Category: books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 17 – March 23

veritywilde

Another good week – nice books and good entertainment when I wasn’t reading with a theatre trip, Formula One on the TV (albeit still in a somewhat antisocial timezone) and a bit of a day out on Sunday too. And it’s starting to feel like spring. The temperatures have improved and it’s light when I catch the train to work now. Of course the clocks haven’t changed yet, so I’m about to be plunged back into darkness but I’ll enjoy a few days of being able to see the alpacas in the field when I go passed them while I can – it’s been a long old winter.

Read:

Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh

The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths

Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths

Ruth’s First Christmas Tree by Elly Griffiths

Murder Below Deck by Orlando Murrin*

Juliet Overseas by Clare Mallory

To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins

Started:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Still reading:

The Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin Markovitz*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Ummmmm. A few. Because y’know I’m reading the Elly Griffiths back to back and acquiring the next one(s) in the series as I go…

Bonus picture: Kirby Hall this weekend, where we went out to get some culture

Hilariously, the secondhand book sale selection had one of the Puffin Island books in it – the first time I’ve seen any of them in person for ages. It’s like I willed it into being by writing about them on Friday!

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books

Book of the Week: My Big Fat Fake Marriage

veritywilde

This was the preorder that arrived last week and is the follow up to When Grumpy Met Sunshine which was a BotW this time last year. And given the Elly Griffiths binge and my rules about repeating authors and later books in series, it was the obvious choice for today’s post.

Connie’s experience of men and relationships is… not good. They always turn out to have some horrible secret or nasty personality flaw. So she’s pretty sure her new neighbour must be hiding something really terrible behind his cheery façade and bow tie. Beck is an editor at a publishing company – and is just as sunny as he seems, except that he’s been single his whole life but told his co-workers he’s married and maintaining the lie is ruining his life. Before she knows what she’s doing, Connie’s stood up for him in front of a co-worker, and now she’s his wife. And they’ve got to keep the pretence going at a two week writers retreat…

Grumpy-Sunshine romances and cinnamon roll heroes have been a massive trend over the last few years, and I think Beck in this is possibly the biggest sweetest least unproblematic hero I have read in a long time. In fact he’s so nice and sweet that it was a bit much for me at times, especially when paired with Connie’s total cynicism about relationships and men, which is never properly explained in any detail. That said, I did really enjoy lots of this, although I wanted more comeuppance for Beck’s terrible coworker, and the fact that I read this in less than 24 hours (and on the first weekend of the new F1 season) says a lot about how readable this is, even if I didn’t like it as much as I liked When Grumpy Met Sunshine.

This came out last week – I had the paperback pre-ordered but it’s also in Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 10 – March 16

veritywilde

Well I can confirm that I am in a full on binge of the Ruth Galloway series. I read three this week, but I also spent a couple of hours tramping around central London after work one day looking for the next in the series at a sensible price (new and secondhand shops, from Charing Cross Road to St Pancras. It was good exercise and in one shop another customer liked my bag (from Strand Books in New York) so much he asked if he could take a picture of it. So that was fun. Anyway, we’re halfway through March, I’m not halfway through my NetGalley books for the month, and I’m acquiring books at a rate of knots. But I’m having fun doing it and I did make some more progress on Cher’s memoir, so I’m not too cross at myself.

Read:

Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh

A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths

False Scent by Ngaio Marsh

The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths

The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths

My Big Fat Fake Marriage by Charlotte Stein

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

Started:

To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins

The Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin Markovitz*

Still reading:

Murder Below Deck by Orlando Murrin*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Well as you could tell from Books Incoming, quite a few. That is to say four paperbacks bought and a pre-order arrived plus one ebook and another book preordered.

Bonus picture: the rather delightful wool display system in a haberdashers store in Soho.

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 3 – March 9

veritywilde

Another busy week in life and reading – complete with a migraine in the middle to add to the mix. Anyway, a good proportion of actual books, even if some of them were new purchases rather than from the shelf. And I did get another one off the long running list. Yay me.

Read:

Off With His Head by Ngaio Marsh

The Ten Teacups by Carter Dickson

Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh

The House at Sea’s End by Elly Griffiths

Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld

A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths

A Traveller in Time by Alison Utley

Started:

Murder Below Deck by Orlando Murrin*

Still reading:

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Ummmm. Quite a few books acquired. And it’s not just the Kindle offers post that’s responsible – there were also a couple of actual books…

Bonus picture: out by the canal in the lovely spring weather at the weekend

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 24 – March 2

veritywilde

A really, really busy week. They just are some times aren’t they? But it was fun, and I did things in real life and things just seem to all come at once sometimes don’t they? Anyway, it’s March now, and I have a quieter week planned this week – at least I have less things booked into this week than I did last week…

Read:

Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh

The Tube Train Murder by Hugh Morrison

Scales of Justice by Ngaio Marsh

Shocked in Chicago by Patti Benning

Book Boyfriend by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka*

The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths

Started:

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Ten Teacups by Carter Dickson

Still reading:

A Traveller in Time by Alison Utley

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

One – the new Curtis Sittenfeld because Foyles had signed copies which wer just sitting there staring at me in Foyles, two days ahead of release day – so I cancelled my Amazon pre-order and went with it!

Bonus picture: Another night out at Late Night West End – this time it was Shanay Holmes (current Nancy in Oliver) speaking to John Robyns.

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books, stats

February Stats

veritywilde

Books read this month: 30*

New books: 20

Re-reads: 10 (9 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 2

NetGalley books read: 5

Kindle Unlimited read: 10

Ebooks: 3

Audiobooks: 9

Non-fiction books: 1

Favourite book: Hard to decide – either The Favourites or The Crossing Places per my stats page on Goodreads

Most read author: hard to tell because only one book finished for everyone except the Ngaio Marsh and Agatha Christie re-listens, but I did start a second Elly Griffiths book so maybe her?

Books bought: too many

Books read in 2025: 61

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 760

A solid month in the end, although a fair few novellas and audiobook re-listens in there. Onwards to March!

Bonus picture: A relic of my student days is that I am unable to resist a cocktail with Midori in it, even if it comes with googly eyes.

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 5 this month!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 17 – February 23

veritywilde

A good solid week in reading. Two off the long runners list, although the easier too as they are the ebook ones, but it’s still progress. And as we’re hurtling towards the end of February I needed a good week! This week coming looks like it’s going to be a busy one, so we’ll see how that all goes.

Read:

The Kings Loot by Richard Wallace

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh

Big Shot by Julie Mulhern

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

To Catch a Griller by Patti Benning

The Favourites by Layne Fargo*

Swing, Brother, Swing by Ngaio Marsh

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars*

Started:

The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths

Still reading:

A Traveller in Time by Alison Utley

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Four books bought. Because I was in Carlisle and you all know where I went…

Bonus picture: snowdrops and crocuses in Carlisle this weekend

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

book round-ups, books

Romance series: Master link post!

veritywilde

Happy Friday everyone, it occurred to me that I haven’t done a round up of all the various series posts I’ve done for a while. But there’s so many of them now that I’ve actually just done the romance ones for you today because it’s February and it’s Valentine’s Day the other week. And I’ve tried to categorise them a little bit for you.

Small Town romance

Lucky Harbor

Happily, Inc

Willow Creek/Well Met

Bright Falls

Chance of a Lifetime

Blessings

Lancashire

Showbiz/showbiz adjacent

London Celebrities

Centre Stage

Cowboys of California

Sports romance

Chicago Stars

O’Neil Brothers/Snow Crystal

Paranormal

Sookie Stackhouse

Historical romance

Rule of Scoundrels

Survivors Club

Hellions of Halstead Hall

Desperate Duchesses

Bridgerton

Novella series

Under the Mistletoe

Holidays with the Wongs

books, Recommendsday

Recomendsday: Books set in Yorkshire

veritywilde

After picking a Kate Shackleton yesterday which was particularly evocative of Yorkshire I thought I’d mention a few more books set around the county

Let’s start with one of my very favourite Georgette Heyer’s – Venetia. Most of this is set in and around Venetia and Damerel’s houses in rural Yorkshire. Venetia is feisty and independent- but Jasper is one of Heyer’s best hero’s and among the most well fleshed out. Another Yorkshire set historical romance – but with a very different vibe – is Sarah MacLean’s Ten Ways to be Adored while Landing a Lord. Our heroine is running the family estate with very little money, and the hero is escaping from fashionable society to the country. This is the second in the Love by Numbers series.

When other people were reading Rivals, I was reading Barbara Taylor Bradford. And A Woman of Substance is set in Leeds and the surrounding countryside. I think this was the first book with sex scenes I ever read but it’s mostly a big old saga as Emma Harte raises herself up from housemaid to department store tycoon. I did read the rest of the trilogy and some of her others, but I think this – which was her big breakthrough was the best.

I mentioned it in the summer when I went to see the stage adaptation at the Open Air Theatre, but a reminder that Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden is set in Yorkshire. I’m going to admit that I haven’t reread this since I was a child, so I can’t swear to how the original is aging… and of course there’s also James Heriot and his adventures in veterinary medicine.

Another book I read recently is Sovereign, the third in the Shardlake series, which sees Matthew following in the train of Henry VIII as he makes his progress to York. As well as a good murder plot it’s also really good at creating sixteenth century York – and given how much of old York still exists you can really conjure up the settings in your head. It was particularly good for me because my history supervisor at university was based in Kings Manor, which is one of the principal locations.

And finally several of the series I really like have installments in yorkshire – including Lady Julia Grey and Royal Spyness, but you really need to ahve read the others to get the most out of them.

Happy Humpday everyone!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 10 – February 16

veritywilde

Yeah, so the reading list is being held up by the audiobooks and I’m not really sure why, because it felt like an ok week in reading. The Kings Loot is nearly finished though, and I’m not making bad progress on the Holly Stars. But that still reading list is looking a little long, so I need to do a bit of work on that front this week, or at least try to.

Read:

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

Poppy Harmon and the Pillow Talk Killer by Lee Hollis

Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh

Metropolitan Murders edited by Martin Edwards

Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh

Murder in the Afternoon by Frances Brody

Started:

The Kings Loot by Richard Wallace

Still reading:

Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars*

The Favourites by Layne Fargo*

A Traveller in Time by Alison Utley

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

No books bought, which is probably a good thing really things considered.

Bonus picture: Filming in Fitzroy Square on Friday

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.