The Week in Womble aka Living in a Box

Hellooo!!

I am pretty much all packed with a sea of boxes that when asked I assure people are not filled with books. Pictures of walls, cupboards bare and a little bit of a sense of nostalgia as I’ve really loved living here but definitely time to move. New adventures and more reading spaces await

Anathem update

Still on page 100! I have two books I want to read over my four-day weekend (and largely without broadband!! This is one of them

What I read this week

Interestingly my reading speed has really popped up now the move is sorted: -

Shelter by David Hutchinson – Review here – One the one hand a nasty tale of farmers having post-apocalyptic war with weapons (imagine Fury Road crossed with the Archers) but also an interesting commentary on how people react when unexpected events wipe out their way of life.

Creatures – The Legacy of Frankenstein edited by David Thomas Moore – Reviewed here – this really is a nice mix of horror and all the stories I think really capture the facets of the original story – the gothic, the tragic and the horror

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas – Reviewed here – LOVED this blurred boundaries entry for Subjective Chaos and its so clever exploring SF and just as important human nature.  A novel that really knew how to win me over

Ms Marvel vol 9 by G Willow Wilson – one of my favourite heroes this one sees how her friends react to Ms Marvel going into hiding.  It can be funny and heartfelt in one go.  Really a series you should be getting.

Chlorophyll and Gasoline by S J Fleming – Review to come – This novella entry for Subjective Chaos tells the story of a robot and evolved human.  It strongly reminded me of Becky Chambers but didn’t really grab me

The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin – been meaning to get to this collection for ages so far promising

Prime Meridean by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - another Subjective Chaos entrant for best Novella. I read this a few years ago and loved this tale of a young Mexican woman who dreams of living on Mars.

Other Media

Television – more news of joyless terror

Films – all quiet

Podcasts –

Skiffy and Fanty are BACK - a beautiful progressive muti-themed collection of podcasts everyone should try.  They do interviews, film reviews (including really bad films); book reviews and now booktube. The first main episode gives us the highs of last year and highlights for year ahead

The Coode St Podcast – Another show I must catch up but there is a recent one exploring Locus’ recommended reading list.  Useful for planning any final reading ahead of Hugo nominations

Expect more podcasts next week 😊

What I want to read next

I’m looking at the these over the next few weeks

-          American Monsters Part 1 edited by Margret Helgadottir – the latest entrant in this brilliant Fox Spirit series with writers telling tales of their cultures.

-          Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams – an SF action tale

-          The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Graton – a fantasy tale based around Lear sounds intriguing too

-          The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders – An SF tale of life on another world by an author I’m very impressed by

-          The Migration by Helen Marshall - a tale of plague, death and apocalypses

-          Everything About You by Heather Child – a mysterious thriller involving AI

-          Knightfall – The Infinite Deep by David B Coe – based on History Chanel’s Templar drama