Great collection of four short novellas, drawn together under the banner of weird weather. The second, which deals with gun violence and uses fire weather as an underlying metaphor, was my favourite; but the others were also really great; fulgurite rain, solid clouds, and a possessed camera all made for awesomely disquieting fiction.

Justin Cronin in conversation at the ANU; discussing inspirations for The Passage (On the Beach and Earth Abides) and writing genre fiction in a literary register.

A fascinating salty history of "the only rock we eat". My only gripe is it's not really a world history when you ignore or gloss over a couple of continents! Still, tons of cool little facts that make you realise how we take the ease of picking up a salt shaker for granted.

Classic Atwood themes around the intersection of sex, technology, power, gender and death. Set in a dystopian future where the financial crisis makes living in a 1950s dream half the time and in prison for the other half look like a decent deal, it follows two people who sign on, and then regret it.

I liked the sound of this: mermaids? A satire on chick lit tropes? Sounded right up my alley. Sadly, the story followed a weirdly Scooby Doo-ish trajectory, with the most wtf ending I've read in a long time. And not wtf in a good way. It made me feel cheated and regretful that I didn't bail earlier.

Worth it for the art alone. The story is (unfortunately) very thin on the ground, but the art's beautiful, and there are some wonderful moments for old favourites and new characters alike. I loved Shara Bey and Kes Dameron, who are in the pic above (Poe Dameron's parents, for those playing at home).

Nails it with Keats and his excitement about this BRILLIANT GODDAMN URN, plus Heathcliff and Cathy's destructive and competitive "I love you more" competition. Better read in short bursts; the style becomes a bit same-y when read all at once.

Made it to the bookshop today; any book which describes itself as being "set in a world where Hollywood occupies the moon" and "Mars is rife with lawless saloons" whilst focussing on a filmmaker investigating a disastrous Venus trip for a documentary is on my list straight away...

This was a surprise; it's not a history of specific heads, but of the reasons why we collect, revere, dissect, ex-and-repatriate, display and otherwise use human heads. Written from a curator's point of view, it's quite fascinating!

A great Leia-centric tie in novel; lots of action, and lots of chances for Leia to be the politician and Rebel leader we all know she is.

Way to hit right at the heart, Patrick Ness. And then way to make it okay as the book goes on...

Wonderfully scary book in which something unknown makes people kill others then themselves if they see it. Mallory is trying to escape her safe house, with two children...but they have to do it blindfolded, and she knows the something is out there.

New audiobook to listen to on the way to work...furthering my obsession with Patrick Ness.