Busy week! And lots of reading too, which is nice. Politics in the UK are… interesting at the moment, but for the comfort of all, let’s not discuss them here. Rugby World Cup also, but, samesies, unless you’re supporting Wales.

Here are some new books!

Acquired this week:

This week has been rather massive on the books front, so I’m splitting it into two! Next week will have this week’s fantasy/SF or other books, while this week is solely for crime/mystery books, most of them from the British Library Crime Classics series!

Read this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–The Haunting of Tram Car 015, by P. Djèlí Clark. I didn’t love this as much as the other novella I’ve read by Clark, but the setting makes a nice change, and I’d love to know more about  the world. 3/5 stars
–It Walks by Night, by John Dickson Carr. Definitely not impressed by this — I’ve tried two novels by John Dickson Carr, and I don’t get the hype. 2/5 stars
–Smallbone Deceased, by Michael Gilbert. This was a much better classic crime novel! Reminded me a little of Sayers in the way that Gilbert was obviously intimately familiar with the kind of office he was writing about. 4/5 stars
–In the Night Wood, by Dale Bailey. I was not impressed by the angst and woe of the protagonist who let his daughter drown in the bath while arguing on the phone with his lover, and is all upset that his wife doesn’t want to speak to him. Even in a fantasy setting, that’s old now. 2/5 stars
–The Interstellar Age, by Jim Bell. Some interesting stuff here! A bit too much about Bell himself at times, and not heavy on scientific detail, but a good history of the Voyager program on a high level. 3/5 stars
–The Documents in the Case, by Dorothy L. Sayers. Interesting format, and Sayers’ usual deft touch with character and dialogue. 4/5 stars
–Civilisations: First Contact / The Cult of Progress, by David Olusoga. Felt unfocused and kinda perfunctory at times. Meh? 2/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. The usual weekly update!

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘Brain juice.‘ I explained what norepinephrine is, and how SNRI antidepressants work!

So that’s all for now! How’s your week been, folks?

Good morning, guys! Happy Saturday! Here’s the roundup from the blog this week…

Acquired:

Read this week:

The Fellowship of the Ring was actually the radioplay, but I haven’t uploaded the cover for that yet!

Reviewed this week:

–The Body in the Dumb River, by George Bellairs. A competent mystery; hardly transcendent, but entertaining if you’re looking for a Golden Age crime fiction. 3/5 stars
–The King in the North, by Max Adams. Very readable, and from all my knowledge, as solid as a biography of a medieval saint can be. 4/5 stars
–Spectred Isle, by K.J. Charles. A lovely queer romance, as ever; I loved Saul quite a bit. I want more in this world! 4/5 stars
–Thornbound, by Stephanie Burgis. Very enjoyable, though I have some reservations about the worldbuilding. 3/5 stars
–Desdemona and the Deep, by C.S.E. Cooney. Misgenders a key character for the first half, kind of meh standard fairytale. 2/5 stars

Other posts:

–Discussion: Putting the Joy Back Into It. My thoughts on where my love for reading has gone, and how I’m going to try and fix it.

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘Scared right down to your bones.‘ Links about your skeleton being involved in the fear response have been flying round the interwebs, so I had a pick through the evidence and what it might mean.

That’s it for this week! Have you picked up anything good this week? Any exciting bookish adventures ahead?

Good morning, folks! It’s been a busy week, and I’m not honestly sure where the time has gone. Ah well.

I did at least get an Amazon voucher from the bunnies this week, so I’ve indulged in some ebooks — and I got a couple of new releases, too.

Acquired:

Thank you, bunnies!

Finished reading this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–The Aztecs, by Richard F. Townsend. Actually managed to make the Aztecs boring, though I imagine it’s a good scholarly resource. 2/5 stars
–The Piltdown Forgery, by J.S. Weiner. A fascinating study, though it pulls back at the last minute to avoid incriminating the obvious culprit. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. The weekly update on what’s been on my reading plate!

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘What is a gene drive?‘ I respond to a question about a genetic engineering technique that may help us eliminate malaria and other pests and diseases.

So that’s this week! How’s everyone else doing?

Well, last Saturday was problematic for my weekly roundup, because my site went down! So here’s two weeks’ worth.

Books acquired:

Not quite as eclectic as my usual mix, perhaps!

Books read in the last two weeks:

Reviews posted in the last two weeks:

–The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, by Alan Jacobs. A long essay on reading and how Jacobs thinks you ought to do it. Not as prescriptive as many, but kind of snobbish; an interesting read, but expect to argue with it. 3/5 stars
–Perihelion Summer, by Greg Egan. Solidly not my thing; it’s based around an idea, rather than people, and does neither very strongly from my perspective. 2/5 stars
–Late Eclipses, by Seanan McGuire. These books are always fun, but I feel like Toby was hit particularly hard with the idiot stick in this book, missing the obvious way too much. 3/5 stars
–Within the Sanctuary of Wings, by Marie Brennan. The last of the Lady Trent books, this wraps up with some surprising and satisfying reveals… 5/5 stars
–Darwin Comes to Town, by Menno Schilthuizen. Lots of examples of evolution to suit urban environments. I quibbled a bit with the organisation of the chapters, though. 3/5 stars
–The Warrior Queen, by Joanna Arman. Badly edited, and mostly not about its ostensible subject. Also, prone to leaps of imagination without even the courtesy to source its wild claims. 2/5 stars
–Turning Darkness into Light, by Marie Brennan. Picking up on the world of Lady Trent with her granddaughter, I found this just a delight. 5/5 stars
–The Blue Salt Road, by Joanne Harris. A decent take on selkies — fairly traditional, but with a slightly re-shaped ending. 4/5 stars
–To Be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers. Not a bad novella, but it suffered a bit from its narrative format. 3/5 stars
–Strange Practice, by Vivian Shaw. A delight, as ever — this was a reread. 5/5 stars
–The End of Epidemics, by Jonathan Quick. Recommendations on how to manage epidemics (and pandemics) better in future; not entirely sure it’s directed at the right audience, since much of it requires work on the part of governmens and the WHO. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. Last week’s edition…
–WWW Wednesday. This week’s edition.

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘Trilobite shakeup.‘ I wrote about a study that might disrupt our view of trilobite fossils!

Phew, that’s the lot. How’s everyone doing?

Good morning, folks! I’m back from Worldcon, and as ever I think I need a holiday to recover from my holiday. (Which I worked through, also as ever, though I did do reduced hours!)

I met some lovely folks, got a couple of books, and also won a proof copy of Garth Nix’s new book. Not bad! I also had my 30th birthday, and though I joked I needed 30 books (one for each year), I only got nine, so I guess nobody should be serving me in a bar… 😀

Books acquired:

Almost all fiction, but quite a few wildly different genres there. Just another week on my TBR…

Books read this week:

Reviews posted:

–The Pandemic Century, by Mark Honigsbaum. Not revolutionary in any way, but there are definitely new titbits of information here. 3/5 stars
–Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland. This wasn’t 100% for me, but it’s a fascinating setting. I had some questions about the characters — relationships don’t work like that! 3/5 stars
–Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers. This had some of the emotional punch of the first and second book, but it didn’t quite add up to a satisfying story for me. It’s a fascinating exploration of a particular corner of Chambers’ world, though. 3/5 stars
–In the Labyrinth of Drakes, by Marie Brennan. A lovely instalment of the series, which solves some mysteries and involves a lot of the lovely partnership between Tom and Isabella. 5/5 stars
–Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells. Not quite what I hoped for, but a good conclusion for Murderbot nonetheless. Looking forward to the novel! 4/5 stars
–This is How You Lose The Time War, by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar. It didn’t work for me that well, but you gotta appreciate time-travelling multiple-dimensional lesbians. 3/5 stars
–Mistletoe and Murder, by Carola Dunn. Fairly standard for this series, but as always it makes a good cosy mystery. 3/5 stars
–Heartstopper, volume 2, by Alice Oseman. It’s just so goddamn cute. 4/5 stars
–The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black. I was told that this gets better if you hold on to the end, which shakes things up, but… I was so bored. I DNFed it. 1/5 stars
–Gene Machine, by Venki Ramakrishnan. I found this disappointing in two ways. 1) The secrets of the ribosome aren’t really unlocked, only the structure. That will tell us a lot more in time, but it doesn’t yet. 2) Ramakrishnan’s obvious antipathy to one particular competitor, of whom he says hardly a kind word that isn’t loaded with begrudging “I’m saying this to be fair, but I don’t really mean it”. She’s a woman; that is now how he treats male scientists. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. The pre-Worldcon roundup…
–WWW Wednesday. And this week’s roundup.

So how’s everyone doing? Reading anything good? Got your hands on an awesome book? Share! (The news, not the book. At least not till you’ve read it. I’m not a monster.)

Good morning, folks. It’s been a quiet week around here, given last week’s news, but we’ve been getting on with things.

Received to review:

New Frances Hardinge! 😍

Bought:

When I’m sad, I… buy non-fiction? It kinda makes sense; it’s the most likely to really engage my brain.

Finished reading this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson. Really great and really bleak. Makes accountancy exciting. 5/5 stars
–Superior: The Return of Race Science, by Angela Saini. A good history of race science, a bad overview of the actual evidence. 4/5 stars
–Lent, by Jo Walton. Sympathy with Savonarola? Oh yes. 4/5 stars
–An Artificial Night, by Seanan McGuire. One of my favourites in the series as I’ve read so far, because of all the stuff it weaves together. 4/5 stars
–The Bitter Twins, by Jen Williams. Well gah! What a way to go about things. A very good second book. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. The usual weekly update.

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘Ice cream headache.‘ Ever wondered what causes one of those? I’ve gotcha covered.
–NEAT science: ‘Chocolate antidepressants.‘ There’s currently a fair bit of reporting that chocolate has been shown to help with depression. The answer is, no, it’s been shown that people who eat dark chocolate are less likely to report depressive symptoms. There may be other things going on.

And that’s it for this week! Next week I might not post, given we’ll be in Dublin at Worldcon! But reviews and such will go up as normal, and I’ll check in again soon… maybe with some new books bought in Dublin!

Hey guys. So bad news on the Breakfast front; he’s gone as of Friday evening, fairly unexpectedly. I’m not really wanting condolences much right now; if you want to express them, could you stick to liking this post or just commenting something nice and unrelated?

I’ll continue things much as normal around here, because that helps, but please don’t take it personally if I forget to comment back or anything.

Books read this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–Storm of Locusts, by Rebecca Roanhorse. I still find the world refreshing, but the plotting itself feels so… predictable. 3/5 stars
–Necessity, by Jo Walton. I did not expect this series to lead here, but there’s so much fascinating about it. 4/5 stars
–Forces of Nature, by Brian Cox & Andrew Cohen. Not bad at explaining some things, but the physics still mostly goes beyond me! The series is probably better for that. 3/5 stars
–Tower of Thorns, by Juliet Marillier. This kind of nudges in a direction I hoped the books wouldn’t go, but it’s still a fascinating story. 4/5 stars
–Magic Strikes, by Ilona Andrews. Vastly entertaining, as with most of this series, and starts stepping things toward the epic overarching story… 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. This week’s post about my current reads.
–An August TBR. Planning for what to read in August!

What’re you reading?

And also, if you’re going to Worldcon, sound off! Let me know! I’ll be there and so will my wife.

Good morning, folks! I’ll be honest, it’s been a heck of a week. Let’s see what I managed to get done anyway, reading-wise!

Books acquired:

Used to be in a book group on Goodreads with Sarah Pi, for years, so it seems about time I read her stories!

Books read this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology, by Suzanne O’Sullivan. A collection of fascinating case studies; more human interest, at times, than science — but still of genuine interest. 3/5 stars
–Tropic of Serpents, by Marie Brennan. The book that really got me into this series, which made it a very nice reread as well. 4/5 stars
–Rogue Protocol, by Martha Wells. Not my favourite of the series, but it still contributes to the overall arc. Maybe I should up my rating a little, actually… 3/5 stars
–The Philosopher Kings, by Jo Walton. I’m always a little sad about the beginning and the fact that Simmea isn’t a part of the story, but it does a lot of interesting things. 3/5 stars
–Of Noble Family, by Mary Robinette Kowal. A powerful and worthwhile wrap-up to the series. Not a favourite, but solid. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. The usual update!

So that’s that! How’s everyone else doing? Anything lovely on your TBR?

Good morning, folks! It’s Saturday again. How’s everyone doing? I’ve had a quiet week, with lots of reading, yay!

Books acquired:

And I’ve already got stuck in!

Books read this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–The Just City, by Jo Walton. A thought experiment about actually enacting a thought experiment, with help from a little time travel. I do so enjoy Simmea’s narration. 4/5 stars
–Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee. Lovely ending to a rather mind-bending series. I’m sure I won’t understand it all unless I reread it. 4/5 stars
–Lifelode, by Jo Walton. A domestic fantasy with a curious structure/narration, and a whole lot to enjoy. Made me think mostly about what my lifelode is… 5/5 stars
–Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells. Pooossibly my favourite in the series because of ART. Robots watching drama together just kinda warms the cockles of my heart. 4/5 stars
–The Border Keeper, by Kerstin Hall. This one didn’t quite work for me. Some beautiful images, but it felt all disconnected and discombobulated to me! 2/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. The usual weekly update about what I’m reading, what I’ve just read, and what I might read next.

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘Cancer-killing cold virus.’ By request, an explanation of how an experimental new treatment for bladder cancer might work.

So how’re you doing? Anything delicious on your reading pile? Share, share!

Good morning, folks! It’s been a quiet week on most fronts, but I’ve done a fair bit of reading. What’s more, I had a greedily-awaited book come in months ahead of schedule, since I just got an e-ARC ooooof…:

I am very excited!

Books read this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–The Afterward, by E.K. Johnston. An enjoyably fluffy fantasy romance about what happens after an evil god fails to take over the world. 4/5 stars
–A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan. A beloved favourite and a timely reread. This time I couldn’t help but appreciate the science the most. 5/5 stars
–Extraordinary Insects, by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson. Insects might be extraordinary, but this book wasn’t. Maybe a good introduction? 2/5 stars
–The Ninth Rain, by Jen Williams. A deeply satisfying fantasy world, with some fun characters to boot. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–A July TBR. Here I go, possibly biting off more than I can chew. It’s going well so far, though.
–WWW Wednesday. The usual update!

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘NEAT RNA.‘ Yes, I found that there’s an RNA called NEAT1, and I had to write about it, because… well, what it does really is neat.

So what’s everyone else been up to? Good reading week? Anything enchanting on your pile?