Category: week in books

Book of the Week, new releases, reviews, romance, romantic comedy

Book of the Week: The Rom-Commers

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It might be December, but today’s pick isn’t a Christmas book (sorry), it is a literal beach read from my holiday last week. But even if you’re not on a sun lounger right now, I think it’s still a pretty good option for a bit of escapist reading if that’s what you need.

Emma has always wanted to be a screenwriter – she’s studied for it, she’s obsessed by rom coms and she’s been writing her own for years – and she’s won contests with them. But she’s not in Hollywood hustling for gigs, she’s in Texas looking after her dad. That is until she gets a call from an old friend to offer her the chance to work with a legendary screenwriter. Charlie Yates has won all the awards you could think of but the screenplay for his new movie sucks. It’s a rom com written by a man who doesn’t believe in love – and it shows. Charlie is Emma’s writing idol so she heads off to LA for six weeks to doctor his script. Except when she gets there, he doesn’t want to work with her and he doesn’t even care about the script, it’s just a means to an end. But Emma isn’t letting her big chance go without a fight…

Now I love a Rom Com – I’ve actually been revisiting some of my old favourites recently (with somewhat mixed results, but that’s a story for another day) so as a premise this was right up my alley. And this has got all the banter and sparks flying that you could want. Emma and Charlie are a chalk and cheese duo on the surface but as you get to know them you realise how perfect they are for each other underneath. It’s got a third act twist that made me worry that I’d missed a “a novel” disclaimer on the front, but it was OK in the end. I don’t think I would have able to write about it if it had broken the rom com conventions that it was writing about – unless I was rage-writing any way.

I enjoyed Katherine Center’s previous two book Hello Stranger and The Bodyguard, but I think this is my favourite of hers yet. And I’m looking forward to seeing what we get next too.

This is out now – it’s a relatively recent release in paperback so I haven’t had a chance to check out the bookshops to see how easy it is to find in person, but I’m hoping it shouldn’t be too hard. And of course it’s on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 25 – December 1

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A mega list this week because we’ve been on holiday. It was warm and sunny and there were plenty of comfortable places for me to read books. And there was a plane ride there and back to read on too. Generally most satisfactory. Less satisfactory is the situation with the various reading challenges, but I’m going to give them my best shot in the month that I’ve got left. I’m back at work tomorrow and I’ve got a theatre trip planned this week and it’s starting to get a bit Christmas-y so we’ll see how the list looks this time next week…

Read:

Murder at Christmas by Rupert Latimer

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb*

How to Solve Murders Like a Lady by Hannah Dolby*

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes

Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Guilt at the Garage by Simon Brett

Birding with Benefits by Sarah T Dubb

A Classic Case by Alicia Thompson

A Fatal Groove by Olivia Blacke

Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood

Started:

Not in My Book by Katie Holt*

Still reading:

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

The Divorce Colony by April White

One ebook bought.

Bonus picture: what else but a sun lounger snap?

*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: November 18 – November 24

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A pretty good week in reading, partly because I was commuting back and forth and not staying in lining, partly because the weather was awful so going out seemed very unappealing. I’ve started on the Christmas-themed reading now too, so there’ll be some more on that front coming too. And as you can see, I have now read the actual book of Rivals…

Read:

Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin

Dramatic Murder by Elizabeth Anthony

What Bloody Man is That by Simon Brett

Rivers of London: Stray Cat Blues by Ben Aaronovitch et al

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Rivals by Jilly Cooper

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

One Lucky Subscriber by Kellye Garrett

Started:

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Murder at Christmas by Rupert Latimer

Guilt at the Garage by Simon Brett

Still reading:

The Divorce Colony by April White

Two books, no ebooks.

Bonus picture: Snow at the station on Tuesday morning on the way to work. I think the season really has changed now…

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

Book of the Week, Children's books, Forgotten books

Book of the Week: The Top of the Climb

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I was wondering what to write about this week and then I realised that I was the only person to have read and rated this on Goodreads and so obviously the choice became clear! And so this week we have another in my intermittent series of career books for girls from the mid-twentieth century.

As you can tell from the cover, this is the story of a plucky young wannabe air hostess through her training and into the early stages of her career. In this case it’s Caroline, who comes down from the north of England for her interview at London airport and doesn’t speak much of any foreign language, but clearly has the right accent and the right stuff for the job. This runs you through the skills that an air hostess needed at the time, and then a bit of the day to day of the job once you qualify.

The rest of Betty Beaty’s books appear to be Mills and Boon category romances – between air hostesses and pilots, but there’s not actually a lot of romance in this – for all that the traditional love interest is easily spotted early on. There’s a dollop of glamour with trips to New York- but also the usual dash of teething troubles and peril. I’ve said before that my expectations for air travel were made unrealistic by the fact that I read Shirley Flight, Air Hostess as a child – and this would have done the same, although maybe not quite to the same extent.

Of course the main issue with a lot of this era of books is that problematic content can pop up anywhere – and anything with travel tends to have at least a few issues. The Shirley Flight books are particularly bad when it comes to the portrayal of anyone non-British, and although it has a moment or two, The Top of the Climb is better than they are on that front. And also, spoiler, there’s no plane crashes in this. Shirley crashes in practically every other book, but Caroline makes it to the end sans wrecked plane – despite a few scares. All in all an interesting and mostly fun way to spend a couple of hours.

I bought this at Bristol Book Con this year, and I can’t see any other copies anywhere, so if you want to read this you may have to make me an offer. But I don’t suppose you will – and indeed I’m not really suggesting you should.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 11 – November 17

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A steady old week in Reading and a very busy week in life. So I suppose I’ve done OK all things considered. And Kiss Me, Kate was wonderful at the cinema too yesterday afternoon so that was delightful as well.

Read:

The Killer in the Choir by Simon Brett

Star Trap by Simon Brett

A Comedian Dies by Simon Brett

Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy*

Death in the Dark by Julia Buckley

The Measure of Malice edited by Martin Edwards

The Top of the Climb by Betty Beaty

Started:

Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin

Still reading:

The Divorce Colony by April White

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

Another preorder turned up, and one other acquired. Oopsie

Bonus picture: The British Museum as I walked past on my way back from a comedy gig one night last week. I can’t pass it without thinking about Amelia and Emerson…

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

Book of the Week, Christmas books, new releases

Book of the Week: The Anti-Social Season

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It’s November and we have our first Christmas-set pick of the season and it’s one of the new releases! And yes I know, I told you about it on release day, but now I’m reporting back…

Thea has been a firefighter for a decade, except that now she can’t do it any more after a colleague was injured. She’s got the chance of a job managing the fire service’s social media – but can she cope with being so close to her old job without actually doing it? And who even is she if she isn’t a firefighter? Simon is a librarian and manages the library’s social accounts part time. He’s the man tasked with teaching Thea the ropes of her new job. He also had a huge crush on her when they were at school – even though she didn’t notice him at all. As they work their way towards Christmas the two of them realise that there is something going on between them – but can they do anything about it without risking their jobs?

This is actually much lower angst than that description sounds. There is no active peril really, just some slightly toxic family members and two adults working out whether they might work together beyond the bedroom. There are adult conversations when things go wrong (not always straight away) and grown up behaviour. It’s actually a very comforting and calming read. Well except for Simon’s sister and mother who need to be fired into the sun. But apart from that. If you want to start your festive reading, this wouldn’t be a bad place to do it.

As you already know, I had this one preordered and it’s available now on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 4 – November 10

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What a week. What a weekend – my sister came to visit and we went to London and ended up seeing two shows in less than twenty four hours, which is pretty much my idea of heaven. And I’ve got another one on Monday night too so I’m carrying the weekend fun over into the new week. And on the reading front, the Fetherings binge continues as well as some Christmas reading and a new-to-me historical mystery series. I just need to work on that long running list now…

Read:

A Reconstructed Corpse by Simon Brett

Death at the Dress Rehearsal by Stuart Douglas

The Killer in the Cafe by Simon Brett

A Body on the Doorstep by Marty Wingate

The Anti-Social Season by Adele Buck

The Nosy Neighbor by Nita Prose

The Liar in the Library by Simon Brett

Started:

The Killer in the Choir by Simon Brett

Death in the Dark by Julia Buckley

Still reading:

The Divorce Colony by April White

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy*

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

So I spent the Waterstones voucher. Well all of it except about £1.80. And as you could see on Saturday, it’s all got a bit out of hand…

Bonus picture: Lego Liberty still makes me smile every time I go in, even if the crowds in the Christmas shop don’t!

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

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: Death at the Dress Rehearsal

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Yes I’m cheating because I finished this on Monday. No I’m not sorry. Not even remotely this time!

It’s 1970 and Edward Lowe and John Le Breton, two aging actors are on location filming a not very good BBC sitcom called Floggit and Leggit . But when Edward stumbles across a body he’s convinced the death is not the accident the local police think it is and even though they’re not really friends to start with (you could say they tolerate each other) he convinces John to help him investigate. Soon they’re crisscrossing the country in their gaps in filming and the body count starts to mount. Can they figure out who is behind the deaths before the killer strikes again?

Now if you’re anything like me, you’re reading that blurb and thinking hang on, that sounds like Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier solving crimes around the filming of Dad’s Army. And then about ten seconds later I had a sample in my kindle and about 30 seconds after that I’d read enough to decide to buy it. And that is definitely the vibe. It’s a pretty solidly plotted cozy crime novel with plenty of twists and an interesting and slightly fractious duo of aging actors at the centre of it where the dynamic is definitely a mix of Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson and the generally accepted personas of the two actors behind them. The sitcom is more Lovejoy meets open all hours or last of the summer wine but there’s actually not as much action from the set as you might expect. I really enjoyed it – and if I hadn’t been trying to finish Astor before I went away for another few days (and if there had been less action in the F1) I would have finished it yesterday. I haven’t read anything else from Stuart Douglas, but I’m already looking forward to the sequel next year.

I bought my copy on Kindle – it was £1.99 when I bought it last week, but it’s up at £5.99 at time of writing. And it’s also in Kobo (for the same price as Kindle) and available in paperback too, although the only one of the central London Waterstones that claims to have it is Piccadilly and the only Foyles is the main one at Charing Cross Road.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: October 28 – November 3

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A busy week in life and reading. Am I on a bit of a Simon Brett binge? Yes. But actually most of them are books I haven’t read before that have been sitting on the virtual TBR so that is progress on the backlog right? And I have started another 50 pages and out run through the bookshelf which has weeded some books off the pile because I don’t like them and don’t want to read the rest. Again, progress of a sort.

Read:

Hide My Eyes by Margery Allingham

The Corpse on the Court by Simon Brett

The Strangling on Stage by Simon Brett

Reunion Dinner by Jessie Q Sutanto

Dead Room Farce by Simon Brett

The Tomb in Turkey by Simon Brett

A Holiday Homicide by Ellie Alexander

Crime of Fashion by Emma Rosenblum

Astor by Anderson Cooper

Started:

Death at the Dress Rehearsal by Stuart Douglas

The Divorce Colony by April White

Still reading:

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy*

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

Two books and one ebook added to the pile. And I still have that book voucher to spend remember…

Bonus picture: another night out at the theatre…

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

Book of the Week, cozy crime

Book of the Week: A Dark and Stormy Murder

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This week I’m back in the cozy crime genre for my pick, and with a first in a series so I’m abiding by the rules (yes, those rules I set myself!).

And so the plot: Lena’s just landed a job as the assistant to her favourite writer, Camilla Graham and moved to a small town in Indiana. Lena has always wanted to be a writer and now she gets to learn from her idol. Lena’s best friend already lives in Blue Lake – in fact she’s the one who met Camilla first, but Lena quickly gets stuck into small town life and meeting the locals – including a notorious recluse and the chief detective. But when a body turns up on her boss’s land, and strange things start happening at the house Lena can’t help but start investigating…

This has a fairly classic cozy crime set up in many ways – small town, two potential love interests for the heroine and a developing group of friends. But the writing as a profession is fun and the actual murder plot is good and allows the development of Lena and Camilla’s working relationship as well as doing some world building work too. There’s also a secondary investigation going on that is setting up more for the series, so it feels quite action packed – and I mean that in a good way. At the moment Lena seems to be picking my least favourite of the two love interests but there’s plenty of scope for either him to grow on me or for her to change her mind. This is my first book by Julia Buckley, and there another five in this series and she has a couple of other series too so that’s something to look forward to, if I can just get the tbr under control…

I read this one in paperback, but it’s also available on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!