Category: General

August TBR

Posted August 1, 2015 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

I mentioned the first month I made a TBR list that I like making lists, but I have trouble sticking to them. I’ve been through half a dozen iterations of this list, and each one I’ve sulked about more than the last, so I’m going to go with a free for all month. Instead of telling you what I’m planning to read, I’m gonna tell you what I’m packing for my holiday at my parents’ — which might come to the same thing.

  • Ben Aaronovitch, Foxglove Summer.
  • Elizabeth Bear, One-Eyed Jack.
  • Holly Black, The Darkest Part of the Forest.
  • Susan Cooper, Ghost Hawk.
  • Chris Evans, Of Bone and Thunder.
  • Kazuo Ishiguro, The Buried Giant.
  • Emily Lloyd Jones, Illusive.
  • Sarah J. Maas, Assassin’s Blade.
  • Sarah J. Maas, Heir of Fire.
  • Gail Z. Martin, Deadly Curiosities.
  • Maureen F. McHugh, Mission Child.
  • Rainbow Rowell, Landline.
  • Freda Warrington, The Dark Blood of Poppies.
  • Freda Warrington, The Dark Arts of Blood.
  • G. Willow Wilson, Alif the Unseen.

Naturally, I wouldn’t be in the slightest bit surprised if I take my bat home and refuse to read a single one of these during August, but, well, I tried.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted August 1, 2015 by Nicky in General / 18 Comments

Just two books bought so far this week — I couldn’t resist it, since it’s N.K. Jemisin and set in her The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms world. And there’s Terry Pratchett’s essay on death, which supports assisted dying, a subject I’m very interested in, even if it’s a little morbid sat here in my STS post!

Cover of Shades in Shadow by N.K. Jemisin Cover of Shaking Hands with Death by Terry Pratchett

I’m excited for The Fifth Season, too. I’ve got a preorder, so hopefully I’ll get that one as soon as it’s out.

Library

Cover of The Dark Blood of Poppies by Freda Warrington Cover of Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans Cover of Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Hurrah, so glad The Dark Blood of Poppies came in for me at the library before I had to leave for my holiday. Relief! Now I can get on with that.

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted July 28, 2015 by Nicky in General / 8 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday celebrates characters who are fellow book nerds.

  1. Adrien English, Fatal Shadows. He owns a bookshop and it sounds awesome.
  2. Matilda Wormwood, Matilda. Well duhhh.
  3. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter. Oh Hermione.
  4. Cath Avery, Fangirl. She writes fanfic!
  5. Jo March, Little Women. One of my favourite characters when I was a kid. I wanted to sell my hair to be just like her, at one point.
  6. Jo Bettany, The Chalet School. Who else read these books? It can’t just be me??
  7. Celaena Sardothien, Throne of Glass. May have been the first thing I related to about this character.
  8. Beauty, Robin McKinley. Booooks. I want that library.
  9. Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables. Honestly, probably the originator of my hankering for red hair.
  10. Harriet Vane, Strong Poison. She’s a writer as well as a reader!

I always need more bookish characters to be friends with; who’ve I missed out?

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted July 25, 2015 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

Sooo, it’s been a nice week for books for me. I did buy a few more that aren’t here just to have physical copies, but I’ve featured them here before.

Bookshop haul

Cover of Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine Cover of Half the World by Joe Abercrombie Cover of Half a War by Joe Abercrombie

Cover of The Godless by Ben Peek Cover of The Child Eater by Rachel Pollack Cover of Dark Run by Mike Brooks

Dark Run basically sounds like Firefly. Colour me hopeful. The Godless, I, uh, had to review. Long ago. The Child Eater just caught my attention.

My copy of Half a War is actually signed, too! It’s not as special to me when I don’t actually meet the author/get a personal inscription, but it’s still kind of cool. And hurrah, I can take Half the World back to the library for whatever poor person wanted it after me… Speaking of!

Library

Cover of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling Cover of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling Cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Cover of Deadly Curiosities by Gail Z. Martin Cover of The Dark Arts of Blood by Freda Warrington Cover of Hollow Crown by Dan Jones

 Cover of The Bone Dragon by Alexia Casale Cover of The Thinking Woman's Guide to Magic by Emily Croy Barker Cover of Lockstep by Karl Schroeder

I don’t think I ever owned these Harry Potter books, though I might’ve had Order of the Phoenix. So, raided the community library for them. Order of the Phoenix, though, the size of the thing! Did Rowling’s editor quit? Heh. I haven’t got the third of Freda Warrington’s books — The Dark Blood of Poppies — so I’m really hoping the library gets it in before I go away… Other than that, a round up of stuff I’ve been recommended.

Comics

Spider-woman

Just one comic this week; most of the comics on my pull list seem to be on hiatus or something? Probably a good thing, I’m spending enough money… Thinking I’ll pick up Bitch Planet soon, though.

What’s everyone else been getting? C’mon, show off your hauls.

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted July 21, 2015 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday celebrates diversity! So I’m gonna pick out some of my favourite diverse characters of all kinds.

  1. Yeine, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. She’s a minority (or at least lower-class) character in her own world and she’s from a matriarchy.
  2. Bran Davies, The Dark is Rising. An albino and a Welshman, how could I ignore him?
  3. Dave Brandstetter, Fadeout (and others). A gay detective — sorry, insurance claims investigator — in 1970s California.
  4. Alana Quick, Ascension. She’s a badass female mechanic (sky surgeon). And she’s got a chronic illness, and she’s queer. Wooo.
  5. Billy Kaplan (Wiccan), Young Avengers. Gay, Jewish, total geek. What’s not to love about this wiseass?
  6. Roshanna Chatterji (Tremor), The Movement. Asexual character!
  7. Peter Carmichael, Farthing. A gay detective in a Nazi society.
  8. Reese Holloway, Adaptation. A bisexual teenage girl, who also happens to have alien DNA!
  9. Savedra Sevaros, The Bone Palace. A trans* character, who is portrayed in a loving sexual and romantic relationship.
  10. Priya Darshini, Karen Memory. And Karen herself, of course. Lesbian heroes of a steampunk world!

Looking forward to seeing other people’s posts this week!

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No Book Buying Challenge: Best So Far (Part 2)

Posted July 20, 2015 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

I already did this month’s prompt for the #ShelfLove challenge last month, but what the hey — I’ll do it again. My favourite book since I picked Tropic of Serpents last month has to be Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie. It swept the awards when it came off, and swept a lot of my friends off their feet. I bounced off the first time I tried to read it, but once I got into it, I gobbled it up and immediately read the sequel, Ancillary Sword. You can find my review here!

As for a general update, here goes. Green is for good progress or sticking to a target; orange is for marginal or in progress things. Red is for an uh-oh.

  • 32/51+ already owned books read (last one recorded: Fire, 20/07)
  • Spent: £21 out of ~£30 budget (budget is 10% of my income) for January
  • Spent: £20 out of ~£25 budget for February
  • Spent: £22 out of ~£25 budget for March
  • Spent: £15 out of ~£16 budget for April
  • Spent: £45 out of ~£30 budget for May
  • Spent: £18 out of ~£40 budget for June, plus stuck within holiday budget
  • Spent: £45 out of ~£50 budget for July

Here’s my more general progress on resolutions:

  • No books impulse-bought (despite a recent spree, that was still books I considered for at least a day first!)
  • Read every day 
  • Bed before midnight (couple of issues lately with work)
  • Up before ten every day
  • Only bought one book from a series at a time
  • Posted to the blog every day
  • Commented on at least one other blog every day (back on the wagon with this now)
  • Tithed 10% in January, February, March, April, May & June; not picked a charity for July
  • Done 55 hours volunteering total
  • Reading/reviewing books from NG/etc (63% ratio; still making steady progress)

So that’s pretty good progress, as long as I behave myself for the last eleven days of July! Yay me.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted July 18, 2015 by Nicky in General / 16 Comments

Some lovely book-mail awaited me on my return from my month in Belgium, Canada and the US. So excite! Thank you to Susanna Kearsley and to Pan Macmillan for these, respectively.

Cover of A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley Cover of Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Aaaand I was happy to reunite with the library, of course.

Cover of Poison by Sarah Pinborough Cover of The Death House by Sarah Pinborough Cover of One-Eyed Jack by Elizabeth Bear

 Cover of Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper Cover of The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black Cover of The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly

One-Eyed Jack is a book I had as an ARC… ages ago. So I figured I’d get it from the library. I don’t know what exactly prompted me to try Sarah Pinborough’s books, but I’m intrigued. Susan Cooper is, well. Susan Cooper. ’nuff said. Been meaning to get to this one for ages. And The Darkest Part of the Forest features queer characters, so why the heck not? The Great Zoo of China… I haven’t heard 100% good things about it, but I felt like giving it a shot anyway.

Aaand just one comic on my pull list this week.

Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps #2

So what’s everyone else been getting? Anything you’re really excited about?

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ARC August

Posted July 16, 2015 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

I just found I signed up for this last year, too, and I’m not sure I really got anywhere — some of the books I still haven’t read. Oops. Anyway, it’s time for another round of ARC August: a whole bunch of us getting together and cracking down on our lists of ARCs.

Because I plan my TBR in advance, I’m reasonably sure of what I’m putting on the list for August, which means I’m fairly sure of what I am determined to read during the month (though there might always be more, since I give myself wildcards — ten wildcards, next month, even). So here’s what I’ll be working on:

  1. One-eyed Jack, Elizabeth Bear. I picked this up from the library too, so now I have extra motivation and a slightly less guilty conscience. But it’s still in my Netgalley list, so down it goes.
  2. The Palace Job, Patrick Weekes. I don’t want to know how late I am with this one…
  3. Seven Forges, James A. Moore. I own this too, but it’s still in my NG backlog. And I keep getting nearly to the end and then getting distracted, which is a shame, because I enjoy it.
  4. The Hollow Crown, Dan Jones. Another one I’m grabbing from the library, and not as chronically late as the others, I think. Still late enough — it’s out in paperback now.
  5. The Galaxy Game, Karen Lord. Library as well as Netgalley. Which is good, because obviously I don’t have access through NG anymore, and I’m fairly sure it was a DRM protected file.
  6. Pacific Fire, Greg van Eekhout. I need to read California Bones first, though.
  7. Knight’s Shadow, Sebastien de Castell. I’m not chronically late with this one yet, at least.
  8. Fair Play, Josh Lanyon. Another one where I needed to read the first book and didn’t get round to it… but it’s Josh Lanyon, so it should be fun.
  9. Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. I’m hoping to finish this on a wildcard in July’s TBR, but if not, I definitely owe a review for this after begging for a copy.
  10. Gretel and the Dark, Eliza Granville. I’ve had this for ages, but only just refound the copy I was sent to review. It’s probably about time.

The last three aren’t strictly on the August TBR (at least so far), so I might replace those later or deprioritise them or something. I just like groups of ten…

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted July 14, 2015 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is the last books that you got your hands on, whether you bought them or got them from the library. There’s always my STS posts for that, but hey, I never miss a chance to squee about books. Plus, excuse to talk about all the cool bookshops I’ve been to.

  1. Adaptation, Malinda Lo. Picked this up at the Chapters in the West Edmonton Mall on the day I left Canada, and promptly read it on the plane.
  2. Inheritance, Malinda Lo. The sequel. I haven’t read this one yet.
  3. City of Stairs, Robert Jackson Bennett. I’ve been meaning to read this foreeeever. Also from Chapters in Edmonton.
  4. Artemis Awakening, Jane Lindskold. I don’t actually know much about this one, I just thought it looked kinda fun. From Chapters in the Chinook Mall, Calgary.
  5. Dreams of Shreds and Tatters, Amanda Downum. Eee, Amanda Downum. Looking forward to this. Got this one from the Indigo in the Core in Calgary.
  6. The Stone Prince, Fiona Patton. I’ve had this on my list for a while, and hey, Fiona Patton is apparently Tanya Huff’s wife? Cool. Got this from Fair’s Fair on 14th Street in Calgary.
  7. Illusive, Emily Lloyd-Jones. I had this as an ARC once upon a time. Heh. From Shelf Life in Calgary, on 4th Street.
  8. A Desperate Fortune, Susanna Kearsley. Aaaages ago, Susanna offered to send me a spare ARC she had. It finally arrived. Whoop!
  9. Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. Received to review via the publisher. I’m excited for this one; people mentioned Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Georgette Heyer as influences…
  10. Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Maas. Bought in Fnac in Leuven while I was at my partner’s. Excited for this one, though I need to read The Assassin’s Blade first. Which I also got.

What’s everyone else been getting? Any exciting bookshops?

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Review – The Compatibility Gene

Posted July 11, 2015 by Nicky in General / 15 Comments

The Compatibility Gene by Daniel DavisThe Compatibility Gene, Daniel M. Davis

I read this in a bit of a piecemeal fashion, due to holidays, so my impressions of it are probably a little more scattered than usual. It’s basically a book which combines immunology and genetics, and even some neurology, to discuss the way certain genes work in humans. Since that’s right up my street, I found this fascinating, although I found some chapters really slow going.

One thing I’m not 100% a fan of is the personal details about some of the scientists, because it’s not really relevant. Whether a female scientist prioritises children or her career doesn’t have any effect on the importance of her findings, and as a way of identifying motives for studying stuff, it’s pretty weak. Not everything has a personal connection.

The main thing I’m taking away from this book is that we still don’t know half there is to know about the immune system, about genetics, about our own bodies. If that doesn’t speak to the importance of such research, I don’t know what does.

Did you know that dogs have a sexually transmitted cancer? Not just an oncovirus like HPV, but a contagious cancer.

Rating: 3/5

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