...So I would like to officially apologise to my younger self for not reading The Scarlet Pimpernel aged ten.

Back when I was in full-blown Treasure Island-Prisoner of Zenda-Kidnapped-Secret Garden-Count of Monte Cristo L-space, and could have given it the kind of unequivocal love it deserves, without going "oh, values dissonance" and "for the ( Read more... )

It is the end of the holidays, and what I have been doing with my holidays (besides writing) is, basically, watching large amounts of television, including the first seasons of Copper and Orange Is The New Black plus all of Ripper Street,

I'm not sure what to say about Ripper Street apart from that apparently Victorian police dramas are a Thing I ( Read more... )

A while ago I was miserably ill; in the space of two weeks our household came down with scarletina, infections and ruptured cysts. Yeah, I know: gross. So I did what I do in times of stress and reverted to comfort-reading kidlit. Have some kidlit reviews!

( Twilight Robbery (Frances Hardinge) )

Travels in West Africa is one of those books that I found in a charity shop as a teenager and read until it literally fell apart. A while ago, I decided to source a new copy and see if it was as much fun as I remembered. After several weeks, wherein Amazon sent me variously no books, or the wrong book, I finally got a copy ( Read more... )

Around this time last year, I was wandering round circus school in a sad and miserable way, lamenting the doomfulness of performance (or at least my doomfulness at performance). To distract myself, I turned to the internets - and the internets failed me not!

I was reading this interview with Marie Brennan http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/02/the-pop- ( Read more... )

The other day we ran out of milk for the breakfast cereal. So instead of going out to buy some more, like normal people, we decided to read about someone else doing it.
I actually bought Fortunately, The Milk as an xmas present for my four-year-old padawan. Naturally, however, it is IMPERATIVE that I read all the book-presents before giving them to ( Read more... )

She Rises is by Kate Worsely, and sits comfortably on my shelf next to Sarah Waters (note: if you do not know who Sarah Waters is LEAVE THIS PAGE IMMEDIATELY AND FIND OUT). The alphabetical serendipity also extends to the content: Kate Worsely was mentored by Waters and they both write historical fiction featuring lesbian and transgender ( Read more... )

Justin and the Knights of Valour was awaited with much anticipation in our house; mainly by a four-year old girl currently obssessed with All Things Knightly. So yesterday we cycled into town with our jammy new Yepp bike seat to watch some knights being valourous.
( Read more... )

So, it now being mid-August, here are the books I read in July. I had planned to try and keep track of the books I read over the course of a year but I fear I am far too lazy.

1)Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett - Read because I'd just finished Les Mis.
( Read more... )

So...this was meant to be a semi-serious actual review. But here are some macros instead.Because I just think it is hilarious that NOBODY COULD ACTUALLY KILL ENJOLRAS until Grantaire woke up. Because he is Too Pretty To Die.

And also that Grantaire slept through the ENTIRE REVOLUTION.( cut for pictures )