Finished since the last reading post
Finished Kadonnut perintö, in which Björk attempts to help a woman whose father appears to have been a victim of a fortune-hunter before his death, and finds a much larger network.

In Search of Berlin by John Kampfner, which I'd bought on a whim. It told me some things I hadn't really known or appreciated before, but for someone who's never been to Berlin, it was rather hard to follow.

The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse, the fourth and final part of the Joubert series, was a engaging and easy-to-read book for a travel day with lots of turns in the story to keep you entertained.

Currently reading
Started reading Beyond the Door of No Return (La Porte du voyage sans retour) by David Diop in Sam Taylor's English translation. No progress with anything else

Reading next
No idea

I stumbled on the steps up to the bridge that's the shortest route from the bus stop near work to the office yesterday morning and ended up catching myself with my right hand. Fingers first, unfortunately, so for a moment I was wondering if I'd managed to fracture my middle finger again (again, as I definitely did so one spring when I was at university in Sheffield). But it seems it's not as bad this time. That last time, I knew it wasn't good when I ended up feeling faint and nauseous during the lecture I was at after the stumble I took, to the extent I had to be almost horizontal in my seat. None of that this time. The finger is definitely bruised and swollen but I think it's the swelling is the main reason I don't quite have the full use of it rather than any real damage. I don't think I'll have any issues after the swelling eases up. The ring finger also has a little bruise but doesn't seem swollen.

After two weeks in Finland, I flew back home yesterday. The journey was mostly uneventful, although with the wind we were warned it might get bumpy and we had the safety belt sign come on rather early over the North Sea. The way the flights worked, I was at home rather late, close to 11pm, so I only really had time to sort out anything I needed for work and go to bed. I found some time to unpack this morning, but felt a bit like a zombie at work by lunchtime. Food, some paracetamol, and a short walk outside helped.

It was good to have two weeks off work and my usual routines. It was my mum's 70th birthday earlier this month, which was why I left it later than usual to have a longer stretch of leave in the summer because I wanted to be there for that and I knew my aunt and one of my cousins who live in Sweden were also coming.

I flew to Helsinki on the 30th and had been hoping for nice weather to walk around. No such luck. It had clearly rained earlier in the day and it was grey and soon drizzly when I set out from the railway station after depositing my bigger bags in the luggage lockers. But I did have a walk, and I did some riding on the trams, and some browsing in the shops. Then it was time to board my overnight train. That meant an early arrival at the other end of the journey on Sunday but that was fine.

At my parents', I didn't get up to much beyond reading, walking, sleeping, and spending time with family. Of course, there were some preparations for the birthday—I baked a cake (could have been better) and made a broccoli pie (tasty), sister made a salmon mousse thing to go with what mum had ordered from a cafe. Mum and I picked up our Swedish visitors from the airport further away and took them back as well. The second trip gave us the opportunity to do some shopping (I bought a dress and a top) and drop by at the older niece's new student digs after she'd had her first actual day at the university.

In case anyone here missed the news elsewhere, killabeez announced hlh_shortcuts 2025, the annual Highlander fanfiction exchange on the AO3. I'm glad to have it to look forward to. I loved to read it for years before I began writing for it, and since I started writing for it, I've written some things that I'm very satisfied with.

Sign-ups will be October 1-11, with assignments out by October 14, and submissions due December 15. As usual, the first story will be revealed on December 20, as the winter solstice is Duncan's birthday, and subsequent stories will be revealed a few per day as long as they last, to be followed by the author guessing game.

Every now and then, I do thefridayfive:

1. What is your favourite fruit?

Mango

2. What is the last book you read?

Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4)

3. Do you like any of your school photos?

Yes.

4. Do you ever blowdry your armpits to get the deodorant to dry quicker?

Lol no. Is this a thing?

5. What was the last film you watched?

Casablanca

Finished since the last reading post
Hyvän miehen kuolema by Virpi Hämeen-Anttila, the 11th novel in the Karl Axel Björk series. It's late 1922 and Björk investigates what looks like a series of unrelated murders while his estranged father starts getting threatening messages.

Putinin trollit by Jessikka Aro, about the kinds of disinformation and defamation campaigns she herself, as a journalist interested in finding out how Russian internet troll armies operate, and others working in similar topics have encountered. Published in 2019, this book still feels very relevant 6 years later.

Suomi on venäläinen by Marjo Vilkko, written to accompany a television programme with the same name, which in turn was created as a companion to a similar programme and book about Finland's Swedish history, culture, identity, and politics. Very interesting, but having been published in 2015, the impact of the past three years of Russia's war on Ukraine are missing.

Currently reading
Kadonnut perintö by Virpi Hämeen-Anttila, the latest Karl Axel Björk novel. Not much progress on Pohjoinen tanssi

Reading next
One of the books I took with me

I had a visitor this week: a very earnest German Shakespeare scholar and teacher who I met last year on a writing retreat. She was swinging through Oxford to attend a conference and stayed in my guest room for a few nights.

When she came into my sitting room she first admired my bookcases, as one does, and then did a double take: "Oh! You have a really big television! What do you watch?"

"Cycling, mainly," I said, but this didn't help. Didn't compute. I could practically see steam rising off the top of her head as the gears clashed. And actually she's the second friend of mine who's been visibly perplexed by my TV.

No doubt they had assumed I'd be the sort of elitist literary snob who wouldn't allow such a thing into the flat. Whereas in fact I am such a massive elitist literary snob that I don't feel any lurking status threat from the presence of a 55" flatscreen. (Plus my favorite cycling commentator is a devoted fan of Fitzcarraldo Editions, so.)

Very minor anecdote but I've never seen anyone so obviously realizing in mid-stream that they'd gotten their assumptions about my preferences and habits all wrong. Do you ever find that you surprise people by liking something that you "shouldn't" like?

I flopped last year. Here's hoping I do better this time, lol.

Episode Tags and Missing Scenes	Wabi / Sabi	Journalist / Chronicler	Midnight	Found Families
Sacrifice / Letting Go	Neutral Colours	Revelations and Concealments	Kinetic Energy	Information is given off the record
Street Food	Truth or Dare	Wild Card	Landscape/Panorama	Superpowers
Ritual Marks and Body Decorations	Slice of Life	Pre- Slash / Femslash / Het	Coffee Shop AU	If only you'd notice me: Yearning and obliviousness
Documentation	Hopelessly Devoted	Epistolary fic: Emails, letters etc.	Loss of Faith	Flesh and Bone