Category: books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: July 18 – July 24

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Check me out. A remarkably good and varied week in reading by recent standards. Non fiction, new fiction, contemporary romance, adventure and golden age crime. This week I have two nights away (only one last week) and a day out at the Commonwealth Games so who knows how much reading time I have. This could be the high point of the whole month!

Read:

Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh

Children of the Storm by Elizabeth Peters

That Woman by Anne Sebba

Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh

Method Acting by Adele Buck

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin*

Acting Lessons by Adele Buck

Fast Acting by Adele Buck

Started:

Infamous by Lex Croucher*

Femina by Janina Ramirez*

Riviera Gold by Laurie R King

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Mean Baby by Selma Blair

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Positively restrained – two Adele Bucks to enable the binge, but that’s it.

Bonus photo: The British Museum on Thursday evening as I walked past on my way to a gig at the Museum of Comedy. We’ve just started The Deeds of the Disturber as our next Amelia Peabody relisten so it seemed apt for this week’s photo!

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

 

books

Recommendsday: July Kindle offers

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I have once again been through the monthly Kindle offers to try and find the best books on offer – I would say it is to help you with your holiday reading but we all know that I’m just a dirty big enabler.

We’re very close to the release date for Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new book – and hard on the heels of me spotting it in paperback at the airport last month – her last book Malibu Rising – which is linked to the new one – is on offer for 99p. I loved it last summer and as you know I can’t wait for Carrie Soto to come out. A couple of her older books have been reduced for odd days here and there – I’ve picked up One True Loves and Maybe in Another Life for 99p already this month, so if you like her, it’s worth keeping an eye out.

Also 99p is one of my favourite new books of the year so far – Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane. In other books I have reviewed that are on offer, Miss Aldridge Regrets (review), The Idea of You (review), Standard Deviation (review), Howl’s Moving Castle (review), Wonder (review), The Duchess Deal (review) and Autoboyograhy (review) are all 99p. The Kiss Quotient (review) is also 99p or in Kindle Unlimited. Dear Mrs Bird by A J Pearce is also 99p – I reviewed it in a summer reads post back in 2018 and its sequel Yours Cheerfully was a Book of the Week last year.

I went to the launch of Lizzy Dent’s new book last month, but her debut novel The Summer Job is 99p at the moment. I wrote a whole post about Philippa Gregory last month – and this month White Princess is 99p, it’s the fifth in the series if you run both the series together, although written later than some of the books after it (you’ll understand if you read the post) and comes before Constant Princess which is not a magic book, but I don’t know if this one is or not (again, it’ll make sense if you read the post!)

If you’re building a Terry Pratchett collection, this months’ 99p books are The Last Continent and A Hat Full of Sky, while Jingo is £2.99. Also in fantasy, two of the three books in Andrew Caldecott’s Rotherweird series are 99p but irritatingly it’s the first one and the third one. Book two is £2.99. I suspect the offers are because Caldecott has a new book that has come out fairly recently. In other fantasy series, I read the first in Genevieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series back in 2020 – I have several more on the Kindle waiting for met to get around to them – now including the sixth book in the series The Secret Chapter.

In books I read years ago there is One Day by David Nicholls – warning, it made me cry. I read Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto during my year in France (I remember vividly reading it in my incredibly hot hall of residence, which sort of matches the stifling atmosphere of a book about a hostage situation). I haven’t read Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks since even longer ago – when I was doing that War Literature module at A Level – and it wasn’t my favourite then, but it is one of those books you’re meant to have read, so I include it here in case… they’re all also 99p too

Slightly more expensive, at £1.99, is one of my favourite non fiction books of last year – Andrew Lownie’s Traitor King. Also £1.99 is one of my childhood favourites – A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. The Cazalets series is one of my favourites – and my favourite of the whole series, Casting Off, is just 99p. Also an old favourite – this month Murder Must Advertise is the Peter Wimsey book on offer. And the 99p Georgette Heyer is The Reluctant Widow, although loads of them are only £1.99 this month if you’re impatient and can’t wait for more to drop to 99p – you can find them via this list.

And finally, in books I haven’t read *yet* – the newest Susan Mallery The Summer Getaway and Martha Waters To Marry and To Meddle (the third in her Regency Vows series) are both 99p.

Enjoy!

Susan mallery, Summer getaway

Casting Off

To Marry and To Meddle

aristole and Dante

A town like alice 1.99

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: July 11 – July 17

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So a shorter list this week. Partly because I finished the Phryne Fisher re-read rather than read new stuff, partly because of an overnight in London where I went out, but mostly because of a nightshift on Friday, that made my brain tired and not great at concentrating, and also meant I slept through part of the weekend. What I will write about tomorrow I do not know. And we’ve got a mega heatwave continuing this week, so that may also fry my brain!

Read:

Murder and Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood

Death in Daylesford by Kerry Greenwood

Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood

Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy by Chynna Clugston Flores et al

Heartstopper Vol 2 by Alice Oseman

Started:

That Woman by Anne Sebba

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Mean Baby by Selma Blair

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin*

Three actual books bought and two ebooks

Bonus photo: hostel life! Before the nightshift at the end of the week, there was a night away in London at the start of the week. And things are starting to get back to normal at the hostels – this was my first time back at my second favourite/choice one since October 2021 before the Omicron wave hit.

An * next to a 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: July 4 – July 10

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Only two “new” books on the list this week. Oopsie daisy. But I have reached a good point in the Phryne Fisher series – Death by Water (as mentioned in the cruise ship mysteries) and Dead Man’s Chest are really good. And I finished the Vicky Bliss reread (as evidenced in the series I love post!) too. And on top of that there were two nights in London, one of which was spent watching Pretty Woman: the Musical and another recovering from the strains of a day of breaking political news. It was really quite a week!

Read:

Death by Water by Kerry Greenwood

The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters

Death at the Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh

The Incredible Crime by Lois Austen-Leigh

Dead Man’s Chest by Kerry Greenwood

Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood

Shipped by Angie Hockman

Started:

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin*

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Mean Baby by Selma Blair

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

One preorder and the Persephone subscription arrived, but I didn’t make it to any bookshops during my stay in London, so that meant I managed not to buy more any *actual* books, which is good because the books incoming pile is already huge! I did however start compiling the July kindle offer post, which lead to a certain level of ebook acquisition – I think five.

Bonus photo:

There was a book fair at the church hall on Saturday! I had a good browse, but there weren’t any of my particular passions – and although there were a few books I was interested in, they all cost way too much money. It has however reminded me that I need to start compiling my lists ready for Bristol next month!

An * next to a 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: June 27 – July 3

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Another fun week of reading, with two of my favourite books of the year so far on this list. I’m actually surprised how much is on this list considering the holiday and the fact that it was the British Grand Prix this weekend. And I’ve finally got all the long runners off the still reading list – but I haven’t managed to finish everything that I started last week. But I will get there, although Great Circle is 600ish pages and I have it in paperback so we’ll see how that goes…

Read:

Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E Smith

A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaya Williams

Heartstopper Vol 1 by Alice Oseman

Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett*

Started:

Mean Baby by Selma Blair

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Still reading:

Shipped by Angie Hockman

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Ummmmm. I may have bought a couple of books at the weekend. Just two. Nothing really. And put in a preorder. And nobly resisted some more on Kindle, but I haven’t really got very far through this month’s special offers yet…

Bonus photo: the wisteria is trying to flower again!

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

 

books

Books in the Wild: Luton airport…

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The other reason for last week’s longer reading list is revealed – I have been on a little holiday! And as that involved going through an airport, I took some pictures of the book selection for those of you who are heading out on a trip soon and want to see what your airport choices might be so you can save space in your baggage – on the way out at least!

I was quite disappointed with the new this week shelf – too much Stephen King and self help, not enough fiction and some of the fiction is the paper back release of hardbacks – like Circus of Wonders.

And this is the shelf where I usually make at least one of my purchases – the airport exclusives! Except this time I had sort of scuppered myself because I already had Murder Before Evensong and Lessons in Chemistry in hardback at home! I’ve finished them both now and can (and will!) recommend them! I got a bit excited about the Anthony Horowitz, until I realised it was a Bond Continuation and not a new Hawthorn, but there’s also the latest Marian Keys and Beth O’Leary for you if you don’t want to wait for the paperbacks.

This is the non fiction shelf, which I was a little disappointed by, although I’m not sure what I was hoping would be there – just that I usually end up getting some interesting non-fiction from this shelf – like Traitor King – but not this time!

I was going to call this the usual suspects shelf – Richard Osman, Sally Rooney, Lee Child, some duplication from the first photo… still if you haven’t read Malibu Rising, here is your chance ahead of the release of the release of Carrie Soto is Back, which is sort of connected.

And here we have the paperback fiction. A bit of Bridgerton, Daisy Jones and the Six, Circus of Wonders again and one of my purchases – Great Circle.

And to be honest it was a very poor showing for books that I have read – but here finally we have a few more – recent recommendation Book Lovers and slightly longer ago BotW pick Educated. If I didn’t already have Beach Read and You and Me on Vacation on the Kindle, I would have been picking one of them up here I think.

And that’s your lot. I didn’t take any pictures of the tables because there was nothing else exciting there, and in case you were wondering, yes I did take advantage of the buy one get one half price – but it was for a book for Him Indoors and not for me!

books, stats

June Stats

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Books read this month: 35*

New books: 23

Re-reads: 12 (6 audiobooks, 6 books)

Books from the to-read pile: 11

NetGalley books read: 5

Kindle Unlimited read: 6

Ebooks: 7

Library books: 0

Audiobooks: 6

Non-fiction books: 1

Favourite book this month: Either Lessons in Chemistry or The Unsinkable Greta James – reviews of both to follow

Most read author: Kerry Greenwood – six Phryne Fishers in the reread pile!

Books bought: I don’t really want to talk about it… 5 actual books, 15 ebooks…

Books read in 2022: 201

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 663

 A fun month in reading. Yes there are a fair few rereads in there, but there are also a lot of physical books from the shelf, and I think I’ve reduced the NetGalley list too. Of course a bit of a holiday helped with that by providing some quality reading time! And I think I may be starting to be able to read a bit more stuff that’s not romance or mystery – there are five whole books that definitely aren’t either of those this month, and you can increase that to seven depending on how you characterise women’s fiction.

Bonus picture: look who is on schedule!!! A veritable first.

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

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: June 20 – June 26

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Well. Last week was another big news week then. Blimey. Anyway, I had some time off work, so I got a lot of reading done as you can see. I was aiming to get the still reading list all read, but as you can see I didn’t quite manage it. Maybe this week?! Anyway, it’s also nearly the end of the month, and with it the end of the first half of the year, so as well as starting a new journal I have some halfway point posts planned – so look out for those over the next week and a bit along with all the usual end of month goodies.

Read:

The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters

The Castlemaine Murders by Kerry Greenwood

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

A Lonely Little Death by Beth Byers

Betraying the Crown by T P Fielden

Cue the Easter Bunny by Liz Evans

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan*

Murder Before Evensong by Rev Richard Coles

Queen of the Flowers by Kerry Greenwood

Acting Up by Adele Buck

Started:

Shipped by Angie Hockman

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E Smith

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Still reading:

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Yeah, so I had a little slip up. One actual book bought – but a whole load of e-books, including the Adele Buck you see on the list and its sequel. There was a whole bunch of stuff on offer and I did a bit of a spree on sample reading to see if I liked them, and I liked all of them. Whoopsie. Sorry, not sorry.

Bonus photo: this month’s peonies, after my best attempt to arrange them. Flower arranging is not my forte. But they do look beautiful and survived being delivered to behind my hedge on really quite a hot day.

An * next to a 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: June 13 – June 19

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A heatwave! I’ve been really trying to work on that long list of ongoing books. And also the NetGalley ones. And I’m still rereading Phryne. So it’s all got a bit mixed on the list.

Read:

What Bloody Man Is That by Simon Brett

Rotten to the Core by T E Kinsey*

A Matter of Love and Death by Carmen Radtke

Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood

Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J Farmer

Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood

The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare*

Started:

A Lonely Little Death by Beth Byers

Still reading:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan*

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Murder Before Evensong by Rev Richard Coles

Cue the Easter Bunny by Liz Evans

A couple of books bought. But I tried to be restrained!

Bonus photo: Tuesday morning in central london – beautiful blue sky and BT tower remembering the people who died in the Grenfell fire five years ago.

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

 

books, The pile

Books Incoming: June edition!

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Now you’ve seen a couple of these on the lists already. Bloodlust and Bonnets was a BotW and came on the same trip to the comic bookshop as Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron and Heartstopper part 1. Inverts is from That Trip To Foyles and The Setup is the book launch I went to the other week. Then we have another Persephone pick, the next library lover mystery because I read the one I ordered last month and my nice signed preorder of the Reverend Richard Coles murder mystery. Not a bad haul in all really!