Category: books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 21 – August 27

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Well. I feel like August has been so busy that I don’t know where I am any more, except for the fact that it’s nearly over, so the school holidays are coming to an end and we’ve had more rain and miserable weather than I would hope for in a summer – even a British one. Still a pretty good week in reading all in, despite not finishing any of the long runners. I spotted the Shades of Magic graphic novel was in Kindle Unlimited and read that to remind myself of the world ahead of potentially reading the new book when that comes out. And I re-entered the world of Mrs Pargeter, which was a lot of fun.

Read:

Arabella by Georgette Heyer

Death at Crookham Hall by Michelle Salter

Suddenly at His Residence by Christianna Brand

Mrs Pargeter’s Patio by Simon Brett*

Mrs Pargeter’s Plot by Simon Brett

The Wedding Piper by Isabel Rogers

Shades of Magic Vol 1: The Steel Prince by V E Schwab et al

Chef’s Kiss by Jarrett Melendez et al

The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters

Started:

JFK is Missing by Liz Evans

Still reading:

The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes by Kate Strasdin*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker*

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

One book acquired on an evening walk to Waterstones Gower Street. I just can’t keep away…

Bonus photo: Friday night at the polo club (!) pop up restaurant. Possibly even more Happy Valley-esque than it felt last year!

*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, bookshelfies

Bookshelfie: My next project

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This is exactly what the title says it is – this is where I want my next bookshelf. This is the gap at the top of the stairs into the spare room. As you can see, at the moment, it’s currently the home to the Trisha Ashley books, which are in heaps because I couldn’t be bothered to put them all back shelf-style after I did the measuring up. I was hoping it was going to be a little antique bookshelf that I find somewhere in a shop or one of those vintage markets but I’ve been looking for a while and haven’t found anything yet, so maybe I’m going to have to find a carpenter to make some for me. In which case I’ll have to decide if I want it to go the whole way up (probably) which would mean relocating the Matilda poster (still can’t believe that original run at the RSC is so long ago) and probably rehanging all the theatre posters on that stairway – of which there are a few (half a dozen) and would mean doing some tidying up to hide the marks and would probably lead to redecorating the lot. So maybe I need to ask you to cross your fingers that I find a delightful little bookshelf in a shop soon that I can just slot in there. I already had a set of shelves here in mind – with some of the cozy crime series that are outgrowing their space on the downstairs shelves and because they’re mass market maybe not the best use of space on the bookcase they are in – but when my sister suggested that a bookshelf with a tempting selection for guests would be a good idea and that seemed like a good plan too. So who knows what will actually end up on there. And yes as you know, the spare room does have a bookshelf but as it’s slightly chaotic overspill and where books live is partly determined by how often I might want to use them, the travel books definitely live the furthest away from me and so any potential new bookshelf should be for books I might want more often than that. Which brings me back to cozies and romances. And I promise that the logic of all this makes sense to me, even if it might seem crazy to you!

Happy Saturday everyone!

books, series

Mystery series: Mitchell and Markby

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So as I discovered earlier this month that there is a new book in the series after a nearly 20 year gap, so this week’s I’ve taken the opportunity to write about Ann Granger’s 1990s cozy detective series.

The Mitchell and Markby of the title are Meredith Mitchell and Alan Markby. She is a civil servant for the Foreign Office who has spent several years working abroad and he is a Detective Chief Inspector. When they meet in the first book, Meredith is visiting Alan’s Cotswold patch to attend a wedding, but they become friends (ahem) and she starts visiting him and eventually she settles in the area as a base from her foreign postings. They’re both slightly older than a lot of cozy crime duos and if I remember correctly quite cautious about the possibility of a romantic relationship. The mysteries are good – police procedurals of the old school sort (ie not thrillers or psychological) and obviously contemporary to the time that they were written.

I read the first 15 books seven years ago, having borrowed the paperbacks from a friend and gave them back to her afterwards – I was delighted to spot a couple of them in Waterstone’s Gower Street this week but it’s the first time I’ve seen any in yonks. But the good news is that they’re all available in nice shiny Kindle editions – some of them at a really reasonable price. The cheapest is the latest one – 99p! – but I really do suggest you start with some of the earlier ones to get the best sense of the series. If you like American cozy series – or like watching TV series like Midsummer Murders, these would be a good options for you. Granger has a couple of other series too – I’ve read about half of her Campbell and Carter series which she wrote after the Mitchell and Markbys, and I’ve read one of her Lizzie Carter series, which are set in the Victorian period. Gower Street actually had quite a good selection the other day – so you never know, I may go back and fill in some gaps!

Happy reading!

books

Recommendsday: Gentle Fiction

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Inspired by yesterday’s post about Small Miracles, I thought I’d write today’s recommendsday is a batch of books that are similarly gentle but uplifting, but it was harder than I expected.

So Small Miracles is blurbed by A J Pearce as in the Emmy Lake series – which have more sadness to them than these (or at least more on page sadness) but the first one Dear Mrs Bird is in Kindle Unlimited at the moment, so that’s fairly risk free if you’re a KU member.

It’s actually really hard to come up with something that feels really similar – but I think maybe The Diary of a Provincial Lady would work – it’s funnier and also nearly 100 now, but it has a similar gentle, low stakes feel to it. Which also made me think of Miss Buncle – another woman trying to get some money, although in this case because her dividends have failed and Ladies don’t have jobs.

There were a few things in the people also read/bought columns that looked promising Julietta Henderson’s The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman – still haven’t read but kept coming up as a suggestion when I was writing this – so maybe I should get around it to! Also popping up is Claire Pooley’s The People on Platform Five – which I don’t have, but is 99p at the moment, so it’s entirely within the realms of possibility that I’ll end up buying it after writing this post! Again, I haven’t read them, but I know my sister and my mum really like Rachel Joyce’s novels and I think they’re doing something similar too.

Oh, and I’ve pre-ordered the Small Miracle’s sequel…

Book of the Week, books

Book of the Week: Small Miracles

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I could write about Codename Charming again today, but you’ve already heard enough about Lucy Parker from me in the last week or so, so instead I’m going with Anne Booth’s Small Miracles which I finally got around to reading after I spotted it when I was putting together the Kindle offers post this month.

It’s the mid 1990s and Sister Margaret, Sister Bridget and Sister Cecilia are the last three members of their order and struggling to figure out how their convent can survive in the face of the loss of some of their number and a house in need of more repairs than they can pay for. But after 90-year-old Sister Cecilia decides to play the new National Lottery things start to change for them and their community.

This is a warm and uplifting novel which moves around between the nuns and some of the people whose lives they touch. It is about a religious community but it doesn’t feel preachy or overly religious – despite the fact that poor Sister Margaret has a lot to pray about at various points. One small miracle has a ripple effect – sometimes in ways that the people involved can see, others in ways that are only known to you as the reader. Basically it is just a lovely tale of how little things can start bigger things moving and can cause good things to happen.

So if you need a nice gentle read to make you feel warm inside, this would be a great pick. And as I mentioned in that offer post, there is a sequel coming – and it’s Christmas themed!

My copy of Small Miracles was an advance proof that I’m not quite sure how I got, and which I lent to mum before I remembered I needed a photograph. But it is 99p on Kindle and Kobo at the moment so run don’t walk if this sounds like your cup of tea.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 14 – August 20

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So, I didn’t get anything ticked off the long-runners list – although I have made some progress. But the new Lucy Parker arrived and I just couldn’t help myself. Also it was another super busy week – with a theatre trip and three nights away from home. This week might be slightly less busy, but I hesitate even to type that because it feels like tempting fate. Who said August was a quiet month?!

Read:

Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer

Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer

Small Miracles by Anne Booth*

Codename Charming by Lucy Parker

The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden by Kate Saunders

Fence: Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan

The Biscuit Barrel Murder by Geoffery Start*

Started:

n/a

Still reading:

The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes by Kate Strasdin*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker*

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Well I didn’t buy any books either on Kindle or when I went to Waterstones Gower Street, which is an achievement in itself. One pre-order did arrive though – as you may know – but they’ve already been counted.

Bonus photo: taking the disappointment over the World Cup final out on the jasmines in the back garden.

*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 related, books

Books in the Wild: The Works

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As I mentioned on Monday, I made a trip into town ash Sunday and did two bookshops. And as The Works seemed to have a lot of books I have read and recommended it seemed like I should do a post for those of you who fancy a 3 for £6 deal (or two)

Firstly: please note my first sighting of The Unsinkable Greta James in the wild – I didn’t see the hardback in stores (I ordered it) but here is the paperback. Next to it is The Fiancée Farce, which I own but haven’t read, but I have enjoyed some of Alexandria Bellefleure’s other romances. Also on the TBR pile are The Fake Up and The Setup – I will get to it, I promise. And then there is very recent BotW Mrs Nash’s Ashes!

Next across from that is probably the bookshelf in a store I have read most of this year! There’s a healthy stack of Christina Lauren: Roomies was a BotW, I have Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating on the pile and I’ve read but didn’t love Dating You, Hating You – it violated my no sabotage at work as a love language rule! Daisy Jones and the Six has already had one mention this week but it was also a BotW, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was a BotW as was The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice was too – and I wrote a whole series post. The Marlow Murder Club is one of the crop of similar series that have cropped up since – and I’ve read that and the sequel and they were fun.

Slightly less here, but still a good group – although now we’re out of the 3 for £6 group. There’s one of my favourite books of last year – Lessons in Chemistry – which I recently loaned to a colleague who loved it – and two Ali Hazelwoods Love Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis. I’ve read all of the Heartstopper – not long now for the final part – but I haven’t (yet) got into Sarah Jane Maas (although I have a friend who loves her), or Elle Kennedy or Lucy Score (or Colleen Hoover on the last shelves) and I had a bad experience with my first Tessa Bailey so I know she’s not for me – although (again) I know people who love her.

And finally, actually this is the one with the most I’ve read! Dead Romantics was a BotW (as was Poston’s latest don’t forget!), I’ve read The Kiss Curse too (and have Hex Appeal on the Kindle too), I’ve read both the Amy Leas and the Richard Coles and another Heartstopper. I read The Problem with Perfect last week – it was another of my flawed options for BotW this week – Weather Girl is not as good as Business or Pleasure but it is fun. I’ve read Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels and it didn’t work for me, but as it has sequels (one of which you can see here!) it clearly did for others. I would rather read Gail Carriger – but if you’ve read her you might like it. And finally I really need to read the Jesse Sutanto.

And so to sum up: an excellent time for you to go to The Works – as long as you don’t mind carrying books home with you. You’ll have to wait until the next Books Incoming to see what I took home with me though!

Have a great weekend!

books

Series Redux: London Celebrities

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Covers of the London Celebrities series

As Codename Charming came out on ebook on Tuesday, this week I’m taking the opportunity to remind you of Lucy Parker’s other series – The London Celebrities books. I wrote a whole long post about them just over a year ago now after I did a full re-read of the series – which are all basically enemies to lovers romances set in and around London’s West End theatre and TV circles. I love them, so do go and read them if you haven’t already. And don’t forget about Battle Royal either.

Book previews, books

Out this week: Codename Charming

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I’ve already mentioned this book a whole bunch of times at this point – as I’ve been excited for it since it was announced and mentioned it again in the anticipated books of the second half of the year post, but it’s finally here – the second book in the Palace insiders series that started with Battle Royal. I had forgotten that the ebook was coming out a month ahead of the paperback until my preorder dropped onto my Kindle on Tuesday so that was a delightful treat and I couldn’t not mention it given how much I like Lucy Parker’s books! Here are the Kindle and Kobo links – and you can of course pre-order the paperback as well if you have the willpower to wait.

Book of the Week, books, romance, romantic comedy

Book of the Week: Dating Dr Dil

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So. Quite a difficult choice this week because there wasn’t anything that I finished that I didn’t have a few reservations about. I actually wrote another book up as BotW before I wrote this one because that first one just didn’t feel right because I didn’t like it enough. But – I had less issues with this than I did with the other options, and I read it really quite quickly which is always a positive sign with me. Plus the next book in the series came out last week (which I had forgotten I had preordered, hurrah for Past Verity sending a nice suprise) so it’s sort of timely. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it anyway.

Cover of Dating Dr Dil

Our heroine is Kareena, who dreams of a big love story, but at the start of Dating Dr Dil it’s the morning of her 30th birthday and it hasn’t happened for her so she’s about to hit the dating apps. Then her family forget her birthday and drop the bombshell that her dad is selling the family home that her mum had renovated and poured her heart into. Kareena and her dad strike a deal: if she can find her soulmate before her sister’s engagement party, he’ll give her the house. Our hero is Prem, a cardiologist who doesn’t believe in love and who has a TV talk show that he’s using to boost his profile to try and fund the medical centre he wants to set up. When he and Kareena first meet it turns into an argument that goes viral and his donors start to pull out. So he proposes a plan: they should date – to restore his image, but also so her dad will follow through on his deal about the house. But how does that fit with Kareena wanting true love?

This is a reimagining of the main plot strand of The Taming of the Shrew – the Petruchio and Katherina bit (not the Bianca bit) or alternatively if you’re a musical fan the Fred/Lili bit of Kiss Me, Kate. And if you’re feeling frustrated with how some of the characters are behaving, remind yourself of that fact and use it to channel your annoyance to the source material. I wanted the two of them to come to their senses a bit earlier, but: plots need conflict, even if Verity wants every one to be happy all the time. But this is basically an enemies to lovers romance with a side order of meddling friends and family and that makes it a lot of fun really.

My copy was on Kindle – bought when it was on a really good offer a while back- but it’s also on Kobo is £2.99 on both at the moment which is quite a good deal really. It’s also in a paperback edition that I’ve even seen in stores. And the next in the series is out now – this time it’s retelling Much Ado About Nothing.

Happy Reading!