Raven

Or bumblebee...

Not overheard, but a conversation I had with a colleague this morning: Me: Oh, Eddie Large has died... Colleague: Who's he? Me: He was one half of Little and Large in the 80s Colleague: Oh, right. Which one was he? Me: ...

Amazon have a load of free Kindle books at the moment. There are a number of their classic imprints (Great Expectations, Robinson Crusoe etc.) but also a lot of children's books for desperate parents.

Wow, I just had a spectacular miss-read of that first sentence!

7 so far, which is about par for where I want to be at this time of the year.

I believe that is the plan, although I'll admit I haven't heard much about it recently. I believe Aaronovitch is doing a Q&A on Twitter tomorrow night, might be something in that.

The first six books in CJ Samson's Shardlake series are 99p each on Kindle today.

Alien: Covenant Not seen this before, but it was on Film 4 last night and in these days of Coronavirus when you are looking for a diversion... Can easily be summarised as a poor remake of Aliens. On the plus side, I do quite like Katherine Waterston, so it wasn't all bad.

There is supposed to be a novella from his point of view in the works (two more to come before that, though). The latest graphic novel, Action at a Distance, was told from his point of view.

Interesting idea! We know some of them already, but there are some colourful characters that we don't know so much about.

I think most people are familiar with "likes" these days, and it's not as though new members seem to be sticking around anyway. The way I look at it is that it is a way of acknowledging a post without typing up a full reply, where maybe one isn't actually required anyway.

Overall, and especially after the last book, this one feels like a gentle reset, with a lot of new characters and ideas being added to the universe that I suspect Aaronovitch will be making use of in later novels. I really enjoyed it. It was different from most of the previous ones and - unlike October Man - the first person narrative didn't feel like it was a Peter clone telling the story.

Thanks for your comments all. I hadn't really thought about it before reading False Values, because I usually go straight on and read the short story so I finish both of them on the same day, but in this case it was a few days before I could read A Dedicated Follower of Fashion, and it was so tonally different from False Values that I was already thinking of it as a separate from the main novel before I had finished it (which, of course, it was). In the past where I have read novels that have been combined into single volumes (such as three of the Raymond Chandler books I've read over the last year or so) I've listed them separately because there have often been several books between the different novels. I also have a Murakami book that contains two novels (Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973) that I will almost certainly list separately as well. So, in summary, I don't think this is a cheat, and I'm happy to stick to listing them as I have!

I don't have a problem with it, but like others I cannot see it (I'm using MS Edge, if that helps; haven't checked on my phone).

I cannot see it, do you have to log out and in again for it to work? No probs; as I said it was a badly written post!

A badly written post on my part, but I was actually referring to reading for fun, not having "likes" on posts!

There is no way to like posts on this forum, that I am aware of, but I think we need this approach now more than ever.

Okay, so here's a question for you charming peeps... I always buy the Waterstones versions* of the Rivers of London books because they have a short story tagged on at the end. I finished the main novel on Saturday night, and read the short story tonight, so I have - for the first time - listed both separately on my reading list. Is this a cheat? (even though I have marked up the latter as a short story?) I'll reserve my opinion until others have commented! (always assuming someone does!). *Hardback as well, as I can't wait for the paperbacks of these books!

Finished it tonight! Review at some point, but suffice to say; another enjoyable read!

Yes, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost own the production company that are working on it, if memory serves!

Not seeing this myself; what browser do you use? And where is the message coming from? (the browser or your AV software).

Having spent a good part of the afternoon reading I'm now about a third of the way through; good so far, but I do have a bit of a bugbear with it (will explain when I have finished it!)

Nothing planned, but stuff happened (i.e.more beer). Have read the first chapter or so, however! I've taken the dust jacket off my copy so I can read it without fear of damaging it. It is one of the glow in the dark versions, however, so I expect at some point I will be sitting in the dark marking "Oooo" noises. That does happen fairly regularly, however...