Category: books

So this week has mostly been reading library books that we’re coming up for due and reading some physical books because we’re nearly a quarter of the way through the year and I am not a quarter of the way through my best the TBR shelf spread in my journal yet!

Read:

Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins

Crewelwork by Justin Torres

If You Are Lonely and You Know it by Yiyun Li

The Summer House by Cristina Henriquez

Glitterland by Alexis Hall

Happy Singles Day by Anne Marie Walker

The Twenty-Third Man by Gladys Mitchell

Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer

What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

Started:

Billion Dollar Loser by Reeves Wiedeman

Still reading:

Women vs Hollywood by Helen O’Hara

The Second Marriage by Gill Paul*

Bonus photo: this week’s book post – the new Duncan MacMaster book from my old friends at Fahrenheit Press.

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

A very busy week – which involved a really interesting author event on Tuesday for the launch of the new Rivers of London novella. Lots of short stories on this weeks list – but also some cracking new releases too. Lots of stuff which I’m sure you will be hearing more about, because I have a lot of thoughts about things!

Read:

Currency by Emma Cline

Simplexity by Kiley Reid

The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear

I Would Be Doing This Anyway by Jia Tolentino

A Letter of Mary by Laurie R King

Fatality in F by Alexia Gordon

Act Your Age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert*

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh

Started:

What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

The Twenty-Third Man by Gladys Mitchell

Still reading:

Women vs Hollywood by Helen O’Hara

The Second Marriage by Gill Paul*

Still not really counting, still don’t care – but new arrivals this week included signed copies of What Abigail Did That Summer and Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones (after that virtual book launch event I mentioned at the top), both of which are really very attractive looking books.

Bonus photo: it’s finally started to feel a bit spring-like this week, so here are some blossoms from my walk around the neighbourhood midweek

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

Such a strange week of weather, coupled with a reoccurrence of an old injury and an interesting new rash on my hands that means that I look like a plague victim at the moment, means that I made some interesting reading choices last week – a bit of YA, a graphic novel, an old favourite in crime fiction. And I also put some time in on Saturday night to reading some kindle samples and either buying the book or adding them to my price-watch list if I liked them or jettisoning them if I didn’t. So actually sort of productive too.

Read:

Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Philips

The Legal Affair by Nisha Sharma

Tiger in the Well by Philip Pullman

Flake by Matthew Dooley

Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh

Mrs Tim of the Regiment by D E Stevenson

The Girl Next Door by Chelsea M Cameron

Started:

Women vs Hollywood by Helen O’Hara

Act Your Age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert*

The Second Marriage by Gill Paul*

Still reading:

A Letter of Mary by Laurie R King

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: It’s been a while since I put an actual book as the bonus photo for this week, so here is my pretty hardback copy of Women vs Hollywood – with signed bookplate – which arrived this week.

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

A really busy week last week – but lots of reading done in the end.

Read:

If We Were Us by K L Walther*

Finding Joy by Adriana Herrera

The Tomorrow Box by Curtis Sittenfeld

Pansies by Alexis Hall

The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer

The Legal Affair by Nisha Sharma

A Deception at Thornecrest by Ashley Weaver

You’re History by Leslie Chow*

Started:

Heroes are my Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Philips

Tiger in the Well by Philip Pullman

A Letter of Mary by Laurie R King

Still reading:

Mrs Tim of the Regiment by D E Stevenson

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: Some very cheerful tulips that I treated myself to.

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

We’ve reached the end of another month and we’re about to be back in March – even though it sort of feels like we’ve never left last March! Anyway, coming up this week, Book of the Week tomorrow, some mini-reviews on Wednesday and the stats on Thursday. May this March be shorter than last one!

Read:

We are Bellingcat by Eliot Higgins*

Hare Sitting Up by Michael Innes*

Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers

The Sugared Game by K J Charles

A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R King

Biased by Jennifer L Eberhardt

The Holdout by Graham Moore*

Started:

A Deception at Thornecrest by Ashley Weaver

Finding Joy by Adriana Herrera

If We Were Us by K L Walther

Still reading:

Mrs Tim of the Regiment by D E Stevenson

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: My mum is a big snowdrop fan, so this one is for her – this is from my Sunday afternoon stroll.

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 it’s been another rollercoaster week of 2021. But then I don’t know why I’m even surprised by that any more because it’s been nearly a year of it now. I’m hoping that the worst is behind us now, and that soon I’ll have more to do than just working, reading and running around the local park. But I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much, because 2021 just keeps kicking. Anyway, a fun week of reading, including the latest Chalet School reissue – Jo Returns, in which Elinor M Brent Dyer, notorious for mixing characters up and changing people’s names (sometimes even in the same book) makes Jo confuse some characters in her first school story and tells us about the importance of making list. Truly, a gem.

Read:

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham

A Wedding in the Country by Katie Fforde*

You’ve Got Mail by Kate G Smith*

Jo Returns to the Chalet School by Elinor M Brent Dyer

Teach Me by Olivia Dade

Sanctuary by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Started:

We are Bellingcat by Eliot Higgins*

Hare Sitting Up by Michael Innes*

The Sugared Game by K J Charles

Still reading:

Mrs Tim of the Regiment by D E Stevenson

A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R King

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: collected from the framers this week, the Theatres of London print I was given for my birthday. I miss the theatre so very much, any given day one of my Facebook memories will probably be about going to the theatre or buying tickets or thinking about a show. My last show in the West End was a year ago last week (the 18th) when I went to see Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, but after that before everything shut down I also did a fringe show about The Navy Lark, a talk at the National Theatre marking Michael Billington’s retirement as chief critic with readings from Simon Russell Beale, Oliver Ford Davis and Penelope Wilton, and some comedy. I miss sitting in a room with people watching other people perform. As the pandemic went on, shows have been bumped, cancelled or rearranged and my ticket box has been far far emptier than I would like. The next thing is due to be Hairspray at the Coliseum in early June (rearranged, twice, from last Easter) and I’m really hoping it will go ahead.

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

Another busy week – and a working weekend. I’ve been saying for months that my brain can’t cope with anything complicated, but never has that been more true than at the moment. A few pages of Mrs Tim at bedtime, some romance, a mystery to solve, that’s about all my brain can cope with. This is the first week in a few that there hasn’t been an Amelia Peabody book on the finished list – but they’re still there in the background too.

Read:

The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R King

Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras

Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite

Death in the Beginning by Beth Byers

My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh*

Haven by Rebekah Weatherspoon

A Taste of Honey by Rose Lerner

Started:

A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R King

A Wedding in the Country by Katie Fforde*

Still reading:

Mrs Tim of the Regiment by D E Stevenson

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: A snowy morning in Fitzroy Square last week. This is the row of houses that you see in all sorts of films and costume dramas – there’s a really good shot of it at the start of Phantom Thread – and I walk through it on my way to work (and back to the station) every day I’m in the office. It’s not the first time I’ve had a photo from the square on the blog – it’s also the location of Maisie Dobb’s office so it has a bookish connection too. I keep meaning to go back through the Maisie books and see if it mentions which number Maisie’s office was meant to be in, but I only ever remember while I’m walking through the square – and then I forget 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

Actually quite a productive week in reading. The New Year self improvement kick has extended into February, the Elizabeth Peters re-read continues (and we finished the audiobook of He Shall Thunder in the Sky on Sunday, so technically that could go on the list again, but twice in three weeks seems a little much), and there’s a relisten of the audiobook of the Unknown Ajax on there too. And I’m making progress on the list of lingerers.

Read:

The Sweetest Fix by Tessa Bailey

Joe Biden by Evan Osnos

Caught Looking by Adriana Herrera

The Art of Saying No by Damon Zahariades

The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer

The Children of the Storm by Elizabeth Peters

The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

Well Played by Jen De Luca

Wicked Deeds on a Winter Night by Stacy Reid

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

Started:

Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras

Death in the Beginning by Beth Byers

Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite

Still reading:

The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R King

My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh*

Mrs Tim of the Regiment by D E Stevenson

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: After the death of Christopher Plummer on Friday, I went on a bit of a Captain von Trapp gif fest on Twitter, and happened to see my Frequently used gif list, which I thought was actually a pretty good summary of my currently life and interest, so I post it here for your amusement.

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