Onion Budgie

My seasonal reads this year will be: A re-read of A Christmas Malice by John Bainbridge, because I thought it captured the festive spirit so well when I read it last year. An English Murder by Cyril Hare. Posh people, country house, Christmas, murder. You know, the usual. The Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan Parrish. An LGBT+ romance set around Christmastime. This is a late addition, because A Christmas Malice is only a short read, so I'll have time left over (being a slow reader and all).

I upgraded to a new, beefier PC the other week, so I've been looking for new, beefier games to play on it. I've been playing Eastshade the past few days, and am LOVING it. Think along the lines and mechanics of Skyrim, only with no murder, blood or weapons! It's open world, there are quests, and it's beautiful and charming.

I either read sat at my computer table (because that means I can multi-task), or in bed.

I have two murder mysteries: An English Murder by Cyril Hare (old country house, family gathered for Christmas, and MURDER); and a re-read of A Christmas Malice by John Bainbridge, as I found it so delightfully festive (albeit with a sinister bent) the first time around. I'll likely add others to the list as I go!

UGH, I just counted, it took ages. 54. 954. The 120 Days of Sodom – Marquis de Sade 918. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 916. The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe 913. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens 911. The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe 902. Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë 888. Hard Times – Charles Dickens 872. The Water-Babies – Charles Kingsley 863. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott 825. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain 822. Kidnapped – Robert Louis Stevenson 820. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson 809. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde 804. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 794. Dracula – Bram Stoker 790. The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells 781. The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 772. Where Angels Fear to Tread – E.M. Forster 750. Death in Venice – Thomas Mann 708. A Passage to India – E.M. Forster 699. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald 698. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf 695. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie 686. To The Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf 675. Orlando – Virginia Woolf 654. The Waves – Virginia Woolf 650. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons 608. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 565. Cannery Row – John Steinbeck 563. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 515. Junkie – William Burroughs 509. Under the Net – Iris Murdoch 489. Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin 467. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote 463. Absolute Beginners – Colin MacInnes 461. Naked Lunch – William Burroughs 460. Billy Liar – Keith Waterhouse 459. Cider With Rosie – Laurie Lee 456. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee 428. The Graduate – Charles Webb 408. In Cold Blood – Truman Capote 394. A Kestrel for a Knave – Barry Hines 360. The Wild Boys – William Burroughs 291. Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole 246. Queer – William Burroughs 243. Perfume – Patrick Süskind 237. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson 215. The Pigeon – Patrick Süskind 214. The Passion – Jeanette Winterson 204. The Swimming-Pool Library – Alan Hollinghurst 201. The Beautiful Room is Empty – Edmund White 187. Sexing the Cherry – Jeanette Winterson 49. Life of Pi – Yann Martel 33. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides

It's November, so what's everyone reading this month? Bought any good books? I'm over a third of the way through Notes From an Exhibition by Patrick Gale. It's a thoughtful read so far, and I'm quite enjoying it. I suddenly have an absolute hankering to re-read Dracula, so let's see if I still feel the same after I've finished Notes. Whatever I read next it has to be finished by December, as I have my festive books all lined up and waiting!

Athena, hope you're having a good one!

"Rachel was woken by a painting or, rather, by the idea of one." Notes From an Exhibition by Patrick Gale.

I'll report back when I finish it! I'm enjoying it so far; the writing is great.

I've just picked out Notes From an Exhibition by Patrick Gale. It's about an artist who dies suddenly and leaves behind a tangle of secrets for her family to unravel. It sounds interesting.

I'm almost finished with The Boy Who Saw True. It's been a fantastic read. It's the non-fiction diary of a young Victorian boy who comes to realise that he is possessed of "second sight", i.e. he's clairvoyant. The book wasn't published until many years after the diarist's death, at his request. Absolutely fascinating -- I'd highly recommend it. I've no idea what I fancy reading next, I'll have to riffle through my bookshelves.

I finished reading Muse late last night. Wooeee, it was good. A transcription of cassette tapes, wherein an ex private investigator describes coming into possession of a mysterious ironwood chest once belonging to the sci-fi writer H.P. Lovecraft. Inside the chest is a... thing. The thing is alive, and it wants all of your memories -- any way it can get them. Excellent stuff. I'm just about to begin The Boy Who Saw True: The Time-Honoured Classic of the Paranormal by Cyril Scott.

"This is the last will and testament of Michael Hadley." Muse by James Renner.

29. Slow but steady progress. I should reach 35 by the end of the year.

I've just finished The Pale Horse. It was... ok. The plot wasn't as twisty or as intriguing as I've come to expect from Christie, but it had its moments. I'm still looking forward to watching the TV adaptation! I'm guessing it will be shown some time around Christmas? Now on to Muse by James Renner. It's a horror novel (in a limited print run of 750 copies, all signed by the author), and I'm hoping to be frit out of me wits!

Wahoo! One to add to my collection! (And read, of course.) It'll be given a loving home. Thank you!

I just took a look at my ACD book (The Unknown Conan Doyle: Uncollected Stories). None of the stories match any that are included in Tales of Unease, but there are a couple of eerie-sounding ones, so I might dip in and try them.

October's here, and the nights are drawing in. What's everyone reading this month? I'm just a little way into The Pale Horse and am enjoying it. Everything is suitably mysterious so far...

One of my favourites!

They all sound GOOD! I'm embarrassed to admit that I've not read anything of ACD's outside of his Sherlock Holmes stories -- even though I do own a large volume of his other collected works. Perhaps the Tales you mention are in that volume -- I'll have to check. Which book are you planning on reading first?

I've just finished Blue Sky Adam. It was a sweet, if over-idealistic story. I'm now going to order the third book in the trilogy, Adam's Star, which will hopefully be as good. I'm a couple of days early for my planned October reading, but I don't care -- The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie, here I come!

I'd like to put my name forward for the Sherlock Holmes book, please! Thanks, Hayley.

Yes! I always try to read horror/mystery novels through October. I'm excited to read The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie and Muse by James Renner this year. If I get through them quickly and have some October left over, I might add The Boy Who Saw True: The Time-Honoured Classic of the Paranormal by Cyril Scott, which sounds fascinating. I can't wait to get started! I tend to read more mystery/crime in autumn through winter in any case.

I finished Man About Town by Mark Merlis. There were three strands to the story, and I felt that all of them fizzled out somewhat at the end. I was expecting a bit more dramatic oomph, and I didn't get it! I've just started Blue Sky Adam by Anthony McDonald, which is about a young man who unexpectedly inherits a vineyard in southern France.

The Fantastic World of Kamtellar by R. Chetwynd-Hayes includes a quite brilliant vampire novella that I'd recommend. It's not too gory or horrific, rather chilling and atmospheric, and especially exciting towards the end. The other stories in the book aren't bad either!