I would have read more this week, except for the fact that I acquired a new-to-me copy of one of my favourite books of all time – Gone with the Windsors by Laurie Graham – and couldn’t resist re-reading it. This of course cut into my time for reading new books and doesn’t count towards my total for the year – or my list here. Still it’s so funny and so good I don’t mind!
Read:
The Queerness of Rusty by Phyllis Matthewman
Beneath a Silent Moon by Tracy Grant
Good Dukes Wear Black by Manda Collins
Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor
Mug Shot by Caroline Fardig
Maybe the Moon by Armistead Maupin
Started:
Read It and Weep by Jenn McKinlay
Still reading:
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham
Five books (including that copy of Gone with the Windsors) and two ebooks bought. Oops
Look at my progress with the longstanding books in progress! And I read more besides. Thank you minibreak and days off work.
Read:
Dandy Gilver and a Deadly Measure of Brimstone
Jane Steel by Lyndsay Faye
The House at Baker Street by Michelle Birkby
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams
Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell
Freya by Anthony Quinn
Chloe Takes Control by Phyllis Matthewman
Started:
Maybe the Moon by Armistead Maupin
The Queerness of Rusty by Phyllis Matthewman
Still reading:
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham
I bought books this week – but that’s because we went to Northumberland for a few days – and that meant a trip to the cavern of amazingness that is Barter Books in Alnwick. Ninety minutes later and I’ve got a basket of books that I’ve been after for a while – although a couple were for friends. So much fun.
Some really good books here – I’m having trouble picking my BotW for tomorrow! I’m going to try and finish some of the long-running books this week coming though.
Most read author: Mabel Ester Allen (and her pseudonyms)
Books read this year: 84
Books bought: 13 actual books and 4 ebooks
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf: 471
The number of physical books bought this month is the reason that I’ve got an unoffical book buying ban in place at the moment. But at least I managed to get a library book and a non fiction book read – even if only one of each!
*Includes some short stories/novellas/comics (3 this month)
Tricky choice this week – I’ve already waxed lyrical about The Night that Changed Everything in the Easter post, where I also mentioned Jolly Foul Play which I’ve now finished and is part of a series I’ve already written about in various places (like here, here, and here). And my other favourite book last week was Broken Homes – book three in the Peter Grant series which I wouldn’t suggest you read as an introduction to the series and I’ve already written about Rivers of London and Body Work. So, I preface this by saying, go and read Wells and Wong if you like school stories, Peter Grant if you like magic and detective series and The Night that Changed everything if you like romantic comedies.
That all out of the way, the BotW has to be As If! An Oral History of Clueless. This is the inside story of the classic teen movies – with contributions from pretty much everyone involved – mostly from interviews given to the author. If you’re my age, you may have watched Amy Heckerling’s film on fairly hard rotation through your teenage years. Cher and Dion’s adventures through Beverley Hills are both funny and strangely universal despite their mega bucks wardrobes and swanky life style.
If you love the movie then this is a fascinating insight into how it got made, what was going on behind the scenes and what it was like working on the book. I found it fascinating – although I found that the style of putting in chunks of quotes from each contributor made it feel more like a stack of research notes in places rather than an actual book coming to conclusions. If you’re not a mega fan of the movie, then this probably isn’t going to be your bag – unless you have and interest in the behind the scenes machinations of Hollywood and the process of making a film.
It’s a fairly pricey paperback – so unless you’re a super-fan if may be one for your local library – but here it is on Amazon, Kindle, Waterstones and Foyles.
Some really good books this week – some of which I’ve already mentioned in my Easter Books post. You may yet hear more about some of them too! I went away for the bank holiday weekend – or you know the list of books read would have been higher if I’d been sitting on my sofa. Get me with my life outside work and books!
Read:
The Sport of Baronets by Theresa Romain
The Night that Changed Everything by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice
Deira Joins the Chalet School by Caroline German
Jolly Foul Play by Robin Stevens
Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
As If! An Oral History of Clueless by Jen Chaney
The Skeleton Garden by Marty Wingate
Started:
Jane Steele by Lindsay Faye
Still reading:
Freya by Anthony Quinn
Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham
I didn’t buy any books! Well I bought one book, but it wasn’t really for me (although it is on my kindle account, because I share it with Him Indoors). So I’m calling it no books. Who knew that was possible. I’ll try and not to buy any books at all this week…
Easter is upon us again – early this year – and so I thought I’d throw some suggestions out there for books for reading over the bank holiday weekend, or the Easter holidays if you’re lucky enough to have them.
The Night That Changed Everything by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice
I love the cover of this book – can’t explain why, but it just speaks to me
Rebecca and Ben are perfect for each other – blissfully happy, they’re made for each other. But when a secret from the past is accidentally revealed, their love story is rewritten. Can they recover? Is it possible to forgive and forget? This came out yesterday (Thursday), but I was lucky to have an advance copy which I finished on the train home from work just after midnight on Thursday morning. I really, really, enjoyed Rebecca and Ben’s story – which, as you can probably tell from my synopsis, is not your traditional romantic comedy. It nearly had me crying on the train – which doesn’t happen very often (in part because I try not to read books that will make me cry on the train!) and I had trouble putting it down. I didn’t even notice I’d arrived at Euston on the way to work on Wednesday I was so engrossed – if it wasn’t the end of the line I would have missed my stop! On top of everything else going for it, I had no idea where it was going. I suspect this is going to be on a lot of beach reading lists this year – get there ahead of the game and read it now. I’m hoping this will be in the supermarkets and all over the place – but here are the traditional links: Amazon, Kindle, Waterstones, Foyles, Kobo.
Death of a Diva by Derek Farrell
Danny Bird has lost his job, his boyfriend and his home. So of course the logical solution to this is to take over a dive of a pub owned by a gangster and try and transform it into a fabulous nightspot. But then his big act for the opening night turns up dead in the dressing room surrounded by a cloud of powder that’s definitely not talc and he’s the prime suspect in a murder inquiry. This is funny and clever – I was laughing out loud as I tried to figure out who was responsible. Danny is a fabulous character – and is surrounded by a great supporting cast. There’s lots of potential here – this is another winner from Fahrenheit Press – who you may have noticed have been providing a lot of my favourite crime reads recently. Get your copy on Kindle and badger Fahrenheit on Twitter to get it on other platforms. I got my copy free when it was on promotion a couple of weekends ago (it came out before the Fahrenheit subscription) – this weekend their free book for Easter is Fidelis Morgan’s Unnatural Fire – which is high on my to-read pile – as I loved The Murder Quadrille as you may remember.
The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan
Harriet and her granddaughter Grace are governesses at the same house, nearly 50 years apart. Grace has been raised on stories of Fenix House – but once she’s arrived it’s clear that her grandmother may be a less than reliable narrator. I reviewed this for Novelicious (check out my full review here) and basically this is the book that is going to fill the Victorian-time-slip-upstairs-downstairs gap in your life. Secrets, lies, families, relationships -they’re all there in this twisty and intriguing book – which had me poleaxed at the end. If you liked Letters to the Lost, or the Mysterious Affair at Castaway House, or any of Lauren Willig’s stand-alone novels like The Ashford Affair then this is for you.
Jolly Foul Play by Robin Stevens
Hazel and Daisy are back on the detection trail after Deepdean’s new head girl is found dead during a fireworks display. I haven’t finished the latest Wells and Wong mystery yet (it’s another that came out on Thursday – I started it as soon as my pre-order dropped on to my kindle) but if it’s half as good as the other three it’ll be a delight. One for the 8 to 12 year old in your house – and your inner child as well.
What am I going to be reading this Easter weekend? Well, I’m hoping to finish Hazel and Daisy’s adventures on my Good Friday commutes, then I think I might try to fill the Night Circus-shaped void in my life with Ben Aaronovitch’s Broken Homes or my urge for more time-slip books with the rest of Beatriz Williams’ latest or Lucinda Riley’s The Seven Sisters. Any other recommendations gratefully received in the comments – although I’m meant to be on a book-buying ban!
A varied week of reading – with a touch of pretty much everything. And I finally had the time to sit down and concentrate on The Night Circus, so the Still Reading list is down to one…
Read:
The Indecent proposal by Louise Marley
Bella and the Beast by Olivia Drake
Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford
Ships, Stings and Wedding Rings by Jodi Taylor
Death of a Diva by Derek Farrell
It Happened One Season by Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, Jacquie D’Alessandro and Candice Hern
The Guides of the Chalet School by Jane Berry
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Started:
Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham
Still reading:
Freya by Anthony Quinn
The books from last week’s spending spree turned up and I realised that the book piles by the sofa are now getting tall enough (in some cases) to interfere with the curtains. Thus I am seriously contemplating a buying ban on actual books. So this week I only purchased 2 ebooks – and one of them was free. I’ll keep you posted on the piles.
Hmmmm. What to say about this week’s reading – distinctly children’s book heavy? I had a spree with a dealer a few weeks back and they were just what I needed for my post-nightshift recovery. And I finally finished The Shadow Hour at the weekend – once my brain had got back in gear!
Read:
Heartsong Cottage by Emily March
The Bronte Plot by Katherine Reay
Chiltern School by Mabel Esther Allen
The Ballet Family by Mabel Esther Allen (Jean Estoril)
The Ballet Family Again by Mabel Esther Allen (Jean Estoril)
The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan
Started:
It Happened One Season by Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, Jacquie D’Alessandro and Candice Hern
Still reading:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Freya by Anthony Quinn
Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford
Oh dear. I had a bit of a mega spending spree over the weekend. I paid for it (mostly) with vouchers, but still added a lot more to the to-read pile than I’ve taken off it. Whoops.
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 