Books finished in 2024: start of August edition

Lots more books finished in the last month.

A couple of mangas. One disappointing (The Knight Blooms Behind Castle Walls), the other superb (Insomniacs After School), so much so that I intend to carry on through the whole series. Which is slowly being printed in English translation (I think there are 13 books in the Japanese original).

London Tide, the play version of Dickens's Our Mutual Friend annoyed me intensely. But I am glad I read it, if only for completeness sake, as a huge fan of the original novel.

The first Bridgerton book was fun, until something hugely morally questionable happened. I don't think I'll reread the book in future as a result. But I do intend to continue the series.

I loved The Black Bird Oracle, the latest in Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches series. Would recommend it without hesitation. Though only if you've read the original trilogy first. Reading the previous book (book 4) is not necessary before reading this one.

I am now onto a reread of The Lord of the Rings, starting with The Fellowship of the Ring. Happy, happy place. Plus loads of non fiction.

( earlier books )
1. The Knight Blooms Behind Castle Walls Vol. 1 by Masanari Yuduka
2. London Tide: based on Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend by Ben Power
3. Bridgerton: The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
4. Insomniacs After School (manga) volume 1 by Makoto Ojiro
5. The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness

IFComp 2025 maybe?

Brainstorming a new IF game and came up with 10 very rough ideas. One calls out to me the most strongly, but I may also include elements of another five. That should be enough for getting on with! Much to do, but excited. As with the last one I want to get the bulk of the design in place before coding. Many months of slowly musing over ideas to come.

Big Finish update

Well it looks as though the huge number of unavailable downloads on the new Big Finish website has been largely fixed. Including me getting my freebie DWM ones back.

So I've started downloading the audio DRM free files to keep. First priority was Chimes of Midnight - my all time favourite Big Finish ever. Then I downloaded all the Once and Future special editions (think it's pretty rubbish, but I want the downloads to keep!). Currently getting all my Torchwoods (about 70, including some boxsets). Then hopefully Sapphire & Steel, and Robin Hood if it's in there. I will worry about all the rest - the other 600 or so - another day.

This is only possible because I very recently switched from ADSL to part fibre, and our network connection is now vastly faster than a few weeks ago.

The new app is slightly improved apparently, but still very poor compared to the old one. I am hanging on to the old app for now, even if it can no longer download more audios. I had downloaded a lot to it before Tuesday. But for now, getting my 700 or so DRM-free audio files downloaded to safety is my priority.