Hey everyone! This is possibly my final regular Top Ten Tuesday post because, great as some of the themes from The Broke and the Bookish have been, it’s starting to feel like work to participate. The themes are quite often repetitive or just not applicable to me. I’ve done 164 previous Top Ten Tuesday posts; perhaps it’s no surprise that my inventiveness is running out. I still plan to check back and participate when I’m interested in the theme, but I’m not going to schedule posts ahead anymore.
That said, here’s a look at my Top Ten Top Ten Tuesdays!
Good morning! I’m in the UK again, visiting my parents for my birthday, so I’d better go with the tradition — here’s a pic of one of the buns which my wife sent me! Here Breakfast is somewhere he shouldn’t be, looking very curious…
He’s going to get himself in trouble any minute now.
So, right, the haul. Here goes…
Received to review:
I asked for Harkworth Hall after reading Bob @ Beauty in Ruins’ review, and it was worth it! Swearing Off Stars was a random grab, while I got Fowl Language because I’ve loved the cartoons from Brian Gordon’s series that I’ve seen around.
Fiction books bought:
I know, I know, it’s an amazing haul. Woohoo for the American Book Centre in Amsterdam — definitely recommended: great deals on books, a good selection, and friendly staff. 10% off for students, too! A bunch of these were just €6.99, which is amazingly cheap for imported books in Europe.
Non-fiction books bought:
I was initially going to complain that I wanted more non-fiction books, but I let myself buy a few more as I passed through London, and now I have quite the satisfactory haul!
Books read this week:
Four stars to: Hengeworld, Catching Breath, Harkworth Hall. Three stars to:Fowl Language. One star to:The Secret History of the World.
I’m a sucker for a good readathon, and this version sounds awesome; there’s so much attention to detail! I shall be embarking on the Knight’s Quest first. Provisional reading choices:
The first book of a series: Pantomime, by Laura Lam.
A book with a verb in its title: Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple.
A book with a weapon on its cover: Magic Binds, by Ilona Andrews.
A book with a red cover: Chameleon Moon, by RoAnna Sylver.
A book that has a TV/movie adaptation: Caliban’s War, by James S.A. Corey.
I plan to go on and try and do all the squares, but that’s where I’ll start… You can read up on all the rules here, and credit for the art goes to CW of Read, Think, Ponder.
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.
What are you currently reading?
I’m rereading Andreas Eschbach’s The Carpet Makers, because I’ve been meaning to and it was there when I couldn’t sleep and didn’t feel like starting something new. I’m also reading Pantomime, by Laura Lam, though I’m not very far into it, and The Bear and the Nightingale, by Katherine Arden. I’m about halfway through the latter and not entirely sure what I think. I’m finding it somewhat predictable so far. I’m still reading Assassin’s Apprentice, too.
What have you recently finished reading?
Hengeworld, by Mike Pitts. It’s an examination of the whole ritual landscape in palaeolithic times, mostly in Wessex — Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill and other associated monuments. It’s pretty fascinating, and it digs deep into all the different digs which have gone on at those sites.
What will you read next?
I think I’m going to embark on my reread of Jacqueline Carey’s work, starting with Kushiel’s Dart. It’s been ages since I read it, and I conveniently have copies of this trilogy available both at my wife’s and at my parents’ place, so I don’t have to drag them around while travelling.
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is gleaned from the old prompts on the page. Here’s ten books I was forced to read — which I loved! I’ve a vague feeling I’ve done this before, but I can’t find it by searching back, so why not?
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. It’s a classic, of course.
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy. I even had to read it in a week, thanks to a dare with my dad.
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. I didn’t get far with this when I tried to read this as a kid, but when I finally had to read it for school, I fell in love.
Troilus and Criseyde, by Geoffrey Chaucer. I didn’t have high hopes for this because I wasn’t a fan of The Canterbury Tales, in general. But I really got into dissecting it, in the end.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Is this cheating? I read a translation, of course, but I had to read it in the Middle English for my BA, and that was revelatory. The playing with language is gorgeous.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman, by John Fowles. In style and content it’s not at all what you’d expect me to enjoy, but I really did.
Postcolonialism Revisited, by Kirsti Bohata. I was never much of a fan of actually reading theory, in my lit degrees, preferring to closely analyse the texts. But this was pretty revelatory, discussing Welsh fiction as postcolonial fiction — because in many ways, the Welsh experience was like that of colonialism.
Richard III, by William Shakespeare. I was never a fan of Shakespeare, but I ended up having to take a class on his history plays for lack of other modules that interested me. And I loved this one.
Country Dance, by Margiad Evans. Or indeed, all the other Welsh fiction I read for that particular class. I’d never even been fully aware there was Welsh fiction like this out there.
The Annotated Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien et al. I love The Hobbit, of course, but I’m not really a fan of annotated texts. Still, the annotated version of The Hobbit was fascinating for its insights on Tolkien’s process.
There’s probably dozens of others I should think of — at one point, my mother bought me a whole bunch of classics she said I had to read before I went to university, for example! (She wasn’t wrong in suggesting they were important to know. Should’ve included more Oscar Wilde, though, Mum, and insisted I read more Shakespeare. Now you know!)
Good morning, folks! Today I’m off to Amsterdam with my wife to celebrate our paper wedding anniversary in bookshops. Hurrah! To celebrate the one-year anniversary of our wedding (and the 12th anniversary of being together), here are a couple of our wedding pics! Click to embiggen, if you’re so inclined.
And now, back to books.
Bought:
I needed Caliban’s War for a book club read, and A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived was on sale on the Kindle store for 99p!
Received to review:
A lucky week, though I’m still sad I didn’t get approved for Provenance or Into the Drowning Deep on Edelweiss!
–Top Ten Tuesday: Bookshops I Have Loved.More or less as you’d expect, though you might not expect that bookshops in Dublin, Ireland and Calgary, Canada are on the same list…
–WWW Wednesday.This week’s update on what I’m reading.
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.
What are you currently reading?
I’ve just finished the book I was reading earlier, so now the only book actively on the go is Guy de la Bedoyere’s The Real Lives of Roman Britain, which I’ve really only just started. Oh, and I’m still partway through rereading Assassin’s Apprentice, by Robin Hobb. Other than that, there’s a bunch of books sat around with bookmarks in, but I haven’t touched them in, uhhh… too long. Oops.
What have you recently finished reading?
The Shadowy Horses, by Susanna Kearsley. It was a lot of fun — yay, archaeology-based stories! Yay, romantic Scotsmen! Yay, friendly ghosts! Once upon a time I’d have described Kearsley’s books as a guilty pleasure, but stuff that. I like reading romance sometimes, apparently. (I do need recs for other stuff like Susanna Kearsley, Jane Aiken Hodge, Mary Stewart… Do feel free to indulge me, if you know of anything that might suit.)
Before that, I finished James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes. Whoa. I need to sit down and collect my thoughts on that.
What will you read next?
I’m planning to try Lucy Hounsom’s Starborn, to see if I want to request the sequel on Netgalley. I think I’ll start on Caliban’s War, the sequel to Leviathan Wakes, pretty soon as well. So much reading to do. So little time. I should also get back to Assassin’s Apprentice and the sequels, and maybe finish up The Essex Serpent.
There’s still no official theme from The Broke and the Bookish, so this TTT is again of my own devising. This time I’m going to look at bookshops I have loved!
Waterstones (Wakefield). I’ve had plenty of nice chats with the people working there, and some of the same people still work there from when I was a kid. They’ve held some great events — I attended a talk by Robin Hobb back when Fool’s Fate came out, for example — and though the shop is a little small for my tastes, the SF/F section has typically been good enough that I can find what I want.
Waterstones (Manchester). One of the biggest bookshops in the north of England, I think? Nice little cafe, and so many books. And they have baskets you can grab at convenient intervals, which is useful because I’ve never got out of there without needing a shopping basket. A really great non-fic selection as well as a good amount of SF/F.
Paramount Books (Manchester). When I last went, it was still tiny and inaccessible for someone in a wheelchair or possibly even on crutches, but it was a great place to browse, with all kinds of second hand books.
Hatchard’s St Pancras (London). I’m not a huge fan of their fiction section, which isn’t divided up into genres. They have some SF/F books, but it’s not always easy to pick them out. I love how convenient it is to drop in on my way to or from the Eurostar, though, and their non-fiction section has pretty much always been worth the browsing.
Forbidden Planet (London). Signed books, American books, new releases… I’m not sure what I haven’t been able to find there. And even though it’s Forbidden Planet, I don’t just mean comics. They have a great selection of SF/F books, and I’ve seen some really good bargains there as well.
Wellfield Bookshop (Cardiff). It might be small, but I always felt at home there and perfectly welcome to browse. They’re very helpful and would always offer to order in anything I wanted.
Sterling Books (Brussels). They’ve moved to a smaller location, which is a crime as far as I’m concerned, but they still have a reasonably good selection of English books, both fiction and non-fiction. Also, free bookmarks!
Chapters (Dublin). New and used books, and tons of them. The staff weren’t the friendliest, but the selection more than made up for it.
Fair’s Fair (Calgary). They have a couple of stores, and nearly all of them contained some delights for me. Seriously recommended, if you’re in Calgary.
Troutmark Books (Cardiff). A treasure trove to me when I was a student — and apparently served my grampy with bags of books before me. It’s conveniently in the centre of Cardiff, and too many people miss it because it’s tucked away in one of the arcades. Well worth going to — great selection and great pricing.
That’s not all of the bookshops I’ve ever loved, of course, but I thought I’d share a little bit of the joy!
Good morning, folks! Today I’m off to spend the day with my grandparents-in-law until evening, so I might not comment (or comment back) until tomorrow. It’s been a quiet week, really; I worked on reading some difficult stuff, so I haven’t finished nearly as many books as I’d like. As for new books, well… just one ARC, and a quiet week ahead too, I think. But next weekend is my paper wedding anniversary, and we’re celebrating in style by going to Amsterdam to browse their bookshops, so that might well be a busy week for books!
Received to review:
I was going to pass on this one, until I realised that the warrior princess in question is Welsh, and this is set in Wales! You have my attention, sir!
Finished reading this week:
Four stars: Mapping the Interior, The Trouble With Physics, Life on the Edge, American Gods (reread).
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.
What are you currently reading?
At the moment, I’m mostly working on my reread of Assassin’s Apprentice, by Robin Hobb, and I’ve just started a reread of American Gods, by Neil Gaiman — I’ve been meaning to reread it for a while, since the show started. Not that I’ve been watching the show (I hardly ever watch tv), but it brought it to mind and I did see bits of it while my wife was watching it.
What have you recently finished reading?
I juuuust finished reading The Trouble With Physics, by Lee Smolin. It’s a little out of date, I suspect, since it’s from 2007, so before the Higgs boson was found and so on, but I think a lot of the points still hold true. String theory still, as far as I know, hasn’t come up with any predictions or designed any major experiments to prove or disprove the theory, and the musing on the academic community in the sciences is still relevant too.
What will you read next?
I’m going to read Leviathan Wakes, by James S.A. Corey, since that’s a book club read, and then Life on the Edge, by Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe McFadden, because I’m going to the NS Live event in September and one of the authors is going to be there. Also, because I have no idea what quantum biology is, and I want to find out.
