Welcome to the week after Christmas. You’ll see that I got one of the books I wanted and have already started reading it. You may also detect a slight free book spree over New Year. What can I say. I regret it. And because of the fireplace situation, the bottom of my to-read pile is in the box at the top, so there are some books I’d almost forgotten I had getting an outing!
Read:
Midnight at Tiffany’s by Sarah Morgan
Deadly Duo by Margery Allingham
Grunt by Mary Roach
A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley
Open for Business by Cressida McLaughlin
I Love The Sound of Broken Glass by Paul Charles
The Billionaire’s Christmas Virgin by J S Scott
Perfect Holiday Fling by Farrah Rochon
Started:
First Women by Kate Andersen Brower
Fountain of Sorrow by Paul Charles
The Making of A Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Still reading:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
I didn’t buy any books this week – but as I mentioned, I had a little wander through the free book chart on Amazon. But hey, they didn’t cost me anything and I don’t have to finish them if I don’t like them…
What else could I pick for a Christmas book this week except for a book set at Christmas-time? Exactly. It has to be a Christmas book in Christmas week. And I’ve read a lot of Christmas books this year – don’t believe me? Check out my Christmas books post.
I think this might be the last Christmas book cover of the year. Maybe.
So my Christmas book of choice this week is the third in Sarah Morgan’s Puffin Island series, Christmas Ever after, which has Christmas twice – once in the UK and once on the island – and an enemies to lovers sort of plot where artistic Skylar’s politician boyfriend hijacks her big exhibition and then runs out on her, leaving unwilling acquaintance Alec to come to her rescue. She ends up meeting his family – who think she’s his first girlfriend since his disastrous marriage, and well, it goes from there. There’s lots of sparky dialogue, sexy times, snow, sexy times, discussions about how relationships would bring out the best in you and not stifle you and romantic times.
This was so much fun. I like fractious relationships with romantic undertones – or ‘I hate you, I hate you, I can’t stop touching your hair’ as Sarah Wendell at Smart Bitches puts it – so this is right up my street and it was the perfect book for me to read on Christmas Eve. It was warm and festive and if my new fireplace had actually been installed (don’t ask) I would have read it tucked up in front of a roaring fire and it would have been perfect. I’ve read the Puffin Island series slightly out of order, but I don’t think it’s been a problem at all – because for me the fun of a romance isn’t who people are going to end up with, but how they get there so I don’t mind knowing in advance who is going to end up with whom because I haven’t read the books in order.
So, in short, lovely Christmas romance, perfect for reading in front of the fire on your Christmas days off (like today if you have a bank holiday too) or on New Year’s Eve if you’re not all Christmassed out by then (or by now!) – or just put it on your list for next December.
Happy Boxing Day everyone. I hope you all got what you wanted and have a lovely day and that your food babies today aren’t too big.
Read:
Deadly Treasures by Vivian Conroy
Twas the Night before Christmas by Sabrina Jeffries
A Cornish Christmas Carol by Liz Fenwick
The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What Could Possibly Go Wrong? by Jodi Taylor
A Bachelor Establishment by Jodi Taylor writing as Isabella Barclay
Christmas Ever After by Sarah Morgan
Started:
A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley
Still reading:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
I had nights last week, so there was the usual nights related impulse purchasing – but on a fairly small scale as I was trying to restrain myself because i was hoping for Christmas books!
You may be relieved to hear that this weeks BotW is neither Fahrenheit Press book or a Christmas book – even though the title might suggest that it could be the latter. It is however the perfect book for curling up with on a sofa on a wintry afternoon.
My second hand copy- the stain on the front was there when I got it, the dent in the top… I’m not sure.
The titular Angel is the spoilt darling of a grocery shop proprietress, who spins fantasies to her school mates about a glamorous house where her aunt is a maid. When she is found out she takes to her bed, refuses to return to school and starts to write novels. These turn out to be bestsellers – at least at first – even if they’re wildly inaccurate, far-fetched and slated by the critics. But Angel doesn’t care – she believes she is one of the world’s greatest writers and nothing and nobody is going to stand in her way.
Elizabeth Taylor (not that one) has created a monster. Angel is dreadful in every way – delusional, deceitful, ungrateful, selfish, vain and more. But you can’t stop reading about her in a sort of fascinated horror. She is oblivious to her faults and to the way that others view her and is able to sail through life in the comfortable delusion that she is clever, witty, brilliant and under-appreciated. You would never want to spend any time with any one like her in real life, but I could happily have spend hours more reading about her antics.
There are a fair few women in books who become writers as a response to straightened circumstances – often with a trusty maid in attendance. But they are almost always portrayed as gentlewomen brought low by financial troubles not of their own making. Angel is not one of these – she starts writing as a way of getting her own way – initially she’s more interested in showing her neighbours that she’s better than them. Then the money enables her to exert power over her mother, who in her attempts to allow her daughter to go further in life by scrimping and saving for a better education for her has created a stubborn tyrant who will brook no opposition. As we follow Angel through 40 plus years we see the changes in British society as it moves from the Victorian era, through two World Wars – and we see Angel rewrite her past and invent new fictions for herself – which she believes even if those around her know other wise.
Although Angel is the centre of this book we also get to see the people she uses up and spits out – her mother, her aunt, a wannabe poetess, her husband, her servants – and the people who manage to survive her onslaught – only really her publisher and his wife. It’s a portrait of a tyrant and it’s very, very good.
My copy of Angel is a lovely Virago Designer Hardback which I got second hand and seem to be quite hard to come by, but it’s also available in paperback from Amazon, Foyles and Waterstones and on Kindle and Kobo. And as it was first published in 1957, you have a fighting chance of being able to find yourself a second hand copy in a charity or second hand bookshop.
So this week coming is Nightshift week, so that means impulse purchases and light reading. So not that different to a normal week then! And this week’s reading ended up being really un-Christmassy – even though I’m feeling quite festive now. And in unrelated but rather lovely news, I’m on Fahrenheit Press’s list of Book Bloggers of the Year which was very touching and made me come over all teary eyed. But then I’ve got a fractured elbow, a terrible cough and am fighting off the newsroom lurgy so I think I’m particularly suseptible to tears at the moment. Or that’s my story and I’m sticking to it – after all I cried at the Strictly final on Saturday night. Twice.
Read:
The Case of the Screaming Beauty by Alison Golden
Last Boat to Camden Town by Paul Charles
The Case of the Hidden Flame by Alison Golden
Sweetest Regret by Meredith Duran
Juniors at the Chalet School by Katherine Bruce
A Little Murder by Suzette A Hill
Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
Started:
Deadly Treasures by Vivian Conroy
Still reading:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Three e-books bought – and three real books when I went into The Works for some Christmassy bits. Oops. And I’m never good at avoiding buying books on nights either am I? Still I’ll try and restrain myself – because who knows what Santa might bring – if you want to know what I’m hoping he’ll bring, check out my Christmas gift post – or if you’re still looking for last minute things here’s the book gift guide.
I feel like I’m getting repetitive here, because this BotW is another Fahrenheit Press pick. Seriously, my Fahrenheit subscription has been one of my best book-based purchases this year. It was a total bargain (and I got in early so it really was a bargain!) and I’ve discovered older series I was too young for (or not in the right crowd for) first time around and new authors doing interesting things and who I’m hoping I can say that I was there at the beginning for.
And Sparkle Shot falls in the latter camp. It’s Lina Chern’s first book and it’s short but it packs a lot in. The subtitle is “A wannabe cowboy, a handsome cop and the search for a perfect breakfast cocktail” but that doesn’t really do it justice. It is a perfect fit for the Fahrenheit family – Mara fits in somewhere between Sam Jones from Black Rubber Dress and Eva Destruction from Barista’s Guide to Espionage, in that she’s sassy, smart and runs with an interesting crowd which sees her getting tangled up with things she’d rather not be. In this case, her roommate, a stripper who dances under the name of Karma misses a breakfast date with her and then phones in a panic – she’s witnessed a murder and needs Mara to help stop her being the next victim.
Sparkle Shot races along at 100 miles an hour, with boys with guns, girls with guns, wannabe mafia dons, cops and peril. It’s probably technically novella length at 95 pages, but doesn’t suffer from any of my common complaints about novellas. There’s not a hint of underdeveloped story or things feeling too rushed. There’s plenty of plot, there’s backstory, character development and proper tension and proper danger – not just the sort of thing that is a misunderstanding or could be fixed with a simple conversation. It does feel like it could stand a sequel or two – hopefully longer than this because it was over too fast – but even if it’s not more from Mara and her friends, I’m still looking forward to seeing what Lina Chern writes next.
You can buy Sparkle Shot on Kindle or in paperback from Amazon, or you could treat yourself to some Bad Santa Bucks from Fahrenheit themselves and buy a few of their books – the discount gets bigger the more bucks you buy – and given that I’ve already mentioned two Fahrenheit books that have been BotWs and I’ve also recommended Death of a Nobody and Murder Quadrille (this is why I think I’m getting repetitive with my love of Fahrenheit, but honestly, so many good books) that’s five there – even if you only buy the first Sam Jones book and not the series… And if you’re still not sure, both Sparkle Shot and Barista’s Guide to Espionage would be good books to read if you’ve read Stephanie Plum or any of the other Janet Evanovich thriller series and are looking for where to go next. And on that encouragement to buy books I’ll go away before I buy more myself.
Lots of Christmas-y reading this week – and yes, I am planning a post on it, just as soon as I get my Christmas book gift posts sorted. Fractured elbows are a nightmare…
Read:
Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan
What Nora Knew by Linda Yellin
The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh
Sparkle Shot by Lina Chern
Candlelight at Christmas by Katie Fforde
Comfort and Joy by Cathy Bramley
Not Just For Christmas by Alex Brown
Started:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Last Boat to Camden Town by Paul Charles
Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
Still reading:
n/a
Four ebooks bought. Three proper books. And the library book bag was replenished too!
So the elbow is still giving me trouble, but I did find time to sit down and finish The Underground Railroad. And I’ve properly started my Christmas reading kick now – with two festive short stories, finishing the Christmas Meg Langslow and starting a holiday-themed Sarah Morgan. I foresee this situation continuing.
Read:
Duck the Halls by Donna Andrew
The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
Silent Night by Deanna Raybourn
Twelfth Night by Deanna Raybourn
The Wangs vs the World by Jade Chang
Herring on the Nile by L C Tyler
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
Started:
What Nora Knew by Linda Yellin
The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh
Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan
Still reading:
n/a
One book bought – to get some free postage for a Christmas present. Progress!
This may well be a slightly shorter than usual BotW post – the dodgy elbow is making typing hurt and I’m not sure I’m at my finest. But I’m going to give it a go because this was hands down my favourite book that I finished last week and it deserves a big old mention here.
This a collection of the best bits of advice from the Dear Coquette blog which I happened upon felicitously at a time when I needed a pep talk and cheering up. It did a marvelous job of both – and there is now a waiting list to borrow my copy. I got told off by The Boy for reading too much of it out loud to him because “there’ll be nothing left for me to read myself”. A few selected quotes also went down a storm on Litsy and on Twitter.
Most of the advice in here is about relationships in their various forms – the book is split into sections – on things like love, family and dating. The Coquette is smart, witty, brutally honest and very, very frank. It’s like the advice you wish your friends would give you, but would be too afraid to hand out yourself in return. I don’t always agree with the Coquette’s world view, but it’s always well argued and thought provoking.
I’m not sure I’ll be lending my copy to my mum (not that she’s asked for it yet) but I can see myself giving this as a Christmas book to a few people who I think might appreciate The Coquette’s view of the world. My copy was a proof copy (which the Coquette said she was mortified it still existed on Twitter!), but you can get a shiny proper hardback copy now – get it from Amazon, Waterstones and Foyles or on Kindle or Kobo. The paperback is out in April.
Ok. So I went ice skating on Monday and fell over and now I have a little fracture in my elbow. The hospital don’t like to immobilise elbows (you lose movement fast and it’s hard to get it back) so until the giant bruise appeared on Saturday I had no evidence of my injury, but I have had lots of sympathy and I’m hopped up on painkillers so it’s fairly ok. I’ve been taking it easy (mostly on the sofa) but I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything serious – or hold heavy books. I called time on The #MonuMeta Social Media Book this week – I’ve tried and tried and tried (I’m not sure the pain helped when I gave it another go in A&E), but I just couldn’t get into it. It’s got great reviews on Goodreads though, so it’s clearly me that has a problem not anyone else!
Read:
The Season by Sarah MacLean
Burke’s Last Witness by C J Dunford
It Must Be Christmas by Jennifer Crusie, Donna Alward and Mandy Baxter
Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber
A Whole Latte Murder by Caroline Fardig
The Best of Dear Coquette by The Coquette
Potent Pleasures by Eloisa James
Started:
The Wangs vs the World by Jade Chang
Duck the Halls by Donna Andrew
Still reading:
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
Perhaps unsurprisingly given my weakened state, I had a kindle spending spree from my sick bed on Tuesday and Foyles were doing 20% off for Black Friday so I bought myself a book along with the ones I was buying as presents, but apart from that I’ve been remarkably restrained. Or at least I think that I have.
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 