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vivdunstan) wrote2025-10-06 04:22 am
vivdunstan) wrote2025-10-06 04:22 am
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Books finished in 2025, early October edition
Another bunch of books finished since my last post.
Of the newly finished ones, The Lantern of Lost Memories was a novel idea, and explored a serious subject, but was rather unbalanced in its few main sections, and frustratingly left some key questions unanswered. It did feel reminiscent of, though not as good as, the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series of books. It certainly fits into that genre of Japanese fiction.
The fiddle history book was clearly a repackaged PhD thesis, and full of interesting content, but often lacking sufficient analysis, or otherwise unbalanced. Somewhat frustrating to be honest. Though not so much as how unobtainable the book is today, having been originally printed in a very limited print run, and going out of print rapidly. I was lucky to be able to borrow it from my local library in Angus, sent over from their Forfar store.
More successful for me was the collection of working memories from librarians working through twentieth and early twenty-first century Scotland. I was most interested in their accounts of their working lives, revealing changes in library practice over time, but there were many other pages to wade through of earlier childhood experiences. I cherry picked the most relevant portions for me.
The Doctor Who graphic novel was a Twelfth Doctor and Clara one. But very disappointing. Too much tell and not show, and hefty info dumps mid way through each story, about things I couldn't bring myself to care about. It was also plagued by repeatedly splitting into multiple POVs, with muddy artwork not differentiating them clearly enough.
Polly Atkin's book was good, and overall I rated it 4/5. But it felt overlong to me, and often padded with lengthy digressions, which made it hard for this chronically ill person to keep reading and following. Though it was very interesting to hear her story, not least as the sister of a friend.
The first Whisperwicks novel was a children's book, telling the story of a child drawn into a mysterious steampunk-like world of magic and quests, and much danger. Felt very Harry Potter like, but original in its approach. I could certainly see me reading the sequel.
- An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
- Don't Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri
- Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
- Egyptian Myths: Meet the Gods, Goddesses, and Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt by Jean Menzies
- Tutankhamun: The Treasures of the Tomb by Zahi Hawass
- ABBA: The Treasures by Ingmarie Halling and Carl Magnus Palm
- Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots by Jade Scott
- A Middle-earth Album: Paintings by Joan Wyatt Inspired by Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings by Joan Wyatt
- Could You Survive Midsomer? – A Winter's Murder: An Official Midsomer Murders Interactive Novel by Simon Brew
- Eerie East Anglia: Fearful Tales of Field and Fen by Edward Parnell
- Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide by Nick Groom
- Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
- The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
- Colostle Complete Edition by Nich Angell
- Wild Card: Let the Tarot Tell Your Story by Jen Cownie and Fiona Lensvelt
- Insomniacs After School volume 5 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
- Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse by Alex Kingston and Jacqueline Rayner
- Notebook by Tom Cox
- Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono
- Winter's Heart (Wheel of Time book 9) by Robert Jordan
- Insomniacs After School volume 6 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
- Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
- Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
- The Wee Free Men (Discworld book 30) by Terry Pratchett
- Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan
- You Are Here: A Brief Guide to the World by Nicholas Crane
- The Water Road: A Narrowboat Odyssey through England by Paul Gogarty
- The Silvery Tay: paintings and sketches from a Scottish river by Keith Brockie
- Portrait of the East Neuk by Lorn Macintyre and Peter Adamson
- Mountain Reflections by Keith Brockie
- Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
- City of Vengeance (Cesare Aldo book 1) by D.V. Bishop
- Beside the Ocean of Time by George Mackay Brown
- Delirium's Party: A Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson
- The Haunted Trail: Classic Tales of the Rambling Weird by Weird Walk
- Manga Classics Sherlock Holmes volume 1 A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, Crystal S. Chan and Julien Choy
- Glenshee: Glen of the Fairies by Antony Mackenzie Smith
- Insomniacs After School volume 7 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
- Forgotten Churches: Exploring England's Hidden Treasures by Luke Sherlock
- Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
- The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi
- The Fiddle in Scottish Culture: Aspects of the Tradition by Katherine Campbell
- Voices of Scottish Librarians: The Evolution of a Profession and its Response to Changing Times edited by Ian MacDougall
- Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor: Volume 1: Terrorformer (graphic novel)
- Some of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better by Polly Atkin
- The Whisperwicks: The Labyrinth of Lost and Found by Jordan Lees
Of the newly finished ones, The Lantern of Lost Memories was a novel idea, and explored a serious subject, but was rather unbalanced in its few main sections, and frustratingly left some key questions unanswered. It did feel reminiscent of, though not as good as, the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series of books. It certainly fits into that genre of Japanese fiction.
The fiddle history book was clearly a repackaged PhD thesis, and full of interesting content, but often lacking sufficient analysis, or otherwise unbalanced. Somewhat frustrating to be honest. Though not so much as how unobtainable the book is today, having been originally printed in a very limited print run, and going out of print rapidly. I was lucky to be able to borrow it from my local library in Angus, sent over from their Forfar store.
More successful for me was the collection of working memories from librarians working through twentieth and early twenty-first century Scotland. I was most interested in their accounts of their working lives, revealing changes in library practice over time, but there were many other pages to wade through of earlier childhood experiences. I cherry picked the most relevant portions for me.
The Doctor Who graphic novel was a Twelfth Doctor and Clara one. But very disappointing. Too much tell and not show, and hefty info dumps mid way through each story, about things I couldn't bring myself to care about. It was also plagued by repeatedly splitting into multiple POVs, with muddy artwork not differentiating them clearly enough.
Polly Atkin's book was good, and overall I rated it 4/5. But it felt overlong to me, and often padded with lengthy digressions, which made it hard for this chronically ill person to keep reading and following. Though it was very interesting to hear her story, not least as the sister of a friend.
The first Whisperwicks novel was a children's book, telling the story of a child drawn into a mysterious steampunk-like world of magic and quests, and much danger. Felt very Harry Potter like, but original in its approach. I could certainly see me reading the sequel.