Happy New Year!

Another year has come to a close, and its time to recount all the goodies that 2017 brought my way. In no particular order, the winners for me were....


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The requirement of a coming of age book is that it must show all the stages of growth of a central character, from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. It may or may not be part of a series, but in all likelihood, the character must not come to a complete tragic end. A little older, a little wiser, a little more experienced... having learnt from ( Read more... )

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The 39 Steps (1939)

I read The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan more than 15 years ago. I did not remember much about the book except that it was about a man on the run from a dangerous criminal mastermind who wanted to reveal the country's military secrets to the enemy. I also remembered that there was no female protagonist in the book, and that ( Read more... )

Lately, I've been consuming speculative fiction centered around Japanese/ Shinto creation mythology. It was not by design, but through a series of posts at various other blogs I follow.


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Top Ten Gateway Books is a meme at Top 10 Tuesday that's recently become quite popular. Here's a round-up of the ten books that introduced me to new genres and new ways of thinking:


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If I were to sum up 2015, it would be less reading, more watching. I took several shortcuts this year, opting to watch the movie/ TV versions instead of reading the book. But some of those shortcuts proved to be quite wonderful. With that as a caveat, here’s a summary round-up -- in no particular order -- of all the most memorable events of 2015 ( Read more... )

I went on a mystery marathon this 2015, pulling out old mystery books which had been made into movies or TV shows. So, in a way I cheated, but I blame it all on The Silkworm, which was my first mystery book in ages and which made me want to read again about the human propensity for murder and mayhem. Here’s the brief run-up:


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