Weekly media report - for the fortnight ending 2025 10 22
22 Oct 2025 21:52![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Books
Threads of Empire: A History of the World in Twelve Carpets, by Dorothy Armstrong. Popular history of the numbered object type centering on the central, southern, and western parts of Asia and their carpetmaking traditions. I expected all the colonialism around Britain and the US, but was surprised by some of the other stories.
A Peculiar Combination and The Key to Deceit, by Ashley Weaver. First two in a WWII mystery series featuring a young female safecracker gone straight and the officer and gentleman who put her on that path as they deal with Nazi spies and the Battle of Britain. Engaging so far, with two interesting mysteries, and the romantic triangle the author is setting up is sufficiently subtle that it's not ruining the rest of the story.
A Case of Mice and Murder, by Sally Smith. First in a mystery series set in the Inner Temple of London at the turn of the last century featuring a clearly autistic-coded attorney. This one involves the dual mystery of the murder of the Lord Chief Justice and a case centering on who wrote a popular children's book. I'm in for the next one.
Breakout Year, by KD Casey. Queer baseball romance featuring fake dating and two Jewish characters with a complicated history. Light and fluffy when it's not dealing with heavy issues.
Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City, by Bench Ansfield. Now I know why the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. Centering on the historic burning of the Bronx in the 1970s and extending out from there, this is economic history about the insurance industry and the financialization of, well, everything. Definitely worth your time if current events and economic history are your thing.
Movies & TV
The Hobby: Tales from the Tabletop. Watched this short documentary about boardgames on a plane flight. It's all about the subculture around them, which I'm personally not involved in but a lot of my friends are, so I was prepared to like the character types involved. I'm not sure how it would hold up in terms of background material if you didn't already know a little bit about board games.
Threads of Empire: A History of the World in Twelve Carpets, by Dorothy Armstrong. Popular history of the numbered object type centering on the central, southern, and western parts of Asia and their carpetmaking traditions. I expected all the colonialism around Britain and the US, but was surprised by some of the other stories.
A Peculiar Combination and The Key to Deceit, by Ashley Weaver. First two in a WWII mystery series featuring a young female safecracker gone straight and the officer and gentleman who put her on that path as they deal with Nazi spies and the Battle of Britain. Engaging so far, with two interesting mysteries, and the romantic triangle the author is setting up is sufficiently subtle that it's not ruining the rest of the story.
A Case of Mice and Murder, by Sally Smith. First in a mystery series set in the Inner Temple of London at the turn of the last century featuring a clearly autistic-coded attorney. This one involves the dual mystery of the murder of the Lord Chief Justice and a case centering on who wrote a popular children's book. I'm in for the next one.
Breakout Year, by KD Casey. Queer baseball romance featuring fake dating and two Jewish characters with a complicated history. Light and fluffy when it's not dealing with heavy issues.
Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City, by Bench Ansfield. Now I know why the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. Centering on the historic burning of the Bronx in the 1970s and extending out from there, this is economic history about the insurance industry and the financialization of, well, everything. Definitely worth your time if current events and economic history are your thing.
Movies & TV
The Hobby: Tales from the Tabletop. Watched this short documentary about boardgames on a plane flight. It's all about the subculture around them, which I'm personally not involved in but a lot of my friends are, so I was prepared to like the character types involved. I'm not sure how it would hold up in terms of background material if you didn't already know a little bit about board games.