Category: books

Another busy week in reading. I’m at the point in Amelia Peabody where the books are really long, but I also got a bit of my normal reading mojo back too. January is also over, so coming up this week we’ll have some minireviews on Wednesday and the January stats on Thursday because the week starts on a Monday. Aside from the reading, it was a busy week, with some grim weather – from icy and treacherous underfoot through torrential rain. Perfect weather to sit and read a book. If only there weren’t other things that I have to do too!

Read:

Sweetest in the Gale by Olivia Dade

Death Drops the Pilot by George Bellairs

The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters

Vixen Ecology by G L Carriger

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Rex Lee, Gypsy Flyer by Thomson Burtis

The Enforcer Enigma by G L Carriger

Continental Riff by Isabel Rogers

Started:

Mrs Tim of the Regiment by D E Stevenson

Still reading:

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R King

My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh*

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: The Amelia Peabody re-read continues, and as I was out on my lunchtime walk at work one day this week I walked past the front of the Royal Institute of British Architecture which has some pylons – although they’re art deco rather than Egyptian!

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

Given that I’ve read 2000 pages plus of the adventures of the Emerson family in the last week and a bit, and that Goodreads lets you now count rereads (which it didn’t when I started these weekly posts a few years back, I’ve decided as an experiment to start including completed rereads in this list. I’m only adding them on to the Read list, not the in progress because I don’t need any more pressure and I often only read my favourite bits of books, and I’m still trying to figure out what to do about the first couple of weeks of the year, but I’ll work that out when we see what my rereading levels are actually like…

Read:

Falcon at the Portal by Elizabeth Peters

He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

Lord of the Silent by Elizabeth Peters

Misadventures with the Duke by Stacy Reid

Grave Expectations by Anna Celeste Burke

Bag Man by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Started:

My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh*

Still reading:

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R King

Continental Riff by Isabel Rogers

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: Snow season in my local park – you’ve seen it in pretty much all other weathers, so of course you’re getting a picture from yesterday!

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 a strange week. It was my birthday – and we usually go away for my birthday, but this year, like everyone else, we were at home. 2021 is also messing with my brain in the same way that 2020 did, and I’ve been finding it really hard to concentrate on new books. When I’m in a mood like that, it’s almost a waste to read anything new – even stuff I’ve been looking forward to – like the new Stockwell Park Orchestra book – because I’m probably not going to appreciate it the way that I should/would normally. So instead I retreated to my happy place – and re-read some old favourite comfort reads – in this case the Amelia Peabody series, which I first read way back in the days before this blog and have come back to – in books and audiobook – ever since.

Read:

The House on Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams*

Shirley Flight, Air Hostess in Pacific Castaways by Judith Dale

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Slay Ride by Diane Vallere

The Palace Guard by Charlotte McLeod

Lumberjanes FCB 2020 by Various

A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett

Started:

Continental Riff by Isabel Rogers

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R King

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: As I mentioned, it was my birthday last week and so this week’s photo is one of my presents – a stationery subscription box! Exciting times.

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 I think we can all agree that last week was something else. And that extreme something else-ness is the reason why my reading list is heavy on the light and fluffy and Asterix. My brain can’t cope with Black Narcissus at the moment. Or anything complicated to be honest. 2021 carrying on where 2020 left off…

Read:

The Power Hour by Adrienne Herbert*

The Art of Showing Up by Rachel Wilkerson Miller

How Nell Scored by Bessie Marchant

If the Boot Fits by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford

Asterix and Cleopatra by Goscinny and Uderzo

Asterix and the Big Fight by Goscinny and Uderzo

Started:

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R King

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

The House on Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams*

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: the latest iteration of my Beat the To-Read Shelf spread in my journal. Last year was *a lot* on so many levels, and I didn’t fill the bookshelf up, but hopefully 2021 will be different…

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

Welcome to the first week in books post of 2021. As is traditional at this time of year, I’ve started on the productivity and self-help books as I try to make (and keep) some New Year Resolutions. I’ll let you know how that goes, but here’s how it went at the start of last year, before the world changed.

Read:

You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson

Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

The Button Box by Lynn Knight

Black Hills by Nora Roberts

Gone with the Ghost by Erin McCarthy

The House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferré

When She Was Naughty by Tessa Dare

The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant*

The Lavender Ladies Detective Agency by Minna Lindgren

Started:

The Art of Showing Up by Rachel Wilkerson Miller

The House on Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams*

Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: New Year’s Day in the park near my house. This explains a lot about the fireworks the night before – and was by no means the only pile of empty fireworks boxes…

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

I’m beginning to think I paced my reading wrong this year – I’m still a couple of books off my 50 states challenge and I haven’t filled up my journal spread for books from the to-read bookshelf either and I only have a few days to go before the end of the year. The 50 states challenge might be do-able though, so I’ll give it my best shot in the last few days of 2020…

Read:

The Trouble with Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis

Hazel and Grey by Nic Stone

Lumberjanes Vol 16 by Shannon Waters et al

The Abbey Girls Go Back To School by Elsie J Oxenham

How Love Actually Ruined Christmas by Gary Raymond*

Rivers of London: the Fey and the Furious by Ben Aaronovitch et al

Shirley Flight, Air Hostess in Fjord Adventure by Judith Dale

Started:

Black Hills by Nora Roberts

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

The Button Box by Lynn Knight

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

The Lavender Ladies Detective Agency by Minna Lindgren

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: some of my Christmas cooking…

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

I’m basically at the stage where my brain can’t cope with anything complicated anymore, so it’s all romances and murder mysteries, some of them with a Christmas twist. Sorry, not sorry.

Read:

Rage by Bob Woodward

In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren

Checkmate to Murder by E C R Lorac

40-Love by Olivia Dade

The Wedding Piper by Isabel Rogers

Snapped by Alexa Martin

The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow Rowell

Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews

Started:

The Trouble with Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

The Lavender Ladies Detective Agency by Minna Lindgren

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: is this the most exciting reading material I acquired last week? Possibly! It’s the Christmas Radio Times, so I can plan my festive viewing

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

Started some Christmas reading this week – from the to-read bookshelf – and then carried on with a few other bits and bobs from the shelf.  It’s been cold and miserable and so it’s been prime curl up on the couch with a book weather really!

Read:

Sick as a Parrot by Liz Evans

Diving Adventure by Willard Price

Golden Rules of Acting by Andy Nyman

I Heard the Banshee Sing by Paul Charles

More Golden Rules of Acting by Andy Nyman

Murder at Christmas ed Cecily Gayford

Build Your Own Christmas Movie Romance by Riane Konc

The Fatal Flying Affair by T E Kinsey

The Naughty List by Ellie Mae MacGregor

My Last Duchess by Eloisa James

Started:

The Lavender Ladies Detective Agency by Minna Lindgren

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Checkmate to Murder by E C R Lorac

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: the latest addition to my bookshelves – a copy of Veronica at the Wells in hardback.  This was the first of the Wells series that I read back when I was about 11, and is now the last one to finish off my set of hardbacks. I’m so excited.

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