Category: books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: April 21 – April 27

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Another pretty solid week of books. I’ve got one of the long running list and I’ve made progress on some of the others too. Perhaps not quite as much progress as I wanted but it was a very busy week in real life and there’s nothing you can do about that.

Read:

A Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh

Barking! by Grace Smith

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

Fell Murder by E C R Lorac

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Murder Will Out by Alison Joseph

Started:

Wish You Were Here by Jess K Hardy*

Death at the Playhouses by Stuart Douglas

Still reading:

Murder on Line One by Jeremy Vine*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Three books bought.

Bonus picture: a misty morning on the train. It’s nearly impossible to get a good photo from the train but I keep trying because it can be so beautiful.

*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: April 14 – April 20

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A really, really lovely week. I was off work and it has been really productive and just generally delightful. I’ve read some really good stuff too – a train journey to Brighton and back really helped with that! I have made some more progress on the long runners, but maybe not as much as I would like. I will get there though. I will. I have, however, had a good week on the NetGalley front, so I’ll take my wins where I can get them!

Read:

Devil’s Food by Kerry Greenwood

The Witching Hour by Catriona McPherson

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar*

Death at the Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh

A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith

A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith*

The Mystery at Rake Hall by Maureen Paton*

The Cat Who Saved The Library by Sosuki Natsukawa*

Started:

Fell Murder by E C R Lorac

Murder on Line One by Jeremy Vine*

Still reading:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Two books bought, because I can’t resist a bookshop…

Bonus picture: Brighton Beach on Thursday, looking out at the remains of the West Pier.

*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, historical, series, Series I love

Series I Love Redux: Dandy Gilver

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After reading Catriona McPherson’s new book last week, I went back and checked where I was at with the Dandy Gilver series – and lo and behold there was a sixteenth book in the series out in paperback for me to read to complete the set. It’s been three years since I last wrote about Dandy – at which point I was one down on the then fifteen books in the series. We’ve now followed Dandy’s adventures from 1923 all the way through until 1939 and seen her go from a bored wife at home with her boys away at school through to a grandmother worrying about the likelihood of her sons being killed up to fight in another war. And given that there are a bunch of throwbacks her first case in this one, it does feel like this could be the last book in the series, but who knows. I would definitely read about Dandy taking on the Home Front, but I don’t want her boys to be killed – so maybe it’s best to stop? Anyway, you can go back and read my previous posts about the series – consistently darker than you expect them to be, and with far too many different cover designs!

Have a great weekend.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: April 7 – April 13

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So a couple of things are notable from last week’s list. Lets take them in order. Firstly: I finished the Ruth Galloway series. So that binge is over, and the book hangover has commenced. Secondly a large amount of Kerry Greenwood was read after the news that she had died – I’m more than halfway through Corinna Chapman book three – and would have finished it (and probably the next one too) if I hadn’t suddenly realised that I was going to have to write about other things than Kerry’s books on here in the near future. Thirdly: I’m having a good go at the NetGalley list this month. The Simon Brett is out in a couple of weeks (he’s clearly writing at a rate of knots at the moment!) and the Catriona McPherson came out last week. And I’ve started another one that came out last week. Now should I have read them in a different order: yes. But the fact that I’ve read them is progress in itself!

Read:

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths

Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood

They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie

Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood

Camping and a Steak Out by Patti Benning

Major Bricket and the Circus Corpse by Simon Brett*

At Mrs Lippencote’s by Elizabeth Taylor

The Edinburgh Murders by Catriona McPherson*

Started:

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar*

Devil’s Food by Kerry Greenwood

Still reading:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Four books bought – I just couldn’t help myself… but on the bright side none of them were hardback new releases, so I did at least resist that temptation!

Bonus picture: I have deployed the hammock! Sadly it was so lovely I fell asleep while reading the Cher memoir and ended up with a headache from too much sun and still without having finished the book. But I shan’t let that deter me. I shall put my head in the shade next time and wear a hat.

*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

Books Incoming: Mid-April 2025

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A truly bumper month of acquisitions. But the good news – if such there can be – is that I have read all the Elly Griffiths at this point, along with the Edmund Crispin so they’re not actually on the to-read pile any more, they’re now in search of a place on the actual shelves. And of course given that I own all of the series except the first one in paperback there is a non zero chance that my mania for sets (preferably matching) will lead me to acquire The Crossing Places in paperback too so I have the set. I will try and resist. The Julia Buckley happened to be in the Picadilly Waterstones when I was in there buying one of the Ruth Galloways and although it’s not the next one in the series I haven’t read, it’s so rare to spot these in a shop I bought it anyway.

The Ann Granger is the first Mitchell and Markby which I have read but don’t own. Its the same edition that I read it in when a very dear friend lent me her whole set to me by post nearly a decade ago. She very sadly died last summer – but it would have been her birthday this week so when I saw this in the National Trust bookshop at the weekend it seemed like a sign to acquire it and reread. And then of course I got distracted by the Corinna Chapman re-read so it hasn’t happened – yet. And the other two were also purchased at the same time – and were total impulse buys. I’ve never come across them before but they’re books two and five in a twenty year old cozy crime series so I thought I’d snaffle them as they were only £1 each. I’ll either like them or I won’t and I was supporting a good cause!

Have a great Saturday.

books

Mystery Series: Corinna Chapman

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With the news of the death of Kerry Greenwood at the start of the week, I felt moved to embark on a reread of her contemporary mystery series set in Melbourne. It’s been a while since I read them, but I was still surprised to see that I hadn’t written about them here – especially given how much I’ve written about the delightful Phryne Fisher. So today I’m remedying that.

Corinna Chapman is a baker in Melbourne. She owns and runs her own bakery which is in the same building she lives in: a delightful creation of an apartment building called Insula. Built in the 1920s by someone with a bit of a fixation on the Romans when it came to design. On top of that, each apartment is named after a different Roman God and it has a delightful roof garden too. I would move in myself except that across the course of the books quite a lot of drama happens in the building and its environs.

The first book in the series is nearly 20 years old now, so there are some bits here that are a little dated, but Corinna is such a wonderful creation. She is a reformed accountant, divorced, a reluctant sleuth and happy in herself despite society telling her that she should be miserable because she weighs too much. This is written in the first person so you’re inside her head the whole time and her personal monologue is idiosyncratic and wry. The other residents of the building and in Corinna’s life are also amusing and fun. And of course there are murders to solve. Often more than one of them too – in the first book for example Corinna finds herself investigating who is terrorising the women of her building but also who is killing off heroin addicts in Melbourne.

There are seven of these, with the final book The Spotted Dog coming some years after the previous installment which had lead me to hope that we might still get another one, but it seems that wasn’t meant to be. So I shall console myself with a reread. I’ve never seen these in paperback in the wild here in the UK as far as I can remember, but the good news for the rest of you is that the first one and the third one are in Kindle Unlimited in the UK at the moment, even if I don’t much like the new covers they’ve been given.

Have a great weekend everyone.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 31 – April 6

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So, I’m down to the final book in the Ruth Galloway binge, and I paced myself and only let myself start it at the weekend – and didn’t let myself finish it. Whatever will I do when I’ve finished them? Well the answer should be read the April books from NetGalley, but we all know that what should happen and what actually happens can be radically different things when it comes to me! Ahem

Read:

Gemma by Noel Streatfeild

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths

They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie

The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths

The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe

The Long Divorce by Edmund Crispin

Dimsie Grows Up by Dorita Fairlie Bruce

Started:

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths

The Edinburgh Murders by Catriona McPherson*

Still reading:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Three books bought at the National Trust second hand bookshop on Sunday.

Bonus picture: genuinely starting to feel like winter might be over now. This was Sunday afternoon and it was glorious.

*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

March Stats

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Books read this month: 33*

New books: 24

Re-reads: 9 (9 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 17

NetGalley books read: 2

Kindle Unlimited read: 3

Ebooks: 1

Audiobooks: 9

Non-fiction books: 0

Favourite book: I mean one of the Ruth Galloways, I just don’t know which one…

Most read author: Elly Griffiths – 12 Ruth Galloway books…

Books bought: still too many

Books read in 2025: 94

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 780

A pretty good month in reading all in, although it has presented a problem or two. A massive, massive binge like I’ve been on with the Ruth Galloway series reduces the options for Books of the Week – because of my rules about repeat authors and later books in series – and that in its turn presents issues for the Quick Reviews, as you could see on Wednesday. But given that I’ve very nearly finished the series now, April should be better on that front. I might even finish a non-fiction book…

Bonus picture: Progress on this year’s Beat the to-read Pile bookshelf – we are ahead of schedule! Reader, it will not last. It never lasts! Also: boy oh boy can’t you see the Ruth Galloway binge impact – in volume and colours.

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 2 this month!

books

Book of the Week: The Rest of Our Lives

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Pinch, punch, first day of the month etc to you all – and watch out for April Fool’s jokes today. I used to enjoy going through the newspapers on April first to try and spot the joke stories and adverts. I have a long ago memory of one for a car company (BMW I think) boasting about a new feature on their cars that would turn the oven on from the car to help you with the dinner prep when you got home. I remember how outlandish it seemed at the time – and now here we are in the smart home era with devices of all sorts controllable from your phone – should you want to. Anyway, to today’s book…

The Rest of Our Lives on a book display in Foyles

The Rest of Our Lives follows Tom, who drives his 18-year-old daughter to college in Pittsburgh – and then keeps driving. Various aspects of his life are not going to plan and he drifts himself into a road trip to try and escape. Years earlier when his wife had an affair, Tom had decided that when their youngest child left for college he would leave the marriage – and that moment has now arrived. But it’s also arrived at a moment when he’s just been suspended from his job after his students complained about the politics of his law class, and he’s got a health issue that he’s busy ignoring but from the descriptions you get of it, he really shouldn’t be.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this from the blurb – it could have been a Rich People Problems novel but it’s actually more of a mid life crisis novel. Tom’s in denial about his health, doesn’t want to tell his wife about his work situation or to deal with the underlying issue in their relationship so he finds an excuse to up and run. He doesn’t seem to have anyone in his life that he can talk to properly about things, so you see him find excuses for what he’s doing to the people he meets – right up until the point that he can’t any more. It’s not a long book, but it’s got a lot going on and leaves you with some things to think about as it deals with male loneliness, morality and mortality. It doesn’t have the level of resolution that I get from my regular reads of mystery and romance – but I enjoyed it never the less and it’s a thought provoking read that I think would work really well for book clubs and people who like to read book-club type books.

The Rest of Our Lives came out last week. My copy came via NetGalley, but as you can see I’ve already seen it in the shops, so you should be able to get hold of it ok. And of course it’s also in Kindle and Kobo for £3.99 at time of posting, which is pretty good for a new release hardback.

Happy reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 24 – March 30

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A somewhat steady week in books because it was an incredibly busy week in reality life – I went to a concert on Monday night, my sister came to visit, I had two leaving dos to go to, we went to see Dr. Strangelove and then went to see Him Indoors’ family for Mother’s Day. And when I write it all out like that it’s suddenly not a surprise that the list is a little shorter than usual. And it’s nearly the end of March and I have no idea what’s going to go in the quick reviews on account of the fact that a good proportion of the books I’ve read this month have been Ruth Galloway ones. And I’ve got tickets to a show tonight so not a huge amount of time to finish anything else…

Read:

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths

The Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin Markovitz*

Ring Leader by Patti Benning

Steak It or Leave It by Patti Benning

Started:

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths

Gemma by Noel Streatfeild

Still reading:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

No books bought, mostly because I bought all the rest of the Ruth Galloway’s last week…

Bonus picture: definitely springtime in the village this week. And yes that is the sun, it’s not coming from the street light.

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