Category: stats

Not a bad hail considering that two days off at the start of the week and a lot of house work to do derailed the end of September.  Still the weekend made up for it.

Read:

Unbefitting a Lady by Bronwyn Scott

Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton

Oh Yeah Audrey by Tucker Shaw

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

A Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe

Miss Primrose and the March of Progress by Carola Dunn

Mrs Jeffries Dusts For Clues by Emily Brightwell

Dancing in the Moonlight by Christina Jones

Started:

More Fool Me by Stephen Fry

Night Watch by Sarah Waters

The Path of the Crooked by Ellery Adams

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

Four books bought – a second copy of The Bride by Julie Garwood to replace the one that wasn’t the right book and three early Christina Jones novels that were on offer.  Not a bad week really if it wasn’t for the pile of NetGalley requests…

Read:

Three Bedrooms, One Corpse by Charlaine Harris

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

Shakespeare’s Landlord by Charlaine Harris

The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry

Started:

Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton

Unbefitting a Lady by Bronwyn Scott

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Not a bad week really – a few of last week’s books finished, a few more read despite the nightshift for the referendum results.

Read:

Honeymoon Hotel by Hester Browne

The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy

Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews

A Piece of Cake by Trisha Ashley (short story)

The Luxe by Anna Godberson

Fools Gold by Philippa Gregory

A Knight In Shining Armour by Jude Deveraux

Started:

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

I ordered a couple of books this week – but the good news for the pile is that my purchasing orgy of the other week was decreed “undeliverable” by the courier and returned to sender (don’t get me started, I get very ranty about this), the bad news is that I’ve re-ordered some them and then some more…

Lots of stuff started, not as much stuff finished this week – mostly because I was at the theatre four evenings! I felt like a bit of a gadabout – but it was fabulous.

Read:

Shakespeare’s Trollop by Charlaine Harris

Shakespeare’s Counsellor by Charlaine Harris

Bad Bridesmaid by Portia MacIntosh

The Brandons by Angela Thirkell

Rock Courtship by Nalini Singh

Started:

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Honeymoon Hotel by Hester Browne

The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

The bright side is that whilst I haven’t read a lot, I haven’t bought anything either after last week’s orgy of purchasing!

There’s a couple of short stories on the list this week, which make it look longer than it should.  I spent Monday to Wednesday recovering from nightshifts (which finished at 6 on Monday morning) and catching up on housework so the reading got a bit left behind – though the slow trains home from my four late shifts at the end of the week helped redress the balance!

Read:

The Empress Chronicles by Suzy Vitello

Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell

No Weddings by Kat Bastion with Stone Bastion

Storm in a Tea Shoppe by Carola Dunn

An Unhappy Medium by Carola Dunn

The Lady’s Disgrace by Callie Hutton

Love Me or Leave Me by Claudia Carroll

Who Needs Mr Darcy by Jean Burnett

Started:

The Brandons by Angela Thirkell

Shakespeare’s Trollop by Charlaine Harris

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

I think we should skim over the number of books bought this week (6) as the arrival of parcels from previous weeks and from a publisher or two has already disturbed The Boy’s belief in my ability to reduce the pile.  Still this week I’ve got much closer to up to date on my NetGalley backlog.  Swings, may I introduce you to Roundabout.

Hopefully I’ll be asleep in bed when this posts recovering from round 2 of nightshift hell.  Again, lots of nice light reading, with a side order in some of my NetGalley books.

Read:

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

High Heels and Bicycle Wheels by Jane Linfoot

A Difficult Term for the Chalet School by Lisa Townsend

A Place for Us (Part 2) by Harriet Evans

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean

The Secret Paris Cinema Club by Nicolas Barreau

The Lost Staircase by Elinor M Brent Dyer

Started:

The Empress Chronicles by Suzy Vitello

Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

I’ve bought two books this week – the next Meg Langslow as a treat for finishing nights and a “classic” American romance novel (of the Harlequin/Mills and Boon persuasion) for a book group.

Two pieces of housekeeping, firstly, because the start of the month falls on a Monday this time, August stats are going to be posted tomorrow.  Stay tuned to see if I’ve done any damage to the to read pile.  Secondly, I’ve got a rash of new release books that I’m going to review, so the posting schedule (Mondays, Wednesdays Saturdays) may be a little out of whack the next few weeks and there may be some more extra posts – because I do try to post reviews as close to the book’s release date as possible (I get very frustrated when I read reviews of books that I can’t buy yet, so I try not to do that to you!).

Nightshift hell.  You’ll notice a proliferation of childrens/YA books and Golden Age crime and comedy.  I managed a hundred or so pages of Elizabeth Gilbert on the way to my nightshift on Tuesday, but my brain was having trouble computing it, although I am enjoying it.

Read:

Not Quite a Wife by Mary Jo Putney

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens

Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me by Lucy Robinson

Summer Half by Angela Thirkell

The Summer of Love by Sophie Pembroke

Started:

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

Two books bought* – and a copy of the Secret Paris Cinema Club arrived for me from the lovely people at Quercus, so one book acquired too…

*And a couple of Chalet School ones which don’t count.

Nightshifts start today (Monday) so I spent this week concentrating on reading a couple of books that I have ahead of their release so that I can write reviews on them.  I’m not good at reading anything complex on Nightshifts (see my post about Nightshift reading matter here) and they run right up until the books come out, so I couldn’t guarantee that I’d manage to read them during the nights.  Plus I really wanted to read them!

Read:

The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House by Stephanie Lam

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

Pastors’ Wives by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen

Beyond Seduction by Stephanie Laurens

August Folly by Angela Thirkell

Started:

Not Quite a Wife by Mary Jo Putney

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

I bought three books and a cook book this week.  Managed to resist the lure of a second-hand book stall at a fair today – and am still valiantly resisting the urge to buy myself the next Meg Langslow book – perhaps I’ll treat myself at the end of nightshifts!