Category: General

Stacking the Shelves

Posted June 13, 2015 by Nicky in General / 8 Comments

I continued my very good behaviour this week by not buying anything. I did grab the trade of Thor: Goddess of Thunder, but I already has the single issues, so I’m counting it as a gift for my partner, who I will be with by this evening! Whoop. So I just have comics this week, including the new Carol Corps one from Kelly Sue, which I nearly missed but for a random tweet about it.

Captain Marvel & The Carol Corps Silk Spider-gwen

Nope, there are no female heroes in comics, nope, don’t know what you’re talking about…

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted June 2, 2015 by Nicky in General / 15 Comments

This week’s theme is books you’d like to see as movies/tv shows. The proviso here is that I would want appropriate casting, e.g. not a white man for Ged or Patriot.

  1. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin. Shush. There hasn’t been one. Doesn’t exist.
  2. Captain Marvel. Sooner than planned, please. And keep in the recent bit about her dating Rhodey!
  3. Young Avengers. You’ve got all the ingredients ready, Marvel. Dooo iiiiiittttt.
  4. Throne of Glass, Sarah J. Maas. It could be really epic, and it’d require a female lead who could do stunts and would need a good range of acting skills.
  5. A Natural History of Dragons, Mary Brennan. I’m not sure how well it’d translate to the big screen, but again, it’d require a female lead and it’d be a little bit like Walking With Dinosaurs, only dragons and fiction.
  6. The Winter King, Bernard Cornwell. Do Arthur right!
  7. Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay. In the right hands, it would be beautiful.
  8. Sunshine, Robin McKinley. Female lead who is both a reluctant hero type and a baker. Interesting vampire lore, gorgeous imagery. It’d be amazing, right?
  9. Farthing, Jo Walton. Could serve as a timely warning to a country embracing conservatism right now, too.
  10. Bloodshot, Cherie Priest. Weird found-family dynamics, kickass female lead, ex-Navy SEAL drag queen? Okay, there’d be so many ways for them to mess it up, but we’re talking an ideal world here, and it would be so very right.

Gaah, gimme them. Nowww.

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June TBR

Posted June 1, 2015 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

As I selected the books for this list, I’d finished reading 17 of the 20 books I picked for my May TBR, plus 5 wildcards. And here I was thinking that I suck at to read lists. Clearly I just need to give myself a bit of leeway and public accountability.

That being said, here we go! I’ve already kind of started on this, as of May 31st, because I was feeling just a bit too constrained by my May list.

ARCs

  1. The City, Stella Gemmell. (I know. I’m late.)
  2. The Philosopher Kings, Jo Walton. (I’m gonna get to this one on time! I am!)
  3. Knight’s Shadow, Sebastien de Castell. (Only a little late!)
  4. The Girl at Midnight, Melissa Grey.
  5. Joan of Arc, Helen Castor.

Library

  1. Named of the Dragon, Susanna Kearsley.
  2. Heartless, Gail Carriger.
  3. Timeless, Gail Carriger.
  4. Ring of Bright Water, Gavin Maxwell.
  5. The Compatibility Gene, Daniel M. Davis.

Owned

  1. Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli.
  2. Fire, Kristin Cashore.
  3. The Wrath and the Dawn, Renee Ahdieh. (Eee!)
  4. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie. (I know, I know.)
  5. Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Laini Taylor. (It’s about time.)

Rereads (including books counting as owned-unread because of ebook duplicates)

  1. Abhorsen, Garth Nix.
  2. After the Golden Age, Carrie Vaughn.
  3. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke.
  4. Roadside Picnic, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky. (Book club read! My suggestion, so I figured I’d better refamiliarise.)
  5. Voices, Ursula Le Guin.

Catching up (from last month’s TBR)

  1. A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E. Schwab.
  2. The Winter Sea, Susanna Kearsley.
  3. Of Noble Family, Mary Robinette Kowal.

Wildcards

  1. The Hawley Book of the Dead, Chrysler Szarlan. (ARC.)
  2. The Killing Kind, Chris F. Holm. (ARC.)
  3. Ancillary Sword, Ann Leckie. (Owned.)
  4. ?
  5. ?

As before, graphic novels don’t count, because I tend to read them in one sitting anyway. If I finish fifteen of the non-wildcard books and I’ve run out of wildcards, I’ll probably let myself have some more. I didn’t last month, but that’s because I reached 15/20 quite near the end of the month. With a long trip to Belgium and then to Canada in my future for June, maybe I’ll read more.

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Female Authors Only Month

Posted May 31, 2015 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

Well, both the reading and the posting for my month of reading only female authored books are done. I also didn’t buy books by men or borrow books by men from the library during the month, and made sure all my ‘Flashback Friday’ posts were of books by female authors. Did I notice a change? Well, no, not really. Once or twice I had to remind myself, and put off reading something or other until the month was over. I don’t think I’d want to extend the month any longer; I read a lot of female authors anyway, and there’s so much worthwhile stuff out there that isn’t written by women.

Still, it was interesting. Browsing the shelves at Caerphilly Library, realising that I had to go for three shelves in the SF&F section until I found a female author; looking for books about science written by women and finding them thin on the ground; noticing my own dismissal of certain genres (paranormal romance, for example) because I just assume they’re all the same. Even though I’ve read some and really enjoyed them.

It wasn’t a struggle to read female authors only for a month, but the change in focus was interesting. I might do it with other groups in future.

What about you? Did you notice that I was only posting reviews of books by female authors in May?

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted May 30, 2015 by Nicky in General / 24 Comments

I’ve been a bit naughty in the last week. In my defence, there was a signing in a bookshop and my sister insisted I get one of the books below. Uh. That’s a good defence, right?

Acquisitions

Cover of The City by Stella Gemmell Cover of Signal to Noise by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia Captain Marvel: Stay Fly

Cover of From Eternity to Here by Sean Carroll Cover of Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige Cover of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

I forgot about the issues with Full Fathom Five when I picked up Dorothy Must Die; that was the one my sister wanted me to get, because of Ollie the talking monkey. I feel a little bad about that.

Arrivals

Cover of The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh Cover of Dreams of the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

These have been on order for a while and finally arrived this week!

Library

Cover of Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie Cover of Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie Cover of Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Cover of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke Cover of Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell

Those with long memories will know I actually owned the first four already (and I’ve read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell before), but I thought I’d grab them in dead tree to see if it would poke me to get on with it and read them!

So overall, a very satisfying haul for me! Must put some of these on the June TBR list, since the May one was a success for me. How’s everyone else been doing? Lots of new books? Exciting library trips? Self-control and budgeting?

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted May 26, 2015 by Nicky in General / 12 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is “beach books”. Which is not something I really do, so instead I shall pick the kinds of books I like to relax with. Whether that looks like your beach reads or not, I don’t know!

  1. Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal. Or anything in that series, but the first one is the lightest and closest to Austen and the like.
  2. This Rough Magic, Mary Stewart. Or any of her mysteries — they have an amazing sense of place, it’s like going on holiday without leaving home.
  3. The Rose Garden, Susanna Kearsley. Another one with a great sense of place, this one in Cornwell. It’s not all happy, but the romance is sweet and it has a happy ending.
  4. The Grand Sophy, Georgette Heyer. I have a huge soft spot for these romances. I loved Sophy in particular, though I’m also a fan of…
  5. The Talisman Ring, Georgette Heyer. Which is more of a mystery/adventure than some of the primarily society type ones.
  6. Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews. Light and compulsively readable.
  7. Have His Carcase, Dorothy L. Sayers. Okay, I think you need the background of previous books, but I love the first line and the rest doesn’t disappoint: “The best remedy for a bruised heart is not, as so many people seem to think, repose upon a manly bosom. Much more efficacious are honest work, physical activity, and the sudden acquisition of wealth.”
  8. Gaudy Night, Dorothy L. Sayers. For Harriet Vane in the prime spot, with her final answer to Lord Peter’s proposals at the end of the book… Plus, tons of smart women in academia.
  9. Jhereg, Steven Brust. It’s a fun first book of the series, it raced past me, and it’s really easy to read.
  10. Soulless, Gail Carriger. Fluffy fun with werewolves.

I don’t think that’d be a bad selection for the beach, right?

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted May 23, 2015 by Nicky in General / 13 Comments

I’ve really behaved myself this week, aside from one trip to the library — and that to pick up hard copies of books I mostly have somewhere as ebooks anyway. (Normally I am super pro-ereader, but for some reason I really can’t focus on reading on mine at the moment.) The Detection Club books are the only ones I didn’t already have somewhere — I had The Supernatural Enhancements as an ARC.

Borrowed

Cover of Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor Cover of Fire by Kristin Cashore Cover of The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

Cover of Ask A Policeman by the Detective Club Cover of The Anatomy of Murder by the Detective Club Cover of The Favourite by Mathew Lyons

I didn’t even seem to have any comics this week! I’m quite impressed with my ability not to wildly one-click everything, considering my mother and my GP separately told me they think I’m going to have to have a charming operation, sigh. Trust me to have gallstones even without a gallbladder.

What’s everyone else been up to? Any joyful trips to the library for you?

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted May 19, 2015 by in General / 10 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie, so I’m going to borrow an idea that came to me via Guy Gavriel Kay:

“My youngest brother had a wonderful schtick from some time in high school, through to graduating medicine. He had a card in his wallet that read, ‘If I am found with amnesia, please give me the following books to read …’ And it listed half a dozen books where he longed to recapture that first glorious sense of needing to find out ‘what happens next’ … the feeling that keeps you up half the night. The feeling that comes before the plot’s been learned.”

So here’s my ten… Consider this an order if I am ever found with amnesia!

  1. The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper. Well duh.
  2. The Earthsea Quartet, Ursula Le Guin. I’m curious as to how I’d feel about The Furthest Shore and Tehanu, reading them for the first time as an adult — originally I read them when I was quite young.
  3. The Fionavar Tapestry, Guy Gavriel Kay. I was torn between this and Tigana, but this was my first experience of Guy Gavriel Kay’s work, and I’d love to come to it fresh. Especially because it’s so influenced by prior fantasy.
  4. Whose Body, Dorothy L. Sayers. Well, all of the Peter Wimsey books really.
  5. Anything non-Arthurian by Mary Stewart. I’m not such a fan of her Arthurian books, but her other books are pure comfort to me. I might need that, if I’ve lost my memory!
  6. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien. And Lord of the Rings, obviously.
  7. Among Others, Jo Walton. My first book by Walton was actually Farthing, but that’s less personal. It’d be interesting how much Among Others would resonate with me if I didn’t have the memories I do. (Mind you, neuroscience probably supports the idea that I’d still feel a sense of recognition, even without conscious memory.)
  8. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith. An absolute must — I can’t go without knowing the opening and closing lines.
  9. Something by Patricia McKillip. Just don’t start me on Winter Rose unless you’re willing to take notes about my experience, compare them to my old reviews, and publish a study on unconscious memories of reading in amnesiacs.
  10. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Obviously a whole course of Arthurian literature would be essential — you could start by giving me my own essays on Guinevere and Gawain — including Steinbeck’s unfinished work. But this would make a good starting point, and you could check if I retained my knowledge of Middle English too.

Now I almost want that to happen, so I can study the neuroscience of reading and memory from within! It’d also be interesting to see how I reacted to the Harry Potter books if I couldn’t remember a) reading them as a child and b) the hype surrounding them. And —

Yeah, I’ll stop. Looking forward to seeing what themes other people have gone with this week!

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted May 16, 2015 by in General / 35 Comments

Another week where I’ve been a bit naughty! I have just adjusted my book budget to take other stuff into account, though, so I had the leeway. Thankfully. I hate failing at any challenge! But first…

For review

Cover of The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton

It was listed as just a preview excerpt, but what I downloaded seems to be the full file. I am immensely excited about this one. My review of The Just City is actually (finally) going live on Monday!

Bought

Cover of Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodges Cover of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir Cover of The Skeleton Cupboard by  Tanya Byron

Cover of The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey Cover of Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Cover of The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

A friend bought me An Ember in the Ashes to comfort me about the election results! A couple of the others were on sale on Amazon or something like that. Aside from Sabaa Tahir’s book, they’re all paperbacks; for some reason I’m not really in the mood to read on my ereader at the moment, much as I love my Kobo.

Library

Cover of Darwin's Lost World by Martin Brasier Cover of Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

I got a couple of others, but I’ve featured them here before; I just grabbed ’em from the local library while I’m visiting my parents, to reduce the amount of books I had to haul across the country!

Comics

Captain Marvel Thor Silk Ms Marvel

Yay so many comics! Boo that my pull list is now costing me £10 some weeks. Whoops.

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