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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.
- ( earlier books )
- 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.
Last night’s episode of BBC Scotland’s Landward includes a marvellous report about the dolphins in the River Tay by Dundee 🙂 Is on the iPlayer in the UK.
Butterflies in Dundee in 2025
Aug. 9th, 2025 01:05 amA guest blog post from Martin on my academic musings blog.
Oh my goodness. Martin has just decided to cut the grass before dinner. He's a very infrequent grass cutter. Which is nice for wildlife, including a virtually resident not our cat, and also the ecosystem. But he still needed to do his first cut of the year. Now underway. It will be many many weeks before the second one 😜
Birds list today
Mar. 1st, 2025 05:46 pmMy husband’s birds list from his walk today. This is from his usual Saturday walk to the wooded river valley / old railway viaduct very near our home. I post this list every week on Facebook, but thought I'd post it here too today!
28 species seen, 3 species heard (including tawny owl at 12:50!), grey squirrel, bee heard
blackbird
blue tit
bullfinch
chaffinch
coal tit
collared dove
crow
dipper
dunnock
feral pigeon
goldfinch
great tit
grey heron
herring gull
house sparrow
jackdaw
long tailed tit
magpie
mallard
oyster catcher
robin
rook
song thrush
starling
stock dove
wood pigeon
wren
yellowhammer
grey wagtail heard
tawny owl heard
woodpecker heard
grey squirrel
bee heard
28 species seen, 3 species heard (including tawny owl at 12:50!), grey squirrel, bee heard
blackbird
blue tit
bullfinch
chaffinch
coal tit
collared dove
crow
dipper
dunnock
feral pigeon
goldfinch
great tit
grey heron
herring gull
house sparrow
jackdaw
long tailed tit
magpie
mallard
oyster catcher
robin
rook
song thrush
starling
stock dove
wood pigeon
wren
yellowhammer
grey wagtail heard
tawny owl heard
woodpecker heard
grey squirrel
bee heard
New tablecloth
Feb. 13th, 2025 10:22 pmGot my new tablecloth - a William Morris design, thick cotton, newly hemmed to the required size, including overhang - and looking forward to using it soon with my new small folding table for gaming on. Here's what the design looks like.
