February bukes

For no sensible reason that I can decipher, for quite a few years now I've rarely read story collections or anthologies, devoting almost all my fiction reading time to novels; it's a bizarre turnaround, really, because in my younger days (insert phthisic wheeze here) it was always the books of short stories that got grabbed off the pile first. Whatever: The fact that I wasn't reading them didn't stop me from buying or otherwise accruing them, and they've been sort of accumulating around the house. So I decided to devote the month of February to chewing my way through a stack of them to see if I could rediscover the lure that used to pull me so irresistibly.

And, well, I did. I imagine that novels will remain the staple of my diet, but certainly collections and anthologies are likely to be a far larger part of it in the future. That's not to say that all the books I read this past month were good; but two or three of them were absolute snorters and I enjoyed almost all of them to greater or lesser degree.

I'll put my notes about them under a cut, if I can remember how to do that.

( clickety split )

smiting latest

Landslide 'kills 100' in Uganda region of Bududa

More than 100 people have been killed in a landslide in the mountainous eastern region of Bududa in Uganda, a minister has told the BBC.

Minister for Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru has gone to the remote area to assess what help is needed.

 

Dunno about you, but I'm waiting for Pat Robertson to say this is God's vengeance on Uganda for the vile sociopathic anti-homosexuality bill their parliamentarians are trying to push through.

Pat?

Are you there, Pat?

Did you get the phonecall from a merciful God, Pat?

Dammit. Your quarter must have run out.