It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
What would you do to save your people?
Would you go to war?
Would you rise up?

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.

Case Closed Volumes 1-15 by Gosho Aoyama
★★★★★ || Goodreads
Soooo … hubby got a new tablet! Which means we got a new tablet, which means I now have a good way to read manga again! Reading on my phone was so frustrating. I watched the Detective Conan anime years ago to the point where the dub stopped, and I should be close-ish to that point in the manga by now. Most of these cases I remembered, but I do so enjoy reading them again. There are currently, like, 76 English volumes right now, and this is still ongoing, so I’ve got plenty of books to go still in this series. If you’re a fan of really tough, compelling mysteries and don’t mind a bit of gore, this series is fantastic.

Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
I thought this was a really interesting premise, but the pacing was a little wonky. It felt like not a whole lot happened for the first 75% of the book and then everything happened all at once in the last 25%. I liked one of the big twists that I didn’t see coming, though the overall murder mystery was 90% murder and 10% mystery. The corruption in this was frustrating, and I know that’s the point, but when criminals literally run your town and a vigilante shows up and rounds them up, shouting, “Vigilantism is bad!” falls a little flat for me. Especially since that’s sort of the point of superheroes, right? So when people start saying the vigilante is as bad as the criminals he’s rounding up, I couldn’t help rolling my eyes and being like, “No, he’s really not. Stahp.” I did love that it was an African setting and culture, and there were some beautiful lessons to take away from this book that I think will be especially poignant to middle grade audiences. Overall, I didn’t love it, but I did enjoy it and will look forward to reading more from this author!

Ashlords by Scott Reintgen
★★★★★ || Goodreads
I don’t even know what to say about this book right now. It was just … phew. The beginning was pretty slow at first, but getting a demonstration of what phoenixes (which are fire horses, not birds, and that’s kind of weird to me) can do was thrilling! Soon as the race started, I was absolutely hooked and could not put it down. The only thing I really didn’t love was the weird second person point of view for one of the three point of view characters. I’m not sure why that choice was made for her character, but it really irked me. I got used to it, mostly, eventually, but I never particularly liked it.

Writers & Lovers by Lily King
★★☆☆☆ || Goodreads
This book was a bit yikes. It started well enough, with a 31-year-old protagonist stuck in a dead-end job, not sure where she’s going in life, doing her best to follow her dream as it runs her into the ground, and who is grieving the loss of her mother. So many relatable things there! King also has some really fabulous quotes that were so poignant. By the middle, though, things derailed. The plot was really choppy and sometimes hard to follow and sometimes nonexistent. There were large portions that felt like a slog where it didn’t feel like anything important happened. I didn’t connect to any of the characters. I don’t actually think Casey did anything the entire book. The few things that happened actually happened to her, and though her situation had changed by the end, she didn’t actually make that happen. All she’d done was whine about it and be lucky enough to have good friends that helped her (even though she never once helped or significantly thought about any of these so-called “friends” over the course of the book). By the end, the “struggles” Casey goes through feel extremely contrived, the conclusions are highly unbelievable and unsatisfactory, and I was not a fan of the ridiculous happily ever after. Since everything was wrapped up so unbelievably, it left me with this bitter aftertaste that the rest of the book was really just Casey being utterly whiny and ridiculous and I walked away so unsatisfied and annoyed.

Bloodsworn by Scott Reintgen
Status: 10%

Three cultures clash in all out war–against each other and against the gods–in the second book of this fantasy duology that’s sure to capture fans of The Hunger Games and An Ember in the Ashes.

The Races are over. War has begun.

Ashlord and Longhand armies battle for control of the Empire as Dividian rebels do their best to survive the crossfire. This is no longer a game. It’s life or death.

Adrian, Pippa, and Imelda each came out of the Races with questions about their role in the ongoing feud. The deeper they dig, the clearer it is that the hatred between their peoples has an origin point: the gods.

Their secrets are long-buried, but one disgruntled deity is ready to unveil the truth. Every whisper leads back to the underworld. What are the gods hiding there? As the sands of the Empire shift, these heroes will do everything they can to aim their people at the true enemy. But is it already too late?

Ashlords ended on such a freaking high note that I was super eager to get into this. I haven’t made it very far yet (*shakes fist at grad school monopolizing my free time*). I’m really enjoying it, though! I can’t wait to see what role the gods are going to play, because it sure seems like they’re going to play one! Really enjoying seeing Imelda playing with alchemy and abilities of the phoenixes (the fire horses). Can’t wait to get more into this one!

---

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Status: 12%

Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?

Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught?

Murderbot. What more can I say? I had to wait on the hold for this one, but as soon as it came through, I dove in! Hoping to catch up on this series in time for the next release (which I think is just a novella, if I recall correctly?). I had a little moment at the beginning where I kind of forgot what happened in the last book, but I got up-to-speed quick enough. Oh how I’ve missed Murderbot!

   

This week is stomping me as far as grad school work goes, and I actually have to work extra hours this week, which means I’m not going to be particularly ambitious with my upcoming reads.

Aether Ones is still on my list for the upcoming blog tour. No change there.

I’ve got a blog tour coming up this week for I Survive the Nazi Invasion Graphic Novel, which I’m excited about. Looking forward to starting this one tonight!

I’ve got one buddy read and a group read coming up, but I haven’t started them yet, so I’ll probably save those for next week, since I honestly likely won’t be able to actually start them until at least next Wednesday. Tuesday evening if I’m reeeeally lucky, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

What are you reading this week? Share in the comments below!

Follow Me

• 
• 
•