#books

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This week's at the library has been silent for a few weeks as I was travelling to Paris for work and then the Netherlands for a family visit. Enjoy some behind-the-scenes snapshots (1/2) from my trip to the Paris MNHN, the Institut de France, and the French Senate. King Tyrant has been my constant companion, but, as you can see, I'm not quite done. It's *so* good! Look out for a review soon on https://inquisitivebiologist.com @bookstodon @princetonupress @princetonnature

A photo of mounted skeletons of various whales and other marine mammals on display at the comparative zoology gallery of the Paris Natural History Museum. The photo is taken from the balcony, looking down. A group of four people is looking at one of the skeletons. Trees are visible outside through the large picture windows.
A photo of various rare books and prints on display on a large wooden table at the climate-controlled special collections section of the Paris Natural History Museum. The background shows books behind glass doors on floor-to-ceiling shelves.
A photo of a large mounted mammoth skeleton standing on a wooden dais at the paleontological gallery of the Paris Natural History Museum, standing amidst various other mounts and display cabinets. The background shows the balcony and transparent ceiling, covered with see-through material.
A photo of a section of the library at the Institut de France in Paris, normally off-limits to the public, showing floor-to-ceiling wooden bookcases full of books stretching the full length of a long, rectangular room. There are long tables with reading lamps and chairs on either side down the middle of the room. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling.

31/5: What fact of your life would give a reader a new appreciation for your work?
Mostly I think that books should be read on their own terms. Does knowing what we now know about JKR make the Potter books intrinsically better or worse? No. (But I won’t be giving her any more of my money).
But like many people, when I really like a book I’m intrigued to know more about the author, so… https://open.substack.com/pub/theshatteredmoon/p/the-only-word?

31/5: If everyone doing WordWeavers met for a party, what favourite food would you bring to share and why?
1: Great idea.
2: In my experience of parties the food’s usually fine, and what’s most often missing is decent beer. I’d bring a selection from some of my local breweries, like Farm Yard Ales and Bowland, plus some European specialties: Kwaremont, a rauchbier, definitely a weissbier.

I was talking to someone about how much I enjoy reading challenges. Not the kind that makes you read a lot in a short time, but the kind that gives you different criteria - highlighting indie publishers, marginalized authors, genres I'd not pick up otherwise, etc. I keep finding amazing books I would not have come across on my own. I enjoy the search.

The person's response was "Oh. But I already do that just by myself!"

And then they told me I spend too much time online 😅

Relentless pursuit and a grisly murder. ‘Hide and Seek’ is a fast-paced thriller set in Stirling Castle and more widely across Scotland during World War Two. It uses many real settings, transported eight decades back in time.

This modern image shows the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle, used as the education centre by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in World War Two and visited by the book’s main characters.

Find out more on our website:
https://www.arachnid.scot/book-has/index.html

This modern image shows the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle. It is a single storey high and has three sets of windows on either side of the central doorway. The building is built across a steeply sloping courtyard which is evident in the foreground. The sky is mainly blue. The front cover of ‘Hide and Seek’ is shown in the top left corner.

One broch, two millennia, three murders. ‘Thicker Than Water’ is a compelling new murder mystery set in northern Scotland.

The fictional Sarclet Castle on the east coast of Caithness south of Wick is the focal point for much of the story and close to the scene of three murders. It is partly based on the real Castle of Mey on the north coast of Caithness, shown here.

Find out more on my website:
http://www.kenlussey.com/ttw/index.html

The image shows a view over grass to a stone wall with a gateway in its right-hand end. Beyond it is a complex stone castle rising to different levels and with lots of chimneys, castellations and bartizans. Sunlight is coming from the right, casting much of the castle in shadow. The sky is partly cloudy. The front cover of ‘Thicker Than Water’ is shown in the top left corner.

30/5: Who do you write for?
For 30+ years I wrote for magazines and book publishers who had well-defined target audiences. Mostly these would be people with whom I had something in common, like walkers or cyclists, but not always (cruise ship passengers? Nope, that’s not me).
Now I’m writing (and self-publishing) the sort of novels I always wanted to write. That has to be for myself. But I love it when others are along for the ride.