Category: General

Stacking the Shelves

Posted December 17, 2016 by Nicky in General / 12 Comments

Happy Saturday! It was going to be an Unstacking, and then people on Netgalley decided to be generous… Also, I have read a lot this week, and it makes me happy. I might actually end up hitting my yearly goals by accident.

Received to review:

Cover of Miniatures by John Scalzi Cover of The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi Cover of The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley

New Scalzi! Kameron Hurley! Excited!

Finished this week:

Cover of The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker Cover of The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman Cover of The Book by Keith Houston Cover of The Toll-Gate by Georgette Heyer Cover of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Cover of Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis Cover of Armada by Ernest Cline Cover of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers Cover of Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas Cover of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

Cover of The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis Cover of The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis Cover of Invisible Planets ed. Ken Liu Cover of Miniatures by John Scalzi Cover of Weird Dinosaurs

Quite a few of these (Narnia, Throne of Glass) were rereads, but all the same, what a week! Whew.

Reviews posted this week:
–She-Hulk: The Complete Collection vol 1, by Dan Slott et al. Fun, though I think it lost momentum somewhat. 3/5 stars
–Gut, by Giulia Enders. Irreverent and definitely aimed at the layman, and therefore quite a lot of fun. 3/5 stars
–Emma, by Jane Austen. I hate Emma, as a character. ’nuff said. 2/5 stars
–The Boys from Brazil, by Ira Levin. Not a fan, let’s say. 2/5 stars
–The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of, by Joseph Hansen. There’s a lot of red herrings and such here, but it’s still a solid story. 3/5 stars
–Moon Tiger, by Penelope Lively. This is also a book I wasn’t a fan of. Very consciously literary, and unlikeable characters to boot. 1/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Cold Night Lullaby, by Colin MacKay. Do you want to make yourself cry in the most undignified way you can imagine? This might help. 5/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Books in First Half of 2017. Whoa, there’s a lot to look forward to.
–What are you reading Wednesday. The weekly update.

Got something to look forward to in the next week? Share!

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What are you reading Wednesday

Posted December 14, 2016 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

What have you recently finished reading?

A bunch of things, actually; it’s been a pretty good week for reading. The most recently finished was my reread of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas; I still think it’s fun, but I don’t see why anyone ever thought it was the most amazing thing ever. Solidly enjoyable, yes, but… And if you have an OTP in these books, I don’t see how: Celaena goes from being still in love with Sam in the first part to falling for Dorian to toying with Chaol all in the same book. More power to her, but it doesn’t display great constancy.

What are you currently reading?

I’ve started rereading the second of Sarah Zettel’s Paths to Camelot books, Camelot’s Honour. It’s the most Welsh of the bunch, it sometimes seems, particularly since it draws most from the Mabinogion. But also for language stuff, like references to the tylwyth teg. I haven’t got very far with it yet.

I’m also about to start rereading The Silver Chair, which is possibly my least favourite of the Narnia books. Honestly, sometimes I feel like skipping it and The Last Battle entirely.

What are you planning to read next?

I don’t really have a plan, honestly. I might start by rereading The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay… then again, I might wait until I’ve finished at least one of the series I have on the go.

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted December 13, 2016 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is all about the books upcoming in the first half of 2017. While I’m not always on the ball about this stuff, there are a surprising number of books I’m actually aware of. Here goes…

Cover of City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett Cover of Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor Cover of Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab Cover of Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire Cover of Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

  1. City of Miracles, by Robert Jackson Bennett. This is a sequel to City of Stairs and City of Blades and I need it, I need it now.
  2. Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor. I don’t need to know much about this. I love Laini Taylor’s prose just to begin with!
  3. Our Dark Duet, by Victoria Schwab. I loved This Savage Song, sooo I’m pretty confident I’m gonna be happy about this one.
  4. Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire. This is a companion/prequel to Every Heart A Doorway, and I’m definitely excited to see what it does with the characters.
  5. Thick As Thieves, by Megan Whalen Turner. I was so excited when I spotted this! I recently reread the other books, too, so I’m aaaall ready for this one.
  6. Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. Between Gaiman’s skill as a writer and my interest in Norse mythology, this book is bound to be awesome.
  7. Frogkisser, by Garth Nix. Only just found out about this one, but it’s Garth Nix — I’ll read it eventually.
  8. A Conjuring of Light, by V.E. Schwab. Okay, I actually need to read the second book first, but still…
  9. The Upside of Unrequited, by Becky Albertalli. I enjoyed Albertalli’s other book, so this one should be fun.
  10. Traitor to the Throne, by Alwyn Hamilton. The first book didn’t totally knock my socks off the way it did for some people, but it was still a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Cover of Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman Cover of Frogkisser, by Garth Nix Cover of A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab Cover of The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli Cover of Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton

Aaargh, just gimme them already.

Anything else I should have thought of?

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted December 10, 2016 by Nicky in General / 18 Comments

Wow, it’s been a heck of a week for me, acquisitions-wise! And fortunately, I’ve got back into reading a bit more. I have a new project with my reading, which I should post about properly later, which is all about getting back to enjoying it instead of feeling like I have to meet targets or something. It’s helping a lot!

Books to review:

Cover of The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard Cover of Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson Cover of Gutenberg's Fingerprint Cover of Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey

Cover of Strangers in Company by Jane Aiken Hodge Cover of Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells Cover of The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman

What a haul, right? I’m especially excited about The House of Binding Thorns, The Burning Page and Miranda and Caliban. Technically, I know I’m getting a copy of The Burning Page for Christmas, but if I get the time to read the ebook first, I’ll be very happy. And it looks like I will!

Books finished this week:

Cover of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Cover of Camelot's Shadow by Sarah Zettel Cover of The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis Cover of Fair Chance by Josh Lanyon

Cover of The Litany of Earth by Ruthanna Emrys Cover of A History of the World in 12 Maps Cover of Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys Cover of A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

Reviews posted this week:

–Dark Run, by Mike Brooks. If you’re looking for something a bit Firefly-ish, then this is a good bit. Sometimes I couldn’t decide whether the references were on purpose or weirdly coincidental. It’s a fun set-up, though, with an interesting set of characters who are a bit more diverse than aboard the good ship Serenity. The Maori character, for example, was really fun. 4/5 stars
–Ultimate X-Men: Hellfire and Brimstone, by Mark Millar et al. The tension between Wolverine and Cyclops is just… ugh. This series is so juvenile. 2/5 stars
–In the Woods, by Tana French. Wow. I really expected to love this, because so many of my friends did, but it was totally unsatisfying as a crime novel and I didn’t find the literary pretensions satisfying either. It might have managed on character, but I ended up disliking most of them. So… Tana French is not for me! 2/5 stars
–Captain Marvel: Rise of Alpha Flight, by Tara Butters et al. I wanted this to be a strong continuation of the series for a character I love. It was okay, but not more than that. If you’re more familiar with the other characters, it might be more satisfying, though. 3/5 stars.
–Broken Homes, by Ben Aaronovitch. This is… still ow. I think that’s all I need to say. 4/5 stars
–Augustus, by John Williams. This is a book I appreciate more for the thought behind it than for the book itself, I think. I liked the way it tried to get a look at Augustus Caesar and some of his contradictions, but I wasn’t always a fan of the way it was put together. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This is one of the books my mother gave me (quite rightly) before I went to university, instructing me that this was something I really should read. I didn’t read it before university, but it definitely left an impression. 5/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten New To Me Authors in 2016. What it says on the tin… with a little bit of cheating here and there.
–What are you reading Wednesday. A very comprehensive update on my current reading!

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What are you reading Wednesday

Posted December 7, 2016 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

It’s been a couple of weeks since I did this last because I’ve been so busy with assignments. Fortunately, I’ve had a bit more time to myself this week, so this feature is back!

What have you recently finished reading?

I’ve been rereading the Narnia books, so I just finished The Horse and his Boy. I read in chronological, rather than publishing order, so I’ve already read The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I still love the narration. Lewis managed to get something wonderfully warm into it, particularly in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and less so in some of the others. But it is so preachy. Partly just because of the target audience (kids) and writing style (somewhat didactic), but also because of the Christian overtones.

I actually spoke to someone recently who hadn’t figured out that Aslan = Jesus? I actually miss having that kind of innocence about the books, because knowing it’s an allegory and being able to identify all the various points with clear correspondences takes away some of the fun.

I’ve also been rereading Sarah Zettel’s Camelot books, though so far I’ve only finished Camelot’s Shadow. It’s probably my favourite of the four because it has the story of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle. There’s some minor typographical and editing issues that are driving me a little bit nuts in the UK editions. Like when Father is used as a name but not capitalised! But it’s a very interesting take on the Arthurian legends, even with the romances being the foreground. I love the fact that the matter of succession has been considered, and Gawain is openly being groomed to follow Arthur, while Guinevere has an active role in running Camelot, and… so on. I need to write my review, clearly.

What are you currently reading?

I’ve finished most of the books I have on the go at the moment. I’m partway through rereading Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas; hopefully, I’ll catch up with the series this time. I still feel the same about it as I did the first time. It’s fun, but it’s not nearly perfect.

Next up: Camelot’s Honour, Prince Caspian, Crown of Midnight…

What are you planning to read next?

After dropping my reading goals, I’m trying to find more joy in my reading again, so I’m doing quite a bit of rereading. I know I want to reread The Invisible Library and The Masked City, by Genevieve Cogman, so I can get round to reading the new one. I just got approved for the ARC! I also want to reread Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, and Robin McKinley’s Sunshine, as well as finish rereading Sarah Zettel’s Camelot books, the Narnia books and of course, Tolkien’s The Return of the King.

I’m also trying not to plan too far ahead. I finish a book; I pick up the next one which makes me smile.

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted December 6, 2016 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

This week’s theme is Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I read in 2016. I’m having trouble coming up with anything off the top of my head, but let’s see if Goodreads can help.

  1. Seanan McGuire. Technically not new to me, as I’ve read one of her books written as Mira Grant. But it’s rather different stuff, so nuh. It counts.
  2. Mitch Benn. I don’t know why I never tried Terra when it was first out; I don’t think I even knew much about it, but it was so much fun; I’m glad I finally did pick it up!
  3. Ted Chiang. It took me ages, but I finally got round to reading Story of Your Life & Others, and I loved it.
  4. Hope Mirrlees. So late to the party, I know, but I looooved Lud-in-the-Mist.
  5. Pat Murphy. Again, late to the party, but The Falling Woman was really, really good.
  6. Marie Rutkoski. I did not expect to love The Winner’s Kiss, but it worked well for me.
  7. Gwenda Bond. I’d had some of Bond’s books on my list for ages, but it was Lois Lane: Fallout which I finally read, and definitely enjoyed.
  8. Robert Jackson Bennett. City of Stairs knocked my socks off, and now I’m impatiently waiting for City of Miracles. Soon, please? Please?!
  9. Sylvia Izzo Hunter. I enjoyed The Midnight Queen a lot; I must get round to reading the sequels.
  10. Elizabeth Hand. Wylding Hall was a super well-crafted novel; I should check out other books by Hand.

Most of these, I’ve only read one book, so there’s plenty to discover ahead of me!

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted December 3, 2016 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

It’s been a better week for me, though I still have one more assignment to eke out. But I did manage some reading! Hurrah.

Books to review:

Cover of Fair Chance by Josh Lanyon Cover of Weird Dinosaurs

I’m going to assume Fair Chance is related to Fair Game and Fair Play, so, awesome. And Weird Dinosaurs, well, who wouldn’t want this one?

Books received:

Cover of Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire Cover of One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire Cover of Ashes of Honour by Seanan McGuire

Because my wife is awesome.

Books finished this week:

Cover of Carry On by Rainbow Rowell Cover of How To Clone a Mammoth by Beth Shapiro Cover of The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas Cover of The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Reviews posted this week:
–Ultimate X-Men: World Tour, by Mark Millar et al. More enjoyable than the first two volumes, but still not doing much for me. 3/5 stars
–The Lost Child of Lychford, by Paul Cornell. If you enjoyed the first Lychford novella, you’ll probably enjoy this too. Judith continues to be completely badass. 3/5 stars
–Everything Belongs to the Future, by Laurie Penny. Enjoyable, but rather predictable, to me. 3/5 stars
–Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, by Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee. A good survey of, well, pretty much what it says on the tin. 4/5 stars
–The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Do I have anything new to say about this one? Possibly not. 5/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Empty Kingdom, by Elizabeth E. Wein. The close of the series, which I’ve been re-posting my reviews of for the last few weeks. Greatly enjoyable. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–On giving up, but positively. Why I’ve given up on my reading goals for 2016, and why that’s a good thing.
–Top Ten Tuesday: Best Places to Read. A departure from the given theme, forgive me.

How’s everyone else doing?

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted November 29, 2016 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

This week’s theme is a Holiday Gift Guide freebie, and honestly, I’m a little tired of wracking my brains to think of gifts. So instead, have my top ten places to read.

  1. On a train. You wouldn’t think it’d be comfortable, but something about just being stuck on a train for ages means I can settle into the reading mood and carry on interrupted. Especially in the quiet coach, with my phone off, or on the Eurostar.
  2. In bed. Of course. This is mostly with my ereader, because I can never quite get comfortable with a paper book in bed. Toasty warm toes!
  3. With my back against the radiator. I don’t know why, but I really like having a heat source at my back while I read. If the whole room is too warm, I get sleepy. If the room is cooler but I have a radiator or a hot water bottle? Perfect.
  4. With the rain lashing down outside. Doesn’t everybody love this one?
  5. Draped over my chair in my wife’s flat. With a bit of wriggling, you can get into the perfect comfy position with a leg up. Or even with my feet practically in my wife’s lap. She’s resigned to it.
  6. While petting a rabbit. I get a lot of quality time in with our bunny when I’m reading. She’ll come up to my knee and get her ears rubbed.
  7. In a blanket fort. At my parents’ house, I have a bunk bed. So I can hang a sheet down from the side of my bed and underneath there’s a sofa. Very cosy.
  8. While crocheting. Only for audiobooks, obviously!
  9. In the car. Again, only for audiobooks, but a nice long drive can eat up a big chunk of story. Or a big chunk of story can eat up the journey…
  10. With chocolate. The perfect companion.

Anyone else feel rebellious this week? Or have you stuck to the theme?

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On giving up, but positively

Posted November 28, 2016 by Nicky in General / 16 Comments

I’m giving up on my reading goals for 2016.

They were useful for quite a while — right into November, after all. But right now, they’re actually getting in the way: making me feel pressured, making reading feel like a chore, closing down my options instead of reminding me how many I have. Generally, I don’t like giving up, but I feel like this is a good time. It doesn’t mean that I won’t read 200 books brought prior to this year, or that I won’t read 366 books overall… but it does mean I’ll stop beating myself up about it.

I think the problem for bloggers sometimes is that you feel the need to keep pushing out reviews, gathering new followers, and gaining likes. After all, that’s how you know your blog is useful and worth the time you’ve put into it — and even the money, for people who self-host. But that also makes it feel like a chore. I have to finish X to get my review out in time for Y…

But the thing is, there’s no point in having a blog if you’re not enjoying it. That’s what most of us get out of it, not money — although free books can be a perk that some reviewers see. It’s been stopping me rereading books as much as I normally would, making me postpone enjoyable books because they’d take too long and I need to write a review now, now, now —

(Which I don’t; I’m scheduled up to the 7th of January 2017, as I write, and probably a week beyond that by the time this goes up.)

I know I’m not the only one.

So, bloggers, readers: take the time at the end of this year to make reading, reviewing and blogging fun again, if it has lost its shine. Or even if it hasn’t, but you just want a little break. I dare you to reread a favourite, for no other reason than that you want to. It doesn’t have to be popular, it doesn’t have to be part of a series, it doesn’t have to fit in with your goals or tick your boxes. I dare you to reread a book you only reviewed six months ago, just because you love it. I dare you to pick up your guilty pleasure reading or that book everyone else seems to hate.

And if you won’t, I still will. Let’s love the heck out of books.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted November 26, 2016 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

Not many books read this week (understatement…), but I got a nice little haul of new books, so that was nice!

Books acquired:

Cover of The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin Cover of The Story of the Human Body by Daniel Lieberman Cover of The Wicked + The Divine: Rising Action by Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen Cover of Monstress by Marjorie M. Liu

Books finished this week:

Cover of The Steerswoman, by Rosemary Kirstein

Reviews posted this week:
–Creepy Crawly Crochet, by Megan Kreiner. A book of fun crochet patterns, with some clever tutorials on how to shape things without getting too complicated. 4/5 stars
–Lone Survivors: How We Came To Be The Only Humans On Earth, by Chris Stringer. An interesting book which provides a good survey and doesn’t pretend we know more than we really do. 4/5 stars
–X-Men: Return to Weapon X, by Mark Millar and Adam Kubert. A bit lacking in tension, and the art kind of raised an eyebrow. 2/5 stars.
–A Local Habitation, by Seanan McGuire. This book made me wish I’d continued with the series sooner — and I didn’t wait that long. Very entertaining, and lots of interesting faerie lore. 4/5 stars
–The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Do I have anything new to say about this? Apparently, I can ramble about how playing LOTRO changes the reading experience. 5/5 stars
–Hammers on Bone, by Cassandra Khaw. I think I might’ve need more familiarity with the Cthulhu mythos to fully appreciate this, but it was fun. 3/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Lion Hunter, by Elizabeth E. Wein. Doesn’t stand alone as well as the rest of the series, but it’s a good read — albeit quite dark and saddening. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Thankfulness. With the US celebrating Thanksgiving, no surprise this was this week’s theme.

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