My daughter’s dog likes to oversee reviews when he visits.

TV

Nothing five star but some really watchable stuff.

Mr Bates vs The Post Office: the real story **** (itvx) fascinating and horrifying

Malta: the jewel of the Med**** (Ch 5) Too much emphasis on the sea and not the inland history. Some  questionable assertions. The history goes back much further than they suggested. May not watch the next episode.

Paddington 2 **** Some delightful acting from famous actors makes this endearing and watchable.

Death in Paradise Christmas Special**** (bbc iPlayer) Formulaic but very pleasant comfort viewing! A new season starts this week.

Wild Scandinavia: **** (bbc iPlayer) Eye candy and gorgeous.

Vera Season 13**** (itvx) Good as ever.

Revenge: Our Dad the Nazi Killer **** (bbc iPlayer) An Australian programme: fascinating.

Books

I started with some of my Christmas presents – the first three of the five star reviews were gifts for which I was truly grateful.

Merrily’s Border by Phil Rickman***** The photos, mostly by John Mason, are superb in this companion to the Merrily Watkins series. I now want to re-read the series. Fortunately, I have it all in ebook format!

When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire***** Wonderful as always. The series has reached October’s wedding. I have no idea if there are to be more volumes but if not I shall be bereft.

What is a doctor? by Phil Whitaker***** Underlined and expanded on all we’ve heard from a pharmacist friend and read in Whitaker’s own articles in New Statesman.

Claw’d by Vin George***** A great sequel to Fang’d. This series almost converts me to vampires as a theme rather than werewolves though one of the main characters is both.

Becoming Ted by Matt Cain***** Starts with Ted’s husband leaving him and then follows him through his dream of becoming a drag queen. So glad this was great as I bought it for someone else for Christmas before reading it myself!

Then there were a number of excellent books:

Lessons in exposing a deadly alias by Charlie Cochrane.**** A short novel featuring the Cambridge Fellows solving a case. Delightful as usual with lots of period research. It was nice to return to the pre WW1 days with substantial appearances by Jonty’s parents.

Sheriff of the Creek by Sue Brown.**** Nice story in the collaborative Collier’s Creek series. JD and Ben have a romance but also some drama from Ben’s ex. However, I was disappointed in some of the other books in the series, by other authors – sweet but unmemorable.

Matrimonial  Merriment by Nicky James**** Not the thriller we’re used to but the run-up to the wedding. Interesting and amusing.

A touch of fever by Nazri Noor**** Rather zany mm romance incorporating magic users, mythical beasts, and a hidden city that visits various places in the world… I loved the concept and quite liked the main characters. Might follow the series. (Arcane Hearts)

Miracle by RJ Scott**** Book 7 in the very good Single Dads series. In this case it’s actually a single uncle… Some really gripping plot points but I wanted to know more about Arlo’s desire to study architecture and about Zach’s story (the actual dad) which I gather is only available in another series so I felt slightly cheated.

As usual I read some books for review purposes – I review regularly for PRG and Scott’s OWI. Some were excellent.

Ogres and other Dating Dilemmas by TJ Nichols.***** Fabulous addition to the Mytho series (book 8) which gives us new viewpoints of familiar events and lots of detail about Troy and Sean and their romance. I went on to buy and read Weddings and other One Night Stands**** Nice novella that alternates quite steamy sex with interesting dialogue and thoughts about adapting to different cultures.

Flashes by KL Noone *****Excellent and varied book of short stories and flash fiction many of them on fantasy or sci fi themes. 

And some ARCs were very good.

Voice and Transform by Sean Ian O’Meidhir & Connal Braginsky**** Well written and there was sufficient info for a new reader who hadn’t read the first two in the Nüwa Crossing series. Too much magic plus demons for me personally but it was reasonably exciting watching Theo and Robbie cope whilst growing their relationship over the course of the two books.

Spark and Tether by Lilian Zenzi **** Brilliant sci fi – though the prologue is unnecessary and in some ways spoils total engagement with the story so it loses a star.

Fanfic

I’m very behind on fanfic reading – possibly because of the reviews I’m doing. All I’ve managed is:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52719703 Mouselet’s Christmas Adventure by Small_Hobbit and other small additions to the Marylebone Monthly Illustrated. This is my comfort reading over the holiday season.

Various ficlets by another friend, kat_lair, writing on Dreamwidth. I have no idea whether or when these works will be transferred to her AO3 account (MistressKat) but she has been writing in Grimm, HP, and WoT. And other fandoms that don’t appeal to me as much.