Jan HicksJun 29, 2023
A long overdue return to #MagnusMills, one of my favourite authors. A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In is the fifth #book of his that I've read and it was lovely to be back in the arms of his spiky whimsy and quiet allegory.
https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/06/29/a-cruel-bird-came-to-the-nest-and-looked-in/
#BookReview #jans2023readinglist #20BooksOfSummer #books
A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In

A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In starts with a cabinet meeting of the officials of the Empire of Greater Fallowfields. The Emperor himself is absent. Each cabinet member, the unnamed nar…

What I Think About When I Think About Reading
Jan HicksJun 24, 2023
Last #BookReview update (for now)!
Almost a decade ago I started #reading the #Winterhill series of #SciFi books about amnesiac archaeologist Rebecca Winterhill. I bought all five books that were available, read two then took a long break. Turns out two more #books were published but are no longer available to buy. So I'll never know how the story ends.
It doesn't matter. Each installment is a fun read on its own. I read Book 3 for #20BooksOfSummer
https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/06/23/winterhill-3-bad-company/
#jans2023readinglist
Winterhill 3: Bad Company

Amnesiac archaeologist Rebecca Winterhill’s journey across space and time continues in Bad Company, the third installment of the pop culture sci-fi series that I started reading back in 2014.…

What I Think About When I Think About Reading
Jan HicksJun 24, 2023
As well as #20BooksOfSummer, I also joined in with #ReadingTheMeow this year. I read three #books about #cats over the weeklong #ReadingChallenge. All had their merits but weren't without flaws.
Links to my reviews:
Cat Poems by the World's Greatest Poets https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/06/13/cat-poems-by-the-worlds-greatest-poets/
Writers and Their Cats https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/06/15/writers-and-their-cats/
On Cats: An Anthology https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/06/19/on-cats-an-anthology/
#BookReview #jans2023readinglist
Cat Poems by the World’s Greatest Poets

This collection of poems, all centred on cats and our relationship to them, is a delight. As I read, I found myself smiling in recognition at the way some of the poets between its covers had captur…

What I Think About When I Think About Reading
Jan HicksJun 24, 2023
My second read for #20BooksOfSummer was a slight cheat. #BartlebyTheScrivener is a #ShortStory rather than a novel, but it was on my e-reader, so here we are!
It turns out that I had read it before but hadn't updated it on #LibraryThing. As soon as I started reading I remembered the story. A #reread did no harm, though. It's such a good tale.
https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/06/11/bartleby-the-scrivener-a-story-of-wall-street/
#books #BookReview #jans2023readinglist #HermanMelville
Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street

Bartleby the Scrivener is a classic short story by Herman Melville concerning an unnamed lawyer and his team of scriveners, or clerks, plus an office boy. His two existing clerks, Turkey and Nipper…

What I Think About When I Think About Reading
Jan HicksJun 24, 2023
I've had #ShūichiYoshida's #Parade on my e-reader for ages. I'm doing the #20BooksOfSummer reading challenge again this year. I've picked 10 books on my e-reader to enjoy on my new commute.
I really enjoyed this novel, both as a snapshot of 20-something #Japanese life on the west side of #Tokyo in the early 2000s and as a stomach lurching mystery. I didn't see the end coming on this one. Real slice of life with a twist.
https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/06/10/parade/
#books #BookReview #jans2023readinglist
Parade

In Parade, four 20-somethings share an apartment in Tokyo, each at a different stage in their life, each searching for something in their own way. Through them and their individual narratives we ga…

What I Think About When I Think About Reading
Jan HicksJun 24, 2023
Cold Fish Soup is funny, poignant, warm and witty.
I enjoyed spending time in the company of @adamjfarrer, learning about #Withernsea, thinking about who we are as people, shaped by the #landscapes we inhabit - internal as well as external.
Imagine a combination of Jon Ronson and Jan Morris writing about place and strangeness and you've got an idea of what this #memoir / #essay collection is like.
https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/06/04/cold-fish-soup/
#books #BookReview #ColdFishSoup #jans2023readinglist
Cold Fish Soup

Cold Fish Soup is a collection of essays about life on the slowly eroding East Yorkshire coast. It’s a memoir about being transplanted to somewhere new, about family and about the isolation o…

What I Think About When I Think About Reading
Jan HicksJun 24, 2023
Our Wives Under the Sea was interesting and strange.
Miri and Leah are chalk and cheese, but happily married until Leah takes a job for a shadowy organisation. Her research trip to the bottom of the ocean extends beyond its three week term. Six months later, she returns home changed in inexplicable ways.
Told in alternating chapters by Miri and Leah, there's a lot to like about this #DebutNovel from #JuliaArmfield.
https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/05/28/our-wives-under-the-sea/
#books #BookReview #LGBTQ #jans2023readinglist
Our Wives Under the Sea

Another debut novel, this time from Julia Armfield, who I heard speak about Our Wives Under the Sea at a literary event in March 2022. Her reading from the novel and her discussion of the strangene…

What I Think About When I Think About Reading
Jan HicksMar 19, 2023

In #THEM, #JonRonson follows a bunch of extremists and conspiracy theorists around to try to unmask the shadowy cabal that rules the world from a secret room and may or may not be made up of 12-foot extraterrestrial lizards.

It's funny, exhausting and reflective. 22 years on from its publication, though, the world seems more confusing than ever.

My second read for #dewithon23 #ReadingWales23 #ReadingWales

https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/03/18/them-adventures-with-extremists/

#jans2023readinglist #books #BookReview

THEM: Adventures with Extremists

What I Think About When I Think About Reading
Jan HicksJan 12, 2023

First Read of the Year

The Forager's Calendar was one of my Xmas presents off Mr'icks and I loved it. Full of interesting facts about the things that grow in hedgerows, at the coast, in woodland, and indeed everywhere across the British mainland, that we can eat and those we really shouldn't.

If you're interested in wild food, this is the book for you.

https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2023/01/12/the-foragers-calendar-a-seasonal-guide-to-natures-wild-harvests/

#Jans2023ReadingList #JohnWright #TheForagersCalendar #books #BookReview

The Forager’s Calendar: A Seasonal Guide to Nature’s Wild Harvests

What I Think About When I Think About Reading
Jan HicksJan 1, 2023

What I might read in 2023

I'm determined to make a dent in my #ToRead backlog (it's 167 books deep at the moment, but I'm sure there are #eBooks I've forgotten to add to #LibraryThing) so I've tagged 60 that I want to read this year. It's a mix of chunksters and slim reads, books I've had for ages and books I've acquired more recently.

We'll see how I do.

#Jans2023ReadingList #books