Patron Saint of Falling Over Things

Things I'm not including here:
- my endless re-read of the Imperial Radch books (It got to the point where I was reciting them along with the narrator, and so I have given them a spell for a while. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it stopped working as a security read for me.)

- my endless re-read of the Murderbot books (I kind of want Murderbot and Jollybaby to go on a road trip, just a murderbot and its crane friend. Maybe they could go to the upcoming Conclave in the Radch novels?)

- books I started but noped out of in the first chapter. (There were quite a few, especially when I fell into a historical murder mystery well.)

- the number of times I had to go back and reread The Locked Tomb books just to figure out what the actual sweet hell was going on. (This was no chore, mind you.)

These are in chronological order, fwiw.

Stormsong by C.L. Polk, narrated by Moira Quirk
- part two of the "We're Wizards and Extremely Gay" series
- aka The Kingston Cycle but I like my title better because it explains EVERYTHING
- book two is lesbians
- there's a lot of sleigh rides with magic foot heaters and fur wraps and huddling for warmth
- also societal oppression of gay people magic users
- love interest is a flapper-adjacent journalist with grit and her own flat
- the first book was all nobility and riches and elves
- this one gets into the gritty reality of the single working woman
- thumbs up for a more developed world structure with social stratification
- bonus points for an underground immigrant witch society
- Moira Quirk, please come to my house and literally narrate anything because I love your voice

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo, narrated by the author
- I'm normally wary of books narrated by authors? For me, the experience can veer into cringe, I don't know why. Maybe because author =/= professional voice actor?
- Yangsze Choo did great, though, and I am glad I read in audiobook format.
- 1890's Malacca was an amazing setting, and not one I knew much about. Many cultures jammed into a small space, with modernity looming but traditions in every corner. What a great time and place to set a story!
- Li Lan is a teenage girl stuck at home with her father who has let their family's prospects dwindle
- She receives an offer of marriage to the wealthy but dead son of a prominent family
- she doesn't like the dead son much (I agree, he's a big jerk) but it's a chance for her to have a secure future
- so many amazing characters in this. Aunties and cooks and demons and dragons and ghosts and a sweet little spirit horse
- beautiful language, imagery, magic, history
- the underworld! Creepy and systematic, with currency and obligations and oof. It was so good!
- I saw this in a review, and I agree 100%: The overwhelming show-stealer is the setting, the background, the history, the superstition and traditional beliefs of turn-of-the-century Malaya.


Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace, narrated by Abby Craden
- SECRETLY STARRING BUCKY
- okay, not really, but come on, there's a taciturn and traumatised super-soldier, can you blame me?
- the main character is Wasp, and her job as archivist is to catch the ghosts that kind of ooze out of the mountain. In return, she receives tribute from the village that she protects
- the village exists in a crapsack fall-of-civilisation dystopia and it's pretty fucking grim
- I nearly put it down, it was so grim
- Wasp has to fight, Hunger Games style, to retain her position, and it's getting more and more difficult as time and starvation whittle away her strength.
- But she has a plan and it's a smart plan
- She catches the ghost of said supersoldier and bargains with him to figure out why everything went so crapsack
- the front end of this book is really tough, but the back end has so many found family moments and triumphant fist pumping moments that I am glad I persevered
- it's one that I keep checking to see if the sequel is out
- and it is! but not in audiobook, bah.


Hench: A Novel by Natalie Zina Walschots, narrated by Alex McKenna
- massive side-eye for this book
- it's lots of fun
- very clever, knows its tropes
- has everything you'd expect from a Lower Decks-style story about superheroes and their minions
- I especially loved that there was a temp office for henchmen
- but
- it does not stick the landing
- you can't be a villain and the good guy at the same time
- and I understand the ACAB vibe that was going on with the Avengers-esque superheroes, I do
- but you either position your main character as nominally a villain who is more honourable than the superheroes, or an actual villain who does actual evil shit. You can't be both. You have to commit one way or the other.
- this book did not commit and it suffers because of that.
- this makes me sad because the characters were so interesting when they weren't being OMG DARK AND EVIL.
- plus there was a perfectly good femslash ship that never went anywhere and that makes me pouty.
- Warning for some intense (and frankly creative) body horror


Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta, narrated by Catherine Ho and Cindy Kay
- elitist mech pilot school student versus vigilante mech-breaking rebels
- some hefty body modification descriptions that got a bit uncomfortable for me but if you like body horror, it will come across as mild, I think
- super sapphic
- really, so very very very charged
- starts out as enemies to lovers
- excellent world building, faboo supporting characters
- this was a regretful DNF for me
- but don't let it be a dealbreaker for you (A Gearbreaker Dealbreaker! ha!)
- I went through a stage of not dealing with bleak stories
- and this one got too bleak for me
- I think it was heading for a happy place? Maybe?
- but I'm pretty sure that if you like dark stories and struggles and bleakness (lots of people do!) you'll like this one
- it's very competent and engaging!
- I think I've talked myself into putting it back on my TBR to finish off.


Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, narrated by Carolyn McCormick
- Scientific team sent on secret mission to investigate a lush, abandoned weirdness
- big X-Files energy
- delightfully scientific ecosystems
- delightfully elliptic storytelling
- mind-warping on many levels
- quite sad, though? Like low-hanging cloud, there's a life-long sadness to the narrator's voice
- the emotionality is beautifully done, but it was too much for my poor brain, so I'm not planning on picking up the sequels just now
- I read this because I liked the movie well enough but felt that there was more story
- there was so much more story
- I worry about the overall pensiveness of the story dragging me down, so I'm stopping here with the series
- But I can see a time when a certain mood will take me, and it will be good to have that kind of book ready. The sequels aren't going anywhere.


Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal, narrated by Meera Syal
- I didn't know anything about this book but it was certainly eye-catching
- I mean, what a title
- ostensibly it's a murder mystery
- but really it's a collection of microcosms that you are invited into: the world of a London Sikh temple, the world of a second-generation immigrant finding her way between two cultures, all the worlds of the Punjabi widows who tell their stories
- to be brutally honest, the murder mystery isn't anything to write home about
- but that doesn't matter, it's barely the point of the thing. It's just the wrapper that ties all these stories together
- Reading in audio made this a wonderful experience, and Meera Syal does amazing work voicing a huge range of characters, from teenagers to elderly widows
- absolutely overdue for a screen adaptation


The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller and Will Damron
- a world where magic is extremely codified and revered, with supporting industries like costumers and jewellers and so on that also use magic. (I love this kind of thing!)
- which naturally leads to outsiders and less-revered methods of magic, which includes our protag, who is a bone witch, which is a combination necromancer/demon fighter/soul stealer, and generally a Very Scary Person
- the world building is beautiful and rich, painted in broad and fine, and there are many, many details that were original and startling.
- THE MIDDLE IS LONG AND BORING
- I was so sad about this because it's a great world! The characters are fantastic! There's queerness and genderfuckery and dance (magic dance!)
- Because the middle dragged so badly, the one annoying thing about the audiobook version started to grind me down
- it was a thing that I told myself I could ignore, because I was enjoying the storytelling so much
- The main character's family all have noun names, right? Fox and Lily and so on.
- The main character's name is Tea.
- which, according to the stated system, would have to be Tea as in the drink, right?
- Not Tea, as in Tee-ah. Thea? Tia?
- I love Emily Woo Zeller. She reads the Machineries of Empire books, and made me love the characters intensely. But the way this book dragged made me need to take a break from her voice for a while, which is sad.
- DNF
- Might go back? When I'm a little calmer and needing less immediate distraction, perhaps.


The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, narrated by Daniel Henning
- To be honest, I picked this book up because I'd just finished Wheel of Time on TV
- anyway TIL that Daniel Henning is not Daniel Henney
- but he's a good narrator
- headdesk
- The premise seemed a bit twee for my personal tastes - a bit Harry Potter/Lemony Snicket
( Cutting for a more unpleasant TIL )


The Library of the Dead by TL Huchu, narrated by Tinashe Warikandwa
- aaaaaah, this was wild and fun!
- near-future Edinburgh, in a kind of post-climate collapse situation, with many refugees living in various camps around the city.
- Ropa is the teenage protag, and she's tough as all get out. She's keeping it together for her family, which consists of her Zimbabwean grandma and her sister. School is an optional extra for her, as she needs to earn a living.
- which she does by carrying messages from the dead to the living
- She is devastatingly ruthless with the dead, and does not give her gift away for free
- She's also fiercely protective of kids younger than her, and demands justice from the bad world that hurts them
- as if this weren't enough
- there is a magical library run by an elitist sect of magicians
- they have nothing but scorn for her hedge wizardry
- it's that fantastic mix of learned magic versus instinctual/cultural/spiritual magic that I loved in Rivers of London
- I would die for Ropa's grandmother, who is a tour de force. And she knits! Knitting magic!
- A truly terrifying monster. I mean. Fucking unexpected and terrifying.
- You can tell from the number of points that this book is utterly jam-packed with plot. Like. Jammed in. So many plot.
- Narration starts a little wobbly, but settles in fast. I couldn't find out if Tinashe Warikandwa is actually Scottish, or just really good at Scottish? Either way, she was very listenable.
- I have the sequel in my TBR.

Oh hey, I can do the actual reading post instead of (as well as??) playing catch-up this time...

Just finished A Darker Shade of Magic by V E Schwab, narrated by Steven Crossley
- what a great world/set of worlds
- what a great collection of characters
- what a terrible choice of narration for Lila
- Stephan Crossley does a lot of classical lit, a lot of... ship lit, I guess? Naval adventures?
- he did not do Lila proud
- she can sound scruffy without sounding like... like a comedic cockney urchin
( Spoilers held each other like brothers )

Also just finished (because ADHD)
Tea and Murder: Stories of the Xuya Universe by Aliette de Bodard, voiced by Stefan Rudnicki and Kate Orsini
- oh!
- this is a beautiful universe
- narration is fantastic, voice are lovely, very suited to the world
- the author describes it as ...a timeline where Asia became dominant, and where the space age has Confucian galactic empires of Vietnamese and Chinese inspiration: scholars administrate planets, and sentient spaceships are part of familial lineages.
- I do love me a sentient ship
( Spoilers are sentient and possibly fleshy?? )
- first up is The Citadel of Weeping Pearls
- it's a mystery, with a tiny baby sentient ship (so good! I love the ships!)
- and the Imperial family having regular family issues while a war looms
- It was a good solid story to introduce me to the world
- leaving me free to fully appreciate story #2, The Tea Master and the Detective
- A GENDERFLIPPED HOLMES AU where Watson is a traumatised sentient warship
- Her name is The Shadow's Child and now she makes bespoke tea blends
- IT IS ALL FUCKING MAGNIFICENT
- where are my 5 seasons and a movie


Catching Up on Past Reads
An Unkindness of Ghost by Rivers Solomon, narrated by Cherise Boothe
- Look, this is an amazing book
- I can't overstate how wonderful and creative and amazing
- but it's a generation ship set up like an antebellum plantation society
- the main character is Aster, she's intersex, neurodivergent and brilliant
- I love her
( Spoilers come with all the warnings )


The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake, narrated by Tavia Gilbert
- got this for free, and downloaded it
- even though it pitches young for YA, the main character has led a wild life
- with lots of sex, drugs and musical theatre
- the language and vibe of the story still felt very adolescent
- but I've watched a whole season of Sex Education
- So I'm getting used to the idea that some teenagers have incredibly wild sex lives
( Spoilers are navigating a teenage storm )


Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko, narrated by Weruche Opia
- oh, wow. This was a wild ride!
- a west African inspired fantasy world
- lots of different nations and cultures
- wonderful narration
- I'm always on board when the reader sings the songs of the story
- magic and spirits and fairies and demons and genies and pretty much everything?
- a fantastic, tropey rulership system
- just a really solid fantasy story
- I will be rolling on to the sequel very soon


Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold, narrated by Grover Gardner
- finally getting to this
- it's been there on my TBR for literally a decade???
- I think I was hesitant because really smart people love these books
- behold my imposter syndrome
- I really liked it?
- I see those Trek bones
- I have a plan c/o branwyn for reading order
- next is Barrayar, then I'm skipping to Brothers in Arms
- this may be controversial to purists, idk


Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, narrated by Miranda Tapsell
- retitled in the US as "The Things She's Seen"
- I don't know why, and it doesn't work as well
- so if you buy it in the US, please think of it as "Catching Teller Crow"
- maybe change it with marker
( Not spoilers, just a lot to say about this one )

Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge, narrated by Lesley Sharp
- I didn't want to like this
- I didn't like the voice Lesley Sharp chose for Mosca
- I didn't like Eponymous Clent, he seemed creepy and predatory
- Damn it! She won me over. Or wore me down, which is a better fit for both Mosca and Clent
- In the end, I wouldn't have chosen a different voice for either of them
( Spoilers are dangerously clever )


Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand, acted by a bunch of people
- if you read this one, do it in paper, don't audiobook it
- they tried to make it into an audio drama
- but one voice would have been better
- so it didn't break that dreamy, creepy feeling, like Picnic at Hanging Rock
- it's a good and spooky story
- about a folk band
- a perfect afternoon in the seventies
- and why you shouldn't step in fairy rings

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, narrated by Cindy Kay
- LISTEN UP
- THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE READ ALL YEAR
- I'M CALLING IT AS MY FAVE FOR 2021
- trans protagonist
- queer characters every-fucking-where
- aliens run the donut store
- there's a Faustian bargain
- there's music theory and instrument making
- there's universal philosophy
- the professional reviews say "Pratchett!!!" and "Becky Chambers!!"
- but they don't need to
- this book is its own wonderful brand of amazing
- give it to everyone

Currently Reading
The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey, narrated by Sarah Lambie
- set immediately pre-WWII
- Hetty is overseeing the evacuation of the mammalian collection from the Natural History Museum
- The daughter of the grand house is very mysterious and beguiling
- not sure if this is sapphic or just fraught
- there are lots of gentle touches and smelling of the other woman's skin, you know?
- very gothic
- has big Rebecca vibes so far


Phew. Made it! All caught up! CAN YOU BELIEVE???

Happy thanksgiving, my USian friends. Travel safe, be safe.

Feeling okay the past couple of days. Sick, like, with a virus, but basically mentally on the level. It's a very nice feeling.

Yesterday we bought tiles and shower cubicles. Bathroom readiness approaches.



I'm doing Reading Wednesday this week, only with fanfic. These are mostly from recs off my flist, so thank you to all the people who posted them.

---

This is delicious fun - lots of feels, lots of comics canon, lots of little Indiana Jones moments:

X Marks the Spot (20195 words) by thehoyden
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: X-Men: First Class (2011), Indiana Jones Series
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Characters: Erik Lehnsherr, Charles Xavier, Hank McCoy, Sebastian Shaw
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Hurt/Comfort, Sharing a Bed, the Tesseract really gets around
Summary:

The year is 1962, and Charles Xavier is a professor of archaeology who knows how his students feel, whether he wants to or not. He spends his spare time researching a mythical artifact, but he knows better than anyone that X never, ever marks the spot.

---

I only watched a couple of episodes of Almost Human - I bailed early because the show was stepping weirdly around issues of consent and personhood in a way that squicked me. I don't know if the show ever managed to deal with those issues, but this fic did in a satisfying way. A satisfying plot, and lots of world-building.

One of the Crazy Ones (105467 words) by starandrea
Chapters: 20/20
Fandom: Almost Human
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dorian/John Kennex
Characters: John Kennex, Dorian (Almost Human), Valerie Stahl, Sandra Maldonado, Richard Paul, Rudy Lom, Maria Pelham, Marty Pelham Jr.
Additional Tags: Case Fic, Night shift - Freeform, Interdepartmental cooperation, Snark as a primary method of communication, Multiple DRNs, Robot Rights, Living Together, Departmental intrigue, First Kiss, First Time
Summary:

A kidnapping case turns personal when someone takes exception to the LAPD's involvement. Or maybe it's John and Dorian they don't like. John doesn't care what their problem is, he just wishes they'd stop trying to kill him--until he doesn't, because having an active threat against his life makes Dorian his 24/7 bodyguard.

---

This is a WIP but I've enjoyed it enough to hit 'subscribe' so I'm happy to share it here, too. Bucky is so broken, and so addicted to caffeine. Funny and heartbreaking.

This, You Protect (10122 words) by owlet
Chapters: 7/?
Fandom: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers
Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson (Marvel)
Additional Tags: Humor, I hope humor anyway, cursing, Protection, Strong feelings about coffee, slightly off-canon
Summary:

The mission resets abruptly, from objective: kill to objective: protect

---

Adorable origin story for Bucky and Steve - vivid historical setting, and a creepy eugenics background. I loved the microcosm of Bucky's neighbourhood. And Steve is so very Steve!

The Dud (7539 words) by nimmieamee
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers
Additional Tags: Illness, Newsies - Freeform, disregards the tie-in comics, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Summary:

When he was eight or nine, Bucky Barnes was the secret sworn enemy of the dud newsie.

---

Another WIP - I found this one when I was deeply in need of h/c snuggling-type fic, and this fic has buckets of it. And lots of action, and Darcy being her usual competent non-super-powered self.

That Which You Seek (45801 words) by Wynn
Chapters: 8/9
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Captain America (Movies), Thor (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis
Characters: Darcy Lewis, James "Bucky" Barnes, Jane Foster (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), Tony Stark, Steve Rogers
Additional Tags: friendship fic, Bucky doesn't know how to pancake, Darcy doesn't know how to throw a punch, In a way they help each other, some snark, Some adult language, Winter Soldier level of violence, Intense Fighting, references to blood, Some angst and feels, Set post-Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Summary:

The man in the booth before Darcy stares down at his pancakes with suspicion.

A few days after Bucky discovers his true identity, Darcy encounters him in a diner 50 miles outside of D.C. having apparently transformed from a handsome long-dead war hero into a creepy, scruffy, pancake-hating serial killer. So of course she tries to help him.

---

Mindscape fic! Always something I love. And a lovely Scott/Emma dynamic, too.


Visiting Rights (1657 words) by GrayJay
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men (Comicverse)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Emma Frost/Scott Summers, Jean Grey/Scott Summers
Characters: Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Charles Xavier, Phoenix Force, Mister Sinister, Nathaniel Essex, Nathan Summers, Alex Summers
Additional Tags: mindfuckery, Professor Xavier is a jerk, telepaths, relationships, Extended Metaphors
Summary:

Scott's mind is a Winchester House of false doors and dead ends, deadfalls and secret passages built on and over and through each other.

---

Team fic, with lots of raw edges and awkwardness. And plot and shooting people. And competence. All good things.

your homecoming will be my homecoming (18972 words) by lupinely
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Sam Wilson (Marvel)
Additional Tags: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Summary:

This is what Bucky thinks he remembers. Writing a letter to Steve in the trenches, muddy footprints, impressions of army boots on the ground. So cold his fingers ache. He’s writing the letter but it doesn’t make sense. He’s writing the letter but he wants to go home. It’ll make sense then, he thinks—it’ll make sense when they both come home.

[Steve/Bucky, post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier]

It has rained and rained today! Really heavy blattery rain, which is lovely and much needed and has cleared the air of this horrible muggy closeness that I hate. Also, it will refill our rainwater tank, which has been secretly seeping precious rainwater from a cracked seal into the lawn. There's a nice green patch there, now, but I'd rather have the water for the vegetable garden.


This is my first Wednesday at work for a good few weeks. I hate Work Wednesday because I have to check the dosettes. Checking dosettes is not my most favourite thing ever. Just so many tablets to count. And so many of them are round and white. I am using my coloured pens (on my checking sheet, not on the little white tablets!) and I have coffee from the cafe next door, but I don't know if I will survive.

Still, I am up front for watching the local rumour mill spin - we've heard that the oldest person in town may have passed away. Nobody knows for sure. Nobody will identify who they heard this from. Everyone is claiming they've only heard it from this one person, and that they've only told this one other person. Reports say there are a lot of cars at the house in question. Small towns are weird. (I wonder if I'm gruesome for trying to figure out who the next oldest person is. I don't think that's gruesome? I'm not going to congratulate them or anything.)


Just finished reading:

Damiano by R A MacAvoy.

So much trippier than I remembered. So many more people died than I remembered. What is it about dreamy hot weather that makes me read trippy, slashy books about angels? I read The Vintner's Luck in similar weather, and it made much more sense then than it did on any re-read.

I started reading the sequel, but the weather had changed and the mood for reading that kind of thing was gone again. Until next year, I suppose.


The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

Mostly because I was in the mood for YA about the world of prodigies. It was self-indulgent in exactly the way that I wanted it to be: the story of a musically gifted teenager who has lost faith and confidence in her abilities and learns to love music for music's sake. The teenage relationship storyline felt a bit pat, I hated Lucy's crushes on her teachers, but I loved her pressure-cooker family, and the competitive world of teenage prodigies.


Parasite by Mira Grant

I've had it on the to-read shelf for a long time, and randomly picked it up this week. I think I'd been holding off because I half expected to be disappointed by anything that came after Newsflesh, but obviously this week I felt resilient enough to deal with that. It didn't disappoint, though.

She has good science! Mira Grant does her research and writes scientific plots in ways that are accessible to non-science reader without making science readers twitchy. The plot was good, and the premise was clever: in the future, the privileged all have bio-engineered intestinal worms that maintain our health, stop our allergies, boost our immune systems. The Big Pharma bad guys were impressively realistic. (I'm scared of those guys IRL, so I'm not surprised to read about dodgy practices in genetic engineering and patent law.) On the other hand, there's only so much I can read about parasitology before I start to feel gross and covered in egg capsule slime.

I did love Sal, the prickly and defensive POV character, and the neat way Mira Grant worked an amnesia plotline to give us an in on her world.



Currently reading:

India Black and the Widow of Windsor by Carol K Carr.

Seances! Merry Christmas shenanigans at Balmoral! Dour monarchs and feisty maids and presumably espionage at some stage. I've been warned it's not as good as the first book, but my tolerance is high because it's lots of fun


Planning to read next:

Masters of Sex by Thomas Maier. (Because I enjoyed the series.)

Legend by Marie Lu (Because people are talking about the third book in the series, and I haven't started the first one yet.)

Tea With the Black Dragon by R A MacAvoy (When I can find my copy of it. It's here, somewhere.)

We spent yesterday doing some medical stuff - lilacsigil is having a day procedure next week and there's pre-op check-ups and so on to be done this week. It's super exhausting, even though it shouldn't be. Mostly I think because we both instinctively do this massive, massive girding of loins, getting ready to deal with big scary stuff that isn't there. We charge up our nuclear reactors for generating cope just to power a light bulb, if you know what I mean. You probably don't. I don't think I know what I mean, but today at work I cried, because I was so tired I just wanted to lie on the floor. Now I'm chilling out with a drink, watching lilacsigil make Lego Tony Stark ride a lion.


I didn't read a lot this week - mostly I inhaled the whole first season of Masters of Sex. Lizzy Caplan is amazing - actually, all the women were amazing. All the men were frustrating in that way that the male characters of Mad Men drove me berserk.

Just finished reading:

India Black: Madam of Espionage by Carol K Carr

Well, that was fun all the way down. India's love interest (or so I presume) kept a large number of guns and knives in his trousers. There was an unexpected journey across the Channel. Lots of food and wine and luxury furs. Will definitely read more, especially while I'm feeling stressed.



Currently reading:

Hild by Nicola Griffith

Lots of people on my flist were reading this a few weeks ago. I've only just started but I like it so far.


Planning to read:

...um. *scans list* Scorpio Boys? More India Black?



You know what I did that I probably shouldn't have did? I signed up for things:

wipbigbang - to finish off my Sanctuary AU where Imogen doesn't die. Victoriana, yay!

xmenbigbang - to finish off my Valdemar/XMFC fusion where Charles is the Companion. Sparkly pony mindbonding, yay!




Ugh, the people in the holiday house across the road are back, with their throbbing bass and their barking dogs. I AM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THEIR BULLSHIT! I've put up with it all through Christmas. They're supposed to go home after Australia Day!

*cranky and not quite drunk enough*


Hopefully Recipe Friday tomorrow.

Holy balls, today was a scorcher. We've just had a thunderstorm and it's down to 33C, from 43C. Blah. On the other hand, we finally got our watering system hooked up to our rainwater tank, so we can give everything a guilt-free soaking. Well, not that we felt that guilty, since our region isn't on water restrictions, but still, it was expensive to water from the mains. And we have our first zucchini, which, in this heat, turned from a tiny todger to a monster practically overnight.


What have you just finished reading?

Inheritance, by Malinda Lo

The sequel to Adaptation - it was clever, and it wrapped up all the plot lines in ways that felt original and not too clever-clever. I love the way she writes contemporary teenagers, and the way she can pull off a plot where said teenagers are saving the world, and yet by the time all the threads are pulling together, it doesn't feel cheesy. Also, yay for canon queer characters.

( spoilers )



What are you currently reading?

A Fatal Thaw, by Diana Stabenow

This is the second Kate Shugak murder mystery - I love the setting (a National Park in Alaska) and I love the people (all sorts, all rugged as fuck) and I love Kate (never wants anyone to see how much she cares about stuff). I'm finding, as with the first book, I'm really not that into the actual murder. I just want to see Kate and her tough as balls friends hanging around and surviving stuff. But you have to read the murder to get the Kate, and so I am.
ETA: Just finished it; the murder got a lot more engrossing about halfway through.



Moon Over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch

Definitely liking that there are consequences for the characters who were badly injured in the last book, and definitely liking Peter a lot better.



What do you think you'll read next?

After gritty Kate Shugak, I'm thinking I'll give India Black a try. Madam of Espionage Mysteries! It sounds fancy and fun.



Some links:

- This amazing fan art for Hannibal by gnatkip (Warning for animated gifs.) So creepy-beautiful!


- What if Hannibal told cheesy jokes instead of implying cannibalism?. (Also warning for animated gifs) Their faces! Their faces, expressing horror and hopelessness, as he delivers the punchline! Ow, my sides hurt.

- Operation War Diary is the new project at Zooniverse, the people who ran Snapshot Serengeti. They have scanned in unit war diaries from WWI, and need people to tag the scans for dates, location, people etc. It's like the ideal thing for me, since I have extensive training and experience in reading crappy handwriting.

- via vass, a read-along for Arrows of the Queen which I haven't read yet, but looks like fun. Dr Vanyel's Exploding Horse Syndrome!

- Monster of the Week has started Season Four of X-Files, yay! Bees and bee husbandry!