dorothean | Reading

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/17/review-chinese-dress-in-detail/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18669

Chinese Dress in Detail

by Sau Fong Chan

Genres: History, Non-fiction
Pages: 224
Rating: five-stars

Synopsis:
Chinese Dress in Detail reveals the beauty and variety of Chinese dress for women, men, and children, both historically and geographically, showcasing the intricacy of decorative embroidery and rich use of materials and weaving and dyeing techniques. The reader is granted a unique opportunity to examine historical clothing that is often too fragile to display, from quivering hair ornaments, stunning silk jackets and coats, festive robes, and pleated skirts, to pieces embellished with rare materials such as peacock-feather threads or created through unique craft skills, as well as handpicked contemporary designs.

A general introduction provides an essential overview of the history of Chinese dress, plotting key developments in style, design, and mode of dress, and the traditional importance of clothing as social signifier, followed by eight thematic chapters that examine Chinese dress in exquisite detail from head to toe. Each garment is accompanied by a short text and detail photography; front-and-back line drawings are provided for key items.

An extraordinary exploration of the splendor and complexity of Chinese garments and accessories, Chinese Dress in Detail will delight all followers of fashion, costume, and textiles.

The V&A’s Chinese Dress in Detail, written by Sau Fong Chan, is a gorgeous physical item with glossy pages full of colour photographs, displaying both close-ups and zoomed out images that give you an idea of what the full garment looks like, and accompanied by sketches of how the garments are put together, and at times with useful context like illustrations from the period.

The book has a useful introduction setting the scene, and then each garment has its own little description/discussion section. Most of the garments get a full double-page spread. It’s only a sampling, inevitably, but Sau Fong Chan has selected garments that represent different ethnic groups within China like the Uyghurs and the Miao, and tries to be clear about how diverse “Chinese” fashion can be.

It was fascinating and beautiful, and I recommend it if you have an interest!

Rating: 5/5 (“it was amazing”)

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/17/review-chinese-dress-in-detail/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18669

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/17/discussion-finishing-1-star-reads/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18644

Lately I’ve had a few comments by people who’re surprised I’d finish a book I ultimately rated with just one star (which is, in my rating system, “didn’t like it”) or two stars (“it was okay”), so I wanted to dig into that a bit.

I’m a bit bemused by getting so many comments surprised that I finished a book that I rated two-stars, because a book being “okay” isn’t that terrible an outcome. My bet would be that more often than not it’s because they’re not paying attention to my rating system, seeing three-stars as the “it was okay” sort of mark, which I’m probably going to partly solve by specifying what each rating means every time I post, as I already do when I boost my reviews on social media.

(As an aside, I think we think we have a consensus about how to rate books, and how to read other people’s ratings, but we really don’t. I think more bloggers should be as explicit as I am about what their ratings mean to them, to help other people interpret them, and we should all be used to looking for how someone defines their ratings.)

But regardless, there are a few reasons why I’d finish a book I eventually don’t rate highly. Here goes:

The ending is the reason I lowered the rating;
Similarly, it was finishing the book and getting perspective that made me decide to give a low rating;
The author used a trope I hate, and I hung on to see if they’d subvert it… and they didn’t;
I did research after finishing the book and realised that I’d missed something problematic that changed my enjoyment of it;
It was a non-fiction book that I found interesting to read (e.g. for style reasons, or because the author’s ideas are illuminating even when misguided) but which ultimately had serious flaws;
I read the book because it aligns with my particular interests (most commonly because it’s classic crime) and I was curious about it because of its influence on the genre (remember, I have two degrees in English Literature; even if I don’t formally study it now, I have my interests still), but didn’t enjoy it in itself;
I want to post a fair and thoughtful review about it, so I need the full context of finishing it;
I want to post a venting review about it, but I want to be sure of my facts;
I found it interesting and worthwhile but I couldn’t possibly say I liked it because it was dark or gross (though usually here I divert from my personal rating system a little and give points for more nuanced “this was an interesting on an academic level” reactions as well as simple enjoyment, and then say so in my review);

…and there are probably many other reasons and combinations of reasons. I do actually DNF books that meet none of my criteria, I just don’t then review them (most of the time).

And there’s another thing, too, that’s not quite a reason why I finish such books, but definitely part of why I write reviews about low-rated books: ratings are subjective, even when you don’t think they are. My one-star book (“didn’t like it”) is someone else’s four-star (“really liked it”). Personal taste is a huge part of why people like or dislike books, and it’s disingenuous to pretend otherwise. When I rate something two-stars, that doesn’t mean I’m saying it’s a bad book. It just means I didn’t like it.

Personally, when I decide whether to read a book, I often look at five-star and one-star reviews, and less often the ones in between. The thoughts of those who react with passionate love or hate for a book can tell me a great deal, even if I don’t know how the individual reviewers rate books.

In the end, this is part of why I actually didn’t give ratings at all when I originally launched my blog. I wanted my reviews to speak for themselves, without the simplifying interpretation that a certain number of stars can put on it. Even when I did add star ratings, I kept on using them in my own (clearly defined) way, refusing to treat them as an objective marker of a book’s quality.

In the end, sometimes finishing (and reviewing) a book I didn’t like can be worth it, all the same, for me and for others who are interested in my thoughts on that book.

Related discussion post: How to Rate

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/17/discussion-finishing-1-star-reads/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18644

slacktivist_feed

Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/07/16/theres-a-lady-who-stands-in-a-harbor-for-what-we-believe/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=70991

Rain fade backup purgatory: Revisiting a horrible anthem of post-9/11 American chauvinism and realizing that it's too "woke" for MAGAmerica.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/07/16/theres-a-lady-who-stands-in-a-harbor-for-what-we-believe/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=70991

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3116/

This is almost as bad as the time I signed up for a purely partisan fishing expedition.

https://xkcd.com/3116/

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/16/review-standing-female-nude/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18664

Standing Female Nude

by Carol Ann Duffy

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 64
Rating: three-stars

Synopsis:
This outstanding first collection introduced Carol Ann Duffy's impressive gifts and the broad range of her interests and style. The poems are fresh, skilful, passionate. Carol Ann Duffy was born in Glasgow in 1955. Her awards include first prize in the 1983 National Poetry Competition; three Scottish Arts Council Book Awards; Eric Gregory, Somerset Maugham and Dylan Thomas Awards in Britain and a 1995 Lannan Literary Award in the USA. In 1993 she received the Forward Poetry Prize and the Whitbread Poetry Award for her acclaimed fourth collection Mean Time. On May 1, 2009 she was named the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom.

I remembered Carol Ann Duffy’s Standing Female Nude, her first collection, better than I thought I might. I knew a couple of the poems very well from reading selections of her work for GCSE English oh-so-many moons ago (how’d it get so long ago!?), and still liked “War Photographer” very much.

I did feel that this collection obfuscated meaning more than I was used to in her later poems, at least for some of the poems, and that I wasn’t overall as keen. I especially disliked “$” — not to my taste.

Some strong poems, but a lot of weaker ones and ones I didn’t care for. “War Photographer” is very worth it, though.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/16/review-standing-female-nude/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18664

captainawkward_feed

Posted by katepreach

https://captainawkward.com/2025/07/16/july-london-meetup-7/

http://captainawkward.com/?p=53125

Announcement: the audience for these has changed, so I’m going to do them once every three or four months instead of monthly. So please come to this July one if you’re interested, there won’t be another until probably October.

26th July, 1pm, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX.

We will be on Level 2 (the upper levels are closed to non-ticket-holders), but I don’t know exactly where on the floor. It will depend on where we can find a table.

I have shoulder length brown hair, and will have my plush Chthulu which looks like this:

Please obey any rules posted in the venue.

The venue has lifts to all floors and accessible toilets. The accessibility map is here:

Click to access 21539-24-Access-Updated-Access-Map_Proof-2.pdf

The food market outside (side away from the river) is pretty good for all sorts of requirements, and you can also bring food from home, or there are lots of cafes on the riverfront.

Other things to bear in mind:

1. Please make sure you respect people’s personal space and their choices about distancing.

2. We have all had a terrible time for the last four years. Sharing your struggles is okay and is part of what the group is for, but we need to be careful not to overwhelm each other or have the conversation be entirely negative. Where I usually draw the line here is that personal struggles are fine to talk about but political rants are discouraged, but I may have to move this line on the day when I see how things go. Don’t worry, I will tell you!

3. Probably lots of us have forgotten how to be around people (most likely me as well), so here is permission to walk away if you need space. Also a reminder that we will all react differently, so be careful to give others space if they need.

Please RSVP if you’re coming so I know whether or not we have enough people. If there’s no uptake I will cancel a couple of days before.

kate DOT towner AT gmail DOT com

https://captainawkward.com/2025/07/16/july-london-meetup-7/

http://captainawkward.com/?p=53125

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/16/www-wednesday-256/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18661

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished up Alan Cleaver’s The Postal Paths last night. It’s part history (about postal workers, mostly rural postal workers) and part memoir about walking, and it’s a bit too much of the latter for me at times. The author gets a bit sanctimonious about the virtues of walking and hand-writing letters at times, which was a bit annoying, too. I’m going to review it for Postcrossing, where I’ll probably be a touch more positive about it — but on a personal level, not a huge fan.

What are you currently reading?

I started Laura Spinney’s Proto yesterday, so that’s the book at the top of the pile! It’s a history of Proto-Indo-European, the ancestor language of many modern languages, and it’s… okay. As usual, I long for numbered footnotes, and it’s less about the language itself than the speakers of the language. It feels like it sometimes goes too long without tying back in to the actual topic, but I’m enjoying it enough to keep reading. I hope it gets a bit more solid and specific about Proto-Indo-European itself, though.

What will you read next?

As ever of late, that’s a bit up in the air. I might just return my attention to something I had already started reading, like Noah Whiteman’s Most Delicious Poison… or I might be tempted to start Sam Leith’s The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading. I picked it up to just read the first page to see if I was tempted to read it, last night, and almost made myself late for bed, so that might be a good sign for my current interest in it! I do try to follow that kind of whim.

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/16/www-wednesday-256/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18661

slacktivist_feed

Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/07/15/secret-police-slush-fund-is-gonna-be-so-corrupt/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=70952

All that money makes such a succulent sound. Welcome to the Boomtown.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/07/15/secret-police-slush-fund-is-gonna-be-so-corrupt/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=70952

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/16/review-the-baby-dragon-cafe/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18659

The Baby Dragon Café

by A.T. Qureshi

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 312
Series: The Baby Dragon
Rating: two-stars

Synopsis:
When Saphira opened up her café for baby dragons and their humans, she wasn’t expecting it to be so difficult to keep the fires burning. It turns out, young dragons are not the best magical animals to keep in a café, and replacing all that burnt furniture is costing Saphira more than she can afford from selling dragon-roasted coffee.

Aiden is a local gardener, and local heart-throb, more interested in his plants than actually spending time with his disobedient baby dragon. When Aiden walks into Saphira’s café, he has a genius idea – he'll ask Saphira to train his baby dragon, and he'll pay her enough to keep the café afloat.

Saphira’s happy-go-lucky attitude doesn’t seem to do anything but irritate the grumpy-but-gorgeous Aiden, except that everywhere she goes, she finds him there. But can this dragon café owner turn her fortunes around, and maybe find love along the way?

A.T. Qureshi’s The Baby Dragon Café is frothy and light, more sugar than substance, a cosy read without major conflict and a romance without huge miscommunications or a mid-act breakup. There are a couple of dramatic scenes, but mostly it’s about a shy guy bonding with his dragon and a bubbly café owner who misses her family and loves dragons.

It’s exactly what people complain about when talking about cosy fantasy and romance, and I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who is looking for rich worldbuilding. It plops dragons into everyday life, and otherwise it could be any romance book — not much would change if you made it The Baby Horse Café, in some ways.

This all sounds critical, but it was a fun read for me in the moment, I’m just saying not to pick it up with greater expectations than that. It’s tropey and sugary and I’m pretty certain it’s meant to be. The romantic leads communicate and solve their problems fairly swiftly, are relatively in touch with their emotions, and the big drama with Aiden’s family fizzles into absolutely nothing. There are some dramatic scenes with the dragons that sit a bit oddly with the rest (Saphira pushes Aiden out of the way of a burst of dragon fire, and then later there are some dragon-related rituals with a certain amount of peril), but for the most part it’s just… cosy.

There’s maybe something a bit “young” feeling about it, with the squealing between Saphira and her best friend Lavinia — it feels quite teenage. The main characters are supposed to be in their twenties, and not their early twenties, but… it’s fine. It’s not meant to be that deep, I think! Avoid it if that’s not what you want.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/16/review-the-baby-dragon-cafe/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18659

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/15/top-ten-tuesday-titles-with-honorifics/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18653

This week’s theme from Top Ten Tuesday is “Books with honorifics in the title”, which I’m really not sure I can actually get a total of ten for. I guess this might be pretty dependent on genre! Anyway, let’s see how I do…

The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes, by Kate Strasdin. A non-fiction which discusses a Victorian woman’s “dress diary”, containing snippets of cloth from her clothes (and sometimes clothes worn by her friends and family). I found it a really fascinating delve into fabric and social history.
The Doctor who Fooled the World, by Brian Deer. I know, this sits kind of oddly with other books from the list, but it’s a really good takedown of the lies spread by Andrew Wakefield, and highly recommended if you’re on the fence about whether his allegations about the MMR vaccine (or vaccination in general) actually hold any truth. I consider Andrew Wakefield a mass murderer, to be clear, a man so blinded in his own search for fame and profit that he endangered the whole world — but I don’t blame people who were led astray by a man who used his position as a scientist to inspire false confidence. I feel so sorry for people who believed in what he had to offer.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke. This is a book I’ve reread a couple of times, despite being huge. I know that not everyone enjoys it, and I honestly wouldn’t even have predicted that I would, but there’s such dense world-building and some really fun ideas about magic.
The Magpie Lord, by KJ Charles. I’ve read this a number of times, and it remains fun. Lord Lucien Crane isn’t entirely a good person, but he seeks his own kind of justice and fairness, and I love the way that he and Stephen Day are drawn together.
Siren Queen, by Nghi Vo. I really loved this slightly fantastical, dark Hollywood. It was completely enchanting. I actually might give it another read at some point.
The Mysterious Mr. Badman, by W.F. Harvey. I’ve more or less forgotten the plot of this one, I must admit, but I gave it 4/5 stars at the time! It’s a classic mystery, and a fairly conventional one, according to my review, which explains the rating. I really love classic mysteries, but not so much because they’re innovative or unusual — usually, more because they’re not. They’re very comforting in their predictability.
Mr. Pottermack’s Oversight, by R. Austin Freeman. This is also a pretty classic mystery, but an unusual one in that it shows us the commission of the crime to begin with, and then the efforts at covering it up. It’s quite slow-paced, and I did find that it dragged a bit, but I ultimately gave it four stars for making me care about the criminal. It’s very carefully written, and I did enjoy it.
Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates, by Kerry Greenwood. Also known as Cocaine Blues, this is the first book of the Phryne Fisher series, and it’s so much fun. For some reason, I didn’t love it when I first tried it, but when I gave it another go, Phryne won my heart. A reread is tempting…
Miss Jacobson’s Journey, by Carola Dunn. I read this series out of sequence, but had a lot of fun going backwards to read this one: Miriam is a great romance protagonist, and I did get fond of her two potential suitors as well — perhaps somewhat helped by the fact that I already knew one of them from the second book. I’m getting tempted to reread the whole trilogy!
The Duke Heist, by Erica Ridley. Putting this book here has reminded me there’s a couple of books in this series I haven’t read yet! They’re somewhere in my boxes of books in the storage unit, but perhaps once I dig them out, it’ll be time to pick them up. I’ve found all the books in the series so far really fun, and The Duke Heist is no exception. Lawrence takes a while to sort out his behaviour totally, but the way he interacts and becomes playful with Chloe is adorable.

Look at that, I made it! Maybe a couple of these are kinda cheating, but we’re gonna call it good anyway.

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/15/top-ten-tuesday-titles-with-honorifics/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18653

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3115/

'Tin pest' makes more sense to me. Tin just doesn't want to be locked down in a shape like that. I get it. But why would any metal want to grow hair??

https://xkcd.com/3115/

slacktivist_feed

Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/07/14/perversion-of-justice-revisited/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=70970

A look back at what we've previously written here about Jeffrey Epstein, now that we're told he never actually existed.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/07/14/perversion-of-justice-revisited/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=70970

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/14/review-solo-leveling-vol-2/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18650

Solo Leveling

by Dubu, Chugong

Genres: Fantasy, Manga
Pages: 300
Series: Solo Leveling #2
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
Ever since he woke up in the hospital, Jinwoo's been thrown into a world of cryptic messages, daily quests, and strange dungeons overflowing with creatures he's never even heard of. As he tests out his new abilities, it starts to sink in that he is no longer the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind. Maybe he can finally attain what he’s always wanted — enough power to protect himself — but a run-in with an unexpected foe forces Jinwoo to consider just how far he's willing to go to obtain it!

I found volume two of the Solo Leveling manhwa really fascinating. It adds a bit more about the new “system” which is helping Jinwoo level up, which feels rather familiar as a long-term gamer, and then plunges into another dungeon with a new set of characters. I rather liked Jinho, even if he seems like a bit of a nepo baby, and I’m curious to see whether he’s a recurring character — my guess would be yes.

The plot does stay pretty dark, this time with the system forcing Jinwoo to kill (not just incapacitate) some people who’ve betrayed him. We also get to see that from outside, with Jinho’s interpretation of events, which was pretty cool and added to the depth of the worldbuilding.

I really liked the bit where Jinwoo goes faster and faster trying to run enough to hit his daily goal, so he can use the reward to fully heal; it’s one of those things you can leverage in some games, and it’s neat to see that played out in this setup.

I ended up getting the next two volumes because I’m definitely pretty into this right now! Looking forward to digging into those.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/14/review-solo-leveling-vol-2/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18650

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/13/review-the-moomins-and-the-great-flood/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18647

The Moomins and the Great Flood

by Tove Jansson

Genres: Children's, Fantasy
Pages: 64
Series: Moomintrolls #1
Rating: three-stars

Synopsis:
Essential reading for any lover of the Moomins. This is where it all began: The Moomins and the Great Flood offers an extraordinary glimpse into the creativity and imagination that launched the Moomin books. Moominmamma and young Moomintroll search for the long lost Moominpappa through forest and flood, meeting a little creature (an early Sniff) and the elegantly strange Tulippa along the way.

I’m not sure which of Tove Jansson’s Moomin novels I’ve actually read; I know I’ve read most if not all of the comic versions, thanks to Cardiff Library, but the novels so far have been sort of half-familiar. I think I have read this first one, The Moomins and the Great Flood before, because some of the episodes definitely felt familiar, down to the phrasing — like the marabou stork and his glasses — but in the end… who knows?

It was a fun revisit, even if it feels like the world isn’t fully set up yet in the final configuration (does Sniff get named at all in this? I don’t think so). If I recall rightly, it’s pretty skippable, but I’m glad I didn’t: I always like to see where things began.

It’s a bit of a madcap ride, really, from one random event to the other, but it’s charming all the same.

Rating: 3/5 (liked it)

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/13/review-the-moomins-and-the-great-flood/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18647

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/12/review-the-cleopatras/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18641

The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt

Genres: History, Non-fiction
Pages: 384
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
Cleopatra: lover, seductress, and Egypt's greatest queen. A woman more myth than history, immortalized in poetry, drama, music, art, and film. She captivated Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, the two greatest Romans of the day, and died in a blaze of glory, with an asp clasped to her breast - or so the legend tells us.

But the real-life story of the historical Cleopatra VII is even more compelling. She was the last of seven Cleopatras who ruled Egypt before it was subsumed into the Roman Empire. The seven Cleopatras were the powerhouses of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, the Macedonian family who ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great. Emulating the practices of the gods, the Cleopatras married their full-blood brothers and dominated the normally patriarchal world of politics and warfare. These extraordinary women keep a close grip on power in the wealthiest country of the ancient world.

Each of the seven Cleopatras wielded absolute power. Their ruthless, single-minded, focus on dominance - generation after generation - resulted in extraordinary acts of betrayal, violence, and murder in the most malfunctional dynasty in history.

Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones offers fresh and powerful insight into the real story of the Cleopatras, and the beguiling and tragic legend of the last queen of Egypt.

I really enjoyed Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones’ The Cleopatras, which discusses and follows not just “the” Cleopatra, Cleopatra VII, but the whole female line of the Ptolemy dynasty, filling out the background that made the famous Cleopatra who she was, and introducing a wider audience to some pretty incredible women.

It’s a fascinating history, and a part of Egyptian history that I was never that keen on as a kid and thus never learned a lot about (I preferred the period before the Romans started meddling). Llewellyn-Jones manages to write in a way that keeps things fresh and interesting and mostly helps keep things straight, despite the plethora of repeated names. I found it a little distracting and weird when he translated Ptolemy IX Soter II’s nickname (Lathyros) and then just called him “Chickpea” all the time. It was kinda… cutifying? And I’m not sure any of the Ptolemys deserve to be cutified, I’ll be honest, even as they were fascinating people as described here.

The main drawback is that there aren’t numbered references, and sometimes he doesn’t even explain the nature of the evidence he’s using to decide something. For example, he asserts that “Chickpea” and Cleopatra IV were a love match — why? He never explains, and you wouldn’t expect so from the way they later behave.

So it’s all thorough and fascinating, but perhaps not one to take too seriously if you’re looking to research. It does have a section of “useful materials” and a bibliography, though, so the sources are relatively available to follow up (if not quite as conveniently as with numbered footnotes).

Rating: 4/5

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/12/review-the-cleopatras/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18641

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/12/stacking-the-shelves-the-sunday-post-83/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18634

Moving continues! As of last night we were done with the old flat, but there are many boxes, much new furniture, and many flatpacks in our future. I’m still at my parents’ house for now, but this week we’ll probably get my office set up and then I’ll move in too.

For now though, this weekend we’re collectively taking as much of a break as we can. Monday’s soon enough to do more, now we’ve finally finished up with the old flat.

Books acquired this week

Nothing major this week, but I did get my British Library Crime Classic book for the month, and I snagged a manga to read when I wasn’t feeling up to anything else.

I’ve warmed up to John Dickson Carr’s work over the years, but I prefer the Gideon Fell books, so we’ll see how I get along with this one. The manga was a bit of a random choice, recommended by a friend from another site.

Posts from this week

There’s been a lot of activity this week, so let’s do the roundup!

Classic crime: Payment Deferred, by C.S. Forester (1/5 stars)
Poetry: A Shropshire Lad, by A.E. Housman (2/5 stars)
Non-fiction: Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day, by Peter Ackroyd (1/5 stars)
Graphic novel: Fence, vol 2, by C.S. Pacat & Johanna the Mad (4/5 stars)
Fantasy: Siren Queen, by Nghi Vo (4/5 stars)
Fantasy romance: The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, light novel vol 1, by Yatsuki Wakutsu (4/5 stars)

But also some other posts:

Busy, as I said!

What I’m reading

It’s been a bit of a hectic week, but I did get some reading done… partly due to rereading Tove Jansson’s Moomin books! Here’s the covers of the books I read this week which I intend to review on the blog eventually:

Over the weekend, I’m not sure. A bit more of the Moomin books, most likely, and probably I’ll read Freya Marske’s Cinder House, but… mostly I’ll just follow my whim.

Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, and the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz, as usual!

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/12/stacking-the-shelves-the-sunday-post-83/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18634

slacktivist_feed

Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/07/11/lbcf-fizzbinsationalism/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=70964

Rapture Christianity claims the Bible it true for YOU, but that it wasn't true for every Christian who ever lived and died before special, oh so special, you.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/07/11/lbcf-fizzbinsationalism/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=70964

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3114/

That was quicker than usual! The cabin's sprinkler system often makes it really hard to keep anything lit.

https://xkcd.com/3114/

thebibliophibian_feed

Posted by Nicky

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/11/review-the-other-worlds-books-depend-on-the-bean-counter-vol-1-ln/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18632

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter: Holy Maiden Summoning Improvement Plan

by Yatsuki Wakutsu

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novels, Romance
Pages: 288
Series: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter (light novel) #1
Rating: four-stars

Synopsis:
Seiichirou Kondou is a 29-year-old accountant and major workaholic. When he's accidentally transported to another world, not only does he demand a job, he starts whipping the lackadaisical Royal Accounting Department into shape! But when he gets in over his head and nearly dies from overwork, the handsome Commander Aresh steps in to save him, and the two develop a unique, physical relationship... as a form of medical treatment?!

I’ve been reading the manga adaptation of The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, so now I’ve turned to the original light novel, by Yatsuki Wakutsu. Like most light novels I’ve come across, it has some illustrations, which are very similar in character design to the manga, but I might like them just a touch more.

I always think when reading a light novel that it’ll add a bit more to what I learned/experienced in the light novel, but then get amazed reading the light novel how faithful and complete the manga actually was. The same was true here: there are some extra snippets of characters’ thoughts and feelings, but really, I knew everything I needed to from reading the manga.

It’s still fun though to experience it in this format. Seiichirou is such an idiot, and Aresh’s overprotectiveness feels pretty justified when it’s so clearly laid out what an idiot he’s being with his own health.

That said, there’s already more than a hint of Aresh being a bit too controlling, which drives me mad in the manga versions. Seiichirou can make his own decisions, even if they’re objectively terrible ones. I really hope that they do eventually have a reckoning about this, but we’ll see!

Rating: 4/5

https://breathesbooks.com/2025/07/11/review-the-other-worlds-books-depend-on-the-bean-counter-vol-1-ln/

https://breathesbooks.com/?p=18632