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

To play answer the three ‘W’ questions listed below. Be sure to link back to her or to put the link to your post in the comment section of her blog so that others take a gander at your answers and maybe find new reads to throw in their TBR mountain.

The Three W’s are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

 

What I’m Reading

I’ve had this book on my TBR mountain for some time now, and decided it would make a good Halloween read. I love the pragmatism of this town in dealing with their supernatural resident. ? It’s been a rather intense read. Persephone is less amused at being a prop for my Kindle.

““This is totally, brilliantly original.” ―Stephen King

“HEX is creepy and gripping and original, sure to be one of the top horror novels of 2016.” ―George R.R. Martin

The English language debut of the bestselling Dutch novel, Hex,from Thomas Olde Heuvelt–a Hugo and World Fantasy award nominated talent to watch

Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay ’til death. Whoever settles, never leaves.

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a seventeenth century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters homes at will. She stands next to children’s bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened or the consequences will be too terrible to bear.

The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town’s teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting. But, in so doing, they send the town spiraling into dark, medieval practices of the distant past.

This chilling novel heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice in mainstream horror and dark fantasy.”

 

What I Recently Finished

The blurb and cover do not at all give an idea of what this book is really about. I  loved Jack, and the Ocean’s Eleven/ saviour of the people storyline. It’s a post-apocalyptic tale, with really cool use of quantum theory. Then there were the unexpected, pointless erotica scenes, because…

“Four generations in space searching for a new world and today they learn how their insignificant band came to command a monolithic ship known as Protostar…exactly, one hundred years after stepping aboard. From the depths of the NORAD command center, they trace the passion and sacrifices that lead to a last ditch effort to find civilization a new home.

“Riters” embodies the spirit of works like “Catch 22,” and the sixties cult classic, “Been Down So Long, It Looks Like Up to Me.” Combining the absurd and insightful with the hysterical and tragic, Harris choreographs an unexpected embrace of opposites in a world far stranger than one where machines are conscious.”

 

A nice history read. It’s a time period I love reading about in general, and with my interest in forensics, and their evolution, it was perfect.

“In a violent 19th century, desperate attempts by the alienists – a new wave of ‘mad-doctor’ – brought the insanity plea into Victorian courts. Defining psychological conditions in an attempt at acquittal, they faced ridicule, obstruction – even professional ruin – as they strove for acceptance and struggled for change. It left ‘mad people’ hanged for offenses they could not remember, and ‘bad’ people freed on unscrupulous pleas.

Written in accessible language, this book – unlike any before it – retells twenty-five cases, from the renowned to obscure, including an attempt to murder a bemused Queen Victoria; the poisoner Dove and the much-feared magician; the king’s former wet-nurse who slaughtered six children; the worst serial killer in Britain…and more.

A Who’s Who introduces the principal players – lifesaving medics, like Maudsley and Bucknill; intransigent lawyers like Bramwell and Parke., while a convenient Glossary of ‘terms and conditions’: ranging from ‘Insane on Arraignment’ to Her Majesty’s Pleasure, ‘Ticket of Leave’ to ‘Burden of Proof’, helps to explain the outcomes of the cases.

Insanity Conditions presents, in glossary format, the diagnosed maladies put forward in court. Rarely accepted, more often rejected, by those keen on justice in its traditional form.

A History of Debate explains the titular subject – through graspable language and a window in time. How the ones found ‘not guilty on the grounds of insanity’ were curiously handled in Victorian law.

A chapter devoted to madness and women – from hysteria to murder, ‘monthly madness’ to crime. Raising opportune questions about the issue of gender, and exposing the truths of a masculine world.”

 

What I’m Likely to Read Next

I love Sullivan’s books and have been looking forward to reading this sequel to Age of Myth. Awesome series for those who like epic fantasy.

“The gods have been proven mortal and new heroes will arise as the battle continues in the sequel to Age of Myth—from the author of the Riyria Revelations and Riyria Chronicles series.

In Age of Myth, fantasy master Michael J. Sullivan launched readers on an epic journey of magic and adventure, heroism and betrayal, love and loss. Now the thrilling saga continues as the human uprising is threatened by powerful enemies from without—and bitter rivalries from within.

Raithe, the God Killer, may have started the rebellion by killing a Fhrey, but long-standing enmities dividing the Rhunes make it all but impossible to unite against the common foe. And even if the clans can join forces, how will they defeat an enemy whose magical prowess renders them indistinguishable from gods?

The answer lies across the sea in a faraway land populated by a reclusive and dour race who feel nothing but disdain for both Fhrey and mankind. With time running out, Persephone leads the gifted young seer Suri, the Fhrey sorceress Arion, and a small band of misfits in a desperate search for aid—a quest that will take them into the darkest depths of Elan. There, an ancient adversary waits, as fearsome as it is deadly.”

 

This title just makes me think of Loki. It looks like a lot of fun, and I recently participated in a blog tour for it and it’s sequel.

“Born in a whorehouse in the slums of Fortuna and burdened with a prosthetic arm, seventeen-year-old JANET REDSTONE doesn’t think she owes the Clockwork Gods anything-which is why she makes a living stealing from their temples. But when she lands her team in prison, making a pact with the God of Mischief, ITAZURA, is the only way to right her wrongs and free her friends. Janet doesn’t trust Itazura as far as she can punch him, but with her soul in his hands, she has no choice but to do what he says. The clockwork gods and the bad-tempered elder gods of the ancient past are locked in a game of cat and mouse and the human realms are caught in the middle. If Janet can’t somehow convince the gods to step in and save the world, humanity is in an abyss of trouble. Using her unconventional wits, an impressive tolerance to alcohol, and a strong left hook, Janet has to convince the gods that humanity is worth saving. Unfortunately, it’s a lot more difficult to stop an apocalypse when you’re slowly being driven crazy by the Lord of Mischief, especially when he starts growing on you.”

 

What are your three W’s?