Read another Hugo best novel contender, A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett, although I had to buy it since it was not part of the LACon package. (At a negligible price for Kindles on Amazon.) Even had it been out of the shortlist, I would have read this book as soon as I became aware of its existence! At this stage of my reading through the shortlisted novels, it figures at the top. It continues on the highly original construct in volume #1, with enough originality in the structure of the land, the organisation of the Empire, the role of leviathans as providers of drugs and treatments, and the past story of both investigators, Ana and Din. The idea of the Shroud is brilliant and having to wait for hundreds of pages to get an insider’s view so frustrating! The hunt for the central villain runs the entire book and the omniscient character feels a bit over-stretched at times, with much infodump, but the final impressions I got from this fantastic book remain highly positive and I am eagerly looking forward the incoming third volume.
Cooked mostly cold salads to cope with the heat waves, except for a batch of vegetable samosas to make use of leftover filo pastry and ageing potatoes. And repeated bowls of rhubarb preserve since this is the time of year when they are readily available at the local market. On said market, my favourite fishmonger gave me a monkfish liver just to try and it proved quite the delicacy, while easy to prepare.
Watched Season 3 of Night Agent, the Bournesque Secret Service action series, which is as addictive as a bowl of peanuts!, despite the many suspensions of belief required by the convenient coïncidences and the repeated red herrings. Possibly better than Season 2 thanks to the depth of several characters.
Due to repeated travel, plus a heat wave, I did not cook much besides salads and fruit purées, but enjoyed a haggis pie on Skye. And two (local versions of) pissaladières in Marseille. I also had to transfer my 
