Raven

Got it! (But I've been at a beer tasting tonight and I'm not going to start it now!) Nothing planned for tomorrow night, however...

No joy, will have to wait until tomorrow!

Not I! (I did check my local this morning, and will do so again tomorrow!) Aaronovitch has been doing some signings over the last few days, are they store he has been too?

Blade Runner 2049 Second watch of this, having been given a copy at Christmas. Bloody awesome! A really good story that doesn't widdle all over the original, with fantastic visuals and an excellent score. Possibly one of the best sequels ever made. Why did I avoid it for so long?!

Yes, I shall be checking my local Waterstone's from next Tuesday in case it comes in a couple of days early!

Finished my second book of the year, so currently on target for 2 books a month (already well into the third as well, as I was reading the last two in parallel).

Anyone watching this? I stayed up and watched the first episode last Thursday night (or rather last Friday morning) - twice! (not planned, I certainly didn't expect to do so, but my mind was buzzing from watching it through once so I don't think I lost any sleep by watching it again!). Patrick Stewart more than carried the show, and seeing him playing Picard again was an absolute joy, but if you watched The Next Generation there was so much more here than that. Discovery has been good, but this is in a completely different league. I cannot wait for the next episode!

Well, this has moved on a bit. I cannot honestly say I was a huge fan of the last series; from a production point of view it was fantastic, but the writing seemed very flat after the sparkle Steven Moffat bough in both ideas and colourful dialogue, and I still wasn't sure about Whittaker come the end of the series. Since then I have re-watched the first half of the series and warmed to it a little more, but then series two started on New Years Day and the first two episodes were a marked improvement over anything they did last year. Then, after two not so great episodes, came last weeks effort! To be honest, I'm still not sure what to make of it - I certainly wasn't expecting the episode we got! Is anyone else watching?

Banks, Iain. The Bridge Banks, Iain M. The Algebraist Banks Iain M. Excession Banks Iain M. Feersum Endjinn Banks Iain M. Inversions Banks, Iain M. Look to Windward Banks Iain M. Matter Banks Iain M. The Player of Games Banks Iain M. Use of Weapons I have all of them with the exception of the The Bridge, which isn't one of his science fiction novels (you can tell the difference because his sci-fi novels have an 'M' in the middle of his name). The ones I have highlighted in bold above are the ones I have read. Of the ones I have read The Player of Games is by far my favourite, and I would go as far as to say it is one of the best contemporary science fiction novels I have read. Use of Weapons is also very good, but in a very different way! Oh, and by the way, if you have never read The War of the Worlds, you are in for another treat! (it is far, far better than the dreadful adaptation the BBC foisted upon us last year).

There's quite a lot of science fiction there. If you have not read Iain M. Banks before you are in for a treat!

You are quite right, the body was discovered there, according to Madeleine's review!

They are certainly my favourite series of current novels (and the next one's out in just over a month!)

Calm down, it's just a place where steam engines were put together (they usually have large cranes in their roofs that can lift the body of the loco on and off its wheels).

I think I currently have over 80 books waiting to be read on my Kindle... I did make a bit of a dent in it last year, but have ended up buying more over Christmas.

Long periods of posting no reviews at all tends to help as well.

It's amazing what you can achieve by not reading much or posting very often!

I suspect anyone who has been browsing books in a Waterstones in the last year or so will be familiar with these, but has anyone read any of the books from the British Library Crime Classics series? They are the range of crime novels that have old railway posters on their covers, like this one: I've been tempted by a few of these now, and the Amazon ratings seem good for a lot of them, but I was wondering if anyone here has any first hand experience (and if so, what would you recommend?).

A slow start to the forum's longest running book blog.

Happy New Year to you too! I can recommend his books, or at least the two I have read to date! I've actually gone straight on with Falling Towards England myself.

The first five Rivers of London books are 99p on the Kindle today.

Happy New Year, all!

I didn't get any books for Christmas, but I did get some money, so on Sunday and Today I have spent some time in my local Waterstones and have picked up the following: Wind/Pinball, by Haruki Murakami Mortal Engines, by Stanislaw Lem The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind, by Jackson Ford and The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski It is the first time I have spent that much money on physical books in a long time! Additionally, I have also picked up the following for 99p each from Amazon for my Kindle: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons and A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin So, a bit of reading to do there!

Unreliable Memoirs By Clive James Just squeaked over the line with 20 books for the year, the last one being Unreliable Memoirs from the late, great, Clive James. For those who have not had the chance to read this, it is an account of James' life from childhood though to University and his leaving Australia for the UK in the early 60's. James knew how to spin a tale, and this book is chock full of them. By his own admission this isn't an accurate autobiography, with a lot of the characters being facsimiles of real people and sometimes combinations of several, but that doesn't make it any less interesting for that. Reading the book you get the impression James is his own harshest critic, but there is a lot to entertain, and he paints a vivid picture of what growing up in post-war Australia was like. Highly recommended. Volume 2 is Falling Towards England, but that may have to wait as I've picked up a few books over the last few days!

I'd second a dedicated reader; the basic Kindle is what I use and it does me fine - easy to read, not expensive and holds a truck load of books. I'd also recommend paying the extra £10 for the add-free version!