Verity Reads Books (lots of them)

Happy Saturday everyone, and this is the third instalment from my bookish wander around Leicestershire the other Saturday. I’ve already covered the bargain book selection at The Works, and the beautifully curated selection at Kibworth. This week it’s a revisit to Quinns, where I was mostly looking at what they had picked out to put on the displays because I love seeing what booksellers have picked to highlight.

This is the mystery and thriller table in the window and I haven’t read a single one of them. Which is fascinating given how many mysteries I read! I know that the Asako Yuzuki and the Uketsu are too scary for me – as is so much of the stuff that’s got dark and moody covers. I have a Janice Hallet waiting to be read on the pile though and I’ve read Sophie Hannah’s Poirot continuations but not her own stuff, and I used to read Lisa Jewell when she was writing women’s fiction.

It’s a similar sort of story here. I have read all of Joanne Harris’s other Chocolate books so I have Vianne on the kindle waiting to be read and the same with the Gill Hornby, which is the latest of her books related to the Austen family. I saw The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry the other week as you know, so I was tempted by the Rachel Joyce which is about the daughters of a famous artist who has died in Italy and the masterpiece he went there to finish is missing. This is Jennie Godfrey’s second book – the first has been everywhere and it’s definitely on my list to try, if I can just get the pile down a little bit!

We’re back to authors who I have books waiting to be read on this table too – I’ve got one of Francis Spufford’s on the actual self and the same with Natasha Pulley. The Gregory Maguire is his new Wizard of z prequel hot on the heels of the success of Wicked – the book of which I didn’t manage to finish. The intruiguing one on this table though is Winterbourne, which I hadn’t seen before. It came out at the end of January and it’s about a librarian who goes to a remote Island off the coast of Scotland to catalogue the library of a grand house. It’s described as a chilling and unpredictable mystery and a reinvention of the Gothic genre, so who knows if I can deal with that – I’ll wait for the paperback!

I’m finishing with a bonus picture from the Waterstones, just to prove to myself that I really do read books I’ve read The Potting Shed Murder, Murder on the Lusitania, Knife Skills for Beginners, And Then There Were None, The Housekeepers and The Thursday Murder Club off this table and the first Antique’s Hunter book (although not this one) and I have How to Solve Your Own Murder on the pile too. And now I feel better!

As I said last weekend in my post about The Works, I’ve been on a bit of a bookshop odyssey and during that I finally made it to Kibworth Books. This is only about 20 miles from home, but as is the way of country roads, actually takes about 45 minutes to get to, hence not having got there before. But it was worth the trip because the selection is great and the staff are incredibly knowledgable and helpful. I can confirm: I bought books. Three of them.

So this is the front of the front table which has a really good selection that tells me that this is a bookshop that might understand what I like and have recommendations for me! I’ve read the Sittenfeld and I have the Hornby on the pile waiting. I’ve also raed a bunch of the crime selections there – and have the Elly Griffiths on the pile too. So I eyed up a few of these, although my actual purchases didn’t come from this table!

And you know me, I always check out the romance section, because I read so much of it and I also think you can tell quite a lot about a shop by what they do with romance. and in this case it’s a small but seemingly carefuly chosen selection. There’s stuff here that I’ve read like Funny Story and One Day and authors that I’ve read (If not those precise books) which suggests that some of the others might be things I’d like too. Also I have Match Point on the pile and I really should get around to that too.

And the other section I always look at is the crime section. And apologies for the wide shot, but it seemed to make more sense to do one big paragraph on crime than three small ones! So there is plenty of series action here including loads that I read (and some I don’t but might get around to some day) – with Elly Griffiths, including Ruth Galloway ( can you believe that that binge was this time last year?!) and her Brighton mysteries; Mick Herron for the people who’ve been watching Slow Horses, Kate Atkinson for the Jackson Brodie fans; Richard Osman, Richard Coles, Anthony Horowitz, and all the rest – along with some less usual stuff. When I was chatting about books at the till, the recommendation was the Holly Stars which I’ve read (and the sequel) but the next one I hadn’t even come across so of course thats one of the ones that I bought. And a quick mention for the Agatha Christie and BLCC selection to cover off the classic crime fans.

And finally, how amazing/adorable is this? I thought this was so cool, although my picture of it isn’t the best so doesn’t really do it justice. Google tells me that it’s a little kit that you make yourself which makes it extra impressive because there is no way that I would have the patience and find motor control to assemble something this tiny and finicky – and that makes it extra impressive. Anyway, I really had a great time visiting Kibworth Books, bought three books even though the pile is huge and will be going back again next time I’m up that end of the woods.

Have a great weekend everyone.