books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: May 9 – May 15

I was in the office all five days last week, so plenty of reading time on the trains. Despite that, the excitement of Eurovision on Saturday along with some time fixing the fence in the garden mean the list is probably shorter than it could have been. I’ve accidentally started rereading the Vicky Bliss series (so the link to Elizabeth Peters isn’t entirely right because it takes you to the Amelia Peabody post) as well as working my way through the NetGalley books and a relisten to one of my favourite Pratchetts.  And I finished the week with another E C R Lorac, which continue to be really entertaining whenever I come across them.

Read:

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Ask a Historian by Greg Jenner

The Truth by Terry Pratchett

Dear Little Corpses by Nicola Upson*

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters

Street of the Five Moons by Elizabeth Peters

Post after Post-Mortem by E C R Lorac

Started:

Miss Moriarty, I Presume by Sherry Thomas

Still reading:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare*

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J Taylor*

Well there was a book sale at work and it could have got a bit messy except I could only fit three books in my bag. And a couple of preorders arrived too.

Bonus photo: How quickly flowers fade – remember the wisteria from the other week? Here it is last week, starting to go over.

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 2 – May 8

Well I’m actually quite pleased with myself this week I have to say. At the start of the week I was worried that having already written about two books that I read early inthe week that I wouldn’t have any options for what to write about tomorrow, but I’m delighted to report that that is not the case. Especially after my nice chilled weekend recovering from the election coverage. And for once, I’ve been reading stuff that’s about to be released, as it’s about to be released. Check me. Ok so the still reading list is looooong, but you can’t have everything. I’ll work on that this week.

Read:

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson*

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Murder in the Dark by Kerry Greenwood

A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

Set on You by Amy Lea*

The Book Share by Phaedra Patrick*

Book Lovers by Emily Henry*

Started:

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J Taylor*

Dear Little Corpses by Nicola Upson*

Still reading:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

Ask a Historian by Greg Jenner

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare*

I don’t think I bought anything. So a double win this week. Unless I’ve forgotten something, the only book that turned up this week was a pre-order. Check me again.

Bonus photo: I went for my first run around the park in a few weeks on Sunday, and the trees were looking gorgeous in the sunshine. Maybe it’s time to crack out the summer work wardrobe!

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: April 25 – May 1

A super busy week at work and quite a lot of rereading on the list instead of finishing the new stuff that I started. As I said yesterday, April very much the month of binge-rereads as that continues to be pretty much all my brain can cope with. I’m not sure what I can blame it on, but here’s hoping I get my act a bit in gear in May, as the NetGalley list is currently getting longer rather than shorter…

Read:

Death on the Ballerat Train by Kerry Greenwood

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Bad Luck by Linwood Barclay

Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh

That Cowboy of Mine by Caitlin Crews*

The Chalet School and the Island by Elinor M Brent Dyer

Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood

Started:

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Ask a Historian by Greg Jenner

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare*

The Book Share by Phaedra Patrick*

Still reading:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

One bought, that’s it. Positively restrained.

Bonus photo: My attempt at repotting Fernando the Fern came to a bit of a tricky moment when I realised that I had underestimated how much compost the new pot would need and overestimated how much I have in stock!

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: April 18 – April 24

Another busy week but this time a longer list, although a lot of them are rereads. I am slowly working my way through the non-fiction portion of the still reading list, but this week I mostly got distracted by rereading the Phryne Fisher series, for reasons that may become obvious in the near future. I’m carrying on with the Ngaio Marsh audiobook odyssy – currently working my way through the theatre related ones, not quite sure why I grabbed at those at the moment. I need to have a bit of a run at the NetGalley list though – fingers crossed this week is the week when I make some progress on that.

Read:

False Scent by Ngaio Marsh

He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson*

An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn

Roomies by Christina Lauren

Poison for Teacher by Nancy Spain

Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood

The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood

Started:

Bad Luck by Linwood Barclay

Still reading:

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

Relatively well behaved to be honest – a pre-order popped in but nothing much else.

Bonus photo: a houseplant update – I’ve repotted the Palm and added and repotted a Swiss Cheese plant (he’s called Roger)

A window sill full of plants.

 

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

 

The pile

How’s your will power?

Serious question, because when it comes to books my will power is not great. I can recognise that I have a lot of books and probably don’t need any more at the moment, but there are always shiny new releases out there to tempt me and I can’t always resist. I have systems to try and help, but…

Firstly there’s good reads – which I use to keep track of what I’ve read and what I want to read, but also to search and check whether I’ve read an author before and what I thought. I read a lot of books and as romances go in tropes it’s easy to forget what I’ve read and by who – which is aiming to try and stop myself getting sucked in by a seductive cover or blurb. Because that absolutely used to happen – especially if you’re borrowing books from the library and taking them back or don’t have the book on the shelf any more (fairly common for me if I didn’t like something that much).

Then I have a maximum price that I’m prepared to pay for different types of books that’s meant to stop my just buying books that take my fancy. Then I have a series of lists to keep track of books: so that I can keep track of the prices when they drop – especially because Amazon’s preorder price guarantee doesn’t apply to kindle books and I do try and preorder where I can. Then there’s one for books that might go into Kindle Unlimited at some point and then there’s another for possible present ideas for me when Christmas or my birthday come around – which tends to have the nonfiction hardbacks on it.

Does it help? Well I like to thinks so – but I’m not prepared to stop doing it to see if things get worse!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: April 11 – April 17

A busy week at work – but it was only a four day week, so that was a delight. I did a lot of household-y stuff on Friday – the sort of stuff I used to do on my days off during the week when I used to work a 4 day week – and then did some family visiting on Saturday and Sunday. The weather has been lovely and it’s been a delight. And it was Him Indoor’s birthday too, so some celebrations may have been had as well. So on the reading front, lots of rereads, and a couple of new things. A good week all in all.

Read:

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

A Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh

Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane

Agatha Christie’s Poirot by Mark Aldridge

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor

Stories I Might Regret Telling You by Martha Wainwright 

Started:

An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn

Still reading:

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson*

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

As mentioned, I was doing very well on the book front until a trip to The Works. But what can you do – lets call it an Easter Treat to myself.

Bonus photo: A misty morning on the train to work – the daybreak experience on the commute is one of those things that only really happens for a few weeks – most of the year it’s either light the whole time or dark almost of the way and I miss the sunrise because when it happens I’ve already made it into London 

 

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, The pile

Books Incoming: April edition

So, if this post had been two days ago there would only have been two books in this photo – the Martha Wainwright and the Nancy Spain. But then I made a trip to Wilkos on Good Friday, and there is a The Works in the same shopping centre and: Voila. Book purchases ahoy. The Frances Brody is the first in a new series that I’m trying because I like her Kate Shackleton books, Christina Lauren I’ve written about before, Castle Shade is the latest Mary Russell and the other was just a whim which could go either way. We’ll see!

Authors I love, books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: April 4 – April 10

A weird old week. Not even sure what was going on with me to be honest, except being really busy and doing a lot of house cleaning as everything was a state after all the covid. Onwards and upwards etc.

Read:

Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh

The Cheltenham Square Murder by John Bude

Altogether Dead by Charlaine Harris

A Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch 

Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh

A House in the Country by Jocelyn Playfair

Started:

Agatha Christie’s Poirot by Mark Aldridge 

Stories I Might Regret Telling You by Martha Wainwright 

Still reading:

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson*

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

Ummmmm. Preorders arrived, another preorder added to the list and a couple of ebooks. Move along, nothing to see here.

Bonus photo: the street used as Sherlock’s house in the BBC series, as seen on my walk to the station last 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

 

Authors I love, books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 28 – April 3

Did I have a week with a massive binge of Jodi Taylor and an inability to settle down to read anything else? Yes I absolutely did. Did I also go away at the weekend? Absolutely. Am I already behind on my plans for April? Totally. Hey ho. Happy Monday everyone!

Read:

A Thorn in the Saddle by Rebekah Weatherspoon

The Steam Pump Jump by Jodi Taylor

And Now for Something Completely Different by Jodi Taylor

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

Christmas Past by Jodi Taylor

Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor

When Did You Last See Your Father by Jodi Taylor

Why is Nothing Ever Simple by Jodi Taylor

Started:

A House in the Country by Jocelyn Playfair

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

The Cheltenham Square Murder by John Bude

Still reading:

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson*

A couple of books bought because Little Sis (who has a kindle on my account) was off on holiday and needed some fresh reading material! Or at least that’s my excuse.

Bonus photo: There is no photographic evidence of my weekend away, and very little of the rest of my week because it was a fairly standard mostly working at home, day in the office in London sort of week. So instead here are my happy face paper clips, which I was using to try and persuade my sister to make a stationery order this week…

Multi coloured paper clips with smiley faces

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, The pile

Quarter year end

The first three months of the year are coming to an end and I’ve been doing a bit of reflection on 2022 so far. Obviously my recent bought of Covid is right at the top of mind, but before that happened life was starting to feel a bit more normal – I was going to the theatre, meeting up with friends and making plans to go places and to fill the ticket box.

On the book front, I’ve read some really good stuff – and I’ve got some more interesting stuff preordered. We haven’t had a holiday yet this year, so I haven’t had a chance to do any lounging around in the sun reading a stack of books but that will come I’m sure. I’m not sure I’ve made massive progress down the physical to read pile, but I don’t think it’s for any bigger! Anyway here are some of my favourite books that I’ve read so far this year – that aren’t from part way through a long series or re-reads!

Fiction : Well Matched, The Prize Racket, The Maid, The Two Mrs Abbotts, Playing for Love and The Family You Make.

Non fiction: Vanderbilt!