Don’t mess with crows, also Ragnar is awesome.
I’m almost two-thirds of the way through now, and highly recommend it.
Finished A Christmas Sourcebook, edited by Mary Ann Simcoe, which had some wonderful verse and interesting information about the origins of Christmas tree decoration; and Reincarnations, a collection of stories by Harry Turtledove, of which the best was “The Haunted Biscuspid”.
Next up: Liberia: A Visit Through Books, by Izetta Roberts Cooper with Kyra E. Hicks; and The Flying Classroom, by Erich Kastner.
Finished Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England’s Greatest Warrior King, by Dan Jones. Very good. Fits between his Plantagenets and Wars of the Roses to form a nice little triptych.
Have started Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace.
Finished Liberia: A Visit Through Books, by Izetta Roberts Cooper with Kyra E. Hicks (which was interesting); and The Flying Classroom, by Erich Kastner (Not recommended).
Next up: Dinner with Eleanor, by Helen Niemtzow Pratt and Minor Mage, by T. Kingfisher.
I really enjoyed this one and am glad I didn’t know it was a bit controversial when I read it.
What could be controversial about that book? The age of the protagonist?
It was “too violent” was the complaint I heard in many places.
I suspect a lot of people saw that Oliver was 12 and assumed it was going to be a sweet going on a quest book… forgetting WHO the author was.
Halfway through The Last Dangerous Visions. It’s really weird, because the lineup of stories has changed so much from the original roster. A lot of writers dropped out and published elsewhere in the intervening decades, so you’ve got a mix of stories that appear to be from the 1970s and ones that appear to have been written yesterday. You’ve got old-time names like A.E. Van Vogt (!) and Howard Fast next to ones you never heard of. The little bios after the stories might tell you where they’re publishing now, or they might tell you when they died. Stories with analog technology sit side by side with the latest digital tech. It’s a little jarring. But the stories are all good.
I visited a used book store yesterday and picked up a slim volume called Politically Correct Holiday Stories by James Finn Garner. I vaguely recall him writing other “Politically Correct” books back in the day (1995). That the book is slim is a good thing, because it’s basically a one-joke romp (how ludicrously convoluted can we make straightforward sentences sound if we insisted they all be PC?), but it does give him an excuse to write gems like this:
I just finished The Reformatory.
Ooof.
It’s horror, set in Jim Crow Florida, in a reform school for boys, and it’s hardly a spoiler to say that the most horrific parts aren’t supernatural. Trigger warnings galore.
Very tough read for the first two thirds, and then the final third became a much more exciting book almost in a different genre.
I’m glad I read it, but I’m also glad I’ve got something light coming up next–Robert Jackson Bennett’s latest.
Yeah, I think I picked this one up, but chickened out fast. I still want to read it…but probably won’t! 
Finished Dinner with Eleanor, by Helen Niemtzow Pratt (not recommended) and Minor Mage, by T. Kingfisher, which was okay.
Now I’m reading Mistletoe Mysteries, collected by Charlotte MacLeod.
Ahhh I read all her stuff in my 20s, some of it hasn’t aged as well, but I mostly still enjoy her.
No shame in that. Horror that’s based on real-world atrocities, for entertainment reading, is always dicey. It’s a great book, and it’s a miserable read for a lot of it.
For similar reasons I can only read a John LeCarre novel about once every five years, and I’m pretty sure it’ll be long after Trump leaves office that I attempt another one.
I was going to post this question in the “TV shows you are currently watching” thread but was afraid it would be too hijacky, so I’m putting it here.
A new season of the show “Shetland” has started. I know that the episodes in the first couple of seasons of the show were based on books by Anne Cleeves. Having seen the earlier episodes, is it still worth checking out the books or has too much been spoiled?
Finished Mistletoe Mysteries, collected by Charlotte MacLeod, of which the best story was “Kaput” by Eric Wright.
Now I’m reading Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values, Good Character, Good Deeds, by Ryan Holiday.
This makes me laugh, as the book I’m about to start is called Long Live Evil. 
I started Doomsday book by Connie Willis… I’m sure there’s a good story in there somewhere, probably hiding behind all the people on the phone and the ones standing around discussing a couple of characters’ sickness.
Finished it. Quite good - now I want to read Twain’s original and see how well the pieces fit together.
I’ve returned to The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, a fantasy novel about a master thief and con artist in a decaying Renaissance Venice-like seaport. I’m now about 70% done. It’s gotten better (including several twists I didn’t see coming), and I’m interested to see how it turns out.
I’m about 100 pages into THE BEAUTIFUL CIGAR GIRL: MARY ROGERS, EDGAR ALLAN POE, and THE INVENTION OF MURDER by DANIEL STASHOWER. “On July 28, 1841, the battered body of a young woman was found floating in the Hudson River. The victim was Mary Rogers, a captivating 20 year old cigar salesgirl, who inspired one of the great authors of a generation to write ‘The Mystery of Marie Roget’. This book sets out to investigate this crime.”(google books quote)
It’s pretty good so far.