Category: week in books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 22 – August 28

veritywilde

I mean I said writing the London Celebrities post had started me on rereading them, but it may have got a little out of control… Anyway, a good week in reading, ending in a bank holiday weekend with an overnight shift at work, so we’ll see what happens as my brain tries to deal with that! I have made some good progress on the long runners too, just not enough to get them off the list!

Read:

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery

Star Trap by Simon Brett

Act Like It by Lucy Parker

Pretty Face by Lucy Parker

Making Up by Lucy Parker

Venetia by Georgette Heyer

The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker

Headliners by Lucy Parker

Quick Curtain by Alan Melville

Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais

Started:

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Femina by Janina Ramirez*

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*

A restrained week in purchasing – which we can chalk up to lingering guilt after the spree that was Bristol and the fact that I didn’t walk past Foyles when I was in London last week!

Bonus photo: an aperol spritz and curly fries. So orange, but so good!

An * next to a 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: A Time to Dance

veritywilde

It’s been a couple of weeks of Girl’s Own type books, so I’ve no regrets about making another of them this week’s Book of the Week and carrying on the theme of theatres and dancing.

A Time to Dance is a standalone ballet career book about the first couple of terms of a newly established ballet school in the north of England. It follows a selection of the pupils as they study dance, help promote the school and try and work out if dancing is really what they want to do. It’s quite gentle and there’s no peril really at all – even less than usual in these books if anything, but I particular enjoyed the fact that it focussed on several of the girls and the different challenges they faced.

Most of the time in ballet books you have a school-age heroine who is convinced that she is destined to dance and that there is nothing she would rather do with her life. But this has a couple of older pupils who have left school are trying to balance learning to dance with jobs and the need for cash. And it’s got several girls who are studying even though ballet isn’t going to be their career. Of course it does have a desperate to dance or two too, but I appreciated the variety and the realism it added to the mix. This was written in the early 1960s and has a more modern feel to some of the other books – the potential distractions for the students include television adverts and modelling.

I haven’t read any Robina Beckles Willson before but this was charming. Goodreads only has this and a couple of picture books under her name, and I didn’t get a chance to look her up to see what else she might have written that hasn’t made it into Goodreads database!

I got my copy at one of the book sales at conference, but I suspect that most of you aren’t going to be interested enough in the genre to want to buy it! If you do, you’ll probably need a specialist bookseller or a lot of luck.

Happy reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 15 – August 21

veritywilde

The week started in Bristol at the end of conference and then had more nights in London than usual because of the train strikes. But the list is actually pretty good – the new to me books include a couple of my conference purchases, a new release, the latest Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes book and a whole bunch of romantic comedies. The extra nights away from home explain why the still reading list is so long – a lot of the stuff on it is actual books – some of them hardbacks – which are at home and I was not!

Read:

Dimsie Carries On by Dorita Fairlie Bruce

The Twist of the Knife by Anthony Horowitz*

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

The Friendship Pact by Jill Shalvis

Donut Fall In Love by Jackie Lau

Castle Shade by Laurie R King

A Time to Dance by Robina Beckles Willson

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters

In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer*

Started:

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Femina by Janina Ramirez*

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*

Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais

Four books at the National Trust secondhand bookshop on the way home from conference. And another one at Foyles. And then a couple of ebooks. Oopsie daisy.

Bonus photo: the gardens at Dyrham Park, the aforementioned National Trust house on Monday. It was delightful.

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

American imports, binge reads, Book of the Week, fiction, new releases, reviews, romance, romantic comedy

Book of the Week: Thank You for Listening

veritywilde

Taking a break from the Girls Own and book conference related content for this week’s book of the week. This is another recent release – the same day as Husband Material in fact – and one that I had heard a lot of buzz about and discovered was on offer while I was writing the August offers Recommendsday post.

Thank you for Listening is a romantic comedy about a former actress who became an audiobook narrator after an accident halter her on screen career. When Sewanee is sent to an audiobook convention by her boss she has a whirlwind night in Vegas with a mystery man. But when she returns to California, she finds an offer to narrate a beloved romance novelist’s final book. The trouble is, she doesn’t do romance novels any more, but money could pay for her beloved grandmother’s nursing home care so she resurrects her old pseudonym and starts recording the book with one of the genres hottest and most secretive male narrators, Brock McKnight. There’s a steady back and forth of chatter between them, but as secrets are revealed, can Sewanee get the happily ever after that she doesn’t believe in?

Julia Whelan is a renowned audiobook narrator so this is is filled with insider titbits from her experience as well as being a love letter to the romance genre. They even joke about how many tropes they’re ticking off more than once. And it’s a delight. Swan is an intriguing leading character, with a complicated family and some issues to deal with. And the shadowy and mysterious Brock has great banter. And, well, it’s very well put together – with a swoony ending and a nod and a wink to fans of the genre. What more could you want.

If I could have read this in one sitting I would have – but unfortunately I had to go to work, so instead I decided not to go to the theatre one of my London nights and instead read this on the sofa at the hostel, and then in my bunk when it got too noisy. No greater testament really.

My copy of Thank You For Listening came from Kindle for the bargain price of £1.99. It’s also on Kobo for the same price and available in paperback from Thursday – although how easily it will be to actually find I don’t know – Waterstones (Foyles’ owners) are having some distribution issues. I will try and remember to check Foyles’ romance section a few weeks after release…

Happy reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 8 – August 14

veritywilde

Two nights in London for work? Check. Three nights at book conference? Check. More chatting than book reading? Check. I mean I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say about my weekend talking Girl’s Own books, but today basically all you need to know is that I mostly listened to talks about books and bought books rwther than actually reading them!

Read:

Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

No Castanets at the Wells by Lorna Hill

Started:

Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Femina by Janina Ramirez*

Castle Shade by Laurie R King

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

The Twist of the Knife by Anthony Horowitz*

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*

About 20 actual books and a couple of ebooks too. And I’m not even sorry about it!

Bonus photo: a return to student life for the weekend!

An * next to a 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 1 – August 7

veritywilde

Two nights away from home, three theatre trips and an evening at the Commonwealth Games. Truly it is a miracle I read anything this week! But I did, go me. This week is looking equally frantic, so goodness knows what next week’s list will look like too.

Read:

Husband Material by Alexis Hall*

Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver

The Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham

Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver

A Dream of Sadlers Wells by Lorna Hill

Veronica Goes to the Wells by Lorna Hill

Started:

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*

The Twist of the Knife by Anthony Horowitz*

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Femina by Janina Ramirez*

Castle Shade by Laurie R King

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Two books in Foyles on Monday. I said the willpower wouldn’t last!

Bonus photo: theatre trio three – Glass Menagerie, which I studied at school but had never seen.

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

Book of the Week, LGTBQIA+, new releases

Book of the Week: Husband Material

veritywilde

Yes I finished this on Monday – but it’s out today so it’s actually time appropriate. Check me out with the ever so slightly forward planning.

Husband Material is the sequel to Boyfriend Material which was a Book of the Week back when I read it in early 2021. We rejoin our erstwhile heroes two years into their actual relationship (as opposed to the fake one, see Boyfriend Material) and its all going well for Luc and Oliver. They’re making their relationship work – Luc’s trying not to bring the chaos and Oliver’s getting therapy and it’s all lovely. Except that suddenly everyone is getting married and Luc thinks maybe they’re meant to too, because that’s what you’re meant to do when you love each other, right? Right?

I have strongly mixed feelings on sequels usually. I know I’m always saying that I want more of the happily ever after at the end of my romance novels, but I appreciate that an actual novel needs tension and conflict. Most sequels do this by breaking the couple up and getting them back together (or variations thereof) and that often drives me mad. Particularly when the breakup is because of something you could solve by having a conversation. This does not do that. There is conflict, but I was not really ever worried that Luc and Oliver going to end up together – just how were they going to work it all out. And I can’t really explain any more than that without massive plot spoilers.

All the supporting cast are back too – Luc’s friends, his crazy mum, thankfully not too much of his awful dad. And there’s lots of banter and pop culture references. And if I didn’t quite love it as much as the first one, it was a pretty high bar to hit and it was lovely being back with some old friends for a few hours. This is apparently a universe now – so there’s a third book coming, but about a different couple, one of whom briefly featured in this book. So that’s fun too.

My copy of Husband Material came from NetGalley (thank you bookish gods) but it’s out today in Kindle, Kobo and delicious paperback, including from Words and Kisses where they have signed ones. You definitely need to have read Boyfriend Material to get the most out of this though.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: July 25 – July 31

veritywilde

Well it’s been an amazing week – Martha Wainwright, Commonwealth Games Gymnastics and then England won the women’s Euros. Is it any surprise that the list is slightly shorter that usual this week? It’s the end of the month too so we have the usual array of review posts coming up this week too. You’re welcome.

Read:

Mean Baby by Selma Blair

The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer

Infamous by Lex Croucher*

The Affair of the Blood Stained Egg Cozy by James Anderson

Riviera Gold by Laurie R King

Rhode Island Rooster by Charlotte Carter

My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith

Started:

Husband Material by Alexis Hall*

Castle Shade by Laurie R King

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Femina by Janina Ramirez*

No books bought – despite that visit to Waterstones. Don’t worry. It won’t last!

Bonus photo: the giant bull from the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony in Birmingham city centre on Friday.

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

Book of the Week, new releases

Book of the Week: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

veritywilde

Making a change from the run of BotW picks recently, this week I’ve gone for something (pretty much) new and also that’s not a romance or a mystery. You can thank me later.

Sam and Sadie first met when they were children. Then they didn’t see each other for years – until one day Sam sees Sadie on the subway platform. This chance meeting starts them on the road to success as video game designers. You follow Sam and Sadie over thirty years – as they play games, design games and grow up, always linked together but sometimes pulling in different directions.

You all know that I’ve been reading mostly stuff with happy endings or resolutions for the last *checks calendar* two years or so and this took me a little while to read because I wasn’t sure I was going to like how it all worked it. But I’m so glad I stuck with it because it is just wonderful – even if there was some crying involved, thankfully not on a train though. You watch Sam and Sadie grow and develop and try to help each other through life’s challenges. I can’t really say too much more than that because it’s going to give to much away.

I was a PC gamer when I was younger – mostly simulators like Sim City, the Sims and Transport Tycoon, but also Commander Keen and some of the other shareware games of that era, so I’ve played some of the games that Sam and Sadie played when they are kids and I understood the sort of games they were trying to create even if they weren’t my sort of games. But I don’t think you have to be a gamer to get this novel, don’t worry. It’s two people navigating friendship while working together. And it’s 400ish pages, so if you need a book for the beach this could be it!

I haven’t read any of Gabrielle Zevin’s books before, although I’ve had The Storied Life of A J Fikry on the list of books I would like to read at some point for years. But if her other books are anything like this one, I need to get to them sooner rather than later, just as soon as I’m in a more resilient state of mind, because this broke me at various points.

My copy of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow came via NetGalley but it’s out now in Kindle and Kobo and in hardback. And you should be able to get hold of it fairly easily because it’s had window displays in some bookshops which always a good sign – and Foyles have click and collect copies too.

Happy reading!