Category: General

WWW Wednesday

Posted May 6, 2021 by Nicky in General / 1 Comment

Well, folks, it’s been a while! I’m still really tired and not quite sure about what I want out of blogging and reviewing, but I am working on sorting out my review backlog and trying again. I seem to say this all the time, though.

How’s it going?

In any case, I thought I’d do the weekly reading update this week, since I’ve written it up for Pillowfort!

Cover of Snowball in a Blizzard by Steven HatchWhat are you currently reading?

Non-fiction: The Invention of Murder, by Judith Flanders, and A Snowball in a Blizzard, by Steve Hatch. The former is a discussion of how murder stories in all branches of entertainment (tabloid newspapers, ballads, novels, plays, poems, etc) developed during the Victorian period, and is fairly dense but enjoyable. The latter is a discussion of uncertainty in medicine and how important it is to understand that most things in modern medicine are not certainties but are instead what we hope for based on the balance of the evidence — for example, digging into the fact that screening mammography actually probably does more harm than good in a large demographic.

Fiction: A Murderous Relation, by Deanna Raybourn, and The Library of the Death, by T.L. Huchu. The former is ticking along great: maybe a bit less compulsive and attention-grabbing for me than some of the previous books in the series, but fun. The latter… I’m not yet clicking with the narrative voice, but I’m not very far in and haven’t got a good feel for the setting yet (e.g. how magic is viewed within the story).

Cover of White Bread by Aaron Bobrow-StrainWhat have you recently finished reading?

I’m having trouble calling to mind what the last fiction book I read was, which is not a great sign for whatever book it was, but I think it’s mostly that I’m kind of in a non-fiction mood. The last non-fiction book I finished was White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf, by Aaron Bobrow-Strain, which was actually recommended for me by someone else on Pillowfort who likes this kind of non-fiction, and which I really enjoyed. I’d love to read a blog post or review that relates the themes surrounding white/brown bread in the US to the situation in the UK, which I’m sure shares many similarities and some differences. It’s amazing how the stuff we take for granted can open up huge topics — not just healthy eating but racism and issues of class. I love it.

Cover of What it Means When A Man Falls From The Sky by Lesley Nneka ArimahWhat will you be reading next?

As usual, I don’t have a very strong idea. Next month’s choice for the book club I run on Habitica is What it Means When A Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah, so I should probably pick that up… or I’m being very tempted by the third book in Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily series, or a few potential rereads, or… there are so many options.

What are you currently reading?

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Divider

Update from the Department of Being Burned To The Socket

Posted February 21, 2021 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

Hey everyone!

You may have noticed lately that I’ve been a bit absent from the blog. I’ve been thinking through how I feel about reviewing (and blogging and tracking my reading) because I’ve been doing it faithfully for literally half my life. My estimate is that in that time, I might have missed reviewing about 10 books… most of which are recent misses. That’s not a streak I’m excited to see broken!

But as I’ve ramped up to full time at work — which has been a long trek, because I’m self-employed and it’s been a matter of finding people I trust to work with, and work that I enjoy doing (spoiler: I did not enjoy doing transcription) — and as I’ve been studying for my MSc, I’ve had less and less leisure time. At first, I was trying to cram in as much as possible to that leisure time by setting myself targets, making lists, trying to do all the things I did before in half the time.

Needless to say, that was a bad idea. Much as I’ve enjoyed reading, reviewing, doing blog posts, crocheting, playing video games, learning languages, doing online courses… and all the other things I tried to strictly schedule in, once you’re doing it like that it’s work too. I was never getting any time off.

So recently I’ve been slimming everything down, and one of the things I cut out was the obligation to get reviews written on time. Which has meant they haven’t been written at all, or sometimes that when they’re written, I haven’t gone ahead and posted them.

I don’t think I’m going to abandon this blog and reviewing the books I read. But I will be changing things up a bit: I don’t know if folks noticed recently that, with fiction books at least, I did more work on recapping what the book is about — I was trying to write the kind of review that I see being popular elsewhere, and maybe give readers a bit more information on the book rather than my impressions. But I’ve never been that kind of reviewer, and it doesn’t come naturally to me. I prefer to be short and sweet! So I will go back to whatever feels natural for the book I’m describing, rather than trying to recapitulate the summary in an interesting way.

In the end, what I need to go back to is reviews being for me. Those are the reviews most people followed me for, anyway! I need to stop worrying about networking and getting visits and yes, getting ARCs. I think all of this will be more enjoyable for you guys if I’m enjoying it too.

So! What this means practically is just one thing: I’ll be catching up soon, and that might mean a spate of reviews here and there whenever I have energy, as I try to get back up to speed. It might also mean that now and then I won’t review a book, especially if it’s the umpteenth time… or if I do, I might only post it on Litsy or Goodreads. Otherwise, should be business as usual here!

The past year has been exhausting for everyone, so by the way, I fully understand if folks lurk, don’t comment back if I visit, don’t post for months and then post a bit, don’t review, review a lot… whatever’s getting you through. Reminder that this is a hobby for most of us and it should be fun!

Lots of love,
Nicky / The Bibliophibian

Tags:

Divider

WWW Wednesday

Posted January 28, 2021 by Nicky in General / 1 Comment

Greetings, folks! It’s still Wednesday until I’ve slept, right?

Cover of Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. CoreyWhat are you currently reading?

Fiction: Abaddon’s Gate, by James S.A. Corey. I’m now nearing the end of my reread of this one, and the next one (Cibola Burn, I think?) will be entirely new to me, so that’s going to be interesting.

Non-fiction: I picked up Genuine Fakes, by Lynda Pynes yesterday; it’s an interesting book; a bit scattershot in its approach (a fake fossil made up of four genuine fossils is not [yet?] a genuine fossil in anything like the same way as a piece of art by the Spanish Forger has become a collectable item in its own right), but engaging. Funny how some of my most random book choices turn out to be the most engaging, while A World Beneath the Sands (Toby Wilkinson) is a bit of a grind, despite being one of my usual interests.

Cover of A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda CollinsWhat have you recently finished reading?

A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem, by Manda Collins. Frothy and light, not too consequential, and relatively predictable… which makes it exactly what I wanted to read right now. Bit like the Veronica Speedwell books in some ways, though the heroine is a reporter rather than a scientist.

Cover of The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane HealeyWhat will you be reading next?

As ever, it’s anyone’s guess. The Mask of Mirrors (Alyc Helms and Marie Brennan writing as M.A. Carrick) has arrived, so that’s a possibility… but The Animals at Lockwood Manor is on my five-book shortlist — which I haven’t touched for weeks and weeks, argh, clearly it needs a refresh — and is actually starting to pique my interest. Also I’m kind of in a non-fiction mood, and there’s a couple of books I got for Christmas that might tempt me there.

What are you reading, folks?

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Divider

Weekly Roundup

Posted January 25, 2021 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

Greetings, folks! This is very slightly late, but I’m determined to get it out of the door anyway and get back into the habit…

Books acquired:

Cover of Slay by Brittney Morris

Books read this week:

Cover of The Books of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin and Charles Vess Cover of Sabine's Notebook by Nick Bantock Cover of The Golden Mean by Nick Bantock Cover of A History of the Paper Pattern Industry by Joy Spanabel Emery Cover of He'd Rather Be Dead by George Bellairs

Reviews posted this week:

How’s everyone else doing? Lots of reading?

Tags: , ,

Divider

WWW Wednesday

Posted January 21, 2021 by Nicky in General / 1 Comment

Here goes, only slightly belated (there was a work thing to do!).

Cover of Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. CoreyWhat are you currently reading?

Fiction: Abaddon’s Gate, by James S.A. Corey, since it’s time I got on with rereading this series and got onto the new books. Abaddon’s Gate is the last one I read before, which makes it both easier and harder to read — easier, because I know what’s coming. And… harder, because I know what’s coming. There’s a bit where someone gets framed for something they didn’t do, and it’s agonising!

Non-fiction: A World Beneath the Sands, by Toby Wilkinson — slow going, but I’ve got through Champollion and a couple of gentleman dilettantes, and I’m kinda hoping there’ll be some more obscure stuff next. Also A History of the Paper Pattern Industry by Joy Spanabel Emery, which is pretty interesting. Paper patterns were usually made of acid-free paper and have survived better than textiles as a result, despite their seeming flimsiness! That makes them useful for studying the history of fashion.

Cover of The Books of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin and Charles VessWhat have you recently finished reading?

The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula Le Guin. I need to get my review posted with all of my thoughts… it’s always been a favourite, because it’s full of really graphic, resonant imagery. Even I can almost see the Empty Throne, the black-clad priestesses, the eerie standing stones in the desert… and I’m completely aphantasic!

What will you be reading next?Cover of Black and British by David Olusoga

Beats me. Nominally, I have a stack of ‘next up’ books that I should be paying attention to, but I think they need a rotation, because none of the current five are grabbing me right now. That said, I should pick up Black and British by David Olusoga, ’cause it’s a book club read this month.

That’s it for me — what’s everyone else reading?

Tags: , , , , , ,

Divider

Weekly Roundup

Posted January 17, 2021 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

And here we are, a proper weekly roundup. At a ridiculous hour, because apparently we’re reliving our teen years and making bad sleep decisions on the weekends.

Books acquired this week:

Cover of Defekt, by Nino Cipri Cover of A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum by Emma Southon

Thanks to Arbieroo, since it was his Christmas gift that got me A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (plus Griffin & Sabine, which arrived a bit sooner).

Books read this week:

Cover of The Case of the Famished Parson by George Bellairs Cover of The Bookseller's Tale by Martin Latham Cover of The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard Cover of Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood

Cover of The Books of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin and Charles Vess Cover of Defekt, by Nino Cipri Cover of Life in Miniature by Nicola Lisle Cover of The Tightrope Walker by Dorothy Gilman

Reviews posted this week:

So how’ve you folks been doing?

Tags: , ,

Divider

WWW Wednesday

Posted January 13, 2021 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

Greetings, everyone! My wife has now fixed the issue where I wasn’t getting notification emails, and I got inbox zero again for the first time in a few months, so I’m back!

What are you currently reading?

Cover of The Books of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin and Charles VessFiction: A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula Le Guin, which is of course a reread for me. But it’s the first time I’m reading the beautiful version illustrated by Charles Vess. Funnily enough, I’m finding that I know it so well, I can identity individual words that have been changed/corrected (some for the better, others for the worst) in the new text.

Non-fiction: A World Beneath the Sands, by Toby Wilkinson, which is a history of Egyptologists rather a history of Egypt itself, although of course the two are inevitably interlinked. I’m not far into it yet. I’m also reading A Life in Miniature, by Nicola Lisle, which is about dolls’ houses. It’s… very descriptive, delving into the exact furnishings of specific dolls’ houses. Not sure if I will stick with it.

Cover of The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de BodardWhat have you recently finished reading?

A reread of Blood and Circuses, by Kerry Greenwood — I felt like spending some time with Phryne Fisher, though this is kind of unrepresentative given it follows a case where she joins a circus to figure out what’s happening!

I also finished The Citadel of Weeping Pearls, by Aliette de Bodard, which reminded me that I really want to track down more of the Xuya stories and read more in that universe.

Cover of A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda CollinsWhat will you be reading next?

Big shrug, as ever. I’m tempted by A Lady’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem, by Manda Collins; sounds like it should be fluffy fun.

What are you currently reading?

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Divider

Weekly Roundup

Posted January 10, 2021 by Nicky in General / 7 Comments

Well, it’s been a while! I’m not going to do a full roundup, because it really has been too long, but this will serve as a placeholder for hopefully getting back to business as usual. So here’s a selection of books I got recently/for Christmas…

Books acquired:

Cover of A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark Cover of She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan Cover of The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

Cover of The End of Everything by Katie Mack Cover of What Stars Are Made of by Donovan Moore Cover of A History of the Paper Pattern Industry by Joy Spanabel Emery Cover of A World Beneath the Sands by Toby Wilkinson

Cover of The Nobody People by Bob Proehl Cover of A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins Cover of Long Live the Post Horn! by Vigdis Hjorth

As ever, a pretty eclectic mix, and I look forward to ignoring them all equally while I reread older books… okay, okay, not really — I hope to read some of these very soon! But we all know what I’m like…

So, how are you all doing?

Tags: , ,

Divider

WWW Wednesday

Posted January 7, 2021 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

It’s been a while since I posted one of these here! But I’m trying to be more present again now… So let’s have a reading check-in!

Cover of The Gabriel Hounds by Mary StewartWhat are you currently reading?

Long Live the Post Horn! by Vigdis Hjorth. It is… not really my thing; the rambling reflective narration is not working for me. It’s mostly for Postcrossing’s blog, though, so I’m forging my way along, slowly. Presumably the main character is going to care about working with the Norwegian postal service sometime soon.

I’m also partway through rereading The Gabriel Hounds, which I have fond memories of — partially memories of buying it while I was in Italy, my BA graduation present oh these many years ago, and reading it on the train between Naples and Rome.

What have you recently finished reading?

Cover of Holy Shit by Melissa MohrGriffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock, also for Postcrossing’s blog — it never rains but it pours; I’m stocking up blog posts for the next little while in case I come over all contrary and don’t feel like reading anything about postcards/postal systems. (This is bound to happen at some point.) I loved it; it’s a very tactile experience, since it actually contains the letters in actual envelope-like pouches, so you have to carefully slip them out and unfold them. I’m intrigued by the mystery of it.

Before that was Holy Shit, by Melissa Mohr — thank you to whoever recommended me that, though I’ve forgotten who. It was great; the chapter on oath-taking in the Bible was particularly fascinating.

Cover of The Books of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin and Charles VessWhat will you be reading next?

Sadly, it will not be Sabine’s Notebook (the sequel to Griffin & Sabine) because that’s in the post to me, having been only ordered today when I closed Griffin & Sabine on that cliffhanger. As ever, the answer is probably a shrug emoji, though I do want to go back to and finish Monstrous Regiment (Terry Pratchett), and a revisit of A Wizard of Earthsea seems indicated, because it’s a book club book (we all got together and picked our favourite books, then 12 of those got picked out of the hat to serve as prompts for a year of reading) and I still haven’t read the illustrated edition.

What are you currently reading?

Tags: , , , , , ,

Divider

Game of Books 2021

Posted January 2, 2021 by Nicky in General / 1 Comment

A "Game of Books" image, based on the Iron ThroneGame on!

Since 2017, I’ve sort of stopped having reading goals about how many books I’ll read in a year. I felt pushed towards reading shorter books faster, always looking for more more more, instead of enjoying longer books like I used to.

Since then, I’ve moved to a points system, which lets me award myself more points for reading the stuff I want/need to read — books that have been on my backlog for a long time, for instance, or longer books.

This is that system! And it’s adaptable to whatever goals you like: whatever you want to incentivise, you can assign it a points value.

Will you be joining me?

That spreadsheet has most of the details and an example spreadsheet… which is good, because this year I’ve been too busy to set mine up yet. Last year’s post might also be helpful, since I knew what I was planning better back then!

I do know what goals I’m going for (I’m going to add in points for updating Litsy, reviewing books on time and commenting on other people’s blogs) and what I’ve given up on (no attempt to rate my enjoyment this time), but how exactly I’m going to make it work as a spreadsheet is a whole other question. Stay tuned, I guess…

Tags: , ,

Divider