the sun and the moon and the stars

What I just finished reading

Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line. I enjoyed this in the same way I enjoyed the Burn Notice tie-ins by Tod Goldberg (which I've been thinking about rereading) -- it's a slice of the show. There were a few odd notes (see below) but by and large, I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to more.

And before that it was Broken Homes, the latest of the Peter Grant books, a couple of days ago. I did not expect the thing at the end! I should have, but I didn't. Probably my second-favourite of the series, after the first book, and I'm looking forward to more.

What I'm reading now

Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone, on the recommendation of incandescens and bryant. I'm not far in, and enjoying it so far, although I nearly put it down in Chapter 1 when the book did the foreshadowing thing of "X did this thing, but little did they know it would turn out to be a terrible mistake". (That thing usually makes me totally unable to read any further.) This time I persevered, with a bit of page-skipping involved.

What I'm reading next

Probably Two Serpents Rise, if I finish and enjoy Three Parts Dead. Alternatively, The War That Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan, about which I have heard good things.

**

( more about veronica mars, mildly spoilery for movie and book )

So I gave up doing the Wednesday reading meme after weeks and weeks of "um, all I read this week was fanfic, please don't judge me" delays, because I just wasn't reading.

However! New Job has left me with lunchtimes and breaks to occupy, my iPad mini is stuffed full of iBooks, and there's no wifi to be had. So I've been reading. :)

In the last couple of weeks I've ploughed through three of the four (so far) Rivers of London books by Ben Aaronovitch, and I have loved them. I mean, I really wanted to just sit down and read ALL OF THEM AT ONCE as soon as I got home from work on the first day I started reading them, but I've been forcing myself not to do that so I have them to enjoy at work. I have enough other things to entertain me at home, after all; I don't need to use up the best thing about my work day.

They're really great books, is what I'm saying. I probably wouldn't have done more than dip into the first one had I not remembered musesfool commending them in a recentish post, but I'm so glad I did. They're set in London, in a world where magic exists but is hidden from the common man. The main character is PC Peter Grant, a black London copper, and reading it feels like watching a slightly AU episode of The Bill, which is no bad thing. It's dry and funny and I've had to restrain myself from laughing my head off in the tearoom, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. They're the kind of book that you want to recommend to everyone you know -- except in my case I'm not sure my dad would appreciate the mystery side of the stories, my mother doesn't like fantasy, and almost no-one else I know in RL reads any more.

So instead, I recommend all of them unto you, since I know you lot read. ;) Two thumbs up from me.