pedanther

Fiction books
Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan. Black Mould
Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan. Body Work (re-read)
Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan. Night Witch (re-read)
Arthur Conan Doyle. The Valley of Fear (e) (re-read)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Herland
Ursula K Le Guin. Catwings (e)
Ursula K Le Guin. Catwings Return (e)
Ursula K Le Guin. Jane On Her Own (e)
Ursula K Le Guin. Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings (e)
Jack Masterton. The Same Damn Thing
E Nesbit. The Railway Children
Jeff Smith. Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume (re-read)

Abandoned
Hanan al-Shayk. Women of Sand and Myrrh

Picture books
Diane Elson. Olivia the Ostrich Has a Special Day (re-read)
Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing, David Hardy. Back On Country
Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing, David Hardy. Somebody's Land
Barbara Lloyd, Michael Williams. Pirate Edna of Old Tallangatta (re-read)

Non-fiction books
Stan Grant. Talking to My Country
Rosaleen Love. Reefscape
Thomas Mayo. Always Was, Always Will Be

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

Top of the to-read pile
Connie Willis. Inside Job (e)

Fiction books
Patricia A. McKillip. Harpist in the Wind (e)
Patricia A. McKillip. Heir of Sea and Fire (e)
Patricia A. McKillip. The Riddle-Master of Hed
Robert Louis Stevenson. Kidnapped (e)
Arthur Upfield. The Devil's Steps (e)

In progress
Anne Brontë. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (e)
Arthur Conan Doyle. A Study in Scarlet (e) (re-read)
Alexandre Dumas. The Count of Monte Cristo (e) (re-read)
Robert Louis Stevenson. Catriona (e)

Picture books
Michael Dahl, Ethen Beavers. Bedtime for Batman
Oliver Jeffers. Begin Again

Non-fiction books
Neil Gaiman. Adventures in the Dream Trade (e)
Steve Lindstrom. CSS Refactoring (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books in progress
AC Grayling. The Good Book

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

Top of the to-read pile
Gail Carriger. Soulless

Fiction books
(anthology). Batman Black and White, volume 1 (re-read)
Lois McMaster Bujold. Barrayar (e) (re-read)
Lois McMaster Bujold. Penric's Progress (e)
Lois McMaster Bujold. Shards of Honor (e) (re-read)
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Accepting the Lance (e) (re-read)
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Alliance of Equals (e) (re-read)
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Dragon in Exile (e) (re-read)
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. The Gathering Edge (e) (re-read)
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Neogenesis (e) (re-read)
RA MacAvoy. Tea with the Black Dragon (re-read)
Tim Powers. Medusa's Web (e)

Non-fiction books in progress
Christopher Lascelles. Pontifex Maximus (e)

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

Top of the to-read pile
(anthology). Batman Black and White, volume 2

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

I gather this is also a part of the Yuletide experience, so here are a dozen good stories from this year's collection that were written neither by nor for me.

To begin with, the one that I've been recommending to pretty much everyone who stands still long enough:

Four Things that Weren't Adequately Covered in Mulan's R.A. Training (4540 words)

Mulan is a Resident Assistant on a dormitory floor at a college. Gosh, some of the students on her floor come from really screwed-up families.

In which the Disney Princesses are translated into modern college students sharing a dormitory, supporting each other as they deal with weird health problems, annoying acquaintances, and a variety of screwed-up family histories.

Fortunately, Belle has a Doctorate in the University of Googling Everything and after Aurora fell asleep in the middle of a conversation about last week's Dr. Who, she said, "You know what I bet you have? I bet you have NARCOLEPSY."

( also: American Gods, Arm Joe, Asimov's robots, Black Books, The Fifth Element, Galaxy Quest, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Sneakers, and ... )

The Ten Stupidest Things I've Heard Since Richard III's Remains Were Identified

Tudor Spies and Perfidy (750 words)

A meeting of the University of Leicester excavation team.

Fewer Than Ten Scenes From the Second Coming of Richard III (5500 words)

The discovery of Richard III's remains in Leicester brings a number of visitors to the city, most of them dead. Tourism may suffer. A handful of vignettes from this critical turning point in English history.

First you need to read the blog post, if you haven't already. There were quite a few "what if some of these things were true?" stories in Yuletide this year, but these are two of my favourites.

"Tudor Spies and Perfidy" is short and hilarious. "Fewer Than Ten Scenes" is longer, also funny, with a poignant turn at the end.