Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted March 8, 2025 by Nicky in General / 26 Comments

Well, it’s been a pretty awful week: I went down to Wales in a hurry on Monday to see my grandmother before she died, and stayed at her side until she passed on Tuesday morning. I haven’t been in the mood for reading, really, though I know it does me good so I’ve found time for a chapter or two here and there.

Books acquired this week

None, except that I acquired my own copies of beloved manga I previously borrowed.

Posts from this week

I did manage to get some posts out, in a bid for a bit of normality, so here’s a roundup of the reviews!

Romance manga: A Side Character’s Love Story, vol 9, by Akane Tamura (4/5 stars)
Cosy fantasy: The Spellshop, by Sarah Beth Durst (3/5 stars)
Mystery: Thus Was Adonis Murdered, by Sarah Caudwell (4/5 stars)
Non-fiction: The New University, by James Coe (2/5 stars)
Non-fiction: The Light-Eaters: The New Science of Plant Intelligence, by Zoë Schlanger (2/5 stars)

What I’m reading

I’ve only finished one book this week that I plan to review, so here it is:

This weekend, I’m reading a variety of things to try and spark something, so I’m nibbling away at bits of The Rainfall Market, Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales, A Brief History of the Countryside in 100 Objects, and The Virtues of Underwear. (Perhaps an odd mix… but that’s how I am.)

My apologies in advance if I’m slow to respond — I will try to reply and return visits.

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

Tags: books, Stacking the Shelves, weekly roundup

Review – The Light-Eaters

Posted March 8, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

The Light-Eaters: The New Science of Plant Intelligence

by Zoë Schlanger

Genres: Non-fiction, Science
Pages: 304
Rating: two-stars

Synopsis:
A narrative investigation into the new science of plant intelligence and sentience, from National Association of Science Writers Award winner and Livingston Award finalist Zoe Schlanger.

Look at the green organism across the room or through the window: the potted plant, or the grass or a tree. Think how a life spent constantly growing yet rooted in a single spot comes with tremendous challenges. To meet them, plants have come up with some of the most creative methods for surviving of any living thing - us included. Many are so ingenious that they seem nearly impossible.

Did you know plants can communicate when they are being eaten, allowing nearby plants to bolster their defences? They move and that movement stops when they are anaesthetised. They also use electricity for internal communication. They can hear the sounds of caterpillars eating. Plants can remember the last time they have been visited by a bee and how many times they have been visited - so they have a concept of time and can count. Plants can not only communicate with each other, they can also communicate with other species of plants and animals, allowing them to manipulate animals to defend or fertilise them.

So look again at the potted plant, or the grass or the tree and wonder: are plants intelligent?

Or perhaps ask an even more fundamental question: are they conscious?

The Light Eaters will completely redefine how you think about plants. Packed with the most amazing stories of the life of plants it will open your eyes to the extraordinary green life forms we share the planet with.

Zoë Schlanger’s The Light Eaters very much came across as a science writer’s book rather than a scientist’s, larded heavily with personal observations of feeling very inspired by plants, and not very discriminating in the choice of sources — or at least, in how to describe them. When a study has failed replication, maybe say that right away before you spend a whole chapter discussing it, for instance.

I think it was mostly that experience, early in the book, that made me wary of the whole thing. There are some fascinating studies mentioned, and the citations are not numbered but still fairly clear and easy to follow-up: the studies about the effects of (some) anaesthetics on plants were genuinely fascinating, and didn’t seem to be too much over-hyped, for instance.

I think in the end, it’s not that I dislike the conclusions Schlanger’s reaching for: the effort to recognise that plants have much more agency and intelligence than we attribute to them, and that humans are so animal-centric, we have way too much difficulty grasping that there are other ways to be, among us all the time, and lives we impact that we don’t even think about. She highlights genuinely interesting studies and views. It’s just… when something fails replication, that’s not trivial. It happens even when something is true, because the conditions aren’t exactly replicated, but it means something, and should never be handwaved away.

So I guess my thoughts on this one are “read with care”, but not an anti-recommendation.

Rating: 2/5

Tags: book reviews, books, non-fiction, science, Zoë Schlanger

Review – The New University

Posted March 6, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

The New University

by James Coe

Genres: Non-fiction
Pages: 96
Series: Inklings
Rating: two-stars

Synopsis:
What is a university for? They educate and set people up for their futures; they teach, research, employ – often irritate. We talk about developing the next generations and pushing the boundaries of knowledge, but in the midst of a pandemic, universities were put more firmly under the microscope than ever before. As we emerge into a new reality, James Coe considers the enormous challenge of reimagining an entire cornerstone of society as a more civic and personal institution.

The New University posits a blueprint of action through universities intersecting with work, offering opportunity, and operating within the physical space they find themselves. Diving into the issues he aims to tackle in his own work as a senior policy advisor, Coe believes we can utilise universities for community betterment through realigning research to communal benefit, adopting outreach into the hardest to reach communities, using positional power to purchase better, and using culture to draw people together in a fractured society.

The world has changed and universities must change too.

The New University is the start.

James Coe’s The New University is a book very much of a particular moment during the economic and social recovery from COVID in Britain. Some of the policy concerns have moved on since it was written, but there is something still relevant here: the issue of what universities are meant to be doing, from how they relate to the local businesses around them to how they contribute to the economy, and how they should be funded.

I find it odd that Coe discusses things like providing flexible learning, and fails to mention the Open University even once. Many of the things he describes as being things universities need to do have a pioneer in the OU, and it isn’t some upstart flash-in-the-pan newcomer. It’s been established for a long time now and it’s doing many of the things Coe thinks that traditional universities should do. I wonder if he’s just blind to the OU because he works in a traditional university? Contemptuous of what the OU does and the value of its qualifications? I’m not sure, but it’s a strange omission.

Coe is very optimistic about universities and what they can give to the country. He does touch on what they offer to individuals as well, to some extent (in part through his own nostalgia for his time at university), though it’s very much about what universities can do on a broader level.

It’s interesting, but obviously dated already, and containing some odd omissions. Also, like the other Inklings book I’ve read, it does need a better proofreader.

Rating: 2/5

Tags: book reviews, books, James Coe, non-fiction

WWW Wednesday

Posted March 5, 2025 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

Hello all. Trying to get back to normal after a rough week with a bereavement, so here’s a little pinch of routine for me.

What have you recently finished reading?

Feels like a lifetime ago, but I actually started rereading A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation. I really only just read it, but a reread has already proved useful, reminding me where Lizel found the map that is only finally fully explained in volume 10, and some of the circumstances around meeting Ray (and then Shadow). Odd some of the details my brain didn’t hang onto, but a comforting reread is really just the ticket right now anyway.

What are you currently reading?

Most actively, I’ve started on A Brief History of the Countryside in 100 Objects, by Sally Coulthard. In format and topic, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be soothing to me, and indeed it is. As often happens with non-fiction aimed at a very broad audience, I wanna stick “citation needed” all over it, because there’s no way to track a particular assertion in the text to a source, argh! But it is more or less what I expected it to be, and that’s nice.

I’m also partway through a few other books, including The Rainfall Market (You Yeong-Gwang) and Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (Heather Fawcett), but I’m not in a fiction mood and never am in this kind of situation, so knowing myself well, I’ve laid those aside for a few days.

What will you be reading next?

I’m probably going to continue my reread of A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation, as a volume of that works well with my bedside light’s sleep timer to put me in a good mood for sleep. But since I’m generally focusing on non-fiction for now, the next non-manga I read will likely be The Virtues of Underwear (Nina Edwards) or Fighting Fit (Laura Dawes).

What are you reading?

Tags: books, WWW Wednesday

Review – Thus Was Adonis Murdered

Posted March 4, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Thus Was Adonis Murdered

by Sarah Caudwell

Genres: Crime, Mystery
Pages: 261
Series: Hilary Tamar #1
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
When her personal copy of the current Finance Act is found a few metres away from a body, young barrister Julia Larwood finds herself caught up in a complex fight against the Inland Revenue. Set to have a vacation away from her home life and the tax man, Julia takes a trip with her art-loving boyfriend. However, all is not what it seems. Could he in fact be an employee of the establishment she has been trying to escape from? And how did her romantic luxurious holiday end in murder?

Sarah Caudwell’s Thus Was Adonis Murdered suddenly seemed to be everywhere for me, for a couple of months at the end of 2024. I love a good mystery (though I’m often most drawn to older mysteries), so I was curious about all the praise and decided to give it a shot, although I was a bit worried by it being characterised as funny — sometimes that means slapstick or embarrassment squick, which I wouldn’t gel very well with.

It’s not that. It’s witty and light in tone, though sometimes leans a bit too heavily on “Julia is weirdly stupid about a lot of things” to be quite comfortable for me. The cast of characters is fun, though I probably won’t remember how to tell them apart by the time I read the sequel, because somehow their names wouldn’t stick in my head. (Or rather, which name belonged with which character.) I suspect it’s the kind of book that some non-Brits would find very charming for being “British humour”.

What I found really interesting was that Hilary Tamar does almost all the mystery-solving from a distance, and the characters we follow are mostly kept up to date from a distance, receiving evidence via letters from Julia (the suspect) and reports from people who have gone to the scene of the crime. Despite it being set in Italy, it feels like the reader never leaves London, and yet it doesn’t feel like missing out on the action. Part of that is the wittiness and banter, I’d say, and the letters help with immediacy as well.

If I’d described this to myself beforehand, I’m not sure I’d have picked it up just based on a description of how the story is told, the wittiness, etc — but as it is, I did pick it up, and loved it, and I’m eager for the second book.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, crime, mystery, Sarah Caudwell

Review – The Spellshop

Posted March 3, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

The Spellshop

by Sarah Beth Durst

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 376
Rating: three-stars

Synopsis:
Every home needs a little magic...

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people, and as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she hasn’t had to.

She and her assistant, Caz, a sentient spider plant, have spent most of the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s precious spellbooks, protecting the magic for the city’s elite. But a revolution is brewing and when the library goes up in flames, Kiela and Caz steal whatever books they can and flee to the faraway island where she grew up. But to her dismay, in addition to a nosy – and very handsome – neighbour, she finds the town in disarray.

The empire has slowly been draining power from the island, and now Kiela is determined to make things right. But opening up her own spellshop comes with its own risks – the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela starts to make a place for herself among the townspeople, she realizes she must break down the walls she has kept so high . . .

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’d been looking forward to Sarah Beth Durst’s The Spellshop for quite a while, because I do love my cosy reads, and I especially loved the idea of a sentient spider plant being a major character. And Caz certainly didn’t disappoint, and is an excellent sidekick. I also liked what we see of the world, the magic, and of course, the love of books.

In the end, I think I felt a bit dissatisfied because it felt like a world created just for the story. Which of course it is, that’s normal, but I mean that I didn’t have a good sense of what lay beyond the story’s edges, and I don’t just mean in terms of a map. I was also a bit meh about the romance, because it felt rushed. It tries to add depth to that with some history between the characters, but it didn’t ultimately ring true to me. Adding the depth didn’t work because, OK, Larran remembers Kiela, but she doesn’t remember him. So things should, at least, have taken more time on her side.

I do love Caz, though, and then the addition of Meep. It was a fun read as long as I didn’t think too deeply into it, ultimately. And it is pretty cosy, despite the opening being a flight from a burning capital city during a revolution, and despite some peril for Kiela and another character.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, romance, Sarah Beth Durst, SF/F

Review – A Side Character’s Love Story, vol 9

Posted March 2, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

A Side Character's Love Story

by Akane Tamura

Genres: Manga, Romance
Pages: 161
Series: A Side Character's Love Story #9
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
"Up till now, even kissing or holding hands has made me so nervous. But now..."

An unexpected mix-up leads to a year-end excursion for Nobuko and Hiroki, who find themselves sharing a hotel room rather suddenly. But as their night alone with each other begins, neither one feels quite prepared... A turning point approaches in the love story of these side characters, as feelings of affection begin to blossom into something more.

Volume nine of A Side Character’s Love Story sees Nobuko try to visit home… and get the day wrong, leading to a need to stay in a hotel. And of course, Hiroki comes to the rescue and joins her (and since I’m always telling you all this is adorable, it is really adorable how eager he is to come and spend the time with her, and see her hometown).

I expected to find parts of this really painfully embarrassing given the whole “there’s only one bed” plot… but I love how Hiroki tries to set Nobuko at her ease and make the situation feel better, and the way they (as ever) talk through their problems. And he gets to meet her family a little too! So the embarrassment squick wasn’t nearly as bad as one would think.

And of course, it’s another little step forward for them…

Rating: 4/5

Tags: Akane Tamura, book reviews, books, manga, romance

Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted March 1, 2025 by Nicky in General / 8 Comments

It’s continued to be a busy week, but my wife’s in an orthopaedic boot now, which helps a lot — now we can share some household tasks again!

I got a couple of new books this week, though my reading has still been disrupted by an abundance of personal stuff going on. But let’s talk books while we can…

Books acquired this week

I got a gift book and spent a voucher this week, which is nice. Here they are!

A quiet week, but I’ve had plenty of books to go on with in the last months!

Posts from this week:

It’s been a quiet week for reviews too, but nonetheless, here are the handful I posted:

Fantasy: The City in Glass, by Nghi Vo (4/5 stars)
Classic crime: Murder as a Fine Art, by Carol Carnac (4/5 stars)
Non-fiction: Around the World in 80 Birds, by Mike Unwin, illustrated by Ryuto Miyake (3/5 stars)

And I did post for What Are You Reading Wednesday, too.

What I’m reading:

This weekend I’m trying to finish off February’s bingo card for BookSpinBingo on Litsy, meaning I’m reading Mortal Follies (Alexis Hall), Villainy at Vespers (Joan Cockin) and Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (Heather Fawcett). That’s keeping me plenty busy!

And here are the books I’ve finished this week that I plan to review:

And now it’s time to finish reading Villainy at Vespers! Hope everyone’s having a good weekend.

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

Tags: books, Stacking the Shelves, weekly roundup

Review – Around the World in 80 Birds

Posted February 27, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Around the World in 80 Birds

by Mike Unwin, Ryuto Miyake

Genres: Non-fiction, Science
Pages: 224
Rating: three-stars

Synopsis:
This beautiful and inspiring book tells the stories of 80 birds around the world: from the Sociable Weaver Bird in Namibia which constructs huge, multi-nest 'apartment blocks' in the desert, to the Bar-headed Goose of China, one of the highest-flying migrants which crosses the Himalayas twice a year.

Many birds come steeped in folklore and myth, some are national emblems and a few have inspired scientific revelation or daring conservation projects. Each has a story to tell that sheds a light on our relationship with the natural world and reveals just how deeply birds matter to us.

Around the World in 80 Birds features text by Mike Unwin and illustrations by Ryuto Miyake. The illustrations are, as typical for this series, beautifully done and brightly coloured. I feel like they’re a bit more… exact to life, less inclined to fill up the page with fanciful designs, than in some of the other volumes of this series — the birds are generally accurately represented, sometimes with scenes where they interact with human landscapes, etc, but it felt a bit less exuberant than some.

As for the stories about each bird, it’s much like the other volumes as well: each bird is given a page, or sometimes two pages, of text explaining the significance of the bird. It doesn’t feel super organised in some ways: less of a sense of a structure of “here are the birds on [continent]” than some of the others in the series (which makes some sense because birds can have such huge ranges, but you could come up with some organising principle like where birds breed or where the largest populations live, or types of terrain they frequent). It’s hard sometimes to know what prompts the inclusion of one bird over another.

Overall, a beautiful and interesting book.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Mike Unwin, non-fiction, Ryuto Miyake, science

WWW Wednesday

Posted February 26, 2025 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

What have you recently finished reading?

I think the last two books I finished were A Pirate’s Life for Tea (Rebecca Thorne) and my advance copy of The Tomb of Dragons (Katherine Addison). The complexity and richness of the worldbuilding in Addison’s work was cruel to A Pirate’s Life for Tea, though also I just found that the tone didn’t suit my mood and it all felt… kind of juvenile.

As for The Tomb of Dragons, I won’t talk in terms of spoilers (unless someone wants to send a private message and ask me something specific), but I was disappointed about a particular development in a way that makes me feel betrayed as a reader. There were lovely things about it, but there was a major thing that just… didn’t make sense to me as a choice.

What are you currently reading?

I’ve started a bunch of hares at once, hoping to get a blackout on my BookSpinBingo card on Litsy. Most notably, I’m diving into Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (Heather Fawcett), and am honestly impressed with myself for actually starting on it so quickly. So far I can’t really comment on the plot.

I’ve also started Joan Cockin’s Villainy at Vespers, which I’m enjoying — classic crime seemed to be indicated for my current mood. In the same vein, though a very different genre, I picked up some more non-fiction to suit my mood: Close Encounters of the Fungal Kind (Richard Fortey), though I think I prefer his books on palaeontology, actually (his actual subject).

What will you be reading next?

That’s a mystery to everyone, including myself. But I think volume three of The Apothecary Diaries (light novel) might be indicated — or a mass-reread of the manga A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation. It hasn’t been long at all since I read them, but I don’t always feel I understand the characters yet, and reading them again quite quickly might actually help connect some dots.

Plus, the antics of Lizel, Gil and Eleven are just entertaining, even if the author persists in claiming they’re all just friends, despite the hair-stroking, face-touching, nibbling-on-fingers-type behaviour they indulge in.

What about you?

Tags: books, WWW Wednesday