pedanther

Fiction books
Agatha Christie. Murder on the Orient Express
Genevieve Valentine. The Girls at the Kingfisher Club (e)

In progress
Terry Pratchett. Making Money (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books
Lars Brownworth. In Distant Lands (e)

In progress
V Anton Spraul. Think Like a Programmer (e)

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

Top of the to-read pile
Terry Pratchett. Unseen Academicals

Fiction books
John Buchan. Witch Wood (e)
Ian Edginton, Matthew Dow Smith. Batman '66 Meets Steed and Mrs Peel
John le Carré. Call for the Dead (re-read)
John le Carré. A Murder of Quality
John le Carré. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

In progress
CJ Dennis. Songs of a Sentimental Bloke
Diane Duane. The Book of Night with Moon (e) (re-read)
Terry Pratchett. A Hat Full of Sky (e) (re-read)
WC Sellar, RJ Yeatman. 1066 and All That

Non-fiction books in progress
Grant Morrison. Supergods

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

Top of the to-read pile
Stephen Curtis. Staging Ideas

Fiction books
Jason Aaron, Kieron Gillen, et al. Star Wars: Vader Down
T Kingfisher. Bryony and Roses (e) (re-read)
Max Landis, et al. Superman: American Alien
Tim Powers. The Stress of Her Regard
Terry Pratchett. Night Watch (e) (re-read)
Ursula Vernon. Castle Hangnail (e) (re-read)

In progress
Terry Pratchett. The Wee Free Men (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books in progress
Grant Morrison. Supergods
Jack Plotnick. New Thoughts for Actors (e)

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

Top of the to-read pile
Bertolt Brecht, Eric Bentley (tr). Parables for the Theatre

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
Katherine Addison. The Goblin Emperor (e)
Agatha Christie. The Murder at the Vicarage
J Sheridan Le Fanu. Wylder's Hand (e)
Ellis Peters. City of Gold and Shadows (e)
Ellis Peters. Rainbow's End (e)
Terry Pratchett. The Last Continent (e) (re-read)
Anthony Price. The Memory Trap (e)
Anthony Price. A Prospect of Vengeance (e)

In progress
Terry Pratchett. Carpe Jugulum (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books in progress
Pauline Scudamore. Spike

Abandoned
Gregory Mone. The Truth About Santa Claus

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

Top of the to-read pile
T L Garrison. The Twisted Blackmailer

Fiction books
Lois McMaster Bujold. Diplomatic Immunity (e) (re-read)
Lois McMaster Bujold. Komarr (e) (re-read)
Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larroca. Darth Vader volume 1
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Alliance of Equals (e)
John Ostrander, Luke McDonnell, et al. Suicide Squad volume 1
Terry Pratchett. Feet of Clay (e) (re-read)
Anthony Price. Sion Crossing (e)
Mark Russell, Ben Caldwell, et al. Prez volume 1
William Shakespeare. Hamlet (re-read)

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

Non-fiction books
Adrian Goldsworthy. Augustus (e)

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

Top of the to-read pile
Eleanor Herman. Sex with Kings

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

1. So, the National Band Championships? To our utter, utter astonishment, we won our division, and are now the Australian D Grade Champions. Discussions are underway about the practicality of going to next year's championships (which will have returned to the far side of the continent) to defend the title.


2. My hotel room number for the weekend (assigned entirely without any input from myself) was 42.


3. I got to more of Swancon than I'd feared, if less than I'd hoped (and in the process usefully expanded my working knowledge of the city's public transport options). I enjoyed what I got to, and caught up with the usual suspects, including leecetheartist and rdmasters, who as usual introduced me to several games I was not previously familiar with. (I particularly liked Winter Tales, where the movement of the pieces on the board is just the skeleton of the game, and the emphasis is on collaboratively spinning a story about what the characters represented by the pieces are up to. I like collaborative storytelling. Other games I was introduced to included King of Tokyo, a silly but fun game in which giant monsters slug it out for the chance to trash Japan, and Roll Through the Ages, which had a bit too much number-crunching and not enough story for my taste.)

The guests at next year's Swancon are to include Tamora Pierce and Isobel Carmody.


4. I have a new gadget, a Kobo ebook reader. I haven't really used it much yet, because when I'm at home I prefer to make inroads on the enormous pile of unread dead-tree books in my living room, and save the ebooks for when I'm travelling. (I had intended to put it to work on the trip back, but it turned out I couldn't actually activate it and load it up until I got home.)


5. Too many people dying lately. I particularly regret the loss of Richard Griffiths, who played one of my favourite fictional detectives, Henry Crabbe, in the TV series Pie in the Sky. If that doesn't ring a bell, his film credits include wicked uncles in both Withnail and I and the Harry Potter series. He also had a noteworthy stage career. By all accounts he was a really nice guy, and will be missed.

Fiction books
James D Macdonald, Debra Doyle. The Confessions of Peter Crossman
Charles Stross. The Fuller Memorandum
Ursula Vernon. Digger Volume Six

Non-fiction books
(none)

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

Top of the to-read pile
David A MacIntee. First Frontier