Good morning! How’s everyone? My exams are still approaching, but I got a bit more reading done this week, hurrah.

Received to review:

It’s been a while since I read anything by Sean Stewart, but I remember enjoying his work!

Bought: 

I’ve been meaning to read Chameleon Moon and Sunbolt for ages, and they were each 99p on the Kindle Store. So, grabbed ’em. As for Reinventing Darwin, it was recommended to me, and I can’t help a satisfied sigh at the words brazenly quoted on the back cover: “No one doubts that Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is correct.” Overly optimistic, perhaps, but a delightful window into a world I’d like to inhabit, where no one does doubt evolution.

Finished this week:

Technically I’ve read parts I & II of Dangerous Women, with part III still on the pile, but I’m not going to upload the identical-but-for-colour separate covers!

Five stars to… Ancillary Justice.
Four stars to… Radiance.
Three stars to… Dangerous Women: Part I & II.
Two stars to… The Soul of an Octopus.

Reviews posted this week:

–The Dispatcher, by John Scalzi. Don’t think too much about how this would work! If you ignore that, it’s an interesting setting for a mystery. 4/5 stars
–Byzantium, by Judith Herrin. A labour of love — too much love, perhaps, to be objective and to pick the right incidents to discuss for a non-specialist audience. 3/5 stars
–Sleeping Giants, by Sylvain Neuvel. This really hooked me despite, or perhaps even because of, my qualms. Must. Know. What. Happens. 4/5 stars
–What is Life? How Chemistry Becomes Biology, by Addy Pross. What it says on the tin, and hardly revelatory for me. 3/5 stars
–The Soul of an Octopus, by Sy Montgomery. Touching, but more of a memoir than a scientific book, even a pop-science one. 2/5 stars
–The Drowning City, by Amanda Downum. A reread, and one I enjoyed maybe more than I liked the book the first time! 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: Cover Love. Some covers that have really struck me.
–What are you reading Wednesday. An update on what’s been crossing my bookshelves this week.

Good morning! How’s everyone this week? I’ve had a busy week, but I have some awesome books to keep me company over the weekend.

New books:

I am so excited to finally have Within the Sanctuary of Wings, but also really sad because I don’t want the series to end. I feel like I’ve been waiting for Strange the Dreamer for a long time, too, so I’m looking forward to that. The others, well, you probably all know my penchant for non-fiction by now. Certain topics just make me all grabby.

Mum, don’t frown at me. It was store credit and gifts all the way, except the Marie Brennan.

Received to review:

I keep meaning to read Conn Iggulden’s work, and this one is fantasy, so why not? And I read April Daniels’ first book, Dreadnought, and I want to know where it goes.

Books finished this week:

Not a very active reading week, as my exams approach and essays are due in. Still, all three of those will receive four-star ratings from me! And luckily, I’m setting aside at least 24 hours this weekend for myself by participating in the 24 Hour Readathon.

Reviews posted this week:

–Britain After Rome, by Robin Fleming. Rather dense, but fascinating to me, and largely focused on material culture rather than written records. 4/5 stars
–The Furthest Station, by Ben Aaronovitch. Fun, but did leave me wondering where certain characters got to. 4/5 stars
–Fairweather Eden, by Mike Pitts and Mark Roberts. The story of one of the oldest Palaeolithic archaeological sites we know of. Fascinating stuff, and well told, with both modern and ancient context given. 4/5 stars
–Mind-Expanding Ideas, by New Scientist. A good collection, though focused on physics and not on the other branches of science I might’ve enjoyed more. 3/5 stars
–The Prince and the Pilgrim, by Mary Stewart. Might have more in common with her romance/suspense novels than with her other Arthurian books; it’s rather light and inconsequential. But it dooooes have a fascinating political/historical link. 3/5 stars
–Mightier than the Sword, by K.J. Parker. Fun novella with some twisty turns. Not my favourite by Parker, but definitely worth the read. 4/5 stars
–The Human Brain, by New Scientist. This is more my thing! Braaaains. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: Turnoffs. What makes me not want to read a book?
–Readathon. My planned stack!

Look at me! Two weeks of Unstacking!

Books finished this week:

A sneak peek at ratings:
Four stars to… The Drowning City, Mightier than the Sword and The Dispatcher.
Three stars to… The Prince and the Pilgrim and Byzantium.

Reviews posted this week:

–Touch, by David J. Linden. I found this rather focused on the sexual element of touch at times, which puzzled me. But where it stays on topic and non-explicit, there’s some fascinating stuff. 3/5 stars
–In Calabria, by Peter S. Beagle. In retrospect, I don’t love the May-December relationship that much (see also: Jo’s comment on that post), but the unicorn parts of this are great. 4/5 stars
–The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi. Exactly what I wanted from a Scalzi novel: satisfyingly quick read with enjoyable characters. 4/5 stars
–The Lions of Al-Rassan, by Guy Gavriel Kay. “Imagine the most loving meat-grinder, and then put all your emotions into it.” 5/5 stars
–Vikings: A History, by Neil Oliver. Both informative and entertaining, and thankfully doesn’t just deal with the actual Vikings (i.e. the raiders), but where they came from and where they settled. 4/5 stars
–How Long is Now, by New Scientist. One of their collections of questions and answers. Reasonably entertaining and informative, and a good source of “did you know…” 3/5 stars
–Urn Burial, by Kerry Greenwood. A fun installment of the Phryne Fisher series, though not a favourite. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Things That Make Me Want To Read A Book. With some examples!
–What are you reading Wednesday. Yup. What it says on the tin.

And just in case anyone is interested, I now have a new blog! This one isn’t about books (mostly): it’s about popular science and communicating science in a clear way for laypeople/people who want to learn how to explain things to other people. You can check it out at NEAT science.

It’s a blue moon! Or something. Yep, I’ve had a week where I haven’t bought a single book, or received any to review. So first, have a picture of my two bunnies cuddling…

They’re not quite at the point where they can run around together yet, but they’re certainly getting used to each other.

And now, the weekly roundup!

Books I’ve finished reading this week:

Not the busiest reading week ever, but not bad either! And the ratings…

Five stars to… The Lions of Al-Rassan.
Four stars to… The Furthest Station.
Three stars to… Where the Universe Came From.

Reviews posted this week:

–Every Heart A Doorway, by Seanan McGuire. A reread. I find this one magical and greatly enjoy the protagonist. 5/5 stars
–Britain AD, by Francis Pryor. Unfortunately, Pryor’s shaky scholarship in this book made me seriously worried about his credibility in general. He’s wrong on King Arthur, and I strongly suspect he’s wrong on linguistics and genetics as well. 2/5 stars
–Wicked Wonders, by Ellen Klages. An eerie and wistful and tender collection of stories I greatly enjoyed. 4/5 stars
–Summer in Orcus, by T. Kingfisher. Reminds me of Valente’s Fairyland books, while still being very much its own book with some amazing and quirky characters. 4/5 stars
–After Atlas, by Emma Newman. Works well as a standalone and as a companion to Planetfall, and leaves me wondering, at the end… My only quibble would be that I didn’t engage as fully with the main character as I did in Planetfall. 4/5 stars
–On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin. A classic and desperately important work, it might be a little slow to read but it was definitely worth it. Darwin was a great scientist, capable of generating testable hypotheses and following through, and criticising his own work. 5/5 stars
–The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, by J.R.R. Tolkien. I might not be a fan of the way the Tolkien estate puts out just about anything J.R.R. scribbled, but I did find this fascinating. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Breaths of Fresh Air. Books which struck me as bringing something fresh and new to my experience.
–What are you reading Wednesday. The usual weekly update — which happened on Wednesday, honest, guv.

If you’re wondering why I didn’t visit you back last week, I’m afraid it’s because I had a problem with getting comment notifications. I have been baffled about how silent y’all were being! I’m on the case now and will visit back as soon as I can.

Good morning! It’s the weekend! Whew. I’ve set myself up a deadly study timetable, so I’m just glad to reach a breathing space. I did get some reading done too, though; good thing, or I’d go bonkers, I think. (More bonkers.)

Received to review

A nice little haul, as you can see! I’m pretty excited about all of these, honestly.

Books finished this week:

I swear, I’m trying to read more fiction again!

Sneak peek at ratings:
–Four stars to… After Atlas, Britain After Rome and The Vital Question.

Reviews posted this week:

–Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. I think this might be most appealing to those who don’t know the Eddas well in the first place. As it is, while I could appreciate the clever takes on the old stories, I knew what was going on a little too well. And some of the cleverness is not Gaiman himself, but straight from pre-Christian Norse tradition. 3/5 stars
–Deadly Companions, by Dorothy H. Crawford. A great survey of how disease has shaped human society. Not very in-depth, though. 3/5 stars
–Britain BC, by Francis Pryor. I have some issues with some of Pryor’s theories, based on my understanding of genetics, linguistics and literature, but the archaeological evidence discussed is fascinating. 4/5 stars
–Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, by Richard Wrangham. Solid theory, and really engagingly written. 4/5 stars
–Ruddy Gore, by Kerry Greenwood. A reread, and still fun, though there are aspects of Phryne’s character/treatment and understanding of others I’m a little tired of. 3/5 stars
–Proof of Concept, by Gwyneth Jones. This took a while to come together for me, but there were aspects I enjoyed. 3/5 stars
–Brisk Money, by Adam Christopher. More fun with Christopher’s noir robot PI world. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: Comics I Follow. The theme was fandom, and I went with comics!
–What are you reading Wednesday. My weekly update.

Good morning! I haven’t been doing much reading this week, but I totally blame the new addition to my family for that — welcome Breakfast!

You might remember that we already have one bunny, Hulk, and have been trying to find her a companion for a while now. So far, things are going well with Breakfast, so fingers crossed!

But, right, this is about books…

Books to review:

The Pinks looks fascinating — I didn’t even know Pinkertons had female detectives. And Waking Gods is a sequel to a book I bought a couple of weeks ago, and continually hear good things about. I really should’ve read the first book first, but the sequel was on ‘read now’…

Books bought:

Another batch of non-fiction — I’m getting predictable…

Books finished this week:

I know, it’s pathetic by my usual standards!

Reviews posted: 

–This Rough Magic, by Mary Stewart. A comfort reread, with a delightful heroine who doesn’t go on mere appearances but actually weighs up the characters of her putative lovers, and figures out much of the mystery to boot. 3/5 stars
–Reading Like A Writer, by Francine Prose. I love the idea of close-reading, and advocate it, but this book is much more about reading like Francine Prose, and appreciating the same things she does. 2/5 stars
–Late Eclipses, by Seanan McGuire. In this installment, we get more of a peek into Toby’s parents and her true heritage, as well as a story in which all does not turn out okay at the end. 4/5 stars
–Maisie Dobbs, by Jacqueline Winspear. I was hoping for my new Phryne Fisher, but Daisy feels a lot colder, and the writing is not all that. The structure takes away from any mystery and suspense. 2/5 stars
–Gaia, by James Lovelock. A now-classic theory of the world’s interlocking systems of biological and non-biological cycles, which I really don’t find myself disagreeing with much. 4/5 stars
–The Death of Caesar, by Barry Strauss. Interesting, and went into aspects of Caesar’s assassination I knew nothing about, but not the most riveting of Strauss’ books. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Should Get Round To Soon. You guessed it. It’s a list of books I want to get round to sometime soon.
–What are you reading Wednesday. What was I reading on Wednesday…?

Yep, it’s happened! That rare, rare week where I actually don’t have any new books to show off, and instead show off the books I’ve read this week in pride of place.

Books finished this week:

Not a bad week, though the last day or two have been completely taken up by starting to play the new Mass Effect game! A sneak peek at ratings…

-Four stars to… Medical Frontiers and Urn Burial.
-Three stars to… What is Life?, Relativity: Einstein’s Mind-bending Universe, and Virolution.

Reviews posted this week:

–Mesopotamia, by Gwendolyn Leick. Aspects of this gave me the feeling the author was speculating wildly without really having any proof, so I actually bailed and never finished it. 1/5 stars
–Temeraire, by Naomi Novik. A reread, but I’d forgotten how fun it is! Dragons! Adventure! War! Alternate history! The rest of the series gets less awesome, I hear, but this installment is great. 4/5 stars
–On Basilisk Station, by David Weber. I found myself noticing the flaws more this time, but I still really enjoyed the reread. 4/5 stars
–Rolling in the Deep, by Mira Grant. Fun, but I feel like it was a little underdeveloped and thus predictable. Nice format, though. 3/5 stars
–Natural Histories, by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss. A little unstructured for my tastes, but some interesting stuff. 3/5 stars
–Final Girls, by Mira Grant. This one got under my skin; interesting concept, and the emotional side worked for me. 4/5 stars
–p53: The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code, by Sue Armstrong. Fascinating topic, and really readable. If you’re scared of cancer, but curiosity is your antidote, this definitely satisfied mine. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: Read In One Sitting. Some of these are pretty long, but they had me hooked.

Remember… no new books were obtained. I resisted! Instead, we’re celebrating what I managed to read. <3

How’s everyone been doing?

Happy Saturday!

The, ah, acquisitive mood of last week prevailed this week too — though I promise, some of these were ordered a while ago and were just waiting for me at my parents’ house. It’s quite the haul though!

New fiction:

Red Sister and The Vorrh are both review copies. I’m thinking Wintersong might be next up on the list to read…

New non-fiction:

Plus a whole bunch of New Scientist collections, which I won’t feature here right now. But there’s eight of them and I counted them all as books on my acquired list, so I’d better get reading!

Books read this week: 

I fit in some good reading time this week, but it’s all non-fiction! Apparently I’m in an odd mood…

Sneak peek at ratings:
Four stars to… Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, The Human Brain, Gaia and Fairweather Eden.
Three stars to… How Long is Now and Mind-Expanding Ideas.

Reviews posted this week:

–Binti: Home, by Nnedi Okorafor. These novellas are mostly proving not to be my thing, and it didn’t help that I felt like I needed to reread the first one. 2/5 stars
–Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly. Some really amazing women and a well-told story of where they came from and how they got where they wanted to go. 4/5 stars
–The Burning Page, by Genevieve Cogman. Lots of fun, as with the whole series, but I’m glad there’s going to be more. This didn’t feel like an ending. 4/5 stars
–Blood and Circuses, by Kerry Greenwood. Lively and entertaining, as you’d expect with Phryne, though with a surprisingly dark patch near the end. 4/5 stars
–Martians Abroad, by Carrie Vaughn. This fell somewhat flat for me — I didn’t really believe in the conflict. 2/5 stars
–I Contain Multitudes, by Ed Yong. Entertaining and informative, and perhaps a bit lighter and with more sense-of-wonder than some of the other books on microbes I’ve read. 4/5 stars
–Chalk, by Paul Cornell. Well-written, but not my thing at all. 2/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: TBR. A selection of books that I’ll maybe, possibly, hopefully be reading soon.
–What are you reading Wednesday. An update on what I’ve been reading, and what I might read next. Or soon. Maybe.

How’s your week been?

I might not be commenting much this weekend, as I’m in London attending a genetics event and hopefully learning a ton. But! I do have some new books to show off, and you can bet I’ll comment back after the weekend.

Received to review:

After last week, I’ve been pretty restrained in my requesting…

Bought:

But there were a couple of books on sale I didn’t want to miss, and also I hit the bookshops in London while I could. Grabbed The Poison Eater because I’ve been playing Torment: Tides of Numenera and I wanted more background to the world. And a lot of non-fic from my wishlist, because my non-fic shelf at my wife’s place is looking a bit thin and sad.

Books read this week:

Sneak peek at ratings:
Five stars to… Every Heart a Doorway.
Four stars to… In Calabria, Brisk Money, Standard Hollywood Depravity and Down Among the Sticks and Bones.
Three stars to… Vikings and Touch.

Reviews posted this week:

–Foxglove Summer, by Ben Aaronovitch. A step back from the main action of the series, this takes Peter (gasp) outside of London! It’s lacking in some of the support characters we all love, but there’s a fascinating extra bit of lore, and Peter’s still pretty badass. 4/5 stars
–Birthright, by Missouri Vaun. A fun fantasy with lesbian main characters and a happy end. 3/5 stars
–Agents of Dreamland, by Caitlin R. Kiernan. Another riff on Lovecraft, though a less well-known idea. Creepy and bleak, but very effective. 4/5 stars
–The Green Mill Murder, by Kerry Greenwood. Three words: wombat ex machina. 3/5 stars
–The Tyrannosaur Chronicles, by David Hone. Want to know everything currently known about tyrannosaurs? This has got you covered. 5/5 stars
–Brother’s Ruin, by Emma Newman. Intriguing start, but I’m not quite sold yet. 3/5 stars
–Standard Hollywood Depravity, by Adam Christopher. Like the other related works, this is a fun, Chandler-esque romp… with robot. 4/5 stars
–The Buried Book, by David Damrosch. An excellent accompaniment to reading one of the world’s earliest surviving stories, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Lots of context both for the poem and how it was found again after being lost for so long. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Want to Finish. About what it says on the tin!
–What are you reading Wednesday. My usual update on what I’m reading, what I’ve just read, and what I’m planning to read.

Happy Saturday! Phew. Busy week, as ever, but I have fit in more time to read than I have been doing lately, so that’s something!

Also, I keep meaning to post this! You may not know this, but I’m a moderator over on Habitica, a site that’s all about gamifying good habits. A few weeks ago they did a contributor spotlight about me, and this piece of art happened. <3

That’s me on the left as you look at it — it’s my mod avatar, which is really awesome and done by Leslie from Habitica. The rest of the graphic is by beffymaroo, another staff member.

And hey, if you’re on Habitica, the Legendary Book Club are reading After Atlas by Emma Newman this month.

Received to review:

I’m especially excited about Down Among the Sticks and Bones, but it’s a pretty awesome bunch overall!

Finished this week:

A better week for reading, too, as you can see! Hurrah. Sneak peak at ratings:

4 stars to… Summer in Orcus, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun and Agents of Dreamland.
3 stars to… The Planet in a Pebble, Ruddy Gore and Proof of Concept.
2 stars to… Chalk.

Reviews posted this week: 

–Diamond Dogs, by Alastair Reynolds. A really well put together novella that stuck with me a long time — and yet still had the delights of recognition and understanding the second time round. 4/5 stars
–An Artificial Night, by Seanan McGuire. Remains a super fun urban fantasy, with some clever stuff going on with references to Shakespeare and folklore. I do wish Toby would grow up and let people help her, though. 4/5 stars
–The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman. Not a comfortable read, but very informative about what we’ve done to the world. I do wish there’d been more looking forward, though. 3/5 stars
–What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, by Randall Munroe. I can’t speak for the accuracy of the science, but I do enjoy the humour — and wish I understood how Munroe can make stick figures cute.
–Death at Victoria Dock, by Kerry Greenwood. Very dramatic and full of all the usual elements of a Phryne mystery. 3/5 stars
–The Secret Library, by Oliver Tearle. Beautifully presented, and good to dip in and out of, but not something you’d sit down and just read through. Unless you’re me. 3/5 stars
–The Disappearing Spoon, by Sam Kean. Well explained science, though a bit grasshoppery in terms of the subject matter. If you like chemistry and some physics, this’d be up your street. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I Have A Squish On. A bit like a crush, but not quite.
–What are you reading Wednesday. The Wednesday update about, well, what I’ve been reading.
–ShelfLove/Game of Books Update. How I’ve been doing in this year’s reading challenges!

So how’re you doing?