I lost internet access for a week, which was good in overall terms of getting work done, but less good in the specific work I needed internet access for, which is now somewhat imminent. To deal with this stress I read more books. This post gets me down to a backlog of three, although an anime/manga post is definitely lurking in my future.

( The best we can do, Sybille Bedford. )

( Holocaust tours, Julian Novitz. )

( The Demon and the City, Liz Williams. )

( Death of a Murderer, Rupert Thomson. )

( On, Off. Colleen McCullough. )

( Phoenix and Ashes, Mercedes Lackey. )

( How Ethel Hollister became a Campfire Girl, Irene Elliot Benson. )

( Moroccan Traffic, Dorothy Dunnett. )

So, if I’ve been thinking about Dunnett – why not read her? Because if I re-read the Lymond books I will lose at least a week – probably two, as I shall drag out my reading of Pawn in Frankincense for days and then go and track down both Dunnett companions, any related books and the Lonely Planet guide to Byzantium – and be of no use to anyone in the process. However, I’d never read the Dolly series, and I found the first one waiting patiently for me in a second-hand bookshop while looking for King Hereafter.

( Tropical Issue, by Dorothy Dunnett (also published as Dolly and the Bird of Paradise). )