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Selecting Next Reads
Selecting books to read, how do you do it? My pile of unread books teeters in various places around the very small London house in which we live. My partner sighs with exasperation at me and not a little fondness as I amass more books than I can get through. I absolutely have the intention to read them, but I never have the time to get through as many as I think I should. There are also many books languishing on my kindle that I need to read too. This can lead to me being overwhelmed by choice when I finish a book. I need to know what I should…
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Girls and Aliens
This was quite the collection, five contrasting stories that featured girls and aliens in often very dark and disturbing ways.
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Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky – a Squee post.
Its rare that I feel compelled to write about something I’m reading before I’ve finished reading it but Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time has crawled under my skin and it is preying on my mind so I need to tell you all why.
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Review: The Silver Tide by Jen Williams
Trilogies are tricky things to work properly they should do more than simply be one long story there should be themes that ebb and flow. Narratives which build and peak and then build again. I usually count myself lucky if the trilogy I read is three decent books which hold together well. And then there’s Jen William’s Copper Cat trilogy which I am so deeply in love with right now it is a little bit obscene.
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The books I do not read
I am a recovering book snob. I’m in the process of overcoming the baggage I picked up whilst studying English Lit at university. I’m now able to read widely not caring for some invisible judge and yet there is one line I do not want to cross. Why can’t I read romance? That’s not to say I haven’t read any I’ve dabbled in the paranormal romance end of things and faeries who like to get hot and heavy. But straight romances in genre terms are problematic. A lot of this is bound up in my heavy allergic reaction to the tag chick lit. I have never been a chick, I…
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Jane's Great Re-Read: Lords and Ladies By Terry Pratchett a Review
Lords and Ladies is the fourth Granny Weatherwax and the witches book. If Wyrd Sisters is Macbeth, Lords and Ladies is a Midsummer’s Night Dream. This picks up post Witches Abroad just when the trio have arrived back from Genua and sprints off into the distance. This book is about belief; it is about susperstition; it is about quantum and iron.
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For Pterry
I was thirteen when I read my first Terry Pratchett novel. It was Good Omens with Neil Gaiman and I loved that book as only a teenager could. I obsessed over Crowley and Aziraphale and it has been a favourite of mine for a long time. After Good Omens came the Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic which were okay but the novel that got me hooked was Wyrd Sisters. As the cauldron bubbled an archaic voice shrieked: “When shall we three meet again?!!” There was a pause. Finally another voice said, in far more ordinary tones: “Well I can do next Tuesday.” Wyrd Sisters Over the years I…
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Outside the Comfort Zone
I wanted to write about reading outside of my comfort zone and it has got a bit weird. Firstly I tried to define what my personal comfort zone is and I couldn’t. If I say fantasy I have to immediately re-qualify it with not all fantasy and I guess that is the thing. Its easier for me to say what I am unlikely to touch which feels negative. For the last few years I’ve binged mainly on Fantasy and SCience Fiction and all kinds of funky subgenres inside. I’ve dabbled with reading paranormal romance and enjoyed some of it but I struggle with some of the established tropes. I guess…
