I've just finished the second of two non-fiction books, Julian Symons'
Bloody Murder - From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel: A History. Since this was the 1972 edition, it's more half a history, but I actually wanted to know more about the Golden Age, which is roughly the twenties and thirties, so I was happy enough with that. There was a second edition in the eighties, I believe, but since I was relying on second-hand book stores, I didn't get to choose.
I found it entertaining and informative, if opinionated, but I do seem to have made quite slow going of it. I also doubt it is going to be good for my TBR over all.
The other piece of non-fiction was
It's Behind You: The Making of a Computer Game by Bob Pape, which is available free as a PDF from
his website. It contains colour images and two-column text, so is probably more for tablets than ereaders.
Anyway, it's a shortish book about the making of the ZX Spectrum version of the arcade game R-Type, and I found it a fascinating insight into the industry culture of that period. I don't know what a disinterested layman would get out of it, but I enjoyed it.
Definitely time for some fiction now, though.