A curmudgeon writes.
Time for another five reviews!
Four of them are audiobooks, which some may say don’t count, but fuck those people. Three of them are classics that I’d long wanted to read (or ignored, in the case of one of them) so I was pleased with this brace.
Let’s get into it.
Continue reading “Book review: time, robots, firemen, replicants and gruel”Well well well.
If it isn’t me getting more manageable book reviews online in a relatively acceptable timeframe.
Right, let’s go.
Continue reading “Book review: swan-dives, man-dogs, gamblers, magick and the supposed master race”Well, this is a better stab at timely reviewing.
I mean, it’s timely inasmuch as there’s some reviews generated before the amount due overwhelms me and stops me from doing anything at all. There’s not twenty for you to wade through – there’s only ten this time.
Baby steps, I suppose.
Continue reading “Book reviews: concrete, crims, scholars, high weirdness and big lizards”I’m not going to deny it: this is a pretty good tally for the first month of the year.
(I’ve read more than this, and I’m AWARE that the first post of the year about books is breaking my rule of reviewing five at a time, but it’s currently an extra day off work so I’m going with it.)
Continue reading “Book reviews: 2026 first ten”Right, right. This should’ve been finished before the end of 2025. But between engagements and gastro, it took a bit of a back seat.
But now I’m (mostly) back on deck, so here’s your yearly guide to things I perceived. You can check through the previous versions (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here) for some more me-review action.
I think this will be less wordy than the usual variant, but we’ll see how we end up.
Continue reading “2025 consumption: a look at some stuff I liked”In a change to my normal way of doing things, I’m planning the pages for 2026 on New Year’s Eve. This is because I won’t get to do my usual year-end write-up until next year, and I figured I wanted to have my motivational, a-nice-lot-of-books-to-choose-from list done before the next year and its horrors arrives.
Anyway, here’s a list of books.
As I continually reiterate, the plan here is that every five books I read, I review. Here. In a relatively timely manner.
Naturally, I’m behind because a) I’m disorganised and b) it’s December and my be doing with 2025 energy levels are surprisingly low.
All of this is to say here’s another load of reviews. Some will be shorter than usual, purely because of the number I have to push through. Let’s get on with it, boyeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Continue reading “Book review: my procrastination, your delectation”Well well well. It appears that the whole keep-up-to-date-with-reviews intention is something that withers in the overwhelming heat of oh-shit-work-deadlines and oh-shit-spring-gardening.
Consequently, it’s been a while since I’ve written. The good news (for me!) is that I’ve not stopped reading, and so have a raft of things to pontificate about now that I’ve finally got some time to get thoughts down.
(I was considering some kind of Droste effect of a photograph of me editing this post editing this post editing this post but I realised that I lack the technical elan to carry this out without using AI, and given that the world already looks like the image above due to people using this fucked tech to accelerate the Rule 34 singularity, that you could use your brain to picture it instead. I dunno, maybe your version is more handsome or charming or something. We live in hope.)
(Also, did you know that Microsoft once had an OS called ‘Singularity‘? I assume ‘Torment Nexus‘ was taken.)
Continue reading “Book reviews: ten not-so-rapid”So hey, it’s winter. I’m cold, and I have a cold, which is why I am spending my Friday evening writing book reviews instead of watching Jaws on the big screen to celebrate old Bruce’s 50th birthday.
That said, I am keeping to my read-five-write-five rule, so I suppose koff-koff evenings are good for something. Let’s roll.
Continue reading “Book reviews: twisty lit, sovcits, future fascism, a boring family and the CIA”It seems I am eternally late in writing up these reviews. I would like to say that’s down to my overwhelming desire to read as opposed to my overwhelming draw towards lethargy, but you and I both know that’d be a lie.
So to make up for the time between posting – admittedly there’s been trips away and lots of work in between – I’m giving you ten reviews today. Not sure if that qualifies as a punishment for me or for you, but let’s embark on this journey together.
Continue reading “Book reviews: thirtysomething”
Yeah nah. 