Category: week in books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: December 8 – December 14

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A very busy week, and increasing numbers of Christmas books on the list, despite the fact that I still have a couple of states still to go. Two more ticked off this week though. Nearly there.

Read:

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

The Odd Flamingo by Nina Barden

The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas

A Very Novel Murder by Ellie Alexander*

My Calamity Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

How My Ex Stole New Year’s by Kate Callaghan*

A Reconstructed Corpse by Simon Brett

Snow Place Like Home by Laura Pavlov

Started:

Death in Ambush by Susan Gilruth

Still reading:

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Two e-books bought

Bonus picture: My Christmas flowers!

*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, new releases, reviews

Book of the Week: Heir Apparent

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Now considering that I finished the new Olivia Dade last week this may be a surprise to you, but you all know I like Olivia Dade and Second Chance Romance was indeed great fun, but Heir Apparent is a new release and I enjoyed it although I have some quibbles as you will see so I have things to say about it that you won’t have heard before!

Lexi Villiers is living in Tasmania and in the middle of training to be a doctor. She’s busy building an independent life for her herself. But on New Years Day a helicopter lands and her grandmother’s right-hand man steps out to tell her that her father and her twin brother are dead and she needs to come home. Lexi’s grandmother is the queen of England and Lexi is now next in line for the throne. She’s got to decide if she wants to return to the family fold – and if she does she’s got to figure out how to get the British public to warm up to her and how to deal with the scheming that surrounds the monarchy, particularly from her father’s younger brother Prince Richard who is next in line after Lexi.

So in case you’re wondering, in the world of Heir Apparent, Charles II’s wife died and he remarried to his mistress Barbara Villiers, who then acted as Regent when Charles died before their eldest son was of age. This means that Armitage has been able to invent her own cast of characters and a distinct history for the House of Villiers, but as a reader you can also spend time spotting where she’s taken inspiration from the real British royals. So Lexi’s mother died young after an acrimonious divorce from her father, who went on to marry his mistress. You get the idea.

This is a really fun and page turning read – partly because of how much fun it is looking at those parallels to the real royals. I really enjoyed it – right until the end where I don’t think it quite stuck the landing. I really can’t explain why without giving huge, huge spoilers, but I suspect that other people may feel the same as me. It’s a great sun-lounger read right up until that point though, and I don’t even think that the ending issue is because Armitage is leaving room for a sequel. So that’s frustrating. But your mileage may vary on that ending – and you won’t know until you’ve read it! If nothing else it will make for a debate at all the book club meetings – and it’s a Reese’s Book Club pick so it’ll be popular on that front.

I got my copy from NetGalley and as it only came out on Tuesday last week I haven’t had a chance to look for it in the bookshops yet, but I will report back in when I do but it should be really easy to get hold of in the US because of that Reese pick. It’s also available on Kindle and Kobo and as an audiobook.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: December 1 – December 7

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The start of December was cold and sometimes wet, but the Christmas lights are making everything a bit more cheerful, so that’s good. On the reading front, I’m another state down and two more started. But almost more importantly, I got one book off the long runners list. So I’m proud of me, even if I didn’t stick to my goal of finishing off the 50 states before I bought the first in the Last Ditch series and not only have I bought it bt I’ve already read it. I will try and do better this week…

Read:

Renewing Forever by Kelly Jensen*

The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage*

Arabella by Georgette Heyer

Scot Free by Catriona MacPherson

Second Chance Romance by Olivia Dade

You Had to Be There by Jodie Harsh*

Thrones, Dominations by Jill Paton Walsh and Dorothy L Sayers

Started:

The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

My Calamity Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

Still reading:

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Two e-books bought.

Bonus picture: Commitment to the Christmas bit at Euston on Friday afternoon.

*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, first in series

Book of the Week: Buried in a Good Book

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It’s only a couple of weeks since I did a recommendsday post of First books in mystery series, and here I am today back with a BotW post for another first book in a cozy mystery series. Who could have predicted it…

In Buried in a Good Book, thriller writer Tess has taken her daughter to spend the summer at her grandfather’s cabin in the woods. Tess is telling Gertie that it’s because a summer without wifi will do them both good, but really she’s trying to take Gertie’s mind off the fact that her father, Tess’s ex-husband hasn’t been in contact with Gertie for months. But soon after they arrive, there’s an explosion and fish guts start raining down on them but also a human arm. Tess is suddenly part of a real life murder mystery, rather than writing one – and the detective investigating is the spitting image of the hero of her books, a fact he’s not best pleased about.

This was my first book by Tamara Berry and it was a really nice read for a winter weekend. The mystery is more complicated than you expect and it’s got a nice sense of humour about it too – Tess can’t turn her writer brain off and she knows it’s ridiculous to be caught up in a real life murder and that she’s not helping herself. I read a couple of books last week where the amateur sleuth really wound me up, but Tess was such a great break from that. I liked the group of secondary characters that were being set up too – and the small town setting has enough detail that it doesn’t feel like a cliche. I was really pleased to see that there are already a couple more in the series and I may already have acquired book two…

I read this on Kindle, but it’s also available on Kobo (although more expensive than Kindle) and in paperback with a different cover and at a frankly ridiculous price on Amazon at time of writing although it reckons there is only one copy next so who knows.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 24 – November 30

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Happy Monday everyone – it’s December and the end of the year is hurtling towards us in a blur of festive events and things to get done before The Big Day. It’s definitely feeling pretty wet and wintery now too, so curling up with a good book feels ever more appealing, even as the to-do lists continue to grow. This week I have plenty of train journeys to do, which usually means for solid reading time, although it does always depend on whether I get a seat or not…

Read:

Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L Sayers

Halloween Hijinks by Kathi Daley

The Trouble with Turkeys by Kathi Daley

The Christmas Clue by Nicola Upson

Rockin’ Around the Chickadee by Donna Andrews

What Bloody Man is This by Simon Brett

The Murder at The Murder at the Mimosa Inn by Joan Hess

Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry

Started:

Second Chance Romance by Olivia Dade

The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage*

Still reading:

You Had to Be There by Jodie Harsh*

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

Two books (from Riverside Bookshop) and five ebooks as I continue to pick up things to help tick off those missing states…

Bonus picture: a Sunday night fire (and a glimpse of that Olivia Dade paperback I mentioned on Thursday!)

*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, detective, first in series, Forgotten books

Book of the Week: Death in High Heels

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You know I seriously picking Romantic Comedy as BotW again – but I decided that that would be too cheaty even for me. But I did listen to Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel about a writer on a show that’s definitely not Saturday Night Live on audiobook last week and it’s still a delight, even if I didn’t love the way the narrator did the male voices. But it remains my favourite novel that includes the pandemic in it and I thoroughly recommend it. But like I say, I didn’t pick it again. I just put all the links in…

Instead I have a pretty newly released British Library Crime Classic, and another Christianna Brand murder mystery – this time it’s her debut, Death in High Heels. This features a murder at Christopher et Cie, a dress shop of the most superior kind, where the murderer must be one of five young women who work there. Our detective is a young and somewhat susceptible Inspector Charlesworth, who is trying to untangle the murder.

I do like a workplace mystery, especially where you learn something about how things used to be done. Murder Must Advertise where Wimsey is employed at an advertising agency is brilliant for this – with print blocks, art studios and runners, and Death in High Heels also has vanished details about how clothing shops used to be done – with things like women employed as mannequins to demonstrate how the outfits look to clients, and a staff lunch service. The introduction to this BLCC edition says that (like Dorothy L Sayers and her time in advertising) Brand took inspiration from her own spell working in a shop selling cookers to write this. As I said, this is Brand’s debut, and it’s not as good as Green for Danger or Tour de Force but it still makes for an interesting read, even if Charlesworth goes off down a lot of wrong paths and seems to stumble upon the solution.

This is in Kindle Unlimited at the moment, so if you’re a subscriber to that, it’s definitely worth it. That also means that it’s not on Kobo at the moment. But if you want it in paperback, the British Library’s shop are doing three for two on their fiction at the moment, and I’ve recommended enough previous BLCC books that hopefully you can find two more to make the three – I’ve linked to various others I’ve written about throughout this, but some others that were BotWs are: Not to Be Taken, Tea on Sunday, The Ten Teacups, The Man Who Didn’t Fly, The Theft of the Iron Dogs and The Belting Inheritance.

Happy Reading

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 17 – November 23

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Another week, another four states ticked of the 50 states list. It’s almost looking doable now, but I’m not relaxing too fast because that’s what gets me into trouble. That’s especially true as it’s starting to get proper busy in the run-up to Christmas now, which usually means less free time for reading because I’m out and about having fun – or doing Christmas shopping!

Read:

Savage Run by C J Box

Calling All Blessings by Beverly Jenkins

Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Stranger Danger by Patti Benning

Strawberried Alive by Jenn McKinlay

Death in High Heels by Christianna Brand

Started:

Halloween Hijinks by Kathi Daley

Still reading:

You Had to Be There by Jodie Harsh*

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

One ebook and two book-books bought. Restrained… ish.

Bonus picture: last week’s theatre trip was out to Wembley to see Starlight Express which is a whole experience!

*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, detective, reviews

Book of the Week: Buffalo West Wing

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As I said yesterday, most of my reading last week was to contribute to this year’s fifty states challenge and this was one of them. It’s slightly rule breaking but I’m going with it.

Buffalo West Wing is the fourth in Julie Hyzy’s White House Chef mystery series featuring Olivia Paras, who (as the title suggests) is the executive chef at the White House. In this, a new president has just been elected and that means big changes for the staff at the Residence. It also means Olivia needs to impress the new President and his family, but when some mystery chicken wings turn up in her kitchen, she gets off on the wrong foot with them because refuses to serve them to the First Kids. But when the people who do eat them fall ill, she’s caught up in a plot to threaten the First Family.

This is the first in this series that I’ve read (or even come across) and it had slightly more peril than I was expecting and also a lot of pre existing relationships to get my head around. But there was info there (and not in info dumps) that it made sense and I really enjoyed it. I would happily read more of the series.

I read this one in paperback as you can seem but as it’s nearly 15 years old (and the series has been dormant since 2016) they may not be that easy to find in physical copies. In fact I’m amazed I found this one in Waterstones a couple of months ago. But they are all available on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 10 – November 16

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I said last week that I have started my panic for the Fifty States Challenge early this year – and everything I finished this week except Gaudy Night is ticking off one of my missing states! If I can keep this rate up, I’ll be finished before Christmas, but my record on keeping this up is not great so I could still be in a panic on New Year’s Eve like every previous year!

Read:

Beaches, Bungalows and Burglaries by Tonya Kappes

Ghost Business by Jen DeLuca

New Uses for Old Boyfriends by Beth Kendrick

A Killer Edition by Lorna Barrett

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers

Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy

The George Eliot Murders by Edith Skom

Started:

Calling All Blessings by Beverly Jenkins

Still reading:

You Had to Be There by Jodie Harsh*

Ritual of Fire by D V Bishop

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath

One paperback in Waterstones Piccadilly and two ebooks.

Bonus picture: the new Legends and Lattes in the wild!

*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: Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge

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It has been a pretty wet and miserable start to November where I am, so a book from a favourite author that has a cheerful warm cover and makes you laugh is always a nice place to be and given that it’s on offer this month – for the first time as far as I have noticed it seems like a good time to be recommending it.

Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge is Helen Ellis’s latest collection of essays as the subtitle suggests its focus is her marriage and what a marriage can look like more than twenty years in – but it also takes you through the strange days of Covid and the effect that had on everyone. One of the effects on Helen was to become a houseplant person, and that is definitely a thing that happened to me during the pandemic and I felt very seen in the essay when she talks about smuggling more plants into the house and lying about the number of plants she has to her husband!

Ellis’s previous books American Housewife, Southern Lady Code and Bring Your Baggage and Don’t Pack Light have all been books of the week here, across nearly a decade, which means she’s been making me laugh for almost as long as I’ve been writing this blog and so in a way it’s not a surprise to me that I would be writing about this today. On the other hand, not every author that I liked in the early days of this blog has managed to keep up the quality or is still writing things that I like so that should be a testament in itself. I think that the fact that Ellis has another life going on alongside writing (she’s a high stakes poker player) helps provide her with fresh things to write about too, and she’s unafraid to mine her life (and her friends experiences too) or to go and get a new experience for things to write about. Equally, she clearly knows what to leave out – this feels like such a well rounded collection that there must have been more essays written that didn’t make the cut. It’s not a long book, but because it is essays (and because her books don’t come along that often) I rationed myself and managed to spread out my reading of it across more than a week and it was worth it. Now I just have to wait and hope for another collection soon.

I bought this on Kindle, where it’s on offer at £2.99 at the moment. It’s also on Kobo at £3.99 and as an audiobook read by Helen Ellis herself. I have some of her other collections in physical copy (maybe all of them, but I’m not by the shelves to check right now) and I’m not ruling out picking this one up to put on the shelves too, but I don’t remember seeing any of them in the shops. I will check next time I go into a Big Bookshop though.

Happy Reading