vivdunstan

A bumper crop of more books finished in the last month. Helped again by some library books.

( earlier books )

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

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.

Finding another stash of books that can mostly be donated to Oxfam's. Including several Egaeus Press weird short story collections, gorgeous hardback books, but I no longer need, and am happy passing on. As well as a Little Endless "Delirium's Party" hardback. Keeping some of the other books though.

Time and distance is making it easier to pass on some of these books. And we still have way too many books in house, especially a huge number I can no longer read with my progressive neurological illness. It's very freeing passing them on. Even if book lover me naturally rails against the concept!

P.S. I reread the Little Endless book quickly tonight before passing it on. Quite charming, and written and drawn by someone other than Neil Gaiman. Gorgeous mini Endless comic book art too.

P.P.S. Martin is now going to have an incredible number of books to take to Oxfam later this week!

Kindle books anyway. I also have library books on loan, plus other books ongoing in the house. I mainly read ebooks now because of huge problems reading print due to a progressive neurological disease. Gargantuan fonts on my Kindle keep me reading for extended periods.

A screenshot of a Kindle Paperwhite - black and white / greyscale - showing 2 rows of 3 book covers. At the top are "City of Vengeance: introducing Cesare Aldo" by D.V. Bishop (with an image of Renaissance Florence); "Forgotten Churches: Exploring England's Hidden Treasures" by Luke Sherlock (with a cover image drawing looking down at an old church surrounded by gravestones); and "The Haunted Trail: Classic Tales of the Rambling Weird" edited by Weird Walk for the British Library "Tales of the Weird" collection (image of a spooky path in the countryside leading to a disturbing looking group of trees). At the bottom are "Is It My ADHD? Navigating Life as a Neurodivergent Adult" by Grace Timothy (image of a squirrel, looking distracted by lots of nuts); George Mackay Brown's "Beside the Ocean of Time" (image of a turbulent sea beside high cliffs); and "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" anthology by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlockian imagery, including a magnifying glass, and Holmes spoking a pipe while wearing a deerstalker).

My main book reads at the moment, as usual reading on my Kindle so I can have an utterly gargantuan font needed for my progressive neurological disease. I will soon be finishing Wheel of Time book 9 and starting Assassin's Apprentice, which is this month's read for my book club.

Screenshot of a Kindle Paperwhite, black & white screen, showing 6 book covers. On the top row are Wheel of Time Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan, The Water Road narrowboat book by Paul Gogarty and Belladonna by Adalyn Grace. Below are The Haunted Trail collection of weird fiction in the British Library Tales of the Weird series, a collected Complete Sherlock Holmes, and Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. Progress percentages for the books include 72% through the Wheel of Time book, 25% through the canals book, 8% through Belladonna (only recently started), and 37% through Sherlock Holmes (nearing the end of "Memoirs").

My next short story collection read is The Haunted Trail: Classic Tales of the Rambling Weird. Another in the British Library "Tales of the Weird" series. This one is edited by Weird Walk.

An eerie yellow on black background drawing of a path winding through spooky looking plants and trees into the distance. The atmosphere is very foreboding.

An eerie yellow on black background drawing of a path winding through spooky looking plants and trees into the distance. The atmosphere is very foreboding.

Still struggling not to type 2024 at the top of these posts!

( earlier books )

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

I've written reviews of Captive Queen, the Midsomer Murders gamebook and Eerie East Anglia.

Of the others, the Tolkien paintings book was nice, though there were some curious choices, especially re the hobbits. The Shakespeare book was great in parts, but had an almost total blind spot on detailed coverage of the many plays, which felt like a huge omission. Our Mutual Friend was a delight for me, as always. And The Principle of Moments, the first in a planned trilogy, was a heady mix of fantasy, space opera and time travelling shenanigans. Probably more ambitious in its goals than it ultimately achieved. But still a riveting read, and I will read the other books.

Just finished this today, another in the British Library's "Tales of the Weird" series of short story collections, gathering together generally older tales, as well as sometimes more recent ones. This collection was edited by Edward Parnell, and focuses on East Anglia, such a rich setting for spooky and weird fiction.

There are 17 short stories in this collection, including a couple by MR James (such as "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come To You, My Lad"). But also stories by many others, including E.F. Benson, Marjorie Bowen, and even Robert Aickman.

Stories range from medieval through to the present day, though many are in the Victorian or early twentieth century era. Many are written in the MR Jamesian style, of old manuscripts and strange places. Others take a different approach.

Overall most of the stories are strong, but three were absolute standouts for me. Firstly "The Dust-Cloud" by E.F. Benson, the atmospheric tale of a ghostly car crash. This left me unnerved for some time after, as did "The Seventeenth Hole at Duncaster" by H.R. Wakefield, the story of a haunted golf hole. Which started almost PG Wodehouse like, but soon became something darker. The third story that wowed me was John Gordon's "If She Bends, She Breaks", a tale of winter in the fens, that I very much regretted reading just as I was about to go to sleep, because it spooked me so extremely much! But in a good way.

A couple of the stories felt workmanlike. There was only one story that I disliked, indeed viscerally so: "Possum" by Matthew Holness. This was one of a few more modern stories in the book, and felt tonally completely out of place, and phenomenally unpleasant to read. But otherwise it was a strong collection.

Recommended. 4/5 stars.

The cover of "Eerie East Anglia: Fearful Tales of Field and Fen" with spooky skeletal figures looking out onto a flat landscape.

Here are my three main reads at the moment: "Our Mutual Friend" by Charles Dickens (an umpteenth time reread), "Eerie East Anglia" collection of weird/spooky short stories from the British Library, and Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson's fantasy / timey wimey / space epic "The Principle of Moments".

Three book covers side by side. On the left, "Our Mutual Friend" by Charles Dickens, Penguin Classics edition, featuring boats on the river Thames. In the middle, "Eerie East Anglia: Fearful Tales of Field and Fen" with spooky skeletal figures looking out onto a flat landscape. On the right "The Principle of Moments" by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, featuring a bright and colourful cover, with two black people featured prominently in the centre, against at the top a space backdrop, and below that the skyline of 19th century London.

Current main Kindle reading for me. The top 6 books in the picture below are the main books I'm currently reading. A mix of fiction and non fiction.

Screenshot of a Kindle Paperwhite showing rows of book covers. The top 6 books are "Days at the Morisaki Bookshop", "Eerie East Anglia" Tales of the Weird from the British Library, "Captive Queen" by Jade Scott about the newly decrypted letters of Mary Queen of Scots, the "Complete Sherlock Holmes", "Grimoires: a history of magic books" by Owen Davies, and the play script of "Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis" by Sir David Lindsay.

Just booked myself an online ticket for the British Library's "Tales of the Weird: An Autumnal Festival" on 2nd November. In person tickets have sold out, but online streaming tickets are still available. It's an all day (Saturday) event, and you can view live, or on catchup over the following 48 hours. I've used their catchup streaming for other recent events, and it works well. Looking forward to it! A celebration of weird fiction, in its many forms.

I have just DNF'd My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. It should have appealed a lot, with lots of 80s pop culture references. But I didn't find the writing style worked for me, nor were the voices of the young girls convincing. I see it was made into a movie a couple of years ago. Happy to pass on both.

Alongside other non fiction books on the go I've now started a short story fiction collection, gathering together classic spooky stories about Cornwall. Cornish Horrors is another in the British Library Tales of the Weird series. And should fill a nice slot for me.

I am leaving my fiction reading slate free after that for the middle of July, when another in Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches fantasy series is published. I particularly enjoyed the original trilogy, and am keen to read this upcoming 5th book, The Black Bird Oracle. I have it preordered on Kindle, and intend to read it right away on publication. And I also have a signed hardback copy on preorder.

Cover of "Cornish Horrors, Tales from the Land's End", edited by Joan Passey

I've picked up a bunch of the British Library's Tales of the Weird series of books over the years for my Kindle. All short story collections. But I still have to read most of them. So tonight I'm starting on the first of their four (so far) Christmas themed collections. Hoping for suitably festive spooky stories!

Cover of "Spirits of the Season: Christmas Hauntings" edited by Tanya Kirk. It features a disturbing looking tree against a flame like orange backdrop.

I bought online tickets for a number of talks and panels accompanying the British Library's current Fantasy exhibition. Luckily I bought these tickets before the British Library suffered a ransomware cyber attack, which they are still reeling from. I don't think online tickets can be bought at the moment (but may be wrong), but the streaming is working for people who were lucky to buy tickets in time. We can watch an event live, or on catchup within 48 hours of it starting.

Today I was watching a 90 minute chat last night about the Tales of the Weird series of books published by the British Library. This was a lot of fun. Chaired by Matthew Sweet, who was excellent as to be expected. And with 6 other people on the stage. 2 were extremely rabbit in headlights for much of it sadly, though they relaxed later. But the other 4 panelists were great value. And the chair worked well to pull out discussion even from the rabbits in headlights folk.

I have bought a lot of these books to read on my Kindle over the years. They are typically £2.99 for the Kindle versions. But I still have many to read. Including the 3 so far Christmas anthologies. I am now enthusiastically lining some up for the festive season. If I'm awake enough.

Screenshot of opening of Tales of the Weird talk from the British Library

Just finished The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell, the first in a series of novels where the staff of a fictionalised version of the Fortean Times newspaper investigate weird things in Manchester.

I liked a lot about it. The mix of the staff is both effective from a storytelling point of view and often humour inducing. The weird stories that they publish about and then discover some of which may be true are also consistently entertaining.

On the downside the author chose to use multiple points of view (POV) far too much, especially early on. You'd be constantly switching at a new chapter, including to the viewpoint of numerous ancillary characters, and it jarred, and broke the flow and immersion. I hope that he might tone that down later in the series.

However the core mystery was a page turner, and I will definitely be reading more in the series. There are some very interesting back stories of the main characters still to be revealed. So recommended, 4/5 stars, but beware the POV issue.

Cover of The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell

A new month, a new bunch of reading books currently on the go. Still reading Wheel of Time book 7 but making excellent progress with it.

Before my book club read for August I'm squeezing in another novel. This is alongside Wheel of Time book 7 and spread out Little Dorrit reading. Plus loads of non fiction.

The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell has the following publisher blurb:

There are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank God The Stranger Times is on hand to report them . . .

A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable.

At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door - and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own.

When tragedy strikes in her first week on the job The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious investigating. What they discover leads to a shocking realisation: some of the stories they'd previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker forces than they could ever have imagined.

And for my book club in August The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean has the following blurb:

Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries.

Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairy tales and cautionary stories.

But real life doesn't always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds.

Here are the covers of the two books:

Lining up our next weekend rewatch, with an episode a week. Next is the BBC’s version of Gormenghast from 2000. I wonder how much of this Martin will remember? He says a reasonable amount 😜

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Page Summary

Books finished in 2025, late August edition
More book clearing
Current reading, late July 2025 edition
Current reading, start of May 2025 edition
Current reading: The Haunted Trail
Books finished in 2025: early March edition
Book review: Eerie East Anglia, Fearful Tales of Field and Fen
Current reading: mid February 2025
Current reading: mid January 2025 edition
Tales of the Weird: An Autumnal Festival
Current reading: A DNF, a Cornish short story collection, and an imminent new book
Next reading: Spirits of the Season: Christmas Hauntings
Tales of the Weird
Book 37 of 2023: The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell
Current reading August 2023 edition
Current and next reading
Next watching: Gormenghast (2000)

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Entries tagged with weird

Books finished in 2025, late August edition

More book clearing

Current reading, late July 2025 edition

Current reading, start of May 2025 edition

Current reading: The Haunted Trail

Books finished in 2025: early March edition

Book review: Eerie East Anglia, Fearful Tales of Field and Fen

Current reading: mid February 2025

Current reading: mid January 2025 edition

Tales of the Weird: An Autumnal Festival

Current reading: A DNF, a Cornish short story collection, and an imminent new book

Next reading: Spirits of the Season: Christmas Hauntings

Tales of the Weird

Book 37 of 2023: The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell

Current reading August 2023 edition

Current and next reading

Next watching: Gormenghast (2000)