Happy Saturday! I’m less happy this Saturday because of Wales’ loss to Ireland (there go our Triple Crown/Grand Slam hopes!), but I’ll live. At least it’s been a good reading week!

Books acquired:

Books read:

Reviews posted:

–Flying too High, by Kerry Greenwood. The second book of the series, with the usual acts of derring-do by our all but flawless heroine. 4/5 stars
–Murder on the Ballarat Train, by Kerry Greenwood. The third book! More of the usual fare, with a delightful found-family building itself up. 4/5 stars
–Surfeit of Suspects, by George Bellairs. Typical of the Golden Age crime stories, but I found it satisfying all the same. 4/5 stars
–The Abyss Surrounds Us, by Emily Skrutskie. Interesting relationships and yay, kaiju! But a bit thin in terms of the development; I didn’t always believe how quickly characters got to certain mindsets. 3/5 stars
–West Nile Story, by Dickson Despommier. A nice companion to having listened to This Week in Virology’s episode on West Nile virus. 3/5 stars
–The Edge of the Abyss, by Emily Skrutskie. Wraps up the story well, and keeps the pleasing ambiguities in the relationships/characters. 3/5 stars
–Moontangled, by Stephanie Burgis. The kind of misunderstanding in relationships that happens in this book drives me nuts, but it’s a sweet story all the same. 3/5 stars
–Death at Victoria Dock, by Kerry Greenwood. Again, solid and entertaining, and a quick read. 4/5 stars
–A Morbid Taste for Bones, by Ellis Peters. I forgot quite how this resolved, so it was good to reread it. Still very enjoyable! 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. Discussing the latest I’m reading, as usual; this week featuring Kerry Greenwood, Stephanie Burgis and Andrzej Sapkowski.

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘Spillover: Avenues for Zoonotic Disease.‘ Why is a Chinese food market the perfect spillover point for all kinds of animal diseases? I’ve tried to explain!
–NEAT science: ‘Featured in New Scientist! (Sort of.)‘ I answered another reader’s question in New Scientist and it got printed!

How’re you doing? What’s been stacking your shelves?

Aahh, it’s the weekend again!

Of course, this week was not wonderful: against my will, I have been stripped of my European citizenship. It is really difficult seeing other bloggers rejoicing about it, and really hard to keep those feelings from affecting my interactions with those bloggers. In case you’re wondering, my wife is currently allowed to stay, but she does not have settled status (and no, us being married doesn’t make the tiniest bit of difference at any stage in this process).

Still, the week has had its upsides: this week was the start of the Six Nations! I hope you’re all cheering for Wales with me… You must’ve been, since we pasted Italy! And my wife bought me a present: a triceratops footstool! Now I never thought about it that much, but my preferred reading posture is actually sitting up, with my feet on something to bring my knees closer to my chest. I can credit Matilda (after Robot Wars’ house robot) with some very comfy reading sessions this week.

Isn’t she great?

Books read this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–Bloodlust & Bonnets, by Emily McGovern. It had its moments, but I wasn’t a big fan of the quirkiness-by-way-of-randomness. 2/5 stars
–Because Internet, by Gretchen McCulloch. I really enjoyed this, but it might not be for you if you find language change horrifying. McCulloch is just fascinating by  the changes, not prescriptivist in outlook. 4/5 stars
–The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski. I read this all in one fell swoop! In retrospect I have more hesitations, but I’m intrigued enough to pick up the next book. 3/5 stars
–The Luck of the Vails, by E.F. Benson. Atmospheric and a little surprising in the way it deals with the characters, though ultimately I can’t say it’ll particularly stick in my mind. 3/5 stars
–Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates, by Kerry Greenwood. Phryne’s too good to be true, but that’s half the fun, watching her swan around in the most beautiful fashions waving a gun around. It was a lovely reread. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. In which I mostly discussed The Luck of the Vails and The Last Wish.

Out and about:

–NEAT science: What is R₀? A hopefully reassuring explanation of the supposedly terrifying R₀ of the novel coronavirus first found in Wuhan, China. This was written at the start of the week, so there have been more scientific papers since that might have changed the landscape, but it’s mostly still relevant.

That’s it for this week. How’s everyone been doing?

I didn’t manage this last week, did I? Whoops. Still, there have been no books entering the Bibliophibian compound — and a lot exiting it; stand by for a post nattering about how I chose what to cull and why I think Marie Kondo has some really good ideas.

Here’s what I’ve been reading since my last roundup:

Reviews posted since the last roundup:

–Flight of Magpies, by K.J. Charles. The end of Stephen and Lucien’s story, and it doesn’t skimp on the drama or the HEA. 4/5 stars
–Biased: The New Science of Race and Inequality, by Jennifer Eberhardt. It’s very interesting, though relies a lot on anecdote rather than science. 4/5 stars
–Captain Ingram’s Inheritance, by Carola Dunn. I worried about the plot, but it did actually turn out okay, and they are very sweet. 4/5 stars
–Upright Women Wanted, by Sarah Gailey. It was fun, but I was more interested in other characters than the main ones. 3/5 stars
–Jackdaw, by K.J. Charles. I warmed to the characters in the end, but it took me a while to really like either of them. It’s grimmer than the main series in being more realistic about the morals of the time. 3/5 stars
–Come Tumbling Down, by Seanan McGuire. As a quick read, I enjoyed it, but the more I think about the portrayal of OCD and the particular outlook on OCD of the characters, the less happy I am. (Yes, I know Seanan McGuire is #ownvoices when it comes to OCD; so am I.) 2/5 stars

Other posts:

–The Finished Books Tag. What do I do when I’ve finished a book? Well…
–WWW Wednesday. This week I talked about Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch, and Seanan McGuire’s Come Tumbling Down.

That’s it for now! Maybe next week I’ll get this post out on time. I can dream, eh?

So what’ve you been stacking and unstacking? Any new favourites this past week or so? Let me know in the comments!

What do you mean, I’m late? 😀

Well, okay, I’m late, but I don’t want to end up rounding up two weeks again next Saturday, so let’s chalk it up to experience and do this one late.

Books acquired:

Yep, that’s my wife finishing up spoiling me by buying me the Society of Gentlemen books. Plus a new Tor novella, after imyril tempted me on Litsy.

Books read this week:

Reviews posted:

–Sorting the Beef from the Bull, by Nicola Temple and Richard Evershed. A bit frightening, and pretty darn interesting. It goes into the science of food fraud — and how to detect food fraud when it happens. Think Horsegate, but also fake eggs, adulterated spices and other weirdness. 4/5 stars
–A Hidden Hope, by Laura Ambrose. I didn’t love this, though I recognised a lot of myself in the girls’ actions and relationship. I just didn’t feel there was enough of them outside the relationship to really root for. 2/5 stars
–Watchtower, by Elizabeth A. Lynn. I confess, I didn’t really get it. The characters all seemed opaque to me, I couldn’t figure out what everyone was thinking. 3/5 stars
–Tea & Sympathetic Magic, by Tansy Rayner Roberts. Cute and fun, and a quick read too. 3/5 stars
–The Magpie Lord, by K.J. Charles. This was a reread, and yep, I enjoyed it just as much as I did before. The sexual tension went unresolved longer than I remembered! And wow, that horrific scene is still pretty horrific. 4/5 stars
–Sisters of the Vast Black, by Lina Rather. If you liked Jesuits In Space (The Sparrow), then try Nuns In Space! Okay, it’s not quite as heavy as The Sparrow and definitely not as philosophical, but it does justice to the idea. It’s also powerfully hopeful. 4/5 stars
–Venus & Aphrodite, by Bettany Hughes. Fairly light, but some interesting stuff I didn’t know yet about the development of the Aphrodite myth. 3/5 stars
–A Case of Possession, by K.J. Charles. More development for Stephen and Lucien’s relationship, and they’re mostly not too stupid at each other. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. The usual weekly update on what I’m reading at the time!

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘Falling temperatures.‘ It’s not the weather report! It’s all about the observation that the average body temperature of humans seems to be falling by the decade, and why that might be.

And that’s it, that’s everything. Whew.

How’re you all doing?

Well, Happy New Year! It’s been a quiet-ish week, but I did pick up a new book today. I don’t watch much TV, but hearing people talk about The Witcher made me curious. So, of course…

Books read: 

Reviews posted:

–Once Ghosted, Twice Shy, by Alyssa Cole. Author does not seem to know the meaning of ghosting (the breakup is emphatic and final, kind of the opposite of ghosting), but the relationship is sweet. 3/5 stars
–Wanted, a Gentleman, by K.J. Charles. This didn’t go anywhere I didn’t expect, but I enjoyed it anyway; it’s very Regency in some ways, and yet of course a black former slave and a poor man would not be the heroes of a Regency novel. 4/5 stars
–The Santa Klaus Murder, by Mavis Doriel Hay. Actually a repost, because something went awry somewhere. A Christmas-themed mystery, but like most sold that way, doesn’t feel Christmas-y; too sordid and full of family squabbling. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–Game of Books 2020. The rules and my set-up for this year.
–2019 Stats. A bit of a breakdown of last year’s reading!
–How to Meet Your 2020 Reading Goal. My tips and tricks for reading as much as I do (and more).

And that’s it for this week! How’re you guys doing? Bought your first books of 2020 yet, or holding out?

Greetings, folks! It’s been Christmas, so I’ve got quite a few new books… for instance, I got my wish for more physical copies of K.J. Charles’ work! 😍 (Some of these I bought myself, mind you.)

(Sssh, don’t disturb the Librarian Hog, he’s been deliberating for days about how to shelve these!)

So here’s a selection of my new books…

Newly Acquired:

In no particular order, because why not enjoy the eclectic way things come into my brain?

Thank you again to the anonymous friend who bought me Steel Crow Saga via Portal Bookshop. Also the anonymous friend who bought me The Private Life of Jane Maxwell, because you only identified yourself as “a Habitican book blogger”, and I know a few. Much much love to you and to everyone who’s bought me books lately. <3

Reviews posted:

–Magic Rises, by Ilona Andrews. This book drives me a little bit mad because there’s a lot of awesome, but then also a stupid miscommunication plot between Kate and Curran, just when they were acting like sensible people. 4/5 stars
–This Wicked Gift, by Courtney Milan. I have (serious) issues with the male love interest, but there is a lot to enjoy here as well. 3/5 stars
–The Pursuit of…, by Courtney Milan. Okay, this one’s really cute. 4/5 stars
–The Christmas Egg, by Mary Kelly. Rather meandering and unfocused, but not a bad seasonal read. 2/5 stars

And that’s it for this week! How’s everyone doing?

Hi folks! It’s been a while since I did one because stuff got overwhelming, so I’m calling bankruptcy on an actual roundup. Here are a few books I’ve been granted e-ARCs of or been gifted recently, and I’ll start next week’s roundup from here!

E-ARCs

SantaThing

Now back to crocheting Christmas presents! But what have you guys been up to lately?

Two weeks since the last roundup! What have I been doing? Working, mostly, and doing NaNoWriMo. I’m hoping in December I’ll get back into the swing of reading more… but if I don’t, that’s fine too. Here’s everything that’s been going on…

New books:

Thanks to Angry Robot and Tor for the ARCs!

Books finished:

Reviews posted:

–Heraclix and Pomp, by Forrest Aguirre. Not quite my cup of tea. 1/5 stars
–Hekla’s Children, by James Brogden. I found this rather predictable and nasty, with one of those entitled male protagonists that bug me so much. Sure, that’s part of the point, but it doesn’t make it more enjoyable. 2/5 stars
–Akhenaten: Egypt’s False Prophet, by Nicholas Reeves. Misleadingly still billed by the publishers as revolutionary for this 2019 reissue, when it was in fact written in 2005. Not updated. Rests on some very tenuous evidence and generally entirely skippable. 2/5 stars
–The Invisible Library, by Genevieve Cogman. Remains one hell of a romp, and a book I recommend. 4/5 stars
–Quick Curtain, by Alan Melville. Unfortunately, this is another one that was solidly not my thing. Comedic and incompetent crime detection story? Meh. 2/5 stars
–The Reluctant Widow, by Georgette Heyer. Still enjoyable, but the male lead drove me a bit nuts on this reread. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–The Sparrow Readalong Week One: I need to catch up! Way behind now. But here were my thoughts on week one…

And that’s it! Here’s hoping things will be busier around here in the next couple of weeks. *blows away the cobwebs*

Welp, it’s been a quiet time on the blog since I’ve been doing plenty of work — and doing NaNoWriMo for the first time in years! Last weekend we went out on a trip to the lovely Portal Bookshop in York, which I thoroughly recommend, so I have a few new books! (Also some dead tree copies of beloved books I only had in ebook, but I won’t list those too. Still, have this lovely pic of Biscuit investigating my haul!)

Books acquired:

Books read since the last roundup:

Reviews posted since the last roundup:

–Ancillary Mercy, by Ann Leckie. This remains a great favourite of mine, and one I’m sure I’ll come back to again. 5/5 stars
–Murder at the Fitzwilliam, by Jim Eldridge. Kind of meh, despite a promising setting. 2/5 stars
–Excellent Intentions, by Richard Hull. Slightly odd format, interestingly carried out but a bit lacking in personality. 3/5 stars
–Women & Power: A Manifesto, by Mary Beard. The first essay is very worth the read; the second a bit less sure ground. 4/5 stars
–Lord Roworth’s Reward, by Carola Dunn. An unsurprising but sweet Regency romance. 4/5 stars
–It’s All In Your Head, by Suzanne O’Sullivan. Interesting discussion of psychosomatic illness, but simplifies things rather through idealised cases, and the chapter on ME/CFS would make folks I know see red. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. This week’s update!

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘Pain and hunger.‘ Can the sensation of hunger change how you perceive pain? Yep, there is good evidence that it can — in both directions.
–NEAT science: ‘The biopsychosocial model of mental health.‘ A pet peeve and a cry for holistic care…

And whew, that’s everything. How’re you folks?