souloftherose's 2019 reading - thread the first

I’m Heather and this is my 10th year in the 75 Book Challenge Group. I'm in my late thirties and live in a small town to the northwest of London in the United Kingdom with my husband and our rescue cat, Erica.

I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction (including children's/young adult books) as well as a spattering of crime/historical/other fiction. A fair number of the books I read are older books - I particularly enjoy 18th and 19th century fiction, golden age detective novels and fiction from the first half of the 20th century. I read mainly for pleasure and relaxation/stress relief - I do occasionally try to take myself out of my comfort zone by reading contemporary literary fiction and non-fiction.

Last year I read 155 books - so I'm aiming for 150 books this year but trying not to focus too much on the numbers. Other plans are to join in with this year's theme read in the Virago Modern Classics group which is on the 1940s - I have quite a few books in my TBR piles which fit this theme.

And a picture of Erica to open the thread:

Books read in January
#1 The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman
#2 A Fugue in Time by Rumer Godden
#3 Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
#4 Paper Girls, Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan
#5 The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher
#6 In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
#7 Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
#8 Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson
#9 Lumberjanes Vol. 6: Sink or Swim by Shannon Watters
#10 The Real-Town Murders by Adam Roberts
#11 Lumberjanes Vol. 7: A Bird's-Eye View by Shannon Watters
#12 Ms. Marvel Vol. 7: Damage per Second by G. Willow Wilson
#13 Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
#14 2001: An Odyssey in Words edited by Tom Hunter and Ian Whates
#15 Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
#16 Helliconia Winter by Brian Aldiss
#17 Ms. Marvel, Vol. 8: Mecca by G. Willow Wilson

Books read in February
#18 Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie
#19 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany
#20 Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
#21 A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
#22 The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
#23 Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson
#24 Uncanny Magazine Issue 25 edited by Lynne Thomas and Michael Thomas
#25 Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
#26 Belinda by Maria Edgeworth
#27 The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
#28 Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell
#29 The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark

Books read in March
#30 Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson
#31 Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
#32 Ms. Marvel, Vol. 9: Teenage Wasteland by G. Willow Wilson
#33 Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
#34 Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
#35 Phosphorus: A Winterstrike Story by Liz Williams
#36 The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
#37 Saga: Volume 8 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
#38 Saga: Volume 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
#39 The Kellys and the O'Kellys by Anthony Trollope
#40 Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear
#41 The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
#42 The True Queen by Zen Cho
#43 The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie
#44 Good Daughters by Mary Hocking

Books read in April
#45 The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman
#46 By the Pricking of Her Thumb by Adam Roberts

Book acquisitions

#1 Chatterton Square by E. H. Young
#2 Women, Power and Subversion by Judith L. Newton
#3 The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
#4 The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher
#5 In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
#6 Belinda by Maria Edgeworth
#7 The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition by Ursula K. Le Guin
#8 The Battle of the Villa Fiorita by Rumer Godden
#9 Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
#10 The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin
#11 The Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell
#12 Semiosis by Sue Burke
#13 Shelter by Dave Hutchinson
#14 The Ack-Ack Macaque Trilogy by Gareth Powell
#15 Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
#16 How the Bible Actually Works by Pete Enns
#17 The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark
#18 Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
#19 An Informal History of the Hugos by Jo Walton
#20 The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
#21 Creatures: The Legacy of Frankenstein edited by David Thomas Moore
#22 Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear
#23 The True Queen by Zen Cho
#24 Sugar Money by Jane Harris
#25 Gods, Monsters and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
#26 The Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson
#27 Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey
#28 84K by Claire North
#29 On the Other Side: Letters to My Children by Mathilde Wolff-Monckeberg
#30 The Village by Marghanita Laski

An idea borrowed from Liz (@lyzard), this lists ongoing series that I am actively reading. This doesn't include series where I have the first book in my TBR pile (i.e. series I haven't started reading yet aren't included). An asterisk indicates a series where I already have a copy of the next book and bold indicates an intention to finish the series soon(ish)...

Series I'm actively* reading (*for a rather lax definition of active)
Darwath: Next up Icefalcon's Quest by Barbara Hambly (5/5)
Embers of War: Next up Fleet of Knives by Gareth L. Powell (2/3)
Empire of Masks: Next book The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (1/?)
*The Expanse: Next up Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey (7/9)
The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire: Next up The Custodian of Marvels by Rod Duncan (3/3)
*Green Knowe: Next up: The River at Green Knowe by L. M. Boston (3/6)
*Good Daughters: Next up Indifferent Heroes by Mary Hocking (2/3)
Hainish Cycle: Next up Four Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin (7/8)
The Invisible Library: Next up The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman (5/8)
The Interdependency: Next up The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi (2/2)
The L-Shaped Room: Next up The Backward Shadow by Lynne Reid Banks (2/3)
Liaden Universe Novels: Next up Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (15/21)
*The Long Earth: Next up The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (2/5)
Lumberjanes: Next up Lumberjanes Vol. 9: Out of Time by Shannon Watters (9/11?)
Peter Grant: Next book Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch (7/7)
Planetfall: Next book Atlas Alone by Emma Newman (4/4) (Apr 19)
*Realm of the Elderlings: Next up Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb (6/16)
*The Stormlight Archive: Next up Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Tensorate: Next up The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang (2/5)
Discworld: Tiffany Aching: Next up The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett (5/5)
Wolves Chronicles: Next up The Witch of Clatteringshaws by Joan Aiken (11/11)
*Wormwood Trilogy: Next book The Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson (2/3)

Series I've stalled on but want to get back to
*Albert Campion: Next up The China Governess by Margery Allingham (17/19)
The Adventures of Arabella Ashby: Next up Arabella and the Battle of Venus (2/3)
Arbai trilogy Next up Raising the Stones by Sheri S. Tepper (2/3)
*Barsoom: Next up The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (3/11)
Bas-Lag: Next up The Scar by China Mieville (2/3)
*Barsetshire Books by Angela Thirkell: (Reading out of order) Next up The Brandons (5/29 read)
*Chronicles of the Kencyrath: Next up To Ride a Rathorn by P. C. Hodgell (4/8)
Dark Gifts: Next up Tarnished City by Vic James (2/3)
*Dolphin Ring Cycle: Next up Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff (5/8)
Dragonslayer: Next up The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde (3/4)
*Ebenezer Gryce: Next up The Circular Study by Anna Katharine Green (9/13)
*Fionavar Tapestry: Next up The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kay (3/3)
*The Girl Who: Next up The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente (3/5)
Hilary Tamar: Next up The Shortest Way to Hades by Sarah Caudwell (2/4)
Jimm Juree: Next up Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill (2/?)
Les Voyages Extraordinaires: Next up From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne (4/54)
Luna: Next up Luna: Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald (2/3)
Maigret: Next up Maigret in Holland by Georges Simenon (7/76)
The Penderwicks: Next up The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (2/4)
*Richard Hannay: Next up The Three Hostages by John Buchan (4/5)
*Roderick Alleyn: Next up Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh (2/32)
Romantic Poets and Nephilim: Next up A Time to Cast Away Stones in The Bible Repairman and Other Stories by Tim Powers (2/3)
Ruth Galloway: Next up A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths (5/11)
Simon Schama's A History of Britain: Next up A History of Britain: The Wars of the British 1603-1776 by Simon Schama (2/3)
Dr. Siri Paiboun: Next up: Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (5/?)
*Tales of a New Jerusalem: Next up Family Britain, 1951-57 by David Kynaston (2/5?)
*Turtle: Next up Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (2/2)
Vlad Taltos: Next up Dragon by Steven Brust (8/14)
Young Pilots: Next up Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein (3/?)

Series I'm rereading
*Chief Inspector Armand Gamache: Next up A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny (7/11)
*Hercule Poirot: Next up The Clocks by Agatha Christie (37/39)
*Miss Marple: Next up 4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie (7/12)
*Thursday Next: Next up The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde (7/7)

Up to date series
The Cinder Spires: Latest book The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher (1/?)
Craft Sequence: Chronological Order Latest book The Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone (6/6)
Dominion of the Fallen: Latest book The House of Sundering Flames by Aliette de Bodard (3/3?) (Jul 19)
Galactic Commons: Latest book Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers (3/3)
The Gentleman Bastard Sequence: Next up The Thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch (4/7?)
Gilead: Latest book Lila by Marilynne Robinson (3/4)
The Kingkiller Chronicle: Next up The Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss (4/4)
Lady Astronaut: Latest book The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal (2/4)
Matthew Shardlake: Latest book Tombland by C. J. Sansom (7/7)
The Machineries of Empire Next book Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee (3/4) (Jun 19)
Mistborn Latest book Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson (7/8)
Monstress: Latest book Monstress, Volume 3: Haven by Marjorie Liu and Tana Sakeda (3/?)
Ms. Marvel: Next book Ms. Marvel, Vol. 10: Time & Again by G. Willow Wilson (9/10) (Apr 19)
The Murderbot Diaries Latest book Exit Strategy (4/4)
Old Kingdom: Latest book Goldenhand by Garth Nix (5/5)
Paper Girls: Next book Paper Girls, Vol 6 by Brian K. Vaughan (5/6)
Penric & Desdemona - Publication Order: Latest book The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold (6/6)
The Poppy War: Next book The Dragon Republic (2/?) (Aug 19)
The Real-Town Murders: Last book By the Pricking of Her Thumb by Adam Roberts (2/2)
Saga: Latest book Saga, Volume 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (9/?)
Shades of Grey: Latest book Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (1/3)
A Song of Ice and Fire: Latest book A Dance with Dragons by G. R. R. Martin (5/7?)
Sorcerer Royal: Latest book The True Queen by Zen Cho (2/?)
The Sunbolt Chronicles: Latest book Memories of Ash by Intisar Khanani (2/3)
Vorkosigan Series: Latest book Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold (17/17)
Wayward Children: Latest book In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (4/5)
Witches of Lychford: Latest book A Long Day in Lychford by Paul Cornell (3/3)
Wolf Hall: Latest book Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (2/3)

Completed series
Clocktaur War by T. Kingfisher (2/2)
The Fractured Europe Sequence by Dave Hutchinson (4/4)
Helliconia Trilogy by Brian Aldiss (3/3)
Winternight by Katherine Arden (3/3)

2019 reading plans

Virago Modern Classics - Read the 1940s

Jan — Family:
A Fugue in Time by Rumer Godden
Saplings by Noel Streatfeild

Feb — Relationships:

Mar — Women:
Good Daughters by Mary Hocking

Apr — Work:
One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens

May — Food:
Bombers and Mash by Raynes Minns
Few Eggs and No Oranges by Vere Hodgson

Jun — Wildcard:
To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski (Relationships)
Chatterton Square by E. H. Young

Jul — Travel:
Breakfast with the Nikolides by Rumer Godden
Indifferent Heroes by Mary Hocking

Aug — Emigration/Relocation:
Maman, What Are We Called Now? by Jacquiline Mesnil-Amar
Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys

Sep — War:
On the Other Side: Letters to my Children from Germany by Mathilde Wolff-Mockeberg
An Interrupted Life by Etty Hillesum
A Woman Of No Importance by Sonia Purnell

Oct — Post-War:
The Happy Prisoner by Monica Dickens
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
Welcome Strangers by Mary Hocking
The Village by Marghanita Laski

Nov — Peace:

Dec — Wildcard:
Ten Days of Christmas by G. B. Stern

Group reads with Liz
Belinda by Maria Edgeworth - February
The Kellys and the O'Kellys by Anthony Trollope - March
Emmeline, The Orphan Of The Castle by Charlotte Smith - TBC (May?)
The Three Clerks by Anthony Trollope - TBC (June?)

And I think I'm done - off to star some threads.

Wow, you have a lot of series going on, Heather! I thought I was the only one that was so bad :)

Happy New Year, Heather!

Wishing you lots of good reading in 2019, Heather!

I quite like the photo of Erica up top.

You are way better at keeping track of your series! Not sure I want to -- it would be so intimidating. I have about 10 I am actually paying attention to. In any case, Happy New Year!!

Welcome back!

Woo hoo! You're here!
Thought of you today as I'm trying the recent BBC Agatha Christie adaption - the ABC murders with John Malkovitch as a very atypical Poirot. Have you seen it? The tone is very dark, and there's lots of Brexit-y allusions to a fear of foreigners. I wonder how much of that is Christie and how much is the director's modern spin. Anyway, it's good and I might just binge watch the whole thing this evening. A very happy year of reading and everything else to you, my friend!

Dropping off my star, Heather!

>4 souloftherose: I'm intrigued by your series list! I think I actually have a list like this somewhere in a notebook -- maybe it's time to bring it online.

Happy new thread, Heather! Looking forward to keeping up with your 2019 reads.

Happy New Year and happy new thread!

Happy New Year, Heather!

Happy reading in 2019, Heather!

Happy New Year, Heather and Erica!

Happy new year! I'm so impressed that you've been doing this continuously for so long!

Loving the series lists - I will definitely be mining them for new series to start this year.

Also:

> A Song of Ice and Fire: Latest book A Dance with Dragons by G. R. R. Martin (5/7?)

I see you 7?. Haha.

Happy New Year Heather! I hope it is a good one for you in life and in books.

Happy New Year, Heather. It looks like you have a wonderful year of reading ahead.

Love your thread opener!

Happy reading in 2019 Heather

Happy New Year, Heather!

Btw, you reminded me to get my hands on Time Was by Ian McDonald with the final reviews on your last thread - thanks!

Happy new year, Heather!

Happy New Year, Heather! I love the Erica topper - please give her my love. Looking forward to again following your reading adventures.

Happy 2019
A year full of books
A year full of friends
A year full of all your wishes realised

I look forward to keeping up with you, Heather, this year.

Hi Heather! Got you all starred!

Erica looks so happy and content up top. Oh, to be a beloved house pet - especially a cat. Though I would be okay with the life of a beloved dog if that was all that was available.

Am really, really, really going to try to be better at participating this year.

Ahhh. Very nice to see you and Erica here, Heather.
Thanks for your list of planned 1940s books. I hope to participate in that group too, but I've planned only to read Mrs. Miniver in January.
I'm not about to do the work on my series reading, but I love looking at yours. Thank you!
Best wishes for a 2019 full of purpose and good reading and reflecting! I look forward to watching.

Thank you to Stasia, Darryl, Harry, Kim, Jim, Hannah, Roni, Natalie, Micky, foggi, Rhian, Anita, Nora, Claire, Beth, Lori, calm, Dejah, Lynda, Mamie, Paul, Charlotte and Peggy for the new thread/new year good wishes! (If I missed anyone please shout).

>7 alcottacre: Well, we'll see how I get along. Some of those series have been on the currently reading list for a while now....

>10 Berly: It is a bit intimidating - but the idea is it stops me starting lots of series and then never continuing them. That's the theory anyway....

>12 HanGerg: We very much enjoyed the adaptation of The ABC Murders - I was a bit mystified by all the negative reactions to it. I did wonder if people were comparing the adaptation to earlier adaptations (e.g. David Suchet) rather than to the book because I've always found The ABC Murders fairly disturbing as a book and in general I don't find Christie a particularly 'cosy' author. Dan just reread the book and noted that there were lots of negative references to Poirot being a foreigner so, no I don't think that's just a modern spin. Of course some things in the adaptation were changed (no Hastings for example) but given how often they change the presence of secondary characters n the other Christie adaptations I don't view that as a big deal.

Glad you're enjoying watching it - the other recent Sarah Phelps adaptations are also worth checking out if you haven't seen them (she's done Ordeal by Innocence, And Then There Were None and Witness for the Prosecution in the past).

>14 curioussquared: Thank you! If you read modern series then fictfact.com can also be a good place to keep track. It doesn't have all the series I'm tracking so I don't use it exclusively (and sometimes I disagree with them about the series order too).

>20 Foxen: 'A Song of Ice and Fire: Latest book A Dance with Dragons by G. R. R. Martin (5/7?)

I see you 7?. Haha.'

Yeah. I've almost completely given up hope on him finishing the series.

>25 Dejah_Thoris: I hope you enjoy Time Was Dejah!

>29 Fourpawz2: She definitely has the best life Charlotte! I have the same resolution about participation but so far I think I've only managed to visit a handful threads in the 2019 group *welp*

>30 LizzieD: I'll be surprised if I get through all four of the books I've listed but I'll hopefully manage at least two. I like the fact there are spare months to catch up!

>31 souloftherose: you didn't miss me, I forgot to shout!

And I finished some books!



Book #1: The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman - 3.3 stars

The third instalment in the Invisible Library series sees Irene and Kai trying to stop Alberich from taking over The Library. These are light, fun reads and I'm happy to keep reading but don't feel immediately compelled to pick up the next book in the series. I am starting to feel that the times Irene can and can't use the Language to get out of various predicaments can be a bit arbitrary.



Book #2: A Fugue in Time by Rumer Godden (aka Take Three Tenses) - 3.5 stars

'The house, it seems, is more important than the characters. ‘In me you exist’,’ says the house.'

One of Rumer Godden's earlier novels - this was published in 1945 and tells the story of several generations of one family who have lived in the same London house for 99 years. The different time periods all blend together in this book as memories or ghosts arise in the characters mind's and the family changes from a late Victorian family with 9 children to the 1940s with only one of those children still in residence until they are joined by their great-niece from America. I find Godden's writing style very unique and very difficult to describe - all of her books are good but this was not her best and she revisits similar themes more successfully in China Court over a decade later. Still, I did enjoy this one.



Book #3: Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher - 4.5 stars

'“Would you like to go on a suicide mission?” she asked instead.
He smiled. It was the first genuine smile she’d seen all day.
“I would be honored,” he said.'

This fantasy tale really hit the spot for me - an angst-ridden paladin, a forger, an assassin and a misogynistic cleric are sent on a suicide mission (not entirely by choice for the most part) to discover a way to defeat the strange and apparently unstoppable army of creatures known as the Clockwork Boys who are attacking their land. There's a lot more joy and humour in the story than the plot makes it sound and a dash of romance but this is definitely only part one of the story (apparently the author split this into two novels due to the length). The second and concluding part, The Wonder Engine is already downloaded and on my kindle.

In terms of similar authors this reminded me of Bujold's books, especially the Penric stories and The Curse of Chalion (in fact one of the reasons I bought this was because Bujold gave it a positive review) and also Adrian Tchaikovsky's Spiderlight in the way the book riffs on typical fantasy tropes.

>3 souloftherose: Well, if you and Bujold give Clockwork Boys a positive review, how can I resist?

Oh yes - book number 3 is definitely going on the you-recommended list.

clockwork boys sounds right up my alley too.

>33 souloftherose: Oops, that's an automatic book bullet, even before you brought Bujold's name into it! And I have to laugh, because I seem to remember some angst back when you first acquired Erica, right? But so contented now, and beautiful to boot!

Whoops! Just realised I wandered through before but didn't actually post. :D

So, yeah---Happy New Year and Thread, Heather!

>31 souloftherose:

The references to "foreigners" are certainly present in the text of The ABC Murders: the murderer picks Poirot to be involved in his plot specifically because he's a foreigner and he wants to show him up; of course he assumes that he's too clever for any outsider. It's one of a number of Christie's books where she uses attitudes to Poirot to mock / criticise British insularity.

Wow, all of your first three reads look really good, Heather. What a great start to the year.

Looks like your reading is off to a good start for the year, Heather.

>33 souloftherose: Like everyone else, you got me with book #3. Any relationship to Bujold immediately recommends a book to me!

Also, Happy New Year and happy new thread!

>31 souloftherose: and >38 lyzard:. Fascinating insights into Poirot and the ABC murders. I guess I was one of those people that thought Christie was "cosy", but I'm beginning to revise my opinion. I read one of her books many years ago now and decided on that basis she wasn't for me, but I think I must give her another go - maybe starting with the book version of "ABC...". Mocking British insularity never seemed more vital!

You also hit me with Clockwork Boys, Heather. Nicely done!

>33 souloftherose: I just started The Burning Page today, Heather. Delightful as ever thus far and I'm pleased to see you continue to enjoy the series.

Hi, Heather. I love that Invisible Library series and can hardly wait for the next one. You've got me looking at The Clockwork Boys.

Happy New Year Heather! And happy new thread!



Wishing you and your family the best for 2019.

>33 souloftherose: Oh! A book bullet for Clockwork Boys.

Wow! Three books already! I finished one "real" book and a bunch of little board books that I read IL. lol. And I was pretty proud of myself.

>31 souloftherose: Ooh, I'll have to check out that site! Thanks for the rec :)

>34 Dejah_Thoris:, >35 Fourpawz2:, >36 avatiakh:, >37 ronincats:, >41 archerygirl:, >43 Crazymamie:, >45 jnwelch: Yay! I hope you all enjoy Clockwork Boys! (Now slightly nervous that I have misjudged the book and no-one will like it - shut up anxiety brain)

>37 ronincats: You don't misremember Roni. Erica was extremely nervous when we first got her and we were not very experienced cat owners so felt a bit overwhelmed at times. She has got a lot better with time although I think she will always be wary of new people but that's not that unusual with cats. I'm happy to say that I think she's pretty content with us now (except when we try to give her any flea treatment - but again, not that unusual with cats!)

>38 lyzard: *waves to Liz*

>39 BLBera:, >40 Familyhistorian: Thanks Beth and Meg!

>42 HanGerg: For seeing Christie as not cozy, my favourite books are the Miss Marple books - perhaps because they have a much more insular setting (often a small village) whereas Poirot travels more - maybe try Murder at the Vicarage or The Moving Finger?

The TV adaptation of the ABC Murders does get a lot more explicit about things than the Christie novel does (the seediness of the lodging house for example) but I tend to think those sorts of details would be understood by Christie's readers and so she wouldn't need to explicitly state it. The Phelps' adaptations show the darker side of Christie - the novels aren't consistently as dark as that but I think Phelps is highlighting the darkness that does exist rather than completely misreading or changing the text.

>44 MickyFine: Glad you're enjoying that one Micky!

>45 jnwelch: Happily I've still got a couple of books in the series to go before I'm having to wait for Cogman to write more Joe! I think I read somewhere that there should be another instalment in 2019 so hopefully you don't have too long to wait....

>47 The_Hibernator: Well I think one *real* book and a bunch of board books is pretty good going given all you've got on your plate Rachel! A couple of mine were only 200-250 pages so that helps too.

>48 curioussquared: No problem Natalie - hope you find it useful.

Heather, dagnabit, you didn't mention that The Clockwork Boys is only the first half of the story and that you need the second one close by!!

>49 souloftherose: Sleeping Murder is the Miss Marple I always find deeply creepy. And A Pocketful of Rye. You think the Marples will be light and fluffy because they feature a fluttery old woman, but they really, really aren't. Some of them get pretty dark, a few of them get really spooky. Definitely not cosy reads. But they're my favourites :-)

>51 archerygirl:

I've said this several times in my reviews---my observation is that most of Christie's nastiest, most cold-blooded murders occur in her Miss Marple stories.

It's also important to note, I think, re: the 'cosy' debate, that only a couple of the Miss Marples are actually set in a village: in most of them she's either out in the world or at least away from St Mary Mead.

O.K. The Clockwork Boys is up for my Kindle, and the sequel too. I sort of resent paying double price for what is not that huge a fantasy, but it looks too good to resist. Thanks for the recommendation, Heather!

>52 lyzard: Very true! And even ones that I remember being cosy (At Bertram's Hotel) aren't that cosy when I go back and reread. Maybe Christie felt she could get away with darker, nastier murders in a setting that looks so lovely on the surface?

Ooh, The Clockwork Boys and the Invisible Library series are going into my queue, along with China Court. Awesome!

>54 archerygirl:

I can see it as a kind of wolf in sheep's clothing thing, perhaps specifically to undermine the whole concept of the 'cosy'?

>33 souloftherose: Ooh, you got me too with Clockwork Boys. Good to see you, Heather!

>31 souloftherose: I saw the recent adaptations of And Then There Were None and Witness for the Prosecution. Will have to look for Ordeal by Innocence. I loved all the Poirot and Marple mysteries when I was in high school. I don't know that I read many other stories by Agatha Christie beyond those. And I feel obliged to drop this here:
https://sarahtales.livejournal.com/196423.html
Because this paean to Miss Marple cracks me up every time.

>50 ronincats: Sorry Roni! I did say it was only part one of the story in >33 souloftherose:... Anyway I'm guessing you liked it ok if you had to read the conclusion? :-)

>51 archerygirl: Sleeping Murder and A Pocket Full of Rye are probably also good creepy Marple recommendations - I haven't read either of those particularly recently so can't remember that much about them.

>52 lyzard: Good point Liz - I think I remember Miss Marple's adventures getting more exotic later on in the series (thinking of Caribbean Mystery in particular I suppose).

>53 LizzieD: Hope you enjoy those Peggy!

>54 archerygirl:, >56 lyzard: All the Christie talk is getting me back in a Christie reading mood - excellent :-)

>55 Foxen: Sorry (notsorry) Katie! Hope you enjoy those.

>57 justchris: Hi Chris - hope you enjoy Clockwork Boys.

Thank you for the link to the Christie/Marple musings - I loved the quote about her grandma:

'Though a cheerful person, she always expected the worst of everyone and everything and was, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right.'

It was only at the end of the article that I checked who the blogwriter was and realised it's an author (Sarah Rees Brennan) I read last year - In Other Lands which is a young adult novel which plays with a lot of portal fantasy tropes. So, there you go for weird serendipity.

-------------------------------------

Anyway, I had lots of plans this weekend for writing reviews, finally getting round to deciding on my best reads of 2018, making a dent in the threads etc. but came down with a cold so ended up mostly in bed/watching TV trying to throw it off. But I think it worked and I'm feeling quite a bit better now so off to the threads!

>33 souloftherose: I really need to get back to the Invisible Library series. I have not read beyond the first one and that was several years ago.

I bought Clockwork Boys for my tablet. Thanks for the recommendation, Heather!

>60 archerygirl: If you're going for a Christie reading, I definitely recommend Sleeping Murder and Pocket Full of Rye for creepy brilliance. Sorry you were ill, but I'm glad you're healing up!

>59 alcottacre: The Invisible Library is a fun series Stasia. And I hope you enjoy Clockwork Boys!

>60 archerygirl: Thanks Kathy!

At long last I've managed to decide on my favourite reads of 2018:

Top Five Books of 2018 for the LT list: Top 5 for the LT list: http://www.librarything.com/list/20276/all/Top-Five-Books-of-2018



The Five Books of Moses by Robert Alter
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
The Marvels by Brian Selznick
All Systems Red by Martha Wells (reread)

Honourable mentions - short fiction



A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow (short story - https://www.apex-magazine.com/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of...
The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal (short story - https://www.tor.com/2013/09/11/the-lady-astronaut-of-mars/)
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (novella)
Time Was by Ian McDonald (novella)
The Tea Master and the Detective/The Citadel of Weeping Pearls - Aliette de Bodard (novellas)
Field Biology of the Wee Fairies by Naomi Kritzer (short story - https://www.apex-magazine.com/field-biology-of-the-wee-fairies/)
Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger (novella)

Honourable mentions - longer fiction





My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris
The Curate’s Wife by E. H. Young
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Manners and Mutiny by Gail Carriger
Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
A Tyranny of Queens by Foz Meadows
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman

Hi Heather! Finally made it to your thread! I don't know how good or bad I'll be at keeping up this year... I make no promises, but I'm here now and wishing you a wonderful New Year! :-)

Seems I have wonderful timing, as I get the benefit of your favourites list. Now I don't feel so bad about not having done mine yet, but it does give me the incentive to start sorting it out. It'll be hard work though with 230+ books read. How to narrow it down with so many books I really loved?? I told you I went ahead and purchased My Favorite Thing is Monsters very soon after you suggested it, and so far I've only thumbed through it a couple of times and been utterly astonished at this woman's talent. I'm smiling in recognition and joy that you've gotten into the Robin Hobb books because they've been a true joy for me to discover too, and now I think of it I need to make room for them in 2019. I've been really curious about Evelyn Hardcastle but seen a lot of commenters say it's a very confusing plot to follow and given how difficult it is for me to follow a standard plot with my memory problems, I thought maybe I'd best stay away... what would you suggest?

Wishing you a wonderful reading year in 2019. Whatever happens, we always have our books and that's so terribly reassuring, isn't it?
Hugs to you my dear friend. xoxo

>63 Smiler69: Barging in, because Evelyn Hardcastle was one of my favorite reads (not top 5, but I think it would have made top 10 if I had done one), but I gave it to my father and I think he hates me now. (Not really, but it might be safe to say that he hates the book.) It is a pretty convoluted plot. My dad loves golden age mysteries (think Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers) so I thought the aspects of the plot that touched on that genre would appeal to him, but the more speculative aspects of how the main character moved through the story really threw him for a loop. So, maybe if you read a good deal of both mystery and time-travel speculative fiction, you would follow the plot more easily than he did.

Oooh, I keep hearing about Spinning Silver, and I've been on a fairy tale kick recently. May have to check that out.

Oh my, I'm happy seeing Lila in your Top 5, Heather! Not everyone felt the same way, but that one really got me. I loved seeing the story from her perspective.

>65 Foxen: I know you don't ask me, but I loved Spinning Silver as well as Uprooted. They are both great fairy tale retellings.

Lovely visual feast of books for your best of 2018. I haven't read many of them and now want to track lots of them down! I might have to do a "Best of..." list like that, it looks so pretty! But I have considerably fewer reads to choose from!
Loving all the Christie chat. The resolution has hardened in me to go and get my hands on some Christie's next time I'm at the library. I've noted all the Marples that people have recommended, and will try and start with those.
>57 justchris: Love that blog post! Incisive and hilarious. I love the idea of Miss Marple being the overlooked old lady that she decided to put front and centre so you couldn't overlook her. Even today, that is a pretty rare thing to do. It made me want to read Christie and something by the writer of the post!
My favourite bit: "Some weird kinky stuff goes down in Miss Marple’s books. Poirot was not ready for that jelly. Miss Marple’s like ‘Oh, I remember having that jelly at the village fair. Twenty years ago."

>62 souloftherose: I have not read one of those books! *tsk*
Now you have me thinking of my top 5.....some years I do that in Dec, but this year am behind....tsk again.
So much book pressure, right? ;)

Hi, Heather. Stopping by to drop a star. I noticed in >4 souloftherose: we are reading quite a few of the same series, but at different places. Have you ever checked out the website FictFact? Someone (perhaps Paul) mentioned it to me a few years ago and it has been wonderful in helping me keep track of the series I'm reading (much better than trying to keep track of them on LT). If you decide to join someday, please be sure to friend me there.

>70 rretzler: I do have an account on FictFact but I haven't kept track of it for a while. Thanks for the reminder! ('Scuse hijacking thread)

>62 souloftherose: OK, I have now added all of those to my 'list of lists' for 2018, which I am collecting. Spinning Silver is on a lot of the lists, so I am going to have to get to that one soon!

>62 souloftherose: Great lists, Heather. I've added some to my WL. Novik is getting a lot of LT love.

>63 Smiler69: I found it very difficult to narrow down the best of 2018 books too, Ilana, which is why I ended up with so many books on the list!

>63 Smiler69:, >64 foggidawn: I find it quite hard to say whether I'd recommend The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle in that case - I didn't find it complicated but I am starting to see reviews from other people who did. I think I'd agree with @foggidawn and say if you've read some mystery/crime fiction and some speculative fiction before then it would probably be ok.

>65 Foxen:, >67 dreamweaver529: Completely agree - I also really loved Uprooted but Spinning Silver was my favourite.

>66 jnwelch: I thought Lila was superb Joe, and it spoke very personally to me as well (as did the other books in this series by Robinson). There's a fourth book in the works but no news on whose perspective it will be told from. I love the way each book adds something to the others by showing events from someone else's perspective.

>68 HanGerg: Hope you enjoy the Marples Hannah!

>69 LovingLit: I know what you mean about book pressure Megan. :-)

>70 rretzler:, >71 humouress: Yes, fictfact is often a good resource. Not all of the series I'm reading are listed on that site so I find it helpful to keep my own list too.

>72 alcottacre: Oh wow, the list of lists sounds like a mammoth task Stasia.

>73 BLBera: Hi Beth! Yes, the Novik has certainly been popular in the group.

> 67: Thanks for the additional suggestion!

>74 souloftherose:

Heh! - I had to give up on FictFact: so many of my series were either not listed at all or listed out of order that it became a time sink rather than a help.

>76 lyzard: Yes, it could be another big time-sink for me too.



Book #4: Paper Girls, Vol 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang - 4.0 stars
Book #9: Lumberjanes Vol. 6: Sink or Swim by Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh and Carey Pietsch - 4.0 stars
Book #11: Lumberjanes Vol. 7: A Bird's-Eye View by Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh, Ayme Sotuyo and Carey Pietsch - 4.3 stars

Some graphic novel reading:

Paper Girls, Vol. 5 is the latest in Vaughan and Chiang's series about time-travelling paper delivery girls and apparently the penultimate volume too. More things are explained in this volume and it was a lot of fun to spend more time with the Paper Girls but I'm struggling to see how they can wrap everything up in just five more issues. This series has quite a twisty plot with all the time-travelling so I think I will do a reread of the series whenever the final trade paperback is released.

The Lumberjanes series continues to be more and more fun - Vol 7 was a particular favourite as it included magical kittens (amongst other things).

>74 souloftherose: I'm currently reading Evelyn Hardcastle and I found it a little confusing and hard to get into initially, but now it's grabbed me and I'm not struggling with the plot at all.

Hi Heather, I found your thread!

As always, I am very jealous of the amount of reading you have done already this year.

Lovely to see a picture of Erica. I Hope Dan is awap (as well as possible).

Miss you.

>77 souloftherose: The kittens are so delightful. I just finished the newest volume, Parents Day! and I can tell you there are some great stories ahead. :)

>74 souloftherose: >76 lyzard: I've had great success with adding series on FictFact - there is a way that you can add them yourself and it doesn't take a ton of time. For the series that are out of order, (Georges Simenon's Maigret series was one that was terrible) I found a site that had the correct books in the correct order and sent an email explaining the situation and they were fixed in less than a week typically. Just my experience, but I've added over 30 series and 300+ books to the site and had them correct at least 3 series (usually the older mystery series), and its worked great for me.

>62 souloftherose: Downloaded The Lady Astronaut of Mars and some other related short stories from Kowal's website and looking forward to reading them.

>74 souloftherose: >78 archerygirl: I think its the unexpectedness of the spec fic part that confuses one at first. It reads like a classic mystery, and then all of a sudden there is this other side to it that can leave you scratching your head until you finally get it!

Good reading start to the year as always, Heather.

Wishing you a lovely Sunday.

>78 archerygirl: Glad hyou 're enjoying it now Kathy.

>79 eclecticdodo: Hi Jo! We've both had colds this week so quite tired - I'm hoping I'll have a bit more energy in February.

>80 MickyFine: Good to hear Micky! I'm itching to get to the next volume - they are just so much fun to read.

>81 rretzler: I think I did put a request in for one series to be added or updated but now I can't remember which one! I think I remember looking at the Maigret series on fictfact but couldn't face trying to explain how to get the books in the right order so well done for that one! It doesn't help that sometimes the translated titles change depending on which edition you have.

That's a good point about the unexpectedness of the sff element to Evelyn Hardcastle.

>82 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul!

Book #5: The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher - 4.2 stars

This took longer to get going than the Clockwork Boys did but I enjoyed this one almost as much. Make sure you read Clockwork Boys first as this and The Wonder Engine are really one story taken together.



Book #6: In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire - 3.8 stars

Another instalment in Seanan McGuire’s lovely series of novellas about children who find their way through doors to other worlds and what happens to them afterwards. This one is the story of Lundy (who we know from Every Heart a Doorway) and her time in a world similar to Rosetti’s Goblin Market. It’s quite a sad tale and not my favourite of the series (that would be Down Among the Sticks and Bones but still very good.

Happy Birthday, Heather, although I suspect I am a touch late for your time zone. Hope you had a great one!

Oh my! I'm even later than Roni, but happy to come this close to wishing you a happy birthday, Heather. Hope it was a great day, to be followed by a great year!
I'm curious about *7 Deaths* (or is it *7½*???), so it's moved to my wish list.

Belated happy birthdat!

>84 souloftherose: I forgot the new McGuire novella was out! Time to order it, I think :-D

>85 ronincats:, >86 LizzieD:, >87 archerygirl: Thank you for the birthday wishes (belated ones are perfectly acceptable :-) )

I had the day off work (which I needed because I have been really tired lately) and we went out for lunch at a local restaurant which was really nice because we haven't been out for a meal for ages.

And I got books!

The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition by Ursula Le Guin and illustrated by Charles Vess
The Battle of the Villa Fiorita by Rumer Godden
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner

And a Waterstones giftcard :-)

>86 LizzieD: It's The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle in the UK, Peggy, and The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle in the US. Apparently there was another book with a similar title due to be published in the US (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo) so they changed the US name but not the UK one.

>87 archerygirl: Hope you enjoy the McGuire Kathy!

Book #7: Saplings by Noel Streatfeild - 4.4 stars

First published in 1945 and although the main characters of this novel are all children this is an adult novel rather than a children’s novel and quite different to the children’s stories by Streatfield that I’ve read (Ballet Shoes and White Boots).

The novel follows the four children of the Wiltshire family, a comfortably middle-class family, from the eve of WWII breaking out through to 1944. At first the four children (Laurel, Tony, Kim and Tuesday) are shown to be reasonably content and secure in their parents’ affections on a family holiday to the sea-side. But gradually we become aware through the conversations of the adults that change is coming; the family will be moving out of London to stay with their grandparents in the countryside as bombing is anticipated in London and the eldest children will be sent to boarding school as the grandparents can’t really manage all four children plus the additional evacuees they’ve been asked to take on. And as the war progresses there are further disruptions and tragedies for the children (and adults) to cope with.

Streatfeild certainly had a gift for writing from a child’s perspective and especially in describing how a child’s inner thoughts and feelings can be overlooked or misunderstood by even well-meaning and loving adults. She also had a gift for appreciating the psychological impact of the disruption and disturbance of war on otherwise comfortably off children in a way I wouldn’t have thought was so well understood at the time this novel was written. In that sense this is not a happy novel - none of the children are unaffected by what they’ve experienced - but it doesn’t end entirely without hope for them to process these experiences and recover from them. The book almost seems to be written as a plea for other grown-ups to acknowledge the psychological effects of the war on British children - yes, they won't have faced food shortages or the effects of war in the same way children in occupied Europe will have, but the effects of what they have suffered are still very real and need to be ackowledged.

Strongly recommended and definitely deserving of being republished.

>89 souloftherose: Ooh, I would be interested in reading that one!

Happy belated birthday, Heather. It sounds like you had a lovely day. >89 souloftherose: This goes on my WL - I loved Streatfield's "shoe" books.

Oh no, I'm late. Happy belated birthday Heather!

>88 souloftherose: Ooh, nice!

>89 souloftherose: sounds fascinating, and I'm excited for you about Lolly Willowes. Have you read it before? I have a VMC edition that I read a few years ago. It's very weird, but in a really good way!

>84 souloftherose: I love the cover on both of those.

>89 souloftherose: Nice writeup! I will have to see if I can find a copy. I don't have high hopes if it is out of print, but we'll see. And I missed your birthday, but I hope it is a wonderful year for you. : )

Long absence from LT thanks to coming down with a cold shortly after my birthday which seems to have hung around for a long time. I think today is the first day of feeling nearly better (yay!) - although I did still wake myself up at 3am coughing (grr). I was back at work this week from Wednesday onwards but worked from home Weds and Thurs rather than going into the office because I was still coughing so much.

>91 BLBera:, >92 humouress:, >95 Berly: Thank you for the birthday wishes!

>90 foggidawn:, >91 BLBera:, >95 Berly: Hope you enjoy Saplings! Kim - it is currently in print from Persephone Books. I think they can be harder to find in the US but Book Depository might have it.

>93 HanGerg: I haven't read Lolly Willowes before and am looking forward to it. I have a couple of Viragoes by STW on my shelf but have only read The Corner That Held Them which is about a group of nuns in a medieval convent. She seems like a very unusual author.

>94 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! They are both lovely covers aren't they? I think Tor have done a very good job with all of McGuire's Wayward Children series.

I have succumbed to a number of kindle book deals so far this year (I think I have basically given up trying to control my kindle acquisitions, especially when they're on sale - it costs so little money and I find it comforting to know they're there)

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin
The Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell
Semiosis by Sue Burke
Shelter by Dave Hutchinson
The Ack-Ack Macaque Trilogy by Gareth Powell

I have a lot of reviews to catch up on - I will probably end up just doing a list of some of them but a few comments whilst my latest read is still fresh in my mind:



Book #24: Uncanny Magazine Issue 25: November/December 2018 edited by Lynne and Michael Thomas - 4.5 stars

I have several back issues of Uncanny Magazine on my kindle but started reading this one because a couple of stories came particularly recommended. Highlights from this edition were:

How to Swallow the Moon by Isabel Yap - f/f fantasy novelette inspired by Filipino folklore about breaking out of expected roles (and I think this is the story the awesome cover art is inspired by)

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher is a funny short story which plays with the trope of women pining away after romantic encounters with the fae.

The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer is a lovely, moving novelette about a folklorist who collects ghost stories dealing with the loss of her mother. I've really enjoyed her short fiction in the past and would read pretty much anything Kritzer writes at this point.

My Name is Cybernetic Model XR389F, and I Am Beautiful by Monica Valentinelli - an author I haven't come across before but I really enjoyed this #metoo themed story from a robot's perspective.

An Account of the Land of Witches by Sofia Samatar is a reprint and a short story published in her collection Tender (which has gone on my reading list) - a story about slavery, oppression and modern day politics in Africa. It's one of those stories that leaves you uncertain what happened but I found it thought-provoking.

And in the essay section I particularly enjoyed There and Back Again by Sarah Goslee which takes the themes of sacrifice and associated costs from The Lord of the Rings and applies them to illness in real life.

'That is not our tale. Our story has no room for the broken, the changed, the poisoned and scarred. “There,” certainly, but we ignore “and back again.” Our narratives are simple: you fall bravely, fighting all the way, or you live happily ever after. (Either way, you are only here to inspire those around you, even those who never set foot on the road to Mount Doom.) The best stories limn the truth in tones of light and shadow. This tale has only glaring noon and blackest night.

We ignore the grays, push everything aside that fails to fit our story. Noticing the complexity would require also recognizing the randomness, the lack of control. The strongest fighters always win, because we pride ourselves on being strong. The story ends with the fight, because we cannot face the consequences of winning. (Losing is acceptable, if done bravely, because then we can be inspired and move on with our lives.) Ringbearers who come home live always in the light of noon, the winners. Those are the lies we force on each other.'

All stories and essays are available to read free here (or you can purchase an ebook version of the magazine in several formats): https://uncannymagazine.com/issues/uncanny-magazine-issue-twenty-five/

Thanks for the Evelyn Hardcastle explanation, Heather. I dropped by to say thanks for the nudge toward Clockwork Boys. It was cheap for Kindle, so I tried their sample and was furious when it broke off in mid-sentence. Now it's safely downloaded to be read, and I'm looking forward to it.

>99 LizzieD:. Oooh, it IS cheap on Kindle! Oops, I've bought it too!

>99 LizzieD:, >100 HanGerg: Hope you both enjoy Clockwork Boys.

As you can see I have made no progress in getting caught up with old reviews but I finished another book:



Book #25: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher - 4.0 stars

"I’ve been respectable for thirty-six years, and it got me locked in my own room by a grasping old woman who wanted me to marry her nasty clammy-handed son. I might as well try being less respectable for a while. If that means running off into the night with a man in a sword, so be it.”

Another very enjoyable T. Kingfisher story - this is set in the same world as the Clockwork Boys duology but this works as a standalone novel. A good dose of fantasy, romance and humour. I enjoyed the world and the characters, especially the female character Halla, who's constantly curious and asking questions. She's unusual in the heroine of a fantasy/romance in having no particular sword or sorcery skills and being (just) over the age of 35.

This is planned as part of a trilogy but this is a complete story on its own and I'm not even certain the other books in the trilogy will feature the same characters.

So, now I've caught up on T. Kingfisher's most recent releases I'm off to read her backlist.

I did a lot of Agatha Christie reading whilst I was off work with my cold:



Book #15: Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie - 3.8 stars
Book #18: Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie - 4.0 stars
Book #21: A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie - 4.0 stars

Cat Among the Pigeons is one of the Agatha Christie mysteries that involves a dash of international intrigue and I always have a soft spot for these. It's set at a girls' boarding school in the UK but involves hidden jewels and the female heir to the sheikdom of a fictitious Middle Eastern country which has fallen to a revolution. But what makes the book standout from the other stories of international intrigue (which whilst I enjoy, I wouldn't say they are generally AC's best works) are the characters of the various mistresses and schoolgirls who find themselves in the middle of all this and the inevitable multiple murders which follow. It's a Poirot but he doesn't turn up until almost the end of the book after one of the schoolgirls figures out what's going on and asks for his help.

The cover of my edition is fairly uninspiring but does at least contain objects referenced in the story.

Ordeal by Innocence - Two years ago Jack Argyle was convicted of the murder of his adoptive mother, Rachel Argyle, despite protesting his innocence, and subsequently died in prison. Now a stranger arrives to tell the Argyles he can prove Jack was innocent and is surprised to find that they are distressed by this news rather than overjoyed. But if Jack is innocent, someone else in the house must have been guilty of the murder....

Unusually for Christie this is light on murders and more focused on the psychological (and social) issues of this portrait of a very unhappy family. Like Streatfeild's Saplings, I thought this was a very astute look at the effects of disruption and displacement on Rachel Argyle's five adopted children.

The cover of my edition is even less inspiring than Cat Among the Pigeons.

A Pocket Full of Rye - Rex Fortescue is poisoned one day in his office but the type of poison used and when it must have been administered mean that suspicion falls on those at home rather than anyone in the office. Christie is very good at creating an atmosphere of deep unease and 'something wrong but can't quite put my finder on what' in what should otherwise be a well-off upper middle-class household. Miss Marple arrives to assist with this one fairly late in the day and is described as 'tall' in defiance of every TV adaptation (never noticed this before).

The link to the nursery rhyme feels less contrived than in some of Christie's other books (possibly because it's deliberately done by the murderer to cast suspicion elsewhere).

"I don't believe this was ever a happy house. I don't believe anybody was ever happy in it, in spite of all the money they spent and the things they had."

>102 souloftherose: I remember that when I saw Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, I was surprised that she looked quite tall (I must have imagined Miss M as small). Apparently, though, she was 5'4" - mind you, that's 4 inches she has on me.

Always enjoyable reading the Dame, Heather, although I'm not sure I could read too many one after the other.

Have a lovely weekend.

Hi, Heather.

My daughter and I have read all of Agatha Christie’s mysteries, except, for me, Curtain. I just can’t do that one. And we both re-read them. I recently re-read all three of the ones you just reviewed, and loved all of them. I didn’t remember that “Miss Marple is tall” part. She hasn’t been portrayed that way, has she. I’d love to see Helen Mirren give portraying her a go.

>103 humouress: I don't know the Marple adaptations as well as I know the Poirot ones and I think most of the Marples I've seen were the adaptations with Geraldine McEwan as Marple. No idea how tall she is but I wouldn't have said tall particularly.

>104 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul.

>105 jnwelch: Hi Joe! For Curtain, I read the book but haven't been able to bring myself to watch the David Suchet adaptation of that novel. Especially as it was the last one he filmed. I think I first read Curtain out of order and before I had read a lot of the other novels so it didn't have the same poignancy for me.

And Helen Mirren as Marple would be fantastic! I'd like to see Sarah Phelps adapt one of the Marple stories actually - she's done several stand-alones and a Poirot now and I think her darker take on Christie would work well with one of the Marple stories.

>106 souloftherose: I think I also read Curtain out of order. I read all of the Poirot novels some time ago, when I was a teenager. It would be a fun project to go back and read them in order, but there are just so many other books I want to read...

>107 foggidawn: Another group member, @lyzard, has been reading all of Agatha Christie's novels in order (and I have been mostly joining in). We started with The Mysterious Affair at Styles in Jan 2013 and reading roughly one a month we're up to the 1960s... Of course it wouldn't take as long if you just read the Poirot novels but there are still a lot to read!

It has been fun though, particularly seeing how the novels change over the decades to reflect different social concerns and issues. Also noticing how Poirot himself doesn't really get any older.... (I think Christie said she regretted writing him as an older man in the earlier books for that reason).

Book #14: 2001: An Odyssey in Words edited by Tom Hunter and Ian Whates - 4.0 stars

An anthology commissioned to commemorate the centenary of Arthur C. Clarke's birthday with the quirk that each story should be exactly 2001 words long. This was commissioned by the Arthur C. Clarke award and NewCon press (independent SF publisher in the UK) and authors who had previously been shortlisted for or won the Arthur C Clarke award were asked to contribute new fiction.

I initially wondered whether the strict word requirement would mean the quality of the stories would suffer but on reading I really couldn't see that this was the case and this was a very strong anthology.

Of particular note were:

Golgotha by Dave Hutchinson where a priest gets involved with first contact.
Murmuration by Jane Rogers - another first contact story but this time with a tragic end.
Dancers by Allen Stroud where an AI called HAL seems to be going wrong.
The Ontologist by Liz Williams - would struggle to explain what this one was about but it was beautiful.
The Collectors by Adrian Tchaikovsky where the remains of an ancient alien civilisation are discovered.
Roads of Silver, Paths of Gold by Emmi Itaranta - where ancient myth and aliens meet.
Last Contact by Becky Chambers (I think the title is explanation enough)
Ten Landscapes of Nili Fossae by Ian McDonald - art on Mars
Providence by Alastair Reynolds - a final sacrifice made to save the human race.

Some great stories by authors I knew I already liked and some new authors to look out for too (Jane Rogers, Allen Stroud and Liz Williams were new to me).

>109 souloftherose:. Ooh, that sounds great! Where did you get your hands on that? Is it on the Kindle?

Not a great short story fan, but that anthology does look interesting. Liz Williams is a good author--I really love her Inspector Chen novels starting with Snake Agent. There are five of them.

>108 souloftherose:

She wasn't expecting to be writing him for another 40-plus years. :D

Mind you...if you assume him to be about forty years old on first introduction, that isn't an outrageous stretch. He did fight in WWI, after all, so he couldn't have been that old to start with.

As for Miss Marple, if she was 60-ish in 1930...hmm...

>109 souloftherose: This sounds good, Heather.

Thanks for the Sarah Moss recommendations!

>110 HanGerg: Yep, it's on kindle (https://www.amazon.co.uk/2001-Odyssey-Honouring-Centenary-Clarkes-ebook/dp/B07DT6LWJ6/). I think it was originally funded from a Kickstarter campaign (and I dithered over whether to support that way) but ended up not getting round to it for some reason. But anyway, also available to buy through normal channels.

>111 ronincats: Hi Roni! Yes, I realised when writing the review that it was the same Liz Williams who wrote the detective stories (which I haven't read but had a vague recollection had been recommended by you) - I hadn't also realised she'd also written science fiction and that one of her sf novels (Banner of Souls) had been shortlisted for the Clarke award. That one's appealing to me based on the reviews.

In general, I've been reading more short fiction since last year and increasingly finding that I really enjoy it. It helps being able to read short fiction published online on a smartphone rather than a computer screen (and even easier to read on kindle when available in that format).

>112 lyzard: She wasn't expecting to be writing him for another 40-plus years. :D

True! And good point about Miss Marple's age too.

>113 BLBera: Hi Beth!

Book #10: The Real-Town Murders by Adam Roberts - 3.9 stars

I've been meaning to try more of Adam Roberts' books after enjoying By Light Alone a few years ago - he's a British science fiction author who's quite prolific and I think tries to write a different type of science fiction novel each time. The Real-Town Murders seems to be his take on a science-fiction/noir thriller with lots of Hitchcock references thrown in (the famous H even makes a guest-appearance). It starts as a locked-room mystery but then changes into more of a pursuit type thriller and it's teeming with references and puns (and I''m sure I didn't pick up on all of them). Sort of Alfred Hitchcock meets Jasper Fforde maybe? I enjoyed this and plan to make up the sequel (By the Pricking of Her Thumb) from the library.

Book #13: Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho - 4.0 stars

A reread of this Regency fantasy because someone listed it in the January TIOLI challenge and I thought it would be fun to reread before the next book in the series comes out in March. I enjoyed this much more as a reread - on first reading I spent most of the book too concerned about the peril Zacharias was in and frustrated by how little attention Prunella paid to the impending peril and this time (probably because I knew it would work out) I was more able to enjoy the humour arising from their miscommunication. But more generally this is a great Regency fantasy that addresses some of the inequalities of the era (and the present) by bringing minority voices to the fore.

Book #19: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany - 4.0 stars

I'd put off reading this HP sequel for ages because there of some negative reviews when this first came out and also because I couldn't decide how I felt about there being a HP sequel, it being a play and reading a script.

And having read this I understand why some people were disappointed. It is a script rather than a novel and (if I've understood the authorship correctly) the script was written by Jack Thorne based on a story by Thorne, Rowling and Tiffany. In that sense it's fanfiction (and I don't mean that as a derogatory term as many use it) - I think Thorne stayed faithful to the world Rowling created but unlike the original HP books there isn't much additional information about the world or depth added to the world. I can understand why some people were disappointed but I found it a really fun read and I got used to the script format very quickly. And I think it would make a great play (have started dropping hints to the husband about future big birthday plans).

Book #20: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman - 4.0 stars

I've been wanting to read this collection by Gaiman for ages and it didn't disappoint.

>115 souloftherose: Your reaction to Cursed Child matched mine :-D And I really should look into seeing it, now that I live in England...

Hello, Heather! You got me with The Real-Town Murders - I am a huge Hitchcock fan, so that sounds right up my alley.

>115 souloftherose: Hmm; Adam Roberts, you say. And I’ve been wondering about the Zen Cho. I didn’t realise it’s a Regency romance. Maybe, maybe ...

>116 archerygirl: See, there are advantages.

>115 souloftherose: I've got Norse Mythology in my TBR queue for the year since I decided to focus on reading the books I own. I have a good variety in there, so I won't mind reading what I have. I don't know why I haven't focused more on it in the past.

Hi, Heather.

I've created the thread for the group read of The Kellys And The O'Kellys - here.

No hurry about starting, though. :)

>116 archerygirl: Oh definitely worth looking into seeing The Cursed Child now you're in the UK I think. I haven't checked recently to see how far ahead they're booking to now but I think they do some kind of Friday release each week for final tickets for the following week. I just haven't been organised enough to look into it (plus get my head round part 1 and part 2 and how to see the two shows).

>117 Crazymamie: I thought of you when reading The Real-Town Murders Mamie :-)

>118 humouress: I think you'd like Sorcerer to the Crown Nina. I'm looking forward to The True Queen coming out later this month.

>119 The_Hibernator: It's a good one Rachel - I hope you enjoy it.

>120 lyzard: Thanks Liz.

>121 souloftherose: Well, that's lovely. I am honored.

Book #8: Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson - 4.5 stars
Book #23: Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson - 4.0 stars
Book #30: Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson - 4.5 stars

So, dragging my feet when it comes to reviews has paid off because now I can review this series in one hit - yay!

Not pictured or listed above is the first book in the series, Europe in Autumn (EiA) which I read back in 2016. Then I got sidetracked and didn't get round to the next books in the series until suddenly the final book, Europe at Dawn, came out at the end of last year. Europe at Midnight, (EaM) the second book, works as a companion or standalone sequel to EiA so you could start with EaM if you wanted to. But to read Europe in Winter and Europe at Dawn you really need to have read the first two books.

This is an excellent and I think underappreciated science fiction series (underappreciated when judged by no. of copies anyway, it's won and been nominated for awards and most of the reviews are very positive) but it's very difficult to describe. I will give it a go anyway.

Set in a near-future Europe after the EU has broken up and the countries we know today have started to split into smaller and smaller sub-states, travelling across Europe or getting goods across Europe has become increasingly difficult and a new informal organisation of couriers has sprung up to fill a gap in the market.

'The raison d’être of Les Coureurs des Bois was quite simple. In these days of new borders, new nations, it was quite often impossible for ordinary mail and courier firms to carry things across frontiers. Any firm wanting to stay within the law of these new national entities would inevitably come to a complete stop amid a blizzard of visas and new regulations. It was sometimes possible to route mail around emergent polities, but getting it in and out could prove tricky. Which was where Les Coureurs came in, offering safe and discreet movement of documents, secrets, parcels, packages and sometimes even people anywhere in Europe.'

(And yes, this does all seem terrifyingly prescient of Brexit especially given the first books were written and published before the referendum).

So it's a science-fictional Le Carre mash up and that's what takes up most of the first book. But in addition to this there's also some kind of parallel universe where countries have been created sitting alongside and on top of the Europe in the book and there are ways to pass between the two and in the later books this adds a new dimension (hah!) to the espionage and conspiracies our characters get caught up in.

Hutchinson is a British author but there's a definite European focus to these novels with scenes across the whole of Europe. I'm finding it very difficult to explain why but I loved this series (even if I'm still not sure I understood it all) and Hutchinson has definitely become an author whose books I will seek out. I think this series is finished but he's starting writing a collaborative post-apocalyptic series with Adam Roberts (from >115 souloftherose:) of which I have the first book, Shelter, on my kindle.

>122 Crazymamie: When I figured out they were Hitchcock references you immediately came to mind :-)

Hi Heather, I'm glad to see you're still enjoying LumberJanes! I read the first two in the series and really enjoyed them. You've inspired me to check my library for the next couple.

>123 souloftherose: I've never heard of these books, Heather, but you have certainly put them on my horizon. My library has the first two but only in audiobook, which is so not my modality.

>123 souloftherose: Well,now you got me again! Onto The List it goes. Your thread is a very dangerous place for me, Heather.

>123 souloftherose:. Oooooh! I have never heard of this! It sounds right up my street! Where would you recommend starting? Just read these three or go back to the first one?
>127 Crazymamie: Ditto!

Ok, re-reading the review, I see you suggest reading all four. Noted!

>123 souloftherose: I like the sounds of those. I have a feeling that J might have the first one in the series, I must investigate...

>123 souloftherose: Will look out for that series, Heather. Near future fiction is fascinating - especially reading it a few years after it was written and seeing how right or wrong the author was.

>125 Carmenere: Yes, still loving the LumberJanes! I need to order the next in the series from the library but I'm trying to get caught up with a few other series first.

>126 ronincats:, >127 Crazymamie:, >128 HanGerg:, >129 HanGerg:, >130 SandDune:, >131 PaulCranswick: Woo hoo! Glad to see so much interest in the series!

>126 ronincats: Roni - sorry to hear your library only has the audio versions.
>129 HanGerg: You could start with either Europe in Autumn or Europe at Midnight but you definitely need to have read both of those to move on with the series.
>130 SandDune: Hopefully J has a copy you can borrow, Rhian :-)

Book #12: Ms. Marvel, Vol. 7: Damage per Second by G. Willow Wilson - 2.5 stars
Book #17: Ms. Marvel, Vol. 8: Mecca by G. Willow Wilson - 3.0 stars
Book #32: Ms. Marvel, Vol. 9: Teenage Wasteland by G. Willow Wilson - 3.7 stars

The Ms. Marvel series has been one of my favourite series from Marvel so I was very disappointed to find that I didn't really enjoy some of the latest volumes as much as I'd hoped. I thought Damage Per Second was trying too hard with its message (young people should vote and internet trolls are bad) - whilst I agreed with the messages I found the approach a bit heavy handed, perhaps because I'm not really the target audience (teens). Mecca had similar issues but included a final story where Ms. Marvel meets a Pakistani superhero, Red Dagger, which was more fun. Teenage Wasteland improved again and was a fun story about her friends taking on the Ms. Marvel role whilst Ms. Marvel takes a break. Hopefully the series has got back on track.

>123 souloftherose: I've read *EiA*, Heather, and liked it very, very well - enough to put at least the next one on my Kindle. I'm not sure that I knew that there was a 4th. Off to check it out now!

>123 souloftherose: Looks like an interesting series--like I need antoher one of those! LOL But thank you.

I just saw Captain Marvel last night in the theater and it was fun. I haven't read any of the comics so I had nothing to judge against, but I do know that there were some references that went over my head because my daughter kept whispering things in my ear. Not that it mattered; I was good without the added knowledge, but I want to go watch some Avengers movies now. : )

>115 souloftherose: I thought much the same about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I also was not convinced that the difficulties of writing a good time travel story were surmounted here in the clever way that Rowling had managed it in the Prisoner from Azkaban.

>123 souloftherose: You got me with the Europe books - I've just put Europe in Autumn onto my wishlist :-)

Hi Heather. The Real-Town Murders are on my WL.

I hope the Ms. Marvel books get back on track.

Did you watch the film, 'Captain Marvel'? I'm assuming it's about the same character.

We watched it last night; the usual superhero romp, but I'm a fan.

Right, I sort of dropped off the LT radar a bit. Life, plus work, plus politics (aaargh). I'm just going to list the books I've read and not commented on to try to get up to date.

>134 LizzieD: The fourth book is only recently released Peggy (November I think?). Hope you enjoy the rest of the series.

>135 Berly:, >139 humouress: The Captain Marvel film (which I absolutely loved) is based on a different character from the Marvel universe. Kelly Sue DeConnick did a great series of comics about Captain Marvel which influenced the recent film a lot. Start with Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: In Pursuit of Flight which is the first trade paperback. Or in an omnibus edition called Captain Marvel: Earth's Mightiest Hero Vol. 1 which includes the first two trade paperbacks. I bought my own copies of these after seeing the film because I really enjoyed the DeConnick series.

The Ms. Marvel in the G. Willow Wilson series is a different character - a Pakistani American teenager from Jersey City who has been a fan of Captain Marvel for a long-time and adopts a similar name in honour of her hero when she gets her own superpowers. Start with Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal.

And yes, we've also been going back through the other Marvel movies since watching Captain Marvel :-)

>136 sirfurboy: Agreed, it wasn't up to Rowling's standards and I wonder if people would have been less upset if it hadn't been sold with her name so prominently?

>137 archerygirl: Enjoy! I think the main complaint I saw about the first book was a shortage of female characters but that changes in the later books.

>138 BLBera: Hope you enjoy The Real-Town Murders Beth. I have a library trip planned later to hopefully pick up the next in the series.

Right, so an update of books read. Because I've been writing up thoughts as the mood takes me some of these were read in February and one is from January (I kept hoping I would get some coherent thoughts about that one!).

January
Book #16: Helliconia Winter by G. Willow Wilson - 2.5 stars

February
Book #22: The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden - 4.0 stars
Book #26: Belinda by Maria Edgeworth - 4.0 stars
Book #27: The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang - 3.5 stars
Book #28: Embers of War by Gareth Powell - 3.7 stars
Book #29: The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark - 4.0 stars

March
Book #31: Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda - 4.0 stars
Book #33: Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree, Jr. - 4.5 stars
Book #34: Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce - 3.2 stars
Book #35: Phosphorus: A Winterstrike Story by Liz Williams - 3.8 stars
Book #36: The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie - 3.2 stars
Book #37: Saga: Volume 8 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples - 4.0 stars
Book #38: Saga: Volume 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples - 4.3 stars
Book #39: The Kellys and the O'Kellys by Anthony Trollope - 3.8 stars
Book #40: Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear - 3.8 stars
Book #41: The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie - 4.8 stars
Book #42: The True Queen by Zen Cho - 4.1 stars

Honourable mentions to the following:

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree, Jr. - this collection of short stories took me several months to read due to the almost unrelenting bleakness of these stories and not to the quality. Tiptree was an astonishing writer but these stories focus on the dark side of human nature and I needed time to digest them. Given how often her topic was the oppression of women by men I'm also surprised more people didn't realise it was a woman writing these stories but I suppose as they so often present as stories written from the male perspective it was easier to assume they were written by a man? I'd definitely like to read more about Tiptree's life.

Saga: Volume 9 - bringing the series up to date but not to an end. The ending of this volume is a huge cliffhanger but this continues to be one of the best graphic novel series. I think the authors are taking a brief break so not sure when the next volume will be out.

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie - this standalone fantasy was one of the my most anticipated releases of this year and I had it pre-ordered. But then I've been so tired and low on energy this month I put off starting it (sometimes I struggle to start new books if I'm tired). It was brilliant but properly deserved saving until I had some attention to give it because it uses a few narrative techniques which took a little getting used to and I know some reviewers haven't liked (most of the story is told in second person which I think is a big no-no for some people). I think it worked really well as a narrative technique and as usual Leckie does a lot of unusual things with narration and language. Very, very good.

The True Queen by Zen Cho - another new release and a standalone sequel to Sorcerer to the Crown. This is a Regency fantasy novel by a Malaysian author currently based in the UK and this series is the closest I've found to a Georgette Heyer fantasy novel but with more diversity (as you'd expect from a Malaysian author). In this book we spend more time in Malaysia (Janda Baik) and in Faerie than in the first book which was more focused on England. I enjoyed the dialogue and find this series quite comforting and a lot of fun. Cho has several short story collections and shorter pieces of fiction in her back catalogue which I'm meaning to work my way through.

Well, my presence on LT is a bit sporadic at the moment, too.

>141 souloftherose: The Raven Tower is the next book for our book club, but we're having difficulties getting hold of it. It's not on Overdrive for any of my three libraries, so it looks like I'll have to buy it in some form or another - something I'm reluctant to do without being fairly sure I'll like it. Well, I did like her Ancillary Justice, as far as I got with it (I borrowed it from the library in Sydney when I was on holiday there and didn't have time to finish it).

I've suggested Sorceror to the Crown to the book club. I had one enthusiastic thumbs up for the Georgette Heyer vibe - but no word from the guys in the group yet.

>141 souloftherose: I loved Sorcerer to the Crown and have The True Queen on hold. Glad you enjoyed it!!

Hello Heather! I'm glad you enjoyed The raven tower - I haven't seen any bad reviews for it yet so I'm going to have to try and find a copy. And I'll also keep a look out for The true queen because the focus on Malaysia sounds interesting.

>142 humouress: Hi Nina. That's a tough one re The Raven Tower - I also tend not to buy books by authors I haven't read before unless they're on offer.

I hope you can persuade your book group re Sorcerer to the Crown!

>143 curioussquared: I hope you enjoy The True Queen!

>144 Sakerfalcon: Hi Claire! The Raven Tower was really good and I also think you'd enjoy The True Queen too (not sure why I can't get the touchstone for TTQ to work today).

------------------------------------------------

I'm still struggling with health and depression at the moment so have not been spending much time on LT again. Hoping to get round the threads a bit this evening.



Book #43: Gods, Monsters and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson - 3.7 stars

A Tor.com novella that has made both the Nebula and Hugo shortlists this year - there's a lot of world-building for a short work but I enjoyed what I could get my head round. There's a post-apocalyptic world where a group are hired to time travel back to 2024 BCE to analyse the ancient Tigris and Euphrates rivers. I liked the relationships and team dynamics especially the fact that there were older protagonists mixed with younger and the look at the relationship dynamics between the two. I'd definitely be interested in reading more set in this world.

This is the only one of the Hugo nominees for novella that I have not read, and I need to!

Hi, Heather - very sorry to hear you're going through a rough time. I hope you enjoyed The Pale Horse, which of course I'm selfishly pleased you finished. Take care of yourself!

I hope things get better soon for you, Heather.

Wishing you well, Heather.

I hope a weekend of good book and relaxation makes the world seem brighter.

Peace, Heather. I hope that this is a recreative weekend for you.
Meanwhile, I have taken a BB for Sorcerer to the Crown and Real-Town Murders. I read By Light Alone and enjoyed it. And I bought a Kindle copy of The Raven Tower, so your review makes me look forward to it even more than I was. Thank you!

>146 ronincats: It is a good one Roni, probably not my overall favourite from the novella list but then I think it is a very strong list this year. And I am impressed that I managed to read all the novellas before the shortlist was announced!

>147 lyzard: Thanks Liz! I was pleased I managed to get The Pale Horse finished in the right month for a change!

>148 BLBera:, >149 PaulCranswick:, >150 LizzieD: Thanks Beth, Paul and Peggy - I'm doing ok-ish, not worse, maybe a little better - these things take time.

>150 LizzieD: Sorcerer to the Crown is very good and I hope you enjoy The Real-Town Murders. And The Raven Tower I think may be a love or hate book but I loved it so I hope you do too and glad you could get a deal on the kindle copy.

Final two March books:



Book #44: The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie - 3.2 stars

My memory of Christie's novels is that the 1960s published ones weren't my favourites and I remembered The Pale Horse being a particularly strange one. I don't think rereading it changed my mind - there's even more misdirection than is usual in a Christie novel and I felt the solution came a little bit out of nowhere (although perhaps I wasn't paying sufficient attention). It has a strong creepy, witchcraft vibe and a fair amount of commentary on how life was changing at the end of the 1950s (there were young people in Chelsea cafes) but on rereading this one still didn't quite hang together for me.

One thing I only picked up on from reading other people's reviews is how many recurring characters we meet in this book. Of course I recognised Mrs Oliver but I overlooked characters from Cards on the Table and The Moving Finger.



Book #45: Good Daughters by Mary Hocking - 3.8 stars

Recommended by several members of the Virago group several years ago, this trilogy following a British family through WWII has been languishing on my shelves since then until prompted by this year's theme read. Good Daughters is the first book and follows the three teenage daughers of the Fairley family from 1933 until 1938/39. It took me a while to get into this because at the beginning it felt more like a collection of vignettes about the Fairley family than a novel but as the book progressed I got more drawn in and the ending was very moving. Looking forward to picking up the next book soon.

And in other news, I have a new nephew (#3) and he has a new baby blanket I crocheted. I struggle to get good pictures of blankets, especially when the pattern gives them a texture too but first picture is the blanket flat and the other pictures give a bit of an idea of the texture and stitches.

>153 souloftherose: That is lovely!

Congrats on the new nephew! Beautiful blanket!

Congrats on being an Auntie again! He is a lucky kid to get a blankie like that. Well done.

>153 souloftherose: Wow, what an accomplishment! It's a lovely blanket.

Heather, congratulations - I have nineteen nieces and nephews, and the oldest one just turned 39, which left me staggering a bit. Your blanket is gorgeous - what a thoughtful and personal gift. Lucky nephew.

>153 souloftherose: Gorgeous, Heather! Love the colors and the pattern. Lucky nephew. And I just brought The True Queen home from the library today and will be starting it tonight.

>153 souloftherose: OH. MY. GOODNESS! That's AWESOME!!!!!

>153 souloftherose: Stunning and unusual!

>153 souloftherose: Sorry you've not been feeling great :-( But that blanket is gorgeous and congrats on the new nephew!

The Raven Tower and The True Queen are both on my wishlist :-)

>153 souloftherose: That is lovely, Heather.

>153 souloftherose: Beautiful! thanks for posting the photos. You've got a lucky nephew.

>153 souloftherose: Nice!

>154 SandDune:, >155 MickyFine:, >156 Berly:, >157 foggidawn:, >158 Crazymamie:, >159 ronincats:, >160 LizzieD:, >161 quondame:, >162 archerygirl:, >163 BLBera:, >164 jnwelch:, >165 kidzdoc: Thank you to Rhian, Micky, Kim, Foggi, Mamie, Roni, Peggy, Susan, Kathy, Beth, Joe and Darryl for the blanket love and congratulations on my nephew! I haven't met him in person yet but we have a week away in Shropshire planned next month and my SIL lives almost exactly in the middle of our drive so hopefully we can stop off for some cuddles on the way.

>158 Crazymamie: Wow, nineteen?! It does go very fast - I'm already astounded that my goddaughter (4) is 2/3 through her first year of school and my eldest nephew is at pre-school and starting school next year.

New thread coming up and hopefully some comments on April reading.

New thread here. Please come and join me.