Category: General

WWW Wednesday

Posted December 24, 2025 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

What have you recently finished reading?

Looks like the last thing I finished was David Hone and Mark P. Witton’s Spinosaur Tales, which was really interesting. I don’t know that much about spinosaurs; they’re not a dinosaur I’d ever been particularly interested in. I mostly remember Baryonyx because of playing Jurassic World Evolution and having trouble making the habitat comfy for it, ahaha. Hone’s books are usually really clear, and Witton’s drawings added a lot too.

Cover of The Hungry Empire by Lizzie CollinghamWhat are you currently reading?

A few things at once, but still kinda struggling with attention span except when something really grabs me. I’m trying to finish Lizzie Collingham’s The Hungry Empire: How Britain’s Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World today; I’ve learned a couple of kinda surprising-to-me things so far, but I’m not blown away by it (sadly — I generally rather enjoy food history).

Still, hopefully I can finish it this evening.

Cover of Solo Leveling vol 1 by ChugongWhat will you be reading next?

Who knows! It depends on what Santa brings me, probably. Though I’m rather tempted to dig into the Solo Leveling light novel, which is a Christmas present I already received. I love the manhwa, after all.

Still, we’ll see. I doubt I’ll get change to start on anything new this evening, and tomorrow could change eveeeerything.

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Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted December 20, 2025 by Nicky in General / 14 Comments

Yay, weekend! And also: yay time off! I’m now off until the 29th, so let’s hope for lots of reading.

Books acquired this week

This week I received a generous gift of books for Christmas, so here they all are!

Cover of After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian Cover of Solo Leveling vol 1 by Chugong Cover of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint vol 1 by singNSong

Cover of Mistakenly Saving the Villain vol 1 by Feng Yu Nie

Quite the weird mix, which suits my reading tastes perfectly!

Posts from this week

I’ve eased off on posting the (already written) backlog reviews so I can maintain the variety, but there were still some review posts this week! Here goes the roundup:

And of course there’s also these posts:

What I’m reading

It’s been a busy week for me at work, so I haven’t finished a lot, but let’s do the usual sneak peek at the books I intend to review:

Cover of The Beauty's Blade by Feng Ren Zuo Shi Cover of Still Waters by E.C.R. Lorac Cover of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint vol 1 by singNSong Cover of Cat + Gamer vol 3 by Wataru Nadatani Cover of Cat + Gamer vol 4 by Wataru Nadatani

As for this weekend, I’m really not sure yet, except that I want to finish Rowenna Miller’s The Palace of Illusions. Other than that, it’s as my whimsy takes me.

Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, and the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz.

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WWW Wednesday

Posted December 17, 2025 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

Cover of Still Waters by E.C.R. LoracWhat have you recently finished reading?

It was a couple of days ago, but I finished E.C.R. Lorac’s Still Waters. It’s interesting to see Lorac’s books with some repeat characters (the Hoggetts), since the others mostly just have Macdonald and Reeve (the detectives) and not really any other recurring characters. Lorac’s love for the area is clear, and there are some really tense scenes — it’s not really “cosy” in that sense!

Cover of The Palace of Illusions by Rowena MillerWhat are you currently reading?

A few things at once, trying to find something that “sticks”. Mostly, Rowenna Miller’s The Palace of Illusions, since it’s kinda seasonal (as a Nutcracker-inspired fantasy set at Christmas); I was enjoying it, but I’ve just kinda stalled — I think because I’ve been working extra in order to get next week off. Hopefully I’ll find my mojo again soon.

I did also start PJ Ellis’ We Could Be Heroes, but I’ve barely read any of that yet.

Cover of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint vol 1 by singNSongWhat will you read next?

I don’t really know. I might start on Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, since volume one is relatively short, and I’ve been curious about it for a while. Or I might read Spinosaur Tales, because non-fiction might grab my attention a little bit more right now.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Winter TBR

Posted December 16, 2025 by Nicky in General / 14 Comments

It’s been a minute since I participated in Top Ten Tuesday, again, but I always like the TBR ones! So here’s my winter TBR… which is not really themed, because I don’t go for that much.

Cover of The Palace of Illusions by Rowena Miller Cover of We Could Be Heroes by P.J. Ellis Cover of Strange New World by Vivian Shaw Cover of The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor Cover of After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian

  1. The Palace of Illusions, by Rowenna Miller. This is kinda seasonal, since it’s Nutcracker-inspired, and I’ve got started on it already. I’m not very far into it, but I’m very curious about the magic, and how it all relates to the Nutcracker.
  2. We Could Be Heroes, by PJ Ellis. A romance between a guy playing a superhero who sounds like the equivalent of Superman or Captain America… and a drag queen? Sounds fun, I’m curious! Again, this is on my December TBR and I’ve actually started it already, but I’ve only read two chapters. I think the guy who plays the superhero is about to show up at the drag show, and I presume sparks will shortly fly for some kind of meet-cute.
  3. Strange New World, by Vivian Shaw. This is the latest in a series I love, so I’m keen to jump in, and it’s part of two reading challenges I’m in. I didn’t expect a sequel given that the last book was so apocalyptic, so I’m quite curious where it will go.
  4. The Otherwhere Post, by Emily J. Taylor. I know very little about this one, but picked it up to review for Postcrossing’s blog since it involves magical mail. I did start reading it, and the multiple worlds idea — and the postal workers who are the only ones who can slip between them — is pretty intriguing.
  5. After Hours at Dooryard Books, by Cat Sebastian. I’ve heard a couple of glowing recommendations for this, and someone just bought me a copy, so it’s quite high on my list! I generally love Cat Sebastian’s romances and find them very satisfying anyway, so the praise is just the cherry on the cake there.
  6. Spinosaur Tales: The Biology and Ecology of the Spinosaurs, by David Hone and Mark P. Witton. Yeah, I know, this is an abrupt switch in gear, but y’all know me! I love my non-fiction too, and I really liked David Hone’s The Future of Dinosaurs and The Tyrannosaur Chronicles. His work is very readable, but thorough; I know very little about spinosaurs, so I’m extra interested to get into it, especially since I’ve been reading the Dinosaur Sanctuary manga. Who knows when that might feature some spinosaurs?!
  7. Solo Leveling, by Chugong. I read the manhwa adaptation earlier this year, so I’m curious about the original! I’m told there are some differences in the story, which sounds intriguing, and also I usually find novels a bit easier to follow than visual media. Again, just got gifted a copy of the first volume, so it’s an excellent time.
  8. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, by singNsong. I’ve heard great things about this series, so I want to dig in and give it a go. I got gifted this as well, so I want to dig in ASAP.
  9. The Wife Comes First, by Lv Ye Qian He. The first volume is out as of today, and I’m curious about this one from the summary — it sounds like an interesting idea for a romance, with some fun court politicking, without being a many-volumes long investment like some other danmei I’m interested in. I’m not sure if I’ll get it for Christmas, since it’s not in stock currently in most places and Bookshop.org says a few days for delivery (which often means they don’t actually have copies yet)… but maybe I’ll get it for myself after Christmas if not.
  10. Thrice Married to a Salted Fish, by Bi Ka Bi. Another danmei I’m curious about! I read the preview, and I’m dying to know what’s going on, I must be honest. Again, I don’t have a copy yet, but might get it for myself if Santa doesn’t bring it.

Cover of Solo Leveling vol 1 by Chugong Cover of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint vol 1 by singNSong Cover of The Wife Comes First vol 1 by Lv Ye Qian He Cover of Thrice Married to a Salted Fish vol 1 by Bi Ka Bi

Curious to browse other people’s lists when I get the chance! Hope everyone’s having a good December so far.

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Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted December 13, 2025 by Nicky in General / 16 Comments

Hurrah, weekend. Obviously things are still a bit subdued around here (re: the loss of a pet last week), and I’m working over the weekend, but there’s still a bit more reading time and that’s always good.

Books acquired this week

This week it’s just my British Library Crime Classic. Now I have the subscription, I don’t keep good track of what’s coming out — so I was excited that this month’s was an E.C.R. Lorac title!

Cover of Still Waters by E.C.R. Lorac

I might dig into that this weekend.

Posts from this week

I’ve eased back on posting my review backlog for a bit: the major backlog is in comics, but I don’t like to post too many reviews of the same type of thing at a time, so I’m waiting to have finished a couple more books of different genres to create variety. Still, there’s been plenty of reviews without so many extras, so here’s the roundup!

And the usual disclaimer that I didn’t read any of these books in the last week, I have reviews backlogged out anywhere from days to months depending on the genre! Books I read this week are below.

What I’m reading

There was plenty more manga this week, but also I did manage to get back into reading more long-form stuff somewhat and finally finished reading Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. Here’s a sneak peek at the stuff I plan to review!

Cover of Clues to Christabel by Mary Fitt Cover of Death in Ambush by Susan Gilruth Cover of Dinosaur Sanctuary vol 3 by Itaru Kinoshita Cover of Dinosaur Sanctuary vol 4 by Itaru Kinoshita

Cover of Dinosaur Sanctuary vol 5 by Itaru Kinoshita Cover of Dinosaur Sanctuary vol 6 by Itaru Kinoshita Cover of Lady-Bird by Fabrice Sapolsky and Dawn J. Starr Cover of Dinosaur Sanctuary vol 7 by Itaru Kinoshita

Cover of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol 5 by MXTX Cover of Cat + Gamer vol 2 by Wataru Nadatani

My plans for the weekend involve reading Feng Ren Zuo Shu’s The Beauty’s Blade and… I’m not sure what else. I made a start on Rowenna Miller’s The Palace of Illusions, which is pretty seasonally appropriate, so perhaps I’ll focus on that. Or maybe I’ll read that new E.C.R. Lorac reprint!

Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, and the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz.

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WWW Wednesday

Posted December 10, 2025 by Nicky in General / 8 Comments

Cover of Dinosaur Sanctuary vol 2 by Itaru KinoshitaWhat have you recently finished reading?

Several volumes of Itaru Kinoshita’s Dinosaur Sanctuary! And that’s about it. I love it, though; it’s pretty light-hearted and low stakes, but tries to be realistic about dinosaur diets, needs, etc, and how it would be possible to keep and care for dinosaurs in a zoo-like environment. I’m finding it really soothing and enjoyable, and I’m mad there’s only one volume left that’s already out which I haven’t read.

Cover of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol 5 by MXTXWhat are you currently reading?

I have a few books technically on the go, but they’re not really speaking to me at the moment. One is volume five of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: I really want to read it, but by the time I get free time in the evening I’m currently only fit for staring at the wall vaguely, or so it feels.

Another one is Lizzie Collingham’s The Hungry Empire, a look at how the expansion of the British Empire was linked with food. I’m finding it more dry than I hoped, though… or maybe I’m just having trouble getting into anything at the moment.

Cover of Still Waters by E.C.R. LoracWhat will you read next?

Volume seven of Dinosaur Sanctuary, for a start. Other than that, I don’t really know; I just got the latest British Library Crime Classic book via my subscription, and I’m tempted to go with that to unstick myself a bit, since it’s an E.C.R. Lorac.

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Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted December 6, 2025 by Nicky in General / 23 Comments

Sadly, this week one of my rabbits died (RIP Hulk, aged 12), so I’m not feeling super chipper. I’ll get to replies when I can, but it might not be over the weekend. Sorry folks.

Books acquired this week

My wife swung by the library for my hold for me — I’ve had this on hold since mid-October, for a reading challenge that’s now ended, but ah well. People have been very keen about it, so I’m curious.

Cover of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Posts from this week

Let’s do a round-up, as usual! I’ve continued working on posting some of my backlogged reviews, so there are a few extra.

As usual, for some of these it’s been weeks/months since I read them, due to the way I try to post a mixture of review genres, and the many, many reviews I have ready to post. For this week’s reading, check below!

What I’m reading

It’s not been the best week for reading — though I’ve finished a bunch of books, they’re mostly manga/graphic novels — but oh well, such are my whims and needs, and I go with them. Here’s a sneak peek of the books I finished this week and plan to review on the blog, as usual.

Cover of A Boy Named Rose by Gaëlle Geniller Cover of The Stranger in the Hoarding House by Joe Aruku Cover of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol 4 by MXTX Cover of My Heart in Braille by Joris Chamblain

Cover of Posted in the Past by Helen Baggott Cover of The Great British Bump-Off by John Allison, Max Sarin et al Cover of Walking Practice by Dolki Min Cover of Dinosaur Sanctuary vol 1 by Itaru Kinoshita Cover of Dinosaur Sanctuary vol 2 by Itaru Kinoshita

For the weekend… I’m not sure what I’ll read. I haven’t been much in the mood for it (for obvious reasons), but I started on a new book and was suddenly quite into that, so maybe I’ll finish it: it was a bit of a random choice from my Kobo Plus borrows, Clues to Christabel by Mary Fitt. I’m also partway through another murder mystery, Death in Ambush, so I’d like to finish that. Aaaand some more Dinosaur Sanctuary, probably!

If I can get into a book, that would obviously be great and comforting, but if it doesn’t happen… well. That’s fine too.

Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, and the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz.

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WWW Wednesday

Posted December 3, 2025 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

Cover of The Great British Bump-Off by John Allison, Max Sarin et alWhat have you recently finished reading?

The last thing I finished was John Allison and Max Sarin’s The Great British Bump-Off, which is a comic based on shows like the Great British Bake-Off that also features, gasp, murder! Nobody actually dies in the course of the comic, actually, and it’s mostly a light-hearted giggle at the show/competition format with some classic mystery references and tropes. Pretty fun, and the art was nice, but not very substantial.

Cover of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol 5 by MXTXWhat are you currently reading?

I’ve started on volume five of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, but life keeps getting in the way enough that I end up not quite in the mood. I reaaaaally want to finish it soon though. It’s grown on me as I went through the story, especially as I got used to the abrupt time transitions; I think I still like SVSSS and TGCF more, but it is fun.

I’m also reading Susan Gilruth’s Death in Ambush, this year’s Christmas-themed offering from the British Library Crime Classics series. It doesn’t actually feel very Christmassy, honestly; there’s some mention of buying Christmas presents, and putting up some decorations, but it’s more like a mystery that happens to be set around Christmas than one which uses Christmas for… any reason, really. The murder isn’t related to Christmas, there’s no requirement for footsteps in the snow, Christmas doesn’t seem to inform the timing… it’s not even really part of the atmosphere. Ah well, I’m not much for seasonally themed books usually anyway.

Cover of Walking Practice by Dolki MinWhat will you be reading next?

I’m planning to read Dolki Min’s novella Walking Practice today, for something short and sweet (well, sort of). It’s a bit of a random choice, not something I’ve seen other people talking about, but it came up in my recommendations on Kobo, and it’s in Kobo Plus, so I figured I might as well give it a shot.

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Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted November 29, 2025 by Nicky in General / 18 Comments

Weekend time! And nearly the end of the month too; I cannot believe it’s about to be December.

Books acquired this week

This week we have two books acquired to review! Both from Netgalley; I’ve not been lucky enough (so far at least) to get physical copies.

Cover of Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett Cover of Platform Decay by Martha Wells

I’m excited for both! Technically I got the version of Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter with the UK cover, but I like this one better and I already had it saved, sooo. There you are.

Posts from this week

I’ve continued posting extras to get to grips with the pre-written review backlog, so there’s a bunch again for the roundup this week! As ever, don’t forget that most of them are books I read weeks/months ago by this point, so it doesn’t reflect this week’s reading. That’s below in the “What I’m reading” section!

Aaand if you were curious (as people often are) about why I bother to finish/rate/review low-star reads, I wrote about that not so long ago.

What I’m reading

After a quiet reading week last week, I finished eight books last weekend, so this was a bit more action-packed (inasfar as reading is action). Here’s a sneak peek at the ones I intend to review on the blog sometime:

Cover As If By Magic ed. Martin Edwards Cover of Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Health Insurance: A Fable for Grownups by Kathleen Founds Cover of Delicious in Dungeon vol 1, by Ryoko Kui Cover of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol 2 by MXTX

Cover of Answering Back ed. Carol Ann Duffy Cover of The Wages of Sin by Kaite Welsh Cover of Do You Really Only Want a Meal? vol 2 by Yasu Tadano Cover of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol 3 by MXTX

Cover of One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny Cover of Paladin's Faith by T. Kingfisher Cover of Swordcrossed by Freya Marske

As you see, I’ve been busy, though my reading did slow down after the weekend.

As for the weekend’s plans, I’m not sure. I’ve finished my Book Spin Bingo card early for once, so I think I might chill with some manga/graphic novels, and maybe read volume four of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. As ever, though, it’s down to my whim!

Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, and the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz.

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WWW Wednesday

Posted November 26, 2025 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

Cover of One Night in Hartswood by Emma DennyWhat have you recently finished reading?

One Night in Hartswood, by Emma Denny. It was… okay. There was nothing in it that I outright bounced off, other than the fairly genre-typical lack of communication/lying about identity, but I didn’t super click with it either. Sometimes that kind of predictability is comforting, but usually something else (like characters I adore) compensates for it to pull me in, and that didn’t seem to happen here for me.

Cover of Swordcrossed by Freya MarskeWhat are you currently reading?

I’m in the midst of two books: Freya Marske’s Swordcrossed, and T. Kingfisher’s Paladin’s Faith. I haven’t totally gotten into the former yet, though there’s nothing so far to dislike beyond a worry that Luca’s lies are going to fuck things over in a way that I find both predictable and annoying.

As far as Paladin’s Faith goes, Kingfisher’s usual wit makes this fun, but I’m not sure about the match-up of Shane and Marguerite, or indeed about spending much time with this particular flavour of self-hating guilty paladin. All Kingfisher’s paladins seem to run basically the same software, and that can get frustrating.

Cover of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol 4 by MXTXWhat will you read next?

Volume four of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, pretty certainly. I was very tempted to start it already, but I’m trying to focus on finishing up my Book Spin Bingo reads first — especially since I have only two left to finish (the books I’m currently reading), so I’m really close to a blackout that isn’t super last minute, for once!

Anyway, I don’t adore MDZS as much as many seem to, but I’m having fun, and I kinda want to strike while the iron is hot after finishing volume three on Monday. But we’ll see!

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