Emma Types Stuff

I didn't read this book because it had queer content. Honest. In fact, I had no idea. I had only heard buzz about it and needed a book to fulfil the 'modern history' prompt for History Girl Summer. Couple that with the feeling of connection to the Aberfan disaster that every UK person has, I was sold.  What I wasn't expecting was for this book to (partially) tell a story I'd been yearning for my entire adult life.  A Terrible Kindness [Jo Browning Wroe] is about the impact of the Aberfan disaster on a man's life. The real-life disaster happened when a small Welsh village was devastated by a half-million tonne man-made avalanche. It primarily struck the village's school, leading to the death of one-hundred-and-sixteen children and twenty-eight adults.  In the aftermath, nearby undertakers are begged to come and assist with the body-identification and embalming process, and though it's a job more suited to those with disaster experience, newly-gra...

I'm going on holiday this year! Sorry to mention it, but as someone who averages a proper holiday every five or six years, I'm excited! I'm going to Italy and I'm going to see Pompeii. Naturally my History Reading Challenge has taken to the theme, awakening my Ancient Roman Nerd from it's long slumber; growing up close to Colchester - a major Roman settlement before Boudica got involved - will do that to a kid. So here are the books I've read, perfect for when you're in the mood for some toga action... Vesuvius By Night by Lindsey Davis This is an odd book - more of a dramatic re-enactment than a novel. We follow two roommates in the immediate hours following the eruption, each taking a different approach. One - a conman - decides to use the opportunity to loot. The other - a family man (and one of the 'painters at work') attempts to get his daughter out of the city. His wife - based in Herculaneum - seeks safety for her other childre...

It's hardly a secret that book publishing follows trends, or that new releases can be styled and marketed in the same way as recent success stories. I am waging a permanent war (in my own head at least) against women's historical literature with the same filigree flowery design on the cover. But occassionally two books come along that - intentionally or not - have such similar vibes that to think of one is to automatically think of the other. This piece marks the start of a new (occasional) series in which I read those books to compare and contrast. It's easy to see why Several People are Typing [Calvin Kalsulke] and We Had to Remove This Post [Hanna Bervoets] might occupy the same space in one's mind. There is surface similarity - the familiar wording of their social-media-speak titles, and (depending on the edition) their very different and yet still noticeably millennial-pink toned covers. They are of similar, short lengths and address modern technology's...

I don't write this blog to slag off books. In fact, it's very rare for me to review books I hate, since I don't finish them. Even books that I've been highly critical of on here, I've more-or-less considered the experience a net positive.  And I try to be responsible; for all that my audience rarely reaches above one or two, I would never take pot-shots against a self-published or indie author, or at otherwise easy targets. But sometimes a book betrays you. Sometimes you, the reader, are the injured party. Sometimes writing a thousand word blog piece is your only source of justice. So, what did A Marvellous Light [Freya Marske] do to earn this dubious honour? And what is it about? Robin has just inherited the family estate but has been denied the family money, forcing him to fail-up into a civil service role. He soon discovers that he is actually the Prime Minister's liaison to the magical business of the country. His predecessor has vanished wi...

I don't recall purchasing this book. I don't even recall picking it up and starting it. This is likely because I bought it within about ten seconds of reading the summary, and started reading it about five seconds after that. Before I'd realised what was happening to me I was already several pages in. Because what a summary it was. Space Opera [Catherynne M. Valente] is the story of Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeros, a trio who were basically Queen meets the The Mighty Boosh for about five minutes - before one of them literally crashed-and-burned in their car and the other two stumbled into their 'has-been' era. When aliens make contact, Earth discovers that the galaxy has been nearly destroyed by a war and that an interplanetary song contest is the way all new species are invited to prove their own sentience. Or else. With humanity destined to be wiped out if they get the dreaded nil points , the contact team helpfully provides a list of artists who mi...

Normally I open my reviews with a quick explanation of why I picked up the book in the first place, but in this case the question is:  why wouldn't I? Death of a Bookseller is clearly designed to be a buzzy thriller for people who like books and want something slightly twisted to read on the beach. It is to book-loving millennials what The Girl on the Train was to wine moms and Gone Girl was to wives.   Death of a Bookseller [Alice Slater] follows two employees at a Walthamstow branch of Spines (an obvious Waterstones expy). Roach, a serial killer-loving goth living in a world of 'normies', becomes immediately obsessed with Laura, a bougie (and dear god you will become familiar with that word), seemingly put-together hipster who has just joined the branch. Rebuffed by the true-crime hating Laura at every turn, Roach discovers Laura's connection to a famous serial killer and begins a campaign of stalking that pushes Laura ever closer to the edge.  This has garnered...

Hey, want to read something about Roald Dahl that isn't tedious debate about his books being re-written by the 'wokist blob'? You may not be alone!  Maybe you aren't defending the problematic nature of some of Dahl's material, but also still have fondness for books that defined thousands - if not millions - of childhoods? Maybe, as a mature adult, you can admit that while he had some nasty beliefs, his life wasn't always a picnic? Maybe you are crazy enough to hold the simultaneous ideas that children shouldn't be taught that ugly = evil but that the idea of blowing up a mean old lady with household products is hilarious for the average six year old? Maybe you feel like a normal person about it all.  We're all just  tired.  Anyway, if you are one of these crazy fools who see in shades of grey, this is the article for you.  I've put together a book rec list inspired by popular Dahl novels, trying my best to match the themes and tone of those books. S...

A game post? On my book blog? It's more likely than you think!  I've read a lot of fun books recently, but none that I've had the urge to write about. So instead, take this essay on the most important choices in Season One of The Walking Dead Game. Spoilers ahead, but hopefully entertaining ones... The first Walking Dead Game came out in 2012 so this is some real up-to-the-minute, zeitgeisty gaming chit-chat here. Nevertheless the first season of this game is something of an obsession of mine. I humbly boast that there are  few people out there who know the inner mechanics of the characters and choices as well as I do (and even fewer with encyclopaedic knowledge of the larger Walking Dead universe). One of my hobbies is watching new players having a go at it, because the nature of this decision-based game turns it into an incredibly revealing psychological experiment. It's like watching people take a crack at the Milgram Experiment over a period of ten hours. Someone w...

I enjoyed both of my recent reading challenges, but I bit off more than I could chew. December is famously a rather busy month, and for Fantasy February I tried to read one of the traditionally longer genres in the shortest possible month. So I wanted less pressure this time around.  History Girl Summer will take place from June through August, and will cover ten different prompts. These will be historical fiction and cannot be contemporary to their setting (i.e a Victorian book wouldn't count if it was written in the Victorian era.)  You can check out the original challenge here and follow my progress below... The Prompts: 1. A Book Set During Your Favourite Historical Period Sherlock Holmes and the Highgate Horrors by James Lovegrove Not, perhaps, the most historically accurate book but nevertheless full of comforting Victoriana!  2. A Book Set in a Historical Period from Your Own Country Hen Fever  by  Olivia Waite This Sapphic romance focuses heavily o...

Oof. That's what I have to say about this book. Oof. With a capital ' O ' and a big groan of agony at the end.  How High We Go in the Dark [Sequoia Nagamatsu] is about a plague, but not about Covid, being written just before. In it, a strange virus is released from the melting permafrost and attacks the world, mutating vital organs one-by-one. No one is untouched, and as the science gets better, the disease only gets stranger.  Death is something no-one is squeamish about anymore - the whole world talks and trades in it. Where capitalism can no longer make money from entertainment and industry, it makes it from euthanasia packages and death rituals.  This isn't really a linear story but a collection of loosely interconnected short stories over the course of a couple of thousand years. It focuses primarily on Japanese-American and Japanese viewpoints, and each story is, in it's own way, about grief. Though often bleak, each one shows humans at their best, as we bimbl...