Author: Nicky

Stacking the Shelves

Posted April 14, 2018 by Nicky in General / 21 Comments

I’m safely back in Belgium! And in our little game of doing chores and healthy things, my wife and I have hit 200 stars (ish), so we’re off to Amsterdam today for books, yarn and goodness knows what. (Mostly books and yarn.) So I’ll reply to any comments tomorrow!

Books bought/received to review:

Cover of Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer Cover of The Traitor God by Cameron Johnston Cover of Booked to Die by John Dunning

Cover of The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis Cover of The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton

A bit of a weird mix, maybe…

Read this week:

Cover of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert Cover of Daphne du Maurier by Margaret Forster Cover of Almost Human by Lee Berger Cover of Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero Cover of The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Cover of Evolution in Four Dimensions by Eva Jablonka Cover of The Honest Truth About Dishonesty by Dan Ariely Cover of The Atrocities by Jeremy C. Shipp Cover of Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland Cover of The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude

Reviews posted this week:

–The Hazel Wood, by Melissa Albert. It took me a while to figure out what this was trying to do, but I ended up enjoying it. 4/5 stars
–Meddling Kids, by Edgar Cantero. Okay, this had its annoying aspects (oh my goodness, you can use the word “said”, I promise!) but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Especially Kerri and Andy. 4/5 stars
–The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang. Lovely. The historical setting doesn’t quite work, but I loved the rest of it. 4/5 stars
–Daphne du Maurier, by Margaret Forster. I found this interesting, but I felt like I was prying. 3/5 stars
–Lost for Words, by Stephanie Butland. Not quite as light as I expected, and gah, the mental health clichés. 2/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday: The usual weekly post.

So how’re you doing? Reading plenty? Got weekend plans?

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Review – Lost for Words

Posted April 13, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Lost for Words by Stephanie ButlandLost for Words, Stephanie Butland

Received to review via Netgalley

I hadn’t heard anything about Lost for Words before I picked it up, but it’s set in a bookshop — a bookshop which gradually leads Loveday, the main character, towards growth and healing after a troubled childhood. I was sold from the word bookshop, of course; I kind of expected something romance-based with some quirkiness, because, well, bookshop.

There is a certain degree of that, and the romance is quite good — Nathan is sweet and understanding, a sort of undemanding romance that is a joy to read. Loveday’s background is darker than I expected, and sadder; I found it interesting to read about her process of coming to terms with it, but it wasn’t quite what I’d expected. The ending was sadder and more dramatic than I’d expected too.

Even given that, I’d rate this higher if it weren’t for the stalker psycho ex. He’s supposed to have bipolar disorder, but the ‘warning signs’ Loveday mentions are things like his obsession with doing things at a certain time or in a certain way. That’s more like obsessive-compulsive disorder, and it doesn’t make you hurt anyone. For me, it just means laundry has to be done on Fridays (unless it’s bedsheets, which can be done on Saturdays) and I can’t stop reading on an odd-numbered page or chapter. From all these books you’d think you should run screaming the minute someone wants to line things up in a particular order because ooh it’s a warning sign! You should’ve known! But for most people, it’s not a warning sign that they’re ultimately going to hit their partner and set a place on fire with them inside it.

I wish the psycho ex wasn’t used so often to create drama and tension. That character could’ve acted in that way without all those little tags of mental illness which lead some people to assume that any sign of mental illness is only a skip and a jump away from arson and abuse. Being “off your meds” doesn’t automatically mean that you’re going to do something awful; can’t we just drop that trope?

Rating: 2/5

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Review – Daphne du Maurier

Posted April 12, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment

Cover of Daphne du Maurier by Margaret ForsterDaphne du Maurier, Margaret Forster

This is overall a well done and exhaustive biography, pulling out a lot of interesting factors, events and people in Daphne du Maurier’s life and relating them to her work. If you’re interested in Daphne du Maurier it’s definitely worth a read — I’m not a super fan, personally, though I’ve read a couple of her books, and I found it pretty interesting and found myself really wanting to reread her books with some of this in mind (especially Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel).

I didn’t end up actually finishing the book, but that’s a pretty personal thing — Daphne du Maurier is described as being a pretty private person, and hating the very idea of being thought to be a lesbian, and yet this is so frank about her affairs with women. I found it felt too much like prying for me.

Rating: 3/5

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WWW Wednesday

Posted April 11, 2018 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

Cover of Lost for Words by Stephanie ButlandWhat are you currently reading?

I just started Lost for Words, by Stephanie Butland, mostly because hey! Set in a bookshop! I’m enjoying it, even though it’s perhaps not my usual genre, though a little apprehensive about what the awful thing that happens to Loveday’s family is.

Cover of The Atrocities by Jeremy C. ShippWhat have you recently finished reading?

I read The Atrocities by Jeremy C. Shipp. It wasn’t quite my thing, really, and I’m not sure what to make of it. Before that, I finished Dan Ariely’s book on dishonesty, which I found as unsurprising as his book on irrationality — not knocking his scholarship, but I think the popular psychology type stuff is usually all things I’ve read before. Boo.

Cover of Murder in the Channel by Freeman Wills CroftWhat will you read next?

Haven’t decided! I just shipped myself a ton of books to Belgium, so I might just stick a hand in the box and see what I grab. Or, you know, I’ll be good and focus on the ARCs I should be reading… that could work too. Or another British Library Crime Classic!

The possibilities are endless!

What are you reading?

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Review – The Prince and the Dressmaker

Posted April 10, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen WangThe Prince and the Dressmaker, Jen Wang

This story is just adorable. The setting is a little odd — half realistic, set in places like Belgium and Paris, but half invented (at least I don’t think it fits into our timeline), but I really enjoyed the designs and the cute relationship between Sebastian and Frances. I love the fact that Frances is never really bothered by what Sebastian wants: okay, he wants dresses, that’s her job, so she’ll do it. The best bit was maybe her telling the king that Sebastian himself was perfect, and it was the expectations and the fear of disappointing his family that ruined things.

It’s not exactly period appropriate in terms of how easily Sebastian seems to be accepted, but hey, when reality sucks, why not fix it sometimes?

I’m glad I own this. Warm fuzzy feelings ahoy!

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Meddling Kids

Posted April 9, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Meddling Kids by Edgar CanteroMeddling Kids, Edgar Cantero

There’s a lot that I found annoying about this book: the allergy to using the word “said” (in one page: smirked, ranted, argued, retorted, started — and not one ‘said’), some of the made-up words and over-enthusiastic descriptions of Kerri’s hair being alive, the breaking of the fourth wall… On the other hand, it’s all part of the exuberant pastiche, I think. And mostly it does work, for me anyway: I had a lot of fun. It’s goofy, but it’s pretty much Scooby Doo: of course it is.

For that reason, it’s reasonably predictable if you’ve seen a couple of episodes of classic Scooby Doo (plus maybe the movies like Zombie Island where it turns out that some supernatural stuff is real). Well, except for the Latina heroine, the lesbians, and the fact that one of the four is already dead.

It’s not the best thing I’ve read all year, but it was such solid fun I can’t give it less than four stars. I can understand those who find it too annoying, but for me it just about toed the line.

ETA: It was later pointed out to me that this book leans on a weird transphobic trope which I originally missed, and now (even later) I’m coming back to correct the record a bit. I don’t actually remember it well enough to comment; I think I was distracted by how fun the idea of playing around with the Scooby Gang could be. The Book Smugglers‘ review has some detail on this, and on the way the relationship between Andy and Kerri is presented, and these are (as far as I remember) good points. If those things had struck me at the time, I would probably have given a lower rating — though the fact remains that I found it good fun to read.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Hazel Wood

Posted April 8, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 5 Comments

Cover of The Hazel Wood by Melissa AlbertThe Hazel Wood, Melissa Albert

It took me a while to get a handle on where this would fall exactly in terms of genre and audience; part of it really strongly reminded me of Joanne Harris’ Chocolat, though I think it’s more intended for the YA market than that book was. Once I got into it, I really enjoyed it: some lovely writing, some very creepy scenes, and lovely use of fairytale tropes — the original sort of brutal, horrible fairytales, not the sanitised versions. I think the pacing was a bit jerky at times. Given the fairytale setting, I don’t think I can really complain about some of the rules not seeming clear/consistent at times… Fairytales are like that, and it spills into the book as a whole.

I enjoyed the fact that the ending didn’t go with anything too easy… though I’ve learnt that this is a series, or at least that there’s going to be another book. I’m somewhat reluctant to read it, actually, in case it changes Finch’s ending — that just seemed so apropos after what we see through the rest of the book.

Rating: 4/5

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted April 7, 2018 by Nicky in General / 20 Comments

Good morning, folks. I am still in the UK, despite intending to go back last week, due to the rail strikes in France and ensuing mayhem. New departure date to get back to wife and bunnies for a while: Tuesday. Wish me luck.

But hey, since I’m away, that means you get one more lot of bunny photos because I miss them. Here they demonstrate the principle “I fits therefore I sits”.

And since last week was Easter, have the Easter Egg I gave my sister…

New books from various sources

Cover of Head On by John Scalzi Cover of Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine Cover of The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso

Cover of Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts Cover of The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Looking forward to all of these, different as they are from one another!

Books read this week:

Cover of Murder in the Museum by John Rowland Cover of A Matter of Oaths by Helen S. Wright Cover of Bats in the Belfry by E.C.R.Lorac Cover of The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley Cover of Improbable Destinies by Jonathan Losos

Reviews posted this week:

–Murder in the Museum, by John Rowland. Entertaining but fairly typical Golden Age crime story. 3/5 stars
–A Matter of Oaths, by Helen Wright. Why did I wait so long to read this one? I loved it and it’s high time it got more attention. 5/5 stars
–The Genius of Birds, by Jennifer Ackerman. Entertaining, but not much that was new to me. 3/5 stars
–Improbable Destinies, by Jonathan Losos. A fascinating examination of the idea about evolution being repeatable. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday: The usual update on what I’m reading, what I might read next, etc.

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Review – Improbable Destinies

Posted April 6, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of Improbable Destinies by Jonathan LososImprobable Destinies, Jonathan Losos

The question Losos asks, and tries to answer, is this: can we predict evolution? Are certain things inevitable in development — birds, humans, antibiotic resistance, etc, etc? He writes engagingly about field work, experiments, thought experiments, the various theories and people who have supported them… I definitely want to do more reading on this.

Am I convinced? Well, I’m not sure Losos is convinced that evolution can be predicted in detail; he presents some good evidence that suggests that you can predict the sorts of changes in gene function that will be beneficial in a certain environment, but that you can’t predict exactly how those changes will come about. Sometimes one gene might be altered, sometimes another. The phenotype is predictable (unsurprisingly: look for what would benefit the species in breeding successfully) but the genotype is not, unless it’s a fairly simple case of one particular molecular switch needing to be flipped on or off. There is a great deal of contingency in the process of evolution: Gould was (at least to some extent) correct in suggesting that we can’t “rewind the tape of life” and then see things proceed in exactly the same way.

As with determinism in any sense, I generally believe that if all factors were known, we would also know the result. I’m just not sure we can know those factors (and I dislike and squirm away from applying it to human ethics — our actions may be caused by previous events, but we don’t experience the process that way, so it’s irrelevant in how to be moral) — especially given events on a quantum level.

Rating: /5

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Review – The Genius of Birds

Posted April 5, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Genius of BirdsThe Genius of Birds, Jennifer Ackerman

If you’ve read much about animal intelligence, most of the stuff in this book won’t be all that surprising, though of course since it’s entirely about birds, it includes a lot more anecdotes and bird-focused studies. As a whole, the book definitely makes a case for birds as specialised, well adapted, and very intelligent in their own spheres. We won’t be having philosophical discussions with them any time soon, though, if that’s what you thought ‘genius’ meant. And I think honestly that Ackerman makes less of a case for bower birds’ displays being art than others I’ve read.

It’s an easy read, and good for some ‘huh, cool’ moments, but not the most rigorous or unmissable popular science book out there.

Rating: 3/5

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