According to Goodreads, I read 38 books last year (some of which are short stories): That could easily be the largest number of books I’ve read in a year since I was a kid sitting in bed on a Saturday morning devouring Dr Who novelizations. Most of them (all but five I think) were ebooks and I’ve got a suspicion that’s part of the reason I’ve increased the amount of reading I do. I’ve always been addicted to buying books but the added convenience of having literally hundreds of books at my fingertips has reignited my passion for actually reading them as well. My increased focus on writing and a desire to read more to support that also helped. There were a lot of good books in there, only a couple I didn’t enjoy, but my top five reads are (in roughly the order I read them): The Dervish House by Ian McDonald NOS4A2 by Joe Hill The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu by Mercedes M Yardley Rotten Row by Chaz Brenchley Favourite of the bunch would have to be The Dervish House by Ian McDonald – earlier in the … Read More
Buenos Dias
On Wednesday, we got back from a holiday at the Hacienda Cerritos near Todos Santos, in Mexico. It’s the first time we’ve been to Mexico and we had a fantastic time. The Hacienda Cerritos is in an amazing location with stunning views and a very nice beach. They could do with a new set of pool balls though. The Hacienda Cerritos, Mexico We were planning a very laid back, relaxed holiday so I was hoping to get some serious writing time in. That didn’t quite work out, but I did get some serious reading done and finished a whole bunch of books (thanks Mr Kindle): Red Shirts by John Scalzi The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal The Door to Lost Pages by Claude Lalumiere A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck The Dervish House by Ian McDonald Pantomime by Laura Lam Filaria by Brent Hayward Yes, I read too fast but some of those are pretty short books. That’s a lot of great fiction but the highlights were Mary Robinette Kowal’s poignant science fiction novelette, The Lady Astronaut of Mars (which you can get for free from her blog) and Ian McDonald’s The Dervish House – a dizzying mix of Istanbul, … Read More