Verity Reads Books (lots of them)
In which our heroine attempts to tame the to-read pile
A smaller selection this month – and you’ve already seen two of them – Last Hero was a BotW already, and the Rainbow Rowell was a book I bought myself for Christmas! Then there’s a proof copy of Triple Cross that just appeared, my copy of Death of a Necromancer that I contributed to the Kickstarter for (and my bonus content!), the latest – and one of the last Girls Gone By Chalet School Books before my collection is complete and the new Jen DeLuca. Nice.
A good week of reading in the end in terms of the mix of genres, even if I didn’t finish any more of the long runners. I’m still working on it though. We’re into December now though – so we have the quick reviews this week after last week’s stats but there is more Christmas stuff coming up and you’ve already had buy me a book and the stuff I bought myself.
Read:
Green for Danger by Christianna Brand
Murder Mystery Book Club by Danielle Collins
Mystery in the Channel by Freeman Willis Crofts
James Bond: My long and eventful search for his father by Len Deighton
This Telling by Cheryl Strayed
Luck of the Draw by Kate Claybourn
A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear
Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews
Started:
Death Checked Out by Leah Dobrinska*
Still reading:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
The Empire by Michael Ball*
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
Bonus photo: the South Bank arts complex on Tuesday night as I walked across the river
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 read this month: 30*
New books: 30
Re-reads: 0 – which is frankly astonishing given this year so far
Books from the to-read pile: 8
NetGalley books read: 5
Kindle Unlimited read: 8
Ebooks: 9
Library books: 0
Audiobooks: 0
Non-fiction books: 1
Favourite book this month: Probably Carrie Soto is Back – for all that it took me ages to read
Most read author: SJ Bennett on that binge read of HM the Queen Investigates series
Books bought: Oh dear. Quite a lot. Because of the research for the Christmas books posts. Yes, posts. About 20 books, including a couple of pre-orders. Eeeeeeeeep.
Books read in 2022: 350
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 667
Well. This is quite an interesting list. I have two audiobooks that I’ve nearly finished, but not in time for this list. I’m on a big podcast kick at the moment, and the proportion of my listening time that is audiobooks has gone down. And the fact that I didn’t reread anything is interesting. But then it’s nearly the end of the year and I have been trying to get on top of the NetGalley list again so have focused on that a little. But good progress in reading stuff off the physical to-read pile so that’s good. Win some and lose some.
Bonus picture: an action shot from the figure skating. As I said, hard to do on a phone but this is the best I have!
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 3 this month
Another super busy week – I’m beginning to think that’s the only sort of weeks that I have these days. Anyway, some interesting reading, one off the long running list and progress made on some of the others. It’s nearly December too, so as well as the usual end of month posts, I’ve been working on all the Christmas content. My Buy me a book for Christmas post is the first of them, but there is much more to come!
Read:
On the Hustle by Adriana Herrera*
An Act of Foul Play by TE Kinsey*
Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan*
Crook O’Lune by ECR Lorac
Murder on a Summer’s Day by Frances Brody
Beginner’s Luck by Kate Clayborn
Jane Fills the Breach by Bessie Marchant
Started:
Green for Danger by Christianna Brand
A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear
Still reading:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
The Empire by Michael Ball*
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
Well, there were a few books bought – because as as I said in Buy Me a Book, I did buy a fair few things while putting it together.
Bonus photo: the houseplant obsession continues – one of my friends brought me some cuttings, which I carefully nurtured on my desk for three days before I could take them home. Hopefully they survived the journey…
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
Well that was an interesting week. Another few nights away from home off the back of my weekend at the skating and an evening at the theatre on top of all the usual stuff and the bits I already mentioned. Oh and the Cowboys won on Sunday. And as I think you can probably tell from the list, a good week in reading even if, once again, I failed to reduce the length of the still reading list. This week. I will do better this week.
Read:
Murder Most Royal by S J Bennett*
Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin
That Summer by Lauren Willig
Death on the Riviera by John Bude
The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, illustrated by Paul Kidby
Chester House Wins Through by Irene Smith
Shop Wrecked by Olivia Dade
Started:
Murder on a Summer’s Day by Frances Brody
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
Still reading:
On the Hustle by Adriana Herrera*
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
The Empire by Michael Ball*
Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan*
Yeah, so I bought some books. All will be revealed in due course on the kindle front, but also my Olivia Dade turned up and the Terry Pratchett graphic novel. What a week.
Bonus photo: Thursday night at the London Palladium with Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme.
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
So, the list has been impacted by a couple of things – the fact that I was away from home for two nights at the start of the week, then I spent the whole weekend watching figure skating – and when you’re at the rink from 8am until after half past ten at night, that doesn’t leave a lot of time for reading! But it was so amazing. Also, I realised at the start of the week that I have the first two books in the S J Bennett series, so I went back to read them first before carrying on with Murder Most Royal.
Read:
Seat of the Scornful by John Dickson Carr
The Windsor Knot by S J Bennett
Death of a Shadow by George Bellairs
A Three Dog Problem by S J Bennett
Fire in the Thatch by E C R Lorac
Started:
Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin
Still reading:
On the Hustle by Adriana Herrera*
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
The Empire by Michael Ball*
Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan*
Murder Most Royal by S J Bennett*
One book bought, in Foyles at the start of the week…
Bonus photo: have a selfie of me at the skating – because all my live action pictures were terrible!
Bonus bonus: have a video of my favourite performance of the weekend – Latvia’s Deniss Vasiljevs skating his Free (long) programme as well as I’ve ever seen him skate.
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
Check it out! I’ve finished some of those long running books. I finally had some time at home with the physical books. And I would have done even better, except that I had a migraine on Thursday last week that basically led to me sleeping for 16 hours and spending as much time as possible in a darkened room. I have another busy week coming up this week, but I am optimistic.
Read:
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatio Sancho by Paterson Joseph*
My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
Dashing through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews
Drumsticks by Charlotte Carter
Murder at the Manor by Catherine Coles
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*
Started:
Murder Most Royal by S J Bennett*
On the Hustle by Adriana Herrera*
Still reading:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
The Empire by Michael Ball*
Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan*
I don’t think I actually bought anything this week. Unless I bought something I have forgotten about, there’s no evidence of purchases in my inbox either.
Bonus photo: in a massive role reversal, I went to listen to my parents play in a concert with their band on Sunday night. They spent many years coming and listening to me playing with school bands, county bands and community bands and now it’s my turn to watch them! They both took up an instrument when they stopped working full time – and it was really cool to see them in action.
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
As the title says – there is a new Phryne Fisher book! Murder in Williamstown came out in Australia and New Zealand this week. It doesn’t have a UK release date yet – in fact Amazon.co.uk doesn’t even admit it exists at the moment, but it’s a great opportunity to remind you of how much I love Kerry Greenwood’s 1920s Lady Detective via my recent Phryne reread post as well as my original series I love post. Enjoy!
Books read this month: 31*
New books: 25
Re-reads: 6 (all books)
Books from the to-read pile: 7
NetGalley books read: 5
Kindle Unlimited read: 7
Ebooks: 11
Library books: 0
Audiobooks: 0
Non-fiction books: 2
Favourite book this month: Probably Killers of a Certain Age
Most read author: Charlaine Harris – because of the Harper Connelly reread
Books bought: 6 ebooks plus another ebook preorder, and about 3 actual books
Books read in 2022: 320
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 652
A month that started with a holiday and plenty of reading time and had a rocky patch in reading terms in the middle but got back on track at the end of the month with a weekend away in Kent and some extra reading time! Interestingly I only realised putting this together that although I have listened to several audio books this month, they’re all ones that I’ve already counted once this year…
Bonus picture: a two holiday/trip month – here’s another picture from Sicily at the start of October!
*Usually includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – although this month it doesn’t!
So as you’ll see, there is a massive Harper Connelly binge as the start of the week and a weekend away at the end of it. And I still managed to get some other stuff read and made progress on the long runners even if you can’t tell that from the list. So it’s a net yay me. And this is the end of October, so we have all the usual things coming up this week for your delectation.
Read:
Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris
Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris
Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris
Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris
The Hog’s Back Mystery by Freeman Willis Crofts
Rooted in Deceit by Wendy Tyson
Some Hauntings Never Go Out of Fashion by Rose Betancourt
When Stars Collide by Susan Elizabeth Philips
Started:
Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan*
Dashing through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews
Still reading:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatio Sancho by Paterson Joseph*
The Empire by Michael Ball*
One book bought – but I was going on holiday so it’s practically a requirement!
Bonus photo: some monastic ruins and historic buildings out the back of Canterbury Cathedral cloister. I love a good cathedral.
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 