Life updates
Finally work have let me back in. I've compressed my hours to 4 brutal 9.5 hour days to have a day off to do things with the baby. It's been quite a slog in the heat.
we're planning a week in the English countryside for the wife's birthday, which should be pleasant.
Rereads or books off-catalogue
Hogwarts: Transmigrated as the Top Student by Hyperbeeam
This was 577,000 words that didn't really get anywhere interesting to me. I read on because I'd already given it a fair whack and I wondered if things would improve, but they didn't. It's the first time I've actually started a book in the previous month since I began cataloguing.
- First, Professor "McGonagagall" takes my new top spot for interestingly-misspelled name; I enjoyed the sound of that.
- next, I wondered who are the calamity legion? Referenced once and never again.
- Why does every teacher's office have a bed? That's a bit inappropriate
- Then there's the legs on the stool thing. The one the sorting hat sits on, you know? It has 4. Then 3. Then 3 again, so perhaps 4 was a typo.
- the crazy number of times people's titles and full names were used hit home, presumably a language thing but it weirded me out.
- there were short chapters all over the place, literally not much over a thousand words a hit.
- An enraged duck? How often do you see those at Hogwarts?
- Our main character is called Jon Hart and ends up being Chris Patrick later. Then there's a reporter called Chris Hartkins. Did the author literally run out of names?
There were lots of oddities like that. Much is made of Jon's previous life in the early chapters then nothing later on. he's supposed to have a photographic memory but spends a lot of time rereading books, and the promise of solving Hogwarts challenges with logic and science just falls completely flat. Not a story I'd recommend. I spent from June 17th right through to July 2nd on this thing. Bleh.
No Man's Land: Poor Man's fight, book 6, by Elliott Kay
I really struggled to believe I had first read this in 2024, lots has happened since then. I picked it up to follow on with the new one and had another blast all over again.
Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (Red Dwarf #1), by Grant Naylor
Of course I had to start re-reading these with the impending arrival of a Red Dwarf story for the first time in 30 years! I enjoyed this all over again, although I did have to stop myself playing spot the episode reference, as of course it's littered with them.
Better than Life (Red Dwarf #2), by Grant Naylor
From the same pair as before and following much the same idea, BTL felt a bit different in that more of the latter plot was perhaps a tad more obviously episodic. Our intrepid crew flit from danger to danger very quickly. Nonetheless it's a cracking set of adventures and the ending is particularly poignant.
Backwards (Red Dwarf #4), by Rob Grant
Last time I reread these I did Last Human third and then Backwards last, so switched it up a bit this time. I can't help but feel that the dedication is a bit of a punch.
The story progresses in much the same way as in book 2, i.e. we lurch from plot to plot as episodes are pulled onto paper. It's nice to see the crew doing their thing, and I wonder if the new book 30 years on will land similarly?
Last Human (Red Dwarf #3), by Doug Naylor
This felt as least like books 1 and 2 could compared to the third, which was a pity. I enjoyed it for the nostalgia value, but that was pretty much all.
Hero! By Dave Duncan
I never find a Dave reread disappointing. I was confused by Hero on a first read, and something about its military idea still niggles at me from time to time, causing me to come back to it.
Engage With The Pain As A Motive, by DeadAndBuried
19 instances of calling Ron a "ginger" was a bit off-putting, but not as much as people Harry's own age (largely Malfoy), being called the boy. over 180 times. I took a bit of a reading pause of this between 22nd-26th for some reason and didn't find it an overly satisfying work. Too much of the original last 2 books were squirreled in and the expectation just felt a bit wonky.
Coming up
I have no idea what i'll pick at whilst on holiday. With nothing new to add to the collection over the 7 days I'm away, who knows what I'll read?