I skipped my check-in last week because I was feeling a bit glum and unmotivated, and didn’t really have much to update on anyway. Now I’ve had a few days off work, I’ve finished some books and my mood has improved. I did manage to share the October releases on my radar last week at least.

Yesterday, it was so windy down at the beach, Scully’s chops were flapping around like she was in a wind tunnel. I wish I’ve taken a video as none of the photos captured it. She was just stood there bracing herself, I wonder if she was enjoying the sensation!

I read the massive tome that is Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire and while I think it could have been trimmed down a little, I did enjoy it once I got into it. The faux olde world language takes a while to get used to and I felt the framing device didn’t really work, as the vampire he was telling the story to kept asking him to explain “as if to a child” to repeat stuff that would be obvious to him. But I found the world building interesting, it’s a high fantasy setting but with vampires as the big bad.

I also listen to Ben Fogle’s Labrador, which is a mix of microhistory and memoir. I had always known labs to be gun dogs, so it was interesting to hear how they started out as fishing dogs… With her webbed feet, affinity for water and love of anything fishy, it makes total sense that Scully is descended from sea-faring dogs. On the other hand, she’d be useless as an actual gun dog.

My copy of The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi did make it in the end, so I finished the trilogy, which was bittersweet. Not my favourite of the three books but I still enjoyed it.

To finish the fortnight off, I read The Last Library by Freya Sampson which follows the story of a small library facing closure and the library assistant and patrons fighting to save it. This was a lovely, community spirited read with a hint of romance. It portrays what libraries in Britain are going through as well as showing the benefits beyond books.

New books acquired:

Monstress: The Vow by Marjorie M. Liu + Sana Takeda
The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi
The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker
[gifted] The Second Cut by Louise Welsh (Canongate)
Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton (ebook)
Bad Apples by Will Dean (audio)
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake (ebook)
The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex (ebook)
Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee (ebook)
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni (ebook)
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney (ebook)
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling (ebook)