Not riveting; trash; rampant heterosexuality, creepy - reasons I abandoned books last year
While checking my Kindle for what fiction to start on next I see a load of books I've read only part of. Luckily these days I add a note when stopping a book. Hence I declare the following 9 books abandoned, with reasons. 📚
- Better Left Behind (Trinity Calhoun Mystery Book 3) by Melinda Di Lorenzo : Not much enjoying this one.
- Her Broken Bones (Opal Fields Book 2) by Fiona Tarr : Not riveting.
- Killer by Candlelight (Suzy Spencer Mysteries Book 6) by Lis Howell : I didn't much like the setting or the people.
- Dead Men Don't Paddle (Carolina Teal Cozy Mysteries Book 2) by CC Trace : Might read more but it's not great.
- The Detective Veronika Pope Cold Case Mysteries Books 1–5 by Anna Willett : I don't know about this. It's not a cold case and it's creepy.
- Detective Jordan Carr Books 1–8 : I don't really care about any of these people.
- Dr Callie Hughes Mysteries Books 1–8 by Candy Denman : Dunno if I can be bothered reading more. Very heterosexual.
- The Jordan Lacey Mysteries by Stella Whitelaw : Not getting on well with this. It's like that incompetent american bounty hunter series but less good. Rampant heterosexuality occupies far too much time.
- Liz Turner's Cozy Mysteries Collector's Edition: 30 Book Box Set by Liz Turner : I've sampled several books now and they're just trash.
There, I think that cleans up all my Kindle purchases for 2025.
Proto: A New History of Our Ancient Past by Laura Spinney is rich in information but easy to read. 📚
Proto is a revelatory portrait of world history in its own words.
Thousands of years ago our ancestors were speaking to one another on the steppes, using the languages that were to eventually meld and merge and evolve into the English (and other descendant languages) we speak today.
It's amazing what researchers have been able to elucidate through bones, bits of pottery and DNA.
Sparked by: Finished reading: Proto by @jeremybaker.nz.
After reading 10 chapters of Book One and a few pages of Book Two I've abandoned The Complete Tarnfield Cozy Mysteries Books 1-6 by Lis Howell. 📚
Tarnfield looks like a postcard-perfect Cumbrian village — rugged fells, stone cottages, winding lanes. But beneath the charm lies a hotbed of secrets and simmering tensions. Life revolves around All Saints Church, where parishioners are as quick to gossip as they are to pray.
I find the writing a bit clumsy and too many of the characters somewhat unpleasant. It's all just more negativity than I want to immerse myself in at the moment.
Hmmm, even more solar panels are being put in not far from us. These are to produce hydrogen to run vehicles — Northern Advocate, Page 3 (PDF):
A massive truckload of solar panels arrived at Ruakākā this week as Hiringa Energy pushes ahead with the construction of its next solar-to-hydrogen site. The 5ha Ruakaka project on Port Marsden Highway (SH15), built on leased land just up the road from Meridian's much larger $227 million, 130MW solar farm, is Hiringa's latest major development supporting the company's $50m growing network of clean-fuel stations across the North Island — the first in Australasia.
While Meridian's 201ha, 250,000-panel development is designed to generate grid-scale electricity — enough to power roughly half the homes in Northland — Hiringa's compact 5MW farm has a very different purpose: dedicated production of green hydrogen to help decarbonise the country's heavy vehicle fleet.
Apple Photos tells me this is probably a South African Praying Mantis.
And that this is:
Dasypodia cymatodes, the northern old lady moth or northern wattle moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found in Australia, and is self introduced in New Zealand. The wingspan is about 80 mm. The larvae feed on Acacia species.
Hmmm, seems I abandoned this ages ago. I just didn't like it. It was a free download at the time. Lost And Found: The September Day Series Book 1) by Amy Shojai. 📚
She doesn’t trust people. But can she team up with a service dog to save a missing child and catch a murderer?
I didn't read these 8.5 books all in one go, but interspersed other books. Nevertheless, once I'd got into the 'groove', I enjoyed The Complete Potting Shed Mysteries by Marty Wingate. 📚
Determined to follow in the footsteps of her English mother, Pru uproots her life from Dallas to London, where she’s about to get more than she bargained for. Her green fingers keep getting her into very prickly situations. But no matter how tangled the case, Pru never backs down.
We've seen 2 episodes of this, and are keen for more. Move over Brokenwood, Blue Murder Motel is here | The Spinoff 📺 :
There’s a bright and breezy retro charm to Blue Murder Motel … The series taps into the quirks of small town New Zealand without being condescending, and feels a lot like Brokenwood with sea and sunshine. This too is a quietly confident show that knows exactly how it wants to entertain its viewers, with easy to watch storylines, understated humour and a familiar New Zealand setting.
I have a terrible sense of of direction. Usually the more strongly I feel I need to turn right the more likely it is I should turn left.
So, although today's 90 minutes drive (each way) to Albany was really just: get on State Highway 1 then go straight ahead, the GPS was invaluable for the end bits.
Well, that's a shame. I speculated no-one died in the crash that caused me to go the long way round to the gym this morning. I was wrong — Motorcyclist dies in crash with car | RNZ News:
Police said the crash occurred at the intersection of Port Marsden Highway and McCathie Road, in Ruakākā, just after 6.30am on Wednesday.
The rider suffered critical injuries and died on the way to hospital, police said.
Motorcycle vs any vehicle will never bring a good outcome for the bike rider …
A minor inconvenience for me today — taking the "long" way to the gym — was someone else's very bad morning. Apparently it was motorbike vs ute at the annoyingly awkward intersection opposite the gym.
Presumably no-one died as the road was opened again less than 2 hours later.
I hate the process of selling stuff, but have finally grasped the nettle. Photos taken of my old bike so I can list it on TradeMe.
Woohoo. Prof. Sam Lawler, @sundogplanets@mastodon.social is coming to Whangārei next week. Astronomy and the Billionaire Space Race:
Learn how the booming billionaire space race is reshaping international law, low‑Earth‑orbit safety, atmospheric pollution, and the future of astronomy
Booked. 😁
See also: Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand - RASNZ Lecture Trust (BHT).
(Good quality) Green tea is good for you, as explained in this 16 minute video — THIS is Your Brain on GREEN TEA: New (2025) Science on the Brain Health Benefits of Green Tea.
Includes:
- Acute Calming and Anti-Stress Effects
- Chronic Brain Health Benefits
- Acute Brain Health Effects
- How Regular Green Tea Consumption Supports Brain Health-Promoting Bacterial Communities in the Gut
I read all of Murder in Norfolk (Detective Anna McArthur Book 1) by Sadie Norman, but didn't like the main character and believe the writing could have been very much improved by a good editor. 📚
She went for a walk to clear her head. She found a dead woman carved with a message.
I won't be reading more in this series.
This crash closed our usual route home from visiting our friends. Luckily there was a scenic alternative. Road closed, serious injuries after three vehicle crash in Whangārei | RNZ News:
State Highway 1 near Whangārei, is closed following a serious crash on Saturday afternoon.
Police were notified of a three-vehicle crash, between Oakleigh Rise and Mangapai Rd, at 2.20pm.
Police have said initial indicators are that there are serious injuries.
"The Serious Crash Unit has been advised, and the road is expected to be closed for some time while emergency services work at the scene."
Today we find ourselves watching the Northland Region Novice Powerlifting competition.
I’m at the back with a restricted view. About a dozen competitors and maybe 50 people watching.
On Netflix I watched Boots, which was based on the 2016 memoir The Pink Marine by Greg Cope White:
Cameron Cope, a closeted gay American teenager, impulsively follows his best friend Ray McAffey into the United States Marine Corps.
Set in 1990, when the military excluded gay people from service, the story depicts their boot camp training.
It was very powerful. I guess if they're training kids to fight and kill in a war the process has to be brutal and dehumanising …
Almost worse: it seemed kids whose fathers had been in the military were treated as junior versions of the recruits.
I bought this at a sale price and enjoyed it reasonably well. I found the couple's arguments rather manufactured. Last Chance Chicago by Diana DiGangi. 📚
Attorney and recovering cocaine addict Sam DiCiccio didn’t think she was ever going to see her ex-wife Amy Igarashi again, much less wind up defending her against felony insider trading charges.
The time flies when you're having rum.
