Berengaria > Recent Status Updates

Very much enjoying this! Love how Gattis switches POVs deftly getting around the problem of seeing a story from only the single lens (1st or 3rd person) but not going for full omniscient. It's "omniscient light" in the best way possible. Or, well, I like it.

This is an excellent Merrily Watkins. Rickman always found such interesting material in the Welsh borderlands and was able to tie it together in such interesting and compelling ways.

Probably a series more for older readers, though. Not enough scares or emotional rollercoasters for younger readers.

Our guilty & innocent pair are now at LA County jail, not a private jail, or at least that's not been specifically stated. However, this is taking place in 1993, so perhaps it's not an issue.

Rather wobbly start. Vast difference in writing talent from story to story. This is probably going to be one with a lot of meh or dross and a few good ones. Oh and "indigenous horror" doesn't automatically have to mean "victim of racism," does it?

This is soooo boring. I'm glad to get it over. There's no through plot, it's just catching up with the dynasty Ebert has written about in many previous series.

Lot of rather tedious series stuff in the middle -- cop series readers will know what that's like, family, weddings, babies -- before we get back to the actual action: The famine in Thüringen in 1225 and how Elizabeth of Hungary (later St. Elizabeth) who was the Landgravin there saved her people.

Another good Merrily Watkins mystery. This time Ludlow Castle, its ghosts and two mysterious deaths. This is the first MW that I've actually been to a place described in the novel. It was a very long time ago, but I think it still counts!

The Long Books Challenge 2026 is about to begin, and this was one I didn't finish 2025 due to the slooooowwwwwwww quality of the start. It'll be my first out of the starting gate now! Been waiting a whole year to finish it. Wooohooo! 🏇🏇🏇🏇

Magnus and his lads are at it again! This one's not as gripping as the previous instalments, but we DO get to see what it was like to be around Caligula. *shudder*

I adore Gattis and have been looking forward to this one for a long time! "The System" of the title is the California prison system, esp in LA county.

Lushly written, which fits the story of a strange environment and the mental difficulties of the protagonist. More captivating the longer you read.

It's so nice to read some "New Weird" fiction again! Wanted to read another Lucius Shepard and stumbled across this one. So far, so "weird"!

I've read 2 of this author's novels for adults and I have to say, he's done a bang up job on this YA historical novel about the outbreak of plague in Sweden in the 1700s. If you're an older reader, you can sort of see where the plot is going, but for younger readers it will still be a surprise.

Some of these literary stories are really good. I find that I have opposing opinions to most reviewers. Their fave is the one I liked least (too pixie fairy tale) and I really liked one they termed "nihilistic". Well, that's how it is with something that's going to be read by a lot of general readers, not necessarily lit fic readers or those familiar with a particular author's style.

Swedish historical middle grade-YA horror: "Plague Flowers"! Very well written about how two little girls are sent to the country when the plague hits Stockholm in the 1700s. Very well written and atmospheric.

Continues to be good but has slipped into tourist BS and rugby talk.*boo hiss*👎 Because I can read Dutch, I understand about 85-90% of the texts already, but I'm not so sure those with zero pre-knowledge wouldn't struggle with the complexity.

The 2nd volume from English Heritage focusing not on specific Heritage locations, but short stories based on the myths and legends from different parts of England.

The opening was starting to drag because nothing was happening, but now since the butcher shop is having problems, things are getting more interesting. I'm still not seeing how this is prize winning lit, but it's decent literary work.

This is the BEST "Teach Yourself" I've run across! Excellent approach, genuinely helpful exercises. None of the "tourist" BS you usually see.

Why Afrikaans, you ask? The Germanic languages are my speciality topic and I've only just gained access to a wider breadth of materials for Afrikaans, which is one of the rarest major Germanics, along with Icelandic.

A last one for the year in Dutch, and I'll have gone over my goal of 10. But at 140 pages, this novella shouldn't take me too terribly long.

British schools are now chains -- rather like supermarkets-- and corruption is rife. Universities rely heavily on the high tuition fees they charge foreign students (average: 36,000 USD per year) to earn profits. It is no wonder with this educational landscape that those in government make policies that range from stupid to disastrous. They were only taught to sit exams well, not to think or know anything.

"In 1943 a report on the state of the nation was published. Central to that report was the identification of the five giants of social evil: want, squalor, idleness, ignorance and disease. Those giants have now reappeared as hunger, precarity, waste, exploitation and fear."

The dense descriptions in this one are delivering a very good vocab review, and dropping a few new words in my lap. This is what we read this level of fiction for, the vocabulary!

This guy out paces all of us! Too bad some of these stories get a little political (anti-Trump gov) so they will age quickly, but they deffo make an impact.

I'd have really liked this one as a kid! Three kids explore the big old house their uncle lives in...what mysteries are behind the thumps and bumps in the night? The voices? And the girl who appears in places nobody has been in years? Best of all, since this is the Swedish original, the dialogue is very native speaker authentic (vs translated dialogue). You'd think it wouldn't matter, but it does.

Another Swedish middle grade adventure! This one was written by an author who normally writes mysteries for adults. And you can tell! The pace is much slower and there's more focus on incidental details, not on breakneck speed adventure.

I can't believe that the first four stories in this collection are all 5 stars (or near)!! The craft and the maturity of the writing, the pacing, the warmth, the comedy, the tragedy -- absolutely incredible! 😍😍😍😍