Hey folks! How’s everyone been doing? I’ve been back at work and busying myself with trying to figure out some better work patterns, like only working during set hours and on a separate laptop. It feels kinda better… and having an offline lunchbreak at least three days in the week is meaning I get a bit more reading done!
I did also get well stuck into my studying, and am currently swearing at the depth in which I need to remember glycolysis/the Krebs cycle/oxidative phosphorylation. Blast!
New books:
Technically we got The Cloud Roads a while ago, but I don’t think I ever put the cover up, and it’s a nice set. And thank you to Tor for the eARC of Winter’s Orbit, which I’m looking forward to!
Greetings, folks! Well, my time off is over and I’ve been back to work for a couple of days… but I think I did manage to unwind a bit and figure out some better ways of having a work/life balance. I didn’t finish a lot of books, but I managed to go “as my Whimsy takes me” more than usual. So maybe I’ve de-stressed a bit!
On the other hand, my course has now started and I’ve added an hour or two of studying per day to my schedule. Yipes.
Books acquired:
Yaaay! Thanks so much to the person who bought me Cemetery Boys. <3
Greetings, folks! This weekend’s roundup has been delayed by extreme laziness during my holiday (although laziness is perhaps the wrong word when I spent ~2.5 hours climbing up onto the moors today). How’s everyone?
Good evening, folks! It’s been a better week for me, with my anxiety medication kicking in and lots of reading getting done. No new books this week, but I’m expecting some from Portal Bookshop any day now…
Greetings, folks! I keep saying I’m going to have a break from buying books, but somehow… Not that I’m complaining! It’s been a quiet week, but not because I haven’t been reading — it’s just been a couple of slower books.
I’ve been anticipating Fake Law and Entangled Life for a while now, but the other two were impulse buys based on a) an email campaign I somehow got signed up to which talks about UBI, and b) being interested in brains and the weird things they do.
I also got a new review copy of a book which sounds like a potentially fascinating microhistory:
Very micro, in this case… (Yes, I do think I’m funny.)
Good morning, folks! I felt like this had been a dreadfully indulgent week with far too many books bought, but actually doing this post it seems… fair enough for someone who just had a birthday?! Though once I include the finished copies of books I had to review, it gets a little bigger…
Good evening, folks! Last week I took off owing to the confluence of a sick rabbit and damaging myself by falling onto the corner of a coffee table, but my ribs are fair to middling now and the rabbit seems back to normal, and it’s been my birthday, so I should catch up!
This post was supposed to go up this morning, but the infamous WordPress “missed schedule” issue bit me. Booo.
Greetings, folks! This has been a good week for ARCs, and passable for reading… and I have my replacement ereader now, so I can get back to some neglected library books. Hurrah! It’s also been pretty busy in terms of posting reviews, which I hadn’t realised until starting this post. Whoa!
Thank you to the publishers who let me have ARCs (mostly Tor!) and also the two lovelies who have bought me books this week. You know how to spoil a Nicky, and it’s appreciated deeply.
Books read this week:
Reviews posted this week:
Mystery at Olympia, by John Rhode. Not the most memorable story, actually; I’d thought better of John Rhode’s work in other outings (as Miles Burton). But fun enough. 3/5 stars
Lock In, by John Scalzi. Very entertaining, and not a bad SF mystery either. Held up very well as a reread. 4/5 stars
Drowned Country, by Emily Tesh. A lovely novella, following up on Silver in the Wood. I was mad at it at first for certain plot/character things… but it brought me round. 4/5 stars
Head On, by John Scalzi. Also very entertaining, and that’s including the cat in witness protection which I’d forgotten to mention. 4/5 stars
The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo, by Zen Cho. I don’t always get along with things that are meant to be funny, but this works very well for me, and the voice reminded me of I Capture the Castle, a solid favourite. 4/5 stars
WWW Wednesday.The usual update, discussing A Scream in Soho and John Scalzi.
Hobbit Birthday.Giveaway still going on! Open worldwide; £50 to spend at Portal Bookshop for one winner, £15 for two others. (It’s possible to figure out a different bookshop if Portal don’t ship to you!)
Whoa, that took some rounding up.
So how’re you folks? Been reading anything good, or stacking your shelves with anything shiny? I got my finished copy of Seven Devils as well, this week, so that’s something to look forward to!
Well, folks, it’s been quite the week. No new books, and we’ve been in quarantine after Lisa (my wife) developed some potential-COVID symptoms. We’ve both tested negative now and she’s on the mend, but phew it’s been tiring.
So here’s what I have managed to read (not bad, though they were short!):
Books read this week:
Reviews posted this week:
The Return of the Earl, by Sandra Schwab. Sweet, but one of the main characters acts in a really untrusting way to someone who doesn’t deserve it, and is constantly cranky for no reason, so that was kind of annoying. 3/5 stars
The Deep, by Rivers Solomon. An interesting take on a concept explored by others, though I found Yetu’s actions really frustrating. 4/5 stars
Alike as Two Bees, by Elin Gregory. Very short, but I enjoyed it a lot. I’d look for more work by this author, and I love the way the couple are handled. 4/5 stars
WWW Wednesday.A quick update, mostly mentioning the books above.
Hobbit Birthday.Giveaway still going on! Open worldwide; £50 to spend at Portal Bookshop for one winner, £15 for two others. (It’s possible to figure out a different bookshop if Portal don’t ship to you!)
So that’s me for the week. How’s everyone else doing?
