I’m safely back in Belgium! And in our little game of doing chores and healthy things, my wife and I have hit 200 stars (ish), so we’re off to Amsterdam today for books, yarn and goodness knows what. (Mostly books and yarn.) So I’ll reply to any comments tomorrow!
Good morning, folks. I am still in the UK, despite intending to go back last week, due to the rail strikes in France and ensuing mayhem. New departure date to get back to wife and bunnies for a while: Tuesday. Wish me luck.
But hey, since I’m away, that means you get one more lot of bunny photos because I miss them. Here they demonstrate the principle “I fits therefore I sits”.
And since last week was Easter, have the Easter Egg I gave my sister…
New books from various sources
Looking forward to all of these, different as they are from one another!
So my excuse for last week was that I’d been good for ages. My excuse this week is… um… look, I’ve been restrained all year, now it’s breaking out. I can’t help it. I’m in the UK with books easily accessible to buy, I know I’m going away again until my exams, so I have to make the most of the opportunity.
Speaking of being in the UK, though, I’m still away from my buns so here’s a couple of pics of them being adorable that my wife sent.
Review copies
Because Tor are so good to me. <3
Bought
Quite a mixture, as ever, though perhaps not as mixed as I’d like — I was tempted by more non-fiction, but it didn’t exactly fit into the budget.
Books read this week:
Not much read, I know. Failboat.
Reviews posted this week:
–The Terracotta Army, by John Man. Pretty clear and accessible history about something I knew sadly little about. Particularly fascinating on the politics around the Terracotta Army, both ancient and modern. 3/5 stars –The Gene, by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Fascinatingly written, if not quite as good or as expert as Mukherjee’s other book. 4/5 stars –The Mummy Congress, by Heather Pringle. The kind of archaeology book I love — wide-ranging and totally absorbing. 4/5 stars –Built on Bones, by Brenna Hassett. A good history of the development of the city, told through bioarchaeology. 4/5 stars
Well, I’ve been too good to be true lately with my reasonably small hauls, so here’s a nice big one! Granted, this includes some books that were sent to my parents’ place over the last couple of months that I’ve only just picked up, but it’s still… well… a little unwieldy.
I’ll start off with the review copies and stuff from subscription boxes… although first you get a bunny picture because I’m away from my precious idiots. (Hulk update: this week she ate a rubber band. It has not yet reappeared. Breakfast update: he only needs meds in the morning now, and he’s very pleased by this.)
Review copies and subscription boxes:
An odd mix, perhaps! Looking forward to some of these a lot, though. Fury from the Tomb in particular sounds like a lot of pulpy fun.
Books bought:
Again, quite the mixture, I know! I’ve been curious about the British Library Crime Classics for a while, and especially since reading Martin Edwards’ The Golden Age of Murder. I don’t expect to be blown away by most of them, but they’ll be entertaining and unlikely to be horribly traumatising (sorry, modern crime fiction lovers — Val McDermid and Tess Gerritsen’s works turn my stomach).
Read this week:
I haven’t read the most ever this week, but I did enjoy these books and read all of them in one or two sittings each! So that’s something.
Reviewed this week:
–Ironclads, by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Fairly good adventure story with an anxiety-making (or anxiety-reflecting, maybe) Brexity corporate background. I didn’t love it, but I found it entertaining. 3/5 stars –A Borrowed Man, by Gene Wolfe. Fascinating background, but the execution is basically pretty typical noir. The more I think about it, the less I think of it. 3/5 stars –Experiment Eleven, by Peter Pringle. This had much less about TB than I’d hoped, but it is a rather interesting examination of two scientists and their intellectual property battle over the antibiotic streptomycin. 3/5 stars –Masquerade, by Laura Lam. Yaaaaas. Micah is awesome, the supporting characters continue to be awesome, and there’s an epic showdown. Only quibble is that some of the political aspects feel too easy. 4/5 stars –Sum, by David Eagleman. Interesting collection of short stories based around a single theme. They got a bit repetitive, but there are some really good bits too. 3/5 stars
Other posts:
–WWW Wednesday: My usual weekly update on what I’m reading, what I’ve just read, and what I might read next.
How’s everyone doing? Brought in a massive haul this week, or practising restraint? Lemme know in the comments!
Hey all! It’s been a quiet week for me again, but my hand is finally on the mend. Actually, the quiet is pretty much just because I’ve been beavering away at some crochet projects. Since I don’t have much to show off this week, book-wise, I thought I’d start with a few of those…
That’s the tiny, tiny crochet… but something else has been growing much faster.
From humble beginnings… to whoa. It’s not quite finished yet, but it’s pretty close!
Books received to review:
Just one, but it’s one I’m ridiculously excited for!
Books read this week:
I know, it’s not like me. I blame crochet!
Reviews posted this week:
–Shadowplay, by Laura Lam. I read this in two massive gulps, and loved it. And I’m aboard the Drystan and Micah ship now. 4/5 stars –Wonderful Life, by Stephen Jay Gould. Fascinated by fossils, and the weird life of the Cambrian Explosion? This is your book. 4/5 stars
Other posts:
–WWW Wednesday:The weekly update on what I’m currently reading, etc.
So how’s everyone else doing? Getting in more reading than me, I hope!
Good morning, folks! I have a lot this week, because I have a backlog of approved books on Netgalley that I didn’t get emails for somehow. It’s been a quietish week reading-wise, though, because I’ve picked crochet back up…
Received to review:
Oof. Quite a haul, right?
Bought:
Quite an odd mix, I’ll admit.
Read this week:
Reviews posted this week:
–Virus X, by Frank Ryan. A bit out of date now, but fascinating stuff. 4/5 stars –Camelot’s Blood, by Sarah Zettel. I love what Zettel does with the Arthurian story, and this might be my second favourite of the series because of how it humanises Agravain and shows how much he really cares. 4/5 stars –The Stone of Farewell, by Tad Williams. It remains pretty typical fantasy, but I think this book is stronger and better paced than the first. 4/5 stars
How’s everyone doing? I haven’t been posting/commenting as much as I’d like because I’ve injured my hand in a stupid way, and it makes typing quite painful after a while (while crochet only really requires dexterity from one hand). I’m hoping to pick things back up more by Monday!
Good morning, folks! It’s been a good week for me — it doesn’t look like I read that much, but actually, The Stone of Farewell and Kushiel’s Dart are rather long, so I think this is pretty monumental.
Read this week:
Perhaps I’ll read just as much in the coming week, since I have suddenly got no books at all on my currently reading list, for the first time in many, many moons.
(Seriously, many.)
Reviews posted this week:
–Ars Historica, by Marie Brennan.This is a great collection, written with Brennan’s usual skill, and made me really want to pick her Onyx Court novels back up (though you don’t need to have read them to appreciate the stories). 5/5 stars –The Laws of Medicine, by Siddartha Mukherjee. Short, but worthwhile; Mukherjee uses his experience as a doctor to posit some basic rules that govern how he practices. 4/5 stars –Five Red Herrings, by Dorothy L. Sayers. Not a favourite Wimsey story, but nonetheless it’s clever as heck. 4/5 stars –Libraries in the Ancient World, by Lionel Casson.Engagingly written, though most of the history wasn’t new to me. 3/5 stars –The Wanderer in Unknown Realms, by John Connolly. Kind of tailed off without using the background it had built up to the sort of effect I’d like to see. Creepy, though, with a good atmosphere. 3/5 stars
Other posts:
–WWW Wednesday:The usual update on what I’ve been reading in the last week.
Good morning, folks! It’s been a quiet week around here, with me getting into the swing of doing more work and trying to balance things a little more. Which has not meant very much reading, alas. But here’s what I have read — no new books this week!
Books finished this week:
Reviews posted this week:
–A Monstrous Commotion, by Gareth Williams. A thoroughly enjoyable historical and scientific appraisal of the Loch Ness Monster — sympathetic to those who want to believe, but realistic as well. 5/5 stars –Ghost Talkers, by Mary Robinette Kowal. I found this difficult going emotionally because I got invested in a particular character/relationship, but I do think it’s a great read. 4/5 stars –The Philadelphia Chromosome, by Jessica Wapner. Fascinating stuff, and really encouraging when you think about the journey to treating this type of cancer. 4/5 stars –An Unseen Attraction, by K.J. Charles. A lovely relationship and some non-typical elements to the characters too. 4/5 stars
