What have you recently finished reading?

After weeks of reading really really voraciously, I’ve calmed down a bit, so it’s been a couple of days since I last finished anything! I thiiiink the last thing I finished was Joseph Hone’s The Book Forger, which digs into the story of the literary forgeries perpetrated by Thomas J. Wise. It frames it as a bit of a detective story, which isn’t wrong. I mostly enjoyed it, except for where it really bizarrely misquoted Dorothy L. Sayers (or rather, correctly quoted but contextualised it completely wrong).

What are you currently reading?

I have a lot of books started, but I’m not super actively reading anything at the moment. The closest to the top of my mind are The Future of Dinosaurs, by David Hone, and my reread of volume two of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System. The former is really interesting, though quite dense (and the print is tiny!).

The latter… I’m basically struggling with the part where Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu are completely at cross-purposes and totally failing to understand one another, and I hate that part. There are excellent and funny aspects to that part, but it’s just so painful to see the misunderstanding and not be able to hit Shen Qingqiu around the head shouting, “You’ve changed the story! He doesn’t have the same motivations anymore!”

What will you be reading next?

Not sure! I did get the urge to start Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America (Wendy A. Woloson), not at aaaaall inspired by sorting through stuff ready to move. (Not that we’re from the US, and not that the problem is really cheap stuff, but when you’re moving you become very aware of how much stuff you have and how you should’ve sorted through and donated a bunch of it ages ago. Ahem.)

I did also just get volumes 3 and 4 of the Solo Leveling manhwa, so maybe I’ll read those. That will of course lead to wanting volume 5, I’m sure, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it…

What have you recently finished reading?

Last night I stayed up a bit late reading this one, actually: Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, by Paul Koudounaris. It’s about the “catacomb saints”, skeletons exhumed from the catacombs of Rome and sent to various European churches as relics. It’s a bit macabre — they are skeletons, after all — but also beautiful. While it’s not a way of worship I agree with, it’s fascinating to read about and see the love and veneration people had for these “saints”, and to learn about their origins.

I initially thought they were from actual Vatican crypts, but seemingly not; they’re actually from a Roman cemetery containing mostly (but not exclusively) Christian inhumations. Anyway, I’ll talk about the book a bit more when I review the book, but it was fascinating, and it’s very beautiful.

What are you currently reading?

Too many books at once, as ever! I’m still partway through my reread of Vivian Shaw’s Greta Helsing series, being somewhat stalled by exams, exam stress, and the resulting urge to read non-fiction that has nothing to do with my own particular subject. So right now my most active read is a book by the director general of archaeological works at Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtrigel: The Buried City, which the inside flap of the dust cover says discusses new finds in Pompeii. Thus far, it’s not really the case, but more about the author’s career in archaeology and how it led him to Pompeii and prepared him to interpret the city. Which is interesting, but not what I’d hoped for, and it’s a bit… rambling. I hope there’ll be more about actual finds as the book continues.

I’m also reading David J. Gibson’s Planting Clues, which is about the use of botany in forensics and prosecutions. I was eager to read it, but it really does go into some technical stuff about both botany and law, so I didn’t quite have the focus. I’ll get back to it soon.

Aaaand I’m also reading The Medieval Scriptorium, by Sara J. Charles, which is heavy on the history of Christianity and, again, had my mind wandering a bit for now, and The Library of Ancient Wisdom, by Selena Wisnom, which is perfect for my mood right now, I just haven’t got very far into it yet.

And… you know what, let’s stop there.

What will you be reading next?

No idea! I got a bunch of fascinating new books in my exam-distraction book spree at the weekend, so perhaps one of them — I particularly have my eye on David Hone’s The Future of Dinosaurs, because, well, dinosaurs. I also started rereading Nghi Vo’s Singing Hills books, so maybe more of those; they do stand alone, but they build up a world, and it’s been a while since I visited some parts of it, so the refresher seemed timely. Aaaand I was rereading The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, which I might get back to as well: it’s amazing how much more sense it all makes with more knowledge of the genre and related genres. It’s not even my first reread, but each time I have a little more context.

Yep, it’s that time again!

What have you recently finished reading?

I juuust finished Daniel M. Ford’s Advocate last night. It’s the third book in a series, and there are definitely still things I’m enjoying about the series, but holy crap Aelis really doesn’t learn. You’d swear there was going to be a narrative arc of her getting less arrogant and less inclined to use other people on her climb upwards, but there’s no sign of it yet. I started to find her massively annoying, and really, if she’s supposed to be so clever then there are several twists she should’ve seen coming.

Anyway, my full review will talk about all that at length, but suffice it to say that I’m somewhat losing my patience with the series.

What are you currently reading?

I have a few things on the go at once, as usual, but my main target at the moment is volume four of The Apothecary Diaries, the light novel version. I’m about a third of the way into it, and it does seem to be going by a bit quicker than the third volume did for me, but I think I might take a little break from the series after this book. I don’t own more of it yet, and I think my brain needs time to consolidate!

More slowly, I’m reading The Book Forger by Joseph Hone, which is interesting — I think I vaguely knew something about the forgeries that Hone is talking about, but nothing about the person who created them, or the people who tracked it down. It’d make good fiction!

What will you be reading next?

First priority: finish Maiga Doocy’s Sorcery and Small Magics and Courtney Smyth’s The Undetectables, or possibly DNF the latter if I’m still not vibing with it. Those are the final books I need to finish my Bookspin Bingo card on Litsy, so after that I’ll probably pursue my whim a bit and do some totally undirected reading. That probably means getting back to my rereads of Vivian Shaw’s Greta Helsing books, and finishing up Roger Hutchinson’s history of the Britain through the census, The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker. But we’ll see!

What have you recently finished reading?

I’ve been plunging deep into some histories of clothing from the Victoria & Albert Museum. The two I’ve finished were 18-Century Fashion in Detail, by Susan North, and Chinese Dress in Detail, by Sau Fong Chan. They are beautiful and fascinating, and Chinese Dress in Detail is particularly good — though both are just high-level surveys, and constrained by what’s been preserved, what the V&A holds, etc, etc.

I definitely want to read more of this series.

What are you currently reading?

As usual, I’ve started several hares at once. I just started on The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker (more informative subtitle “The story of Britain through its census since 1801”), by Roger Hutchinson, and I’m enjoying that quite a bit. So far it’s mostly talking about the history of the census, rather than strictly speaking what it tells us, but I’m enjoying it a lot.

I’m also reading Christianna Brand’s Cat and Mouse, which is set in Wales and evokes the place quite well (in part because it’s always raining), but so far I’m not really enjoying it. In part it’s the melodramatic tenseness, I think — just not what I enjoy at the moment when I pick up a classic mystery. Not enough distance from the awfulness.

I’m also partway through Eleri Lynn’s Underwear Fashion in Detail, also from the V&A like the books mentioned above, and a reread of Vivian Shaw’s Dreadful Company, having belatedly heard there was a new book coming out (which was duly preordered, just in time, and awaits me after I reread the others).

What will you be reading next?

I don’t know, but probably Daniel M. Ford’s Advocate, T. Kingfisher’s Hemlock & Silver, and a couple of other books that are on my Bookspin Bingo card on Litsy. I started Courtney Smyth’s The Undetectables last week and didn’t vibe with it, but I’m going to give that a bit more of a shot before I decide whether to drop it or just put it back on my TBR for later.

What have you recently finished reading?

Other than my reread of A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation, the last thing I finished was Molly O’Neill’s Greenteeth, which I really really liked. I don’t want to say too many spoilers, but it worked in some folklore that I love, I enjoyed the narrative voice, and it was a very nice standalone read.

Before that I finished Paladin’s Grace, which I enjoyed a lot — and which has a whole world of other stories to dig my teeth into, which is also nice.

What are you currently reading?

I’ve been somewhat clearing the decks and getting books finished rather than reading a gazillion things at once, but then I keep starting a bunch at the same time. Most actively, I’m reading A Letter from the Lonesome Shore, Sylvie Cathrall’s second book and sequel to A Letter from the Luminous Deep, which I adored. It feels like I’m still finding my feet with the story this time, but I’m still enjoying it a lot.

I’m also reading The Cleopatras, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones’ work that covers not just “the” Cleopatra, but the other Cleopatras of her family, starting with Cleopatra I (Cleopatra Syra). I have never read a lot about the Ptolemaic dynasty before, so this is fun.

What will you read next?

I’ll switch gears and more actively read Maiga Doocy’s Sorcery and Small Magics, for a start, which I do have on the go but haven’t got very far into yet. Other than that, I want to read the fourth light novel in Natsu Hyuuga’s The Apothecary Diaries series, and maybe read some more of the manga (since apparently that helps follow some of the twistier bits of plot). I also want to read Daniel M. Ford’s Advocate, and Courtney Smyth’s The Undetectables, and generally take advantage of the fact that despite everything feeling busy, I’m very eager to read right now.

Oh, and tomorrow or at least soon I should have volume one of The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish, which should be fun!

Wednesday again! This week is a bit busier, but I’m trying to keep plenty of time for reading…

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished up reading Metropolitan Mysteries yesterday, another anthology of more-or-less classic crime stories in the British Library Crime Classics series, and edited as usual by Martin Edwards. I’ve said quite a few times before that I find these collections to be more than the sum of their parts, really: each story in and of itself might be entertaining, but it’s in being collected together as a survey of a subject that makes them most interesting to me (as someone who studied the development of crime fiction as a genre, albeit only as an undergrad).

What are you currently reading?

Quite a few things at once, no surprises there. I just read a chapter of The Magic Books (Anne Lawrence-Mathers), which is only mildly interesting to me in that “magic” mostly meant semi-religious astrology — so a lot of the discussion around these manuscripts is about acceptability to the church, which gets a bit repetitive. It’s hard to say what else I hoped for, because it certainly focuses on the contents of the manuscripts too, but I think the answer is just that sadly I don’t find these particular manuscripts that interesting.

I’m also reading volume three of The Apothecary Diaries, the light novel version. I’m noticing a lot of confusion about the difference between manga and light novels on my blog, so to be clear, they’re not the same thing. Light novels are prose, though usually with a few illustrations (though my ebook copy of My Happy Marriage didn’t have any), as opposed to manga/manhua/manhwa which are essentially comics. Sometimes a light novel gets adapted into a manga; The Apothecary Diaries has been adapted twice, in fact, and there’s a further spin-off manga as well. The volume numbers don’t match up: the story from the first volume of the light novel is covered in volumes 1-4 of the manga, if I understand correctly.

Anyway, I haven’t read much of the manga, but I’m enjoying the light novels! Maomao is a lot of fun as a character.

Other than that, I’ve just started on The Banquet Ceases, by Mary Fitt, a queer mystery writer based in Wales who as far as I know the British Library Crime Classics series hasn’t seen fit (ha) or haven’t been permitted to republish, but luckily, Moonstone Press have. I’m not very far into it yet, but it seems very “classic” in setup (though that word is getting a bit tired/ill-defined around mystery/crime).

And! I’m also reading Paladin’s Grace, by T. Kingfisher. It slipped onto the backburner a bit, but I’m enjoying it.

What will you be reading next?

I really need to get round to starting A Letter from the Lonesome Shore, by Sylvie Cathrall. I begged for a review copy, so I’d really best get round to it! I’m excited for it, though I sort of feel tempted to reread the first book… but really, I didn’t read it that long ago, I should be able to pick up the threads. We’ll see, I might reread it anyway, just for fun.

Yay, time to talk about books! As if I ever stop, ahaha.

What have you recently finished reading?

Robert Jackson Bennett’s A Drop of Corruption, which I adored. I originally had an ARC, but then life happened (my wife broke an ankle and my grandmother died), so I didn’t get round to it until I bought the finished copy last week — but believe me, I was eager for it, because I really liked the first book. It’s such a rich and inventive world, and does much more than “Sherlock Holmes in a fantasy setting” might make you think.

What are you currently reading?

I’ve actually been finishing books quite quickly, so there’s nothing lingering around that hasn’t been lingering around for a while already. This morning I started on Anne Lawrence-Mathers’ The Magic Books: A History of Enchantment in 20 Medieval Manuscripts, which I expect will take a while (the Bookly app says four more hours, which is a lot for me). So far it’s mostly about works relating to astrology, which isn’t quite what I think of when I think of magic/enchantment, but I’m curious to read more anyway.

What will you read next?

I just got an ARC of A Letter from the Lonesome Shore, by Sylvie Cathrall. I adored the first book and could barely put it down, so this is high on my list. I’m also very tempted by T. Kingfisher’s Paladin’s Grace, though, and The Baby Dragon Café (A.T. Qureshi). I feel like I could do with something lighter before I plunge into A Letter from the Lonesome Shore — I have quite the “book hangover” from A Drop of Corruption. Daniel M. Ford’s Advocate is another ARC I’m late to read, and I just finished the previous book Necrobane, so that’s somewhere on my “next up” list too.

In sum… who knows? I’ll read something, that’s for sure: I’m very much in a reading mood!

Wednesday again! And a lovely day to talk about books (you know me; every day is a lovely day to talk about books).

What have you recently finished reading?

Last night I finished up Not to be Taken, by Anthony Berkeley! It’s an interesting one, because it was intentionally written as a very fair-play mystery, because it was also a competition. The British Library Crime Classic edition includes not only the ending (which wasn’t originally published with it) but a report by Berkeley on the competition, which all made for fascinating reading. It was such a playful and innovative era for mysteries.

What are you currently reading?

I have three books that I’m currently most actively reading: Poet Mystic Widow Wife, by Hetta Howes; Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Cost of the Perfect Playlist, by Liz Pelly; and volume one of The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, the original light novel by Yatsuki Wakutsu. It’s amazing to me how faithfully the manga version of the latter translates even the details of the narration. I always think I’ll get more out of the light novel version of these stories, and usually it’s only a little bit more insight. A picture’s worth a thousand words, I guess, even to someone as non-visual as me.

As for Mood Machine and Poet Mystic Widow Wife, both are quite slow going; the former is conscientious and detail-oriented in a way that makes it an excellent foil for Glenn McDonald’s You Have Not Yet Heard Your Favourite Song, which I read a couple of weeks ago. The latter is a bit less organised than I’d like, though I’m not far into it and maybe the organisation governing it will make more sense to me soon.

What will you read next?

Excellent question! Well, aside from the obvious (the other volumes of the light novel I’m reading), and finishing Necrobane (Daniel M. Ford), which I’ve been neglecting… I’m not sure. I got a whole treasury of new books by spending up store credit and vouchers, so I might dig into one of those. I am supposed to be reading books I can sell/donate, to help reduce clutter while moving, though. So maybe I’ll read a book from my backlog, Wendy A. Woloson’s Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America — though I’m British, it has a certain resonance right now as I sort through my things…

What about you?

Wednesday again, and a little break to talk books! Whew.

What have you recently finished reading?

Mostly just manga. I’m now working my way through The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (Kazuki Irodori adapting Yatsuki Wakutsu’s light novel), and I’m enjoying it. I’m curious to read the light novels, as well, though I’m not actually sure if either manga or light novels are a finished series. Aresh’s interest in Seiichirou is cute, but I’ll get frustrated if they don’t start to communicate about that soon.

What are you currently reading?

The only thing that’s really close to an active read is Daniel M. Ford’s Necrobane, which I haven’t picked up in a few days. I’m enjoying it, but I just don’t have the attention span while I’m digging deep to get my assignments done. I am still reading something from Serial Reader, at least, which is Baroness Emma Orczy‘s Unravelled Knots at the moment. I’m not a huge fan of her “The Old Man in the Corner” mystery stories, having read a bunch of them in British Library Crime Classic collections, but I’m curious enough about them to keep reading, at least at this bitesize pace!

What will you read next?

I really don’t know. Because it’s on my Litsy Book Spin Bingo card, I’m thinking about Hetta Howes’ Poet Mystic Widow Wife, and I’m also very curious about Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine as a counterpoint to the other book I read about music streaming. But I’m having a bit of trouble settling down to read because of my assignments and moving-related upheaval, so we’ll see.

What about you?