It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
What would you do if you found a dead body in the woods?
What if the “dead” body started moving?
Would you help the strange old man?

Wait, no, that’s not right. We ask these three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

The Memory of Souls by Jenn Lyons
★★★★★ || Goodreads
I actually already wrote the review for this one last year, but I stopped a couple chapters short of the ending, right as the final epic battle was getting underway, because … well, I learned from the first two books. Lyons always ends her books in an epic way that isn’t technically a cliff hanger, per se, but always destroys my soul and has me dying for the next book. So I wanted to wait to officially finish this one until it was close-ish to book four. You know what? My instinct was right, and May is still too dang far away. T_T I’ll be in the corner sobbing as I attempt to break the laws of spacetime if you need me.

Of Dragons, Feasts and Murder by Aliette de Bodard 
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
This is technically #3.5 in a series, but I was told it worked fine as a standalone, and it did, for the most part. I think I’d definitely get more out of it if I’d already read the series, because one of my biggest complaints was the romance and the dynamics of it, which would have already been established. I think I really need to see the build-up of the romance for me to completely buy this couple, because from this book alone, I cannot fathom why they’re together. That aside, though, the world was really interesting, the mystery was compelling, and I had fun with the characters! Particularly Asmodeus, who reminds me a lot of my husband. Poor guy. I think I’m going to go back and read this series now, because it seems like one I’d really enjoy!

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
★★★★★ || Goodreads
This was … not what I expected. At all. I’m not even sure what I expected, but it’s written in heavy slang, which took me a little while to get into and get the flow of. It’s also very graphic and definitely horror. Once I got over the initial shock of having my (admittedly little) expectations shattered and having to rebuild them, I loved this! I can’t say it’s something I would normally read, but I’ve heard so many good things about P. Djèlí Clark that I wanted to read something of theirs, and I’m so glad I did. The way Clark plays with history and race relations and racism in general is so poignant and meaningful. There’s a lot of room for anger and hatred to drag the characters down, given everything they go through, but it doesn’t. Well, not always. This is a pretty short read, but so much is packed into it, and once I got the hang of the voice, I whipped right through it because I couldn’t put it down.

Demons Are Rude by Gary Williams
★★★★★ || Goodreads
That title, guys. That title is amazing, right? I can’t even remember how I found this in the first place, but it was on my Kindle Unlimited wishlist on Amazon, and I forgot to cancel my KU subscription before I was charged again, so I figured, heck, I’ll just make the most of it. And boom, this book was chosen, because it seemed like something light and funny, which I needed right about now. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this! It was a really fun mystery, one which I was sure I’d figured out early on, but nope. I did figure it out before the characters, but not much before. There’s a lot of humor in this, too, and a little mini romance which was meh (and if you know anything at all about me, you’ll know most romance is meh to me). The characters were just so much fun, though, and the banter between them was *chef’s kiss*.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
DNF @ pg 195 || Goodreads
That’s it, I’m officially calling this. I wanted so much to like it, especially since so many bloggers I know are raving about the series! Unfortunately, I realized that I was just bribing myself even to pick it up (if I read one chapter of this, I can read a book I actually want to read), and that’s never a good situation. I just didn’t feel like anything was actually happening. I really like school settings and training tropes, but I still need some sort of forward momentum, and I didn’t feel like I was getting it here. I absolutely loved Jiang, though, and I kept going for so long just for him, basically. That’s really it. For being almost 200 pages in, none of the rest of it really made any sort of impression on me at all.

I haven’t actually touched Mistborn: The Final Empire or Sherlock Holmes and The Beast of the Stapletons this week. I did make it to 50% on Seven Devils, so I’m getting there! I need to focus on that one more before my hold on it expires. Slowly (very slowly) I’m working through the books I had on my Currently Reading list when 2020 ended.

Halfway to Harmony by Barbara O’Connor
Status: 25%

A heartfelt middle-grade novel from New York Times bestselling author Barbara O’Connor about a boy whose life is upended after the loss of his older brother–timeless, classic, and whimsical.

Walter Tipple is looking for adventure. He keeps having a dream that his big brother, Tank, appears before him and says, “Let’s you and me go see my world, little man.” But Tank went to the army and never came home, and Walter doesn’t know how to see the world without him.

Then he meets Posey, the brash new girl from next door, and an eccentric man named Banjo, who’s off on a bodacious adventure of his own. What follows is a summer of taking chances, becoming braver, and making friends–and maybe Walter can learn who he wants to be without the brother he always wanted to be like.

I confess that I’ve never read a Barbara O’Connor book. I don’t think? Well, anyway … her reputation proceeds her, and when I saw this pop up as a blog tour, I figured why not go for it? Even though I knew it would likely destroy my soul and all my remaining feels. So far, it has. Walter is an adorable little boy who’s been through a lot, and it’s hard not to hope that his situation will get better. Then there’s Posey, who is a little ball of fire and fury and I’m pretty sure it’s just impossible not to fall in love with her. I’m enjoying this one so far!

           

Since I did manage to clear up two of my previous reads, I’m going to go ahead and reward myself with an upcoming reads this week! Woot woot!

I’d like to get some shorter reads in that I’ve been meaning to get to. I’m way overdue on reading The Mutant Mushroom Takeover and I’ve meant to pick it up before, but I think it’s time. It’s sitting on my desk judging me. I’m really in the mood for this sort of book, so I think it’s absolutely perfect!

My hold for Ikenga also came through, and it’s also a pretty short read, so I think I’ll try to finish that off. I’ve heard wonderful things about Nnedi Okorafor, so I’m excited to read a middle grade book by her. It sounds like it’ll be a great read!

I’ve got an upcoming blog tour for The Unadjusteds, so I’m getting ready to pick that up. It looks really good, and I’ve had good luck with urban fantasy lately, so I’m excited to give it a try.

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