Wet Broken Things
@wetbrokenthings.bsky.social
Writer and book blogger.
Blog: http://wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
Bookstagram: http://instagram.com/wetbrokenthings
Facebook: http://facebook.com/wetbrokenthings
Blog: http://wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
Bookstagram: http://instagram.com/wetbrokenthings
Facebook: http://facebook.com/wetbrokenthings
"You're in a world full of colour and you want to see it in black and white."
How do you feel about the final two volumes of Lyra's story?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/b...
How do you feel about the final two volumes of Lyra's story?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/b...
Book review – The Secret Commonwealth & The Rose Field
This review may contain spoilers for La Belle Sauvage and His Dark Materials. “You’re in a world full of colour and you want to see it in black and white.” The second and third vo…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:16 PM
"You're in a world full of colour and you want to see it in black and white."
How do you feel about the final two volumes of Lyra's story?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/b...
How do you feel about the final two volumes of Lyra's story?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/b...
Which Claire Keegan story is your favourite? Mine was Passport Soup.
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/09/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/09/b...
Book review – Claire Keegan short stories
Claire Keegan is a master of the short story, able to move you with a few pages of story, even conjure up a wealth of feeling in a single sentence, a couple of words. Antarctica and Walk the Blue F…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Which Claire Keegan story is your favourite? Mine was Passport Soup.
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/09/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/09/b...
"How can knowing something be sinful?"
I enjoyed Malcolm's perspective as much as Lyra's. A very complementary perspective. What did you think?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/05/b...
I enjoyed Malcolm's perspective as much as Lyra's. A very complementary perspective. What did you think?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/05/b...
Book review – La Belle Sauvage
“How can knowing something be sinful?” This review contains spoilers for the His Dark Materials trilogy. The world and story of Lyra is one of the most profound stories ever told about …
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:25 PM
"How can knowing something be sinful?"
I enjoyed Malcolm's perspective as much as Lyra's. A very complementary perspective. What did you think?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/05/b...
I enjoyed Malcolm's perspective as much as Lyra's. A very complementary perspective. What did you think?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/12/05/b...
Are there any novels you recommend about the Syrian civil war?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/28/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/28/b...
Book review – Damascus Station
Former CIA analyst David McCloskey has followed in the noble tradition of some of his spook forbears and turned to spy thrillers. In Damascus Station, McCloskey gives us the CIA during the Syrian C…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Are there any novels you recommend about the Syrian civil war?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/28/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/28/b...
What's your favourite story where we see tech and science as magic through the point of view of primitive protagonists?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/23/b...
@aptshadow.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/23/b...
@aptshadow.bsky.social
Book review – The Hungry Gods
In his novella, The Hungry Gods, Adrian Tchaikovsky writes another of story in his trademark style, set in the future in a world ravaged by environmental disaster. The world has descended back into…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:11 PM
What's your favourite story where we see tech and science as magic through the point of view of primitive protagonists?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/23/b...
@aptshadow.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/23/b...
@aptshadow.bsky.social
"'You know what is at the heart of misogyny? When it comes down to it?'
'So I'm a misogynist now?'
'It's simply about not giving,' she said."
What stories about sexism have stuck with you?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/b...
'So I'm a misogynist now?'
'It's simply about not giving,' she said."
What stories about sexism have stuck with you?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/b...
Book review – So Late in the Day
“‘You know what is at the heart of misogyny? When it comes down to it?”So I’m a misogynist now?”It’s simply about not giving,’ she said.” In her nove…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:36 PM
"'You know what is at the heart of misogyny? When it comes down to it?'
'So I'm a misogynist now?'
'It's simply about not giving,' she said."
What stories about sexism have stuck with you?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/b...
'So I'm a misogynist now?'
'It's simply about not giving,' she said."
What stories about sexism have stuck with you?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/b...
"Simply to endure is to triumph."
What story best represents a child's point of view? This is a heartbreaking one that does very well.
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/b...
What story best represents a child's point of view? This is a heartbreaking one that does very well.
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/b...
Book review – Sold
“Simply to endure is to triumph.” Sold appears as a novel, but it is really a young adult novella, if even that, for the story is not long. I read it in one setting. Published in 2006, …
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:57 PM
"Simply to endure is to triumph."
What story best represents a child's point of view? This is a heartbreaking one that does very well.
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/b...
What story best represents a child's point of view? This is a heartbreaking one that does very well.
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/13/b...
"Sure, hope was too often offered instead of real change, a cheap placeholder for a better day. But it also kept people alive ... You had to believe the land you were on could bear fruit to bother trying. You had to have vision to eat."
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/b...
Book review – Guide Me Home
“Sure, hope was too often offered instead of real change, a cheap placeholder for a better day. But it also kept people alive. You couldn’t grow a tomato, a sweet pepper, or a peach without h…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:20 AM
"Sure, hope was too often offered instead of real change, a cheap placeholder for a better day. But it also kept people alive ... You had to believe the land you were on could bear fruit to bother trying. You had to have vision to eat."
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/b...
"Sure, hope was too often offered instead of real change, a cheap placeholder for a better day. But it also kept people alive ... You had to believe the land you were on could bear fruit to bother trying. You had to have vision to eat."
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/b...
Book review – Guide Me Home
“Sure, hope was too often offered instead of real change, a cheap placeholder for a better day. But it also kept people alive. You couldn’t grow a tomato, a sweet pepper, or a peach without h…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:17 AM
"Sure, hope was too often offered instead of real change, a cheap placeholder for a better day. But it also kept people alive ... You had to believe the land you were on could bear fruit to bother trying. You had to have vision to eat."
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/b...
"I am Rose House, entire, and have never been anything else."
What's been your spooky read this Halloween?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/01/b...
What's been your spooky read this Halloween?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/01/b...
Book review – Rose/House
“I am Rose House, entire, and have never been anything else.” Arkady Martine writes a brilliantly creepy sci-fi novella about a murder that happens in an AI house called Rose House. A d…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:55 AM
"I am Rose House, entire, and have never been anything else."
What's been your spooky read this Halloween?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/01/b...
What's been your spooky read this Halloween?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/11/01/b...
What is your favourite Chinese story in English? The Paper Menagerie is one of mine!
@kyliu99.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/27/b...
@kyliu99.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/27/b...
Book review – Ken Liu short stories
As of this writing, Ken Liu has published two short story collections, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. They represent a prolific and varied output, enco…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:27 AM
What is your favourite Chinese story in English? The Paper Menagerie is one of mine!
@kyliu99.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/27/b...
@kyliu99.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/27/b...
"To be a proper man meant to be a strong man, an outdoors man, but also a man of principle. It meant lack of bombast, a repudiation of shallowness and a core of quiet self-belief. It meant being slow to anger, but firm in conviction."
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/b...
Book review – The Hallmarked Man
“To be a proper man meant to be a strong man, an outdoors man, but also a man of principle. It meant lack of bombast, a repudiation of shallowness and a core of quiet self-belief. It meant be…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:08 PM
"To be a proper man meant to be a strong man, an outdoors man, but also a man of principle. It meant lack of bombast, a repudiation of shallowness and a core of quiet self-belief. It meant being slow to anger, but firm in conviction."
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/b...
Are you excited for the next installment of The Thursday Murder Club?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/04/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/04/b...
Book review – The Last Devil to Die
As of the writing of this review, The Last Devil to Die is the latest of Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series out in paperback. It is the story of a murder revolving missing drugs that involve…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
October 5, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Are you excited for the next installment of The Thursday Murder Club?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/04/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/10/04/b...
"A weird time in which we are alive. We can travel anywhere we want, even to other planets. And for what? To sit day after day, declining in morale and hope."
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/27/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/27/b...
Book review – The Man in the High Castle
“A weird time in which we are alive. We can travel anywhere we want, even to other planets. And for what? To sit day after day, declining in morale and hope.” The Man in the High Castle…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
September 27, 2025 at 10:53 AM
"A weird time in which we are alive. We can travel anywhere we want, even to other planets. And for what? To sit day after day, declining in morale and hope."
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/27/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/27/b...
What do you like about cozy crime? For me it's the gentle humour mixed with action and mystery.
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/20/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/20/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
Book review – The Bullet That Missed
Of the three books of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series so far, this has to be my favourite, just for plot reasons. We have two main subplots of near equal weight here. The first is…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
September 23, 2025 at 5:16 PM
What do you like about cozy crime? For me it's the gentle humour mixed with action and mystery.
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/20/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/20/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
I love how some three quarters of a century after its original publication, Narnia continues to inspire authors, even if it is in answer to it!
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/14/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/14/b...
Book review – And Put Away Childish Things
Tchaikovsky delivers a digestible and charming little novella in And Put Away Childish Things, a title that has great resonance for me, coming from St Paul’s epistles. And it fits well with t…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
September 18, 2025 at 8:38 AM
I love how some three quarters of a century after its original publication, Narnia continues to inspire authors, even if it is in answer to it!
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/14/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/14/b...
Who is your favourite of the foursome?
@richardosman1.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/10/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/10/b...
Book review – The Man Who Died Twice
The Man Who Died Twice is the sequel to The Thursday Murder Club. It continues very much in the style of the first novel, a gentle cozy mystery that is wittily plotted and full of twists and turns,…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
September 11, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Who is your favourite of the foursome?
@richardosman1.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/10/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/10/b...
"There are so many fragile things, after all. People break so easily, and so do dreams and hearts."
Is Neil Gaiman the weirdest author you've ever read?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/05/b...
Is Neil Gaiman the weirdest author you've ever read?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/05/b...
Book review – Neil Gaiman short stories
“There are so many fragile things, after all. People break so easily, and so do dreams and hearts.” The first Neil Gaiman I ever read was his short story collection, Fragile Things, whi…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
September 5, 2025 at 7:32 PM
"There are so many fragile things, after all. People break so easily, and so do dreams and hearts."
Is Neil Gaiman the weirdest author you've ever read?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/05/b...
Is Neil Gaiman the weirdest author you've ever read?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/09/05/b...
Did you enjoy the movie or the book more?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
Book review – The Thursday Murder Club
Osman’s cozy crime series begins with The Thursday Murder Club, which has become a genuine phenomenon here in the UK. I have seen it on the Tube, I have seen colleagues of mine read it, heard…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
August 30, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Did you enjoy the movie or the book more?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/b...
@richardosman1.bsky.social
"I think there’s something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on its way out."
What's your favorite cozy science fiction?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/25/b...
What's your favorite cozy science fiction?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/25/b...
Book review – Monk and Robot duology
“I think there’s something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on its way out.” A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy form a duology best described…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
August 26, 2025 at 8:40 AM
"I think there’s something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on its way out."
What's your favorite cozy science fiction?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/25/b...
What's your favorite cozy science fiction?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/25/b...
Which fictional alternative histories have actually felt plausible?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/20/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/20/b...
Book review – Dominion
In the surprisingly well populated genre of alternative historical novels set in a Britain conquered or dominated by Nazis, Dominion surely takes the prize for being the best. I caveat this by emph…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
August 21, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Which fictional alternative histories have actually felt plausible?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/20/b...
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/20/b...
"How can you be happy in this world? You have a hole in your heart. You have a gateway inside you to lands beyond the world you know. They will call you, as you grow."
What is your favorite story about growing up?
@neilhimself.neilgaiman.com
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/15/b...
What is your favorite story about growing up?
@neilhimself.neilgaiman.com
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/15/b...
Book review – The Ocean at the End of the Lane
“How can you be happy in this world? You have a hole in your heart. You have a gateway inside you to lands beyond the world you know. They will call you, as you grow.” Neil Gaiman’…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
August 16, 2025 at 12:35 AM
"How can you be happy in this world? You have a hole in your heart. You have a gateway inside you to lands beyond the world you know. They will call you, as you grow."
What is your favorite story about growing up?
@neilhimself.neilgaiman.com
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/15/b...
What is your favorite story about growing up?
@neilhimself.neilgaiman.com
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/15/b...
"So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane."
What is your favourite John Green book?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/11/b...
@johngreensbluesky.bsky.social
What is your favourite John Green book?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/11/b...
@johngreensbluesky.bsky.social
Book review – Looking for Alaska
“So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.” Looking for Alaska is getting close to classic …
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
August 11, 2025 at 7:24 PM
"So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane."
What is your favourite John Green book?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/11/b...
@johngreensbluesky.bsky.social
What is your favourite John Green book?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/11/b...
@johngreensbluesky.bsky.social
"We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship – to teach, if we are called upon; to be taught, if we are fortunate."
Do you think there's life on other worlds?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/06/b...
Do you think there's life on other worlds?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/06/b...
Book review – To Be Taught, If Fortunate
“We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship – to teach, if we are called upon; to be taught, if we are fortunate.” Becky Chambers delivers a tho…
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com
August 7, 2025 at 5:19 PM
"We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship – to teach, if we are called upon; to be taught, if we are fortunate."
Do you think there's life on other worlds?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/06/b...
Do you think there's life on other worlds?
wetbrokenthings.wordpress.com/2025/08/06/b...