Category: week in books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 8 – January 14

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Am I burning my way through a cozy crime novella series on Kindle Unlimited rather than reading this month’s new releases? Absolutely I am. Do I have anything to write about tomorrow? Who knows. Am I a fool to myself? Absolutely. In my defence, I did go to the theatre two nights last week (as you know) and was away from home for a few nights as well and that always has an impact. But really, I continue to be the most extreme of mood and binge readers!

Read:

Findin’ Out by Patti Benning

Diggin’ In by Patti Benning

A Truth for a Truth by Emilie Richards

Holin’ Up by Patti Benning

Murder on the Minnesota by Edward Marston

Breakin’ In by Patti Benning

Floodin’ Out by Patti Benning

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa*

Two Women Walk into a Bar by Cheryl Strayed

Freezin’ Up by Patti Benning

Started:

It Happened One Fight by Maureen Lee Lenker

Lady Thief of Belgravia by Allison Grey*

A Death in Diamonds by S J Bennett*

Still reading:

Knowing Me, Knowing You by Jeevani Charika*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

Quite a lot of books bought – combination of the Kindle Deals post, a few extra pre-orders put in and a trip to the bookshop…

Bonus photo: the 2024 Beat the To-Read Pile bookshelf, set up only a week late and by a miracle I remembered to take a picture before I started filling it in!

*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, books

Book of the Week: Capote’s Women

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It’s the first BotW that I read in 2024 and it’s one of my Christmas gifts. And it’s non fiction, so here we are ticking off some goals for the year – more non fiction and reducing the pile!

Capote’s Women is Laurence Leamer’s look at Truman Capote and the women who he surrounded himself with – right up until the point where he published thinly disguised versions of them in his famous – or notorious – extract from his unfinished novel in Esquire magazine. This functions as a bit of a group biography – looking at each woman’s life and how it fitted in with Truman’s.

I’ve read – and written – about this little coterie before and this is a pretty good overview of the women and their involvement with Capote. I think I was expecting more about the fall out from his article – but I think I might have drawn that conclusion from the fact that the book is the basis for the next series of Feud because looking back at the blurb for this, it doesn’t really imply that. Several of the women are interesting enough that you want to read more about them – some of them I already have, others I’ll keep an eye out for. There are a couple of Swans not covered – including Ann Woodward, which is a fairly big omission, but you wouldn’t know there was any one missing if you didn’t know about the group already if that makes sense! You do sometimes lose a little track of where in time you are as it goes through the women, but I think trying to go with everything chronologically would have been even worse and very, very confusing.

Anyway, this was an interesting read that fitted right into my areas of interest that I was delighted to get for Christmas. I look forward to seeing what the TV series does with it! it’s out in hardback now but you can also get it in Kindle and Kobo – and as a bonus the price on the e-edition has come down to £4.99 (from £9.99) over the last day or two.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 1 – January 7

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So I started 2024 by continuing the Drina binge and then started a new series of (short) cozy crimes with a home renovation theme. And I’ve already read one of my Christmas books, before it even made it onto the pile! I’ve started a couple of this month’s NetGalley books, but I haven’t finished any yet, so I’m basically already behind there. Hey ho I enjoyed my reading and that’s the main thing right?

Read:

Drina Dances in Switzerland by Jean Estoril

Drina Goes on Tour by Jean Estoril

Drina, Ballerina by Jean Estoril

Flippin’ Out by Patti Benning

Movin’ Up by Patti Benning

Birder, She Wrote by Donna Andrews

Capote’s Women by Laurence Leamer

Started:

Knowing Me, Knowing You by Jeevani Charika*

A Truth for a Truth by Emilie Richards

Findin’ Out by Patti Benning

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

Three ebooks (two novels and a novella) bought. But I haven’t made it into a bookshop yet this year…

Bonus photo: I finished the jigsaw puzzle about three hours after last week’s week in books published!

*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, books

Book of the Week: If You Only Knew

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Well after a bumper week of reading last week to get the fifty states challenge finished, I’m starting the new year with a Kristan Higgins book for Book of the Week which wasn’t one of the missing states. Who could have predicted that!

If You Only Knew is a dual narrative story about two sisters who are both at turning points in their lives. Wedding dress designer Jenny is moving back to her home town to open a new storefront after her divorce in an attempt to get away from her ex and his new wife whose lives she’s still entangled in. Her sister Rachael has a seemingly enviable life – adoring husband and cute triplet daughters. Except Rachael’s just caught him sexting with a colleague and she’s not sure what what to do about it – she’s not sure she believes in second chances but she’s also not ready to give up on her family dream.

This is really readable – I read it across about 36 hours despite it being Christmas – I liked the mix of big city New York and small town New York State and it all works out alright in the end, despite my fears at various points while reading it. As always with stories like this I liked one side of the story better than the other – in this case it was Jenny I wanted more of, but maybe that’s because adultery plots are never really quite my thing and I loathed Rachael’s husband (although now I’ve finished the book I don’t think you were meant to like him but I wasn’t sure about that at the time) and wanted her to burn it all down straight away. That said I’m not sure Jenny’s strand of the plot on its own would have been enough to sustain a novel – and I definitely wouldn’t have read just Rachael’s – so it was probably the right decision to do both!

Anyway you can get this on Kindle and Kobo and it’s only £2.99! It does have a paperback version but as it’s a few years old now it may not be that easy to get hold of a physical copy – Amazon is certainly asking crazy money for it, but the ebook is cheap so that’s something.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: December 25 – December 31

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Happy New Year! I hope 2024 is every thing you want it to be and more. I have a stack of new year content coming up as well as the last bits of looking back at 2023. And thank you for reading this blog – I don’t say it enough but I appreciate you all. Anyway, I finished off the year with a stack of books – including those last few states for the challenge and also a binge reread of Drina after I put the idea in my head!

Read:

If Only You Knew by Kristen Higgins

Rivers of London: Here be Dragons by Ben Aaronovitch et al

Faux Finished by Peg Marberg

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Dakota Cowboy by Lisa Mondello

Drina Dances Again by Jean Estoril

Drina Dances in New York by Jean Estoril

Drina Dances in Paris by Jean Estoril

Lethal Bayou Beauty by Jana de Leon

Ghostland by Jean Hager

The Falcon at the Portal by Elizabeth Peters

Drina Dances in Madeira by Jean Estoril

Started:

Birder, She Wrote by Donna Andrews

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

Three ebooks bought – including the latest Veronica Speedwell which has dropped to a sensible price presumably because the new one arrives soon.

Bonus photo: end of year jigsaw update…

*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: December 18 – December 24

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Happy Christmas everyone! I hope you’re all having a delightful day filled with whatever you want to be doing and hopefully lots of lovely food. And that you got the books you wanted of course. I’ve checked off another four of my missing states so I may still get the list finished before the end of the rest! Wish me luck.

Read:

Tempest by Beverly Jenkins

The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan

Six Geese a’ Slaying by Kathleen Bacus

Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score

The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters

Cowboy Dancing All Night by Jessie Gussman

Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello*

Started:

If Only You Knew by Kristen Higgins

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

Seven books bought and another preordered – there’s a sale on Beverly Jenkins and I needed to get the new Rivers of London ordered.

Bonus photo: a pile of presents (not for me) because if can’t post another gratuitous Christmas picture on actual Christmas Day when can I?!

*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, books

Book of the Week: The Socialite Spy

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As I said yesterday, although I should have been reading Christmas books and books that ticked off missing states in my reading challenge, actually last week I was reading a bunch of other stuff, so today’s pick is Sarah Sigal’s The Socialite Spy.

It’s 1936 and Lady Pamela Moore is somewhat unconventional socialite – she’s married but she’s the writer of a newspaper column called Agent of Influence – it’s about fashion and high society. When her editor asks her to interview Wallis Simpson for a puff piece about her wardrobe, she has no idea what will come next. She’s approached by MI5 to keep an eye on Mrs Simpson and Edward VIII and to report on their links to Nazi Germany. As she finds herself moving around in high society and political circles she discovers that things are not quite as she thought they were – but is she putting herself in danger?

My love of 1930s set books is well known and I have a particular soft spot for books and novels about the abdication crisis so this really appealed to me. If you’ve read other books set around this period you can probably figure out who Lady Pamela is going to be meeting and what Wallis is getting up to. This isn’t as good as my all time favourite Gone with the Windsors, but it’s doing something different to that with the thriller/espionage element. But it was still a fun read that stuck pretty closely to what I understand the actual history to be. But of course it did make me want to go back and read Laurie Graham all over again – which I really didn’t need to add to my list at the moment because I have plenty of other books to read.

If you like the Royal Spyness series, this will probably work for you as well – it’s got slightly more peril than those so, but it’s in quite similar sort of area in a way. I think there’s a chance we could get a sequel to this – which I would happily read, just to see what Sarah Sigal does with Pamela next.

I read The Socialite Spy via Kindle Unlimited – which of course means that it’s not on Kobo (at the moment anyway) but I can see the paperback also available on Waterstones too – with some click and collect availability.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: December 11 – December 17

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Quite a strange week in books: I know I need to read Christmas books and books that will help me tick off the last few states in my 50 states challenge, and yet here I am reading hustorical crime and girl’s own. What am I like…

Read:

Cape May by Chip Cheek*

The Socialite Spy by Sarah Sigal

Murder in Williamstown by Kerry Greenwood

Murder on the Mauritania by Edward Marston

June Grey: Fashion Student by Lorna Lewis

Guns in the Gallery by Simon Brett

Started:

Tempest by Beverly Jenkins

Still reading:

Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello*

The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

One ebook and one book bought. Restraining myself in the hopes of getting more books this time next week…

Bonus photo: the ice rink in Hannover square on Tuesday night – I didn’t skate, I just drank mulled wine and caught up with a friend while watching other people skate!

*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: Cape May

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Yes, I’m cheating because I finished this on Monday, but as ever they’re my rules and I’m allowed to break them if I want and nothing else on last week’s list qualifies for a variety of reasons. So here we are.

It’s 1957 and Henry and Effie are on honeymoon in Cape May, New Jersey. They’re staying at Effie’s uncle’s house, where she spent some of her childhood summer holidays. Except the season is over and the place is deserted. Or nearly deserted. Staying at the house down the street is Clara, now a beautiful socialite but formerly one of the children Effie used to sometimes play with. With her are her lover Max and Alma, Max’s half sister. Over the course of their trip, under the influence of a lot of gin, Effie and Henry’s marriage will be tested and the pattern of their lives will be set as they run riot through the town, swept up in the glamour and decadence of their new friends.

This has been sitting on the tbr pile for some considerable time, but this weekend I felt in need of something a bit different. The cover has a blurb that compares it to The Great Gatsby, and I can sort of see why – Clara’s world is a heady alcoholic world of yachts by day, illicit wanderings by night and gallons of alcohol. Effie and Henry are the outsiders – from Georgia compared to the other three’s big city sophistication and the reader can see that they’re heading for trouble and heartbreak.

The narrative follows just Henry and his actions, which is a little frustrating because I wanted to know what Effie was thinking and doing, but given that the author is a man, possibly for the best as I didn’t always love the way the sex scenes were written as it was so maybe I would have liked the book less if I’d been given more of Effie’s inner life. So, not perfect but I still read it in just over 24 hours so it’s very readable despite that. It’s not really Rich People Problems, because Effie and Henry definitely aren’t rich, but it is Rich People Problems-adjacent – in that the rich people are the ones who are causing the problems!

This was Chip Cheek’s debut – and I’d read more from him if/when it appears. I had my copy of this in the NetGalley backlog (!) but it’s on offer on Kindle and Kobo for £1.99 at the moment which is a pretty good deal. I can’t say I remember seeing it in bookshops, but I’m also not sure I ever specifically looked for it and it’s had a couple of different covers now too. Anyway, worth a check if you’re at a shop with a fairly decent literary fiction selection.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: December 4 – December 10

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So this week is a weird mix of audiobooks, cozy crime and checking which states I’m missing on Read across the USA 2023… And of course we continue to gear up for Christmas and all that that entails. Can I get everything done in time? Will I prioritise reading over present buying? Who can tell…

Read:

Seeing a Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters

The Dumb Money by Ben Mezrich*

Bones under the Beach Hut by Simon Brett

Thanksgiving in Paradise by Kathi Daley

Rehoboth Beach by Michael Morgan

Pumpkin Everything by Beth Labonte

Maui Madness by Kathi Daley

Started:

Cape May by Chip Cheek*

Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello*

The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

Pre-ordered three – including the new Vinyl Detective! – and bought two ebooks and two book-books.

Bonus photo: I was staying down by St Pauls last week, so had a wander and enjoyed the Christmassy bits of things.

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