Category: week in books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: May 9 – May 15

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I was in the office all five days last week, so plenty of reading time on the trains. Despite that, the excitement of Eurovision on Saturday along with some time fixing the fence in the garden mean the list is probably shorter than it could have been. I’ve accidentally started rereading the Vicky Bliss series (so the link to Elizabeth Peters isn’t entirely right because it takes you to the Amelia Peabody post) as well as working my way through the NetGalley books and a relisten to one of my favourite Pratchetts.  And I finished the week with another E C R Lorac, which continue to be really entertaining whenever I come across them.

Read:

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Ask a Historian by Greg Jenner

The Truth by Terry Pratchett

Dear Little Corpses by Nicola Upson*

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters

Street of the Five Moons by Elizabeth Peters

Post after Post-Mortem by E C R Lorac

Started:

Miss Moriarty, I Presume by Sherry Thomas

Still reading:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare*

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J Taylor*

Well there was a book sale at work and it could have got a bit messy except I could only fit three books in my bag. And a couple of preorders arrived too.

Bonus photo: How quickly flowers fade – remember the wisteria from the other week? Here it is last week, starting to go over.

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, Book previews, historical, new releases, romance

Book of the Week: A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting

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There were lots of options for this post today. I like a week like that. I’ve gone for a historical romance because it’s been a few weeks and this was a lot of fun and I needed something fun and frothy and if I hadn’t written it already, another entry for the marries the person you’re trying to save someone from post.

Kitty Talbot’s parents have died, leaving their daughters with debts and an uncertain future. Determined to secure her sisters’ future, she decides the solution is to marry well and heads to London with the last money they have to try to secure a rich husband. She’s never moved in this sort of society before, but with the help of her mother’s best friend she’s sure she can succeed. And indeed she soon attracts a suitor and is intent on reeling him in, until his older brother, Lord Radcliffe comes to town to put a stop to it. He knows she’s a fortune hunter and is determined to keep her out of his family, but somehow he finds himself helping her ingratiate herself with the ton…

As you might be able to tell from that summary – which doesn’t even cover half the book – this has got a lot of plot and a lot of twists. It rattles along so fast that you don’t have time to think about it, but when I was trying write that plot summary I realised how much had gone on beside the whole fortune hunter main idea. It pulled it off, but I do wonder whether there are any ideas left for Sophie Irwin’s next book! But I enjoyed this a lot so I’ll definitely be looking for it when it comes to see. It’s “not quite in the common way” of the historical romances I have read recently, not least because the steam level is basically smouldering glances for most of the book and never gets higher than kissing – so not so much enemies to Lovers as enemies to soon to be marrieds!

My copy came from NetGalley, but it’s coming out on Thursday in ebook and hardback and if you pre-order it today it’ll drop onto your Kindle or Kobo or your doormat on release day.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: May 2 – May 8

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Well I’m actually quite pleased with myself this week I have to say. At the start of the week I was worried that having already written about two books that I read early inthe week that I wouldn’t have any options for what to write about tomorrow, but I’m delighted to report that that is not the case. Especially after my nice chilled weekend recovering from the election coverage. And for once, I’ve been reading stuff that’s about to be released, as it’s about to be released. Check me. Ok so the still reading list is looooong, but you can’t have everything. I’ll work on that this week.

Read:

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson*

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Murder in the Dark by Kerry Greenwood

A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

Set on You by Amy Lea*

The Book Share by Phaedra Patrick*

Book Lovers by Emily Henry*

Started:

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J Taylor*

Dear Little Corpses by Nicola Upson*

Still reading:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

Ask a Historian by Greg Jenner

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare*

I don’t think I bought anything. So a double win this week. Unless I’ve forgotten something, the only book that turned up this week was a pre-order. Check me again.

Bonus photo: I went for my first run around the park in a few weeks on Sunday, and the trees were looking gorgeous in the sunshine. Maybe it’s time to crack out the summer work wardrobe!

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, romance

Book of the Week: Count Your Lucky Stars

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Did I finish this on Monday? Yes. Am I breaking my rules? Absolutely. Is this perfect? No, but it’s a lot of fun and the issues I have will the last quarter are not uncommon. So this weeks BotW is Alexandria Bellefleur’s Count Your Lucky Stars

This is the third in the Written in the Stars series – which I’ve read two of now and have the first one waiting to be read at some point in the Misty future when I remember about it. Anyway, this is a second chance romance between Olivia and Margot, who were best friends in high school that turned into something more for a week and then… wasn’t. Now a decade later they meet again because Olivia is planning Margot’s best friend’s wedding. And then Margot accidentally offers Olivia somewhere to stay after Olivia’s apartment is flooded and then it all gets complicated.

Now as I said at the top, for 75 percent of this I was all in. A lot of Margot and Olivia’s issues could be solved by a proper conversation and they had that and I was looking forward to the big finish and then… they had another big misunderstanding/problem that could have been fixed by having a conversation but the author decided to make that impossible. And I get it, I do. You need tension and a final resolution, except that it sort of already felt like a final resolution had happened and I was wondering if the book was going to have a preview of another book as the final ten percent because it felt like it was wrapping up. But it wasn’t. And it still left a plot thread sort of hanging in the resolution. And I realise that now I sound like I didn’t like this, but I actually did. There is witty dialogue and a fun group of friends and an amusing cat. I just wanted them to have a conversation to sort stuff out!

Anyway, I know that usually I’m complaining about romances wrapping up too quickly and here I am sort of grousing about one that doesn’t do that, but hey, I’m allowed to be inconsistent. This is a fun contemporary romance with a nice group of central characters and a cat. What’s not to enjoy.

My copy came from the library, but it’s out now on Kindle and Kobo and in paperback – Foyles even have it in stock in some stores.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: April 25 – May 1

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A super busy week at work and quite a lot of rereading on the list instead of finishing the new stuff that I started. As I said yesterday, April very much the month of binge-rereads as that continues to be pretty much all my brain can cope with. I’m not sure what I can blame it on, but here’s hoping I get my act a bit in gear in May, as the NetGalley list is currently getting longer rather than shorter…

Read:

Death on the Ballerat Train by Kerry Greenwood

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Bad Luck by Linwood Barclay

Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh

That Cowboy of Mine by Caitlin Crews*

The Chalet School and the Island by Elinor M Brent Dyer

Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood

Started:

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Ask a Historian by Greg Jenner

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare*

The Book Share by Phaedra Patrick*

Still reading:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

One bought, that’s it. Positively restrained.

Bonus photo: My attempt at repotting Fernando the Fern came to a bit of a tricky moment when I realised that I had underestimated how much compost the new pot would need and overestimated how much I have in stock!

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, romance, romantic comedy

Book of the Week: Roomies

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Back with contemporary romance this week, because it’s only been two months since Death Goes on Skis was BotW so I can’t do Nancy Spain again yet, but don’t worry I will find a way to talk about Poison for Teacher, and this Christina Lauren is a good one too!

The heroine of Roomies is Holland, a MFA graduate who finds herself somewhat adrift after her muse deserts her. Instead of writing she’s working for her uncle, who has written the latest Broadway smash, and has a huge crush on a guitarist she’s heard busking in the subway. When Holland helps Calvin to get his big break, it turns out that his student visa is long expired and his chance to shine may be out of reach after all. So Holland offers to marry him, and so begins their attempt to keep him in New York and fool The Powers That Be that theirs is a genuine relationship. But as they live together in Holland’s apartment and find out more about each other, who is actually fooling who and is this relationship turning real?

Marriages of convenience are one of my favourite historical romance tropes, but you don’t get a lot of them in contemporary romance, so when you find one it’s a real treat. This is a bit slow to get started – I think because Holland’s infatuation with Calvin before she knew him made me a little uncomfortable, but once it does click it’s a lot of fun. There is a good group of supporting characters – Holland’s uncles are lovely and her boss is awful – and watching Holland figure out who she is and what she wants is a good counterpart to the romance. Christina Lauren’s books can sometimes be too cringe or have leading character that are too unprofessional for me to deal with, but Roomies manages to stick on the right side of that – just. It all wraps up a little quickly, and I wanted a little bit more closure on a few things, but all in all it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

My copy of Roomies came from the library, but it’s out now and you can get it on Kindle and Kobo and the paperback looks like it may be relatively easy to get hold of.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: April 18 – April 24

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Another busy week but this time a longer list, although a lot of them are rereads. I am slowly working my way through the non-fiction portion of the still reading list, but this week I mostly got distracted by rereading the Phryne Fisher series, for reasons that may become obvious in the near future. I’m carrying on with the Ngaio Marsh audiobook odyssy – currently working my way through the theatre related ones, not quite sure why I grabbed at those at the moment. I need to have a bit of a run at the NetGalley list though – fingers crossed this week is the week when I make some progress on that.

Read:

False Scent by Ngaio Marsh

He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson*

An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn

Roomies by Christina Lauren

Poison for Teacher by Nancy Spain

Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood

The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood

Started:

Bad Luck by Linwood Barclay

Still reading:

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

Relatively well behaved to be honest – a pre-order popped in but nothing much else.

Bonus photo: a houseplant update – I’ve repotted the Palm and added and repotted a Swiss Cheese plant (he’s called Roger)

A window sill full of plants.

 

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, memoirs, new releases

Book of the Week: Stories I Might Regret Telling You

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It’s been a while since we had a memoir as a Book of the Week, but it makes a change and having already written about the new Mhairi McFarlane and with a lot of rereads on last week’s list, it’s really a good thing that I enjoyed reading this so much!

This was actually on my pre-order list, and as I mentioned in that Martha Wainwright is a singer songwriter who has had a special place in my heart for a long time now. In the book she describes her self as a “child of… twice over” as both of her parents are well known musicians, and added to that her brother Rufus had mainstream success at a time when she was also trying to make it in the music business. This memoir looks back at her life and the decisions she’s made and the people she knows. She comes from a fiercely competitive family, with lot of competing egos and careers and it is very, very interesting to get the inside scoop on all that – from her point of view at least.

And the title isn’t joking – she’s probably already regretted some of this, as an earlier manuscript of the book was used in her divorce. It’s probably the most honest and unvarnished memoir I’ve read since Viv Albertine’s first book. Wainwright is fairly self aware and with the benefit of time, can see patterns in her own life and how things have affected her. And of course her music has always been the same way – but there’s a difference between a three minute song and a 200 page piece of extended writing. As well as the career and her relationships with her siblings and parents, it also looks at the pressures of juggling a career and motherhood – which is not exactly new, but it does feel a bit different because the arrival of her oldest son was unexpected and traumatic and came at a really difficult time in her life – as her mother was dying of cancer – and when she was in the UK rather than at home in Canada. All in all, a really interesting read for a fan like me – and I suspect there’s enough here for people who aren’t fans too.

As I said, I had my copy preordered so got it on the day it came out two weeks ago – but Foyles now have signed bookplate editions with a couple of quid off and everything, so I’m almost regretting that. But I have a ticket to see her live in London later in the year, so maybe I’ll take it along to that. I do already have a signed ticket from the last time I saw her (at the small but brilliant Stables in Milton Keynes where I would have gone to see her again if it wasn’t for the fact that the evening she’s playing there is the same day as we’re seeing The Glass Menagerie in the West End. Why does this always happen?) so it’s not like I’m missing out really. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. Anyway, it’s out now in hardback, Kindle, Kobo and audiobook read by Martha herself.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: April 11 – April 17

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A busy week at work – but it was only a four day week, so that was a delight. I did a lot of household-y stuff on Friday – the sort of stuff I used to do on my days off during the week when I used to work a 4 day week – and then did some family visiting on Saturday and Sunday. The weather has been lovely and it’s been a delight. And it was Him Indoor’s birthday too, so some celebrations may have been had as well. So on the reading front, lots of rereads, and a couple of new things. A good week all in all.

Read:

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

A Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh

Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane

Agatha Christie’s Poirot by Mark Aldridge

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor

Stories I Might Regret Telling You by Martha Wainwright 

Started:

An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn

Still reading:

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson*

Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

The Fake Up by Justin Myers*

I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein

As mentioned, I was doing very well on the book front until a trip to The Works. But what can you do – lets call it an Easter Treat to myself.

Bonus photo: A misty morning on the train to work – the daybreak experience on the commute is one of those things that only really happens for a few weeks – most of the year it’s either light the whole time or dark almost of the way and I miss the sunrise because when it happens I’ve already made it into London 

 

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, Forgotten books, women's fiction

Book of the Week: A House in the Country

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I said on at the weekend that it’s sometimes been a struggle to finish something that’s not a reread and isn’t a later in series book that breaks a bunch of my rules do BotW posts. And this week was looking very like that, until I finished A House in the Country on Sunday evening.

A House in the Country is set in 1942, at the time of the fall of Tobruk. The titular house is a large, attractive country pile run by Cressida, a widow with an unhappy past. She is looking after it for its real owner who is away, and is supporting it by letting rooms. It’s filled with characters and types and shows the different ways that people are affected by wars. At times it’s comic, at times tragic. There is not a lot of Big Plot Action – although six bombs are dropped nearby one night they’re in the countryside and the war can feel a long way away from their every day lives – but it somehow manages to feel like everything is happening at the same time as well.

It was written in 1943, so at a time when no one knew which way the war was going to go and this gives it an underlying thrum of uncertainty that you don’t see in similar books set after the period. It’s like a little slice of some of my favourite things in the Cazalets – a dashing brother descends on his sister and wants advice on a love affair, young men picking the wrong women to propose to, older relatives not understanding the difficulties and shortages of war – but without the definite endings that strands of the Cazalets get. It will make you think and maybe break your heart a little bit, or a lot.

My copy was the second in my subscription picks from Persephone Books, and you can get it direct from them but you can get Persephone Books from good book shops too – like Foyles.

Happy Reading!