Tag: books

Review – The Christmas Card Crime

Posted December 22, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

The Christmas Card Crime And Other Stories

by Martin Edwards (editor)

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Short Stories
Pages: 252
Series: British Library Crime Classics
Rating: three-stars

Synopsis:
A Christmas party is punctuated by a gunshot under a policeman’s watchful eye. A jewel heist is planned amidst the glitz and glamour of Oxford Street’s Christmas shopping. Lost in a snowstorm, a man finds a motive for murder.

This collection of mysteries explores the darker side of the festive season – from unexplained disturbances in the fresh snow, to the darkness that lurks beneath the sparkling decorations.

With neglected stories by John Bude and E.C.R. Lorac, as well as tales by little-known writers of crime fiction, Martin Edwards blends the cosy atmosphere of the fireside story with a chill to match the temperature outside. This is a gripping seasonal collection sure to delight mystery fans.

As ever, this collection of short stories from the British Library Crime Classics imprint is edited by Martin Edwards. It’s one of the older Christmas collections (I think the third, if I remember rightly), and includes stories by John Dickson Carr (under the Carter Dickson name) and E.C.R. Lorac — big names! There are some lesser known ones as well.

I think the story I’ll remember most is Julian Symons’; I don’t entirely love his work, it always seems a little too cerebral (which I’m sure he would’ve prided himself on, but I don’t read mysteries for that) and like he thinks he’s superior… but here in a short story that wasn’t so much on show, and there was something that just stood out about it, in the attention to detail, and the little sting in the tail.

Overall, it’s a fun enough collection, and as usual it’s fascinating to see a range of approaches through the chronological presentation of the various stories. I missed that in the newest volume, even though I hadn’t consciously thought about it before.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, British Library Crime Classics, crime, Martin Edwards, mystery

Review – Clean Room vol 2: Exile

Posted December 21, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Clean Room: Exile

by Gail Simone, Jon Davis-Hunt, Quinton Winter

Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Science Fiction
Pages: 144
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
Journalist Chloe Pierce had no idea that her fiance Philip's decision to pick up a book by enigmatic and compelling self-help guru Astrid Mueller would change her life forever--by ending his! Three months after reading Mueller's book, Philip had blown his brains out all over Chloe's new kitchen and something in that book made him do it.

Now, Chloe will stop at nothing as she attempts to infiltrate Mueller's clandestine organization to find the truth behind Philip's suicide and a "Clean Room" that she's heard whispers of--a place where your deepest fears are exposed and your worst moments revealed.

Volume two of Gail Simone’s Clean Room certainly goes some more places. The horror hasn’t worn off, because it keeps hinting at deeper mysteries, and the rabbit-hole of weird keeps getting deeper. It still feels to me like any real explanation would defuse a lot of the unease that makes the story work — you know the type of thing: “This Big Bad is actually an alien from the planet Blarg, and it actually wants to…”

Simone avoids that and instead gets us deeper involved in what’s going on with tantalising hints and wheels within wheels. It’s still difficult to entirely like the characters, and that still doesn’t matter a ton; somehow you’re along for the ride with Astrid and Killian and Chloe, all the same.

Definitely going to read the third volume, and I hope it stands up to the promise so far.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Gail Simone, Jon Davis-Hunt, Quinton Winter

Review – Unwell Women

Posted December 20, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments

Unwell Women: A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made World

by Elinor Cleghorn

Genres: History, Non-fiction, Science
Pages: 512
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
Medicine carries the burden of its own troubling history. Over centuries, women's bodies have been demonised and demeaned until we feared them, felt ashamed of them, were humiliated by them. But as doctors, researchers, campaigners and most of all as patients, women have continuously challenged medical orthodoxy. Medicine's history has always been, and is still being, rewritten by women's resistance, strength and incredible courage.

In this ground-breaking history Elinor Cleghorn unpacks the roots of the perpetual misunderstanding, mystification and misdiagnosis of women's bodies, illness and pain. From the 'wandering womb' of ancient Greece to today's shifting understanding of hormones, menstruation and menopause, Unwell Women is the revolutionary story of women who have suffered, challenged and rewritten medical misogyny. Drawing on Elinor's own experience as an unwell woman, this is a powerful and timely exposé of the medical world and woman's place within it.

The health of female-bodied people has long been a thorny problem. Those in charge of medicine and health have so often been men, and the “default” or “correct” body has been thought to be male. I’m not just talking about in Victorian times or something — in modern times, medication has often only been tested on men, because women are inherently too variable and would throw off the results. (This makes a certain sense when you think about good experimental design, until you remember that the medication is supposed to work for women too, and will be given to them without further testing, so we really should actually know about the effects of the hormone cycle on it.)

Elinor Cleghorn’s book aims to discuss that history, to discuss the whys and wherefores and the impacts on women, not just now, but in the past, and not as something that’s necessarily getting better, but as something which still affects women now — including herself. It’s not just that women’s bodies are considered strange and different, but the experiences of female-bodied people about their own bodies haven’t been believed, and they haven’t been trusted to have any insight or understanding.

Obviously this book is a hard read in that way, chronicling a lot of mishaps and a lot of misogyny, some of it completely institutionalised. But it’s a useful one, if you want to take a good hard stare at it. None of it was too surprising for me, but that’s because I’ve gone out of my way to know this kind of thing; I know some folks for whom it would be revelatory. It’s certainly one place to start in understanding why the health of female-bodied people hasn’t been prioritised, and why that still affects people living now.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Elinor Cleghorn, history, non-fiction, science

Review – Mirror Lake

Posted December 19, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Mirror Lake

by Juneau Black

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 240
Series: Shady Hollow #3
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
A murder to solve. A reporter on the trail. Is this a case of mistaken identity?

Welcome dear reader! You have happened upon the delightful village of Shady Hollow, a place where rabbits and raptors, squirrels and snakes live together in civilised accord...with only the occasional murder to mar the peace of daily life.

Keen journalist Vera Vixen is recovering from the Harvest Festival (and its bounty of local cheeses, cider and pies) when the calm is shattered by a scream from one of the small town's grandes houses. Dorothy Springfield, a rat with a reputation for eccentricity, claims her husband - who is standing right next to her - has been murdered. Has Dorothy finally lost her grip on reality? Or is the rat who claims to be Edward an imposter? Vera's fox nose scents a story. And it's not long before the discovery of a body, minus the read, complicates things further...

Juneau Black’s Shady Hollow books seem to invariably end up being swallowed whole — by me at least. As with the others, I steamed right through it, enjoying myself all the way. As with the others, if you find the situation (the town of woodland creatures living in vegetarian harmony) inherently ridiculous and you’re unable to suspend your disbelief, then it won’t be so much your thing… and, once again, I found the mystery a little obvious. (I blame the fact that I’ve been training my brain on John Dickson Carr and other mystery greats.)

But that’s quibbling, because I personally still enjoyed it a lot. I’m still a little mad that the animals apparently don’t have a sense of smell, not even the creatures who would normally be trackers — it’d add a great extra dimension — but I’m trying not to argue with it, because I’m just having fun.

It helps that it’s a town of basically nice people. There are petty jealousies, of course, and here and there a murder or other crime (though it’s usually an outsider), but it just sounds like a nice place to be, and that makes it a nice place to read about. Vera and Orville’s romance is mostly sweet (without ever being saccharine), and Lenore is the best raven friend you could ever ask for.

Lovely escapism, and I refuse to overthink it any further!

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, crime, Juneau Black, mystery, SF/F

Top Ten Tuesday: Wishing For Books

Posted December 19, 2023 by Nicky in General / 33 Comments

This week’s theme from Reading Reality’s Top Ten Tuesday is all about the books we’re hoping Santa brings!

I’m not really allowed to go look at my wishlist at this time of year, since it automatically removes things that have been purchased for me… so we’ll just have to go with the ones that jump to mind, stuff I’d like to read in the year ahead, or things that I’ve only recently added and probably won’t be receiving for Christmas. Here goes…

Final Fantasy XIV: Eorzea Academy, by Esora Amaichi. This silly manga about certain characters from Final Fantasy XIV at a high school has been out officially in English for a little bit, but I virtuously put it back without purchasing it because I thought it might be something people could get me for Christmas. I love FFXIV, and am a total nerd about it, so this is right up my street.
The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 2, by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù. I thought this series might be too silly for me… and it is pretty silly. But I’m also really curious about it and kind of charmed by it, so I’m eager to read more.
More Object Lessons. Object Lessons is a series of short books covering a small topic in depth — like personal stereos, or blue jeans, or trench coats. I love learning about random things, and each book is bitesize enough that if it turns out an object isn’t that interesting… well, it’s fine.
More of the Edible series. Similar to Object Lessons, each book covers a very specific topic in detail, but in this case it’s always food. I’ve read books about cookies and candy and doughnuts, and these are all beautifully illustrated with photos, too. And I never knew before how much argument there is over the definition of a pancake.
Miraculous Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards. This one’s a rarity: a British Library Crime Classic that I don’t already have my hands on. It seems to be out of print, too.
A Sinister Revenge, by Deanna Raybourn. Owing to the particular plot in the previous book, An Impossible Impostor, I’m struggling to finish it. But I’m told that the next book is a lot more fun, even if you disliked the plot of An Impossible Impostor, so I’d like to get hold of this and give it a shot before the ninth book in the series comes out in March.
The second Griffin & Sabine trilogy, by Nick Bantock. Sometimes the prices for these have been silly, and second-hand is a bit of a gamble given the nature of the books (they contain letters in pouches, for example), but I really do want to read these someday. The first trilogy was very charming, and there remains a childlike glee in an interactive book like this, even one intended for adults.
Some Desperate Glory, by Emily Tesh. I’ve been tempted by this one since I saw it available for review, but I didn’t request it because I knew I wouldn’t get round to it in time. I’ve been promised a found family story and vengeance for the destruction of Earth, and I am definitely intrigued — especially as I loved Tesh’s Green Man novellas.
The Warden, by Daniel M. Ford. I saw this mentioned on K.A. Doore’s list of 2023 Queer Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy, and it had me at “necromancy” and “investigate mysteries in a small town”. It sounds like combining two very specific interests of mine…
The Undetectables, by Courtney Smyth. “Be gay, solve crime, take naps.” Do I need to say anything else? I spotted this on the above list as well and I’m definitely intrigued…

If you fancy granting any of these wishes, uhhh… talk to my wife first. Or, actually, you can use my wishlist (they keep it up to date, ensuring stuff that’s bought gets taken off). These books might already be waiting under the tree. I don’t know, and I’m not going to ask!

For everyone else — what about you? Are you hoping Santa will bring you an epic haul? What are you most looking forward to? Some people are including links to their wishlists, so I’ll be a wish-granting fairy for a bit this afternoon; I love getting people books!

Tags: books, Top Ten Tuesday

Review – The Magician’s Angel

Posted December 18, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

The Magician's Angel

by Jordan L. Hawk

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 108
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
Vaudeville stage magician Christopher Fiend lives for the spotlight. His chance at big time stardom awaits him in Chicago, the next stop on the circuit after the little town of Twelfth Junction.

Edward Smith wants nothing to do with his family's theater. Until Christopher catches his eye on opening night, then treats him to a very special performance during intermission.

When a dead body turns up in the middle of Christopher’s act, suspicion immediately falls on him. If Christopher and Edward can’t work together to clear his name, Christopher won’t make it to Chicago in time. Edward knows he shouldn’t get attached to a man who will be gone in two days, but his heart—and a very special angel—have other ideas.

This Christmas-themed novella by Jordan L. Hawk features two people who’ve encountered setbacks and bitterness, and who team up to become more than the sum of their parts, finding an ease and comfort with each other that shocks them. It’s a little bit insta-love, since they don’t spend much time together, but I did believe that a quick and strong connection formed between them, given the circumstances and their pasts, and I could believe that they’d manage to form something stronger and less ephemeral.

I suppose the part I found least convincing was the race to the departing train at the end, such a typical Hallmark type moment — but it’s still a relief to meet the happy ending at the station, even if it’s predictable and melodramatic.

The mystery itself wasn’t too surprising or in-depth, given the length of the novella, but it worked to give the characters time and space to talk and show us who they are. I enjoyed it as a whole package, romance and mystery and a little bit of Christmas magic and all.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, historical fiction, Jordan L. Hawk, queer fiction, romance

Review – The Waking of Angantyr

Posted December 17, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

The Waking of Angantyr

by Marie Brennan

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 493
Rating: five-stars

Synopsis:
The bondmaid Hervor is used to dead men whispering in her sleep. They’ve been doing it for as long as she can remember; it’s the living she has to watch out for. And when a new arrival at her holding triggers her into a berserker fury, she’s forced to flee the contract that enslaves her and into the arms of an uncertain future.

Unchained from the living, Hervor goes in search of a way to silence the dead, but it will take much more than grit and determination to make that happen. She’ll need the help of a ruthless Viking, an ailing jarl, a mad witch, and more—for the treachery that killed her ghosts isn’t nearly as dead as they are, and the path to peace must first traverse a river of blood.

In The Waking of Angantyr, Marie Brennan brings to life the story of Hervor, a Viking woman who claims her father’s cursed sword (Tyrfing) and seeks to avenge his fall. Around the details of the saga, Brennan embroiders a larger story, giving us the details of Hervor’s experiences, the things that drive her, and the terrible consequences of her heritage and her path to revenge. I was only vaguely familiar with the original details, so it’s not always obvious where Brennan’s embroidery begins; it comes together well to present a satisfying story.

Mostly satisfying, anyway; one can’t help but regret some of Hervor’s choices and mistakes, and think about the what-ifs along the way. I don’t think the book should have ended any other way, to be clear, but at the same time I’m wistful about the could-have-beens and the paths not taken. The dissatisfaction I feel isn’t about Brennan’s storytelling or ability to shape the plot, but rather about Hervor’s lot. I don’t quite know how to describe this, but I hope it comes across: I can think it’s a wonderful story as it is, while at the same time, wishing Hervor had been able to have more.

I ended up reading this alongside my wife, and we both pretty much raced through it, eager for each new step in Hervor’s journey; there’s no point where Brennan really lets the character rest and let out a breath, so I found the same experience as a reader. You want to get to where Hervor’s going and figure out what on earth the next step could possibly be.

I don’t think you need to know Hervor’s story already to appreciate this one (my wife didn’t know it), but if you do, it adds that interesting dimension of seeing how Brennan fleshes out the story, and makes the supporting characters vivid and human, breathing emotion into it. There’s also that sense of inevitability you get with reading Arthurian retellings, where each moment is cast into sharp relief by what you know will come. I’m very tempted to re-familiarise myself with Hervor’s story from the original sources, and then read this again with attention to that.

I originally gave this four stars, but I’m just habitually stingy like that. For the rate at which I read this, and the joy I took in it, it has to be five stars.

Rating: 5/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Marie Brennan, SF/F

Review – Rebel Cell

Posted December 16, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution and the Science of Life

by Kay Arney

Genres: Non-fiction, Science
Pages: 390
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
Cancer has always been with us. It killed our hominid ancestors, the mammals they evolved from and the dinosaurs that trampled the ground before that. Tumours grow in pets, livestock and wild animals. Even tiny jelly-like Hydra, creatures that are little more than a tube full of water, can get cancer.

Paradoxically, many of us think of cancer as a contemporary killer, a disease of our own making caused by our modern lifestyles. But that's not true. Although it might be rare in many species, cancer is the enemy lurking within almost every living creature. Why? Because cancer is a bug in the system of life. We get cancer because we can't not get it. Cancer starts when cells revolt, throwing off their molecular shackles, and growing and dividing out of control in a shambolic mockery of normal life. This is why we can't avoid cancer: because the very genes that drive it are essential for life itself.

The revolution has raged, on and off, for millions of years. But it was only in the twentieth century that doctors and scientists made any significant progress in understanding and treating cancer, and it's only in the past few decades that we've finally begun to kick the mob's malignant arse. Now the game is changing. Scientists have infiltrated cancer's cellular rebellion and are finally learning its secrets. Geneticist and science writer Kat Arney takes the reader back to the dawn of life on planet earth right up to the present day to get to the heart of what cancer really is and how by better understanding it we might one day overcome it.

Cancer is a fascinating topic, but always a bit scary for me too: it’s a fine balance. Kat Arney’s Rebel Cell walks that line pretty well: she delves into a lot of very fascinating aspects of cancer, with one particular focus that I very much appreciated. Namely, that cancer is basically a microcosm of evolution, in a very similar way to microbes: with a short generation time, it can quickly respond to selective pressures and find ways around treatments.

That’s the terrifying part: it may be that some of our cancer treatments are barking way up the wrong tree, creating resistant cancers that have no known treatment. Arney also criticises the trend of super-individualised cancer treatment plans via genetic testing, pointing to the heterogeneity of cells in a cancer. Cancer isn’t any one thing, it’s a population of rapidly expanding cells which have lost a lot of the brakes that stop them mutating further and developing harmful quirks.

It’s not all gloom, because she does also note a few different options that might be worthwhile: treating cancer as a chronic disease and managing it carefully, allowing it to grow and shrink over time, without expecting to eradicate it — or using cocktails of drugs to hit multiple targets at once, or varying treatments when progress slows to try a new target.

There’s also some really fascinating stuff about contagious cancers (more common than you’d think), what looks quite like sexual reproduction between cancer cells, etc. It’s not a super quick read, but I was riveted.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Kat Arney, non-fiction, science

Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Posted December 16, 2023 by Nicky in General / 27 Comments

And oof, another week gone! Christmas is creeping closer, for those of us who celebrate — I’m most looking forward to giving people all their gifts, I must admit, though I know a tidy book haul is coming my way as well thanks to my wife. I got the most perfect thing for my sister… ah, but I can’t tell you, she might read this.

It’s been another busy week, with an assignment due yesterday for one of my classes, but now that’s out of the way I’m gearing up for a quiet week or two, I think!

As before, I’ll be linking up with a few different posts: Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, and the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz.

Books acquired this week:

I split my haul from my trip to Bath into three lots, since I was a little, ah, excessive about it. This is the final bunch, from the lovely bookshop Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights. I wasn’t 100% won over by their fiction section, since books of all genres were jumbled together: even though I read very widely and some would even say randomly, I’m not always in the mood for the same thing. So I pretty much bypassed their fiction selection, sorry to say, picking up only this one which I found in their bibliotherapy room from their list of recommendations:

It’s an Arthurian retelling and prominently features Sir Kay, which means it called out my name right off the bat. I wrote my postgrad dissertation (back when I was doing English Literature) on the character of the Welsh Cei and how it echoed throughout later literature, so I’m interested to see what this one does.

What shone for me at Mr B’s was the selection of non-fiction, and the conversations I had with staff members about the books I was choosing. I’d trust their recommendations for sure. Without further ado, here’s the rest of my haul:

As you can see, I had a heck of a time!

Technically I’ve also just received my British Library Crime Classics subscription book, complete with matching bookmark (which they’ve made smaller now, yay!), free postcard and blackmail note (reproduced from this month’s story), but I’ll keep that for next week to ensure I have something to post…

Posts from this week:

I’m pretty much caught up from all the reviews I wrote while my blog was down, but I’ve kept on reading at pace in the meantime, so here’s a roundup of this week’s reviews:

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, by Brandon Sanderson (2/5 stars)
Phantom Pond, by Juneau Black (3/5 stars)
Dragon’s Blood & Willow Bark: The Mysteries of Medieval Medicine, by Toni Mount (3/5 stars)
Peter Cabot Gets Lost, by Cat Sebastian (4/5 stars)
Who Killed Father Christmas? And Other Seasonal Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards (3/5 stars)
The Golden Mole And Other Vanishing Treasure, by Katherine Rundell (3/5 stars)
Clean Room volume 1: Immaculate Conception, by Gail Simone et al (3/5 stars)

And I’ve also posted about some of my (potential) upcoming reads:

Top Ten Tuesday: Winter TBR

What I’m reading:

I’m still trying to make myself finish The Impossible Impostor, by Deanna Raybourn. Having stalled, it’s difficult to nudge myself to get back into it. Still, other than that I’ve been reading a lot, and I have quite a few reviews upcoming for my reads this week. As ever, here’s a sneak preview of the titles/covers:

I did read a couple of volumes of manga as well, but I’m not planning to review them here as I don’t have much to say.

And that’s it for now! How’s everyone else doing? Got any exciting books this week?

Tags: books, Stacking the Shelves, weekly roundup

Review – Clean Room Volume 1: Immaculate Conception

Posted December 15, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Clean Room: Immaculate Conception

by Gail Simone, Jon Davis-Hunt, Quinton Winter

Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror
Pages: 160
Series: Clean Room #1
Rating: three-stars

Synopsis:
Somewhere between the realms of self-help and religion lies the Honest World Foundation. Its creator started out as an obscure writer of disposable horror fiction who decided to change the world—one mind at a time. Now its adherents rule Hollywood while obeying their leader’s every command.

That’s almost all that anyone knows about the movement—or is it a cult?—founded by reclusive guru Astrid Mueller. But reporter Chloe Pierce is sure that there’s something deeper hiding behind Honest World’s façade. Her fiancé was a devoted follower of Mueller, right up to the moment that he blew his brains out while holding a copy of her book. Now Chloe wants answers from the woman whose words command the loyalty of millions—and she’s ready to storm the top-secret sanctuary known as the Clean Room to get them.

But there’s more to Astrid Mueller than Chloe could ever imagine—and the truth that she’s about to discover is more astonishing than any of Astrid’s accomplishments, and more terrifying than any of her novels.

Volume 1 of Gail Simone’s Clean Room is an introduction to a heck of a world. If you’re not into horror, this is quite possibly not for you, because it doesn’t go lightly on the gore and weirdness. It’s not just “oops, there’s someone’s intestines”, but weirdnesses like a guy literally tied into knots, physically speaking.

I feel like, in a way, getting answers about exactly what’s going on here would be an anticlimax; half of the experience is the wondering what the fuck is going on. Figuring out who the good guys are isn’t straight-forward at all (actually, the answer is that there aren’t any, but you’ve got to pick someone to root for — or I do, at least).

The art and character designs are gorgeous, at least where they aren’t gory or unsettling, and despite not being much of a horror-lover, I’m curious enough to continue.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Gail Simone, horror