Added to Wishlist

1. Love in Row 27 – Eithne Shortall.  The blurb had me at ‘Aer Lingus’ 😀
2. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. – Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland.  Neal Stephenson writes big, big books.  They’re excellent books, but they require a real dedication of time, so I usually skip them.  The buzz around this has made me reconsider though.
3. Urban Shaman – C.E. Murphy.  I’m wary of the main character being ‘half Irish’ but I recently realised that most of the urban fantasy I read is male-centered and that’s something that needs to change.
4. The Wild Robot – Peter Brown.  This sounds adorable!  A robot wakes up on an island with no idea of how she got there and adopts a gosling <3

1. The Genome – Sergei Lukyanenko.  It’s never even occurred to me that Sergei Lukyanenko could have written anything outside of the Watch series, which shows a serious lack of common sense, frankly.
2. Ancient Appetites – Oisin McGann.  IRISH STEAMPUNK!!  How have I not heard of this series until now?!
3. Blue Gemini – Mike Jenne.  A techno thriller based on real events, apparently (it surprises me sometimes how little I know about the detail of the space race).
4. Hull Zero Three – Greg Bear.  I’ve been meaning to read something by Greg Bear for ages and then I stumbled across a review of Hull Zero Three which calls it ‘part survival horror, part science-fiction’ and I am all in.

1. The Circle – Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg.  I have a soft spot for books about witches, I can’t deny it, and one review likened this to L.J. Smith’s The Secret Circle which was a major part of my teens, so I really didn’t have much of a chance of putting up any resistance.
2. The Falconer – Elizabeth May.  Historical fiction meets urban fantasy set in Scotland.  Yes, please!
3. My Last Continent – Midge Raymond.  Why are books set in Antarctica automatically fascinating??
4. The Iron Age – Arja Kajermo and Susanna Kajermo-Torner.  This looks a hard read but a really, really good one.

1. The Party – Elizabeth Day.  There’s something about this – a sense of unease, a suspicion that the narrator is far from reliable – that draws me in.
2. You Should Have Left – Daniel Kehlmann.  Despite the basic cover, this sounds unnerving as fuck.
3. The Wicker King – K. Ancrum.  I can’t give a one sentence overview of this so click on the Goodreads link because it sounds dark and twisted and brilliant.
4. Magicians Impossible – Brad Abraham.  Set a magical story in our world and I’m almost guaranteed to check it out.  (We’ve learned a lot about my bookish likes in this post, haven’t we? 😀 )

Articles of Note

• 12 Fantasy Books with Powerful Female Warriors.  Awkward title but look at all the kick-ass women!
• We Need to Talk About Diane Abbott.  To put it mildly, there’s a lot happening in UK politics at the moment that I am not pleased with, but one thing that has really disgusted me lately has been the treatment of Diane Abbott who made a mistake, THAT SHE QUICKLY RECTIFIED, and has been absolutely pilloried for it.  It’s hard to look at what happened and not think that her being a black woman has something to do with it.
• Palaces of Self-Discovery: A Series on Libraries by Thibaud Poirier.  I’ve only been to one of these (The Long Room at Trinity College, Dublin) and looking at the pictures, one is definitely not enough.
• Why is the UK Still Printing its Laws on Vellum?  Because it’s cool as fuck, presumably.  Side-note: I can’t take the phrase ‘digital archaeologist’ seriously even though it does a very good job of describing a specific thing.
• Generation X Creative Team, Roster Revealed.  I don’t know how I’ve missed this but Marvel have relaunched Generation X!  As a team of loveable losers!  Wait, what?  Aw, man…  BUT!  They’re teasing the reintroduction of Chamber who has been utterly, utterly screwed in his last few appearances (not as much as Skin, admittedly, but still).
• Pregnant Child Detained in Mental Institution for Asking for an Abortion & Another Day, Another Irish Woman Denied Autonomy Over Her Body.  I’ll say this for Ireland – when it lets me down it REALLY lets me down.
• How ‘Roddy Doyle’s Star Trek‘ Became One of the Best Irish Facebook Pages of 2017.  And now for something completely different <3
• The Alt City Guide to Glasgow.  ‘Lorraine,’ you say.  ‘You’ve lived in Glasgow for ages now.  How many of the things on this list have you done?’  Emmm… four.  I think that means I’m not cool?
• Joss Whedon and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Script: A Wonder Woman Story.  What surprises me most about this is that people are surprised that Joss Whedon’s script was sexist.  It’s time for us to admit that Whedon’s brand of feminism is problematic.  I can’t really name anyone else who would get away with writing hookers with hearts of gold and still be considered to be a feminist with a capital F.  My heart sank when his name was attached to the Batgirl movie.
• Summer Reads: 25 Books to Entertain and Enlighten.  EVERYONE SHOULD READ THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE!!!!!
• You Have to See This Succulent Lip Art Trend.  This creeps me out so freaking much.

Bookmarked Recipes

• Caramac Cupcakes.  Have I talked about how much I love Caramac before?  Because I really, really, really love it.
• Whiskey Bacon Brownies.  I’m not on board with gendering baked goods, but I’m intrigued by this combination of ingredients.
• Banana Foster Filled Banana Muffins.  I’m always suspicious of baking banana into things because it seems to go off so quickly, but muffins don’t last long anyway so it’s all good.
• Lime Layer Cake with Mango Buttercream.  Yum, yum, yum.
• Parmesan & Poppy Seed Biscuits with Chorizo Relish.  Cutting the biscuits in a different shape would make these perfect for a Christmas gift (it’s never too early to start thinking about Christmas baking!).
• Baked Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs.  I love unusual meatball recipes.  At least half of the time they’re dreadful, but that kernel of hope keeps me on the hunt.
• Garlic Parmesan Chicken Tenders.  Sometimes you look at a recipe and think ‘why didn’t I think of that??’.
• Spicy Thai Chicken Tenders.  The sauce on these has been pinned over a million times which is staggering.  I have high hopes.
• Snickers Cupcakes.  Holy delicious overkill, Batman!