Verity Reads Books (lots of them)
In which our heroine attempts to tame the to-read pile
If this had been last weekend, there would only have been two books in this picture. I bought the Roman Beaird and the Rory Carroll at the airport on the way to Pisa. But then I went into Foyles on Monday night, and bought the new Alexandria Bellefleur and the Kayla Olson, and when I got home on Thursday the other two had arrived – after taking so long (in the way that second hand orders often do) that I had forgotten I had ordered them in the first place!
Did I go on a bit of a binge of Ovidia Yu’s Crown Colony/Su Lin series, why yes. Should I have been reading other things? Probably. Am I sorry? Not at all. And it was a pretty busy week too. And it’s only getting busier over the next few weeks too, so we’ll see how that goes.
Read:
The Truth by Terry Pratchett
The Mimosa Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham
Diva by Daisy Goodwin*
The Cannonball Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham
The Mushroom Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
Mona of the Manor by Armistead Maupin
Started:
n/a
Still reading:
Sovereign by C J Sansom
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
Seven books bought – mostly because of writing the offers post – and one preorder arrived.
Bonus picture: Sunday gardening. This bag doesn’t look that big on the photo, but it’s actually huge, and yet despite that the garden doesn’t look that much better. Never mind.
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
We’re hurtling towards the end of April and I’m still not entirely sure how that happened. Anyway all the usual end of month stuff coming up, but for once I have already finished all the new releases this month that I had got from NetGalley. I’m not sure when the last time that happened was, and when you add to that the fact that I’ve also finished the May requests too and it’s really unusual. What I haven’t done is got the list of ongoing books down – because I got a bit distracted by the exciting new releases. Still you win some, you lose some!
Read:
Tied up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh
The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz*
Funny Story by Emily Henry*
Fake Flame by Adele Buck*
Vanishing Point by Patricia Wentworth
Miffed in Maine by Patti Benning
Started:
Sovereign by C J Sansom
Still reading:
The Mimosa Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
Diva by Daisy Goodwin*
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
No books bought. Another minor miracle.
Bonus picture: it’s wisteria season again! There were loads of them in Italy, but they’re also coming into bloom on the building I walk past on the way to work.
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
We’ve been on holiday, but it was a sightseeing and doing things sort of holiday, not a lying on a sun lounger one, so the book list isn’t quite what you might expect from a holiday week. But I had a wonderful time and I don’t care. No idea what I’m writing about tomorrow though. I’m sure something will come to me though. It usually does. Given that Taylor Swift has a new album out I should probably have tried harder to finish The Breakup Tour right?
Read:
When in Rome by Ngaio Marsh
Busted in Boston by Patti Benning
The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R King
They do it with Mirrors by Agatha Christie
The Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
The Darkest Sin by D V Bishop
Started:
Diva by Daisy Goodwin*
The Mimosa Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
Still reading:
Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz*
The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
None. So that’s something right?
Bonus picture: Tuscany. Just wonderful
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
It appears that reading the Lucy Worsley Agatha Christie biography has started me on a Christie re-read/listen. And then having read one of the Ann Grangers I had in hand the other week, I then promptly mainlined the other two – there is another one coming out this year – but not until the autumn so now I have to wait. I did however make some excellent progress on reducing the long runner list – more than you would guess from the list too. I will get there in the end! Interestingly though, I still don’t know what I’m going to write about tomorrow. We’ll see what happens…
Read:
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
Rooted in Evil by Ann Granger
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
Deleted in the District by Patti Benning
A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie
A Matter of Murder by Ann Granger
Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang*
Started:
Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz*
Still reading:
The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R King
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
One ebook (for little sister) and two book-books. Restrained!
Bonus picture: my new house plant. Aren’t these leaves amazing?
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
I’m back with another stack of books that I’ve managed to acquire some how. There’s two pre-orders here – the new Vinyl Detective and Steven Rowley’s The Celebrants, which has been out in the US for ages but has only just got here. Then there’s my two purchases on the way to Portugal – which were When Grumpy Met Sunshine and Death at the Chateau. Then there’s the books I brought back from Portugal. Seven Scamps was a belated birthday gift and the two Julia books are loans (I think!) from the same friend. The Patricia Wentworth, Susan Elizabeth Philips and Jenny Colgan were acquisitions from the book exchange in Portugal. And then at the very back is Delayed Rays of a Star which was an impulse purchase second hand. So just a few then…
Have a great weekend!
Well well well. I actually finished a non-fiction book in a reasonable time frame. Who knew I could do that? Certainly not the long runners list recently. Anyway, reading that and trying to make some more progress on that long running list along with a fun evening trip to a concert dominated my efforts this week. Let’s see if I can actually get the list shorter this week…
Read:
Death at the Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh
The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn*
A Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh
Mud, Muck and Dead Things by Ann Granger
Sabotaged in South Carolina by Patti Benning
Hitchin’ Up by Patti Benning
Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley
Started:
The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Still reading:
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang*
The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R King
Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
Well I wrote the Kindle offers post so there were a few…
Bonus picture: the clocks have changed, the evenings are lighter and hopefully soon the mornings will be too when I’m getting up for the train. It definitely feels less awful being up before 6am when it’s light already!
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
it’s April Fool’s Day, and I’m wondering if I’m fooling myself because I’ve started another non-fiction book that has potential to end up in on the long-runners list because it’s a hardback. But the documentary that goes with the Lucy Worsley Agatha Christie book was on TV the other day and it reminded me that mum has just read the book and said it was really good, so off I went. Anyway, beyond that I’m challenging myself to try and get a little ahead with the NetGalley reading, by which I mean I’ve started the April books already – because we all know that I’m way behind with the NetGalley reading in general! But hey, at least I got one thing off the long-runners list last week. This week I’ve got a couple of days off work but also a couple of days of rail disruption (engineering work *and* strikes) so less commuting time than usual so we will see what happens.
Read:
Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh
Nabbed in New Mexico by Patti Benning
Lurking in Louisiana by Patti Benning
Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh
The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen
Foul Play in Florida by Patti Benning
The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton*
Started:
Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley
The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn*
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang*
Still reading:
The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R King
Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
One pre-order, one ebook, two second-handbooks. Posititively restrained
Bonus picture: Easter Saturday evening in All Saints, Northampton. I do love a bit of church architecture and I always forget how spectacular it is inside here – it looks like something from Mayfair has been transported out of London.
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
So I’ve pulled the trigger on an emergency Books Incoming because the pile of books that have arrived was getting very tall and a little wobbly, and that was before the arrivals while I was in Portugal. So here we are. To be fair, the mid-month post was early this month, and the photo was taken before Manila, so it was more a late February arrivals situation, but still. Ahem.
Half of this post is preorders of new releases – the RuPaul (which is signed!), the Armistead Maupin and the two Angela Thirkells – as Virago appear to have decided to release some more, which is going to mean another rearranging of the bookshelves! Then we have the airport purchases on the war to the Philippines – the Nita Prose sequel to The Maid and the new Tessa Bailey because I was intrigued by the idea of a golf romance!
The actual Manila purchases are the Beverly Jenkins, Susan Elizabeth Philips – which I have read but via the library and was such a bargain I couldn’t leave it in the shop and the final part of Angel Catbird which you can just about see at the back. And finally there’s the Diane Mott Davidson, which as I mentioned in the Goldy Schulz post is the last reasonably priced one that I can find.
And that’s it – as if it wasn’t enough! – until the next post at least and the pile is already not that small…
Well that was a lovely week. I’ve been off work and recharging my batteries visiting a friend in Portugal – this involved sightseeing, ice cream, cat petting and lots of reading. It was a delight. And this week I’m back to the real world, but it’s Easter at the weekend, so that’s nice! In terms of the actual reading, I’m blitzing my way through another series by Patti Benning and then there were a few Girls Own books and then I’m nearly finished the Nick de Semelyen.
Read:
Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh
Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
Ricky at the Riding School by Patricia Baldwin
Offed in Oregon by Patti Benning
For The Sake of The House by Veronica Marlow
Croaked in California by Patti Benning
False Scent by Ngaio Marsh
Fallin’ Fast by Patti Benning
When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein
Started:
Nabbed in New Mexico by Patti Benning
Still reading:
The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R King
Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake
The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
Two books bought in a bookshop, three more at the Book Exchange.
Bonus picture: Fishing boats on the beach on Saturday.
*next to a book 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) 