Category: week in books

Book of the Week, children's books, graphic novels

Book of the Week: Lumberjanes Vol 3

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As I mentioned yesterday, I did a lot of hours at work last week and not as much reading as I had been hoping, but graphic novels featured heavily in what did get read.  But before I talk about this week’s BotW I just wanted to mention that I’m reviewing on Novelicious again today – if you want to see what I thought about Mary Balogh’s latest Someone to Love you can click here.  With that shameless bit of self-promotion over, lets talk about Lumberjanes Volume Three: A Terrible Plan.

Lumberjanes Volume 3
Do you like my pretty checked table cloth? It was my granny’s and seemed appropriate!

I’ve mentioned Lumberjanes here before in last year’s Christmas books for kids post and it continues to be a great fun, hundred miles an hour journey through summer at a slightly eccentric camp for girls.  The adventures are bonkers, the characters are great and the underlying messages are nothing but positive.  In this volume we join our intrepid heroines as they try to earn badges and escape from dinosaurs (which totally makes sense in the context of the book) whilst we find out more about what some of the girls’ lives are like at home and their feelings about themselves.

This has some different artists to some of the previous issues and at times I didn’t like the drawings as much as I have previously – but that is more about my dislike of things changing in general (which all ties into my dislike of non-matching sets of books, and changes in cover design) because the art work is still beautiful.  I’m not the target market for this, but I still enjoyed reading it a lot and want to get the next volume asap.  I also want to give it to all the little girls I know as an example of female friendships and that girls can do whatever they want to do without boys to help them.  I’m even debating lending my copies to the nieces – and I’m not a big lender of books!

You should be able to get Lumberjanes from any good comic shop – and please do find a comic shop to support.  Amazon are only offering 31p off the RRP on this at time of writing – so why not go and support an independent shop – go to the Comic Shop Locator and put in your post code and it’ll tell you.  My local store is incredibly friendly and happy to get anything in for me that isn’t in stock – and you can order online from him too if you really don’t want to leave your house.  And either way it’ll give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside for supporting the little guy not the corporate giant!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: November 13 – November 20

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I did a lot of work this week – a lot of nights away from home and only one day off in the last seven.  Consequently a lot of sleeping and not as much reading time!

Read:

Charlaine Harris’s Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris, Royal McGraw and Ilias Kyriazis

Baron by Joanna Shupe

Hero in the Highlands by Suzanne Enoch

Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood

All I Ever Wanted by Lucy Dillon

Lumberjanes Vol 3: A Terrible Plan by Noelle Stevenson et al

Started:

Potent Pleasures by Eloisa James

The Best of Dear Coquette by The Coquette

Burke’s Last Witness by C J Dunford

Still reading:

The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead

The #MonuMeta Social Media Book by Roger Warner

The Season by Sarah MacLean

A slight shopping spree in the comic book store – and a few secondhand books to get some free delivery from a well known online retailer, but over all fairly restrained given that I was wandering in Foyles on Tuesday night!

Book of the Week, Classics, Series I love, women's fiction

Book of the Week: Cheerfulness Breaks In

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As you may have seen, I didn’t read much last week.  It was a busy, stressful week at work and my brain was fried.  And then there wasn’t a lot to chose from for BotW.  And I know I’ve done an Angela Thirkell BotW before (not that long ago) but although this has its problems, it was still my favourite of the books I read last week.

 

Cheerfulness Breaks In sees the start of the Second World War and all the changes that brings.  It starts with Rose Birkett finally getting married (after having been engaged goodness knows how many times) and is very funny as that flighty damsel wonders if she can squeeze in a trip to the cinema on the morning of her wedding.  Then she’s off abroad with her serviceman husband and everything starts to change.  Some men are conscripted and go away, some are left at home fretting about how they’ll be treated because they haven’t been conscripted.  All the jolly hockey sticks girls throw themselves into nursing and the war effort and waves of evacuees arrive.  There are some very funny and poignant sections in here.

But – and there is a but – it does feel a bit dated because of some of the scenes with the evacuees and the Mixo-Lydians.  Thirkell’s view of the upper class/lower class divide is not as simplistic as some, because there are good people among the evacuated people – and some real idiots among the posh ones, but it is quite broad strokes, and strokes that favour the country people over the urban people.  But then Thirkell was writing this at the time these things were actually happening, so I’m chalking it up as having attitudes “of its time” and giving it a slight pass.  I suspect this is the reason why this one is an ebook only re-release from Virago rather than a pretty paperback like a lot of the others have had.

It’s available on Kindle or Kobo or you can pick up a secondhand paperback copy – but it’s not the best of Thirkell so don’t start here – go with Summer Half for some of the characters from this or Northbridge Rectory (actually the book after this in the series) or start at the beginning with High Rising.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: November 7 – November 13

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What a crazy week.  As you might expect my working life has been very busy and I haven’t got a lot of reading done.  Most of what I have read has been short stories with only two full length novels on the list this week, one of which I actually started last week.  Fingers crossed normal service will soon be resumed.

Read:

Cheerfulness Breaks In by Angela Thirkell

The Lady Always Wins by Courtney Milan

The Haunted Season by G M Malliet

The Perks of Being a Beauty by Manda Collins

This Wicked Gift by Courtney Milan

Started:

Charlaine Harris’s Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris, Royal McGraw and Ilias Kyriazis

Baron by Joanna Shupe

Still reading:

The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead

The #MonuMeta Social Media Book by Roger Warner

The Season by Sarah MacLean

On the upside, only one ebook bought and no real books.

Book of the Week, Children's books, children's books, new releases

Book of the Week: Mistletoe and Murder

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I know, you all looked at my list of books I read last week and just knew that this was going to be my pick for BotW didn’t you?  So sue me.  Today feels momentous and a little terrifying with what is going on in the world, and what better way to take your mind off what may or may not be about to occur than a charming children’s novel about school girls solving mysteries.

Mistletoe and Murder
A Christmas book in early November? Bite me.

Long standing readers will be familiar with my love of Robin Stevens’ Wells and Wong series (see here, here, here and here) and Mistletoe and Murder (which incidentally shares its name with a Daisy Dalrymple mystery which is also very good) is the fifth installment in the series and sees the girls spending their Christmas holidays at Cambridge visiting Daisy’s brother.  But of course the girls can’t help but run into an investigation – this time in competition with their rivals at the Junior Pinkertons.  But soon suspicious accidents have turned deadly and the girls are in a race against time to figure out who did it and why.

I’ve said before that these books are the perfect blend of Agatha Christie and St Clares stories and I stand by that – they’re brilliant and inventive and I wish they’d been around when I was the “right” age.  I practically gobbled this up in one sitting, which was a mistake  because I’d already read the Halloween short story and now I have to wait months and months and months for the next one.  This would make the perfect Christmas book for the young reader in your family – or the big kid if you’re like me.  It’s the perfect escape from the trials and tribulations of the grown-up world.


But if you’re not into middle grade fiction (more fool you) and still want some escapism, I can also heartily recommend Gail Carriger’s latest novella – Romancing the Inventor – in which we see one of the most beloved side characters in her steampunk world, Madame Lefounx, finally get over the pesky Angelique and find love again.  It probably works best if you’ve read the Parasol Protectorate series, will work even better if you’ve also read the Finishing School series.  I loved it – it’s a great, fun love story with some guest appearances from old favourites.  What more could you want?

Robin Stevens’ Wells and Wong books should be available where ever children’s books are sold (if they’re not, ask them why), but here are links to Mistletoe and Murder on Amazon, Kindle, Waterstones, Foyles and Kobo.

Romancing the Inventor is one of Gail Carriger’s self published works – so it’s not quite as available in the shops, but you can get it on Kindle and on Kobo or special order it in paperback from Amazon, Waterstones and Foyles.

Happy reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: October 31 – November 6

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Not sure what happened this week, bit of a strange one.  A bit of a mini reading slump.  I read a few things that I liked, but had trouble settling to some other stuff as well.  Not quite sure what caused it, but here’s hoping I’m over  it now!  On a brigher note, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, Novelicious is back – and my first review since its hiatus is up today – it’s Sarah Morgan’s Miracle on Fifth Avenue and you can read it here.

Read:

Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens

Romancing the Inventor by Gail Carriger

Someone to Love by Mary Balogh

Dark Chocolate Demise by Jenn McKinlay

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley

Once Upon a Winter’s Eve by Tessa Dare

Started:

The Season by Sarah MacLean

The Haunted Season by G M Malliet

Still reading:

The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead

The #MonuMeta Social Media Book by Roger Warner

I bought one book this week – and that was the new one from Cesca Majors at her book launch – which was fab and which I’m looking forward to reading.

Book of the Week, non-fiction

Book of the Week: You Can’t Touch My Hair

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Two non-fiction books in a row as BotWs?  This is unprecedented I hear you say.  Well yes, given that I read (on average) 1 non-fiction book a month, this is quite unusual.  But both these books were very, very good and truly deserve their spots as my Books of the Week.

Phoebe Robinson is an actress and comedian, and one half of the Two Dope Girls podcast (the other half is former Daily Show star Jessica Williams)  – which I need to add to my ever growing list of podcast subscriptions.  Her book of essays, You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain takes a look at the daily life of a young black woman in America today. As a stand-up comedian she’s used to finding the funny side of things and looking for humour in situations, and she is very, very good at that – so good in fact that at times I found myself sitting back and thinking “hang on, she’s being funny, but this is seriously bad”.

This book deals with serious and sensitive issues – stereotypes, bigotry, coded language and more – and it does it directly, apologetically but with such an engaging voice that you never feel like you’re being shouted at or lectured.  Robinson writes at length about the “Angry Black Woman” trope – and the difficulties that it creates in her life, in trying to get her voice and her opinions heard and valued, but she also discusses – at some length – her ranking of U2 in the order she’d like to sleep with them and how a female president would change the world.

I’ve thought long and hard about how to describe this book and its effect on me.  I finished it a week ago and I’m still digesting it. This whole book is measured, articulate, affecting and thought provoking.  And on top of all that, its so, so funny. It should be compulsory reading  – particularly at a time when the world seems so divided and divisive.

My copy came via NetGalley, but you can get one from Amazon, Waterstones (who have it mislabelled as by Jessica Williams who wrote the foreword) and Foyles (mislabelled again) and on Kindle and Kobo. You can even have Phoebe herself reading it on Audible.  And I suspect it may even make it in to the non fiction sections at some of the bigger WH Smiths and supermarkets.  It certainly deserves to.

Happy reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: October 24 – October 30

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A bit of an odd week.  I had a couple of days off work and went away for a bit of sightseeing and then the nightshifts caught up with me and I was exhausted for the rest of the week and didn’t get as much reading done as I would have wanted.

Read:

You Can’t Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson

Blessed is the Busybody by Emilie Richards

Forbidden Fruit by Kerry Greenwood

How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Tessa Dare

The Murdstone Trilogy by Mal Peet

Lord Dashwood Missed Out by Tessa Dare

Started:

The #MonuMeta Social Media Book by Roger Warner

Still reading:

The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead

On the brightside, I didn’t buy any actual books this week, although I did have a bit of a spree on novellas – in particular historical ones – and a few preorders.  I need to start making a list and asking for things for Christmas instead.  And all the books I ordered during nightshifts have turned up now and I need to start reading them, pronto!

Book of the Week, Children's books, new releases, non-fiction

Book of the Week: Wonder Women

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I know, I know, I know.  This is a day late.  I have excuses – relating to post nightshift haze and then a few days away and only remembering I hadn’t written this post at 11pm after a couple of cocktails.  And as drunk blogging doesn’t end well, I thought it could wait til the cool light of day and rational thought, especially as this week’s pick is Important to me.

So this week’s BotW is Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors and Trailblazers who changed history.  Written by Sam Maggs, this is a series of potted biographies of women who you may not have heard of, but who have played an important role in various areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Espionage and Adventure  – aka areas that tend to be seen as traditionally masculine.  There are 25 featured women – but at least the same again get bite-sized mentions too.  I’m a history graduate (admittedly specialising in British and European history) and there were a lot of names here that I had never come across before – and many fascinating stories.

I’m definitely not the target market for this – which is written (I think) very much with tweens/early teens in mind – and some of the language started to annoy me a little, but that’s because it’s written in a vernacular that is not really mine, although I do think that the choice of language will appeal to the intended audience. It’s got lovely illustrations for the 25 women, which is a nice touch.  My copy was an e-galley for my kindle e-reader so I don’t think I got the full effect, but from what I’ve seen the actual book itself looks attractive and appealing.

This would make a good book for an upper-primary school/middle school age girl and would also be a great addition to school libraries for that sort of age of child.  I’ve said there that it would be a good book for a girl – because I think young girls need reminding that they can have adventures too, and be brave and daring and that careers in things like science and tech aren’t just for boys.  But boys need reminding that too – and that there have been women through history doing important things, often against the odds and against societal expectations.  I saw this video last week, and it may have been the nightshifts, but it got me all emotional.  And it’s an important message for children to get – girls can be anything, do anything – nothing is a man’s job – or a woman’s job.

Anyway, lecture over.  As I said, my copy was an e-galley via NetGalley, but this is out now and you can get it from Amazon, Waterstones and Foyles as well as on Kindle and Kobo – although I think it would look best in the hardback actual book.

Happy reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: October 17 – October 23

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 Nightshifts are over! Hurrah! I spent most of the week sleeping, and staying away from home, both of which means I didn’t read as much this week as I usually do on nights (not much commute) but there’s some quite good stuff on the list of stuff I did read. Also, as a side note, Novelicious is back – and I’m reviewing for them again, so more on that soon!

Read:

Eggnog Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross

Front Page Fatality by LynnDee Walker

A Killer Location by Sarah T Hobart

Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver

Wonder Women by Sam Maggs

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse by Alan Bradley

Started:

The Murdstone Trilogy by Mal Peet

Still reading:
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead

 So, nightshifts. I might have gone a little crazy with the book buying in the early hours of the morning. Twice. Oops. I’ve more than replaced everything I read from the pile this week!