Full Metal Wheelbarrow

180. Balance of Trade by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 273 pages

Jethri Gobelyn is the youngest son of his tradeship captain mother and since his father’s death, the least regarded. When an opportunity arises to become apprenticed to a Liaden Master Trader, Jethri seizes it and his life takes some interesting turns.

I’ve finally worked out why I like these books so much - they remind me of both Andre Norton and Lois McMaster Bujold. Splendid space shenanigans.

181. Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews. 234 pages.

Second of the Kate Daniels series.

This time there’s a mysterious crossbowman on the loose, a magic surge is on the way and Kate finds herself in charge of a teenage girl whose mother is missing.

Terrific rollercoaster action story with some interesting worldbuilding and mysteries.

182. Crystal Soldier by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 307 pages

Another book in the Liaden series - this one goes back and tells the story of Jela and Cantra, the original founders of Clan Korval.

I didn’t think it was as good as the rest of the series, but that might just be my personal dislike of prequels.


183. Aunt Dimity Down Under by Nancy Atherton. 178 pages.

When her dear friends the Pym sisters fall ill, Lori must go on a quest to find their long-lost relative.

An absolute howler in this one - when the sisters fall ill, the villagers rally round to look after them and the postmistress kindly arranges for their post to be brought directly to their house….Clearly neither the author nor her editor understands that, with the exception of really remote places, that’s standard service for the post in the UK….

But I can forgive this sort of thing because these books are such fun otherwise.

184. The Air Mystery of Isle La Motte by E. J. Crain. 115 pages.

Juvenile adventure story, with rather a jolly hockey sticks Enid Blyton feel about it.

I worked on the proofreading of this one before it was posted to Project Gutenberg and was sorry to see that a handful of extraneous apostrophes had found their way into it in the interim :(

185. A Death In the Family by Caroline Dunsford. 130 pages.

I liked the protagonist of this one, so I was willing to overlook the sheer improbability of the plot. Unfortunately this book also suffers from s bad case of “spellchecked but not proofread” (at one point, a character denies that another man was in the army by saying “He was no solider”) which makes some sentences all but incomprehensible at first reading.

186. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. 294 pages.

Yes, I know, I’ve listed this one already this year, but this time I read it aloud to Rob. He understood the computerese more than I did and appreciated the pop culture references.

187. The Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters. 309 pages.

Another adventure for Amelia Peabody and her irascible but stalwart husband Professor Emerson. This time it’s the perils of London rather than Egypt that draw them into mystery and danger, although I must admit to being more interested in the goings on at their home, where they have inadvisedly agreed to look after Amelia’s niece and nephew for the summer.

188. Nefarious Doings by Ilsa Evans. 237 pages.

Murder mystery set in Australia. Not sure about this one. The writing’s decent, but the characters are annoying and the protagonist does something so mindbogglingly stupid at one point that I lost a great deal of sympathy for her.


189. Blood Cross by Faith Hunter. 307 pages.

Second Jane Yellowrock novel.

Jane has been retained by the vampire council of New Orleans to catch the vampire who’s letting young rogue vamps loose on the streets.

Rather bloody but nicely done.

190. First Test by Tamora Pierce. 152 pages.
191. Page by Tamora Pierce. 164 pages.
192. Squire by Tamora Pierce. 259 pages.
193. Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce. 261 pages.

The Protector of the Small series. Keladry wants to be a knight. Unfortunately not many others want her to succeed. But she’s not going to let that stop her if she can help it.

Always a sucker for stories about young girls winning out against unfair treatment.

194. The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross. 334 pages.
195. Down on the Farm by Charles Stross. 33 pages.

Another novel and a short story in the Laundry series. Rob and I are both liking these very much.


196. The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews. 220 pages.

Another madcap outing with the Langslows and their supporting cast.

197. Alanna, the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce. 132 pages.
198.In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce. 138 pages.
199. The Woman who Rides Like A Man by Tamora Pierce. 152 pages.
200. Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce. 192 pages.

The Song of the Lioness series.

Reading these after the Protector of the Small books shows up how Pierce’s writing has improved in between. Keladry comes over as a much more rounded character than Alanna does.

168. Aunt Dimity & the Deep Blue Sea by Nancy Atherton. 209 pages.

Lori, Bill and their children are targeted by a murderous stalker. These books get sillier and sillier and I really hope Americans don’t take them as a real depiction of what life is like in rural Britain, but I can’t seem to stop reading them anyway….

169. Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 292 pages

This book fills in the story of Shan’s parents. It’s basically a love story in space, but at the same time it’s relevant to stuff that happens later. Very readable, apart from wanting to bash the characters round the head and tell them to think about stuff properly….

170. Skulduggery Pleasant - The Dying of the Light by Derek Landy. 605 pages.

Last book in this series. rather bitty and despite having the clear intent to wrap everything up neatly, fails to do so.

The back of the book says it’s suitable for 11 years old and up - seems a bit graphically violent for 11 year olds to me, but then I don’t have kids, so maybe that’s normal these days….


171. Aunt Dimity Goes West by Nancy Atherton. 184 pages.

Lori and the twins go to America for a holiday to recover from the events of the previous book - and of course they stumble onto yet another mystery.


172. Scout’s Progress by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 305 pages

This book fills in the backstory of Val Con’s parents.

173. Aunt Dimity - Vampire Hunter by Nancy Atherton. 186 pages.

The twins start school and Lori gets overprotective. Hilarity ensues.

174. I Dare by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 435 pages

The culmination of the Korval vs the Ministry of the Interior storyline. A bit rushed in my view - I think t could easily have been spread out over two books with no harm done - but enjoyable nonetheless.

175. The Axe Factor by Colin Cotterill. 200 pages.

Third Jimm Juree novel. This time Jimm meets an English author and investigates the disappearance of an elderly doctor. Rather better than the previous book in the series.

176. The Cats That Surfed the Web by Karen Anne Golden. 153 pages.

In order to inherit a fortune, a siamese cat owner must move to another state and live there for a specified period….I think it’s fair to say that this book owes a thing or two to Lilian Jackson Braun….

LJB had her faults, but she could teach this author a thing or two about using contractions in dialogue.

The cats were more interesting than most of the human characters who were largely incompetent and clueless and the main character had only a tangential involvement in solving the mystery. I don’t know if I’ll bother with any more of this series.

177. Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews. 211 pages.

Another visit to the Langslow clan. Meg is heavily pregnant, has a house full of students and an imminent theatrical production. So of course things get even more complicated with great rapidity and before long there’s that classic of detective fiction - a body in the library…

Massive, implausible fun.

178. A Colourful Death by Carola Dunn. 274 pages.

Second in the Cornish mystery series. Still not as good as the Daisy Dalrymple books, but an improvement on the first of this series.

179. Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon by Nancy Atherton. 190 pages.

King Wilfred’s Faire comes to the village of Finch - but it looks as though someone is plotting regicide….Lori investigates as usual…

150. Aunt Dimity’s Death by Nancy Atherton. 213 pages.

Lori Shepherd is astonished to hear that aunt Dimity has died - because she always believed Dimity was just a character in the stories her mother told her.

But the discovery that Aunt Dimity was a real person leads to enormous changes in Lori’s life.

Entertaining nonsense.

151. Aunt Dimity and the Duke by Nancy Atherton. 229 pages

In terms of publication order this is the second Aunt Dimity book, but it’s actually a prequel, filling in the backstory for some of the minor characters in the first one.

I enjoyed it, but but would have enjoyed it more if the author had done her research a bit better - I could take the heavy sprinkling of Americanisms, given that the viewpoint character was from the other side of the pond, but having Cornish villagers refer to their local bobby as “the chief constable”, not so much. And I’m moderately sure that science fairs aren’t a thing in English schools either.

Otherwise a nice gentle romance and mystery, which reminded me at times of Ellis Peters, only cosier.

152. Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder. 279 pages.

Avry is a healer, who can take the wounds and illnesses of others into herself and heal from them faster than the original person. But healers like Avry have been blamed for spreading a hideous plague which has decimated the Fifteen realms and there’s a price on Avry’s head.

Fast-paced fantasy adventure. Looking forward to the sequels.

153. Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed by Nancy Atherton. 224 pages.

The third book in the series returns to Lori, whose happy ending turns out to be not quite so complete as she’d thought.

More daft ghost detective romance.

154. Aunt Dimity Digs In by Nancy Atherton. 223 pages.

I like these books a lot - they’re fun and fluffy and entertaining.

I was going to complain about the putting of American terms into the mouths of the English characters, but apparently this may not be the author’s fault - American editors don’t believe American readers can cope with British terminology so it gets Americanised, in a Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone stylee…


155. The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal by Lilian Jackson Braun. 174 pages.

Another exploit for Jim Qwilleran and his detective cat.

156. The Mangle Street Murders by M.R. C. Kasasian. 332 pages.

Hm. Not sure about this one. Orphaned March Middleton goes to live with her godfather, Sidney Grice, who is a “personal detective”. March becomes embroiled in his latest case.

I like March, but Grice is a thoroughly nasty person and I found the resolution of the plot a bit unsatisfactory.

I might read the sequel to see if things improve at all.

157. Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil by Nancy Atherton. 184 pages.

Another charmingly absurd book in this series.

158. Agent of Change by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 259 pages

First (at least in terms of publication order) of the Liaden Universe books. it seemed a little directionless for much of the time, but I liked the alien Clutch. I shall probably look for more of the books in this setting.

159. Aunt Dimity: Detective by Nancy Atherton. 174 pages.

Another enjoyable book in this series.

160. A Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 277 pages

Second in the Liaden Universe books. I liked it this one a lot more than Agent of Change - it had much better flow. Things weren’t always clearly explained, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

161. Aunt Dimity Takes A Holiday by Nancy Atherton. 143 pages.

162. The Ascendant Stars by Micharl Cobley 451 pages.

Book three of the trilogy.

It was getting to a point where I began to think that after all the careful buildup there wasn’t enough book left to resolve everything sufficiently.

Unfortunately, I was right.

Oh, the main plot threads get conclusions, but there are so many dangling bits and unresolved situations that it seems to me that another couple of hundred pages are needed at least.

I’m not one of those people who wants every tiny thing wrapped up and explained in excruciating detail, but I do like to have a clear idea of the situation at the end and this book didn’t provide that.

A shame, as the buildup was mostly very good.

163. Aunt Dimity: Snowbound by Nancy Atherton. 188 pages.

164. Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 345 pages

Third of the Liaden books. This one links up the characters from the first two books and an underlying plot becomes evident. Looking forward to the next one.

165. Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin by Nancy Atherton. 173 pages.

166. Nurk by Ursula Vernon. 79 pages.

Nurk is a very small and not very brave shrew. But he thinks he might quite like to have an adventure, like his notorious grandmother, so when a mysterious letter arrives, asking for help, with some trepidation he sets off to investigate…

I don’t think Ursula Vernon has ever written anything I didn’t like and this book is sprinkled with her delightful artwork too. My only complaint about this book is that there isn’t nearly enough of it :)

167. Plan B by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 288 pages

Fourth Liaden book. These seem to improve as they go on and I’m looking forward very much to reading more about the various characters. I think the Clutch turtles are my favourites, but several others come close too…

138. Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina. 168 pages.

Another American author who writes books set in England apparently without bothering to do any research…. Hint : Victorian English ladies would not be talking about “cookie batter” nor do English schools have graduation ceremonies - universities yes, schools, no.

The story and characters were quite fun though.

139. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare by Lilian Jackson Braun. 150 pages.
140. The Cat Who Sniffed Glue by Lilian Jackson Braun. 161 pages.

Two more outings for Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats.

141. The Little Grey Men by “B.B.”. 178 pages.

The last gnomes in England set out upstream to find their missing brother…

I seem to have missed this children’s classic when I was a small person, which is rather a shame, because I think twelve-year-old me would have enjoyed it even more than fifty-one-year-old me did, which was quite a lot.

The writing is excellent - the language used is often poetic but without being overblown or pompous. The author’s evident approval of fox hunting would be more controversial today than in 1942 when the book was written, but otherwise it's very charming.

142. The Cat Who Went Underground by Lilian Jackson Braun. 183 pages.

Another murder mystery for Jim and the cats.

143. Skinwalker by Faith Hunter. 321 pages.

And on to a rather different cat… Jane Yellowrock is a vampire hunter, but she’s also a skinwalker, someone who can take the shape of various different animals - for a price. Jane’s in New Orleans to hunt a rogue vampire who’s killing not only humans but other vampires too. Staying alive, earning her fee and keeping her true nature a secret make life pretty complicated….

This was a lucky find in a charity shop and I enjoyed it very much - will definitely be looking for more of the series.

144. Swan For the Money by Donna Andrews. 246 pages.

Another visit to the town of Caerphilly where this time Meg Langslow has been landed with organising the local rose show. Of course, this being Meg’s life, things are far from simple and it’s not long before complications abound and a corpse is in evidence.

As ever, utterly implausible but huge fun.

145. The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun. 191 pages.

Jim Qwilleran and his cats solve another mystery or two.

146. The Orphaned Worlds by Michael Cobley. 147 pages.

Book two of the Humanity’s Fire trilogy. A bit slow and moving-people-into-place, as book2 of trilogies tend to be….

Still interesting though and makes me want to know what happens to the characters.

147. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. 204 pages.

Kate Daniels is a mercenary in a world where there are “waves” of magic and technology working.

She’s been trying to keep a low profile, but when her guardian is murdered, she has to find the culprit…

I enjoyed this one a great deal. interesting world building and characters and a lot of questions still unanswered make me want to read more books in this series.

148. Killer Keepsakes by Jane K. Cleland. 263 pages.

Another mystery for antiques dealer Josie Prescott. This time her assistant, Gretchen has gone missing - is she victim or villain?

Workmanlike whodunnit, although Josie’s relationship with the press is a touch implausible.

149. The Cat Who Lived High by Lilian Jackson Braun. 186 pages.

Jim Qwilleran and his cats go to Chicago to spend the winter and investigate the possibility of refurbishing a grand old building. But skullduggery is afoot…

A reasonable entry in this series, except for the annoying “two weeks earlier” style beginning and really objectionable scene where Qwilleran, aware that one of his fellow tenants, a harmless elderly lady, is nervous of strange men, deliberately behaves in such a way as to intimidate her - breathing heavily, stomping down the stairs behind her and so on. Way to be a creep, Qwilleran…

This isn’t usual behaviour for him, so perhaps it’s meant to show he’s under stress living in the city, but it just made me want to yell at him.

105. The Ghost and the Graveyard by Genevieve Jack. 211 pages.

When Grateful Knight moves into a rent-free house she’s a bit concerned to find there’s a graveyard next door. But financial necessity trumps spooky neighbours and she stays, only to find that there are worse things than ghosts for her to worry about….

Reasonably interesting plot, but rather too focused on the sex scenes for my liking.

106. Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi. 259 pages.

An alien race want to make first contact with Earth. but they have a bit of an image problem. So who do they get in touch with? A Hollywood agent of course….

Not as good as Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series, but still well worth a read.

107. Heirs of the Body by Carola Dunn. 264 pages.

Another outing for the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple. This time she’s involved in trying to work out who will inherit the title that belonged to her late father, as the current holder is childless.

Claimants arrive from far-flung places, but records are patchy and it’s hard to ascertain which of them is descended from the right branch of the family. And then one of the candidates dies in mysterious circumstances….

Another good solid mystery in this series.

108. A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly. 306 pages.

In 1833, trained surgeon Benjamin January, grief-stricken after the death of his wife, returns to his home town of New Orleans. But he can’t practice medicine there, because Ben is the “free man of color” of the title. So he earns a living with his other skill - playing the piano.

But doing a favour for a former piano pupil puts Ben in the frame for a vicious murder and before long he’s struggling to preserve his freedom and his life….

I don’t think Hambly has ever written a bad book and this is a really good one - she paints a vivid picture of New Orleans with its complex social divisions, politics and intrigue.

Excellent stuff.

109. The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner. 197 pages.

This book is a “Regency mystery” but I think the author could do with reading a bit more Georgette Heyer. The insistence on having his characters “write” rather than “write to” each other is particularly grating.

But the main character is sufficiently engaging that I might consider reading the second book in the series if it falls in my way.

110. Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire. 214 pages.

Book 4 of the October Daye series.

Not only is someone poisoning Toby’s friends, but they’re setting her up to take the fall for it.Toby’s in deeper trouble than ever - but she has loyal friends and enormous determination. She just has to hope that’s enough….

This was one of those books that I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens, but didn’t want to reach the end, because the it would be over.

111. Louisiana Longshot by Jana deLeon. 181 pages.

A CIA agent has to lie low for a while, so her boss sends her to a small Louisiana town to pose as his niece. But when a human bone washes into her garden just after she arrives, she finds she needs to catch the murderer in order to maintain her cover. So, with the help of the local “Geritol Mafia” she sets out to do just that….

Not very plausible, but enough fun that I didn’t care - quite similar in tone to the Meg Langslow series, which is a good thing.

I was rather thrown by this line near the end, where the speaker is remarking on the main character’s coolness under stress :-

“Throughout this entire mess of murder, kidnappings and gunfire, you have remained nonplussed.”

I thought it was an illustration of the perils of not proofreading, but apparently it’s an actual usage in US English. Not one of their better ones, I feel.


112. Zombie, Ohio by Scott Kenemore. 227 pages.

Zombie apocalypse tale from the point of view of a smarter than average zombie. Ok, but nothing outstanding.

113. Urn Burial by Kerry Greenwood. 143 pages.

Another outing for Phryne Fisher and her entourage. Phryne visits an old friend an murder and ayhem inevitably follow….

114. Deadly Appraisal by Jane K. Cleland. 189 pages.

Second in the Josie Prescott series. Not as good as the first one, I thought - it tended to follow the pattern of the first book a touch too closely - but still a decent read.

 82. The Nursing Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh. 167 pages.

 71. The Bat by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart. 143 pages.

17. Dread Companion by Andre Norton. 183 pages.

Unusually for one of Norton's space tales, this book has a female protagonist and it starts off rather like a space-going version of those books where an impoverished young Victorian lady takes employment as a governess.

But then it spins off into left field somewhat when Kilda, the main character, finds that one of her young charges has an imaginary friend who may not be entirely imaginary, with far-reaching consequences for Kilda and the children....

Not the best Norton I've ever read, but entertaining enough.


18. Dead in the Waterby Carola Dunn. 184 pages.

Book six of the Daisy Dalrymple series.

This time Daisy's staying with relatives as she reports on the Henley Regatta for an American magazine. But of course, being Daisy, it isn't long before she stumbles over a murder....

Undemanding fun.

19. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder. 318 pages.

Yelena has finally returned to the country she was kidnapped from at the age of six, but her troubles are far from over, as even some of her own family think she's a spy for the people who stole her away as a child. She'll have to use all the skills she learned in Ixia to survive her homecoming...

Book two of this series is as enjoyable as the first one. I'm glad I have book three waiting to be read.

20. The Thuggery Affair by Antonia Forest. 220 pages

Another of Forest's series about the Marlow family.

I didn't enjoy this as much as some of the others, mostly because of a heavy use of a species of thieves' cant by the Thuggery mentioned in the title. This verges on the unintelligible at times and seems to me a tad overdone, although it was presumably more easily understood in 1964 when the book was written.

But the books is still worth a read as Lawrie and Peter Marlow and their friend Patrick Merrick uncover sinister goings on at a local pigeon loft.

20a. Mars Minus Bisha by Leigh Brackett. 19 pages.

Short story in which an Earth doctor on Mars adopts a young martian girl.
Nicely written, as one would expect from Brackett.

21. The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood. 178 pages.

Book five in the Phryne Fisher series.

This one felt a bit disjointed to me - rather as though the two parts of the plot (involving a murder at a dance contest and a missing ex-serviceman) had been grafted together but hadn't quite taken.

Still enjoyable enough though and I shall continue to follow Phryne's adventures.

Besides, it has a wombat. I can forgive a lot in a book that has a wombat.

22. Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix. 170 pages.

From the other books of his I've read, i wouldn't have pegged Garth Nix as a Georgette Heyer fan, but apparently he is - and this book is his homage to her books, a Regency romance with added sorcery.

Not typical Nix by any means, but none the worse for that. Very enjoyable.

23. Death and the Joyful Woman by Ellis Peters. 196 pages.

I don't recall reading this George Felse mystery before, and yet some parts of it seemed very familiar. Perhaps I'd read it from the library and forgotten it or perhaps I've just read a lot of Ellis Peters and that's why - certainly the stratagem used to reveal the killer in this one is very like the one used in the first book of this series, which I found a tad annoying.

And yet this book was a better read than that first book, for no reason I can adequately explain.


24. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. 463 pages.

Heller's classic novel about the insanity of war. Rob immediately linked this one up with Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-5 which we also read recently - the themes and atmosphere are quite similar, but we agreed that Heller's book is the better written of the two.

13. Six Gates From Limbo by J.T. McIntosh. 171 pages.

This was quite a good plot and mostly well written, about a man who wakes up in a mysterious Eden-like place with no memory of who he is or why he's there, but it had one flaw which seriously damaged it for me.

Normally I can read books from earlier times and accept that things that would not be acceptable today were part of the social norm then and pass them by without condoning them but without condemning the book for their presence.

This book was written in 1968, which is not that long ago but still a long time in terms of social change, so I feel that I ought to be able to treat it in the same way as a book from the 1920s or 30s, but this bit (and some of the rest of the presentation of the female characters) made me foam with rage :-

"after a man and woman are wed, with or without ceremony, after they've made love, he can't rape her. You're mine, Regina."

Alas, after this pronouncement Regina fails utterly to knee him in the nuts and run away as he richly deserves. In fact, a few paragraphs later, she's actually talking about having children with him. Gah.

I think this particular thing hits my rage button because it's an attitude that's still prevalent in many places, more's the pity.

A pity, as this was a decent enough story otherwise, and I've enjoyed other stories by this author, but this will make me hesitate before picking up any more of his books.


14. A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh. 153 pages.

First in the Inspector Alleyn series.

A game of "Murder" at a country house party turns into the real thing...

Not bad, by any means, but I prefer detective stories told from the perspective of the detective - in this, Alleyn is a distant, aloof figure that the reader can't easily get an idea of. The perspective is with one of the guests at the house party instead and I think the book suffers for it.

I felt the story was rather more disjointed and awkward than I'd expect from this genre too, but given that it's the author's first novel, I shan't hold it against her too much.

I shall read one or two more of these, as Marsh is highly-thought of , but I shan't be in a great hurry to get to them.


15. Damsel in Distress by Carola Dunn. 195 pages.

Fifth in the Daisy Dalrymple series. Not as good as the first four, I feel, as it involves a kidnapping and some dreadful stereotypes of Cockneys and Americans, but still readable enough.

16. Soulless by Gail Carriger. 263 pages.

There were a lot of things which irritated me about this book - the supposedly posh Victorian characters peppering their speech with American slang, the author's apparent belief that formal speech means never using contractions and the stereotypically flamboyant gay character[1] to name but three - yet it was also a lot of fun and I shall look out for the sequels.

I hope someone will have had a quiet word about the language problems though - it's even worse than Deanna Raybourn in that respect. Although this one is set in an alternative Victorian era where vampires and werewolves are integrated into "daylight" society, and I can give it a bit of leeway on that account, it still grates.

[1] I should probably make it clear that it's the stereotype that irritates me, not the fact of there being a gay character.

Dead Man's Ransom by Ellis Peters. 150 pages.

And the Brother Cadfael reread marches on :)

As if the civil war between King Stephen and his cousin Maud wasn't bad enough, Earl Ranulf of Chester supported by the Welsh prince Cadwaladr takes the town of Lincoln and in the ensuing battle King Stephen is taken prisoner and handed over to Maud. The sheriff of Shropshire, Gilbert Prestcote is likewise taken prisoner, but he falls into the hands of the Welsh and Hugh Beringar must attempt to ransom his chief.

This one I liked a touch less than the rest of them because I found the resolution not entirely satisfactory, but it's still good.



The Last Colony by John Scalzi. 205 pages.

I can't say anything about the plot of this book without giving spoilers for the two previous books in the series, so under a cut it goes

( Space spoilers )

I note that I've just reached book 65 for this year and that last year I only managed 66 in the entire year. The Nook is definitely a Good Thing.