Midnight Riot / Ben Aaronovitch

Midnight Riot

Peter Grant #1)

by Ben Aaronovitch

31jan24: an interesting re-read...

25jul22: Turns out that this is Rivers of London -- under a different name

Not to worry. It's a while since I read it and I enjoyed the re-reading.

Having been reminded -- I shall now look to re-read others in the series

Then... on 31jan24: I updated my review of Rivers.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

If you're not a part of the solution, then you're part of the vast majority. (Alfred E. Neuman)

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

No Time like the Past / Jodi Taylor

No Time like the Past

(St Mary's #5)

by Jodi Taylor

fantasy, humour

copyright 2015

read in July 2022

rated 7/10: well worth reading

More history -- which is what makes this series so brilliant.

Plenty of humour -- and a drift towards soap opera... even a wedding.

Still lots of fun and very enjoyable.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

If you're not a part of the solution, then you're part of the vast majority. (Alfred E. Neuman)

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

Brides of Maracoor, Gregory Maguire

Brides of Maracoor

by Gregory Maguire

#1 of Another Day

copyright 2021

read a bit in July 2022

fantasy

rated 4/10: bad but could be read

Is this book a biting condemnation of the religious predilection for causing suffering in its closest followers?

Or is it just a load of nonsense pretending to significance.

I saw "Wicked the stage musical", it was unpleasant.

This author steals other people's ideas and turns them to unpleasant rubbish.

In my defence -- I did not select this book, it was given to me.

It is boring and unpleasant. And good grief -- there are more in the series. Apparently, the author plagiarised ideas from Wizard of Oz and continues to grind out further boring rubbish.

Do not read.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

If you're not a part of the solution, then you're part of the vast majority. (Alfred E. Neuman)

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

Moon Witch, Marlon James

Moon Witch, Marlon James

(#2 of Dark Star)

fantasy

copyright 2022

not read in July 2022

rated 2/10: unreadably bad

Really, this book is part of a series? Are the other books equally unpleasant? I hope to never find out. A few chapters of misery, despair and nastiness. That's all I can stand.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

If you're not a part of the solution, then you're part of the vast majority. (Alfred E. Neuman)

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

Snapshot, Brandon Sanderson

Snapshot

by Brandon Sanderson

science fiction

copyright 2018

read in July 2022

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

in an afterword, the author explains that this is a detective story with extra twists. every reader will see twist one... then be surprised by twist two.

as a reader i would definitely be a disappointment. i failed to spot the obvious. then i read both, as just, well that's interesting... failing to realise that either is a clever plot twist.

that's why i don't enjoy whodunits... i miss all the clues then am surprised by simply the existence of a surprise twist.

even if i do know that it's a murder mystery i don't try to spot clues. it's too easy for the author to claim that a fact is a red herring.

so i enjoy this story and don't care how clever the author was with the twists.

but as a science fiction story it is enjoyable. an exploration of the use of some super technology.

it would be more... believable... if he had used the more usual idea of in-the- computer virtual reality (which of course would make nonsense of the entire plot :-).

Prophets of the Ghost Ants / Clark Thomas Carlton

Prophets of the Ghost Ants

by Clark Thomas Carlton

fantasy

copyright 2011

part read May 2022

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

I've read maybe a fifth of this book.

It's an interesting idea: Humans shrunk as small as ants, human civilisation has moved into ant nests, living in symbiosis with the ants.

There may be a science fiction reason for this, the result is fantasy.

The book is a good exploration of the "what if" (so science fiction??)

I was happily reading... just never became so involved that I wanted to finish the book.

If I ever finish -- if this gives me a different rating -- I'll come back and update this review. Meanwhile... read to pass the time.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ... Saint Augustine

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

The Little Warrior / PG Wodehouse

The Little Warrior

by PG Wodehouse

 fiction

copyright 1920

read in June 2022

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

For serious fans of Wodehouse this book is well worth reading for one strong reason: the style is different.

The story begins with a playwright whose fame is based on light romantic comedies. He tries a more serious play. The audience needs to think, he thinks -- and the play fails.

Wodehouse writes light romantic comedies. In this book there are nasty characters. People live ... what's the line? ... lives of quiet desperation. The "comic uncle" is a liar and a cheat, he causes harm to the delightful heroine. There are characters who are caricatures with less-than-expected redeeming features.

The playwright tries a more serious play and it fails.

Wodehouse is trying for a more serious -- more realistic -- book. Will it fail?

I'll finish this, then see if I can find contemporary views. Did this book also fail?

Definitely not classic Wodehouse.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ... Saint Augustine

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

Creation Machine / Andrew Bannister

Creation Machine

(the spin) 

by Andrew Bannister

science fiction

copyright 2016

read in May 2022

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

Drat -- I read the book, put it down, forgot to review it. So, from memory:

It's an interesting universe ("the spin"). It's main benefit is to help the author: There is a large number of unique environments, all within an easy drive of each other. The characters can go from desert to jungle to MeccanoLand to metropolis all within one chapter. No need for the magic of FTL travel.

That said, the author uses it well. Some imaginative sets and suitable adventures using multiple unique sets, each set almost "logically" isolated from the others..

I remember enjoying the book but my lasting memory is of the fun of various locations. If I read other Spin books I shall need to re-read this one -- just to see if there is a coherent plot with fixed characters.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ... Saint Augustine

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

The Boneless Mercies / Genevieve Bucholke

The Boneless Mercies

by April Genevieve Bucholke

fantasy

copyright 2018

started to read in May 2022

rated 5/10: readable but only if there's nothing else

Okay, I did not read very much.

A group of (mostly?) women go round offering "voluntary assisted dying" to all and sundry. An interesting idea and pointless.

Perhaps there is more to this book, I don't know. I stopped reading. What I have read so far does not inspire me to read further.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ... Saint Augustine

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

Anne of Green Gables, L M Montgomery

Anne of Green Gables

by L M Montgomery

fiction

copyright 1908

read in June 2022

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Well worth reading if you enjoy a sweet story of childhood in beautiful countryside of 1990s Canada. My wife says that it was a favourite book of her childhood.

Oh and yes, it's a "classic".

I enjoyed it :-)

Okay, Anne herself is an emotional roller-coaster. Sometimes she overplays it in order to get her own way. Sometimes intentionally, mostly not. Still... it's hard not to like her. Or at least to sympathise with her as her life goes up and down.

In one interpretation Anne is a very intelligent child growing up in a world of very average people. It's hard to fit in when you are so different. This is a standard problem for intelligent children.

Even more sympathetic than Anne, though, are her adoptive parents. They are not perfect. They are simple people. They would never deliberately hurt Anne. They do their best -- and their best turns out to be very good. Because they are such honest well-intentioned people.

The book includes a touch of real tragedy. Well signposted. Realistic. Still sad. Then life goes on. Sadder but making adjustments.

It's a book which is a pleasure to read. I would say "sweet" -- in a very positive sense.

The author wrote several more "Anne" books. I will not search them out, it's not at all my preferred style of book. But if one turns up, I will be quite happy to read it.