The Dusty Bookcase: rabbitprincess returns to the library in 2026

I took 2025 off from the Category Challenge to focus on completing my master's degree. Now that the hardest part is done, I am returning to the library to read all those books I didn't have time for last year. So this year's theme is "books about books".

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop - General fiction
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library - General non-fiction
Murder By the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles - Mystery
The Book of Forgotten Authors - History
What Makes This Book So Great - SFF
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops - Audio
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction - French
The Snooty Bookshop - Plays
Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading - Rereads
The Illustrated Dust Jacket - Graphic novels and miscellaneous books
The Dusty Bookcase: A Journey Through Canada's Forgotten, Neglected, and Suppressed Writing - Catch-up pile

In addition to reading from categories, I like to try to read more of my own books with the folks at ROOT (Read Our Own Tomes). I'm feeling ambitious and will go for 60 ROOTs this year.



I will also be participating in my personal 2-for-1 TBR challenge. Basically, for every book I buy, I read two books I already own to "pay off" the book I bought. Rereads don’t count for me, but gifts and gift-card-purchased books, duplicate/replacement copies of books I already own, own copies of books I’ve read from the library, and freebies don’t count against me :D (Even with these generous allowances, and even with counting the individual books in an omnibus separately, it’s still a hard slog…)

Last year's ticker started at 147. This year's ticker is starting at 199. The increase is mostly attributable to a couple of ebook bundles from Humble Bundle.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop - General fiction

This category will include short story collections.

1. The Children of Jocasta, by Natalie Haynes
2. Karla's Choice, by Nick Harkaway
3. Final Orbit, by Chris Hadfield
4. Don't Make a Sound, by David Jackson
5. The Lie Maker, by Linwood Barclay

What You Are Looking for Is in the Library - General non-fiction

This category will include essay collections.

1. 111 Places in Edinburgh That You Shouldn't Miss, by Gillian Tait
2. Endurance: The Discovery of Shackleton's Legendary Ship, by John Shears and Nico Vincent
3. Iconic Transit Maps: The World's Best Designs, by Mark Ovenden
4. The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk, and Luck, by David Spiegelhalter
5. The First Rule of Safety Culture: A Counter-C-Word Manifesto, by Carsten Busch
6. Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock, by Jonathan Gould
7. Preparing for the Perimenopause and the Menopause, by Dr Louise Newson
8. Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World, by Kathryn Hughes
9. The Forgotten Sense: The New Science of Smell and the Extraordinary Power of the Nose, by Jonas Olofsson
10. The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Guide: Advice and Tools to Help You Run Your Best Game Ever!, by James D'Amato
11. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, by Paul McCartney with Ted Widmer
12. Retro: Popular Music in Canada from the 60s, 70s and 80s, by Judith Klassen
13. Killed by a traffic engineer : shattering the delusion that science underlies our transportation system, by Wesley E. Marshall
14. Fire Eaters: The People and Aircraft Combatting Wildfires Over the Last Century, by Peter Pigott

Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles - Mystery

Plenty to choose from here!

1. The Black Swan Mystery, by Tetsuya Ayukawa, translated by Bryan Karetnyk
2. Murder After Christmas, by Rupert Latimer
3. Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles, ed. Martin Edwards
4. Gideon's Lot, by J. J. Marric
5. The Dark Wives, by Ann Cleeves
6. Rear Window and Other Stories, by Cornell Woolrich
7. The Noh Mask Murder, by Akimitsu Takagi, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
8. Great Tales of Detection, ed. Dorothy L. Sayers
9. The Puzzle of the Happy Hooligan, by Stuart Palmer
10. Quand sort la recluse, by Fred Vargas

The Book of Forgotten Authors - History

This category will include both fiction and non-fiction.

1. Penelope’s Bones: A New History of Homer’s World Through the Women Written Out of It, by Emily Hauser
2. Queen Macbeth, by Val McDermid

What Makes This Book So Great - SFF

Most of my non-thesis reading in 2025 was Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books as part of the Cosmere Buddy Read on Litsy. So although I wasn't reading large numbers of books, I was reading large numbers of pages (one book was about 1300 pages in paperback). The buddy read continues into 2026!

1. The Diary of River Song, Series 7 (Big Finish audio drama)
2. Doctor Who: Evolution, by John Peel
3. The Crystals of Z'leth: A 5E Survival Solo Adventure, by Daniel Howard
4. Doctor Who: The Time Meddler, by Nigel Robinson
5. Shadows of Self, by Brandon Sanderson
6. The Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson
7. Dragons of Autumn Twilight, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
8. Doctor Who: The Gods of Winter, by James Goss (audio, read by Clare Higgins)
9. The Lost Metal, by Brandon Sanderson
10. Tress of the Emerald Sea, by Brandon Sanderson
11. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, by Brandon Sanderson
12. The Masquerades of Spring, by Ben Aaronovitch
13. Artemis, by Andy Weir
14. The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops - Audio

Let's be honest: most of the books here will likely be Doctor Who audio dramas.

1. The Diary of River Song, Series 7 (Big Finish audio drama)
2. Doctor Who: The Gods of Winter, by James Goss, read by Clare Higgins

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction - French

I usually aim to read about two French books per year. I have to buy my French books because I take too long to read them from the library.

1. Quand sort la recluse, by Fred Vargas

The Snooty Bookshop - Plays

Three plays per year is my usual target.

1. Dancing at Lughnasa, by Brian Friel

Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading - Rereads

I think it's important to carve out time specifically for re-reading, otherwise I'd never do it. I usually aim for six rereads per year.

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle
2. Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne, translated by an uncredited translator :(

The Illustrated Dust Jacket - Graphic novels and miscellaneous books

Probably going to be mostly cat-related manga and Doctor Who comics.

1. Pizza Witch, by Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins
2. Physics for Cats, by Tom Gauld
3. A Man and His Cat, Vol. 14, by Umi Sakurai, translated by Taylor Engel
4. Cat Massage Therapy, Vol. 3, by Haru Hisakawa, translated by Anh Kiet Ngo
5. A Song for You and I, by K. O'Neill
6. A Man and His Cat, Vol. 15, by Umi Sakurai, translated by Taylor Engel

The Dusty Bookcase: A Journey Through Canada's Forgotten, Neglected, and Suppressed Writing - Catch-up pile

On Litsy I participate in a challenge called "Roll100", in which you make a list of 100 titles you want to read for the year, then each month the host picks three random numbers from 1 to 100, and you read the titles on your list that match those numbers.

Because I was reading so little last year, I have a backlog of Roll100 titles that I want to get to. Let’s see how many I can check off the list.

✔ The Diary of River Song, Series 7 (Big Finish audio drama) (in progress at the end of 2025)
British Sea Power: How Britain Became Sovereign of the Seas, by David A. Horwath
✔ Quand sort la recluse, by Fred Vargas
L’armée furieuse, by Fred Vargas
✔ Dancing at Lughnasa, by Brian Friel
Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens
✔ Doctor Who: Evolution, by John Peel
Redgauntlet, by Sir Walter Scott
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
Force 10 from Navarone, by Alistair MacLean
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Chris Hadfield (audio, read by the author)
✔ Rear Window and other stories, by Cornell Woolrich
The Border Keeper, by Kerstin Hall
✔ Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles, ed. Martin Edwards
Doctor Who: Shutdown, by Matt Fitton (Big Finish audio drama)
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, by Sarah Vowell
Terminal Shock, by Franklin W. Dixon
✔ Don’t Make a Sound, by David Jackson
UNIT 1.1: Time Heals, by Iain McLaughlin (Big Finish audio drama)
Blood, Tears and Folly, by Len Deighton
The King’s General, by Daphne du Maurier
Lord and Master, by Nigel Tranter
Doctor Who: The Left-Handed Hummingbird, by Kate Orman
The Queen’s Grace, by Nigel Tranter
Gideon’s March, by J.J. Marric
Henry VI, Part 3, by William Shakespeare
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Age 13 3/4, by Sue Townshend
La fée carabine, by Daniel Pennac
Kipling Vol. 2, by Rudyard Kipling

I love your mix of categories! Happy reading!

>13 purpleiris: Thanks, and to you as well! I've set up my categories to make sure they cover everything I could possibly want to read :)

Just dropping my star here and wishing you a great reading year!

Yay, you're back!!!

I thought of you the other day because I started listening to Playing Under The Piano by Hugh Bonneville, which was a BB from you several years ago. I thought "I hope she comes back to LT one day." - and now you're here! I'm looking forward to following your thread and hope you have a great reading year!

What an excellent setup.
Glad to see you back and looking forward to seeing what reading adventures you have this year.

Nice to see you back, rabbit. I've missed all the BBs I get from you. (of course, then I need to read them.

Good to see you back RP! I hope you have a great reading year.

Happy to see you here, fellow Ottawan! Happy and healthy 2026!

>15 RidgewayGirl: Hi Kay! Thanks for stopping by :)

>16 MissBrangwen: Aww thanks for thinking of me, Mirjam :) I hope you're enjoying the Bonneville. It was so much fun! (I'm in line for Paddington in Peru from the library... up to 18th in line, which is pretty good) Have a great reading year!

>17 Helenliz: Thanks, Helen! Hope your reading year is full of adventures as well.

>18 dudes22: Thanks, Betty! I do have a boat book in my backlog list so will have to get to it quickly ;)

>19 lsh63: Thanks, Lisa! I saw you retired last year -- congrats! Hope your time is being filled with lots of excellent books.

>20 Cecilturtle: Merci, Cécile! Happy new year to you as well! Perhaps 2026 will include an IRL meetup for us :D

Happy new year! I remember how I missed reading for pleasure when I was in school. I hope you have a good year of fun—instead of (or in addition to) academic—reading!

Great blessings to you and your reading in the new year.

Glad to see you back! Good luck with your reading in 2026.

>22 Charon07: Thanks! I'm also looking forward to being able to finish some of the books I read only parts of for school.

>23 lowelibrary: Thanks, April! Happy new year.

>24 Tess_W: Thanks, Tess! Have a great reading year.

Ambitious, yet delightful plan for this year. Happy Reading in 2026!

>26 beebeereads: Thanks, Barb, and to you as well! We'll see how well I do with the backlog list; putting something on a list is sometimes one way to get me to NOT do it, haha.

Glad to see you are back. I love the category titles.

Welcome back RP! You've been missed. Looking forward to following along.

It's good to see you back to reading for pleasure. I look forward to seeing what you choose!

Such a neat setup, I'm looking forward to following along!

>28 lowelibrary: Thanks, April! I was originally not going to bother with a theme this year, but then this idea popped into my head and was easy to pull together.

>29 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy! It's good to be back.

>30 mstrust: Thanks, Jennifer! It's nice to have at least some part of my brain back, haha.

>31 h_here: Thanks so much!

I have a bunch of comics and graphic novels out from the library, so I pulled one off the pile to read in between chores. An easy win to start the year.

Great setup, RP. So glad you’re back to reading for pleasure. Enjoy!

Welcome back, RP! I liked The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction and highly endorse the author's message that it's OK to read at whim!

>34 MissWatson: Thanks, Birgit, and I hope 2026 brings lots of fun books for you!

>35 christina_reads: Thanks, Christina! I also endorse his message :)

Finished up an audiobook that I had going since June 2025.

More of my Doctor Who nonsense.

Tom Gauld strikes again with another great collection of comics.

Welcome back, RP. Are you still reading the British Library Crime Classics?

>40 pamelad: Thanks, Pam! Yes, I'm still reading them, and I received two for Christmas: Crook o'Lune and Lessons in Crime: Academic Mysteries.

Another cat-themed comic.

>42 rabbitprincess: I thoroughly enjoy this series, but I am way behind you. Volume 6 is next for me.

>43 lowelibrary: Ah, that was a good one! Hope you like it!

Now that I'm caught up with that series, I'll work on a couple of other manga series that I started but didn't finish.

Reading this made me want to go back to Edinburgh.

The books I've set aside to read after being inspired by this book:
- The Heart of Midlothian, by Sir Walter Scott
- Margaret the Queen, by Nigel Tranter
- St. Ives, by Robert Louis Stevenson

This was a bit tricky to read physically (it's enormous!), but gorgeous photos and neat subject.

Once I finish up my master's degree, I'm joining a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. To prep, I borrowed a sort of "choose your own adventure" solo D&D book from one of the people in the campaign. Overall, quite fun.

Doctor Who novels make great books for the bus.

Me: "This book will make a great light read over Christmas."
Also me: *gets distracted by books on my parents' shelves at Christmas, reactivates a bunch of library holds, forgets to finish this*
A fun book nonetheless.

I re-read The Hound of the Baskervilles, inspired by the Doctor Who book I read in >38 rabbitprincess:. I didn't re-read any books last year, so this is my first re-read in quite a while.

This is still my favourite Holmes story after "The Adventure of the Speckled Band". My edition is a TV tie-in with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman on the cover, and Benedict wrote the introduction, which I enjoyed.

The "Attach Review" function doesn't work with older reviews, so full review is here: https://www.librarything.com/work/12403/reviews/92475973

Now that I have room in my head for serious non-fiction not related to my thesis, this made a very good read.

January recap

A healthy start to the year with 12 books.

1. Pizza Witch, by Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins (3.5 stars)
2. The Diary of River Song, Series 7 (Big Finish audio drama) (2.5 stars)
3. Doctor Who: Evolution, by John Peel (3 stars)
4. Physics for Cats, by Tom Gauld (5 stars)
5. A Man and His Cat, Vol. 14, by Umi Sakurai, translated by Taylor Engel (4.5 stars)
6. 111 Places in Edinburgh That You Shouldn’t Miss, by Gillian Tait (4 stars)
7. Endurance: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Legendary Ship, by John Shears and Nico Vincent (4 stars)
8. The Crystals of Z’leth: A 5E Survival Solo Adventure, by Daniel Howard (3.5 stars)
9. Doctor Who: The Time Meddler, by Nigel Robinson (3 stars)
10. Shadows of Self, by Brandon Sanderson (3.5 stars)
11. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle (4 stars) (reread)
12. Penelope’s Bones: A New History of Homer’s World Through the Women Written Out of It, by Emily Hauser (4.5 stars)

Favourite book of the month is Physics for Cats, because it was an unmitigated delight.

Least favourite book of the month was The Diary of River Song, Series 7. This was a long carryover from 2025, and I had lost interest a while back.

Currently reading

I am most actively reading the following:
• The Heart of Midlothian, by Sir Walter Scott
• Dragons of Autumn Twilight, by Margaret Weis
• The Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson
• The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk, and Luck, by David Spiegelhalter

February plans

Major plans are to work my way through the giant stack of library books and to get closer to caught up with the Cosmere Buddy Read.

>51 rabbitprincess: That looks good, and the library has a copy, reservation placed.

>51 rabbitprincess: I've added this to the wishlist, although it will probably take me some time to get hold of a copy. Definitely know what you mean re the mental space for NF.

>51 rabbitprincess: Taking a bb for this one - this looks fascinating! My book club was just talking about the Emily Wilson translations today.

>53 Helenliz: >54 charl08: >55 h_here: I hope you like it! I'm always mildly anxious about rating books highly because if people read the book on my recommendation and are disappointed, I feel bad :P

>53 Helenliz: I have my library to thank for this as well!

>54 charl08: This book in particular is also a bit denser than some other non-fiction, so it took me a while to get through because I had started it when I was still finishing up my thesis. It's one to read in chunks, I would say.

>55 h_here: I'm really excited to read the Emily Wilson translations! I have only her Odyssey, but I have the Caroline Alexander Iliad on my desk ready to go once I make some more progress on my library backlog.

I reactivated too many library holds (delving too greedily and too deep), so I plowed through a couple of books that were overdue and returned them to the library this morning. First one is a coffee table sort of book.

Second of my overdue library books is one I kind of stalled on; I ended up skipping a few chapters to finish it off.

>57 rabbitprincess: I saw that in a bookstore a couple of years ago and I spent a lot of time standing around flipping pages! I need to see if my library has a copy (or if they can get it via ILL).

>59 kac522: It's such a fun book to flip through! Hope your library will be able to get it for you.

Still continuing my exploration of the Cosmere.

I have to keep reminding myself I don't have assignments due anymore, so I am allowed to sit on the couch and read a mystery novel all day. This was the result.

>51 rabbitprincess: Sounds wonderful! A BB for me!

>63 Tess_W: Excellent, hope you like it! If you don't, I didn't say anything about this book, haha.

This week has been a bad one for reading focus. Just can't seem to settle on anything. This book was a casualty of that slump.

Hmm, getting a bit better reading-wise. This book was due back at the library and couldn't be renewed, so I had to read it quickly.

>62 rabbitprincess: I like the idea of sitting and reading.
Sorry to hear that there's been a slump. Hope the lighter reads help find the focus again.

Catching up!

>57 rabbitprincess: I love transit maps and will have to find a copy of this book.

>65 rabbitprincess: Thanks for the warning. I tend to pick up any Japanese crime novel I come across.

>42 rabbitprincess: I've only read the first one in this manga series, A man and his cat, so should continue. Gives me hope when I see someone who has read 14 of them. I have the first three volumes of Ōoku out from the library at present waiting for chance to fit them in.

>67 Helenliz: Thanks, Helen! Not quite out of the slump yet, but I did get some nice reading done today.

>68 RidgewayGirl: Welcome back! The transit map book was great. You might have more luck with The Black Swan Mystery than I did, but if you do take a chance on it, I would borrow it from the library rather than buying it.

>69 avatiakh: The Man and His Cat series is a nice light read for me. I requested one volume at a time to spread them out a bit, though. They'd get a bit much if I read them in one sitting.

Well, February ended with a bit of a disappointment for me. Oh well, this was a library borrow.

February recap

Short month, short list. Only 7 books read (although this is the same number of books I read last February).

1. Iconic Transit Maps: The World's Best Designs, by Mark Ovenden (4 stars)
2. The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk, and Luck, by David Spiegelhalter (3.5 stars)
3. The Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson (4 stars)
4. The Cracked Mirror, by Chris Brookmyre (4 stars)
5. The Black Swan Mystery, by Tetsuya Ayukawa, translated by Bryan Karetnyk (1.5 stars)
6. Murder After Christmas, by Rupert Latimer (3 stars)
7. Queen Macbeth, by Val McDermid (1 star)

My favourite book of the month might have been Iconic Transit Maps because it was so much fun to peruse and dream about trips to the various cities.

Least favourite was Queen Macbeth, which I DNF’d.

Currently reading

I am most actively reading the following:
• The Heart of Midlothian, by Sir Walter Scott (although this one hasn't been terribly active lately)
• The Lost Metal, by Brandon Sanderson
• Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock, by Jonathan Gould

March plans

Still catching up to the Cosmere Buddy Read. I’ve decided to skip White Sand, because my copy is in audio and I take forever to read audios. So I will finish up The Lost Metal this week and then move to Tress and the Emerald Sea.

I’d also like to focus on the mysteries in my library hoard this month.

Me: I want to focus on the mysteries in my library hoard.
Also me: finishes a fantasy novel.

Me: Okay, NOW I want to focus on the mysteries in my library hoard.
Also me: A mystery in my library! Got it!

>74 rabbitprincess: I struggle with short-story mysteries for the reason you articulated: "the shorter ones were too dependent on a single small twist and there wasn’t much room for them to surprise the reader without withholding information." I prefer fair-play mysteries that give the reader a chance to solve them.

>75 christina_reads: I don't really take the chance to solve mysteries even when all the clues are provided, but I do like when the detective explains their reasoning and I can go "oh yeah, I remember that, that makes sense". Locked-room mysteries are hit or miss for me; sometimes I'm fine with the clever explanation, and other times I REALLY am not, and I don't often know which way a locked-room mystery will go until I read it, haha.

An acceptable alternative goal to "focusing on the mysteries in my library hoard": reading non-fiction books I've had on the go for literally years.

This audio made for a quick read on Sunday afternoon.

Working through my library backlog.

And working through the Cosmere!

I started watching the David Tennant adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days (I do plan to finish; I just take a long time to watch TV series), so I decided to re-read the source text.

More fun in the Cosmere!

I just found your thread! Life has been busy for me recently and reading LT threads has been seriously neglected. Glad you are back in the group.

>71 rabbitprincess: Too bad you didn't enjoy Queen Macbeth, one of my best reads last year. The type of book that is not to everyone's taste.

>83 VivienneR: Thanks, Vivienne! I did really want to like Queen Macbeth because the Scottish play is my favourite Shakespeare, but alas. Oh well, at least it was a library borrow.

That library backlog isn't getting much smaller, but I have at least finished this one.

More holds to pick up at the library, but I managed to squeeze in a short read this morning that I can take back at the same time.

We had plans yesterday, but they ended up being cancelled, so that gave me time to knock another book off the backlog.

This book was perfect for the bus.

I'm feeling a le Carré binge coming on...

March recap

I more than doubled last month’s total with 15 books read.
1. Dragons of Autumn Twilight, by Margaret Weis (3.5 stars)
2. Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles, ed. Martin Edwards (3 stars)
3. The First Rule of Safety Culture: A Counter-C-Word Manifesto, by Carsten Busch (4 stars)
4. Doctor Who: The Gods of Winter, by James Goss (audio, read by Clare Higgins) (3 stars)
5. Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock, by Jonathan Gould (4 stars)
6. The Lost Metal, by Brandon Sanderson (3.5 stars)
7. Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne, translated by an uncredited translator (3 stars)
8. Tress of the Emerald Sea, by Brandon Sanderson (5 stars)
9. Gideon’s Lot, by J. J. Marric (2.5 stars)
10. The Dark Wives, by Ann Cleeves (3 stars)
11. Cat Massage Therapy, Vol. 3, by Haru Hisakawa, translated by Anh Kiet Ngo (3 stars)
12. The Children of Jocasta, by Natalie Haynes (4 stars)
13. Rear Window and Other Stories, by Cornell Woolrich (4.5 stars)
14. Preparing for the Perimenopause and the Menopause, by Dr Louise Newson (3 stars)
15. Karla’s Choice, by Nick Harkaway (4 stars)

My favourite book was Tress of the Emerald Sea. It was such a delight and I zoomed right through it. Also saved a LOT of quotes because I was reading a digital edition.

My least favourite book was Gideon’s Lot, mainly because of a subplot that caused me to skip ahead several pages.

Currently reading

I am most actively reading the following:
• The Heart of Midlothian, by Sir Walter Scott
• The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien (audio, read by Andy Serkis)
• Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, by Brandon Sanderson
• The Menopause Manifesto, by Dr. Jen Gunter

April plans

I’m spending some time at my parents’ place this month, so I will probably be raiding their shelves.

The month has started off well with more Brandon Sanderson!

Back with the Rivers of London gang, and kind of wanting to re-read the series so far (once I read Stone and Sky).

Working my way through the library backlog, as always. I did a terrible job of managing my library holds...

Another non-fiction book off the pile.

>93 rabbitprincess: Library holds are impossible to manage. I've requested an available book, a book with a long hold list and a book not yet published on the same day, thinking they'd arrive spaced out and, no, they all arrive at once.

>94 rabbitprincess: Too bad about the second part. I'm fascinated by the sense of smell and "noses" of the perfume industry. Sounds like a library BB.

>95 RidgewayGirl: My problem was that I reactivated a bunch of holds that I'd kept in suspension while working on my thesis, and of course I was at the front of the queue for all of them! I still have a lot of holds but I've suspended them all again until December, haha.

>96 Cecilturtle: The author does talk about that a bit. You might get the copy of the book I read if you borrow it from the library!

>97 rabbitprincess: cool :D

Richard Osman does it again!

This book made a good mealtime read (as an ebook and as something very easy to pick up and put down).

>87 rabbitprincess: Glad you liked this one. It's on my TBR!

>102 Tess_W: Hope you like it too!

Spent a fair chunk of the week chipping away at this one.

More Cosmere!

Hello RabbitPrincess! So glad to finally be checking in with you for this year, and congratulations on finishing your master's thesis! And the delight in being able to sit down and read a murder mystery in *gulp* a single day? What a joy that must be for you.

I think of you when Talking Heads comes on the radio and this weekend whilst driving around I decided it was high time to catch up on your thread. My time on LT is an unoccupied Sunday evening and I look forward to catching up with everyone's reading.

Have you started back up with any D&D adventures yet? There is so much out there; a few years ago, I bought the book How to be More D&D which is sort of a self-help book for folks who live in the D&D-verse. It helped me know all the expansion of characters that have evolved as RPG-ing has evolved.

And are you enjoying Andy Serkis' version of The Hobbit? DH and I are on "The Council of Elrond" chapter of his audiobook.

Glad to catch up and happy reading!

>106 threadnsong: Thanks for stopping by! That's lovely that you think of me when Talking Heads come up on the radio. I got to see David Byrne in concert last October and that was AMAZING.

Our D&D campaign is about four sessions in. We took a break for most of April because the other half of our group bought a house and they've been getting settled in. But we'll be back at it next week. My spouse is the DM and I have to make sure he doesn't give spoilers, haha.

Andy Serkis has been a great narrator so far! His Gollum voice is, naturally, on point :) I've reached Chapter 7, "Queer Lodgings."

Me: I still have way too many library books out that need to be read.
Also me: buys a book on impulse for a book club with a friend and reads it immediately.

>108 rabbitprincess: - This is one by him I haven't read yet.

>109 dudes22: It's quite different from The Martian and Project Hail Mary, and I think knowing that going in helps.

This crime novel was a bit too grim for me, and it was a locked-room mystery (for which I have mixed feelings at best). I did at least finish it, though.

Last book of April.

April recap

A slightly slower reading month with 11 books read.

1. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, by Brandon Sanderson (4 stars)
2. The Masquerades of Spring, by Ben Aaronovitch (3.5 stars)
3. Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World, by Kathryn Hughes (3 stars)
4. The Forgotten Sense: The New Science of Smell and the Extraordinary Power of the Nose, by Jonas Olofsson (3 stars)
5. We Solve Murders, by Richard Osman (4 stars)
6. The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Guide: Advice and Tools to Help You Run Your Best Game Ever!, by James D'Amato (3 stars)
7. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, by Paul McCartney with Ted Widmer (4.5 stars)
8. The Sunlit Man, by Brandon Sanderson (3 stars)
9. Artemis, by Andy Weir (3.5 stars)
10. The Noh Mask Murder, by Akimitsu Takagi, translated by Jesse Kirkwood (2 stars)
11. The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland (3 stars)

My favourite book of the month was Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run. Really interesting and good to dip into and out of while I was visiting my parents.

My least favourite book of the month was The Noh Mask Murder. I wasn’t impressed with the resolution to the murder.

Currently reading

I am most actively reading the following:
• The Heart of Midlothian, by Sir Walter Scott
• The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien (audio, read by Andy Serkis)
• Great Tales of Detection, ed. Dorothy L. Sayers
• Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion That Science Underlies Our Transportation System, by Wes Marshall
• Dragons of Winter Night, by Margaret Weis
• Wind and Truth, by Brandon Sanderson
• Final Orbit, by Chris Hadfield

May plans

I do want to make headway in Wind and Truth for the Cosmere Buddy Read... but I’ve also started knitting a sweater. So maybe audiobooks will make more of an appearance.

Just catching up and it's taking me ages to read back to where I left off.

>87 rabbitprincess: Since my husband's eye disaster, I think I can handle anything, even ancient Greeks.

>89 rabbitprincess: Harkaway's book made me want to go back and re-read le Carré's early work too.

>111 rabbitprincess: I'm also not a fan of locked room mysteries, but I've read two other books by Takagi, but years ago, and you've reminded me to find the books I haven't read.

>115 VivienneR: Yikes, I hope your husband is doing better soon! Eye things are terrifying.

>116 RidgewayGirl: This one was certainly better than The Black Swan Mystery! And if you've read other books by Takagi you probably know what to expect. So I hope you like it :)

>114 rabbitprincess: I forgot to mention in #115 that I love Chris Hadfield books. I just put this on my wishlist.

>113 rabbitprincess: Hi RP! I had trouble with the Scott book and it was a DNF. I'll await your review to see if I might consider giving it a second chance!

>118 VivienneR: Great! Hope you like it. I'd planned to re-read An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth last year (I read it in print a while ago) but never got around to it. Maybe once I finish The Hobbit.

>119 Tess_W: Haha I'm not sure I'm having much better luck with it! Although to be fair, I am trying to work through my library backlog as well, and it's not going to stand a chance against library books.

I'm way behind - apologies.

I have added >111 rabbitprincess: so am not peeking behind the spoilers. I do find myself reading these with different expectations to contemporary crime, especially since I know so little about Japan. Although that doesn't stop me getting frustrated when they are really long-winded!

>121 charl08: No worries! I'm behind on my own thread. Haven't been reading super quickly, and what I have been reading has been lacklustre so I don't feel like mentioning it here, haha.

Skipping my dud books so that I can share books of 3 stars and up.

It's fitting that I read this one now, because I bought it at a book sale last year, and this year's edition of the sale is coming up soon.

>123 rabbitprincess: Had to laugh at this commentary! Yes, sometimes it's just not worth it to review the duds, is it??

How is your sweater coming? I'm working on the second sock to a pair (had to untangle the yarn because it got all tangled from the yarn winder), and looking forward to wearing it when colder weather comes.

>126 threadnsong: I still wrote token reviews but didn't feel like cluttering up my thread with them, haha.

Ooh excellent! Starting the second sock is one of the hardest parts of knitting socks.
I finished the first sleeve of the sweater on Friday and started the second sleeve yesterday! It's the Ryan Gosling cardigan from Project Hail Mary, haha.

May recap

A somewhat lacklustre month, comparatively speaking, with 10 books read.
1. Final Orbit, by Chris Hadfield (3.5 stars)
2. Great Tales of Detection, ed. Dorothy L. Sayers (2.5 stars)
3. The Puzzle of the Happy Hooligan, by Stuart Palmer (1 star)
4. Don’t Make a Sound, by David Jackson (3 stars)
5. A Song for You and I, by K. O’Neill (3.5 stars)
6. The Lie Maker, by Linwood Barclay (4 stars)
7. Retro: Popular Music in Canada from the 60s, 70s and 80s, by Judith Klassen (2 stars)
8. Killed by a traffic engineer : shattering the delusion that science underlies our transportation system, by Wesley E. Marshall (4 stars)
9. Dancing at Lughnasa, by Brian Friel (2.5 stars)
10. Fire Eaters: The People and Aircraft Combatting Wildfires Over the Last Century, by Peter Pigott (1.5 stars)

Of the books I rated 4 stars, I’ll give The Lie Maker the nod because I read about 200 pages in one go.

I had a couple of DNFs this month, and the worst of these was The Puzzle of the Happy Hooligan.

Currently reading

I am most actively reading the following:
• The Heart of Midlothian, by Sir Walter Scott
• The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien (audio, read by Andy Serkis)
• Dragons of Winter Night, by Margaret Weis
• Wind and Truth, by Brandon Sanderson
• Quand sort la recluse, by Fred Vargas

June plans

I’ll be doing some travelling, so perhaps this will be the time for my audiobooks and Dragonlance ebooks to shine.

Finished my first French book in over two years!