WWW Wednesday 2025: 17 September

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share their answers to the reading world’s three W’s:

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

I’m late posting again this week; off to a great start! Between reading, studying, looking for work, and planning my return to Booktube, a brand new activity which hasn’t yet had time to develop into a habit simply slipped my mind. I’ve added it to my calendar so, hopefully, I’ll be on time next week lol.

Disclaimer: While I do participate in a few challenges and readathons, I am also a mood reader, so any books waiting in the wings are subject to abrupt and unannounced changes. You have been warned lol.

Pages in Progress

As I mentioned last week, after a long reading slump earlier in the year, I’m currently playing catch up on my challenges and readathons, so I’m reading a lot more than I normally would. I’ll keep up this pace for as long as I can, as I’m really hoping to actually complete at least one challenge this year. Next year, though, I’ll be back to my normal reading schedule, because this isn’t a load I can keep up long-term.

Book Cover: The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally

Book Cover: Grief is the Thing With Feathers by Maz Porter

Half-Arse Human by Leena Norms: Hardcover. 294 pages. 69% done. Current Goodreads rating = 4.02. A self-help book with a difference. I’m enjoying it so far. Highly quotable. Those of us who love to watch Leena on YouTube will recognise her characteristic humour shining through every page.

Tsunami Kids: One Family’s Fight for Survival by Rob Forkan and Paul Forkan: Paperback. 272 pages. 28% done. Current Goodreads rating = 4.19. This is about the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami in Sri Lanka. Aside from the prologue, I haven’t reached the tsunami yet, but reading about the family’s lives before that point is interesting. I’m enjoying this book at the moment.

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally: Paperback. 188 pages. 10% done. Current Goodreads rating = 3.68. Picked this up because it’s written by the same author as Schindler’s List. Jimmie Blacksmith is a mixed race Australian who doesn’t fully fit into either culture. I’ve only just started it and I’m already gritting my teeth at the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Half the people Jimmie encounters treat him like dirt, the other half talk down to him like he’s a bloody toddler. It’s infuriating. Haven’t made any progress on this book this week. Other books have captured my attention.

Letters for Emily: A novel by Camron Wright: Paperback. 213 pages. 12% done. Current Goodreads rating = 3.90. A heartbreaking story about how it feels to have Alzheimer’s, what it’s like to have a loved one with Alzheimer’s, and a grandfather’s desperate race to record his legacy for his beloved granddaughter before the disease steals his memories and turns him into a caricature of himself. Haven’t made any progress on this book this week. Other books have captured my attention.

Grief is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter: Paperback. 114 pages. 70% done. Current Goodreads rating = 3.81. As the title suggests, this is a book about grief. Very strange, but not in a bad way.

The Plays of Oscar Wilde, Volume 2 (Wordsworth Classics) by Oscar Wilde: Paperback. 150 pages. 47% done. Current Goodreads rating = 4.50. This volume contains two plays: An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest. I’ve neither seen nor read An Ideal Husband, but I took in a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest as a girl and recall enjoying it immensely. I’m up to, I think, the Fourth Act of The Ideal Husband. I’m quite enjoying it, though I could happily strangle Mrs. Cheveley. She certainly makes an excellent villain.

The Bitter Sea: Coming of Age in a China Before Mao by Charles N. Li: Paperback. 283 pages. Borrowed from Mum. 33% done. Current Goodreads rating = 4.01. This is the memoir of the son of a Chinese government official. Going well so far. I’m finding it to be quite interesting.

The Dead Won’t Sleep by Anna Smith: Paperback. 304 pages. 67% done. Current Goodreads rating = 4.21. Crime mystery set in Scotland. First in the Rosie Gilmour series. Protagonist is a journalist. It’s getting better. Still not a five star read, but not boring.

Extraction of Arrows by Kathryn Lorimer: Paperback. 67 pages. 96% done. Current Goodreads rating = 4.25. A Book of poetry in three parts. Nearly finished. Would recommend.

Bond Keeper: The Watcher’s Gift by Nicola Appaji: Digital. 83 pages. 18% done. Current Goodreads rating = 5.00. Won this through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program. A middle grade fantasy book. Good so far.

Pointless: Revenge Is a Rationalization, Not a Motivation (The Revenge, Unhinged Series #1) by Michael Geczi: Digital. 293 pages. 56% done. Current Goodreads rating = 4.83. Won this through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program. A story about a feeb with a grudge, who’s decided to chuck a tanty and take his grievances out on innocent people instead of taking his licks like a man. This is the second book this year in which we are told who the perp is at the beginning. I’m enjoying it so far. It’s engaging and entertaining; difficult to stop reading.

On the Shelf Again

February Dragon by Colin Thiele Book Cover Photo

I didn’t read my challenge/readathon books in their correct month/s due to being in a reading slump, but I’m counting them anyway, because I did read them!

Title: February Dragon
Author: Colin Thiele
Prompts:
The 52 Book Club Challenge 2025: Genre Two: Set in Summer
2025 Read Good Challenge: February: Flame-uary
Time to Read: 13 days
Rating: 4.75
Spice Rating: 0
Some Thoughts (not reviewed yet): February Dragon was written by one of Australia’s most well-known and beloved YA authors and it shows. Thiele captures the feel of rural Australia perfectly, and paints a picture of summer in Australia with a skill few possess. The book can be a bit preachy at times, but that’s to be expected, really. 1960s kids books did not do subtle. And, ooh, that Aunt Hester! I swear, if this weren’t a children’s book, my annotations would have a few choice words for that woman! If I had to pick a gripe about this book, it’s that the fire doesn’t happen until practically the end of the book. But, honestly, the rest of the story is so entertaining that it more than makes up for that flaw.

Title: The Arrival
Author: Shaun Tan
Prompts:
The 52 Book Club Challenge 2025 September Mini-Challenge: Find the biggest book you’ve read so far in 2025, and then beat it! For this challenge I chose physical size rather than page count or whatever.
Time to Read: 11 days
Rating: 5
Spice Rating: 0
Some Thoughts (not reviewed yet): It is absolutely astonishing how well Shaun Tan tells an entire story without a single word written. This is a silent story told solely with stunning illustrations. The main character can’t hear, so we can’t either. The book tells the story of refugees in Australia and, without a single word, the story evokes the entire gamut of emotions – sadness, isolation, homesickness, fear, apprehension, bewilderment, confusion, community, joy are all effectively drawn from the reader and I found myself in tears more than once. I love, love, loved this book. Such a tragedy that it isn’t more well-known!

Book Cover: Criminolly presents Garbology: The GarbAugust Anthology of Awesome Trash by Troy Tradup (editor) and Olly Clarke (Introduction)

Title: Criminolly presents Garbology: The GarbAugust Anthology of Awesome Trash
Author: Troy Tradup (editor) and Olly Clarke (Introduction)
Prompts:
The 52 Book Club Challenge 2025 March Mini-Challenge: The last book you acquired but haven’t read
GarbAugust IV: The Final Chapter GarBingo Card: Killer Animals (Grunts by Ian Laskey)
GarbAugust IV: The Final Chapter GarBingo Card: Topical Trash (TrashGPT by Olly Clarke)
GarbAugust IV: The Final Chapter GarBingo Card: Modern Trash (Book was published after 2000)
GarbAugust IV: The Final Chapter GarBingo Card: Men’s Adventure (An American Hitman in Paris by Ryan Michael Hines)
Time to Read: 39 days
Rating: 3.75
Spice Rating: 4
Some Thoughts (not reviewed yet): As with all anthologies, there were some good stories, some not so good stories, and some truly excellent stories. The spice rating is set at 4, because that is the highest I assigned but, honestly, most stories outside of the Adults Only section were 0 spice. I gave the book a 3.75 star rating because that is what the ratings for each story averaged out to be, but this anthology is 100% worth reading. I really enjoyed it. Some standout stories: