Fiction books
Aliette de Bodard. The Tea Master and the Detective (e)
PC Hodgell. By Demons Possessed (e)

In progress
Terry Pratchett. Snuff (e) (re-read)

Abandoned
Kim Newman. An English Ghost Story

Non-fiction books
Bob Altemeyer. The Authoritarians (e)
Tess Thomson. Paddy Hannan: A Claim to Fame

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
Tim Powers. Hide Me Among the Graves

Fiction books
Ben Aaronovitch. The October Man (e)
James Hilton. Goodbye, Mr Chips (e)
James Hilton. To You, Mr Chips (e)
Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale. Batman: Dark Victory
Terry Pratchett. Unseen Academicals (e) (re-read)

In progress
Kim Newman. The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School (e) (re-read)
Terry Pratchett. I Shall Wear Midnight (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books in progress
Bob Altemeyer. The Authoritarians (e)

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
PC Hodgell. By Demons Possessed

Fiction books
Christopher Fry. The Lady's Not For Burning (re-read)
Neil Gaiman. Norse Mythology (e)
Harley Granville Barker. Waste
David Mamet. Boston Marriage
Terry Pratchett. Thief of Time (e) (re-read)
George Bernard Shaw. Saint Joan

In progress
Paul Beatty. The Sellout

Non-fiction books
David Ball. Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays
Uta Hagen, Haskel Frankel. Respect for Acting
Michael Troughton. Patrick Troughton

Non-fiction books in progress
Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen. The Science of Discworld (e) (re-read)

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
P C Hodgell. The Gates of Tagmeth

Fiction books
Lois McMaster Bujold. Borders of Infinity (e) (re-read)
Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larroca. Darth Vader volume 1 (re-read)
Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larroca. Darth Vader volume 2
Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larroca, Leinil Yu. Darth Vader volume 3
Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larroca, Mike Norton, Max Fiumara. Darth Vader volume 4
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. "Due Diligence" (e)
Terry Pratchett. The Truth (e) (re-read)
Ryk E Spoor. Challenges of the Deeps (e)
Kai Ashante Wilson. A Taste of Honey (e)

In progress
Paul Beatty. The Sellout
Neil Gaiman. Norse Mythology (e)
Terry Pratchett. Thief of Time (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books in progress
Michael Troughton. Patrick Troughton

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
PC Hodgell. The Gates of Tagmeth

Fiction books
Frances Hodgson Burnett. The Secret Garden (e) (re-read)
Kenneth Grahame, GMW Wemyss, Markham Shaw Pyle. The Annotated Wind in the Willows, for adults and sensible children (or, possibly, children and sensible adults) (e)
Josephine Tey. A Shilling for Candles

In progress
Terry Pratchett. The Fifth Elephant (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books
Pauline Scudamore. Spike

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
Michael Troughton. Patrick Troughton

Fiction books
Lois McMaster Bujold. The Curse of Chalion (re-read)
Lee Falk, Ray Moore. The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies volume 1
Gail Carson Levine. Fairest
Anne McCaffrey. The Ship Who Sang (e) (re-read)
Anthony Price. A New Kind of War (e)
John Scalzi. The End of All Things
John Scalzi. The Human Division
Ursula Vernon. Summer in Orcus (e)

In progress
Katherine Addison. The Goblin Emperor (e)
Terry Pratchett. The Last Continent (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books In progress
Pauline Scudamore. Spike

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
Anthony Price. A Prospect of Vengeance

Fiction books
Lionel Bart. Oliver!
Lois McMaster Bujold. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (e)
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener. Atomic Robo and the Ring of Fire (e)
T Kingfisher. The Raven and the Reindeer (e)
Tim Powers. On Stranger Tides (e) (re-read)
Manly Wade Wellman. The Beyonders (e)

In progress
Terry Pratchett. Soul Music (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books in progress
Harley Granville-Barker. Prefaces to Shakespeare: Hamlet

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
William Shakespeare. Hamlet

Fiction books
Ben Aaronovitch. Foxglove Summer (e)
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Plan B (re-read)
Tamora Pierce The Fire in the Forging (e)
Terry Pratchett. Pyramids (e) (re-read)

In progress
Frances Hodgson Burnett. The Lost Prince (e)
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. I Dare (re-read)
Terry Pratchett. Guards! Guards! (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books in progress
Simon Singh. Big Bang

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
Tamora Pierce The Healing in the Vine

1. Out-of-Town Sister couldn't make it for family Christmas this year, but the rest of the immediate family could, and we had a nice afternoon together in a shady part of the parents' yard. Two different people gave me TARDIS-shaped money boxes, one containing a fortune in jelly babies. My mother gave me, among other things I received more graciously, a can opener and frying pan, which I suspect was a Hint. (It's not as if I don't already own multiples of both already; in fact, I'm pretty sure one of my other can openers was also a Hint.) I gave the elder of my nieces The Book With No Pictures.


2. When Out-of-Town Brother is in town, our usual bonding activity is video games, but this year I got him to help me try out a couple of board games that I backed on Kickstarter but have never had a chance to play.

A Study in Emerald is a game of conspiratorial maneuvring in a world ruled by the Great Old Ones, with each player either attempting to overthrow the tentacle of tyranny or working as a loyal servant of Thing and Country. It has lots of dice and counters and cards and rules, and took almost as long to set up and read the rules the first time as it did to play, but I can see myself warming to it if I ever get to play it often enough to internalize the details.

Machine of Death is a collaborative storytelling game set in a world where there is a machine that produces accurate but cryptic predictions about how people are going to die; the players are a group of assassins who have been given a list of targets and have to plan and then carry out assassinations that fit their respective predictions. It was a lot of fun; more difficult than it looked in the demo videos I've seen, but I suspect that's because we only had two players.

We also played a few games of Star Fluxx and Once Upon a Time.


3. Less successful was my attempt to introduce the family to Dixit. It turned out not to be a good moment for it; there was a lot else going on, we only managed to get the minimum number of players, Younger Niece kept trying to make off with the score counters, and we only managed to get in one round before we had to stop, in which everybody got all the clues so we ended up on a draw. Oh, well; there's always next time.


4. The arrival of summer has meant the realisation of all the holes in my summer wardrobe and more clothing shopping. And more trying on multiple things just to find one that fits. Although when I did find something that fit I could really tell the difference, which reassures me that the difficulty of finding it is the clothes and not just me. (And perhaps, thinking back, that one particular shop. I forgot to mention, last time I was complaining about this, that at that one shop there was a shirt I tried on that was so badly cut that one sleeve fit fine but I couldn't get my arm all the way into the other.)


5. BBC Radio 4 recently aired a six-part adaptation of Good Omens, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's comic novel about the end of the world. All the episodes are available on the official website for the next few weeks, even to people in foreign parts.

Fiction books
Terry Pratchett. Mort (e) (re-read)

In progress
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Saltation (re-read)
Terry Pratchett. Sourcery (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books
Daniel Boyarin. The Jewish Gospels
Nigel West. MI5

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Agent of Change