Raven

I unexpectedly finished a book this evening... I say unexpectedly because my Kindle told me I still had 19% to read when I started, but it turned out the last 10% or so was acknowledgments and an index. The book in question was Charlie Brooker's I Can Make You Hate, a collection of articles from his Guardian column (and some other bits from Screen Wipe etc) from waaaaaay back in 2012.

A bit of a head's up, this one. Just started reading The Library of the Dead, by T L Huchu which is the first book in a new series called - yep, you guessed it! - Edinburgh Nights. Was debating whether this warrants a thread to itself, but as this is the first book in what looks to be a new series... I'm not that far into it - looks to be set in a dystopian future of some kind, and there are plenty of ghosts so far - but I can see that it might have some appeal to others on here, and it is currently in the monthly Kindle deal so is at present only 99p! The book has a recommendation from Ben Aaronovitch on the cover, so you can guess how I came across this...

She can write; I'm pretty sure it is mentioned more than once in the books (doesn't she have a cookery blog at one point?) but she is not human, so how would she articulate her thoughts? What would that read like? I suspect that will be the way we will learn more about her, but I also suspect it will be drip fed over a number of books, rather than being told in a single story.

I'm not sure how a novel or novella centred on Molly would work, given he always writes in the first person (I guess he could change that for one story, though). I'm sure I would as well!

Ben was asking his followers on Twitter who they would like to heard more about (I think he was referring to the short stories he writes for the Waterstone's novels, rather than more novellas). I suggested Doctor Walid.

For those that have chewed their way through the latest novella already, news from Amazon about what is coming next... Monday, Monday - A new graphic novel - featuring a Swedish Werewolf! - which I'm pleased to see as I hadn't heard anything about this series for a while and was beginning to wonder if it had come to an end. Novella 4 - I've lost track of what this is supposed to be. I thought that after the success of The Furthest Station Ben announced plans for four more novellas; the two we have already had and two more that were supposed to be about Agent Reynolds and Thomas Nightingale respectively, but this is saying 4 of 4, so I don't know if this is still the case and I'm not sure which this will be (judging by some of the questions Ben has been asking on his Twitter feed, my money would be on this one being the Agent Reynolds story). Nothing I have seen or can find yet on the next full length novel. Also, don't read too much into the above publication dates, Ben's novels quite often get put back!

I finished it this afternoon; it's very good!

I try to buy books from physical book shops where I can, even if that sometimes means paying more for them, as I like the whole experience of tracking down a book I want to read and finding it in good condition - even if that also means waiting a bit. When I do have to resort to online shopping, though, it is usually Amazon as I have Prime membership more often than not these days. I did buy What Abigail Did That Summer from Waterstone's however, and would use them again as I got the book on the day of release (although, again, it did cost me more than Amazon would have).

Squee! Pity it's being delivered to work and I'm not in the office again until Monday... May have to call in a favour!

Your drinking water has ground wheat in it? Your taps must be one hellva mess! My, how you've changed! *runs away*

Ah, well; at least at least she improves... Ah, well; perhaps not...

Aye, 'tis a fact that no one north of Watford has any teeth. You wee a bit on the sugar first? That's horrific!* *I may have deliberately misread that...

Never heard of putting sugar in a sandwich before! Cheddar cheese, fresh tomato, coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper on buttered bread - one of the best sandwiches you can get!

Very sad to hear that the legendary (and I do not use that word lightly) Formula One commentator Murray Walker has died at the age of 97. It has been heart warming this evening to read the tributes to him on Twitter from so many people that I follow - across a wide range of subjects - who have all universally praised him, and have all mourned his passing. He was very much loved, and will be very much missed.

Yes, one of the short stories in Tales From the Folly features Abigail and I really enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to this!

So, What Abigail Did That Summer is out next Thursday - when are Waterstone's going to dispatch my pre-order and when am I going to get it?! Was tempted to wait until the shops open and make this my first book purchase of 2021, but I realised I just don't have the patience! Decided to go with Waterstone's rather than Amazon because I would have purchased from them had they been open.

There's probably two stories in the book you could currently read without spoilering anything. I think I may have invented a new word there...

My eyes! My precious eyes!

It's a bit half and half, really. Some you can read without having read any other Rivers of London stories (although you might be a little bewildered as to what is going on) but there are others that use characters from - or continue stories started in - other books (obviously with some spoilers if you haven't read them). The majority of the stories seem to take place either before, around or relate directly to Foxglove Summer, though, so if you have read that far most of them should make sense, although you may not get the most out of them. Having said all that, each story starts with an introduction that explains where it fits in the overall narrative, so you can work out what you can read from that. Personally. if you plan to work your way through the rest of the series anyway, I'd suggest leaving this collection until you get to it in publication order, as it is a nice way of revisiting some of the earlier stories.

Finished the short story collection Tales from the Folly, by Ben Aaronovitch today, which was one of the many unread books I had on my Kindle. So it is a pity I bought a copy of On the Road by Jack Kerouac for 99p today, as this means there has been no net reduction in the unread tally...

'Twas a blustery day in Great Snoring, And wet! It really was pouring. The hole in the roof Led to a wet poof

Seems a bit indulgent to start a topic for this, but has anyone ever read: How to Read a Book (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004Z0TU0W) And, do you need a primer, like How to Read How to Read a Book?

Just finished WandaVision, which after a WTF? start turned out very well in the end (not one, but two post credits teasers!). Looking forward to what I suspect will be the more straight forward Falcon and Winter Solider that they have announced will start on the 19th! (squee!)

Don't tell me, Sweet Valley High? I once referred to The Hobbit as Tolkien Lite after trying to read it straight after The Lord of the Rings, which was a mistake, they should be read in publication order! The book does get better as it goes along, however, and I would say that once they escape from the elves and reach Erebor it does become a very good story (though the Dwarves - for the most part - are a bunch of dicks).

Not really, not when you posted the above... I did start The Princess Bride, but got fed up with the overly long intro explaining how the narrator came upon the story (I will probably go back to it, but I wasn't in the right mood for it when I tried it) but tonight - whilst flicking through the ever growing list of unread bargain books on my Kindle - I came upon Tales From the Folly, which I had forgotten I had, so I started on that. One story down, all looking good so far!