"There was nothing scarier than a blind old woman with whites for eyes suddenly gripping your arm under a full moon night." What else to review on Valentines Day, than a romance? A dark, overly sexed-up, gothic romance, of course! đ Corvina Clemm has led a sheltered life, mostly alone with her mother and the … Continue reading Gothikana – RuNyx
I always enjoy seeing these posts on other blogs, but to be honest didn't feel I 'acquired' (ahem) enough books in a week to make it worth while. Why did it take me so long to think about a monthly haul post, instead?! This month has been very generous on the book-buying, hurrah, so suddenly the … Continue reading Stacking the Shelves – January 2023
"'The Red Scholar is dead.'" XĂch Si's life as she's known it has come to an end. Captured by pirates, even if the impossible happened and they let her go, she'd be arrested as soon as she got home, tainted by association and ever suspect. Her future can only hold indentured servitude, or death. But … Continue reading The Red Scholar’s Wake – Aliette de Bodard
Alithea (Tilda Swinton) is a narrative scholar, that is, she studies stories. She's hugely pragmatic and down to earth (not least indicated by her Northern accent, natch; an element I found hugely irritating), although given to some flights of fancy. Thus when she manages to unleash a literal genie from a bottle while visiting Istanbul … Continue reading Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)
"'Watch out for the top of the door!'" We first met Delta Douglas back in Last Pen Standing, when she moved to a sleepy former Gold Rush town to open a craft supplies shop with her best friend. We rejoin them, two murders later (!), as the tourist town of Tundish hits the slow autumn/winter season. … Continue reading The Glitter End – Vivian Conroy
"Ben stood in the basement and called upstairs, 'Mom, have you seen my dice bag up there?'" Phew, that's a title and a half! And really, the second part could have just been 'D&D group', although that might have put a few people off the book, I suppose. However, having 'discovered' D&D myself for the … Continue reading The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club – Doug Henderson
A year after Chinese wire-fighting first made it to American big screens in a big way (in The Matrix), the Western cinema viewing world was wowed with something it hadn't really encountered before. Familiar martial arts movies had been the kind that starred Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, high on the action and testosterone, with … Continue reading Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon – Tan Dun (2000)
"'Did you just say that Savannah Page is staying overnight here, in the castle?'" Trouble on the Books wasn't my favourite cosy mystery of last year, but I thought I'd give the series another chance. I think book 2 is a bit stronger, although still not my favourite in the genre. Shelby Cox is settling … Continue reading Death on the Page – Essie Lang
"A surging, seething, murmuring crowd, of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate." During the French revolution, c1792, a band of English noblemen make daring raids across the channel to … Continue reading The Scarlet Pimpernel – Emmuska Orczy
When the entire world suffers a mysterious power outage, Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is unfortunate enough to get hit by a bus. As he recovers, he slowly starts to realise that somehow the world has forgotten various, every day things: certain brands don't exist any more, certain ideas. But, most excitingly for a struggling musician … Continue reading Yesterday (2019)
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