It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
What would you do if you had to investigate a murder?
What if your only witness was a spirit?
Would you investigate anyway?

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 Volume 16 by Gosho Aoyama
★★★★★ || Goodreads
Slowly working my way through this series. Oh, you know, there are only 76 volumes published in English so far. No big deal, right? While I love this series, I expect it’s probably going to take me a little while to get through just due to the sheer length! Each volume does tend to have at least two episodic mysteries, though, so I enjoy that. It always was my favorite type of show, and it translates well to manga, I think.

I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
I think the premise of this series is interesting. Basically, the I Survived series is getting a graphic novel series! In general, I’m in favor of this, especially with how gorgeous the illustrations are! It really brought the story to life and gives the reader more of a glimpse into the past. The only thing I struggled with is that the graphic novel leaves out some of the nuance the book has, which makes a big difference when you’re dealing with sensitive subjects like Nazis and the Holocaust. I was also surprised by how bloody this one was, so I wouldn’t recommend it to children quite as young as the target demographic for the original text series. I’d say maybe on the older end, like around 11 or 12, where they’re old enough to notice and understand contextual clues and not mind blood spurts and such.

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
I finally did it! I “caught up” with Murderbot. I mean, not technically because now there’s Network Effect to read, but I’ve got the novellas under my belt at the very least. I’m super excited to pick up the novel now. I can safely say that Artificial Condition is still my favorite Murderbot novella, and this one really dragged for me in several places where I ended up skimming. I’m just not a techie person, so any sections that are tech-heavy end up boring me (which is why I’m picky with my sci-fi). That being said, Murderbot is still a dang gem, and I absolutely loved watching their character evolution. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for these characters!

I’m still plugging away at Bloodsworn. I’m around 30% right now, and it’s really taking off. I’m so mad that I had to set it down in order to do grad school work, because ugh, I must know what happens! Looking forward to picking it up again later tonight.

I’ve also picked up The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue as my audiobook this week, but it’s basically on hold. I’ve been listening to audiobooks during my commute, but since I’m basically stuck at home for this week due to winter weather, I doubt I’ll make much progress on this one. So far, I’m absolutely loving it! Monty is so sarcastic and self-centered but I can’t help but love him.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Status: 20%

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

This is a buddy read with Dini @ DiniPandaReads, and I suspect I’m going to love it? Because Kaufman and Kristoff have a phenomenal track record both apart and together. I mean, I do love it so far. On Dini’s recommendation, I actually started the audiobook, but when big things start happening, I have a little trouble following it, so there are some sections I want to go back and read. As bad as it sounds, I don’t even remember half the characters’ names, which is always a struggle for me on audiobook. I basically love them all already, though! Can’t wait to get to know them better. I stopped just as things were really ramping up, mostly because I was getting lost in the audio version so it seemed like a good time to switch to text.

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Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
Status: 5%

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

This is a group read with a bunch of other book bloggers, and I’m already behind, as you do. That should probably come as no surprise. I absolutely love the tone of this, though it sounds very Londony (to be expected, since it’s set in London!). In my head, everyone talks with a Sweeney Todd accent and I have no idea why, but if I’m honest, it does make things more interesting!

   

Aether Ones is still on my list for the upcoming blog tour. No change there. Again. I’m not great at this whole making progress in reading thing.

I’ve actually got several blog tours coming up and no copy of the book to read, because weather. Silly winter storms have everything stopped up. I’m not sure when those will come in, but I assume I’ll hopefully read them in the next week. Since they’re not here yet, I can’t really say for sure!

One upcoming blog tour book I do have is Ranger’s Oath, which I read the first I think 5,000 words as part of BBYNA last year and really enjoyed. I’m excited to get the opportunity to read the entire thing! There’s demons and dangerous magic and friendship bonds, and I’m so looking forward to this!

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

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