Wow, it’s been a heck of a week for me, acquisitions-wise! And fortunately, I’ve got back into reading a bit more. I have a new project with my reading, which I should post about properly later, which is all about getting back to enjoying it instead of feeling like I have to meet targets or something. It’s helping a lot!

Books to review:

What a haul, right? I’m especially excited about The House of Binding Thorns, The Burning Page and Miranda and Caliban. Technically, I know I’m getting a copy of The Burning Page for Christmas, but if I get the time to read the ebook first, I’ll be very happy. And it looks like I will!

Books finished this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–Dark Run, by Mike Brooks. If you’re looking for something a bit Firefly-ish, then this is a good bit. Sometimes I couldn’t decide whether the references were on purpose or weirdly coincidental. It’s a fun set-up, though, with an interesting set of characters who are a bit more diverse than aboard the good ship Serenity. The Maori character, for example, was really fun. 4/5 stars
–Ultimate X-Men: Hellfire and Brimstone, by Mark Millar et al. The tension between Wolverine and Cyclops is just… ugh. This series is so juvenile. 2/5 stars
–In the Woods, by Tana French. Wow. I really expected to love this, because so many of my friends did, but it was totally unsatisfying as a crime novel and I didn’t find the literary pretensions satisfying either. It might have managed on character, but I ended up disliking most of them. So… Tana French is not for me! 2/5 stars
–Captain Marvel: Rise of Alpha Flight, by Tara Butters et al. I wanted this to be a strong continuation of the series for a character I love. It was okay, but not more than that. If you’re more familiar with the other characters, it might be more satisfying, though. 3/5 stars.
–Broken Homes, by Ben Aaronovitch. This is… still ow. I think that’s all I need to say. 4/5 stars
–Augustus, by John Williams. This is a book I appreciate more for the thought behind it than for the book itself, I think. I liked the way it tried to get a look at Augustus Caesar and some of his contradictions, but I wasn’t always a fan of the way it was put together. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This is one of the books my mother gave me (quite rightly) before I went to university, instructing me that this was something I really should read. I didn’t read it before university, but it definitely left an impression. 5/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten New To Me Authors in 2016. What it says on the tin… with a little bit of cheating here and there.
–What are you reading Wednesday. A very comprehensive update on my current reading!

It’s been a better week for me, though I still have one more assignment to eke out. But I did manage some reading! Hurrah.

Books to review:

I’m going to assume Fair Chance is related to Fair Game and Fair Play, so, awesome. And Weird Dinosaurs, well, who wouldn’t want this one?

Books received:

Because my wife is awesome.

Books finished this week:

Reviews posted this week:
–Ultimate X-Men: World Tour, by Mark Millar et al. More enjoyable than the first two volumes, but still not doing much for me. 3/5 stars
–The Lost Child of Lychford, by Paul Cornell. If you enjoyed the first Lychford novella, you’ll probably enjoy this too. Judith continues to be completely badass. 3/5 stars
–Everything Belongs to the Future, by Laurie Penny. Enjoyable, but rather predictable, to me. 3/5 stars
–Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, by Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee. A good survey of, well, pretty much what it says on the tin. 4/5 stars
–The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Do I have anything new to say about this one? Possibly not. 5/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Empty Kingdom, by Elizabeth E. Wein. The close of the series, which I’ve been re-posting my reviews of for the last few weeks. Greatly enjoyable. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–On giving up, but positively. Why I’ve given up on my reading goals for 2016, and why that’s a good thing.
–Top Ten Tuesday: Best Places to Read. A departure from the given theme, forgive me.

How’s everyone else doing?

Not many books read this week (understatement…), but I got a nice little haul of new books, so that was nice!

Books acquired:

Books finished this week:

Reviews posted this week:
–Creepy Crawly Crochet, by Megan Kreiner. A book of fun crochet patterns, with some clever tutorials on how to shape things without getting too complicated. 4/5 stars
–Lone Survivors: How We Came To Be The Only Humans On Earth, by Chris Stringer. An interesting book which provides a good survey and doesn’t pretend we know more than we really do. 4/5 stars
–X-Men: Return to Weapon X, by Mark Millar and Adam Kubert. A bit lacking in tension, and the art kind of raised an eyebrow. 2/5 stars.
–A Local Habitation, by Seanan McGuire. This book made me wish I’d continued with the series sooner — and I didn’t wait that long. Very entertaining, and lots of interesting faerie lore. 4/5 stars
–The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Do I have anything new to say about this? Apparently, I can ramble about how playing LOTRO changes the reading experience. 5/5 stars
–Hammers on Bone, by Cassandra Khaw. I think I might’ve need more familiarity with the Cthulhu mythos to fully appreciate this, but it was fun. 3/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Lion Hunter, by Elizabeth E. Wein. Doesn’t stand alone as well as the rest of the series, but it’s a good read — albeit quite dark and saddening. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Thankfulness. With the US celebrating Thanksgiving, no surprise this was this week’s theme.

Busy, busy week! But I have books. <3

Fiction acquired:

I’ve already read The Philosopher Kings, of course, but with the UK edition out (and on offer, actually), I had to grab it. I grabbed Ayiti to help finish off a reading challenge; The Dark Forest because The Three Body Problem left me just curious enough; and Feedback, After Atlas, Memory of Water and An Accident of Stars because I’ve been meaning to read ’em.

Non-fiction acquired:

A bit of an odd combination, I’ll admit. Celebrity memoirs… biology!

Books finished this week:

Reviews posted this week:
–In the Forests of Serre, by Patricia McKillip. Possibly my favourite of McKillip’s books so far, this is magical and rich, based on Russian fairytales and taking them somewhere unique. 5/5 stars
–Poems: Three Series, by Emily Dickinson. Not a fan, sorry. 2/5 stars
–Busman’s Honeymoon, by Dorothy L. Sayers. BBC radioplay. Fun as ever, featuring Sarah Badel as Harriet Vane and doing a brilliant job of it. 4/5 stars
–The Celts, by Nora Chadwick. Admittedly out of date, but still absorbing and informative. 4/5 stars
–Ultimate X-Men: The Tomorrow People, by Mark Millar. This… didn’t really work for me, which is sad since I do enjoy Ultimate Spider-man. Alas. 2/5 stars
–The Wind Off the Small Isles, by Mary Stewart. A Mary Stewart I hadn’t read? Yep! This is a novella, so it’s lacking a bit of the detail and length I’d like, but it still evokes that lovely sense of atmosphere that Stewart was so good at. 3/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Sunbird, by Elizabeth E. Wein. I loved this one, possibly more than the rest of the series so far, even though it was the furthest from the Arthurian canon. 5/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Movies. A few of my favourites…
–What are you reading Wednesday. My weekly update on what I’ve just finished, what I’m reading now, and what I might read next…
–This is my genre, show me yours! A fun tag about my favourite genre, including rambles about how much I love it.

I could wish I’d managed more reading, but it hasn’t been a bad week! How’re you?

Well, it’s been a heck of a week. Hope everyone’s doing okay!

Received to review:

I’m kind of a sucker for things about rediscovering archaeological marvels, so… yeah, couldn’t resist.

Library:

I was a Lib Dem voter, and I was sort of interested to see what Clegg had to say for himself… but I wasn’t going to buy it!

Books bought:

Another book on invented languages? This one is a bit more like a primer for inventing your own; it’s not something I’m actually interested in doing, but reading about the process and considerations is pretty fascinating. As for The Book, I’m not wedded to the book as a physical object — I love ebooks too — but I am looking forward to this celebration of the book and history. And Becky Chambers’ new book, well, you all tell me I’m going to love it!

Books finished this week:

Reviews posted this week:

–Gaudy Night, by Dorothy L. Sayers. BBC radioplay. A good adaptation, though it’s a bit different in style to the rest of the series. 4/5 stars
–Strong Poison, by Dorothy L. Sayers. A reliable comfort read for me, though this time I did notice something rather self-pitying about Lord Peter… 5/5 stars
–The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, by Genevieve Valentine. A really interesting take on the dancing princesses fairytale, set in Manhattan during prohibition. I was more riveted than I expected, actually; it hooked me in pretty neatly. 4/5 stars
–From Elvish to Klingon, ed. Michael Adams. Interesting collection of essays on conlangs, although some of them are rather more interesting than others. 3/5 stars
–Faro’s Daughter, by Georgette Heyer. Fun, but Ravenscar is not the best of Heyer heroes. Mind you, Deb kinda makes up for that. 3/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: A Coalition of Lions, by Elizabeth E. Wein. Delightfully develops one of the female characters from the first book. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Recent Additions to the TBR. What it says on the tin. Not just book I’ve just bought, though; it includes wishlisted books.
–What are you reading Wednesday. My weekly update, with a bit of a ramble about British politics courtesy of reading Nick Clegg’s book.
–A-Z Book Blogger Tag. A somewhat random collection of bookish questions!

Good morning! It’s been a weird week for me; kind of slow, but busy too, with class to catch up with and my wife not very well. All’s good now, though, and I’ve made a decent start on my reading goals for November. I’ve also made a list of the books I need to read to meet my challenge goals… yipes.

Anyway, here goes, the weekly roundup:

Received to review:

I’ve enjoyed Carrie Vaughn’s work before, so I’m hopeful about this, even just because it has her name on it.

New books:

A bit of an odd mixture, perhaps! But it really is about time I read On the Origin of Species.

Books finished this week:

Reviews posted this week:
–Anthem, by Ayn Rand. If you’re going to read a book by Rand and you’re pretty sure you’re going to disagree vehemently with her politics, this is a pretty good choice. It’s nice and short. 2/5 stars
–Whispers Under Ground, by Ben Aaronovitch. I still enjoyed this one, but it is a bit of a filler book. Nothing like the impact of the next one. 4/5 stars
–Dinosaurs Without Bones, by Anthony J. Martin. This book is full of information on dinosaurs! And also jokes about all the sorts of traces dinosaurs have left. It doesn’t stop at coprolites — or at least, Martin hopes it doesn’t. 5/5 stars
–In the Land of Invented Languages, by Arika Okrent. This is a fun read and also very informative about conlangs. I actually found myself wanting to give this to everyone. 4/5 stars
–The Borgias, by Christopher Hibbert. Not as entertaining as I’d hoped; it’s not dry, exactly, but it’s very much a litany of facts rather than analysis. 2/5 stars
–The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy L. Sayers. BBC radioplay. The casting makes it shine, of course; Ian Carmichael is (at least vocally) the perfect Lord Peter. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Winter Prince, by Elizabeth E. Wein. I found it an interesting and powerful retelling of the Arthurian story, though I wasn’t 100% a fan of the portrayal of the female characters. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books if Your Bookclub Likes SF. More or less what it says on the tin.
–ShelfLove November Update & TBR. My progress on my reading goals for 2016, plus a hopeful to-read list for this month.

Here’s hoping this is a good week for reading, for all of us!

It’s been a busy week for me, and it’s about to be a busy weekend too. Still, I did fit in some reading this week!

Received to review:

Ohhh emmm geeee, The Hanging Tree.

Books read this week:

Reviews posted this week:
–Truthwitch, by Susan Dennard. I found this kind of disappointing, given the hype about the female characters and how central their friendship was. I felt like that was more ‘tell’ than ‘show’. 2/5 stars
–How to Traverse Terra Incognita, by Dean Francis Alfar. I wasn’t totally drawn in by this, but it’s a pretty interesting collection. 3/5 stars
–Moon Over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch. A fun reread, and Peter endeared himself more to me in this book. 4/5 stars
–The House of Shattered Wings, by Aliette de Bodard. I wasn’t drawn into this one at first, and then all of a sudden, I was. Loved the Vietnamese folklore included. 4/5 stars
–Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy L. Sayers. Radioplay. As usual, great adaptation and performance, especially on Ian Carmichael’s part. Buuut Inspector Parker’s voice actor is wrong, wrong, wrong. 3/5 stars
–Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World, by Nick Lane. Interesting stuff, but it’s rather too  speculative and sometimes on shaky ground. 2/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: A Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England, by Ian Mortimer. Provided you are a male time traveller, that is. 2/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Things that Really Scare Me. Typically for me, I gave this a twist — this covers books on topics which scare me, rather than horror fiction, for the Halloween freebie.
–What are you reading Wednesday. My weekly update!
–The TBR Tag. What it says on the tin.

Busy week for me! But more reading than last week, whew. How’s everyone doing?

Books acquired this week:

Yep, a nice big haul of assorted non-fiction. I went into Brussels on Monday, since I got paid, and had a little spree in Sterling Books and Waterstones. <3

I got The City of Dreaming Books from my friend Dingsi, thank you. <3 I’ve been meaning to read War for the Oaks since… forever, I think. Emma Bull has been heavily recommended to me, and I liked the look of this (new?) Penguin edition.

Books finished this week:

Reviews posted this week:
–Saga Volume Six, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Gorgeous as ever, and a hugely satisfying volume for me. Eeeh. 4/5 stars
–Have His Carcase, by Dorothy L. Sayers. BBC radioplay. As usual, this is really well done and you gotta love the interaction between Harriet and Peter. Or I do, anyway. 4/5 stars
–Epigenetics: The Ultimate Mystery of Inheritance, by Richard C. Francis, read by Kurt Elftmann. I was mostly indifferent to this one — a bit too simplistic for me. 2/5 stars
–Troublemaker, by Joseph Hansen. This isn’t my favourite of the bunch, with a bit too many gay stereotypes floating around. It’s still interesting, though. 3/5 stars
–The Technological Singularity, by Murray Shanahan. If you already know something about AI, probably don’t bother with this one. 2/5 stars
–Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovitch. This was a reread, and it actually impressed me more this time round. Love the sense of place and the recognisability of it. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham. A beautifully created and fascinating post-apocalyptic world I remember enjoying a lot. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I’d Name Things After. Just a quick rundown of the fannish things I’ve called some of my belongings…
–What are you reading Wednesday. An update on this week’s reading!

Saturday again already? Ugh. For some reason, it’s been a slow week for me, reading-wise. I’ve got behind on all my goals again, alas. But I did have work, and that means money, and that means being able to pay for books! And, you know, contribute to my wife’s rent, etc, etc. But still, I do hope I can read more next week.

Still, it was not a bad week in terms of my haul!

Books to review:

All of these are exciting — I need to read Lady of Magick so I can jump right into A Season of Spells. And I never finished James A. Moore’s previous trilogy, because I got distracted, but I remember the worldbuilding as being a lot of fun. So I’m looking forward to that. And Dreadnought just sounds awesome.

Books read this week:

Like I said, pretty disappointing week for reading! But here’s hoping next week will be better — and at least these books were all good.

Reviews posted this week:
–Owain Glyndŵr: The Story of the Last Prince of Wales, by Terry Breverton. Unfortunately rather dry, just a recitation of facts. Which is kind of sad. 2/5 stars
–Saga Volume Five, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. For me, this volume isn’t quite as awesome as the others, because Alana and Marko aren’t kicking ass together. But it’s still pretty darn awesome. 4/5 stars
–The Ides of March, by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Totally disappointing, which sucks. So much exposition, so much telling. 1/5 stars
–Five Red Herrings, by Dorothy L. Sayers. BBC audio version. Because this is a murder mystery written to a train timetable, it’s less fun on the second, third and fourth reading. But with the excellent voice cast, it’s still a good accompaniment to some crochet. 3/5 stars
–The Surgeon of Crowthorne, by Simon Winchester. Sometimes this isn’t sure whether it’s a biography of a man or a dictionary, but all the same, it’s pretty sympathetic to the people it discusses. 3/5 stars
–Death Claims, by Joseph Hansen. The series continues to be a great reread, and once again I’m caught up in the subplot of the relationship between Doug and Dave. Not to be missed if you’re a fan of classic crime fiction. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Decameron, by Giovanni Bocaccio. An old review of a classic which, in my opinion, you shouldn’t miss if you’re interested in other writers like Chaucer and Shakespeare — and it’s entertaining on its own account too. 5/5 stars

Other posts:
–The Women Women Don’t See. A commentary on Kristine Katherine Rusch’s comments in the introduction to an anthology of work by “forgotten” female writers of sci-fi’s past. (With the unfortunate fact that most of them are not forgotten at all, like Le Guin and Cherryh.
–Top Ten Tuesday: Recommendations. Books I’ve been recommended that were definitely hits.
–What are you reading… Thursday? A slightly belated update on what I’ve been reading this week.

How’s your week been? Picked up anything interesting?

How is it Saturday again already? It’s been a busy week for me, with work and travelling and my classes starting. How is everyone?

Books acquired:

Wow. Thanks, Tor.com, for all the review copies! The only thing I bought this week is Crooked Kingdom. I haven’t read Six of Crows yet, but I did enjoy the Grisha series…

Books finished this week:

Reviews posted this week:
–Heresy, by S.J. Parris. The setting works well, though I didn’t really enjoy the portrayal of Giordano Bruno — it was hard to sympathise with him, considering he was pretty much betraying people who showed him trust. I’m not continuing with the series. 3/5 stars
–Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps, by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Oh, dear. I love DeConnick’s Captain Marvel, but this volume is just so pointless that it takes away from that. 1/5 stars
–Predator’s Gold, by Philip Reeve. This continues the theme of the first book of being surprisingly complex in terms of character motivations. I enjoyed it as well, but I wish the female characters had been a bit less reprehensible in their behaviour. 3/5 stars
–Strong Poison, by Dorothy L. Sayers. BBC Radioplay Version. I love it, of course. Ian Carmichael is just the perfect Peter. 5/5 stars
–We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart. I’m not quite down with the hype, but I did enjoy reading it — “and if anyone asks you how it ends, lie.” 3/5 stars
–Fadeout, by Joseph Hansen. Embarking upon a reread of these books, I fell in love with the characters and the prose all over again. If you’re lacking a gay detective in your hardboiled detective fiction, Dave Brandstetter might fix you up. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, by John Steinbeck. One of the few Arthurian stories that have ever made me feel Lancelot and Guinevere’s love in my gut. The retelling gets off to a shaky start but there’s so much beauty in it. 5/5 stars

Other posts:
–Author opinions. Aka, do they get to have them? Answer: obviously yes, now stop telling them to stfu about politics, especially if you’re following them on Twitter.
–Top Ten Tuesday: Villains. I went for a list about the things I need in a good villain. Uh. If that’s not an oxymoron.
–What are you reading Wednesday? An update on what I’m reading this week!