A mixed week – some stuff I really liked in there, but also a run of average to not great stuff too. This week’s Book of the Week Post has been tricky to pick too.
Read:
Dandy Gilver and the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom by Catriona McPherson
Bold Seduction by Karyn Gerrard
A Beeline to Murder by Meera Lester
Thoreau in Phantom Bog by BB Oak
The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Scrapbook of the Dead by Mollie Bryan Cox
Started:
Stirred with Love by Marcie Steele
A Place of Confinement by Anna Dean
Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
Still reading:
Appleby Farm by Cathy Bramley
I had a bit of a pre-ordering spree this week – but only bought one thing that I could read Right Now – so not too bad in the grand scheme of things. For me anyway.
Tough choice for Book of the Week this week. An honourable mention goes to Trisha Ashley’s new novella A Vintage Christmas, but it’s quite short, and she has a new book out in October, so in the interests of keeping my powder dry, I’ll just leave you a Kindle link to it. Subtle right? There was another close contender, but I’ve reviewed that for Novelicious, so in the interests of not stealing their thunder, I won’t tell you what it is. Yet.
I Feel Bad About My Neck got the nod because, although it’s aimed at a slightly more mature lady than me, this collection of essays and general thoughts on life made me really laugh. In this, Ms Ephron takes a witty look at ageing, through the eyes of a baby boomer. I think my favourite is the one about maintenance – and how long women spend on upkeep!
Nora Ephron wrote the screen plays for two of my favourite films when I was a teenager – When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail and I laughed my way through her novel Heartburn a few years back. Heartburn is a fictionalised version of the break-up of her second marriage – and some of the themes from that reoccur here. This isn’t a long read, but it is a very fun one.
My enjoyment of this book was tinged with sadness – as Nora Ephron was already suffering with leukemia at the time that she wrote this, although almost no-one knew that she was ill right up until she died in 2012. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for more of her other writing and it’s a shame there won’t be any more.
A really good week – some lovely books, with nothing left over from last week, although I’ve still got a couple of things on the go.
Read:
Death of a Policeman by MC Beaton
Rembrandt’s Mirror by Kim Deveraux
Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
The Girl of My Dreams by Peter Davis
A Vintage Christmas by Trisha Ashley
The Z Murders by J Jefferson Farjeon
Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
Started:
Appleby Farm by Cathy Bramley
A Beeline to Murder by Meera Lester
Dandy Gilver and the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom by Catriona McPherson
Still reading:
n/a (!)
Two e-books bought – and a pre-order arrived. No real books purchased though. In other housekeeping news – over on Novelicious, we’ve been doing a Nostalgic Summer Reread of our childhood favourites – you can check out my post on Swallows and Amazons here if you’re interested in whether summer boating holidays in the Lake District lived up to my memories!
Crivens! This week’s BotW will come as no surprise – it’s the final Terry Pratchett novel, the 41st Discworld book and the fifth to feature Tiffany Aching. I managed to force myself to read it slowly (for me anyway) and made it last a week. I’m already listening to the audiobook on my walks to work.
As you can see I have the others in the series in paperback, but I wasn’t prepared to wait this time.
In the Chalk, something is brewing. Tiffany can feel it coming, the Kelda can feel it coming. An old enemy is gathering strength. To quote the back of the book, Tiffany stands between the light and the dark, the good and the bad. And there will be a reckoning.
And to be honest, that’s about all that I can say about the plot of The Shepherd’s Crown without giving too much away. I encountered a massive spoiler in the Audible sample a week before the book came out – and my sister ran into the Guardian review which reveals the same Major Event – and I’ve become really concious of the fact that I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone reading this the way that plot twist was spoilt for me.
What I can say about the book is that it made my cry, repeatedly. But it’s not a sad book. As the back cover says, it is a time of endings and beginnings, and they’re handled beautifully. It is a Young Adult book and there are Serious Issues in there, but it deals with them very well, with Sir Terry’s trademark wit and warmth. I laughed and smiled and really enjoyed Tiffany’s adventure.
I wish there were going to be more. But as I said earlier this year (in this post), we knew that the end was coming sooner than anyone could have wished for. I still want the Moist the Tax Collector book. I am greedy for more from the Discworld. And the afterword in Shepherd’s Crown drops tantalising hints about what could have been. But I absolutely respect (and agree with) Rhianna Pratchett’s decision that if her father is not here to write them, there will be no more new Discworld books.
To reiterate – No I don't intend on writing more Discworld novels, or giving anyone else permission to do so. They are sacred to dad.
— Rhianna Pratchett 🧙🏻♀️ (@rhipratchett) June 5, 2015
I will be involved with spin-offs, adaptations and tie-ins, but that's it. Discworld is his legacy. I shall make my own.
— Rhianna Pratchett 🧙🏻♀️ (@rhipratchett) June 5, 2015
And if the end had to come, The Shepherd’s Crown is a very good place to finish. There are plenty of old favourite characters and there are some new favourites too. Of all the Discworld regulars, Mistress Tiffany has more life ahead of her than the others (unless you count Young Sam Vimes) and so it seems fitting that she is the centre of the last book.
The Shepherd’s Crown doesn’t feel like a goodbye, like a world is coming to an end – it feels like the Great A’Tuin is still out there, swimming through space with the elephants and the Disc on his back, it’s just that we won’t get to hear about the goings on there anymore. And maybe that’s Sir Terry’s greatest achievement – he’s created a fantasy world so real that we can’t believe that it could stop.
It’s not as if I had a matching set to start with, so I’ll cope with the non-matchingness.
I’m planning to re-read the whole series. If you haven’t discovered Tiffany yet, start with The Wee Free Men and enjoy her whole journey. If you are a Discworld fan, who’s been hesitant about reading this, don’t worry. I don’t think this will be a disappointment to you. It is safe to read it. It feels right. You should be able to get hold of a copy of The Shepherd’s Crown anywhere which sells good books – but just in case: Amazon, Kindle, Foyles (sadly no discount), Waterstones.
Enjoy it. Make it last. Raise a glass to it’s creator. And mind how you go.
For those reading The Shepherd's Crown 'Mind how you go' are considered to be the Pratchett magic words.
As promised last week, here’s a link to my review of The Spider in the Corner of the Room on Novelicious. I’ve read some more stuff for Novelicious this week – and you’ll see links to them in future BotW posts. Now to business. This week’s BotW is Claire Sandy’s latest A Very Big House in the Country. I was so excited when this appeared in the post* – after all I raved about What Would Mary Berry Do? last summer. You may have noticed that this was on the reading list for a couple of weeks – and that is because I forced myself not to gobble this up in one sitting.**
The Herreras, the Littles and the Browns are sharing a massive Devon mansion for two long hot weeks of the summer holidays. There are secrets. There are romances. There’s something lurking in the bushes – and it may not just be the Herrera’s dog on the pull. There’s step-sons, trophy wives, a glamourous (and possibly slutty) nanny and an outdoor pool. And gallons of wine. Tongues will loosen, inhibitions will fall away and people may get a little too honest. When everyone packs up and heads out at the end of the summer will they all still be friends? And will everyone be going home in the same car they arrived in?
Ok. I know, there’s not a lot of plot in that little summary, but I think it gives you a flavour of the book. It’s warm, touching and funny, with a bit of a sarcastic edge. The house may be luxurious, but the book is very down to earth. You’ll probably recognise things from your own families and group holidays in this. Summer may be ending, but grab hold of its coattails and recapture the hot weather after a particularly wet bank holiday weekend with one last sun-lounger read.
This one is all up in the supermarkets – so you shouldn’t have any problems getting hold of it next time you happen to accidentally on purpose walk through the book aisle as you arrive in TescAsdWaitburys. But in case you can’t wait, here’s an Amazon link and a Kindle one and a Foyles one.
* My copy was sent to me by the author – but as per usual, my reviews are honest and BotW goes to my favourite book I read the previous week and this. was. it.
** I’m currently doing the same thing with The Shepherd’s Crown, because once it’s gone there Is No More New Pratchett and I don’t want it to be over yet.
I’ve read some good stuff this week – and I’m desperately trying to make myself read the last Discworld book S-l-o-w-l-y. Because after all, once it’s over, it’s over.
Read:
The Woman in the Picture by Katharine McMahon
The Duke Can Go to the Devil by Erin Knightley
The Lady of Misrule by Suzannah Dunn
A Very Big House in the Country by Claire Sandy
Red Velvet Revenge by Jenn McKinlay
Started:
The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett
The Museum of Things Left Behind by Seni Glaister
Still reading:
The Girl of My Dreams by Peter Davis
Killing Monica by Candace Bushnell
I bought The Shepherd’s Crown, but that’s it! Progress.
I had a really hard time deciding what to pick for BotW this week. Like really hard. I read an awesome thriller – but it was for Novelicious so I can’t pick that, although I’ll try and remember to post a link here when that review goes up. I read some nice cozy crime and a bit of romance. And then three really fun women’s fiction books which it was hard to chose between. But I’ve gone for Kat French’s The Piano Man Project because sometimes you need a moody, troubled, Alpha hero – and Hal is a really good one.
Honeysuckle has a problem – and it’s not that her name is Honeysuckle. She needs a man to fix a… problem that she’s encountering. He needs to be good with his hands *wink wink*n- and so her friends decide a pianist may be the answer and start trying to set her up. But then there’s Honey’s new neighbour Hal – he’s anti-social, grumpy and troubled, but Honey keeps coming back to try and help. On top of all this the old people’s home where Honey works is under threat and she’s got to do something to try and save it.
This is touching and funny and has a darker edge perhaps than my summary above might suggest (I’m not going into why because it would be too much of a spoiler). It’s also a bit sexier than some of the other books you’ll find alongside it on the shelves. Author Kat French has an alter-ego who writes erotica and she’s brought some of that to the table in this. It’s not in 50 Shades territory, but it is a notch above what I’ve usually found in romantic comedies.
Honey does have a strong streak of trying to fix things/people which I guess might rub some readers up the wrong way, but I found her charming and caring and not a doormat. And there are problems in this book that aren’t fixable no matter how hard she tries – and I liked that. I found Hal a compelling hero – even though he’s hard work and demanding and doesn’t really appreciate Honey’s efforts on his behalf for a lot of the book.
The Piano Man Project was well in evidence in my local enormous supermarket this week – as you can see from the picture above – so it should be nice and easy to get hold of, but it’s also just 99p on Kindle at the moment so it’s a real bargain (Amazon have the paperback for £3.85 too which isn’t to shabby either).
A bumper week of reading – because of a bumper week of train trips! Lots of good stuff in there, but a few frustrations too. I’ve mostly been trying to work my way down my NetGalley backlog – and I’m pleased to report that my little yellow post-it notes in the front of my diary have a lot more things crossed off!
Read:
The Piano Man Project by Kat French
The Great Village Show by Alexandra Brown
The Spider in the Corner of the Room by Nikki Owen
Just The Way You Are by Lynsey James
Not Always A Saint by Mary-Jo Putney
Threads of Evidence by Lea Wait
What to Do with a Duke by Sally MacKenzie
Five Go Glamping by Liz Tipping
Hardwired by Meredith Wild
Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton
Started:
Killing Monica by Candace Bushnell
Still reading:
The Girl of My Dreams by Peter Davis
A Very Big House in the Country by Claire Sandy
I had a little lapse in the supermarket this week and picked up two ebooks that were on offer and recommended too. Oops. Hey ho.
This week’s BotW is The Paris Wife by Paula McLain – which has been sitting on my to-read pile for far too long What’s new. How many times have I said that now? But yes, once again, a really good book stuck in the backlog for ages. You’d think I’d learn by now, and yet The Pile is still out of control. Hey ho. Moving on.
The Paris Wife tells the story of the marriage between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson. The novel is told predominantly from Hadley’s perspective, interspersed with occasional diary style snippets from Hemingway. Hadley and Ernest are clearly very much in love when they get married and this paints a very convincing portrait of a marriage torn apart by genius, ego, Jazz Age Paris, children and other women. You can see the train wreck coming and they can see it coming – but they don’t seem to be able to do anything to avert it. But this isn’t a miserable book, it’s sad in places, but it’s also fascinating.
Whilst I haven’t read a lot of Hemingway’s work, I have read a fair bit of F Scott Fitzgerald’s – who is another member of this crew – and as I’ve mentioned before, I love this interwar time period. After reading this, I’ve realised that I’ve got a bit of a glut of books about this set sitting on my shelves – not only Mrs Hemingway, but also Villa America and I think another one that I can’t remember the title of. I might have to space out reading them so I don’t get too confused/overloaded, but I am looking forward to reading them soon.
I wouldn’t expect you to have too much difficulty tracking this down in the bookshops – it’ll probably be on the shelves rather than the tables by now though. But here’s a link to Foyles and Kindle just in case.
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 