July 2021 – What Are You Reading?

Well, I am proud of myself: this month I finally finished reading Patrick DeWitt’s Undermajordomo Minor,  I started reading it back in March (!!!)  At that time I read about 10 pages because I really wanted to start it on that particular night, then promptly put it aside and didn’t touch it again for almost four months!  I even had to reread those first few pages to make sure I remembered what had happened.

Nonfiction books:

• How to Maintain Languages by Robin MacPherson

Fiction books:

• Championess by Tarun Shanker, Kelly Zekas, and Amanda Perez Puentes (graphic novel)
• Goddess of Vengeance by Jackie Collins
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Lost Chronicles Volume 1 (graphic novel)
• He-Man: The Eternity War Volumes 1 & 2 by Rob David, Dan Abnett, and Pop Mhan (graphic novels)
• Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick DeWitt

I’m not really sure what my favourite book was this month.  I enjoyed How to Maintain Languages.  It was a really fast read that was interesting.  But it also said a lot of things I already knew (a lot of the book reminded me of Atomic Habits, but not as meaty of a read).  Of the fiction, I think Undermajordomo Minor was my favourite.  I enjoyed it for the most part, particularly the quirky characters, but I didn’t feel like the story came together in a satisfactory whole for me.

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book?

June 2021 – What Are You Reading?

I was very happy to fit in some fiction reading this month!  It was my birthday, and my major plan for that weekend was to read Karen Osborne’s Engines of Oblivion, which I’ve had on my Kindle for a few months.  But then a new Murderbot book, Fugitive Telemetry, came out, so I had to read that first (although I still managed to finish Engines of Oblivion right after)!

Nonfiction books:

• None

Fiction books:

• Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
• Engines of Oblivion by Karen Osborne
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Volumes 4-10 (graphic novels)

My favourite was Fugitive Telemetry.  It wasn’t the book I expected it to be, but I really enjoyed it all the same.  Rather than following up on the threads from book five in the series, it ended up a really fun murder mystery!  I recommend it (and honestly the whole series) if you’re interested in a fun science fiction.  As a bonus, the books are fairly short too!

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book?

May 2021 – What Are You Reading?

May was another heavy graphic novel month!  I’ve been working a lot on other projects (mostly editing the book I’ve been working on for quite some time), so graphic novels have been a great way to fit some reading in right now.

Nonfiction books:

Fiction books:

• Dungeon Calamity by Dakota Krout
• Covid Chronicles: a Comics Anthology (graphic novel)
• Join the Future by Zack Kaplan, Piotr Kowalski, Brad Simpson and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (graphic novel)
• Die Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreakers by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Haas (reread, graphic novel)
• Die Volume 2: Split the Party by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Haas (reread, graphic novel)
• Die Volume 3: The Great Game by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Haas (graphic novel)
• Aquaman: Echoes of a Life Lived Well by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Jordan Clark, Miguel Mendonca and Robson Rocha (graphic novel)
• Masters of the Universe: The Shard of Darkness by Val Staples, Emiliano Santalucia and Enza Fontana (reread, graphic novel)
• Masters of the Universe: Dark Reflections by Val Staples, Emiliano Santalucia and Enza Fontana (graphic novel)

Other Languages

• L’heure de Munsch by Robert Munsch (5 Robert Munsch stories translated into French)

My favourite was definitely Die.  I’ve read volumes 1 and 2 before.  At that time, I didn’t like volume 2 as much, but I also didn’t bother to reread volume 1 at that time.  Reading volumes 1-3 all in a row made volume 2 way better!  I can’t wait for volume 4 (which I am hoping will be out by the end of the year).

The back pages of volume 3 were really interesting as well (I enjoyed the back pages of volumes 1 and 2, but didn’t reread those at this time).  Gillen interviewed some game designers, and I got really excited to try some of their games out, particularly from a design perspective.  They talked about doing some interesting things with games, particularly RPGs, that I had never considered doing before, so I’m quite intrigued to try them all out!

I also really enjoyed Dungeon Calamity.  This was a different book in the series because Cal didn’t have Dani to help him out, but it also showcases just how crazy and awesome Cal is!  I also liked that it wrapped up a lot of the ongoing story arcs, so it was a good place to stop the series for now.  But I won’t wait too long because I want to know how it ends (and there’s still 2 books to go!)

I’d also like to note that I had a super hard time reading Covid Chronicles.  For me, it was way too soon to be looking at comics about life during the pandemic.

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book?

April 2021 What Are You Reading?

Wow, this really was a month for graphic novels!

Nonfiction books:

• To Touch a Wild Dolphin: A Journey of Discovery with the Sea’s Most Intelligent Creatures by Rachel Smolker

Fiction books:

• Conan: Serpent War by Jim Zub (graphic novel)
• He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse by Tim Seeley (graphic novel)
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Volumes 1-3 (graphic novel)
• Dungeon Madness by Dakota Krout

I really enjoyed He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse.  It reminded me of Power Rangers: Shattered Grid, but hilarious and amazing because it was He-Man.  It also reminded me of the movie Turtles Forever, which had a similar cross-over of older and newer Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (with a similar hilarious vibe to it!)

I also really liked the first three volumes of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series.  It starts off pretty much right after the Green Ranger joins the other Rangers and deals with some really interesting things as they struggle to become a team with the new dynamics (and also with Tommy dealing with the aftermath of being under Rita Repulsa’s control).  It’s a really good series!  I’m just sad that each volume has ended on a “to be continued” cliffhanger (and that I need to wait to read volume 4!)

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book?

March 2021 – What Are You Reading?

March turned out a better reading month than I expected!  I started reading Life of Pi (actually back in February) and it was turning into another Starless Sea: I made it about 100 pages in then completely lost interest in it.  After it sat for weeks without me touching it (I read Atomic Habits and the two Starcraft graphic novels during this time), I had just decided to give up on it once and for all when I grabbed it again and actually finished it!

Nonfiction books:

• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear
• Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin

Fiction books:

• Starcraft by Simon Furman (graphic novel – and apparently a reread! I read it years ago but didn’t remember it at all until I found it marked as read on my Goodreads page!)
• Starcraft: Survivors by Jody Houser (graphic novel)
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• Dungeon Born by Dakota Krout

Other Language books:

• La Gentillesse, C’est… by Pat Zietlow Miller (French translation by Edith Cordeau-Giard
• French Short Stories for Beginners and Intermediate Learners: Engaging Short Stories to Learn French and Build Your Vocabulary by Language Guru

I really enjoyed reading Atomic Habits.  I thought it had some really great advice for anyone who wants to be working on creating better habits for themselves.  I also really liked Dungeon Born, at least once I got through the big rules dump at the beginning of the book (that part felt like I was reading an RPG manual rather than a fiction book).  Once the story took off, it was really fun, and I’m looking forward to reading more in the series!

I’m also really sad that the second arc for the Starcraft series was apparently cancelled – I really wanted to know what happened next with these characters! 😦

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book?

Feb 2021 – What Are You Reading?

I actually finished Architects of Memory just after posting last month’s What Are You Reading post. I was hoping I’d be able to sneak it on there, but instead it got to be the first book for this month. 🙂

Nonfiction books:

• None!

Fiction books:

• Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne
• Jane Foster Valkyrie: At the End of All Things by Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, and Torunn GrØnbekk (graphic novel)
• Aquaman: Manta vs. Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick (graphic novel)
• Revenge of the Cosmic Ghost Rider by Dennis Hopeless (graphic novel)
• Short Stories in French for Beginners by Olly Richards and Richard Simcott

I really enjoyed Architects of Memory.  It’s been awhile since I’ve read any Science Fiction (probably since reading the last Murderbot book during the summer) and Osborne gave me a lot to think about regarding where human culture is heading (a lot of that came from the interview I did with her, too).  I’m looking forward to reading Engines of Oblivion, the second book in the duology, whenever I get the chance.

I was also a big fan of the second Jane Foster: Valkyrie graphic novel – I liked it a lot more than the first!

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book? 🙂

Jan 2021 – What Are You Reading?

I got off to a terrible start with reading this year. At the very end of December, I started reading Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea.  A friend of mine recommended it to me, but for some reason I just couldn’t get into it. I got about 100 pages in and just couldn’t bring myself to keep reading.  But because of the recommendation, I felt bad abandoning it.  And so it sat for several weeks before I finally gave up and sent it back to the library.  😦

What finally got me out of my reading slump was my friend, CJ Halbard, sending me an advanced copy of his newest Project Tempest novella, Her Mad Song.  It deals with some really interesting ideas (specifically emotional climate change – that there is an emotional/imaginative environment that everyone is connected to, which is perhaps permanently changing because of the emotions and tensions that have been building up, as shown through things like social media).

I did start reading another book after finishing Her Mad Song, but didn’t have time to finish it this week due to some work training I was doing (it was three full days, plus I spent a lot of time reviewing stuff from the textbook each evening after the class was over).

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book? 🙂

Dec 2020 – What Are You Reading?

Happy New Year everyone!  How’s it going?  Unfortunately I didn’t have much time for reading this month…

Nonfiction books:

Fiction books:

• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network was alright.  I loved the stuff that happened post WWII, but had a hard time getting through the WWI stuff (the characters were a lot more fun in the 40’s).  But I’m glad to have read it (although I definitely preferred The Huntress).

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book?

November 2020: What Are You Reading?

I took out a whole bunch of books from the library this month. Everything from fiction to nonfiction, graphic novels to memoirs.  So I made a real point of trying to get through a bunch of them, rather than just renewing them a bunch then sending them back unread.  I also read a few non-library books, including a novel my mom lent me (The Gown), and a few graphic novels I bought for myself (Power Rangers – I wanted to read Shattered Grid after playing through the Power Rangers game Battle for the Grid). Also, as I mentioned on November 10th, I wanted to read something related to the World Wars for Remembrance Day.

So here’s what I was able to read this month:

Nonfiction books:

• We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib
• D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II by Sarah Rose

Fiction books:

• The Gown by Jennifer Robson
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid by Kyle Higgins (graphic novel)
• Aquaman: Unspoken Water by Kelly Sue DeConnick (graphic novel)
• Aquaman: Amnesty  by Kelly Sue DeConnick (graphic novel)
• The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang (graphic novel)
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Beyond the Grid by Marguerite Bennet (graphic novel)
• Ukrainian Folk Stories by Marko Vovchok, translated by N. Pedan-Popil

I managed to read 6 library books!

I honestly don’t know what my favourite was.  I really enjoyed reading The Gown; it was a very interesting historical novel (I especially loved the interview and notes Robson included from her research).  I powered through We Have Always Been Here in a night (I didn’t realize until after I finished it that it had actually won Canada Reads this year – I picked it up only because someone returning it to the library recommended it to me). And The Prince and the Dressmaker was a wonderful story about being true to yourself and your friends.

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book?

October 2020: What Are You Reading?

I haven’t been reading a whole lot (in English, anyway) lately, but I did manage to read a few books this month:

Nonfiction books:

• Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood

Fiction books:

• The War of the Realms by Jason Aaron (graphic novel)

I’m also reading The Gown by Jennifer Robson (who I happened to interview last summer on TBPL Off the Shelf).  I’m really enjoying it so far. 🙂

I didn’t really have a favourite this month; I enjoyed both  Payback and The War of the Realms for different reasons.  Payback was a really interesting literary look at debt (lol and as I’ve been reading through all these Massey Lectures, I’ve discovered that I honestly do enjoy examining literature – guess that’s a hold over from school!)  And The War of the Realms was a great graphic novel that showed the end of the War of the Realms which was rampaging across the Marvel realms; as an extra bonus, Jane Foster got to be Thor again!

So what have you read over the last month?  What was your favourite book?