Category: week in books

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.

Book of the Week, books

Book of the Week: Hello, Stranger

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The list last week was long, but actually today’s pick is the last book I finished at the weekend – and in fact read in less than a day while snuggled up on the sofa trying to will the cold I have to go away (it’s not Covid, I did several tests…) and it’s also not a Christmas book but won’t worry there are plenty of those coming up over the next few weeks!

I mentioned Hello Stranger when it came out a few months back, hard on the heels of the UK release of Katherine Center’s previous book, The Bodyguard. And Hello Stranger is about Sadie, a portrait painter who has got a spot in the final of a prestigious competition. The only problem is that hard on the heels of this news, she discovers some less good news: she needs (minor) brain surgery. And then when she wakes up she can’t see faces any more. That is to say, the faces are there but her brain can’t make any sense of them and she doesn’t recognise anyone anymore. Which as a portrait painter is a bit of a problem but it’s also a pretty big problem for everyday life too. But she doesn’t want anyone to know about it so she heads back out into a new and different world where she meets a handsome vet and spars with the obnoxious neighbour in her building – but could either of them turn into something more?

As I said this was the last book I finished last week and I basically read it across the afternoon and evening – stopping only to cook dinner, eat and pack my suitcase for the week. And it really does hook you in – and is one of those books where it’s so fun that you can ignore the slight bonkers of it all. And there’s a fair bit of bonkers here – most of which could be solved by Sadie just telling people what her issue is and I never quite understood why she didn’t, except for her pathological dislike of admitting that she needed help and the fact that if she did the plot would disappear. And as someone who works in audio, I found it hard to believe that she didn’t recognise people’s voices more than she did – but again, I went with it because it is a lot of fun.

Sadie also has a really difficult relationship with her step sister and I wanted a bit more resolution to that – or at least more comeuppance for her sister but Sadie definitely comes out on top so that’s good. And overall I liked it a lot – and more than I did The Bodyguard, where I had a few issues that boiled down to having read a lot of celebrity and normal person romances this year and others being better and not really understanding what the hero saw in the heroine. And Hello Stranger has a really quirky premise and is first person in Sadie’s eyes and she has a lot to deal with so you don’t have time to worry about what the hero sees in her!

I also went off and did a quiz about face blindness as soon as I finished the book – and I actually did much better at it than I expected to, given that I think of myself as being bad at faces and names! And I suspect a lot of readers will go off and do the same thing. So in conclusion, if you’re not on the Christmas book train yet this would make a nice read – although given that it’s set in sunny Texas it’s not exactly a cozy winter read!

You can get Hello Stranger on Kindle and Kobo. It’s not out in paperback in the UK until May next year, but if you’re in the US it’s available in hardback.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 27 – December 3

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A much better week in reading I have to say – which may have been because I didn’t go to the theatre and I was commuting into work every day which gives me nearly two hours reading time (if I want it) on the train each day. And just a quick note to say that I’m messing with the usual schedule this month because Christmas is coming and I have a fair few things I want to post before it’s too close to the big day!

Read:

Next-Door Nemesis by Alexa Martin

Halloweeen in Paradise by Kathi Daley

Captain Marvel Vol 1: Higher, Stronger, Further, Faster More by Kelly Sue DeConnick et al

Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King’s Daughter by Simon Brett

The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict*

Private Lives by Noel Coward

The Shooting in the Shop by Simon Brett

A Night at the Tropicana by Channel Cleeton

Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center

Started:

Bones under the Beach Hut by Simon Brett

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

Two ebooks bought and three Girls Own…

Bonus photo: because e-scooters aren’t lethal enough, how is this for an invention…

Actually two bonuses this week because after I mentioned the Inn at Boonsboro in recommendsday last week, – link to this popped up in one of my Facebook groups!

*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, romance

Book of the Week: Next-Door Nemesis

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Ok, so this is a slight cheat because I finished it Monday, but I know you’ll let me off, it’s been a long year and I’m only making myself problems for next week by doing this.

So as I said in my release day post, this is Alexa Martin’s latest book and it’s an enemies to lovers romance. Collins is back in her childhood bedroom after her professional life fell apart. On a trip to the coffee shop she runs into Nathaniel – her nemesis for years of high school. And it seems like nothing has changed – she’s still annoying him and he’s definitely still annoying her. And that’s how Collins ends up running against him to become president of the HOA of the subdivision she swore she would never come back to. Because they really, really hate each other – right?

I’ve already told you this is a romance, so you know they’re not going to hate each other by the end, and once you get past some pranking and mean behaviour towards each other (and you know I have a problems with pranks) it’s really good. I was a little worried about what the backstory was going to turn out to be on Collins and Nate in high school and how that could lead to a satisfying resolution but it actually worked really well in the end, for reasons that I can’t explain without it being a massive plot spoiler and you know I don’t do those.

I’ve been on a big old run of enemies to lovers contemporaries recently, and this is another good one to add to the list. I’m a Brit so Home Owners Associations are really not a thing here and only know them through books and home renovation shows when they are sucking their teeth about the HOA demanding they paint the house one of three colours or have dues that might affect whether buyers will go for a property, but I did really like the community that Collins is living in and her family are fun too.

I had my copy pre-ordered, so it’s out now in Kindle and Kobo and audiobook and paperback, although the price on Amazon suggests that it may be a US import rather than a UK version.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 20 – November 26

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Given that I went out three evenings last week – and had a busy weekend, I’m surprised the list is as long as it is! Anyway a fairly mystery heavy week of what there was. There’s less theatre and more train time this week, so we’ll see what that means for next week’s list!

Read:

False Colours by Georgette Heyer

He Who Whispers by John Dickson Carr

Puppies in Paradise by Kathi Daley

The Poisoning in the Pub by Simon Brett

Home Sweet Christmas by Susan Mallery

The Hippopotamus Pool by Elizabeth Peters

Started:

Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King’s Daughter by Simon Brett

Still reading:

Next-Door Nemesis by Alexa Martin

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach

Three ebooks bought. Restrained…

Bonus photo: Christmas is coming and I have a tiny tree that came in the post as a gift!

*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 previews, books, books on offer, historical, new releases

Book of the Week: Silver Lady

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Back to historical romance this week – and this one isn’t actually out until next week, but I’ve already finished it, so I’m going with it today – sorry and all but you can at least preorder it if you like the sound of it.

Silver Lady is the first in a new series from Mary Jo Putney and is set in a lightly magical version of Regency Britain where some people are “gifted” – which means they have special skills that border on magic. Bran Tremayne is one of this – his powers of perception have made him an excellent investigator for the Home Office. But he finds himself drawn to Cornwall, where he was born before he was abandoned by his birth parents. When he is there he meets a mysterious woman who has had her memories suppressed. As she recovers her memories in his care, Bran discovers that Merryn is at the centre of a dangerous plot – can they survive the danger to get to a happy ending?

I mean it’s a romance novel, so I think you know the answer to that, but this is a fun read – it’s got some peril and adventure and the world building is pretty good – the “dangerous gifts” of the title are explained very well and naturally as part of the plot of the book . I’m not usually a lover of amnesia storylines, but this one makes sense within the framework that you’re given for the world and Merryn is less of a damsel in distress than I was expecting her to be. I’ve had a bit of a mixed record with Putney before, but I enjoyed this and will look out for the sequels when they come along.

Silver Lady is out next week – you can preorder it on Kindle and Kobo and if you’re in the US you should be able to get a paperback too.

Happy Reading!