A mini birthday haul from my other half - we aren't supposed to be doing gifts anymore but I won't say no to some Gaiman!

An excellent police procedural that reminded me strongly of Tana French (so if you have already inhaled her new novel this might fill the gap). Following the fallout when the daughter of a high profile surgeon goes missing, the POV alternates between the police officers investigating, the missing girl's family and her best friend. Definitely more of a character study than a 'straight' police procedural but I enjoyed it very much.

Oh, I adored this one! Wondrous strange and filled with all sorts of interestingly lost people. The Summer People and Two Houses probably tip out the others as my favourite, but there is hardly a dud story in there.

A mini book tree this year - it has survived four days so far with a rampaging almost-toddler, so only nine to go!

We appear to have reached the age of, ahem, forced reshelving.

Spotted at the bookshop - happy accident or mischievous bookseller?

Hardly any reading this month as I juggled the return to work from maternity leave - but neighbours were throwing away a whole stack of books, including the most recent Cormoran Strike novel! Still lots of holds on this at my library so a good score - settling in with a coffee to dig into it while baby naps.

Rich and dark and strange - possibly the most unusual epic fantasy I've read in a long time. Wilson has done some really interesting things with language and how it defines the characters - the plot isn't the main driver, which works in the novella format.

The second in Elizabeth Hand's excellent Cass Neary series takes her anti-hero photographer to Scandinavia, where she is quickly mixed up in murders in the black metal scene. Edgy, engrossing & absolutely soaked in chilly atmosphere, with Hand's trademark lush prose - I enjoyed this a lot.

Recent events have bumped this one up my TBR list - Jesmyn Ward is a powerful and gifted writer so I have high hopes.

Fascinating subject but the book didn't live up to its premise - too focused on one specific syndrome, which became boring & felt like a padded-out magazine article. Some interesting stuff also let down by author's need to create a spurious 'personal' connection.

Grim, gritty but very compelling crime - reminded me of Broken Monsters. A wildly unlikable but still sympathetic protagonist in washed-up NYC punk photographer Cass Neary plus an atmospheric Maine setting equalled a must-finish for me (plus the writing is great).

A quick gulp of urban fantasy in between other reads - ML Brennan has a highly likeable protagonist in hapless almost-vampire Fortitude Scott. The writing is much better than the awful cover might lead one to believe, too - on par with the Dresden Files or Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series.

Thoroughly enjoyable high-octane stuff, though the tone of American imperialism feels a little dated now. Even so, a great, fizzing explosion of a book about fighter jock psyche & its impact on the space race.

Burning through Tom Wolfe's classic non-fiction account of the fighter pilots who made the first supersonic and space flights. His style is, as always, is incendiary and thrilling, with a genuinely fascinating subject in the risk-taking astronauts.

Reading David Marr's fascinating Quarterly Essay on Aus Opposition Leader Bill Shorten - backroom deals, union skullduggery and a man animated by driving ambition make for a pretty potent mix!

Loving Annabel's Quarterly Review on Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull - a mixture of juicy insider information and incisive character assessment. Need to go back and re-read her Kevin Rudd book!

A quick library read in between weightier fare - I enjoyed this updated YA take on classic Gothic novels, with a couple of small caveats. The dialogue was fun & sassy but in no way like any British teenager I've ever heard - it jarred me a little to see Americanisms like 'Jell-O' in there too.

Can't stop thinking about this one - a tiny, perfectly formed jewel of a book about leaving and coming back, the psychological effects of displacement, and what it means to go home. I only wish there had been more.

This one was just OK for me - an interesting multilayered alternate history setting let down by flat characterisation (bordering on stereotypes) and predictable story beats. Somewhat less than the sum of its parts, I'm afraid.

A fun diversion between novels - 130 bite-sized reflections on SFF books, literary criticism and the reading life by the ever-insightful Jo Walton.

Not going to lie - I was momentarily tempted when I saw this at the thrift shop today, if only for the marvellous chutzpah of the name.

Fell in love with this book almost from the first page - Novik draws her characters with such warmth & I loved the central friendship between Agnieszka & Kasia. The magic system was also beautifully wrought and the Wood truly terrifying. Highly recommended.

Is it just me, or is this quote the WORST POSSIBLE characterisation of a great book? I appreciate publishing realities but Twilight this ain't.

A sharp, noirish excursion into 1930s Sydney & the razor gangs who dominated the inner suburbs (plus ghosts). Fun to see familiar locales overlaid by the sensational past - Larbalestier also has interesting things to say about poverty, damage & family.

That special hell of getting almost all the way through a great (& long!) book...only to realise that pages 513-514 are missing in your copy.

One of my favourite things about Guy Gavriel Kay's books is how they are all in dialogue with each other, occupying different times & places & moods of the same world. This new one is a response of sorts to Sailing to Sarantium - an old, old favourite.

A fun mash-up of Shakespeare and Poe starring Moore's indefatigable and profane licensed fool, Pocket. If you enjoy Shakespeare for the outrageously rude insults, this will be your jam - otherwise a little slight overall.

Further proof, should it be required, that my husband is a jewel among men: he saw on an errand run that there was a new GGK out & picked it up for me. Hooray!

Zoomed through this in a single setting - a much slighter book than The Interestings but still, well, interesting. Wolitzer is great at sketching out interesting characters quickly & prose had her trademark zip, though I felt the ending was perhaps too pat & telegraphed for me.

Turned to this in desperation after two days in our house of plague - thus far, surprisingly engrossing! Fascinating magic system in a Victorian-ish setting, with a (fairly steamy) male/male romance plot that has interesting things to say about power imbalance.

Our entire household has been hit by seasonal plague, so taking a break from regularly scheduled reading for this (so far) highly satisfying mystery set in the London publishing world. Witty, dry and fascinating in its details about the publishing milieu.

Trying out another Weird West novel after devouring Vermilion & Karen Memory last year. This one is dipping deep into Lovecraftian eldritch horror but reminds me in tone & complexity of the late lamented TV show Carnivale.

The cure for a long day dealing with fractious baby: a new-to-me Diana Wynne Jones. I love how she gives her characters full license to be irritable, unreasonable and just plain fed-up, and am surprised anew by how refreshingly unsentimental her novels are.