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What I’m Reading Wednesday
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What I’m Reading Wednesday

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WWW Wednesday was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?

From Memory to Written Record – England 1066-1307 by M.T. Clanchy It’s a history of writing and record keeping in England. It’s interesting but it’s one of those books that was written to be written, not written to be read and it’s a bit of a slog. Fascinating but not an easy read at ALL. I’m just under halfway through.
Murder at Queen’s Landing by Andrea Penrose Book 4 in the Wrexford & Sloane series, and just as enjoyable as the others. I love how the characters are getting more fleshed out, and we’re learning so much more about them. Although the growing UST between Wrexford & Sloane is starting to bug me, but then it always does. I’m 70% through and its due back to Libby tomorrow night, so this evening/tonight I’ll be focusing on finishing it.
Black Hole Survival Guide by Janna Levin Physics is… not generally my thing. But last week I read one of Li’s library books about Quantum Mechanics, and this one just jumped off the shelf. It’s written very plainly and I’m actually understanding the science of black holes which is awesome.
Temple by Matthew Reilly This book just keeps getting more and more bonkers, and honestly I fucking love it! I’m 80% of the way through now and on track to finish it this week.
Kitty’s Countryside Dream by Christie Barlow and in my favourite style of books, a grandmother Kitty didn’t know she had, just died and left her a chicken farm! I’ve only just started it, but I am a fan of Christie Barlow so I’m looking forward to finding out what happens

What did you recently finish reading?

A Regency Guide to Modern Life by Carly Lane which I gave 4 stars to. A really fun little book written in the style of an agony aunt column, answered by a Regency Lady A, but to today’s life problems. The illustrations were also amazing
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie because apparently I’m trying all the new things as I work my way through the non-fiction section of Honiton library. Another 4-star read, a published version of a TED talk the author gave about what feminism means and some of the less obvious divides between men and not-men.
Quantum Mechanics by Jim Al-Khalili is the aforementioned physics book that Li had out of the library. I started reading this at 23:45 on Sunday which you would not think would be the optimum time to learn about quantum physics. And yet Al-Khalili broke everything down to a point I could understand and Li and I had some amazing late night/early morning conversations about subatomic particles. I legit want to know more now because y’all, this is fascinating shit!


I also DNFed Angel Of The Crows by Katherine Addison. Essentially, a supernatural steampunk Sherlock fanfic which started off really strong, but the book tried to do too much, and started getting a little bit ridiculous. You know those fics that keep going because the author doesn’t know how to end the story? Yeah, I DNFed at 46% when there was a random curveball of ‘oh, BTW, Watson (who’s the narrator) is actually a woman’… completely out of nowhere, and that was a few hundred pages after being told Watson was a hellhound. I just… no.

What do you think you’ll read next?

But then… I’m not great at sticking to these so LOL

What I’m Reading Wednesday
www wednesday

What I’m Reading Wednesday

Cassie1 Comment

WWW Wednesday was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?

Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker & Jules Scheele I’m at 68% should probably finish it this week – I just had a couple of library books that were due back, and had wait lists on them so I wanted to get them finished first.
The Witches of St Petersburg by Imogen Edwards-Jones I’ve only started reading this in the last couple of days, and it’s due back to the library on Monday. I’m 25% of the way through and hoping I’ll finish it. I picked this for the Russia prompt on an Around The World reading challenge
Temple by Matthew Reilly I haven’t read any more of this one this week for the same reason.
The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking is absolutely DELIGHTFUL. It’s as cozy to read as it’s subject matter, and I’m actually quite tempted to buy a copy for my own collection.

What did you recently finish reading?

Thanátou by Natalie J Case which I gave 2.5 stars to in the end. It was enjoyable enough but wasn’t really my thing and I’m not finding I care enough about the characters to pick up the rest of the series which is a shame
Murder at Kensington Palace by Andrea Penrose, the third of the Wrexford & Sloane regency mystery series and just as enjoyable as the first two. I’m loving learning more about Charlotte and her real identity, and hoping we see more of her Aunt. I’m getting frustrated with how the relationship between Wrexford & Sloane is going because I’m here for the murder, not for the UST. A solid 4 stars, I really enjoyed it.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Ben Aaronovitch – Lies Sleeping I’m about half-way through, and I did bring it to Devon with me but it’s still sitting in my bag.
Terry Deary – Dangerous Days in Elizabethan England came home from the library with me because Tudor history by the guy who wrote Horrible Histories? NEED TO READ!
K.E. O’Connor – Spells & Spooks a Kindle Unlimited choice because I can’t borrow any more and I have a huge list I want to read!

What I’m Reading Wednesday
www wednesday

What I’m Reading Wednesday

Cassie2 Comments

WWW Wednesday was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?

Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker& Jules Scheele has already taught me more Queer History in 20 pages than a lifetime of being queer. Another one of those books I wish I’d had as a wee queer teen.
Thanátou by Natalie J Case isn’t really my thing, a little too fantasy for my liking, but the author is one of my best friends. A witch who’s powers had been hidden from her to protect her is being hunted by a cult who are dedicated to wiping her kind out. She’s currently in an alternate universe learning how to use and control her powers.
Murder at Kensington Palace is the third of the Wrexford & Sloane series of historical mysteries and so far is just as wonderful as the first two. We have a young man who’s been accused of murdering his twin brother, Sloane knows them and is adamant he didn’t do it and so the investigation begins.
Temple by Matthew Reilly is fucking terrible and I absolutely ADORE it. It’s like a bad SyFy monster movie. Military & scientists go to retrieve a lost Aztec idol made of checks notes material from an asteroid that has the power to destroy the world. The Germans are also after it and currently, everyone is being attacked by uh giant jaguars. It’s chef’s kiss beautiful and exactly what I was hoping for!

What did you recently finish reading?

The Scenic Route by Christina Baker Kline which was my Amazon First Reads, a short story about a woman who starts van life after a tragedy. I gave it 2/5, I just found it very unsatisfactory – I found the narrative flat and emotionless, and the story predictable.

I also DNFed The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. I was struggling with the narrative style, and kept not picking it up… I didn’t like any of the characters and found I just didn’t care what happened

What do you think you’ll read next?

Lies Sleeping I’m about half-way through, and I did bring it to Devon with me.
I’ve just checked The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well out of the library – I’ve been wanting to read it for a while

WWW Wednesday – 21st June 2023
www wednesday

WWW Wednesday – 21st June 2023

CassieLeave a comment

It’s Wednesday which means it’s time for another WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?
Alix E Harrow – The Once And Future Witches
OMFG! I started it yesterday, I’m about 150 pages in, just got to the end of the first meeting of the Sisters Of Avalon and I AM COMPLETELY IN LOVE. The writing is chefs kiss beautiful, the world is rich and tangible and every time some variation of ‘there’s no such thing as witches. but there will be’ is mentioned, I get GOOSEBUMPS!

Wendy Jago – How to Manage Your Mammoth: The Procrastinator’s Guide to Getting Things Done.
I picked this up from the library purely based on the title because it kind of intrigued me – I’m a terrible procrastinator, although how much of that is ADHD I don’t know. Also the cover made me laugh. I’m a couple chapters in, not entirely sure how useful it’s going to be but we’ll see.

What did you recently finish reading?
Peter Ackroyd – History Of The England: Foundation
I took my time reading this, really savoured it because hi, special interest anyone? Literally covered neolithic through to the Wars Of The Roses. I was filled with complete and utter glee for most of the reading and loved that even though he covered a HUGE amount of info, he didn’t get bogged down in the details. Straight-forward, to the point and a really good overview of the history of England.
Book 2, The Tudors, will be purchased on pay day!

What do you think you’ll read next?
I’m not sure, actually. Possibly either CS Lewis – The Horse and His Boy, or Alexis Caught – Queer Up

Weekly Wednesday Blogging Catchup & What I’m Reading Wednesday… On A Thursday
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Weekly Wednesday Blogging Catchup & What I’m Reading Wednesday… On A Thursday

Cassie3 Comments

Between work and health and school and just… life in general, I am a stressed and struggling llama right now. I have been hiding in books this last few weeks, lots of reading but no spoons to do any writing about the reading. Hell, over the last two weeks, typing has hurt because my hands have been so swollen and I’ve had to get two extensions on my Julius Caesar assignment. Co-codamol, naproxen and CBD have been my BFFs

Today, I actually feel like I have a little space in my brain and the pain levels are dropping off so I thought I’d catch up on some Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge questions that I’ve missed over the last few weeks – not all of them or I’ll be here all day but definitely a good handful of them.

My favourite food is a stuffed crust pepperoni pizza
Don’t get me wrong, I love cooking. And you can’t go wrong with some savoury mine and cheesy mash, or a good spaghetti bolognese, or a macaroni cheese, or a Full English.  But there’s something about a pepperoni pizza hits home in a different way. 

My favourite subject in school will probably come as no surprise to many people becuase it was history. From learning about the Romans and Vikings, to Medieval and Tudor times, to GCSE history and the history of medicine. I’d always planned on doing history at university – there was a history of science, medicine and technology degree that I really wanted to do – but it wasn’t to be, continued to love the subject and read all the non-history books about the times that I loved. And now I’m doing my Classical Studies degree and it’s amazing!

And, in a related question, My Favourite historical personage to read about isn’t generally a single person, but it’s all things related to the Plantagenets, the Wars of the Roses and the Tudors. Pretty much the whole British monarch from Henry II through to Elizabeth I. 
I have a book out the library right now on St George,  because I saw it on the shelf and realised I didn’t know much about the legends, or if there was an actual person they were based on. 

And then, even though it’s a Thursday, we have WWW Wednesday which asks:
What are you currently reading?
Mary Beard – The Roman Triumph
Andrea Penrose – Murder on Black Swan Lane
Chris Smith – The Naked Scientist
AF Steadman – Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

What did you recently finish reading?
Sarah J Maas – A Court of Mist and Fury
Mira Grant – Chimera
VE Schwab – Gallant
Jeremy Clarkson – Diddy Squat: A Year On The Farm
Talia Hibbert – Damaged Goods

What do you think you’ll read next?
Holly Black – The Wicked King
Talia Hibbert – Untouchable
Ransom Riggs – Library of Souls
Sally Rooney – Beautiful World, Where Are You?
Ruby Wax – A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled

My 2023 Goals and What Are You Reading Wednesday
weekly wednesday blogging challenge · www wednesday

My 2023 Goals and What Are You Reading Wednesday

Cassie5 Comments

This week’s Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge asks my goals for 2023

Reading-wise, my goals are
Read 50 books
Complete A-Z reading challenge
Clear one pile of the physical TBR
Try to only read 3-6 books at a time
Finish Bill Bryson bibliography

Non-reading goals include
Blog 3x a week
Pass my current university module
Play all the Super Mario games in order
Watch more TV
Fall back in love with fandom
Do the shit I love and have fun doing it

Next up we have WWW Wednesday which asks
What are you currently reading?
Olivie Blake – The Atlas Six
Frederick Joseph – The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
Jenny Kane – Midsummer Dreams at Mill Grange
Rainbow Rowell – Fangirl

What did you recently finish reading?
CS Lewis – The Magician’s Nephew
QI Elves – Funny You Should Ask
Alison Weir – Richard III & The Princes In The Tower

What do you think you’ll read next?
Peter Ackroyd – History Of England: Foundation
Marian Keyes – Rachel’s Holiday
CS Lewis – The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe
Madeline Miller – Song Of Achilles

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WWW Wednesday – 21 December 2022

Cassie1 Comment

And here we are again, another WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?
And, for me, I’m not doing too badly:

Jaimie Admans – The Post Box at the North Pole
Sarah Addison Allen – The Lost Lake
Domino Finn – Dead Man
Joyce & River Higginbotham – Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions
Frederick Joseph – The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
Lauren Juliff – How Not to Travel the World: Adventures of a Disaster-Prone Backpacker
C.S. Lewis – The Magician’s Nephew
QI Elves – Funny You Should Ask
Alison Weir – Richard III & The Princes In The Tower

What did you recently finish reading?

Christopher Dowrick & Susan Martin – Can I tell you about Depression?
Steve Haines – Anxiety Is Really Strange
Wendy Moore – Endell Street: The Trailblazing Women Who Ran World War One’s Most Remarkable Military Hospital

What do you think you’ll read next?
I’m currently working on finishing things and I think next up is likely to be:

Christie Barlow – Love Heart Lane
Sarah J Maas – A Court of Mist and Fury
Holly Martin – Spring at Blueberry Bay
Rainbow Rowell – Fangirl

weekly wednesday blogging challenge · www wednesday

Fanfiction, A Day in the Past, Bookmarks & What I’m Reading

Cassie5 Comments

Today we catch up on the Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge because I’ve missed a couple of weeks and honestly, there’s a couple of topics there I’m looking forward to rambling about!

Thoughts On Fanfiction which can basically be summed up as I FUCKING LOVE FANFICTION!

So, essentially, I’ve been writing fanfiction since before I knew what it was. As a child, I used to make up (and act out) my own stories about the Famous Five and The Hardy Boys, into my teens The X-Files and Star Trek. Then in my late teens in the late 90s, I came online and discovered fanfiction for Savage Garden, the Vampire Chronicles (yup, got my C&D from Anne Rice, thank you) and Star Wars.

I’ve been involved in online fandom, various different fandoms, ever since. I’ve been in online fandom, reading and writing fanfiction, going to cons, for my entire adult life – and I cannot see that changing anytime soon. Most of my friends I met through fanfiction. I’m writing less fanfiction than I was, mostly because of studying, but I’ve been active in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis since 2013 and still love playing with those characters.

I’ve mentioned before that I met my fiance through her fanfiction. I started commenting on her fics on A03, then we started chatting on Tumblr, firstly about fanfiction, about kink in fanfiction, then kink in real life, there was some awkward flirting going on. But we’ve been together now since January 2021, got engaged in January this year and are working on moving in together and getting Not Married.
All because of a series of Stargate SG-1 fanfic!

I write slash, gen and het and if you’re interested in reading any of my stuff, my AO3 account is BADFAlcon

Where would you spend one day in the past? Explain Argh! Ask a history nerd like the hardest question possible why don’t you?!
OK, so I’d love to like see a dinosaur, visit ancient Greece or Rome or Egypt, see Stonehenge being built, visit the Library at Alexandria, meet Elizabeth I (or numerous other members of the royalty), spend time in Renaissance Italy, listen to discussions during The Enlightenment, see Shakespeare being performed at The Globe… the options are literally endless. There is SO much I would love to experience.

But the one thing I would really love to be able to do would be to travel back to the mid-late 80s, and spend a day with my parents. My dad died in 1993, my mum in 2015 – I knew my mum as an adult, but I was 11 when my dad died and he’d been sick for many years so being able to have a proper conversation with him would be just incredible.

Bookmark, scrap paper or dog-ear? Dog-ear? dog-ear?! Do I look like some kind of fucking heathen to you?!
I have a huge pile of bookmarks… somewhere. And I keep buying new ones. Sometimes I can find them when I need them, and god knows I’ve probably accidentally donated dozens to my local library LOL. So bookmark when I can find them, when I can’t it’ll be anything that’s to hand – receipts, post-it notes, scraps of paper, empty chocolate wrappers. But NEVER dog-ear the pages!

WWW Wednesday
What are you currently reading? Marian Keyes – Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married, David Attenborough – Adventures Of A Young Naturalist & Peter Ackroyd – History Of England: Foundation
What did you recently finish reading? Mira Grant – Symbiont
What do you think you’ll read next? Natalie J Case – Thanátou

weekly wednesday blogging challenge · www wednesday

Weird Food and What I’m Reading Wednesday

Cassie6 Comments

It is now Thursday that I’m getting round to posting this – but I did at least start writing it yesterday (Wednesday). The evening got a little busy, I got hyperfocused on completely my ‘Adult’ Autism Assessment referral form (the irony of hyper-focusing on something relating to being ND is not lost on me), I lost track of time, and then it was bedtime. But hey ho, that’s the way it goes.

This week’s Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge asks about weirdest food you love and I’m actually already grinning about this because it’s a Thunder and Lightning. Anyone who isn’t from the West Country is already confused so allow me to explain:
You take a nice thick slice of fresh bread, a good spread of butter, a generous spread of golden syrup, and then a dollop of clotted cream on top. (If you’re Cornish and do it wrong, you can always put cream on first and then drizzle the syrup, but I’ve always done syrup then cream because that’s the correct Devon method.) When I was a kid, my dad used to pair it with an ice cream float.
And now I’m hungry LOL

Can I also just say I’m looking forward to next week which is all about fanfiction – and fic just happens to be one of my favourite things!

WWW Wednesday
What are you currently reading? Mira Grant – Symbiont. And it’s keeping my attention well enough that it’s the only book I’m really reading right now. I usually jump around between 3 or 4 as you know
What did you recently finish reading? Joanna Hickson – First Of The Tudors
What do you think you’ll read next? Natalie J Case – Thanátou

Weird Real Life Events and What I’m Reading Wednesday
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Weird Real Life Events and What I’m Reading Wednesday

Cassie6 Comments

Li and I are still both sacked out sick on the couch, watching nature documentaries on iplayer and napping. She’s sorting out embroidery thread, I’m tidying up my new website and reading – although I’m not entirely sure how much brain I have for doing it!

This week’s Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge topic is A real-life event that no one would believe and it has me wracking my brains. Li says the way we met counts – like, what are the chances of commenting on someone’s fanfic, starting a conversation, falling for her, and discovering she lives about half an hour from where I grew up?

But my favourite happening is a ghost encounter that happened at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. So my friend Natalie (who is a witch and a bit of a medium) and I were doing the second of our two tours of the place that day, we were standing with our backs against a wall listening to the tour guide tell us about how the house was built to confuse the spirits… and I just said to Natalie ‘There’s someone standing behind us, isn’t there?’ which she confirmed. You could tell the moment that spirit could tell we knew they were there, and they ended up following us for the entire hour and a half of the tour – which they spent pulling my jeans down. Now, these were skinny-fit jeans, I’d been wearing them all morning with no issues, and we’d done one of the tours already with my jeans staying firmly in place. And when the tour finished and we left the house? My jeans stayed up for the rest of the day. There was definitely someone tugging them down – no sense of malice, just mischief and playfulness.

WWW Wednesday
What are you currently reading? Mary Beard – Pompeii, Bill Bryson – Troublesome Words, Joanna Hickson – First of the Tudors
What did you recently finish reading? Mary Beard – Civilisations and I DNFed Quadrivium by John Martineau
What do you think you’ll read next? Holly Black – Tithe or Mira Grant – Parasite