Hurrah for the weekend! I’m hoping to spend it mostly chilling out, but I do need to catch up on comments once more. One day I’ll be less terminally behind!

For now, here’s the weekly roundup.

Books acquired this week

This week it’s just library books, nothing new in the mail or on my ereader. I’d hoped a couple of holds would come in, but they hadn’t by the time I got down to the library, but I found myself some interesting alternatives anyway!

I’ve already read three of those, so apparently it was a very inspiring library trip!

Posts from this week

Here’s the reviews I’ve posted this week:

• Non-fiction science/memoir: All That Remains, by Sue Black (5/5 stars)
• Epistolary fantasy: Sorcery & Cecilia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (4/5 stars)
• Classic mystery: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie (4/5 stars)
• Poetry: The Lost Spells, by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris (4/5 stars)

And other posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday: Brags & Confessions
• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

It’s been quite a busy week for reading, with quite a few books finished that I plan to review on the blog. Here’s a sneak peek!

There are a couple of others I don’t plan to review, so it really has been a good week for it. I’m not sure what my weekend reading will be, to be honest. I want to whittle down the number of books I’m reading at once, so most likely one priority will be finishing my reread of Record of a Spaceborn Few (Becky Chambers). Other than that… I’ll let my whim guide me.

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

Yaaay, it’s the weekend! Here we go again with the usual weekly roundup…

Books acquired this week

Once more, I’ve been raiding the library this week, with my usual (perhaps weird) mix of choices…

I had one hold to pick up, and then I checked the new acquistions. Oops?

I did also get a new book this month, which I preordered on a whim a little while ago. It looks like the kind of non-fiction that I always find really fascinating, so I’m looking forward to it.

Of course I’m not reading nearly fast enough to keep up with the library books I’m snagging! But that’s okay. They can always be renewed, or returned and borrowed again later. The nice thing is having so many books to choose from.

Posts from this week

As usual, here’s a quick roundup! Reviews first:

• Ghost story: Pharos, by Alice Thompson (2/5 stars)
• Short mystery stories: Poirot Investigates, by Agatha Christie (3/5 stars)
• Video game tie-in: Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker: The Art of Resurrection – Beyond the Veil, from Square Enix (3/5 stars)
• Danmei (romance)/fantasy: Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 5, by MXTX (4/5 stars)
• Romance manga: Bloom into You, vol 1, by Nakatani Nio (2/5 stars)

And just one other post, since I skipped Top Ten Tuesday this week:

• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

It hasn’t been a bad week for reading, though I did most reading over the weekend last week! I’ve finished reading Heaven Official’s Blessing, which leaves me feeling a bit bereft, really.

I have also been reading a bit of poetry, but I haven’t had a lot to say about the collections I’d read, so I’m probably not going to review them here, so this is just a peek of the books I read this week that I’ll be reviewing sometime soon:

I juuust finished Murder by Memory before working on this post, and liked it a lot. Here’s hoping the rest of my weekend reading goes so well: mostly I’m working my way through the Secret Barrister’s autobiography, and after that… I’m not sure. I have some other novellas that have been waiting my attention, and after enjoying Out of the Drowning Deep and Murder by Memory, maybe I’m in the mood for smallish, self-contained stories like that.

Important note

I know that people from all walks of life make up the bookish community, and I’d like to get along with everyone regardless of our differences. Every so often, though, there’s inevitably someone who crosses a line, with whom I can’t just “agree to disagree”. Last week, someone visited via a linkup and left a comment (somehow getting through my filter that should bin any future comments from them), after I had previously asked them politely to leave me alone given one of their reviews of a queer book, which used derogatory and degrading language toward trans and non-binary people.

Given that I’m non-binary, as are some of the regulars who comment here, and given how often I review queer stories and books by queer authors, I’m just not comfortable with having that person commenting (and leaving links to their blog) in my space. So this is just a gentle reminder to that person that I did ask you to stop commenting here (twice now), just in case you didn’t get notifications about my replies. It would be much appreciated if we could be adults about this and just agree to leave each other well alone.

I apologise to all my other commenters and visitors here for having to bring this up, but I hope you can all understand how uncomfortable it feels for someone who uses abusive language about people like me to keep commenting on my blog after being politely asked to leave me alone.

Now let’s get back to talking about books!

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

Greetings folks! It’s definitely getting autumnal here, and though the sun is bright outside the window, it’s chilly. Probably my favourite sort of weather, really — though if it stays this cold, I’m going to need to acquire some gloves before I next cycle down to the library, ahaha.

Books acquired

Once more, it’s been a busy week for library books, since a couple of holds came in and I found where they keep the recent releases. Here’s the library haul!

I also got some poetry collections, but I’m not sure whether I’ll end up reviewing those here; so far there’s some I’ve wanted to review, and some where I feel I have nothing useful to say. At least, not enough to fill up a review. So I’ll leave those out of the haul for now.

I did also get an e-ARC for review from Tor, which looks fascinating and promises me a twisty plot like Dorothy L. Sayers. We’ll see!

Posts from this week

As usual, let’s start with the reviews!

• Romance: Book Lovers, by Emily Henry (3/5 stars)
• Non-fiction: Around the Ocean in 80 Fish & Other Sea Life, by Helen Scales, illustrated by Marcel George (4/5 stars)
• Graphic novel: The Baker and the Bard, by Fern Haught (3/5 stars)
• Non-fiction: Universal Basic Income, by Karl Widerquist (3/5 stars)

And the other posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday: Fall TBR
• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

This week I spent a lot of time with library books, since I keep overdoing it and getting loads at once (it’s like my brain refuses to accept that they’ll be there next time). I suspect my weekend will be much the same, as I have a hold waiting for me at the library. Here’s the usual peek at the books I’ve finished this week (at least the ones I plan to review on the blog):

For right now, I’m reading Yellowface, The Book at War, and of course, volume 7 of Heaven Official’s Blessing. I’ll probably also pick up The Mountain in the Sea in the course of the weekend… or maybe another non-fiction, since The Book at War is rather slow.

Either way, I hope to spend plenty of time reading.

Hope you all have a good weekend too!

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

Oof, feels like it’s been a long week. I’ve been productive and got some important stuff done, at least!

Books acquired this week

I wasn’t really planning a library trip this week as well, but I was in town anyway to sort something out, and I ended up with some free time. So I went to the library again…

I picked up some poetry on a whim; I haven’t read much poetry in ages, but I did start reading some again quite recently, and it seemed like a fun idea to dip into whatever the library has to try some poets I haven’t read before. Though I already love the song project based on The Lost Spells; give “The Snow Hare” and “Selkie Boy” a try, if you’re curious.

And checked out a local indie bookshop, The Book Vault. I have a couple more books I want to pick up later, but I settled for just two for now.

Posts from this week

As usual, time for a bit of a roundup. Here are the reviews first:

• Horror/fantasy/romance graphic novel: Love Everlasting, vol 2, by Tom King and Elsa Charretier (3/5 stars)
• History: Moneta: A History of Ancient Rome in Twelve Coins, by Gareth Harney (4/5 stars)
• Fantasy short story: Burning Books for Pleasure and Profit, by K.J. Parker (4/5 stars)
• Danmei (romance)/fantasy: Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 4, by MXTX (4/5 stars)

And the non-review posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday: Redemption
• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

This week I did get back into the groove and start reading a bit more again, though it was mostly short stuff until today, when I tucked into a non-fiction book grabbed from the library and finally got back to reading Heaven Official’s Blessing (vol 6, which I’ve been struggling with due to the flashback interrupting the plot). Here’s a sneak peek of the books I’ve finished since last week (the ones I plan to review, at least):

Hopefully today I’ll finish this volume of Heaven Official’s Blessing, and maybe get a bit more into the swing of reading again.

How’s everyone else doing?

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

Happy Saturday! It’s been a quiet week around here, and I haven’t been feeling much like reading — but I did finally sort out my library card, and I got some tempting books out, so there’s hope.

Books acquired this week

First up, my haul from the library:

As you see, I got quite enthusiastic! The first five are the ones I picked up from a bike trip down to the main library, while the latter three I grabbed on Libby.

I also got a review copy this week, of a book I’ve been very eagerly anticipating. Thanks, Tor!

And finally, two that I bought. The latest volume of A Side Character’s Love Story is out, and my British Library Crime Classic book from my subscription arrived for this month.

As you see, there’s a lot to tempt me!

Posts from this week

As usual, let’s do a bit of a roundup. First the reviews:

• Danmei (romance)/fantasy: Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 3, by MXTX (4/5 stars)
• Art history: The Sarpedon Krater, by Nigel Spivey (4/5 stars)
• Classic crime: The Murder on the Links, by Agatha Christie (2/5 stars)
• Science non-fiction: Invisible Friends: How Microbes Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us, by Jake M. Robinson (2/5 stars)

And other posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape
• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

As I mentioned above, I haven’t been reading a lot this week. I’m onto a flashback arc again in Heaven Official’s Blessing, and I know it’s also pretty dark, so I’ve not been super drawn to that… and in general, I haven’t been in the mood very much. I think it’s picking up today, though: I finally got back to my long-neglected reread of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and I’m quite tempted to pick up one or two of my library books.

Here are the books I’ve finished this week that I plan to review on the blog:

I did read some poetry collections as well, but I don’t plan to review those on the blog.

So that’s been my week! How’s everyone else doing?

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

It’s been a quiet week around here — at least in terms of books! But I did get a bicycle, after several years of not cycling, so that was exciting. I’m looking forward to getting out and about a bit more; normally I go for walks, but you can’t get very far that way, at least not in a limited time like a lunch break. I already did some exploring of the local villages, which was a fun ride!

Books acquired this week

N/a! Yep, absolutely nothing new this week. I did start a new serial on Serial Reader, so perhaps we can count that just to add some colour to this entry…

Posts from this week

Here’s the usual roundup of the posts I’ve been making. Reviews first!

• Science non-fiction: The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World, by Riley Black (3/5 stars)
• History/science non-fiction: They Were Here Before Us: Stories from Our First Million Years, by Ran Barkai and Eyal Halfon (4/5 stars)
• Classic mystery: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, by Agatha Christie (3/5 stars)
• SF comic: Clear, by Scott Snyder & Francis Manapul (1/5 stars)

And the other posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday: Books Involving Food
• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

Today I’ve been focusing on volume 5 of Heaven Official’s Blessing, where I keep thinking that “Yakety Sax” would be the perfect background music… At times it’s a bit sillier and more slapstick than I typically enjoy, but I do love the characters.

It’s been a slow week for reading, but here’s a sneak preview of the books I read which will be reviewed on the blog in due course:

And that’s it for now! Hope everyone’s been having a good week.

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

It’s been a pretty normal week, as things go, which is nice after feeling pretty busy and frazzled of late! It’s been a quieter week reading-wise, but that’s fine.

Books acquired this week

Without further ado, let’s finish off looking at my birthday haul (part one was last week, if folks are curious). As usual, it’s a mixture. Here’s the rest of the fiction…

A bit of romance, a bit of murder — as you do (at least around here).

And here’s the rest of the non-fic:

As ever, quite the mix. 🙂

Posts from this week

Aaand here’s the roundup of reviews posted:

• History non-fiction: Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox, by Victoria Finlay (3/5 stars)
• SF/F comic: Dominion vol 3: The Fist of God, by Thomas Fenton et al (2/5 stars)
• SF/F cosy romance: Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, by Rebecca Thorne (3/5 stars)
• Chinese light novel, fantasy/romance/mystery with a dash of horror: Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 2, by MXTX (4/5 stars)

Other posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday: Posts That Reveal Me
• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

As I mentioned, it’s been a quieter week reading-wise, but it’s been nice. I’m deep into Heaven Official’s Blessing, of course, and not taking long between volumes as it’s really designed as one continuous story (it was a webnovel). I also started using an app called Serial Reader again, which means I’ve been reading some Agatha Christie, small segments at a time. I’ve read a lot less Christie than you’d imagine, given my love for Golden Age crime. I’m now onto The Murder on the Links.

In any case, here are the books I’ve read this week which I’ll be reviewing on the blog sooner or later…

And th-th-that’s all folks! I hope everyone’s had a good week.

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

As ever, I’m a little behind on comments — I swear one of these days I’ll get back on track with my life!

It’s been a somewhat busy week, with my birthday on Tuesday and my exam results on Thursday, but I was spoiled and the results were good, so all is well.

Books acquired this week

My birthday haul is a little ridiculous, so I’m going to split it into two posts, this week and next week. So first up, here’s the new batch of danmei that I grabbed using birthday money and Waterstones stamps:

But of course my wife also spoiled me a lot, so here’s some of the non-fiction I got:

The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series has a fascinating range of books, I foresee a new collection on my part (uhoh).

Aaand finally, here’s some of the non-danmei fiction:

I really hope that I like A Sinister Revenge (and A Grave Robbery) more than the last book — I didn’t like the nature of the conflict between Veronica and Stoker, nor Veronica hiding things from him, so it’s possible things will get straightened out now.

So that’s a heck of a haul, and like I said, that’s not even all of it!

Posts from this week

As usual, here’s a roundup of my reviews and other posts from this week!

• Dark academia romance: A Study in Drowning, by Ava Reid (2/5 stars)
• Science non-fiction: The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow’s Tech Still Isn’t Here, by Nicole Kobie (3/5 stars)
• Chinese light novel: Heaven Official’s Blessing, vol 1, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (4/5 stars)
• History non-fiction: The Book of Looms: A History of the Handloom from Ancient Times to the Present, by Eric Broudy (4/5 stars)

Other posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I’d Like To Be Pals With
• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

I’ve started my wife on reading Heaven Official’s Blessing as well — which usually means they quickly overtake me and read the whole thing while I’m still on book two, getting distracted by other books. I’m trying not to let that happen this time, so we experience the story at about the same pace, so I’ve been spending time with volume two this weekend.

That said, I’m also reading Universal Basic Income (Karl Widerquist) and Wormwood Abbey (Christina Baehr), and there’s been plenty of other reading going on too. Here’s the preview of the books I finished this week, which I’m due to review on the blog soon/eventually, or which may already have reviews posted:

As you see, a good week for reading, helped by an impromptu day off work for my birthday.

Now all the birthday festivities and exam shenanigans are over, it’s time to settle down with my book… How’s everyone been doing?

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

Getting this post up bright and early (…compared to usual) because today I’m heading out for a nerdy museum trip to celebrate my birthday (which is on Tuesday). Somehow I’m sure I’ll pass by a bookshop as well…

Books acquired this week

We’re finally on the tail-end of my last haul, just as my birthday hurtles toward us promising yet more books (oh no!). Here’s the last of the non-fiction I haven’t already shown off:

Huh, makes a kinda pattern with those colours. I didn’t do that intentionally, but kinda cool. As ever, it’s a bit of a random mix; I wonder if Fabric is going to cover pretty much the same ground as Worn, which I read recently. I might backburner it for a while for that reason.

And here’s the remainder of the fiction:

I’m excited about A Sorceress Comes to Call, and Til Death Do Us Bard looks fun (if maybe a bit silly).

And of course, I did also receive this month’s British Library Crime Classic. It’s by an author I’ve read before, but I don’t think any of his full-length novels have been republished in this series yet (maybe some short stories):

And finally, a bit on a whim, a bit because I do like having some shorter fiction on hand, here’s a review copy from Tordotcom, via Netgalley:

It sounds pretty weird and maybe not my thing, but it’s always worth a try with Tor’s novellas.

Posts from this week

As ever, time for a bit of a recap of this week’s posts. Starting with the reviews:

• Historical romance: The Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, by KJ Charles (4/5 stars)
• Literary fiction: Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt (2/5 stars)
• History non-fiction: Worn: A People’s History of Clothing, by Sofi Thanhauser (4/5 stars)
• Romance manga: Turns Out My Online Friend is My Real-Life Boss! vol 1, by Nmura (2/5 stars)

And the other posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday: On the Road (ten books featuring travel)
• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

Right now, I’m most actively reading the first volume of Heaven Official’s Blessing (MXTX) and Invisible Friends: How Microbes Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us (Jake M. Robinson). I’m actually going to head to the bookshop surreptiously to get the next two volumes of Heaven Official’s Blessing while I’m out today, because I can tell I’m going to be annoyed if I run out and I don’t have the next volume ready.

It feels like I’ve done a lot of reading this week, but let’s see… here’s a sneak peek at upcoming reviews:

Plus a manga I don’t plan to review (because I never have much to say about any individual volume of Fairy Tail).

So not a bad reading week!

How’s everyone else been doing? Got anything fascinating on your ‘next up’ pile?

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

Well, it’s been a really good week reading-wise, even if I’ve generally not felt so great. And the cooler weather has been nice! Without further ado, let’s get talking about the important stuff.

Books acquired this week

Here’s the second part of my epic haul from my weekend jaunt with a friend from FFXIV! First up, some more of the non-fiction:

And here’s a couple of the fiction books I got (though this haul really was heavy on non-fic):

 

Yep, I know: “what an eclectic mix!” 😀

Next week will mark the last bunch from this haul… just in time for a probable birthday-haul the week after, haha.

Posts from this week

Here’s a quick roundup of the reviews I posted this week:

• Fantasy: Threading the Labyrinth, by Tiffani Angus (1/5 stars)
• Non-fiction: Standard Deviations: Flawed Assumptions, Tortured Data, and Other Ways To Lie With Statistics, by Gary Smith (2/5 stars)
• Fantasy comic: Dominion vol 2: The Sandman, by Thomas Fenton et al (3/5 stars)
• Classic mystery: Trent’s Last Case, by E.C. Bentley (3/5 stars)

And other posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Favourites from Ten Series
• What Are You Reading Wednesday

What I’m reading

Right now, I’m partway through Rebecca Thorpe’s Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, for the promise of a cosy fantasy. I may follow up with The Spellshop (Sarah Beth Durst), because cosy sounds good for the moment.

And here are the books which I finished this week that I’ll be posting reviews of soon (or already have):

Yep, I know: what a weird/eclectic mix!

Hope everyone’s having a good and bookish week.

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