Angelic Paranoia

What I am reading Wednesday

2026-04-15T19:00:33Z

What I Just Finished Reading
White Male Stand-Up by Alan Davies. This was a bit hard going because it was quite a bot of "I did this, and then I did that". I did get into it after a while, but his journey into comedy wasn't really that interesting.

Doctor Who: The Adventures After and Doctor Who: The Adventures Before. These are two books of short stories set just after and just before an episode. They were fine although I don't really remember a lot of the episodes in question, although I'm not sure how much difference that made to my enjoyment of them.

The Last Word by Elly Griffiths. The last of the Harbinder Kaur books, although she's hardly in this one, it's mostly the three characters that were introduced two books before. Which was fine because I really liked them and really liked this book. But it was ended in such a way that I can see that there won't be any more with these characters.

Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I reserved this ebook at the library and have no idea why. It was separate stories of people doing a bit of time travelling in an odd cafe in Japan. It was alright, but not particularly exciting.

Now You Seen Them by Elly Griffiths. Not the next book in the Brighton series - that one is in my library but someone else has it. So I skipped a book, found that this one skipped ten years and it seems like a lot happened in the previous book. I still liked this, but I missed the 1950s.

What I'm Currently Reading
Comedy Rules by Jonathan Lynn. This book is very hard to characterise because he's writing rules of comedy and then an incident that highlights it. Some of them are random and some of them go through a period in his life when he's performing with the Cambridge Footlights or writing Yes, (Prime) Minister. It's interesting, but feels a bit bitty to read.

What I'm Reading Next
The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths. The last library book I have in my pile and the next in the Brighton series.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2026-03-18T19:52:45Z

What I Just Finished Reading
Mary Neal and the Suffragettes Who Saved Morris Dancing by Kathryn Atherton. I saw this in the Morris Federation newsletter, added it to my wishlist to think about later and then one day it was £2, so I bought it. And it was really interesting. As far as history is concerned, Cecil Sharp is the name you associate with the morris dancing revival, but it was actually Mary Neal who started it, he just had his own opinions and took it over.

The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths. I enjoyed this. It was nice to go back to the 1950s for a bit of murder. And the murders and characters were interesting.

The Sisters by Rosalind Noonan. I acquired this because I saw it on the front page on the library ebook website and thought it sounded interesting. A few chapters in I had to check why and the summary sounded interesting. Except that it was such a tiny part of the book and there was a whole lot else going on that wasn't.

What I'm Currently Reading
Suffragette Planners and Plotters by Kathryn Atherton. This one was 99p and much like the Mary Neal book, this is about two people who were so instrumental in the WSPU and the Suffragettes that they wouldn't have got going without them, but we only remember the Pankhursts. And the book reminded me of the original Black Friday: a terrible day of police brutality and not a month of sales/'sales'.

What I'm Reading Next
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. This is the first in the Harbinder Kaur series, of which I have book four. So whether I like book one or not, it won't take long to get to book four.

Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths. The second in the Brighton 1950s series. I am looking forward to this one.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday, on a Thursday

2026-02-27T20:30:01Z

What I Didn't Finish Reading
Aurora: Darwin by Amanda Bridgeman. This was free as part of Kobo's first book of a series being free. I didn't get very far through it because it's really dull, there's so much explanation of things I don't care about, the main character and the attitudes of those around him wouldn't be out of place in the 1960s, and one of the women was described as petite and also 5'5". You can't be petite when you're (from my perspective) tall. What's strange is that there are a load of really positive reviews on Kobo, when most books have very few, if not no reviews there. I wonder if we were reading the same book.

What I Just Finished Reading
The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer. I don't know why I was worried about this - it was exactly the sort of book I'd expect Bob Mortimer to write. All the characters were a bit odd, their descriptions were similarly odd, there was the odd strange name, and an interesting plot. I really enjoyed it.

The Girl With Nowhere To Go by Louise Guy. I liked her previous books because although they were general fiction they weren't all about romance and had a twist, so if you thought you knew what was going on, you'd find you didn't. Except this one was pretty easy to guess. And all fo the characters meeting, in order for them to find out this secret that unites them, felt so contrived.

What I'm Currently Reading
A Very Courageous Decision by Graham McCann. This is really interesting about Yes, (Prime) Minister, which I am currently re-watching in preparation for going to the I'm Sorry, Prime Minister play. I stopped at Yes, Minister because it often recaps episodes and quotes them and I wanted to (re-)watch them first.

Interesting Stories about Curious Words by Susie Dent. This is interesting, but it's also a bit like reading a dictionary - a little at a time is best.

What I'm Reading Next
The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths. This is the first in the Brighton in the 1950s series and at least I know I'll like it. I also have the seventh in the series in my to read pile, so I just need to get the 2nd-6th from the library and I can cross two books off my to read list...

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2026-02-11T19:12:31Z

What I Didn't Finish Reading
A Legacy of Honour by Elizabeth Moon. I picked this because it was the biggest in my dead tree book to read pile. Which is because it's an omnibus of two 450 page books. I made it 93 pages into the first one and although it was fine to read it was just boring. Nothing interesting happened. And judging by the summary it's possible something interesting could happen in the middle of the second book. So I gave up.

Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon. This is from the same series as the above, but set a long time later. I didn't make it as far in because it became clear it was going to be all military and fighting and I'm just not interested. I also have book three in the series, so I didn't even need to start that to remove it from my to read pile.

What I Just Finished Reading
Irresponsible Adult by Lucy Dillon. This was the one I'd read the first chapter of last time and didn't think much of it. I looked at the summary again and thought it will probably get interesting. And then by chapter 3 it was so interesting I couldn't put it down. The author has written other books, so that's more to read - although it's general fiction, so has to be read sparingly or it gets too samey.

Trust & Safety by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman. I have no idea why this was on my wishlist. I didn't know after I'd read the summary and I still don't know after I've read the book. It was described as a romcom, but it wasn't particularly rom and definitely wasn't at all com, but it was all right.

How Did All This Happen? By John Bishop. I heard recently there's going to be a film based on his life and I know very little about him, so I thought this book will tell me why this comedian specifically. And I still don't know. Nor do I know how I know him, because I've definitely not seen him live and he doesn't really do panel shows (I'm not including Doctor Who here because I knew him before he was on that). The book was interesting, it was just that his story wasn't particularly different from a lot of other comedians really.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Girls Who Went to War by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi. I am really enjoying this. It's about three women who each joined a different branch of the armed forces during the war. It's about what they did and how they got on etc.

What I'm Reading Next
The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer. I don't know anything about this book, but I know that Bob Mortimer is funny. So I'm hoping I like it, but feel like I've had some bad luck with books recently so I am worrying that I won't.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2026-01-28T17:59:19Z

What I Just Finished Reading
The Book Forger by Joseph Hone. This was about a man who created rare editions of books that never existed and then sold them for a lot of money. And also about the men who discovered the forgeries and worked out whodunnit. It was hard going through all the background (not to mention the small writing), but did get better towards the end when they're trying to get the forget to admit to it.

Keep Laughing by Chris McCausland. This was on Kobo for £1.99 - more expensive than reserving it at the library, but that extra 69p meant I didn't have to wait on a list and then go up there (probably in the rain) to get it. And take it back. It was really interesting. He mentioned being into some (now-obscure) sitcoms as a child and they were the same ones I was into.

Midnight Wings by Ariele Sieling. I happened to look at the Kobo free books section and found this and the next one in the first in the series section. It's a retelling of Cinderella. I kept finding it a bit far-fetched, but then those were the Cinderella bits! I don't know if I'll read more - the whole series is just short stories so they're expensive relatively speaking. I have questions about the setting, but I'm not feeling confident that they'll be answered in the other books (which are all retellings of other fairy tales).

Better Off Wed by Laura Durham. This was also pretty short. It was a murder mystery and the main character is a wedding planner. But I still can't decide if I liked it or not. It said it was a cosy mystery, which is was, and that it was laugh out loud, which it definitely wasn't, but explained why the characters all felt a bit cartoony sometimes.

Sundered Sky by Ariele Sieling. Since I liked a book by this author I went looking for other series and this novella was also free. I don't know why I finished it because it was dull and I really didn't care about any of the characters at all.

What I'm Currently Reading
Irresponsible Adult by Lucy Dillon. I got this one mostly based on the title - but I did read the summary and thought it was interesting. One chapter in and I'm not sure how many more I'll make it through if it doesn't improve.

What I'm Reading Next
I don't know. The trouble with not liking my current book (so far) and not liking the previous one is that I'm not feeling like reading any others because I won't like them either. Maybe I need to re-read something to restore my faith in books.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2026-01-14T17:51:55Z

What I Just Finished Reading
The Exploits of Arsene Lupin by Maurice LeBlanc. I did enjoy this, but moreso when I sat down and read a whole story in one go (it's a book of short stories). I think it's harder to remember what's going on when you read in bits and this one was particularly tricky because some of it was from Lupin's point of view, but the narrative didn't tell you that.

Don't Laugh, It'll Only Encourage Her by Daisy May Cooper. I only know Daisy May Cooper from Taskmaster, but this was 99p. It was interesting how her family were so poor at one point they'd basically pawned all their possessions.

The Grapples of Wrath by Alice Bell. This was the third in a series. I mostly enjoyed it, but it was about a murder/ghost within the world of wrestling, which I'm really not into at all.

What I'm Currently Reading
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. Christmas is a good time to read this, and I fancied a re-read. The trouble with trying to pare down my unread books and buying 99p books on Kobo and borrowing library books is that it doesn't leave a lot of space for re-reading books I already own. So I decided it was time to do some re-reading. I have totally forgotten what happens in this one.

What I'm Reading Next
The Book Forger by Joseph Hone. This is a book I borrowed from my sister, purely because I saw it lying around in her house and thought it sounded interesting. But when she lent it to me she said it was hard going. And I noticed it has small text, so I did put it off. But I really need to get round to reading it so I can give it back.

Mirrored from my blog.

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2025 fic roundup

2026-01-01T11:59:11Z

Here is the 2024 post for comparison.

Stats:

List of Completed Fics:
Doctor Who: Bored Games
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Different Brothers
Star Trek Enterprise: The Father Identity
Doctor Who: Coming Back (The TARDIS Tour Remix)
Doctor Who/The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Late Night Reading (Don't Panic)
Star Trek: The Next Generation: A Difficult Decision
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Way Home
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds/The Original Series: Goodbye, Juliet
Star Trek: The Human Smell
Doctor Who: Best Served Warm
Doctor Who: The Room of Cats
Torchwood: Feeding the Baby
Doctor Who: Holding the Baby
Doctor Who: Becoming Santa
Doctor Who: Life After Death
Doctor Who: Five Letter Words
Star Trek Enterprise: Home, With Prejudice
Star Trek Enterprise: Beach Vacation
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Romulan Problem
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Home, With Decisions
Leverage: The Fanfic Job
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Carry On
Murdle: The Problem of the Perished Performer
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Holiday Celebrations
Star Trek Discovery: Acting Boldly

Total number: 25
Total word count: 27,560
Ship/fandom/character breakdown:

Type:
Gen: 14
Het: 8
Slash: 3
Femslash: 0

Fandoms:
Doctor Who: 8
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: 6
Star Trek Enterprise: 4
Sarah Jane Adventures: 1
Torchwood: 1
Star Trek: The Original Series: 1
Star Trek: The Next Generation: 1
Star Trek Discovery: 1
Star Trek: 1
Leverage: 1
Murdle: 1
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: 1

Characters who appear in more than one fic:
Christopher Pike: 5
Trip Tucker: 3
Fifteenth Doctor: 3
Ian Chesterton: 2
Barbara Wright: 2
First Doctor: 2
Rogue: 2
T'Pol: 2
Spock: 2
La'An Noonien-Singh: 2
Joseph M'Benga: 2
James T Kirk: 2

Specifics:

Best title?
I am quite fond of Late Night Reading (Don't Panic).

Best summary
They're nearly all one sentence, or one sentence plus another that gives more or the opposite information. They're all pretty dull.

Best first line?
None of them were that amazing, but the best is probably:
"I'm still in jail." Ian sighed at the four and three on the generated numbers that the game used instead of dice.
From Bored Games. The beginning of that line was entirely meant to evoke the tendency of Doctors and companions to end up in jail.

Best last line?
These aren't that stand-out either, but at least this had two contenders. The winner is:
Who knew life after death could be so fun?
From Life After Death (no prizes for guessing where the title came from).

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
Both more and less. I had a period in the middle of the year where I didn't manage to write at all. And then when I got back into it I wrote more than I thought. To the point where I just couldn't write any more and needed a break.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
I wouldn't have predicted writing anything for Torchwood. Or that I'd write Fifteenth Doctor/Rogue at all, never mind twice.

What's your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
Best Served Warm. I think because it was a the Doctor is human AU I really got into the details and how to fit everything with canon. I especially didn't want to call him something else, so I had to find a reason to call him the Doctor.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.
The Father Identity comes top on almost every stat. It was also my second favourite to write. I had fun with an outside POV on Trip/T'Pol.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?
Holding the Baby, which has no comments, despite being an exchange fic, and I didn't think it was that niche or that bad.

Story that could have been better?
Obligatory all of them here. But otherwise I don't think there are any that stand out particularly.

Sexiest story?
Acting Boldly on the basis it includes two kisses.

Saddest story?
It's a toss up between the various Pike angst fics I've written, but won by The Way Home which is angsty the whole way through.

Most fun?
I think The Holiday Celebrations is pretty fun. Maybe a bit less so for Pike during parts of it, but that just makes it fun.

Story with single sweetest moment?
The end of The Father Identity, which shows that the smallest gesture can go a long way.

Hardest story to write?
A Difficult Decision. I think there was just too much else going on while I was writing it and I ended up getting most of it done much closer to the deadline than I would have wanted.

Easiest/most fun story to write?
It probably helps that it's a pair of drabbles, but The Human Smell popped into my head fully formed and just needed some tweaking to get the word count right.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?
Probably Beach Vacation because I hadn't written (or read much that I've liked) of these two in a relationship and I had to think about how that would work in the context of what the person I was writing it for wanted/liked about them.

Most overdue story?
None!

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I did write an actual murdle for Fic in a Box. I really enjoyed it, except for the part where I had to get it into AO3 with all the formatting, which took ages.

This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
It's all about Doctor Who and Star Trek. Which is probably just begging for a crossover in order to demonstrate that.

What are your fic writing ~~goals~~ plans for next year?
After the first time I wrote Fifteenth Doctor/Rogue I had the beginnings of an idea for another story. I thought I'd write it for Tardis Festivities but didn't because I couldn't see how to get past what I'd already thought out. Maybe I can find a summary for Unconventional Courtship that will help with that.

I'd like to sign up to Fic in a Box, but we'll see nearer the time.

I also have some longer angsty Pike fics worked out/partially written, so I'd like to get a bit further with at least one of those.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-12-31T13:48:52Z

First, last year I had a goal of decreasing the number of unread books I have. I started at 38 and am down to 33. I have achieved my goal! But it still feels like a lot of unread books, especially when all the paper ones are in a box under my sofa which is very heavy to pull out.

But as much as I'd like to get that number down, past experience tells me it's not going to be that easy. Especially as one of the books is 7th in a 7 part series and another is 4th in a 4 part series. But since I managed to reduce that number by six this year, next year my plan is to get it down by seven - so to 26.

What I Just Finished Reading
Death and Other Occupational Hazards by Veronika Dapunt. I really enjoyed this. It's about Death taking a sabbatical and then ending up getting involved in investigating murders. It's just a little bit silly - there's a character who's clearly Jesus, but prefers being called the Human Communications Director and whenever he dies it only ever lasts for three days.

Lady Rample and the Lady in the Lake by Shea MacLeod. This was on offer and on my wishlist because I'd read the first book in the series and thought the characters were a bit silly. This was the twelfth and they felt a lot less silly. It was all right, but because it's only a short story the murder investigation wasn't that complicated.

What I'm Currently Reading
Roaring Girls by Holly Kyte. This is about eight women in pre-twentieth century Britain who blazed a trail. It is uplifting, what they achieved, but also depressing in the ere they lived in where women were supposed to be wives and mothers and nothing else, and how long change took. It's also full of footnotes, at the back and in tiny writing, which makes it a bit of a pain to read and requires two bookmarks.

Yardsticks for Failure by Ivo Graham. I started this for times when the other one was too hard to read, like when I'm eating. I thought it would be a quick, easy read, but it's actually quite long and a bit hard-going so far.

What I'm Reading Next
The Exploits of Arsene Lupin by Maurice LeBlanc. I borrowed this from my sister, so really ought to get round to reading it.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-12-10T19:36:40Z

What I Abandoned Reading
Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer. This is the second book in the series. It had two problems: 1. It assumed you remember everything from the previous book, which I don't, so I was constantly confused about who everyone was and what was going on, and 2. The Apprentice and Villain spent all their time thinking about how much they fancied each other, but the other person couldn't fancy them back. I stopped to read something else and then couldn't bring myself to go back to it.

What I Just Finished Reading
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells. The last Murderbot for a while, while I wait to see if the the library gets the next book in. And finish some non-library books.

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by MJ Wassmer. This is about a couple on holiday at a resort when the sun explodes (and they're cut off from the outside world). I'm not generally into apocalyptic stuff, but there was something weird about the sun and them having an astronomer around, so I stuck with it. I did end up getting into it and it was interesting what people did to survive and the truth of what happened with the sun.

Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum. This is about the board members at a company who are all earning millions and all absolutely awful people with not a single redeeming quality. It was easy to read and I kept reading to see how it was all going to implode. And then the ending just made me not want to have bothered reading it in the first place.

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths. A palate cleanser of normality and nice people. This is her latest series, where the main character works in the department investigating cold cases using time travel. Although the story wasn't what I thought it was based on that description, but I still really enjoyed it and the murder mystery was interesting. I see the second book is out soon, so I'll definitely be reading that.

Endurance by Elaine Burnes. This was described as how Star Trek Voyager should have been. So it's about a ship that somehow ends up a long way away. And then I was very glad Voyager wasn't like this because the situation was awful and everything was terrible for much of the book. I had to stop and read other things twice during it. But it both got more uplifting and there was a clear mystery which remains unsolved, but there is a sequel.

What I'm Currently Reading
Nothing - I've literally just finished Endurance.

What I'm Reading Next
Seniors of the Chalet School by Lisa Townsend. This arrived this week and after some long and depressing books I need something short and happy.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-11-12T18:10:08Z

What I Just Finished Reading
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells and Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells. The next two Murderbot books. I was about to ring the library to get them to check if Artificial Condition really was in transit when I got an email to say it was there. I picked it up that day. The next day Rogue Protocol was there. I enjoyed them, the only trouble is having to wait for the next book - I've already forgotten the details of what happened in the first one.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Killer Question by Janice Hallett. She writes epistolary mysteries, and it's driving me mad not knowing just what is going on with this pub quiz team. It's a long book and I'm only halfway through, but I need to know! (in other words, I am enjoying this one)

What I'm Reading Next
Hopefully Exit Strategy by Martha Wells. I've been first in the queue on this one for longer than you're allowed to take books out for, so hopefully it'll turn up soon... And then things get more complicated. The next book published in the series is Network Effect, which my county don't have (it's the only one in the series they don't have). It's possible that another county could and I could borrow it from there, but that costs £10! These books are a problem as it looks like they weren't published in this country - the last two books I got I looked at the price printed on them and it was only in US and Canadian dollars. So I need to research cheaper sources for that one (although I've also put in a request for the library to get it). Except Wikipedia is telling me that chronologically Fugitive Telemetry is next, so I might just borrow that one next, which gives the library more time to act on my stock suggestion.

I'm also spending Friday in a pub while I wait for my car to be serviced and MOTd while it pours with rain outside, so I imagine I'll get quite a bit of reading done. I'll just take my Kobo, and a dead tree book in case it runs out of battery, and see what I fancy reading.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-10-29T19:21:18Z

What I Just Finished Reading
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki and I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Seehee. These are mostly transcripts of this person's discussions with her therapist. They were pretty short, but the second one was a bit hard going because she's really suicidal and self-harming in it.

The Chain of Curiosity by Sandi Toksvig. This is a collection of columns she wrote between 2005 and 2008. They include bits of what she's been up to, thoughts she's had and facts. They're interesting, they're just not the sort of thing you sit down and read a lot of in one go, so it took me a while to get through.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths. The last of the Ruth series! I have four other Elly Griffiths books from second hand bookshops and Kobo sales hanging around that I didn't want to read before I'd finished this. Especially as one is the first of the Brighton series, although at least that only has six books. Now I can read them!

A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray. I started this because I needed something in between the Sandi Toksvig book, but then I finished it, so I'm only a few chapters into this one. So far it seems ok.

What I'm Reading Next
The second Murderbot book, if it ever actually makes it to my local library from the library at the other end of the county it's coming from.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-10-15T19:23:49Z

What I Just Finished Reading
Little Wonder by Sasha Abramsky. This is all about Lottie Dod, who won Wimbledon multiple times as a teenager in the late 19th century. And then, because it was boring beating everyone all the time, went on to win in hockey and golf tournaments, followed by an Olympic medal in archery. And that wasn't just other women she was beating at tennis, it was the men too. Who had a big advantage in being able to wear clothes that didn't restrict their movement. I spent the book wondering if she'd been playing a century later it would have been different being able to play people from all over the world. But then in the 1920s she was critical of the players who did nothing but tennis.

That's What She Said by Eleanor Pilcher. I spent half of this book worrying about where it was going. There's two main characters, one of whom is demisexual and she wants to have sex and explores around it. And her best friend is off having one-night stands all over the place. It ended up really being more about their friendship and I really enjoyed it.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells. just-ann-now has been talking about the Murderbot series for ages. I thought it sounded interesting, but never got round to looking for it. I finally reserved the first book at the library. And then had to wait months for it to be my turn to borrow it. I enjoyed it, but given the only thing I knew about it was the name Murderbot, it wasn't at all what I expected.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. This is a really interesting depiction of witches in modern society. I am really enjoying it, but it was clear really early on that the main character was going to end up with another one, which is dull just waiting for them to get round to it.

What I'm Reading Next
I've reserved the second Murderbot book (which weirdly has no queue - did everyone else stop at the first book?) and the last Elly Griffiths Ruth series book at the library.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-10-01T15:14:16Z

I finally finish all the fanfic on my read later list. And then went to some second hand bookshops and bought six books...

What I Just Finished Reading
Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe. This is a collection of letters the author wrote to her sister when she was Nanny in the 1980s. It's really interesting because everyone in it is a bit mad.

What I gave up on:
The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey. The writing's too small, it's too slow and I just didn't care.

Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo. I felt guilty for giving up because it's not bad it's just that nothing happens. It starts with a mystery but then that's solved a third of the way through and there didn't seem much point reading any more after that.

What I'm Currently Reading
What If? By Randall Monroe. This is a collection of questions either from the website or like the website, not sure which. They are interesting, but it starts with a question about what if the Earth stops spinning and I heard that on the podcast Crowd Science recently.

What I'm Reading Next
Probably What If? 2 by Randall Monroe, unless I need a change.

Also, Arsene Lupin Versus Holmlock Shears by Maurice LeBlanc which I borrowed off my sister. It is a massive book though, so will definitely need to be paired with an ebook or something smaller for times when a massive book is too hard to read.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-09-17T17:02:37Z

What I Just Finished Reading
One Minute Away by Mark Watson. I knew he had a new book out and hadn't intended to read it because I couldn't decide if I liked the previous two that I'd read. But then it was (the only one) that was in the library ebooks so I borrowed it. And I think I liked this one.

What I'm Currently Reading
A whole lot of fanfic. This covers all three categories. I've had a lot of stuff on my marked for later list for ages. Sometimes I get it down a bit but by reading the shorter fics. As a result there are some longer ones on there that have been there for over a year. So I put them on my ebook reader and am working through them. Hopefully getting the list down will make it easier to keep it down.

What I'm Reading Next
No idea, but I have a lot of books on my to read list, so whichever of them takes my fancy. I am purposely avoiding the Kobo website because I do not need any more books, even 99p ones.

Mirrored from my blog.

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I've Never Seen Star Wars: Escape Room

2025-08-31T18:47:21Z

There was a time when escape rooms were all the rage. I've loved escape rooms games on the computer/phone where you have to solve puzzles to eventually get the key to the room, so I really wanted to do one. But somehow all my friends did one before I even knew they existed and didn't want to do another one. I did an online one during lockdown, but there were so many people it was hard to contribute.

But this summer I finally did an escape room! I did it with my eight year old nephew. It was like the computer games, although I sort of wasn't expecting it to be, I'm not sure why.

We actually had three small rooms and had to get to the last one. A few things:

It was during a heatwave and although the 'office' had air con, the room didn't. Although considering it was an airless room with no windows it wasn't as hot as you might expect.
The lighting was low and there were a lot of combination padlocks to open. Which shone off the combinations and I couldn't see them. Fortunately my nephew could, so he had to open all the padlocks.
There were a couple of things that required you to be above a certain height and I could only just reach. I did consider asking for a step stool...
At the start we were told to ring the bell to get a clue and we wouldn't be given a clue if we didn't ring the bell. But at the end we got pretty much told what to do. Which was fine because we wouldn't have escaped otherwise - we could have done with another half an hour really.
When we get out we were told that it was impressive we escaped because that room we did was best for 5-6 people because there was so much to do. Yet it didn't say that on their website.

Overall I enjoyed it, although it felt like the hour went so quickly. I prefer solving puzzles with no time limit, but I can see how that would be hard to run when people could be in there for hours. My nephew also enjoyed it and is up for another one. Next time I'll ask them what's good for two people when the tallest is 5 foot 1.

I'll give it 8/10.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-07-30T16:33:57Z

What I Just Finished Reading
The Man in Black & Other Stories by Elly Griffiths. This is a set of short stories, some from her books and some just random things. I liked it, but the problem was the advert at the back about her new series, which is time travelling murder mystery. Which couldn't be more up my street. So I'm clearly going to be reading a lot more of her books.

And with that book I finally finished the book bingo with no substitutions! Although getting these library books is getting my wishlist down, it's not helping with the to read pile...

What I'm Currently Reading
The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths. I am finally getting round to finishing the Ruth and Nelson series. I have two to go after this, I think.

What I'm Reading Next
The Women Who Wouldn't Leave by Victoria Scott, which I just picked up from the library. And because everything comes at once, my ebook hold, More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, which I've waited ten weeks for, came in.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-07-02T19:11:56Z

Since we're halfway through the year, let's look at how it's going. My goal was to reduce the number of unread books I have. I started at 38 and am now at 43. It's generally been around the same number, sometimes a bit less, sometimes a bit more. It was at 50 recently, so it's doing quite well in comparison...

I also have two squares left on my book bingo card. I could finish it off by replacing those two with something else on the list, but I'm determined not to. Not yet anyway. I have a book in my to read pile that will fit one of the squares. The other I haven't thought about yet.

What I Just Finished Reading
Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Sutanto
I read the first book in this series last year (I think) and then discovered there's another one. Vera Wong is so much fund and I love how she gets everyone to do what she wants to them to do.

Lost Property by Helen Paris
This is all about a character who it seems just needs to come out of her shell. And then you gradually find why she's in it.

How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell
This book is like a train wreck. I knew it from the title and description, but she just makes such bad decisions and takes a lot of drugs. I thought it would end in her getting clean and it ends with her thinking she does, but there's really no difference from the other times she gets clean temporarily.

Picnic on Craggy Island by Lissa Evans
This is a really short memoir from the producer of Father Ted from series 2. It was interesting.

How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
This is the story of a seniors club and the nursery that's in the same building and also mayhem. Since it started with a character turning 70 and being lonely I knew it would end in her making friends, but it still went in directions I didn't expect.

What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
This is a Japanese book that has five characters all of whom are dissatisfied with their lives and find the answers in the library. It was a nice easy read for hot weather, but uplifting because the characters all find a way to improve their lives.

What I'm Currently Reading
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino. I picked this because it's short, but it's a bit hard going. But it might just not be a heatwave book. Although when I acquired it I wasn't entirely sure I'd like it, so we'll see how it goes when it's less hot.

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson. I've read two previous books of hers and enjoyed them and they weren't hard going. Although I'm not fond of the publisher's font on this. I can change the font on my ebook reader, but I couldn't get excited about the alternatives either.

What I'm Reading Next
Depends on the weather. If it's hot then it needs to be easy reading. If it's an easier to cope with temperature

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-05-21T16:20:31Z

What I Just Finished Reading
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman. I can't decide if I liked this or not. I couldn't get through the Thursday Murder Club because I didn't like the characters and wasn't interested in the murder. In this one I like the characters and would absolute be up for reading more with them in, but wasn't that interested in the murder. And found the short chapters cutting between characters made it hard to get into.

Clean Point by Meg Jones. This was awful. I thought it was a tennis romance, but then read the preview and thought it was an interesting tennis story about drugs and parents and coaches. That part of the story was interesting and would have been better if it had been the main part of the story. Sadly most of it was about the two main characters spending all their time thinking about each other's legs, which was dull and predictable. I kept reading for the tennis aspect and whether it was all going to end up happy or more realistic. I could have not bothered.

What I'm Currently Reading
Triangle: Imzadi II by Peter David. My Unconventional Courtship fic is set during this book. I skim-read bits when I started, but then my writing stalled. I finally have an idea for the next bit (if not the ending) and I thought reading this book would help me actually write it.

What I'm Reading Next
Is This Working? by Charlie Colenutt. A library hold that's just come in.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-04-23T16:43:51Z

What I Just Finished Reading
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady. This is kind of an autobiography, but through the lens of her getting diagnosed as autistic and then looking back at things she did and how they related to that. It was so interesting I read it in a day and had such a book hangover that I didn't read another book for a day.

The Twins at St Claire's by Enid Blyton, The O'Sullivan Twins by Enid Blyton, Summer Term at St Clare's by Enid Blyton, Second Form at St Clare's by Enid Blyton. After re-reading the Mallory Towers books I wanted to read St Clare's. I don't know if it was the books or my mood, but I struggled with these until partway through the second one. Mallory Towers is better, I think, but they are pretty similar.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey. I looked through my physical books to read thinking I ought to get through some of those. This one is hard going, partly because Mercedes Lackey books are slow and therefore hard going, but also because it has tiny writing.

Jackpot Summer by Elyssa Friedland. The other book turned out to be so hard to get it to stay open while I ate that I started this one to read during meals. And then I remembered I'd read another book by the same author that I hadn't thought much of. So far I haven't thought much of this one either.

Claudine at St Clare's by Enid Blyton. The fifth book in the series.

What I'm Reading Next
Fifth Formers of St Clare's by Enid Blyton. The last book in the series.

Primula of the Chalet School by Helen Barber. This turned up just before Easter, but I really can't start it until I've finished some others.

And I'm getting to the top of the list on my ebook library holds so I'm expecting those to come in soon. If you say you don't want it and let the next person have it you don't get to be in the queue after them, you go to the back of the queue. One of the books I have on hold has over 100 people in the queue, so I have to get it when it comes to me!

Mirrored from my blog.

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A year of running

2025-04-13T10:52:47Z

A year ago I started Couch to 5K for the second time (last time I did one run and that was enough). My plan was to finish it and then do a Park Run. I didn't intend to keep going. But I have and I've now been running for a year.

Although at the moment all my achievements were last year. A combination of weather and illness means I haven't done a lot of running in the last six months. In comparison it feels like I can't do much. But if I compare it to a year ago I could just about run for 90 seconds. Now I can definitely do at least 10 minutes without stopping.

And I've learnt that it's ok to stop and walk if you need to. Or stop and take photos of something interesting you're passing.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-04-09T16:00:56Z

What I Just Finished Reading
The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman. I felt like this book meandered about a bit and I struggle to say what it's about. I finished it but there were points when I wondered why I was bothering.

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan. This I really enjoyed. The author is a shy introvert and decides to spend the year acting like a extrovert, mostly because all her local friends had moved away and/or had babies. It was really interesting to see what she learned.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. I started this and it was all about a meteoroid hitting America and how awful everything was and how many people had died and I was not in the mood for something that depressing. I haven't totally given up on it because I checked reviews and found that it's just the first part of the book and later it moves on a few years to a mission to Mars, which is what I thought the book was about.

The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths. Back to the Elly Griffiths. I have three at home from the charity shop and this is the first of the three. Eventually I'll make it back to the library for the last two in the series. But I am enjoying this more for having had a break from them.

What I'm Reading Next
Whatever is on my to read list that I feel like reading next. Probably not another Elly Griffiths as I think I'll space them out a bit.

Mirrored from my blog.

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Random Writing meme

2025-02-25T20:17:00Z

My Reading Wednesday posts would be pretty much entirely Elly Griffiths at the moment, so have this meme instead, that I got from thisbluespirit.

Rules: give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

Most hits: Love Me, Love Me Not (Carry On (Simon Snow), 3377 hits)
I think this is probably because I wrote it for Yuletide 2017 when the fandom was big. Or at least I imagine it might have been. My top five in hits are all big pairings in big fandoms where I didn't kill anyone off, which probably explains why they have a lot of hits.

Second most kudos: Coming Out (The Non-Binary Remix) (Harry Potter, 154 kudos).
This has about half the kudos of the top one, but it's another big pairing (Remus/Sirius) in a big fandom, back when it was big. I'm not particularly fond of my remix subtitle because it makes me think it's about something else. I came up with it because the title of the fic it remixes is Binary Doesn't Really Cut It.

Third most comment threads: A Matter of Faith (Quantum Leap, 10 comments)
This category is all much closer. This one surprised me, but then it's from Yuletide 2007, so the comments all come from there. It's back in a time when the only option was to comment, so that's probably got a lot to do with it.

Fourth most bookmarks: Double Desolation (Doctor Who, 17 bookmarks)
Oh look, another big (ish) pairing (Missy/Clara) in a big fandom. None of the 8 people who bookmarked it publicly said anything about it, but then they could be bookmarking it to read later.

Fifth most words: is a 17,086 word fic not on AO3 because my vague memories of it tell me I don't want to re-read it. So I'm not going to link to it. On AO3 it's Home, Again (Doctor Who, 10,597 words) and is actually my ninth most words out of all fics, whether on AO3 or not. All but two of those fics were Doctor Who. I was very prolific at one point.

Fewest words: According to AO3 it's Two Weeks which has words (sic). I don't know why it has decided it can't count the words in it.

In reality it's a half drabble I wrote back in the days when I wrote a ton of drabbles: Leaving (Tolkien, 50 words). Given that the address for this ends in "leaving-2" I must have written another fic with the same title. I checked. It's another Elrond drabble. I'm almost amazed I didn't write more Elrond drabbles with that title.

Mirrored from my blog.

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What I am reading Wednesday

2025-02-05T21:07:23Z

What I Just Finished Reading
A load of Elly Griffiths' Dr Ruth Galloway series. I've been putting holds on the early ones, one at a time, and then when I go to the library to pick them up, getting another one. I finally read one where they made Norfolk sound really pretty. It was the first one that wasn't set in the middle of winter or a summer heatwave, so that probably helped.

Upper Fourth at Malory Towers, Into the Fifth at Malory Towers and Last Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton. I struggled a bit with the fourth series because a lot of it about the First Formers and there was a lot less of the original characters. Turns out the book is all about the original characters and I enjoyed it more. I am saving series 5 until there's less on TV because it has 20 episodes(!), but I've seen the preview. There was one bit that sounded partially like the fifth book and one bit that sounded partially like the sixth book. It feels like they're gradually getting further and further away from the books, but we'll see.

A Good Enough Mother by Sheila Norton
The Lost Letters of Evelyn Wright by Clare Swatman
Her Guilty Secret by Emily Cavanagh
The World Outside My Window by Clare Swatman
Not Your Child by Sheila Horton
I was ill and wanted some easy reading and these were. But they were all about women whose exes were terrible, but it's ok because they found romance (except one). I just felt like I was reading the same books all the time. I thought I liked contemporary fiction, but it turns out I like some contemporary fiction. That doesn't involve divorce or romance or small children.

What I'm Currently Reading
To The Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei. I needed something different and I really wanted to read something written by a man. This is not fiction, so it's different in that respect. It's also really interesting because there's stuff about the anti-Japanese American prejudice during WWII and the sort of roles that were available to him as an actor.

What I'm Reading Next
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. For the 'Banned Book' square on my bingo card. And also because something from the book came up ages ago and I realised that I read it so long ago that I remembered absolutely nothing about it.

And then books 4 and 15 from Elly Griffiths' Dr Ruth Galloway series, once the library has got both of them in. Then I'll have read the first four and last four in the series and will just have the middle seven to go.

Mirrored from my blog.

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Running

2025-02-01T14:50:52Z

I came to the conclusion the other day that I feel the same about running as I do about cleaning: I like having done it and that I can listen to a podcast while doing it.

The difference with running is that I realised late last year that you can get medals for doing what is just a hobby to me. Which I am unreasonably excited about. And you don't have to run a long way either.

After googling races I found the best way to find a race is to remember which ones I've seen mentioned locally. So my plan for this year is to do a 5k in the next town. I know the distance is do-able, but you can't wear headphones. Which means nothing to take my mind off it and no feedback about how fast I'm going or how far I've run. (I know you can get watches that tell you this information, but I can't read a watch while running, so it seems like a waste of £100+)

And then there's a 8k (5 mile) race that is so nearby the route goes past my house. Which is a bit more of a stretch because the furthest I ran last year is 7k. I did have plans to gradually work my way up to 8k, but then I got ill and couldn't run for weeks, then it got cold. My asthma limits how fast I can run when it's cold and quite a bit of winter means that limit is walking. Hopefully when the weather improves I can start getting the distances up again.

The difference between Park Run (which I've done three times) and a race is that a Park Run you can just rock up to if you feel like it that morning/depending on what the weather's like. With a race you register and pay in advance, so you're running whatever (to a point, obviously, if you're ill or injured you can't run and if it's way too hot the race is likely to be cancelled anyway).

Both the races I plan to do this year have a similar number of runners as at my local Park Run, so it'll feel pretty familiar. Next year though I'm thinking of doing a much bigger, slightly less local 10km. And by bigger I mean about 40 times more people. So this year my goal is to run 10km.

But I don't have plans to run further than that. I saw something that said that running boosts your immune system, but only up to 1 hour 30 minutes. If you run for longer than that it has the opposite effect. I already get everything going, so that's the last thing I want. I ought to be able to run 10km in less than 1 hour 30 minutes, so 10km will be my limit of the distance I run.

I saw something somewhere where someone was talking about PBs just for the year. Which makes sense because as you get older you just can't run as fast. I can't run that fast at the moment, but I'd like to get my 5km lifetime PB down by 30 seconds to 34 minutes.

Mirrored from my blog.

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About fic

2025-01-25T14:16:35Z

I've been meaning to write (most of) this post since November.

After not having written for ages I signed up for both TARDIS Festivities and Star Trek Holidays wondering if that was a good idea. At least the former has a short wordcount and the latter has a long time to write.

And then someone defaulted on TARDIS Festivities and the prompts were ones that I really hoped someone would write. And I quite fancied that someone to be me. Except that I wasn't sure if I could write and wanted to get at least the first draft done for my assignment before picking up a pinch hit. Or in other words, I made my life stressful unnecessarily. I did end up doing both and it was fine.

And then someone defaulted close to the deadline and it turned out that two people wanted to write something before they picked it up. In the meantime I thought I couldn't write it. But then watched some clips, followed by some episodes and realised I could.

That's the thing I like about the ficathon. Because I'm running it and can see everything I'll just happily fill in a hole, which means sometimes writing things I don't normally (or haven't ever). And I end up enjoying it. And then continue to play things safe in other ficathons.

After the stress I wasn't at all sure I wanted to run it again this year. But then someone thanked me for running it and suddenly it all felt worth it. Unless something changes, I shouldn't be looking for a new job or doing any morris admin this autumn, so I ought to have time to run it again.

I also quite fancy the idea of reviving DW Remix. I miss the Remix ficathon and I want to read and write some remixes. If I did it it would be relatively soon so it's done before I get busy in May/June and before it gets hot (if it's too hot to do anything I don't want to have to do anything). But it wouldn't be a gift exchange. That way people who are happy to be remixed, but don't have time/inclination/whatever to write one can take part. As can people who don't want to/haven't written enough can just write a remix. And there's far less organisation required, which is a win all round.

I did end up writing my Star Trek Holidays fic after TARDIS Festivities was over. By then things had quietened down and I'd got my post-Covid jab/cold/Norovirus being ill out of the way. And managed to write a Yuletide treat too. I'm just not interested in enough small fandoms to sign up for Yuletide - as evidenced by me reading everything I was interested in in the collection in an evening.

Mirrored from my blog.

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