Category: The pile

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: September 22 – September 27

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So as you saw on Saturday I’ve been on holiday, and so the list is appropriately holiday-y. My goal for the holiday was to read the same number of books from NetGalley as other books and across the week and a bit I basically did that (once you exclude the audiobooks) so I’m pretty pleased with that. Go me. For once a target I achieved!

Read:

Entitled by Andrew Lownie

Island Calling by Francesca Segal*

Mrs Pargeter’s Past by Simon Brett*

The American Duchess by Anna Pasternak

Murder on the Mountain by Ellie Alexander

Love Queenie by Mayukh Sen*

The Crichel Boys by Simon Fenwick

The Last Camel Died at Noon by Elizabeth Peters

Villains in Venice by Katherine Woodfine

Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey with Leslie Jamison*

Started:

Twilight Falls by Juneau Black

Abdication by Brian Inglis

You Had to Be There by Jodie Harsh*

Still reading:

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Three e-books bought.

Bonus picture: a delightful view across to Tenerife on Saturday afternoon.

*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: September 15 – September 21

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Well. That list is looking a bit more healthy. I was going to say it was looking better, but then I realised that not all the books on the list were better and revised my words. Because although there is some excellent stuff on there, there were also a few that were really not. But that happens every now and again, it just seems to have happened more than usual in the last couple of weeks. But on the bright side, another off the long runners list, so I can’t really complain can I?

Read:

The Vanderbeekers on the Road by Karina Yan Glaser

Breakneck by Dan Wang*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

The Mystery of the Polite Man by C M Rawlins

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett

The Paris Spy by Sarah Sigal*

Death of a Cheerleader by Marina Evans*

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey*

Started:

Entitled by Andrew Lownie

Still reading:

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Two books and two ebooks.

Bonus picture: new knitting in the village!

*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: September 8 – September 14

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A slightly more normal week in reading, despite a theatre trip and a day out at a car show and various other bits and bobs. It’s definitely starting to get a bit autumnal though, so perhaps the day trips and evenings out will start to turn into quiet cozy nights in in the next few weeks?!

Read:

Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer

The Murder Wheel by Tom Mead

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead

Chris at the Kennels by Patricia Baldwin

A Fine Line Between Clever and Stupid by Rob Reiner

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

Started:

The Vanderbeekers on the Road by Karina Yan Glaser

Still reading:

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

I don’t think I bought anything, but I did get a gift – the Patricia Baldwin as seen in Books Incoming, which is already read and off the pile.

Bonus picture: yes, I’ve already been to seen The Producers in its return to the West End!

*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-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!