sullyisreading's reviews
52 reviews

How Much Land Does a Man Need? by Leo Tolstoy

adventurous funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A good story, an ironic parable on the nature of greed versus need. The story this book features after, What Men Live By, is a wonderful story befitting a Christmas movie adaptation. Reminded me in tone of It's a Wonderful Life, albeit with a different premise. I think I preferred it as a story, however the book as a whole was lovely. Would encourage me to read more of Tolstoy's works.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche

adventurous challenging funny informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

I'd reckon some of the beliefs and ideas presented within this book are outdated, or rather, ideas that are product of their time. But I believe there is a lot of truth and power to be realised through reading this book. There are many people who, if they read this earnestly and applied themselves to what Zarathustra spoke of, they would be happier and better people for it.

Berserk Deluxe Volume 6 by Kentaro Miura

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was not expecting anything amazing from volume 6. The previous volume, as I recall, showed the end of the Golden Age Saga, as well as continued onto the story of Rosine, which is revolved in the beginning of this volume. The volume goes on to detail a new major faction to the reader, the Holy See, and changes the state of play for all characters involved.

The set up to the return of Griffith, the many new characters involved with the Holy See, the invasion from the East, the return of characters from the Golden Age Saga, Puck's antics, Gut's realising the many errors he has made since the events of the Eclipse, Casca's baby making its initial impressions upon Guts and Casca, the Satanic sex pit, the positive but saddening portrayl of sex workers trying to survive while a witch hunt is taking place... so much happens in this volume, a lot of build up that not once felt boring or expositional, especially to a negative degree. 

I'm very excited to pick up the next volume.

Mortal Engines by Stanisław Lem

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

There are some wonderful stories featured in this anthology that really highlight many of the reasons why I see Stanislaw Lem as an incredible author. He has a variety of styles for writing that always makes his stories seem brand-new and unique. 

The only story i really struggled with from this anthology was the last one, The Mask. At first I thought the style of writing was interesting, but it quickly wore on me and turned me off the rest of the story. My explanation of the story is flawed because it struggled to keep my attention throughout. As The Mask is one of the longest stories in the anthology as well, it is not a great read personally. But I wouldn't let this final story tarnish the rest of the book; it is certainly worth the read overall.

PTSD Radio, Vol. 1 by Masaaki Nakayama

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I didn't quite know what to expect from the manga. The cover is what impressed me at first and I thought regardless of how the story went, it was worth the price for the cover.

The manga is very good. It reminded me of Pulp Fiction in the style of disordered events that are left for the reader to piece together. There's a lot of interesting themes at play, and I would like to read more of the series.

Solaris by Stanisław Lem

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I've never read a book so serious about investing you into the science of a fictional setting like Solaris does. In a way, modern ARGs and creative projects like the Mystery Flesh Pit are reminiscent of Solaris, in detail and confronting powerful creatures/an entity that humans have absolutely no control over. Only, this story is decades old and while outdated in some scientific facts, is incredibly fascinating and feels so well-thought out.

At times, the fictional essays and documents you read through the protagonist become too much. I read through it all, but without more than a fascination and hobby for science, I won't remember much of it as I didn't quite understand everything at play. What I did understand was very, very engaging, however. I wish more stories were like this nowadays, with the ability to make this kind of story-telling more accessible.

I'm sure this wouldn't be everyone's style of sci-fi, it's very retro, but it lives up to the genre's name very well. Highly recommend any of Stanislaw Lem's works, and I'm glad to have read this one.

The Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse

adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

For such an old book, the comedy is incredibly relevant and effective today, almost 80 years after the fact. Everything feels like an old lens on our modern day, but captures the insanity of day to day living especially when one has to pretend to be nice and happy to everyone who would happily cause great misfortune to fall on them.

Took me a while to read. Part of that was savouring, another part was the fact I was given this book as a gift, and did not know what to expect until finally going through the first few pages. 

Highly recommend. Some jokes don't quite land. But worth it.

The Uncanny X-men: The Dark Phoenix Saga by John Byrne, Terry Austin, Chris Claremont

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Kind of expected more, but then I remembered I had watched this storyline in the 90s X-Men show, and the build up to what is actually fun and interesting about this whole story is so, so slow that when you get there, it's a genuine sigh of relief. It was cool seeing certain characters introduced like Kitty Pryde, but honestly, if you plan to read this for Dark Phoenix primarily? Maybe skip about... 97 pages in. Really picks up by that point. 

The Sandman Book One by Neil Gaiman

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I understand the appeal of the comics now. I would absolutely read more. When I first heard about The Sandman, my main thoughts were 'Oh, it's like Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony', but I've been pleasantly shown what The Sandman offers that Piers Anthony's series never quite gave. The two absolutely line up to create a complete sense of mythology and abstract meaning for any reader.

If you like the weird, and happen to enjoy DC, you should absolutely try reading The Sandman. I would read more.

Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection by Junji Ito

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A breath of fresh air after immediately having read Gantz. Everything that happens feels focused and done with intent. Some of the stories were scarier than others, but those stories that weren't so scary had their own appeal that made them enjoyable in a very different way. Would highly recommend to horror fans and anyone who likes weird stories.