Category: The pile

The pile

Books Incoming: Mid-September edition

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So this is slightly less bad than last month, in that in August there were ten books, and in this there are eight. We do have to remember though that I went so insane on our trip to Norfolk that I had to do an extra Books Incoming post to handle it and if I hadn’t done that, there would be 19 books in this post. Ahem. Anyway, here we have Dream on Ramona Riley and ZomRomCom which were my Saucy Books purchases and From Russia with Love which was my Penguin pop-up purchase and Fishing for Trouble and Buffalo West Wing which I bought in Piccadilly at the same time. That leaves the Spinal Tap book, which was a pre-order from Big Green, Hattie Steals the Show was a purchase and then Chris at the Kennels was a gift. And that’s all of them. Unless there’s one hiding somewhere that I forgot. But I don’t think there is…

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: September 1 – September 7

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I’m not actually sure what happened this week. To the reading list I mean. I know what I was doing, and I don’t think I had substantively less reading time than any other week, and I definitely wasn’t out in the evenings in the way that I sometimes am. But here we are. A shorter than usual list, and one where I have no idea what I’m doing for BotW tomorrow…

Read:

Bell, Book and Scandal by Jill Churchill

Oh Say Can You Fudge by Nancy CoCo

The Sussex Murders by Ian Sansom

A Matter of Pedigree by Leslie Meier*

For The Love by Jen Hatmaker

The Accidental Florist by Jill Churchill

Started:

Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer

A Fine Line Between Clever and Stupid by Rob Reiner

Still reading:

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Three books bought on my trip to Waterstones Piccadilly, one pre-order arrived and two ebooks.

Bonus picture: this is unacceptable for the first weekend in a September. A plague on you local garden centre!

*next to a book 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: August 25 – August 31

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I can’t believe it’s September already. I mean the weather last week was pretty autumnal so maybe I can believe it, but anyway, the end of the school holidays is basically here and I will try and find a silver lining in the fact that hopefully it means that Central London will be a little bit quieter soon. Any way a pretty solid week in reading given that there was a bank holiday, I went to a concert and had a night out with a friend.

Read:

Cultish by Amanda Montell

Resort to Murder by T P Fielden

The Truth by Terry Pratchett

A Quarter Past Dead by T P Fielden

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann*

The Last Supper by Rosemary Shrager

Started:

Bell, Book and Scandal by Jane Churchill

The Sussex Murders by Ian Sansom

Still reading:

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Three e-books and three actual books, including two in Saucy Books

Bonus picture: Martha Wainwright at Cadogan Hall on Saturday night. It was great.

*next to a book 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: August 18 – August 24

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I’m in denial that August is nearly over, but the weather feels like it’s starting to change for the cooler, and the very early mornings are getting darker so it must be. Most of my reading time this week was spent on The Mitford Girls – which is 700 pages long and absolutely fascinating. It really does make me want to go off and read about more the various sisters and also the people around them, but I have so much non-fiction on the pile and they do tend to get slightly ignored in favour of fiction that I shall have to try and resist the urge to purchase more! And of the rest of the reading, aside from the Christie and Heyer which were on audio, the other three books were all from the pile, so if it wasn’t for that whole situation at the National Trust bookshops last week, I would be feeling quite good about myself. As it is, the pile is still larger than it was at the start of the month, and is looming at me from the corner of the sitting room and making me feel guilty.

Read:

Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie

Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer

The Mitford Girls by Mary S Lovell

The House of the Seven Mabels by Jill Churchill

City of Vengeance by D V Bishop

The Wombles at Work by Elizabeth Beresford

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Started:

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Cultish by Amanda Montell

Still reading:

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

One ebook bought, but that’s it. A positive relief after last week.

Bonus picture: an afternoon at the women’s World Cup rugby on Sunday.

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

The pile

Books Incoming: Secondhand spree

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Yes I know I only did a Books Incoming post last Saturday. However, it all got a bit out of hand in Norfolk and so I’m back already. What we have here is the result of a trip to Carlisle (which should probably have been on last week’s post, but I forgot to put them on the pile so they got left out of the photo) and then two second-hand bookshops at the National Trusts in Norfolk…

Lets start with the Carlisle purchases, which are top left, the Shaun Levy Ratpack confidential and the Molly Keane. I’ve read Levy’s A Castle on Sunset and have been keeping an eye for his others as he writes in the Old Hollywood/movie adjacent part of my reading interests. The Molly Keane is because she keeps coming up in articles I’ve read and I did like Good Behaviour. Then we have the National Trust haul. And I’m going to start by saying that mobile phone signal in Norfolk was generally not good and was non-existent in the bookshops so some of this was done a little by guesswork. There’s actually one book I left out of the pile because when I had signal I realised I had read it, and there were a couple I didn’t buy because I wasn’t sure if I already had them on the pile (I had a 50 percent success rate on that front). Excluding the Abbey girls and the Dodie Smith, I was buying based on vibes and half remembered thoughts that I have read the author before.

So there is a fighting chance that some of these will be terrible and you will never hear of them again. There’s at least one book here when when I searched for the author on my goodreads page I discovered that I had read them before and not enjoyed it. So there’s a fighting chance some of these could end up victims of my 50 pages and out rule. But they were cheap and I was supporting the National Trust so it’s fine really. Totally fine.

Now lets see if I can control myself for the rest of the month. I don’t think I’ve got any more pre-orders due to arrive in the next few weeks, and so it’s going to be a case of can I keep myself from impulse purchasing in any bookshop I visit, and if I go on a series binge, can I restrain myself from acquiring more. Wish me luck.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 11 – August 17

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A good week – in life and in reading. We’ve wandered Norfolk, I read an entire book while sitting in a field at Sandringham waiting for bands to perform, and I’ve finished another non-fiction book – two now this month. Bravely I’ve started two more, here’s hoping they don’t end up on the long-running list…

Read:

Wigs on the Green by Nancy Mitford

Seams Like Murder by Dorothy Howell

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Grime and Punishment by Jill Churchill

Ask Not by Maureen Callahan

A Star is Bored by Byron Lane

The Stranger’s Companion by Mary Horlock*

Started:

The Mitford Girls by Mary S Lovell

City of Vengeance by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Still reading:

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Um. Well yes. I may have lost my head a little in the National Trust bookshops. More on that at the weekend. And an ebook too.

Bonus picture: the library at Blickling Hall. Isn’t it awesome?

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

The pile

Books Incoming: Mid-August edition

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Oh this looks bad. Really bad. But it’s not as bad as it looks. Honestly. Let me explain: nearly a third of these were pre-orders, so really they shouldn’t count right? I mentioned the Nev Fountain on Thursday, and the new Dahlia, and I really should have mentioned the Elissa Sussman too, but it came out the same week as the Sarah MacLean. Then the Otto English and the Richard Coles were my airport purchases on the way to Ghana – and were the only books I took with me. Now I was so busy that week that I only read one of them, but that still means that that one is going straight from the incoming pile to the shelf. And A Howl of Wolves is going onto the shelf too because it’s that fourth Sam Clair that you can’t get on Kindle, so really buying it was the only way I was going to get to read it and thus finish the series. And then while I was buying it from Abebooks, I checked what else the seller had that was on my list, because you get postage on a scale if you’re buying more books from the same person, and that’s how/why I got the Jill Churchills. And then finally the Jackie, Ethel, Joan was my purchase in Waterstones last week. So really that’s the only one that counts as an impulse purchase. And that’s what I’m meant to be working on…

Happy Saturday!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 4 – August 10

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A pretty solid list this week, although slightly more classic crime than I was expecting! But another one off the long-running list so that’s good. And after being nudged in Waterstones the other day, I’ve got started on some of the Kennedy books on the shelf. And we had a nice weekend in Cumbria so I got to wander around one of my favourite bookshops again as well as everything else!

Read:

Heads You Lose by Christianna Brand

About That Kiss by Jill Shalvis

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor*

The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson

Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine*

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Sinister Spring by Agatha Christie

Started:

Wigs on the Green by Nancy Mitford

Ask Not by Maureen Callahan

Still reading:

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

A Star is Bored by Byron Lane

Four ebooks and two actual books.

Bonus picture: butterflies in Cumbria on Sunday

*next to a book 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 28 – August 3

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Well that’s a much better list than last week isn’t it. I mean it’s mostly because I was exhausted and so didn’t try and get any theatre tickets while I was staying in London and stayed in instead. And it was a bit rainy too which doesn’t exactly encourage wandering around. That said, I did wander over to Waterstones Gower Street and yes, I did buy a book and there were some Kindle offers. Ahem. But I can’t be perfect all the time…

Read:

Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Sweet Little Lies by Jill Shalvis

At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie

Scandalize My Name by Fiona Sinclair

The Ex-Wives Club by Sally Hepworth

A Dark and Twisting Path by Julia Buckley

The Windsors at War by Alexander Larman

The Prodigal Son by Sulari Gentill

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

Started:

Heads You Lose by Christianna Brand

A Star is Bored by Byron Lane

Still reading:

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Five ebooks (because there were offers) and one ebook preorder, and then the book from Waterstones…

Bonus picture: it’s Wisteria season again

*next to a book 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 21 – July 27

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So this week was as busy as advertised, and then some. But here’s the list, I did get a couple of the long runners sorted and I’ve got a few things that are close to being read so it could be worse.

Read:

Six Sweets Under by Sarah Fox

Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day

Grilled for Murder by Maddie Day

A Howl of Wolves by Judith Flanders

Murder in Vienna by E C R Lorac

Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler

Started:

Scandalize My Name by Fiona Sinclair

Sweet Little Lies by Jill Shalvis

Still reading:

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Nothing else bought, but a bunch of stuff arrived…

Bonus picture: Pouring rain at the National before Nye on Tuesday night.

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