vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Squeezing in another of these before my end of year final post.

Got through another 8 books since the last update.

    earlier books )
  1. Katabasis by RF Kuang
  2. Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
  3. Mr Villain's Day Off volume 1 (manga) by Yuu Morikawa
  4. Born With Teeth (play script) by Liz Duffy Adams
  5. A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
  6. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
  7. Doctor Who Tales of Terror (short story anthology)
  8. Crossroads of Twilight (Wheel of Time book 10) by Robert Jordan


Of the newly finished books, Katabasis was a lot of fun, with a dark journey into the Underworld, but not as good as RF Kuang's superb Babel or even Yellowface for me. Carmilla was a book club read, and frankly disappointing, and a struggle to read. Though Hammer made a good stab at filming a better version in the early 1970s. Mr Villain's Day Off was a chance find in Angus libraries catalogue, so borrowed that way. Fun manga, but I wasn't inspired to read other volumes. Born With Teeth, the Marlowe/Shakespeare play performed recently on stage by Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel, was a brilliant read, though it would be better to see it performed in person. Yes, I did my usual Roger Zelazny pre-Halloween reread of A Night in the Lonesome October. Still love it. T. Kingfisher's A Wizard's Guide to Contemporary Baking was fun, but a bit unevenly paced, and younger than I'd usually read. It also took too long to get to dangerous fighting gingerbread men. Doctor Who Tales of Terror is a fun spooky anthology collection, with short stories by multiple authors for each of Doctors 1-12. A bit uneven, but overall fun. Wheel of Time book 10 was the slog that I expected, though still fun in many parts. But I needed a very specific approach to reading to get through it successfully. But things should be better again in the remaining books. Book 10 is generally regarded by readers of the whole series as the worst by a long way.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
A bumper crop of more books finished in the last month. Helped again by some library books.

    earlier books )
  1. Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  2. City of Vengeance (Cesare Aldo book 1) by D.V. Bishop
  3. Beside the Ocean of Time by George Mackay Brown
  4. Delirium's Party: A Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson
  5. The Haunted Trail: Classic Tales of the Rambling Weird by Weird Walk
  6. Manga Classics Sherlock Holmes volume 1 A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, Crystal S. Chan and Julien Choy
  7. Glenshee: Glen of the Fairies by Antony Mackenzie Smith
  8. Insomniacs After School volume 7 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
  9. Forgotten Churches: Exploring England's Hidden Treasures by Luke Sherlock
  10. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab


Of the newly finished ones, I enjoyed Arthur Conan Doyle's Memoirs collection of Sherlock Holmes stories yet again. The David Bishop book was a Renaissance Italy thriller, the first in an ongoing series, and very enjoyable. The George Mackay Brown novel (Saltire award winning and Booker shortlisted) was still magical, on a reread. I found the Sandman Little Endless graphic novel on a book clearout/rummage, so read it again quickly before passing it on to charity. The rambling "Tales of the Weird" book was interesting, but not a great run of stories for me. Enjoyed the manga Sherlock Holmes. Still really enjoying the Insomniacs After School manga series. Loved the church history book, and enjoyed with provisos the V.E. Schwab vampire book, newly published in June. That last one was read for my book club. I wouldn't have got to it so quickly otherwise.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
I read this book recently, borrowed from Monifieth Library. It was published earlier this year, and is a manga version of the first Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet.

Generally I enjoyed it. The art is clear and distinctive, and full colour, with the characters well delineated. It's a fair retelling of a story which isn't one of my favourite Sherlock stories by a long way, though I really like the opening portion where Holmes and Watson meet and then move in together. But in many respects I find this a rather muddled Conan Doyle story, and the manga version reflects that. It was a very good idea for BBC's Sherlock to rework things quite a bit. I was a bit surprised to see the Mormon section included in the manga, which is good for faithfulness even if I'd personally rather see it excised as the BBC did! But, yes, a good read, and well done in manga form. The paper stock is also high quality. The book is noted as "volume 1" in the Sherlock Holmes stories, so hopefully they have more stories in development.

vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
For 2 years I've used a Hobonichi Techo A5 journal for my planning. Now trying to decide what covers etc to get for 2026. Navigating my way thru what I like, vs what's Japan exclusive, or even Hobonichi Japan only. Expect to get all from Art From The Heart in Harrogate.

Was going to get a Junji Ito "Tomie" manga Hobonichi cover next year. Then having watched today's many hours preview I favoured something else. Which I now find is Hobonichi Japan store exclusive & ridiculously expensive! Now veering towards something else, very nice, that I can get from Yorkshire.

I'm very lucky to have a good friend in Japan who could help with this. But this time around it's easier for me to get the goodies from the Harrogate shop. Who will charge a bit more than Hobonichi direct and also Amazon Japan, but will save me masses on shipping costs and customs/tax, and I'll have the goodies fast.

Here's my blog post from 2024 about how I use a Hobonichi A5 journal for planning and journalling. My system is self-designed, and established itself really quickly on me first starting with Hobonichi in 2024. I'm still doing things the same way now.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Recently rejoined the public library (Angus Libraries). I struggle with print due to progressive neurological illness - indeed have done for 25+ years - so borrowed a mass of illustrated/painting/photography books. Latest catalogue request from elsewhere in Angus is a new manga Sherlock Holmes. Fab!

It is encouraging I can still find physical books I want to borrow, even if I can't read print or even large print now. And it's marvellous how the online library catalogue lets me call books in from all over Angus. There's a particularly good Scottish cultural/history collection in store at Forfar.

Meanwhile I continue to read masses on my Kindle. I have a huge pile of ebooks on my virtual to read pile. I often snap them up when they're on reduced sale price. I buy far more ebooks than I ever get read! But at least it lets me keep reading extended fiction and non fiction. With gargantuan font.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Catching up with this, and another 6 titles finished since my last post:

    earlier books )
  1. Winter's Heart (Wheel of Time book 9) by Robert Jordan
  2. Insomniacs After School volume 6 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
  3. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
  4. Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
  5. The Wee Free Men (Discworld book 30) by Terry Pratchett
  6. Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan


Of the new ones, the Wheel of Time 9th book was not as bad as I feared. Still way too long, still over written. And I'm rather dreading book 10, which retells much of the same plot apparently as book 10. But not too bad, and overall enjoyable. I am determined to get to the end of the series!

Still loving the Insomniacs After School manga series, though trying to spread them out, because there are still some more due to be published in English translation.

Assassin's Apprentice is the first Robin Hobb book I have read. I enjoyed it a lot, though some bits made me so very angry as I was reading. Angry at the author for making me go through reading them! But it was well written. I expect to continue on to the sequel in the near future.

Belladonna is a Young Adult gothic/fantasy/historical/romance book. I'm honestly surprised how "spicy" it was, given the age it was targeted at. I also found it a slog to keep going through much of it, and it needed heftier editing. But I did enjoy it enough that I might read the sequel.

Continuing my reread of the Discworld "Witches" mini series of books saw me get to the first Tiffany Aching book. These Tiffany books late in Terry's writing life are so very good. I can understand why he was so fond of them and also so proud of them.

I enjoyed Lucy Mangan's book recalling her childhood reading, from her very earliest memories of being read to, through to her transition to adulthood. She's a couple of years younger than me, but we read many similar books in childhood. Though she didn't share my enthusiasm for fantasy, and was far more keen than me on contemporary fiction and also dystopian which I tend to avoid.

I am now reading the first in David Bishop's Renaissance Florence set series of mystery/thrillers. As well as continuing to read a non fiction book about a slow canal boat journey around England, another British Library Weird Tales short story collection, and more.

Finishing my 25th book means that I've reached my self-set Goodreads reading goal of the year. I was very modest in my 2025 reading goal, and wanted it to be something easily achievable, not least given how sedated and time limited I am now. And to be fair the last 6 months have included some whoppers, including another Wheel of Time book, and a reread of Charles Dickens's very lengthy Our Mutual Friend. I will keep reading, but it's nice to have 25 books under my belt.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Catching up with this, and another 6 titles finished since my last post:

    earlier titles )
  1. Colostle Complete Edition by Nich Angell
  2. Wild Card: Let the Tarot Tell Your Story by Jen Cownie and Fiona Lensvelt
  3. Insomniacs After School volume 5 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
  4. Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse by Alex Kingston and Jacqueline Rayner
  5. Notebook by Tom Cox
  6. Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono


Of the new ones the Colostle solo RPG/journalling game was fun, but not something I decided I'd want to play. An original fantasy setting, with solo gaming mechanics, based on random tables.

The Tarot book was fantastic, and really got me feeling more confident about doing self readings.

I continue to *adore* the Insomniacs After School manga series, which is being slowly but steadily published in English translation.

The Doctor Who book was somewhat fun, and a new tale about River Song. But it ultimately felt a slog to read through, and was overly muddled. I'm guessing Jacqueline Rayner wrote most of it, though Alex Kingston had some input too, and got top billing.

Tom Cox's Notebook is a varied hodge podge of often amusing rambling thoughts. I loved it! I had backed the digital edition, but not read it yet. I ordered a signed paperback from Tom a few weeks ago. He has lots of his books after the collapse of Unbound (who owe him thousands of pounds) and is selling them on.

And we read Kiki's Delivery Service - the original novel the Studio Ghibli film is based on - for my book club. I've not seen the film yet. A very young read, but still charming.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Binge reading another in my current favourite manga series, and grateful I've another two of the books on order after the next one! Also still avoiding spoilers for the ultimate ending. It is still being published in English translation, with additional volumes coming out every few months. Got to get them all ...

Volume 5 in the series was my 16th book finished in 2025. Just tonight. I've now started reading volume 6. And volumes 7 and 8 are on the way.
vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
Great morning in Broughty Ferry after my quarterly blood tests in Monifieth. Breakfast at Bowmans (see pic), buying Sacred Grounds coffee beans (roasted in Arbroath) loose from Love Your Planet, a fab woollen throw from interiors shop Time & Tide, and a manga book from The Bookhouse. Great wee town.

vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Finished loads more books, and just wrapped up my 50th book of the year. I'd set a very modest Goodreads reading goal of 25 books this year. I knew I was intending to read a lot of lengthy books. But I've more than doubled it.

Among the new books, Steeple Chasing was a fun glimpse into church architecture, history and people. Though probably overlong. It did feel like a slog after a while.

Of course I reread Roger Zelazny's Halloween delight! And enjoyed it as much as every year.

Clanlands, by two Outlander actors (one also a hobbit) was fun, and often really insightful into Scottish history. But overly blokey for me.

Mario's Butt was an entertaining perspective on video game characters and design. Though an easier read for those games I was familiar with, having played myself, or watched Martin play.

The Insomniacs After School manga series continues to be enchanting. I already have the next two volumes in hand, ready to continue reading.

Travis Baldree's followup (well more a prequel) to Legends & Lattes was fun, but didn't quite hit the high spots of his earlier book. But a charming fantasy setting, with added bookshop content.

    earlier books... )
  1. Steeple Chasing: Around Britain by Church by Peter Ross
  2. A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
  3. Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other by Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish
  4. Things I Learned from Mario's Butt by Laura Kate Dale
  5. Insomniacs After School (manga) volume 4 by Makoto Ojiro
  6. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Many more books finished since last time, so I need to do a catch up! Luckily easy for me to do, since I note the books I've read, plus a rating, in Goodreads.

I'd been slowly reading the Sisto and Marchese Middle Earth book, and finally finished. An absolutely brilliant book, for both the newcomer to Tolkien's worlds, and old timers. So much useful reference material I even bought myself a print copy after finishing the Kindle version.

I continue to adore the Insomniacs After School manga series. It probably helps that one of the lead characters looks uncannily like a schoolboy version of my husband! But it's a charming and gentle slice of life, including hefty astronomy elements. I expect to read all of this.

I learned about Intellect Books' Fan Phenomena range of books from the Glasgow Worldcon dealers' room, which I was browsing from a distance. The Lord of the Rings book is very out of print sadly. But I've got the Doctor Who one to read, and first read a bargain copy (£3) Game of Thrones one I picked up secondhand. A huge range of essays exploring different perspectives of fandom. Worked even for me who has never properly read or watched Game of Thrones.

A Darker Shade of Magic got better and better for me as I read it, after a slightly rocky start. I expect to complete the trilogy. And probably go onto the sequel trilogy that is newly starting.

The Phantasmagoria magazines/books were things I'd picked up a while back. Print on demand books from Amazon, large format, collecting a huge range of articles, art work, reflections, and fiction by and about the subjects. The MR James one was a solid 5/5 stars for me. I am keeping it.

The Girl From The Other Side manga wasn't a hit for me. Just too strange, though it got more interesting on the way through.

    earlier books )
  1. Why We Love Middle-earth: An Enthusiast’s Book about Tolkien, Middle-earth & the LOTR Fandom by Alan Sisto and Shawn Marchese
  2. Insomniacs After School (manga) volume 3 by Makoto Ojiro
  3. Fan Phenomena: Game of Thrones edited by Kavita Mudan Finn
  4. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
  5. Phantasmagoria Special Edition Series #3: M.R. James
  6. Phantasmagoria Special Edition Series #2: The Lovecraft Squad
  7. The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún (manga) volume 1 by Nagabe
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Lots more books finished since last time. Rather a mixed bag.

The graphic novel Robyn from Blue Fox Comics was a gender-swap reworking of Robin Hood. Nice artwork, but often confusing storytelling.

Manga Insomniacs After School continues to delight. An innocent coming of age story, involving two likeable kids, and some astronomy.

The second Bridgerton book started off really well. Sparkling verbal repartee between the two lead characters. But the writing went significantly downhill later.

I adore The Lord of the Rings. So I was very very happy rereading Fellowship. Will continue with the rest in the coming months.

Queen Macbeth was a historically grounded retelling of the true historical character that Shakespeare misrepresents. Until it went off into sheer flights of fancy. It also felt like what should have been a much longer book that turned into so many "then this happened" in the breathless closing pages. However I'm glad I read it, not least after seeing (online) Val McDermid talk recently about it at the Edinburgh Book Festival. It's also a quick read, more of a novella. One of a series of "Darkland Tales" retelling Scottish history in that format.

The Adapting Tolkien book of seminar papers was a varied set, some less successful than others. I was exasperated by how poorly the illustrations for one paper - so essential to what it was discussing - were reproduced in the Kindle ebook. Luckily I found a YouTube video of the original seminar paper presentation! But an interesting mix, ranging across within Tolkien's Legendarium, Elvish in the films, the Folio Society's illustrated Silmarillion, and the process of naming astronomical objects after Tolkien names. And more.
    earlier books )
  1. Robyn Volume One - No One Above Another (graphic novel) by Simon Birks et al
  2. Insomniacs After School (manga) volume 2 by Makoto Ojiro
  3. Bridgerton: The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
  4. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
  5. Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid
  6. Adapting Tolkien: Proceedings of the Tolkien Society Seminar. Peter Roe Series XX edited by Will Sherwood
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
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
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
I haven’t finished a book for over a month, though hope to wrap up some novels on my Kindle this coming week. Tonight though I pulled out a manga I’ve got to read. The first volume of Delicious in Dungeon, where the adventurers eat their way through the dungeon. I think this has been made into an anime TV series. Refreshingly there is no “turn to the back!” or a visual how to read manga panels in sequence guide. It’s just straight in. The page layouts are pretty straightforward though. So even I’m not confused for once.

This shows a dungeoneer in armour at the fron holding a fry an pan and spatula. Behind him, deeper in the dungeon, are his fellow adventurers. And in the distance a red dragon watches.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Just finished my 42nd book of 2023, the Manga Classics version of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Much to like, but ultimately it condenses the enormous novel down too much to fit into a much shorter manga format. An admirable attempt, but the story and characters deserve more room to flourish. 3/5

vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
A new month, time for another infographic showing the books I am mainly reading. A mix of fiction and non fiction, biography, computing and poetry.

The image shows 6 book covers, a row of 3 above another row of 3. All are vibrant and colourful. The books are Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang, Little Dorrit (Penguin Classics edition) by Charles Dickens, There’s a Hole in My Bucket A Journey of Two Brothers by Royd Tolkien, iWoz by Steve Wozniak, Scottish Poetry 1730-1830 edited by Daniel Cook (Oxford World’s Classics), and the manga version of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Here are my main current reads and expected to be for the next few weeks. I’m finishing off one novel, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and shortly starting Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries for my book club. Also in pure fiction I’m reading the manga version of The Count of Monte Cristo. Which does have quite a challenge storytelling wise to condense that plot down. It’s interesting to see some of the choices they’ve made. In fictional non fiction I’m reading the large print Tolkien book The Fall of Numenor, and the Obverse Books Black Archive book about the recentish Flux series of Doctor Who stories. And finally I’m still reading and enjoying John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed.

A grid of 6 book covers, 3 on the top, 3 below. Tomorrow etc. has bold text against a famous Japanese style wave backdrop image. Emily Wilde’s Faeries book shows a book open and brightly coloured plants and fruits twining around the page. The manga Monte Cristo book shows a striking male figure in front of a looming castle backdrop. On the bottom row the Numenor book has a mainly black cover with what looks like the great destructive wave in blue and a tree image. The Flux Doctor Who book cover is mainly a brightly multi coloured mix of coloured flames and thread like things. And John Green’s book has a vibrant red, orange and purple cover.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Going to feel groggy later this week - I always get 48 hours of side effects after a Covid vaccine (5 times so far, with Covid vaccine 6 this week). And then a week after the Covid vaccine each time 3 months of devastating increased neurological symptoms start. So I think I’m entitled to treat myself to something I’ve fancied for ages. Getting it from Blackwells.

vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Lovely book arrivals today from my local bookshop in Broughty Ferrry. Heartstopper graphic novel and a Haunted Dundee book which looks fantastic, and if I’d known about before I’d have bought yonks ago!

Although the bookshop is our local one it was easier for me to order online from them. They used to do free local deliveries, but now it was sent by Hermes/Evri. I feared it might go all the way down to the Midlands hub for sorting, which was making me feel rather guilty. But no, the local hub - in Perth, I think - processed the package efficiently, and sent them back to me fast.

Heartstopper is for reading after I finish my current manga book. Heartstopper volume 1 is surprisingly chunky! Though I think it should be a quick read, certainly faster than my 500 page or so manga book (I’m 7/12 chapters through that), which also has much more content and panels packed into each page.

vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Current reading, end of May 2022.

I’ve newly started the first Chrestomanci fantasy novel while finishing Eleventh Doctor novel The Water Thief. Still reading a manga book, Sandman short story collection and Andrew Cotter’s dog book. And now also a stroke memoir by a neurologist.

The Doctor Who novel is set partly in ancient Egypt and is a quick read. Loving the manga book, but reading it slowly. The Sandman short stories are proving a slog, but I’ve heard other people find the second half better. The dogs book is excellent.

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vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
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