26th October 2025

Another adventure for the Peculiar Crimes Unit sees them called in to investigate a murder in a London park. Elements of this one are a bit brutal, and it feels generally darker than the comic tone aligns comfortably with.

There's also a lot of the usual stuff going on in the background, but none of it feels particularly new - it's almost as if the book has become a cliche of its own series. The characters that bicker keep bickering, the characters who add comedy add comedy. The only nuance is in one pairing who feel like they are in a period of change.

The fact that I've had to pause while writing this to remember the actual outcome of the case says something about how memorable that aspect of the conclusion actually is.

I’m beginning to wonder whether I’m reading these novels still because of the sunk cost I've invested into them over the years, or whether I'm actually still enjoying them. Certainly they're not the top of my recent enjoyment list.

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19th October 2025

An absolutely amazing sequel that takes the character from the first book and puts her into a new situation, shining a light back on the real world, while exploring new cultures.

Some of the detail of the first novel escapes my memory now, but that didn't matter at all, as only the broad brushstrokes really mattered to setting up this second story.

This is a tale of someone seeking redemption, trying to put the world to rights, and trying to protect their loved ones. I really loved being with this character again, and seeing them in this new situation.

The world-building is amazing - there's so much going on, across multiple situations, and having that all come together and serve the story is very impressive.

I absolutely loved revisiting this world, and am looking forward to reading the third book (and I've recently learned there are more stories in this universe as well!)

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19th October 2025

Susan Ryland's third adventure sees her back in the UK, and hired to edit a 'continuation' novel that turns out to have all the same issues as the originals, including murder.

I got through the book slower than I expected, but it's a hefty paperback and I wasn't in my usual location, so that probably had more of an impact that the text itself.

There's some great jokes at the author's expense, but mostly it's just more of the same - another cleverly structured tale of book within book, with more trauma and tragedy.

I enjoyed finding out what had happened again - but I understand this is the last book in the series, and I think it works well as an ending. It's a clever structure, but probably not one that stands up to too many returns, and probably is quite hard to make work.

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19th October 2025

An enjoyable return to the Thursday Murder Club, as they investigate the disappearance of Joyce's daughter's groom's best man.

Somehow Osman combines increasingly complex plots with a narrative that makes suspension of disbelief effortless, and so it's utterly convincing that these characters could find themselves in these situations.

There are some aspects that felt quite dark, but in other ways also very revealling about the characters, their relationships, and in particular the way they want to help and protect their respective younger generations.

My only issue was that the cast has expanded so much over the course of the novels (often the way) that I find it hard to remember who everyone is and how they ended up involved.

A great outing that I enjoyed racing through.

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27th September 2025

This first book in this cosy fantasy series introduces us to a rebellious young couple fed up of their typical fantasy setting lives and on a mission to set up a tea-and-bookshop.

It's all very nice, quite episodic, alternating viewpoint between the two main characters chapter by chapter, even in places where that felt a bit odd, like we were seeing things from the wrong perspective.

I found it a bit slow, but that's obviously by design. But also a bit patchy - there's not really a strong narrative, it's much more about the atmosphere and the relationships.

I just didn't quite get into it as much as I felt I wanted to, and so while it was good enough, I don't think I feel strongly enough that I want to read the sequels.

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20th September 2025

This is the really delightful story of a young newly married couple and the house they've just bought... and everything that comes with it. It's a fabulous story about found family, and life in the Twenty-First Century.

It does deserve a bit of a content warning because there are a few traumatic scenes where the characters have to interact with the less tolerant, and these are definitely less comfortable reading and might be more so for people who have experienced such situations.

But overall it's not only cosy and heartwarming but utterly hilarious from the start. There are jokes and comedic moments that had me properly laughing out loud.

I can only dream of the possibility of a sequel.

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14th September 2025

I was super prepped to really love this book, which ultimately meant I was disapointed when I realiased halfway through that I wasn't enjoying myself any where near as much as I had wanted.

This is the story of Alice, a Cambridge graduate student of magic. After having a very normal / entirely terrible time, she opts to go to hell to retreive the soul of her professor.

From here the story progresses slowly through various aspects of hell from a wide range of cultures. Which could be fascinating, except for the academic nature of the storytelling, which made me feel like it was being pretentious and condescending, and made me feel stupid for not having any of the knowledge that Alice seemed to have at her fingertips. I can't tell whether I'm meant to feel this way, or if I'm meant to reflect on the character because she is making me feel this way, or if this is just my own approach to learning not being met.

I found it slow and hard going. I felt like I was fighting through the narrative to find the story, and am still not sure whether this is satire or a damning exposé of the academic life. I can't tell who I'm meant to like, hate, or feel neutral towards (with some exception on the hate side). And I don't think I could really empathise with the main character. Obviously other readers' experiences will vary.

So for me this was a miss, but I can't expect everything that Kuang writes to be for me, and given I've enjoyed her previous works, I'll continue to look forward to what comes next.

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6th September 2025

Another adventure for the Vinyl Detective and friends starts, unusually, with some visitors asking him not to take a case. This is the sort of casual twist that makes for a really enjoyable and entertaining crime comedy series.

I enjoyed catching up with these characters, although I do think in places the reliance of returning characters from earlier novels is stretchingthe abilities of my memory now.

I don't know what more there is to say but that it's a good, fun, entertaining read.

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31st August 2025

This is the tale of Scout, told in first-person present tense. Scout is an Archivist, scouring the galaxy for lost alien tech that might benefit their society as a whole. But there's another faction, representing unbridled capitalism, who are after the same tech for different outcome. There's also a cat and a lot of past trauma to deal with.

The book isn't quite what I think I was expecting - there's a lot more action and adventure, alongside some fairly light world-building, and an emotional aspect that grows throughout. I think actually that's what caught me out a bit at the start - the balance between action and emotion starts leaning more toward the action side, and then pivots as the story progresses.

It's a good tale though, enough that I've added the author's forthcoming works to my wishlist.

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31st August 2025

Manon Tyler returns for a second spy adventure when a Chinese student, a leading expert in deepfakes, is unexpectedly moved by her government to Oxford.

This is a great spy novel from someone who really knows the industry inside out, and has a sense of utter realism throughout. Mostly, this makes it extremely compelling to read, although in some places does feel like it's led to things feeling more mundane than they might from the pen of another thriller author.

I love the set-up, and the world-building, the various characters that are introduced, and how their relationships develop alongside the plot. It shows how difficult it can sometimes be to do the right thing, or even to determine what the right thing might be, from a number of different angles.

A great holiday read that I raced through. I'm only sad that there can't be more adventures.

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31st August 2025

The first collection of tall tales from Mr Mulliner is a short story collection with a framing device. Mr Mulliner is a classic fixture of the local pub, and has an extensive array of family members, stories about whom meet every occasion.

It's light and easy to read, exactly what you expect from Wodehouse, with an array of unlikely situations that need to be unstuck from, and amusing plot twists to take us there.

I was looking for some easy escapism and this was perfect.

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23rd August 2025

It’s 1910 and the Temple, where barristers and judges, and apparently mice, hang out and have adventures. And now we get to visit and watch a barrister try to solve a mystery about a mouse, as well as a murder.

I found it slow to get into. The writing style feels like it’s trying a bit to emulate the style of the time, and the main character took a little while to warm to and to get into his ways of thinking.

But I’m glad I persevered, as I came to feel quite warmly about him, his little world, and his ways of thinking. I enjoyed learning about the Temple, the history, and the various characters who populate this story.

I enjoyed this visit, and have added the sequels to my wish list.

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16th August 2025

Eight years ago I read the previous book in this series, and chose to abandon it. But at some point I'd picked up the third book cheap, and it has sat slightly tauntingly on my shelf ever since. This week it decided it had waited long enough and somehow emphasised itself to me as I was looking for something to read.

It was not worth it.

This is two stories wedged together. In one, we have the journalists investigating a murder. In the other, we have the two sisters out for revenge on each other. The overlap is merely the characters, not the story. And neither story is particularly compelling. There's no sense of real drama, the thriller aspects are weak and over really quickly, the peril is boring.

The only reason I think I kept reading was the mystery aspect - trying to understand what was behind the murder at the start of the book. But I still don't think I really understand at the end. Either the conclusion was so convoluted that I lost track, or it's so simple and boring that I'm just left thinking 'Was that it?'

I should not have bothered.

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16th August 2025

Graham somehow has the ability to output charming, sad, but incredibly readable novels over and over. It's almost annoying how good he turns out to be as a novelist.

This is the story of Frankie, a now elderly Irish lady living in London, as told to her temporary overnigh carer, a young man recently migrated from Ireland. Little by little she opens up and shares more of her life, which alternates between highs and lows.

The highs are amazing, but tinged with the knowledge that this is ultimately a tragedy, and so nothing will last. Despite the sadness though, I kept wanting to keep going and find out what was next for Frankie, and the people she'd picked up along the way.

It's also a story of an ally, starting well outside the LGBT community and joining in from the outside, and given it's set across the past 70 years or so that naturally adds to the sadness and tragedy of the story.

I loved reading this.

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9th August 2025

John Gardner's final Bond novel definitely has the feeling of being a finale. It brings back a variety of legacy characters from his earlier novels (although my memory of them is patchy), and twists itself around the events of Seafire and GoldenEye.

But it also feels rushed. Scenes seem to skip past the eyes without having impact, the set pieces don't last very long, and feel repetetive. There's never any feeling of heavy content to it, it just feels like another step on Bond's easy journey to victory, with peril just a minor inconvenience.

That said, it's very readable. That's probably part of why it moves so quickly, and I got through it in only a few days without feeling like there was a need for a pause or breather, which is good.

I've never considered John Gardner one of the best of the (admitedly small pool of) Bond authors, but I have enjoyed revisiting his contributions over the past few years.

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9th August 2025

The Secret Seven are so bored that infighting has become a regular occurance, particularly between Peter, whose temper has reached extreme levels, and Jack, who is starting to realise that he may well actually be better off spending time with his sister Susie, who is clearly cleverer and more personable than most of his friends. Until a dog thief starts up business in the town, and the remaining Six are required to don their SS badges again and hunt down the enemy of the people.

It's a weird balance of a book. It's one of the best mysteries of the series, with lots of action, lots of clues, lots of investigation, and a really nice resolution (although the kids could be more present for the final action). But coupled with it almost feeling like the characters are fed up of being the archetypes that Blyton has created for them.

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2nd August 2025

Jennings and Derbishire get up to their usual adventures in this boarding school novel from the 1970s (although my copy has the 1990s updates, one of which possibly got missed leading to an odd situation where lemonade turns into orange squash).

This time it all starts out when their tennis racquets are broken, which sets into play a sheep rescue, amongst other comedy twists.

I don't feel like this has retained all the magic of the early novels in the series, and shows perhaps more antagonism between the boys than usual.

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2nd August 2025

The penultimate Cherub novel sees Ryan and Ning sent on a mission to identify a supplier of illegal drugs, and introduces a new and interesting character to ally themselves with, as well as bringing back James for a supporting role.

It's in keeping with much of the series, although I do think that the earlier James-focussed novels tended to have slightly more connection to the character. The action continues to feel realistic, and dangerous, and the characters behave like highly-trained teenagers really might.

Unlike most books in the series, there's nothing at the end to summarise what happens next, which makes me wonder if the final book follows on from some of the threads left dangling here. It does contain a teaser chapter, but I never read those.

A good fun adventure, which is what I was looking for it to be.

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27th July 2025

Having seen the film and the memes, I decided it was time to read the book. That said, it sat on my self for quite a long time before I picked it up, and I'm not entirely sure what it was that prompted me to read it now.

My copy is the 25th anniversary edition, which it turns out matters, becuase the opening and closing parts of the book vary between editions. Mine begins with a long introduction about the making of the film, before going into what appears to be the original introduction, before getting to the story. And my copy ends with an opening chapter of a sequel, but not all the detail that an even later edition apparently has.

Once the confusion of the two introductions was past, the opening of the book matches well what I remember from the film. Buttercup is beautiful, Westley works on the farm. And thus adventures ensue, interupted only by frequent asides from the narrator in a horrible-to-read italic typeface.

I found the narrative hard-going. It jumps wildly between characters, builds them up and knocks them down, judders between action and inaction, important detail and unimportant detail, and feels like it's putting little effort into keeping the reader hooked. This is not a book, from its length, that should have taken me over a week to read. But it's not a book that could keep my attention on it for long enough to devour big chunks in a sitting.

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19th July 2025

The second Smiley novel, from 1962, is more of a darkly satirical whodunnit than the spy novel that both the character and author John le Carré will later become known for.

We, along with Smiley, visit the town of a small public school where one of the masters' wives has been murdered. There's convoluted clues all over the place, and any number of possible suspects.

There's a definite sense of distain for the public school system - they are portrayed as standoffish, out dated, weirdly conservative - and the characters based there limited in their outlook and discriminatory and cloying. This is the focus of the satire, although I'm not sure how well that comes across 60+ years later when familiarity with that scene is likely lesser.

As a murder mystery, I don't think it stands up to the top of the genre at the time (Christie), or today the best of today's cosy crime offerings. I found it slow to read, despite only being around 170 pages, and it took me longer to read than many novels twice the size. Part of this will be the choice of language, which feels dense and old fashioned now, but I think part is also the darkness of the world presented, which isn't very welcoming to the reader.

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19th July 2025

Peter Grant and a large cast head to Scotland for this entry in the Rivers of London series. Ostensibly on holiday, they're actually tracking sightings of a big cat, which spirals into sightings of lots of other unexpected phenomena.

It's got all the classic elements of the series, mixing police procedural with urban fantasy. There's lots of action for some of the second tier characters, and in fact around half the book is presented from Abigail's point of view. This was frequently confusing because I'd pick the book back up and go straight into a first-person paragraph without having remembered who I was aligned with.

I also found that the large cast gave me trouble always remembering who was who. For a series that started small it's grown to a much larger team than I have any memory of, and as often with this series I'm left feeling like I've missed out on stuff changing by not reading the graphic novels.

But I still enjoyed reading this and will continue with the series. I especially liked Abigail's adventures, getting to see this world from her perspective, and her character develop and have some fun.

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12th July 2025

Book five of my Wheel of Time re-read, and I felt like things picked up pace here. Rand is on the move, Egwene and Mat with him. Nynaeve and Elayne are also on the move. Perrin doesn't appear at all after having a massive role in the previous novel.

It's a good all round piece giving lots for the characters to do, new people to meet, and lots of big events and changes that feel like they are upping the drama of the whole series.

The narrative felt like it flowed well, moving between points of view at a good frequency to avoid feeling choppy without giving over big chunks to any one at a time. I have memories of the Salidar plot and that being an area I particularly liked on my first reading 16 years ago, so it's nice to see that coming along.

My only issue was that the ending felt a bit rushed. This might have been because I wasn't able to spend time properly focussed, so was reading in small chunks, but might have been a deliberate attempt to up the pace for the drama.

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28th June 2025

A fun little (free) short-story set in an inn, where a group of adventurers has found two of their number dead in the night.

It took me a few pages to get my head into the narrative, but once there it flowed smoothly. The only thing I found slightly tricky was that the character's speech was written with impecable spelling, but then described as heavily accented, and I had to replay in my head to get it sounding right.

I get the impression that this is an introduction to a character that will be making more of a mark in the author's forthcoming third cosy fantasy, so I'm looking forward to that.

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28th June 2025

This was one of a stack of books I picked up with very little thought based on the cover, and with no idea of the story or themes contained within. Yet somehow it worked out and appealed to me.

It's a historical novel, set in the late 19th Century, mostly in a smaller English country house, where Florence arrives to take on a book repair job. There's a bunch of mystery to the characters, and to the setting, which slowly unfolds amid various traumatic and affirming experiences.

I found the narrative surprisingly accessible - it was easy to read, and easy to step into alignment with the main character, who despite her intelligence is quite naiive about a bunch of things.

There are some moments where bad things happen, but they aren't portrayed with graphic detail and so while still unpleasant to read about, its definitely the effect that is focussed on rather than the events themselves.

I enjoyed reading it, but somehow not quite enough to be five-star level, though I find it hard to put my finger on what exactly it was that didn't grip me as much as it could.

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28th June 2025

I hadn't realised there was a fifth book in the Indian in the Cupboard series until I found my 90s copy of the original novel, and started to re-read them. So unlike the first four books, this one is entirely new to me as an adult.

Set very shortly after the fourth book, Omri puts together a plan to use the magic in reverse, but as always there are lots of unforeseen complications.

I have mixed feelings. I'd always felt that the series ended well with the previous book, and this felt a weaker end. I found it surprisingly tense to read - there were a lot of dangers, and some that I thought were being foreshadowed which didn't come to pass, and so I was ready for more, worse things to happen.

It feels like the author had picked up by this point on some of the problematic aspects of writing about native american characters, and that this book was trying to reverse some of that and call out problematic aspects in Britain's historical treatment of other cultures. Which while a positive change, felt quite forced and slightly out of keeping.

I kind of wish that I hadn't learnt about this book, and could have left the series ending where I remembered.

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21st June 2025

The third Conrad adventure sees our human and feline heroes visiting Manchester, where there’s a lot going on.

Three or four plot lines collide to bring this together, one of them darker and more brutal than I was really looking for in this series, which I’d enjoyed because of the more lighter nature of the mystery in book one.

The narrative remains fun, with lots of in-jokes, although I can’t tell if we’re close to reaching the line with some of them where they are becoming cliches rather than punchlines.

I think though that, like with the second book, I’d love to see Conrad take a bit more of a key role. He steps up in a few places in this novel, but it feels like he’s become more of a gimmick than actually being necessary to the plot.

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21st June 2025

Onto book four in my Wheel of Time re-read. There's a lot going on, and we open with a contrast to the previous book by skipping around the various main characters fairly quickly. After a while though, this settles into long chunks of the book following a particular character, and I found this quite draining, and that I wanted to get through it to get to the other characters. I think for me, the jumping between them works better as a style for keeping my attention.

This feels like the book where the author has realised it's going to be more books than he thought to get to the end of this story, and so things slow down a bit. There's more world to explore, and that's very much what's happening here. One storyline takes us off to learn a new culture, their entire backstory, and set up stuff for future books. Another storyline finds another culture to explore, and provides an action setting for two characters who I felt got a bit of short shrift in the previous book. And the third takes us back home to see how things are changing and provide key character and world growth.

It's one of the longest books in the series and really felt it. Particularly once I'd passed the halfway point it felt a real slog trying to get through to the end - I really wanted it to be over faster. And yet I'm already craving returning to the world and getting on with book five.

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14th June 2025

I loved Janice Hallett’s other novels, and so when I saw she was writing one aimed at a younger audience I felt like I needed to read it too. Although it’s clearly targeted at children, there’s absolutely nothing that makes it any less readable as an adult.

For those new to Hallett’s work - this is a novel like a ‘found footage’ movie. Siblings Ava and Luke discover a box of old documents, and along with them, we read through the documents to uncover a story from forty years earlier. The entire narrative is told through these documents, framed with a text message conversation between the young siblings.

I raced through it, and loved every moment. Hallett’s ability to craft these stories is astounding, and as usual there’s so much going on. I’d recommend this to every child who loves reading mysteries.

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14th June 2025

I have been a Terry Pratchett fan for many years, and now occasionally find myself able to pick up one of his earlier novels that I’ve not yet read. This is the earliest.

It’s the story of a young hereditary ruler of a planet in a universe of Humans and non-Humans, struggling as he’s caught between two different destinies, and also his grandmother.

Although it’s short, I found it a challenge to read. It feels of its time in many ways - there’s a dense style to 70s science fiction and fantasy that I find hard to navigate, and I think Pratchett at this point was early in his learning curve for what would become his later style. It’s also ahead of its time in many way as well - there’s elements of the classic turning of things on their head, which he comes back to again in the early Discworld novels. There’s also a surprising number of things that later turn up, recycled and repurposed, in the Discworld series.

It was an interesting read, but I think if I’d started reading here instead of with his later novels, I’d probably not have come back to Pratchett, and would have missed out on his other brilliant output.

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7th June 2025

Having read one of Holly Jackson’s other novels, and wanting to wait to first see the TV adaptations of the others in that series, I picked up this thriller in a charity shop. It was recommended to me a few years ago, randomly, and so I’ve been intrigued to find out what it’s like.

The answer is: stressful.

This is a thriller about six youngsters, mostly teens, trapped in an RV for eight hours, overnight, with no phone signal, and bad things happening outside. I found it hard to read as quickly as I would have liked, and I think as a result of leaving it on various cliffhangers it invaded my dreams and affected my sleep.

It took my a good few chapters to get into the narrative. The story is told from the point of view of Red - a teenage girl who doesn’t quite fit in with her friends, and we experience a lot of what’s going on in her head, which is a busy and traumatised place. I struggled at first, but after probably the first two hours of story time got into the rhythm of it and was able to read smoothly.

For me, I think this was too stressful and too dark. I’m much more interested in mystery I think, and so I’m slightly put off considering purchasing Jackson’s forthcoming book aimed at an adult audience, in case it’s more like this.

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7th June 2025

I've rapidly reached book three in my Wheel of Time re-read, and this one is strikingly different from the first two. As readers, we're now cut off from Rand, the main character we'd been with so far, and instead get long chunks of narrative following the other four lead characters of the series, before some faster chopping between them as the climax approaches.

This style I think makes the story feel slower. There's a lot to get through that feels like exposition, or just lining characters up for things, rather than developing them and their action.

Again, there's a new character who I didn't remember appearing this early in the series. It still gives that feeling that Jordan intended for a six-book adventure, not the 15 books that this became. The overall plot feels like it's taking a bound forward in each book, reaching a key milestone at the end.

I am considering a longer break now before re-reading book four, but we shall see how that pans out.

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1st June 2025

The first of two Monk & Robot stories by Becky Chambers, this short novel introduces us to Sibling Dex - a monk who isn’t sure what he wants from life.

The world-building is excellent, painting a wonderful picture of a future utopia where people can live as they want and have everything they need, and yet still yearn.

It’s a very relaxing read, though the brevity meant I got through it in a day and I would have liked the experience to last longer. So maybe when I get the sequel I’ll know to take that at a slower pace.

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1st June 2025

In their 23rd adventure, the Three Investigators are hired to look into the theft of a small statue, but very quickly get drawn into a bigger and spookier set of mysteries.

I liked that there was a lot going on, and it needs real investigation work. However it must be a sign of the changing times (this is 1975 and the series is now 11 years in) that the teenage protagonists now have guns drawn on them by police several times, which didn’t feel right to me.

The paranormal elements of the plot are more prevalent than in others, and felt presented quite differently to before, which again I’m not sure felt right for my perception of the series.

The mystery is a good one, and it was only as the climax approached that I remembered from when I read as a child what was about to happen. Otherwise the plot has entirely left my brain, so it was fun to revisit.

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1st June 2025

Sean Lusk’s second novel shares similarities with his first - it’s historical, it involves travel, and it’s really engaging. But also differences - this time there’s no fantasy. Instead this is the story of Mary Wortley Montagu, a real 18th century writer, but with the details that history has failed to retain filled in with a fictionalised account.

I found my attention captured immediately, although the narrative felt very unclear exactly where it was going - in the sense that this isn’t the traditional novel where the character has a quest and a sense of direction. Instead it’s almost like each chapter serves as a separate episode, and each is its own story, and the full picture can’t emerge until you’ve consumed them all.

I found it really great to learn more about this period of history through this lens. I find stories much more engaging as a communication format than drier text, and so it was cool to see this from the point of view of a realised person. There’s much more going on, at home and abroad, than I had realised.

A great second outing, and I’m intrigued to find out what might come next.

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1st June 2025

Having re-read the first book, I immediately wanted to continue. This second adventure feels a little slower going, but actually introduces a ton of the world building that I again had forgotten came so early.

The party splits, with one group following a trail left by a thief, and the other heading to the White Tower. What I had remembered is really liking the Tower parts of the story - it's the classic boarding school type of setting, so very familiar in that sense. Whereas the journey plot is slow and drawn out, and in places feels like some of the lore has come about just to make it work.

The climax then feels a bit rushed, with us barging through it in a small set of chapters. I suspect I've become used to Brandon Sanderson's style where the climax fills the final quarter of the book.

Overall though I'm still really hooked on this re-read and will be back for book three soon.

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24th May 2025

Set during season two of Strange New Worlds, James Swallow’s new Star Trek novel follows the crew as they investigate a star that’s putting out unusual radiation, and get into all the usual trouble.

It’s a classic planet-of-the-week story with plenty of character stuff, adventure, and the occasional British cultural reference which will go totally over the head of most American readers and therefore I find incredibly delightful.

Swallow uses the range of characters, but particularly I enjoyed the time with Ortegas, who has a great balance between being a comic and deep character both on the show and in the novel.

A fun trek.

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24th May 2025

A short free ebook, teasing ahead that a new Ambrose Parry novel is not many months away.

It’s set earlier than the main series, and so doesn’t follow our usual set of characters, instead introducing us to a boy, his family troubles, and what he gets up to in 19th Century Edinburgh to deal with his situation.

There’s a good balance of real history blended with enjoyable characters. A nice little visit to this world to whet the appetite before the novel (the opening chapters of which are included in the ebook, but which I didn’t read because I don’t like early chapter drops).

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24th May 2025

Susie Dent’s novel didn’t capture me immediately, but once I’d got a few chapters in I did want to find out all the answers and about her characters.

It’s the story of a group of lexicographers writing updates for the dictionary, and some puzzling letters they start to receive, hinting at things from their past. There’s a lot going on, and it does get quite sad in places.

One thing that really bugged me was the use of the word “screenshot” to mean “took a photo of something”, which felt very weird the three times it was used, and something that I didn’t expect Dent to get wrong - I was anticipating some sort of plot point to emerge, but it never did.

Otherwise a perfectly good mystery, but I’m not sure quite inspiring enough for me to add the sequel to my wish list.

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24th May 2025

Inspired by the release of season three of the TV adaptation, I decided to revisit the books. I notice that the series has affected my thinking and I am now seeing the cast when picturing the characters, particularly Morraine, Lan, and Rand.

In some respects it's the classic story about the prophesied chosen one - with baddies out to get him, and a wise magic user wanting to guide him. However there are three candidates and neither side knows which one it really is.

I found I really enjoyed re-reading this. I knew the broad strokes of the plot, and the characters in some detail, but there are plenty of elements that I've forgotten, and others that stand out more in a re-read. I was also surprised by the amount of foreshadowing, and things that I didn't remember being introduced so early in the series.

There are a few moments that make me wonder if I'm reading sexism on behalf of the author, but those are all passages portrayed from the point of view of a teenage boy, so can possibly be judged as within that context. I was surprised that were stuck with Rand's point of view for the majority of the book, as the series is well know for multiple viewpoint characters, but it seems in these early days that was much less common, though we do eventually step into the shoes of two other characters as well.

Looking forward to revisiting book two, but probably not for a little while as it's a lot to do back to back.

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27th April 2025

It’s 1949 and a Yorkshire police officer in disgrace is sent to a rural station to get him out of the way. But of course he finds more and more intrigue to investigate.

I was expecting something more traditional from this mystery story, and so was surprised by what I got. It doesn’t follow the typical tropes of the genre and lots of things go on that I wasn’t expecting.

The character is annoyingly mysteriously complex. There are a lot of suggestions of incompetence, mixed up with insinuations about previous adventures which suggest anything but. I found him quite frustrating to read about.

The plot felt a bit hard to follow - there was almost too much going on, and I think my expectations that things would develop in a certain way led me to not notice so much the things that were actually happening.

In general, probably not my cup of tea, and I think I’ll steer back in lane and follow more genre-typical mysteries when I need that fix in future.

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26th April 2025

A post-apocalyptic science fiction political romance thriller about a ballet dancer on Mars. What more could you ask?

This is one of those books where the cover alone sold it to me, it sat on my shelf for months, and then when I finally picked it up I loved it so much and wanted more.

It’s so hard to talk about the plot without spoiling anything, but it totally blew away my expectations and kept me surprised throughout. The character is super engaging, the world-building is stunning, there’s so much going on and I could spend so much time in this universe.

And it’s also insightful. There’s a ton of stuff about the human condition, commentary on our real world situations, but without ever feeling like it’s lecturing.

A wonderful book that I enjoyed throughout. I just wanted more!

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19th April 2025

The eleventh numbered Next Generation novel comes from 1990, and somehow has a feel of being science fiction from that era.

It’s a Troi-focussed novel, which does feel like a cool choice for during the series’ airing, and sees her experiencing other-worldly alien visitors to her mind, as well as her visiting a planet where fiction and imagination are entirely outlawed.

It’s a very interesting concept and there’s lots of cool sci-fi around how such a world might work. But I think what I was most interested in were some of the new characters that the author concocted to join the Enterprise crew, including a second blind character to work with LaForge and explore other assistive technology choices of the future.

As a narrative, I found it slightly hard going. The text felt somehow denser than in a 2020s novel, and so it took me longer than expected to get through, without the constant impetus to read that I get with some novels.

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12th April 2025

Carole and Jude get to spend some time in a neighbouring town when Carole decides to take on a beach hut to entertain her granddaughter, not realise its history will provide two mysteries for the perfectly mismatched neighbours to solve.

I enjoy these as very relaxed, low pressure comedy, mystery novels. There’s an element with this one of the crimes in question being possibly more horrific than the series tends to go for, but it’s still kept at fairly arm’s length.

There are perhaps some slightly more political discussions about some of the crimes than usual, and I didn’t find all of the resolutions very satisfying. It leaves a bit of a bitter taste at the end which disappointed me and I felt spoiled what was otherwise a nice visit to Fethering.

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12th April 2025

I bought this book, eventually, after being attracted to the hardback’s cover art on the shop shelves. And picked it to read when I wanted something light, and it delivered.

It’s a sort of coming-of-age story, albeit about a 25 year old, who was adopted as a baby and is starting to research his past through a series of puzzles set by his adoptive mother. Through alternating chapters we see him solving the puzzles, and the history of events leading up to his adoption.

It’s a good fun story, which takes minimal effort to read. The reader can choose to attempt the puzzles or just wait for the characters to get there. In many ways it was the easy read I was looking for.

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5th April 2025

The Hunger Games are back. This time it’s 24 years before the original book, as we meet a teenager called Haymitch, his friends and family, just in time for the fiftieth annual games, in which the 12 districts are punished for whatever rebellion against power happened half a century earlier.

It’s exactly what I think I wanted from a new Hunger Games story. It has all the classic elements, and yet doesn’t feel like a rehash. We get to see some of how the original characters got to be the way they are (quite brutally), and also grow the world building.

I particularly liked how Collins has slipped in some references that fit the 2020s into her world’s past as well, regrounding this as our future, not a random dystopian world.

I’m not sure quite what the message is that Collins wants to put across - I’m happy to have experienced it as a story - but I suspect it’s about resistance to oppression, and not giving up in the face of overwhelming odds.

I feel that it rounds the series out well, adding to the lore without taking anything away. I’m really impressed by how Collins slipped this, and the previous prequel, into her world and has built it out into something complex and totally believable.

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5th April 2025

In an opening not un-reminiscent of the previous book (to the extent that I had to double check I hadn’t already read this one) a retired Rebus learns that one of his regular foes has been attacked at home. This of course is only the start of the classic complex web of interconnected cases, and quite a lot goes on.

I feel a bit like the Rebus soap opera has finally taken centre stage, with the actual plot of the week taking a step back in favour of following the lives of the rich range of characters that Rankin has populated Edinburgh with.

Something about this series continues to grip me, and I do think it really is those characters, their fun interpersonal relationships, how much they are committed to their jobs, and how they continue to work and socialise together like a big family.

I’ve got a mental association now that these are travelling books - I think because they are able to keep me gripped while flying, but also possibly because a lot of flying in my past has been to Scotland, and there’s a thematic connection there.

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5th April 2025

The third in what I call John Scalzi’s “What if…?” series finds us in the world created by the question “What if the moon turned into cheese?”.

It’s a sort of anthology of short stories about different characters in the world when this happens, and we get to see the impact on a wide range of Americans from different backgrounds and in different personal and professional circumstances.

It feels very much a satire as well, blending good storytelling with reflections on the US of today. There are oblique references, and then characters who are clearly inspired by identifiable individuals and therefore whose actions, while absurd, are also entirely believable, because that’s the world we’ve found ourselves in.

Really nice end to this pseudo-trilogy. I’m really glad that Scalzi has the freedom to write such a range of output, and look forward to seeing what comes next.

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29th March 2025

Cordelia is back, and hired to find out who stole some books from the local yoga centre.

I'm absolutely hooked on Cartmel's novels and am worried that I've nearly caught up. His narrative is so welcoming and really aligns with the character in a way that feels like you're really seeing things through her mind. Cordelia is a great character, somehow both larger than life and totally believable at the same time.

The plot is great - it's silly and funny and yet also not entirely implausible. It holds up as a mystery, and a thriller, while remaining light and easy holiday reading.

I can't wait for more Cordelia stories and to see how this world will develop further in books to come.

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29th March 2025

The marketing for this book seemed to be absolutely everywhere over the past year, and the wait for the paperback much longer than usual, but now it's here and I've read it and found it very engaging.

It's the tale of a 'bridge' - a secret government employee tasked with looking after an 'expat' - someone removed from their own time and brought forward to the present. There are layers to the plot to peel back, and find out what is going on, and what exactly this book is about.

I think that's the only struggle the book has, a bit of a vaguery around whether it wants to be thriller, history, sci-fi, romance... and so it lands somewhere in between which to me made the second half less interesting than the first.

I'm intruiged though to see what Bradley comes up with next.

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23rd March 2025

It’s Yorkshire in the late 80s, where we meet a nearly-teenage girl with a lot of problems. But that description of the man character shouldn’t imply anything about who should be reading the novel - it would be a mistake not to pick this up as an adult.

The story is framed around Miv’s hunt for the Ripper, but is really about the people that populate the town, and the social dynamics of the time. It’s written with a more up to date awareness, but the events feel entirely plausible in context.

I felt like the quotes on the cover were misleading. They aren’t wrong as such, but don’t put across that some quite harrowing things are going on, at least in the background of the story, and often the foreground.

I found it utterly engaging, and the larger type of the paperback made it nice and easy on the eye as well. The characters are very compelling and easy to empathise with, and it’s both cute and terrifying to see the world through Miv’s naivety.

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23rd March 2025

It’s the 90s, it’s San Francisco, and it’s a vampire. Christopher Moore puts together another bizarre collection of comedy characters to explore what happens to ordinary people’s lives when someone unexpectedly becomes a vampire.

It’s old now, and clearly it’s trying to be satire, but still feels like it’s not quite escaped yet from some of the tropes it thinks it’s trying to take the mickey out of.

While it’s the fourth of Moore’s novels that I’ve read, it’s an earlier written one, and I’m not sure he’s yet developed the style of humour that I appreciated most in Lamb. It will be interesting to see how this changes when I get to the later vampire novels and see how they align.

Overall, a middling novel. I wasn’t as engaged as I wanted to be, but equally I wasn’t disengaged.

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15th March 2025

I’ve been contemplating reading this novel for years, and having watched the TV series decided that now was the time. So my reading is somewhat coloured by the acting and the way the characters were portrayed on screen.

It’s a well structured story with a likeable main character that kept me engaged as an older reader. There’s pace is fast, and there’s a lot of investigations packed in chapter by chapter.

It’s very noticeable where the TV adaptation made changes, and yet also feels incredibly familiar the rest of the time. And you can see why the TV changes work to make for something more visual, although in one case it seems like a whole plot thread was added to extend the length without adding too much more.

I’m glad I read it, but also glad I watched the series first. It made for a quite relaxing piece of escapism already knowing where things were going, which is nice in a book.

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15th March 2025

A present-tense thriller, where we arrive on the only island to have survived this dystopian future, and meet the small community there. And then gradually we learn more and more about this world.

I really enjoyed this story and the way that it slowly unfolds and builds such a rich and surprising world, while maintaining the structure of a mystery as well.

There’s a bunch of seemingly familiar elements, but the way they are assembled is unique, complex, and wonderful.

A deep and powerful sci-fi story that I suspect I might want to read again someday.

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8th March 2025

Grace Curtis manages to create a cosy sci-fi that's also dramatic, mysterious, and a mirror to today's world in the way that only the best novels can.

This is the story of an aging space hotel, on a cruise around the human-populated galaxy, and more specifically its crew members, and how this came to be their home.

It's a wonderful construction, with interesting presentation, and I really loved getting to meet all the characters, to understand how they fit together, and gradually to see the curtain peeled back on the universe that Curtis has created.

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1st March 2025

The Dahlias return for their third adventure. Caro has published the first book in the series, and the trio are met at the launch party by a group who ask for their help clearing a family member of a cold case.

I love all the moments of meta jokes that fill this book - what better 'write what you know' than a mystery set at a literary festival. There are so many throughout that just make this a delight to read.

The characters feel almost a step realer now - they've had time for their personalities to settle, and jumping between them feels less harsh than before and a better flow. I enjoyed the balance of focus with the previous novel too.

Just an enjoyable little trip into their world. I look forward to the three more promissed.

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22nd February 2025

The first book in The Drowning Empire trilogy introduces us to an empire across a range of migratory islands. We meet four point-of-view characters from different backgrounds, with different lives and objectives.

There’s good world-building, but which becomes a bit more gruesome than I’d have liked.

Weirdly, I found three of the characters much more compelling than the fourth. Somehow in just that one plot line I found my eyes failing to stick, and skipping over the paragraphs in a way that didn’t happen with the others.

It’s a book about relationships - ones with a lack of balance, new ones, and ones which are over but not forgotten. It’s quite sad in a lot of respects once you think about it.

I don’t think it’s done quite enough to grip me though, and I don’t think the sequels will make it onto my to-read pile.

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22nd February 2025

I’m not normally a reader of graphic novels, but as a Deep Space Nine fan, I found a good few aspects to enjoy in this one.

It’s a story of a Klingon and Cardassian disagreement, and a trip into the Gamma Quadrant to investigate what triggered this. It makes good use of a range of characters to display this, and the artwork reflects the actors pretty well (especially Dukat I thought).

What i liked the most though was the structure - each page served as a single scene, and then the next page the next scene. This felt properly like watching a TV episode and worked for me better than when graphic novels are more free flowing.

The book also contains an original series comic from the early days of Star Trek, which is almost comical in how out of step with everything I feel I know about Star Trek it is, representing a weird version of Earth, strange 1960s attitudes, and just didn’t seem like the Trek I know.

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22nd February 2025

Long regarded as a classic, I’ve tried to listen to a radio recording of this book before, but failed to get into it. Finally though I’ve found myself with a print copy and been able to find out what the fuss is about.

I can see why people like it - it feels like a cross between John Grisham and Richmal Crompton. The former because of the way the narrative focuses on events and less in the minds and emotions of the characters, and the latter because each chapter is almost an independent story, but they add up to a whole, like a Just William book.

I feel slightly uncomfortable conceptually with a book about a Motswana woman written by a white man, and so am not sure how confidently I can take any of the cultural information presented in the narrative.

It took a few chapters to really get into the book, but then I raced through in two days. I don’t however think it captured my attention enough to bother with the rest of the series.

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22nd February 2025

The second King’s Watch novel, which I came across randomly in a charity shop, picks up pretty immediately after the first, as Conrad is more formally accepted into the Watch.

We revisit some of the elements from the first novel, which provides a nice reminder of where we are and how we got here. Then it’s on to a new mission as an unusual Roman facility is discovered below London.

It’s a good adventure, although there’s perhaps a bit too much going on, and a lot feels like setup for books to come. I did notice however there’s a creeping sexism feeling like it’s entered the narrative, with quite noticeably different descriptions of the male and female characters that Conrad meets, which felt uncomfortable.

The other uncomfortable aspect of this book is its size. It’s a very large paperback, and yet doesn’t feel like it wants to open fully, so is a bit of a handful.

I’m ambivalent over whether to continue this series. I suspect it might depend on whether the third book presents itself to me!

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15th February 2025

Junior barrister Adam Green is back, in a second novel that manages to balance comedy and tragedy together in a really engaging read. I raced through the story in about two days - it flows really smoothly and is an easy read.

There’s a few plot lines throughout, and a decent number of references back to the first novel’s conclusion as well. Mainly Green has joined the team defending a celebrity chef who is accused of murdering a TV presenter. This provides a lot of opportunities to drop in little references to real celebrities in these fields, and the author’s clearly using his own experience of television to help paint a believable picture.

But there’s also a lot of character stuff going on as well - we see how Green relates to the women in his life, to authority figures, to people he looks up to, or has looked up to. There’s more going on than just the plot, and I’m intrigued to follow this story more as the series continues.

For the most part, a nice light legal mystery, which I enjoyed spending a couple of days with.

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15th February 2025

I chose this book mostly because the cover leapt out at me from the shelves of the bookshop, and the description sounded interesting. I really loved it, so this time my quick judgement paid off.

It’s the story of an AI inhabiting a human body - and for much of the book alternates between the ‘present’ and 20 years earlier, drip feeding the backstory that explains how it came to be the way it is.

There’s a load of interesting sci-fi concepts bundled up in this book, doing the typical great job of shining a light on various aspects of our own society.

I really like how Leckie has chosen to handle gender in the novel - showing how different cultures have different norms and different expectations - and yet it did make it harder to visualise everything that’s happening because of the differences in expectation between the novel’s cultures and the one I live in.

A great story, a compelling character, and really fascinating world building. I’ll be on the lookout for the rest of the series.

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8th February 2025

I made some bad assumptions picking up this book - that it would be a cosy crime, and that it would be a bit simple and cheesy. It’s not.

This is a surprisingly dark story - fitting the locked room mystery trope, and yet feeling a lot darker than some, particularly as we learn more of the backstory and more of this story develops. There’s a lot of introspection from the characters and the main character feels deeply real and properly traumatised.

And yet that’s contrasted with the silliness of a Christmas game that the story isn’t structured around. It weaves a complex balance that’s really interesting to see play out.

I was also pleasantly surprised by some of the demographics portrayed. There’s a decent set of representation of sexualities, which isn’t what I’d have expected from the genre and was refreshing.

A really interesting, clever, and engaging book. I’ll definitely be looking out for other similar works from Benedict.

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8th February 2025

While not my usual choice of genre, this book leapt off the table in the bookshop and demanded that I buy it, and so I did.

It’s a sort of horror romance, about a young woman bringing up her younger brother in a run down American town with a creepy house.

The story isn’t really all that creepy - and the reader sees a bit more, probably, than the character, which helps it feel a bit safer. It does however try to expose a lot of nasty things about the town’s history and what it’s done to marginalised people in both the past and recent times.

I really liked the book. Maybe not enough to want to go and hunt out more by the author, but enough to consider recommending it to a friend, if I can find one I think will be into this genre twister.

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1st February 2025

Former editor turned hotelier Susan is back, as she’s dragged into a new investigation tied to a book she previously edited.

It’s a fun adventure for the most part - and Horowitz makes really good use again of the book-within-a-book format (this time without needing to use a hard-to-read typeface too).

I love that he can write one story with two styles, with such close relationships between the stories, and yet it takes right up until the end to actually see if all and how clever it is.

My only issue was with quite the swerve in tone near the end - it’s warned about, but even then felt like a bit of a let down that it had to be that way.

I enjoyed it though, and am looking forward to a third adventure.

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1st February 2025

In the third Prodigy tie-in novel, we find the crew after the end of season one, when they take a break on a planet to look for spare parts, and get caught up in a situation that tests their friendships.

The plot feels exactly like the sort of thing that would happen in a prodigy episode, and fits neatly into the universe.

The characters are there, but don’t feel quite as strongly embedded as in the previous two novels - I didn’t feel like they were playing out quite S well in my head.

A nice little revisit to the team, and a refreshing break from long books.

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25th January 2025

Book five of the Stormlight Archive is enormous. It took me five weeks to read (although I did take breaks at the quarter and halfway marks to read other shorter books). The physical hardback became a bit unwieldy around the middle, but was seemingly better to handle nearer either end.

The plot is excellent. There are so many threads going on, wrapping things up while still setting up new avenues to explore in later books. It ties in well with the wider Cosmere series with a bunch of little Easter eggs, and still tells a compelling story.

The story takes place over 10 days, and that gives a really nice structure, and helps with following the passage of time, which sometimes I struggle with in novels. This also gives much more opportunity for chapters in the gaps between, and we explore some other characters and get to learn more about them and their motivations, which helps flesh out the world.

Despite it ultimately being a war story, Sanderson does excellently to have enough parallel storylines moving that this aspect never feels dominant in a way that I would hate to read. The battles are well described in a way that I could actually follow, which I often struggle with.

I found myself most invested in one strand though - following two characters on a quest which they didn’t really understand, and seeing them grow, and learn about themselves and their world along the way.

It’s an absolutely great way to wrap up the first half of this epic series, and leaves me waiting impatiently for more stories in the cosmere (although I’m also glad of a break after so many pages!).

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25th January 2025

The Hardy Brothers find themselves radio presenters, a job that seems to require surprisingly little training, and then naturally find themselves investigating a new crime - pirate radio. I’m not sure that really fits the 90s era, but that’s where we are.

First up, this had some of the most surprising language choices of the series. Yes the earlier stories were racist, and sexism pervades the series, but those weren’t surprises to me, as they are well known issues with these books. This time out though we have one of the main characters using ableist and homophobic slurs, which feels very unusual (although it is the 90s, so not unusual in society at large).

The aside, the plot is quite a fun one, and makes good use of Chet for light relief. It explores businesses, technology, career choices, and a new type of crime - making it quite an educational adventure too.

So all in a mixed experience.

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18th January 2025

I read the other two Johnny Maxwell novels, which follow this, as a child, but somehow have never ended up reading this, despite consuming the vast majority of Terry Pratchett's novels since. This then presented itself to me in a charity shop not long after discussing it with a friend, so home it came with me to be read.

It's the tale of a generic pre-teenage nerd at some point in the late 20th century, who is content to play counterfeit video games until suddenly it doesn't seem much of a game any more.

There's a lot going on in the story. It seems to somehow collect the youth experience of the time, which feels very relatable, but also to wrap it in discussions of the ills of the world from loads of different directions, all of which still feel very relevant today.

Pratchett's abillity to build a world in the background, never explciitly telling us things, but still painting the picture, is really clever and I feel like I might need to come back to this book again to capture and digest more of it.

Really good storytelling, and I'm glad that I occasionally get to experience these nuggets of Pratchett's writing tht I've not experienced before.

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11th January 2025

I’m not normally one for graphic novels, but I remember this one being heavily marketed at the time and found it very cheap.

It’s a post-Nemesis story, distinct from everything else that’s been told, and in particular without any knowledge (obviously) of the Star Trek to come in later TV series.

500 years in the future, Locutus has decided the Borg have failed, and recruits Data to help in a time-travelling plan to use his past self to defeat himself.

It just feels like a terrible story. It doesn’t feel like Star Trek, it feels like a random action romp with Star Trek colours. The plot barely makes sense and starts with a lot of establishing notes that feel out of place.

I get that it’s meant to be more about the art, but my brain doesn’t work like that, and generally just thinks about the art to say “that doesn’t look much like him” or “what the hell have you done with these bodily proportions” or “why does the Borg Queen wear a skimpy bra?”

My brain wants to focus on the words, and for the most part the writing of these just feels like an afterthought. The voices seem off, and the tone jilted.

My copy has a bonus story in the back from the 1960s, a TOS comic in which Kirk and Spock help a planet fight against out-of-control AI which both felt better presented and more Treky, despite the limited colour palette, rougher style, and script that felt like it hadn’t been past a Trek expert.

The main saving grace was that it’s a quick thing to read. I’m glad I didn’t pay the full price for it though as I don’t feel I can derive that much enjoyment from the format.

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11th January 2025

The Secret Seven come into possession of a Telescope, and as well as spying on their neighbours finally get to visit the Enid Blyton classic venue of a ruined castle.

As I read through the Secret Seven novels I’m more and more convinced that they are terrible children.

They bully Susie relentlessly, and I am almost always finding her a much more sympathetic character than I think I’m meant to be.

The boys in particular are really sexist again in this story, which is a weird counter to how other women in this story are presented. But the girls are even joining in with the sexism in order to hate Susie even more. It’s bizarre, especially with the knowledge of how girls are treated in later Blyton novels.

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11th January 2025

This has been on my list for so long that I can’t remember where the recommendation originally came from, and also on my shelf long enough that I can’t remember where I bought it.

It’s a classic locked-room mystery set amidst the first group of tourists to stay at the first hotel on the moon. The randomly selected cast all seem to have a secret, and nobody knows what’s going to happen next.

It’s interesting reading this while The Traitors is on TV, as it’s a very similar sort of setup, and is told really well with the dynamic of growing mistrust and random accusations thrown around for terrible reasons.

I enjoyed reading about these characters and their time on the moon. A clever mystery with so much going on.

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11th January 2025

In one of their weirdest adventures yet, the Hardy Boys visit the Olympic Games, where Chet’s cousin is both competing and under threat.

It’s 1992, and there is an Olympic Games to tie-in to (I also remember from my youth the 1996 Olympics tie-in Hardy Boys novel, but it will be years before I get back to that!). The real Olympics is in Barcelona, but clearly that’s no good for the Hardy Boys - so their version is in an unnamed city that’s far from home but not far enough to be outside America. That’s just a bizarre way to ignore the actual world which makes so little sense to me as an adult reader.

Beyond that though it’s a fairly classic story for the era, with a mix of violence, investigation, and coincidence, and one of the classic tropes of mystery fiction thrown in to wrap it up.

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