Category: stats

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

 

book round-ups, reviews, stats

Best new books of the first half of 2022

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As promised, here is part one of my favourite books of the year so far – and we’re starting with new releases. I’ve already read 200 books this year, so I’ve got plenty of books to chose from but it’s no surprise that I’ve already written about most of these at some length.

I haven’t read a lot of nonfiction this year and not much of it is new-new but I have read Stories I Might Regret Telling You by Martha Wainwright and it’s such a good one. As I said in my BotW review back in April, this is one of the most unvarnished memoirs I’ve read. Martha Wainwright is as clear eyed about her own faults and her life as you will find someone and is prepared to put it out there in a book. Even if you don’t know her msuic, this is well worth reading – especially if you’re interested in the effects of famous paretns and/or competitive siblings and/or life in the music industry and particularly life in the music industry as a woman. And it turns out to be easier to get hold of than I thought it would be.

On to fiction and most of my favourite reads (that aren’t in series) are either romance or romance adjacent. There is the fabulous and sunny Book Lovers by Emily Henry and the redemptive and ultimately hopefuly Mad About You by Mhairi MacFarlane. They have very different plots, but they also both have heroines who know what they want in life and what they deserve. Mad About You has darker moments than Book Lovers, but you will come away from both with a big happy smile on your face.

Then there are two books that I have read in the last couple of weeks. I actually finished Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus and The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E Smith one day apart and then had a massive book hangover from two of my favourite books of the year so far. Greta is this week’s Book of the Week so you can read all about that there, and Lessons in Chemistry was the top review in Quick Reviews yesterday – and wasn’t actually that quick a review.

And as I mentioned earlier – there have also been a few really good new entries in series that I like – there is The Prize Racket – the latest in Isabel Rogers’ Stockwell Park Orchestra Series, the latest Rivers of London book, Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch, and the latest Vinyl Detective novel Attack and Decay by Andrew Cartmel.

And lets finish with a couple of honourable mentions – all the books above got five stars from me on Goodreads, but there are a couple of really, really good books nipping at their heels – like Jill Shalvis’s The Family You Make and Harvey Fierstein’s memoir I Was Better Last Night which I still haven’t written about here but will undoubtedly figure in my long planned actor memoir recommendsday post, just as soon as I read the other actor memoirs I have on my shelf!

So that’s half a year done – fingers crossed that the new books in the second half of the year are as good. Tune in tomorrow for my favourite new-to-me books of 2022 so far!

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, 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, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: June 6 – June 12

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Well, what a crazy busy week. I had two nights in London – which included my trip to Ben de la Creme – and then a book launch on Thursday night for Lizzy Dent’s The Set Up. Then we went out for dinner on Friday, we had a busy weekend with my sister and her partner visiting from Carlisle and lunch out and a car show with them and my dad on Sunday. And all the usual work stuff too. Is it any wonder the list is shorter than usual?!

Read:

Death in Fancy Dress by Anthony Gilbert

Burying the Crown by T P Fielden

Death Before Wicket by Kerry Greenwood

The Unforgettable Guinevere St Clair by Amy Makechnie

Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Julia Quinn and Violet Charles

Started:

Cue the Easter Bunny by Liz Evans

Rotten to the Core by T E Kinsey*

Murder Before Evensong by Rev Richard Coles

Still reading:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare*

Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan*

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Bonus photo: This was the venue for our Friday night meal – and it gave me such strong Happy Valley-but-make-it-rural-England vibes, that it just had to be this week’s picture!

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: May 30 – June 5

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Well that was quite a weekend. The Platinum Jubilee was quite a spectacle – and the weather in my part of the world was quite a ride! I had a good week in reading too – even if the rain showers meant I still haven’t got the hammock out. But that will come. Another week with a lot of authors I’ve read before in the list, but I’ve started some new to me authors too – including a few books from last month’s Books Incoming post.

Read:

A Reconstructed Corpse by Simon Brett

Jumping Jenny by Anthony Berkeley

Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood

Mirror Lake by Juneau Black*

Paint the Down Dead by Nancy Silver

Cinderella Goes to the Morgue by Nancy Spain

Bloodlust and Bonnets by Emily McGovern

A Likely Story by Jenn McKinlay

Started:

Death in Fancy Dress by Anthony Gilbert

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Still reading:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare*

Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan*

One pre-order and one kindle purchase. Very restrained given I had a four day weekend!

Bonus photo: We went for a delightful wood around a forest near us on Friday – so here is part of my slice of the British countryside in early summer.

A woodland path

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

May Stats

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Books read this month: 33*

New books: 20

Re-reads: 13 (5 audiobooks, 8 books)

Books from the to-read pile: 5

NetGalley books read: 9

Kindle Unlimited read: 4

Ebooks: 7

Library books: 2 (all ebooks)

Audiobooks: 6

Non-fiction books: 2

Favourite book this month: hard to chose this month – because there were a bunch of 5 star books – but I’m going to go with The Young Pretenders.

Most read author: Elizabeth Peters – 5 Vicky Bliss novels on the reread and an Amelia Peabody audiobook!

Books bought: 3 books at the work book sale, 1 book ordered online, 1 pre-order, 1 ebook. Considering the number of books in the Books Incoming post a few weeks back, this surprised me. But when I checked, it was right – three from the book sale, three pre-orders that already got counted in previous months, the Young Pretenders which arrived April after the Books Incoming post (and was a Persephone subscription book anyway so not bought by me) and the Bonnie Garmus which I ordered in April but arrived in May. So that really does just leave the Jenn McKinlay Book Lovers mystery!

Books read in 2022: 166

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 660 – this number never really goes down, but it has gone up by a lot this month because there’s been a bunch of series with new books announced or where I hadn’t added the unread ones to the list, but I also updated it to add some stuff from the to read shelf that wasn’t on there and my new acquisitions…

I’ve been more than usually chatty in this post already, but it really was a good month of reading in May. I read a lot of new releases, and I think I have less books in the NetGalley backlog than I did at the start of the month, even if I didn’t read all the May releases. I’ve managed to be restrained with my requesting for June, so if I can control my virulent re-reading urges, I should be able to reduce the list further in June. Speaking of re-reading, I’ve really enjoyed revisiting the Vicky Bliss books – I think you can expect a Series I Love post soon – and I’ve carried on with the Phryne Fisher re-read too. I’m going to need to try and actually go to the library in June too – as my library card has expired, so if I don’t, the library book list is about to dry up! And I read a fair few actual books in May – but I’m still behind on my goal for that for the year, so a big effort coming in June to try and catch up. All I need to do is get the hammock out and into the garden ready for summer reading now…

Bonus picture: a month in Wisteria. How could I resist doing a mash up when I’ve enjoyed watching it happen so much on my walks from Euston to the office!

*Usually includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels, but for the second month in a row it doesn’t!