Category: The pile

A varied week of reading – with a touch of pretty much everything.  And I finally had the time to sit down and concentrate on The Night Circus, so the Still Reading list is down to one…

Read:

The Indecent proposal by Louise Marley

Bella and the Beast by Olivia Drake

Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford

Ships, Stings and Wedding Rings by Jodi Taylor

Death of a Diva by Derek Farrell

It Happened One Season by Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, Jacquie D’Alessandro and Candice Hern

The Guides of the Chalet School by Jane Berry

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Started:

Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham

Still reading:

Freya by Anthony Quinn

The books from last week’s spending spree turned up and I realised that the book piles by the sofa are now getting tall enough (in some cases) to interfere with the curtains.  Thus I am seriously contemplating a buying ban on actual books.  So this week I only purchased 2 ebooks – and one of them was free.  I’ll keep you posted on the piles.

Hmmmm.  What to say about this week’s reading – distinctly children’s book heavy?  I had a spree with a dealer a few weeks back and they were just what I needed for my post-nightshift recovery.  And I finally finished The Shadow Hour at the weekend – once my brain had got back in gear!

Read:

Heartsong Cottage by Emily March

The Bronte Plot by Katherine Reay

Chiltern School by Mabel Esther Allen

The Ballet Family by Mabel Esther Allen (Jean Estoril)

The Ballet Family Again by Mabel Esther Allen (Jean Estoril)

The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan

Started:

It Happened One Season by Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, Jacquie D’Alessandro and Candice Hern

Still reading:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Freya by Anthony Quinn

Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford

Oh dear.  I had a bit of a mega spending spree over the weekend.  I paid for it (mostly) with vouchers, but still added a lot more to the to-read pile than I’ve taken off it.  Whoops.

A relatively slow reading week.  My second run of nights happened over the weekend and I’m tired and cranky and can’t concentrate on complicated books – my aim for the coming week is to finish The Night Circus and The Shadow Hour – both of which I started and was enjoying before the nights but don’t have the brain power to concentrate on at the moment

Read:

The Record Set Right by Lauren Willig

The Winter Ground by Catriona McPherson

Snowflakes on Silver Cove by Holly Martin

The Jade Lioness by Christina Courtney

Death of a Cozy Writer by G M Malliet

A Death at the University by Richard King

Started:

Freya by Anthony Quinn

Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford

Still reading:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan

I was so good and well behaved on the nights – no books bought and not much else either!  I did nearly buy a new Kindle (I want a Paperwhite so I can read in bed when I can’t sleep) but I couldn’t quite justify it.

 

Now that is what four nightshifts can do for the to-read pile – I actually finished my 7th book of the week on the way home from the last night shift on Friday morning.  You’ll notice that the two books that are still on the go are ones where I need to use my brain a bit – and my brain is frazzled so it was light reading only!  But I did finish all my February new releases from NetGalley before the end of the month (with 3 days to spare!) – which is unusual for me.  Now I just need to work on the slight backlog from the autumn when everything got a way from me a bit…

Read:

Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes

Nancy Parker’s Diary of Detection by Julia Lee

The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth by Katherine Woodfine

Murder on a Silver Platter by Shawn Reilly Simmons

A Summer at Sea by Katie Fforde

The Duke’s Accidental Wife by Erica Ridley

The Stylist by Rosie Nixon

Ghostwriters Anonymous by Doreen Wald

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

Started:

The Winter Ground by Catriona McPherson

Still reading:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan

I was very, very virtuous and only impulse bought non books on the nightshift.  The pile is still massive though!

 

Two longstanding books finished this week (with most of the reading of them done this week) and a few nights away from home and a bit of a social life means not as much read as I was hoping at the start of the week.  I also had a lot of stuff on the go and tried to prioritise getting some of them finished over starting new stuff that I could have read quicker.

Read:

Murder on the Half Shell by Shawn Reilly Simmonds

The Prince’s Boy by Paul Bailey

The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams

The Feud in the Fifth Remove by Elinor M Brent Dyer

Villa America by Liza Klaussman

Started:

The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

Nancy Parker’s Diary of Detection by Julia Lee

Still reading:

Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Stylist by Rosie Nixon

A big old order of republished classic school stories arrived this week (hence the Feud in the Fifth Remove on the read list) and a couple of kindle books which were on a deal and recommended by the Smart Bitches crew.

 

Late night train journies really help with the book reading, but I need to sort out this habit of mine of starting big thick books that are too chunky to take in my handbag to work!  I also read a couple of single issue comics, but they don’t have Goodreads entries, which I guess means I can’t count them!

Read:

Sisters on Bread Street by Frances Brody

The Little Shop of Happily Ever After by Jenny Colgan

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil

The Murder Quadrille by Fidelis Morgan

Lumberjanes Vol. 2: Friendship to the Max by Noelle Stevenson

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine

Started:

The Stylist by Rosie Nixon

The Prince’s Boy by Paul Bailey

Still reading:

The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams

Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Villa America by Liza Klaussman

My headphones broke midweek and in ordering new ones, I may have bought 5 second hand books to get me free delivery on them.  I would have been buying then at some point anyway…

A much more “normal” (for me) week.  Lots of good stuff here – new stuff from authors I like, a new author or two and a wide range of stuff – historical fiction, contemporary women’s, detective, childrens, started some fantasy etc.

Read:

Whispers Underground by Ben Aaranovich

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

All Aboard (Canal Boat Cafe Part 1) by Cressida McLaughlin

The Glittering Art of Falling Apart by Ilana Fox

The Case of the Blue Violet (A Wells and Wong short) by Robin Stevens

Secrets of a Lady by Tracy Grant

Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander

Started:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Villa America by Liza Klaussman

Still reading:

The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams

Sisters on Bread Street by Frances Brody

Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes

I don’t think I ought to talk about the acquisitions this week – a couple of orders with book dealers have come through and I got more than I was hoping for/expecting.  Mostly children’s books, and some are books I read as a child and wanted a copy of, so they kind of don’t count, right?  It did make me restrain myself from a few other purchases though.  Long may the will power continue.  Not that this week is a demonstration of will power at all really!

Another strange week for me.  I’m not entirely sure why, but long days and commuter trains may again have something to do with my inability to settle down to a book as well as usual.  In the traditional one post two days late or two posts a day late each, the latter option has won – and January Stats will be tomorrow with Book of the Week on Wednesday.

Read:

My American Duchess by Eloisa James

Freeze my Margarita by Lauren Henderson

Bettany’s on the Home Front by Helen Barber

The Marble Collector by Cecilia Ahern

Rivers of London: Body Work 1 by Ben Aaronovich, Andrew Cartmel and Lee Sullivan

Mystery of the Skeleton Key by Bernard Capes

Started:

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

Whispers Underground by Ben Aaranovich

Still reading:

The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams

Sisters on Bread Street by Frances Brody

Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes

One e-book comic bought – and a pre-ordered novella arrived.  I’m still clutching my book tokens and trying to resist the urge to spend!

A fit of indecision and some standing only train journeys are to blame for the somewhat shorter than usual list. I’ve started a few good books though and adopted a short stories by the bed policy. I’ll keep you posted! 

Read:

London Rain by Nicola Upson

Death with an Ocean View by Nora Charles

Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury

Queen Lucia by E F Benson

Started:

Sisters on Bread Street by Frances Brody

The Marble Collector by Cecilia Ahern

Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes

My American Duchess by Eloisa James

Still reading:

Freeze my Margarita by Lauren Henderson

The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams

I don’t think I bought any books this week – but I did get a book token as a belated gift, so a spree may be imminent!