’s book looks like a fun antidote to all the serious things I’ve been reading and listening to lately.

What’s on your nightstand (or wherever you keep your current reads)?

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,

Is not supposed to be a motto or mission statement or anything like that. But I sure seem to have adopted it as such. But I have got some solid reading in.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler	Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin, read by Holter Graham & Saskia Maarleveld

I’ve only read 30 or so pages of Butler’s book–it’s not going to be a feel-good read.

By the time this posts, I’ll be an hour or so into Serpent & Dove, hopefully I’m enjoying myself.

What did you recently finish reading?

Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto	Food for Thought: Essays and Ruminations by Alton Brown

These two were simply delightful, everything I’d hoped they’d be, and maybe more. Vera Wong’s second investigation is heartwarming, sweet, and endearing. Brown’s essays were…I’d say “chef’s kiss,” but he had this great rant about the overuse of “Chef.”

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Price of Power by Michael Michel	A Little History of Music by Robert Philip, read by Zeb Soanes

The plan is to talk a lot about The Price of Power in the next week or so, buckle up for it! (step 1: reading the thing)

A Little History of Music is back in this spot–and will almost certainly not be delayed again.

How are you wrapping up the month?

Hey, I managed to get this up! (didn’t get anything else done today, but let’s accentuate the positive)

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett	Food for Thought: Essays and Ruminations by Alton Brown

Bennett is knocking it out of the park again. I may be enjoying this one more than last year’s, but that’s just because I know what to expect from these characters. I certainly don’t know what to expect from this world, which is even stranger this time out. I got to the part of the book where a character utters the title today, which is always worth a cheer. It wasn’t used the way I initially took it, either, which is perfectly satisfying.

Speaking of satisfying…Alton Brown reading this essay collection is my front-runner for Audiobook of the Year. It’s just ridiculously entertaining.

What did you recently finish reading?

Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames	That’s Not Right by Scott Meyer, read by Luke Daniels

As I said last week, Bloody Rose is not Kings of the Wyld. While that’s somewhat disappointing, but it’s good that it wasn’t. I put off reading this for far too long, I’m so glad I got to dip back into this world.

I opened the “wrong” audiobook last week, so I’ll have to circle back to A Little History of Music, after I clear off a few Library reserves (why do they insist on becoming available in stacks?). Instead, I had some quirky fun with Scott Meyer. This was not his best, but not his worst either (and his worst, it should be noted, is still plenty of fun). Solid fun, some really good lines, and (as you expect) some great performances from Luke Daniels.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto	Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin, read by Holter Graham & Saskia Maarleveld

Do I know what this return to the world of Vera Wong is about? Nope–and I don’t care. I just want to watch her meddle some more.

Serpent & Dove is one of those I’m listening to based on a recommendation (name withheld in case I don’t like it, no need to shame the lad). I’m really not sure this is my bag, but I hope to be surprised.

What’s keeping you up at night/filling your day?

INTRO

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames	Bibliophobia: A Memoir by Sarah Chihaya, read by Traci Kato-Kiriyama

Bloody Rose has been on the top of my To Be Read pile since it was published in 2018, but I wasn’t sure it could live up to its predecessor, so I put it off, and off, and off, and off…I have to stop running from it. The first 100 pages don’t live up to Kings of the Wylde, but what does? It’s still plenty of fun (as I expected)–and there’s plenty of time for it to get better.

When this posts, I’ll be about 30 minutes into Bibliophobia, so I really don’t know much about it. But how do I not get sucked in? I mean, look at this first paragraph from the blurb:

Books can seduce you. They can, Sarah Chihaya believes, annihilate, reveal, and provoke you. And anyone incurably obsessed with books understands this kind of unsettling literary encounter. Sarah calls books that have this effect “Life Ruiners”.

This book is a memoir about her life with some Life Ruiners. I don’t know that I can think about books that way (check with me in 7 hours of this), but it sounds fascinating.

What did you recently finish reading?

Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind by Alan Jacobs	Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg, read by Eric Conger, Nicol Zanzarella

Breaking Bread with the Dead is another stack of reasons that I want to be Alan Jacobs when I grow up.

As I said about Ashes Never Lie last week, Sharpe & Walker + Eve Ronin = fun.

What do you think you’ll read next?

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett	A Little History of Music by Robert Philip, read by Zeb Soanes

As intimidated as I was to start Bloody Rose, I’m even more intimidated by A Drop of Corruption. The first in this series is one of the two best books I read last year. I doubt I’ll say the same about this one, but I bet it’ll be in teh running.

As for A Little History of Music? Eh, I was in the mood to learn a little something. Seemed like a good fit. (although I have a few library books on hold, if one of them comes through I can remain a little ignorant a bit longer)

CLOSING QUESTION?

What a difference a week makes–after talking about a few lackluster (or worse) books at the end of February, I ended the month very strong and the first books of March have continued that streak. It’s a nice place to be.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

The Library Game by Gigi Pandian	Every Tom, Dick & Harry by Elinor Lipman, read by Piper Goodeve

I just started The Library Game today. I thought Pandian had wrapped up this series with the last book, I’m glad to see that I was wrong and I’m eager to see where the series goes from here.

Lipman’s Ms. Demeanor was entertaining enough (although it had its drawbacks), and I’m curious to try something else by her.

What did you recently finish reading?

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis	Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow, read by Wil Wheaton

Perelandra blew me away this week, just as much as it did 20+ years ago when I read it the first time.

A couple of weeks ago in a Saturday Miscellany post, I said something about getting around to trying Doctorow sometime, the manager of Shared Stories told me that I really should start with Red Team Blues. He was right.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind by Alan Jacobs	Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg, read by Eric Conger,Nicol Zanzarella

It’s time for me to wrap-up my review of Jacobs’ trilogy.

And I’ll be tackling Ashes Never Lie on audio. Sharpe & Walker + Eve Ronin = fun.

How’s March starting for you?