In which our heroine attempts to tame the to-read pile
I wrote a whole post of books related to the monarchy back in the early summer before the Platinum Jubilee – if you’re following what’s been going on in the UK in the last week, then do go back and read it – you can find it here.
Another month, another batch of Kindle offers for you all to enjoy.
Let’s start with one I’ve recommended already this year: A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle is 99p – I suspect to coincide with that paperback release which I mentioned the other day in Books in the Wild. In things I read, but longer ago, there is The Ex Hex by Rachel Hawkins, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld and former Book of the Week V for Victory by Lissa Evans – although as that’s the third of three connected novels, you’ll get the most out of it if you read the others first. Recommended even longer ago is Rosie Effect by Graeme Simision – which has reminded me that I need to read the final book in that trilogy too!
There are a couple of other recent releases too – I’ve read Infamous by Lex Croucher*, which is billed as Bridgerton’s rowdy little sister – but I haven’t got to Ten Years by Pernille Hughes yet, although it is waiting on my kindle. Also waiting on my kindle is The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman by Julietta Henderson which came out last year originally.
In old favourites, there’s one of my very favourite Katie Fforde books at 99p this month Stately Pursuits must be nearly 20 years old now, but a lot of the tropes you’ll find in it are still among my favourites: a grumpy brooding hero, something that needs saving (in this case a big old house) and a heroine who just throws herself into tackling any problem in her path.
In series I love, Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch – the short story collection that ties in to Rivers of London is 99p this month, and I don’t remember seeing it this cheap before. In other series with books on offer, MC Beaton Death of a Bore in the Hamish Macbeth series is 99p. I’ve only read a few JD Robbs, but I know they’re hugely popular and the series is really long – so always good to pick them up on offer. This month it’s Judgement in Death, the 11th in the series
Some of the Georgette Heyer novels now seem to be dropping out of copyright and appearing in random editions (or at least I think that’s what they are) but in terms of the editions that I know are proper and well formatted etc, this month it’s Spanish Bride on offer for 99p. This is one of the less traditional Heyers – it’s got all the battle description that I find the least interesting bit of Infamous Army and is based on a true story. Spoiler: The marriage happens very early. The £1.99 Heyers are the aforementioned Infamous Army, Pistols for Two (the short stories collection), my beloved Devil’s Cub and another slightly more obscure one – Beauvallet.
And finally in non fiction, Andrew Lownie’s The Mountbattens is 99p – I haven’t read this yet, but I very much enjoyed his book Traitor King this time last year. And Burnout by Emily Nagoski is also on offer. I read this before the pandemic, but I think the help and advice it offers is needed more now than ever.
Hopefully there’s something here for you somewhere. Have a good Wednesday.
Back next week – I hope!
I mean if you don’t know what happened in the UK this week, then I sort of envy your ability to avoid the news. It’s been a long, strange week. And no surprise that you can probably tell that in this post.
Read:
Stirring Up Love by Chandra Blumberg*
A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie
The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish*
There’s Something About Merry by Codi Hall*
Started:
Make It Sweet by Kristen Callihan
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
Still reading:
Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor
Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
A couple of preorders arrived – on the kindle and on the doorstep, but I think that’s it. But my brain is a little frazzled right now.
Bonus photo: Sunday evening calm in the park.
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
It’s Deanna Raybourn’s new contemporary adventure thriller and it’s on my kindle waiting to be read. How exciting.
There’s definitely not as much to write about this month – because I’ve already written about so many books that I read in August! Still I have scared up three books to tell you about today so, yay me.
Quick Curtain by Alan Melville
I talked about a bunch of theatre-set books of various types in August – and here’s another which was part of my haul from the conference book sales. Alan Melville’s murder mystery is another that sees an actor murdered on stage in front of an audience. Where it differs from the Ngaio Marsh novels with a similar premise is the satirical slant it takes on the detecting. On that front it’s closer to Nancy Spain’s Cinderella Goes to the Morgue, although this does care about solving the crime! A very nice way to spend an afternoon.
Femina by Janina Ramirez*
This is a fascinating look at the Middle Ages via the lives of writings and artifacts left behind by some of the women who lived through the period. Some of the names were people I had heard of, but I knew very little about any of them except for Margery Kempe. This is easy to read, but incredibly well researched and has plenty of pictures of the artifacts being talked about. It also has a huge bibliography at the back if you want to go and read more about any of the women. Well worth a look, even if you don’t usually do books on the Middle Ages. I mentioned this on publication day and it’s taken me a while to finish – but that’s because my brain has been fried and I only had the concentration for small bursts. Luckily it’s broken down into nice bite-sized sections!
Knit to Kill by Anne Canadeo
This is more of a lesson in doing more research than a review, because I picked this up on Kindle Unlimited thinking it was a first in series – because it says it is in the title but when I started reading it it really confused me because it didn’t read like introducing a new set of characters. So off to Goodreads I went where I discovered it was actually the first since a change of publishers – and actually the ninth book about this set of characters. Then things made more sense. Remind me to research the KU stuff the same way I do the rest of the books in future!
And in case you’ve forgotten, here’s all the other books I talked about in August: Piglettes, A Time to Dance, Thank you for Listening, Husband Material, A Twist of the Knife, the Sadler’s Wells Series, Swallows and Amazons series, London Celebrities series, Amory Ames series, books set in theatres, late summer romances and Actor Memoirs.
Happy Wednesday!
There were a few options for this post this week, but in the end I’ve settled on a really good locked room mystery, because those are so satisfying when done right – and this is really done right!
Dick Markham is in love (again). The object of the crime writer’s affection is Lesley Grant, a new arrival in his village. But when she accidentally shoots and injures a fortune teller at the village fete, he is told a story about her that is very different from the one that she tells about herself. Cast into confusion, he is asked to take part in a scheme to expose her as a serial poisoner – only for the person accusing her to be found murdered in exactly the way that he was told Lesley kills her victims: in an impossible locked room set up. Then Gideon Fell arrives on the scene to try and untangle the mystery.
It’s been a while since I read a locked room mystery, and this one is so clever. It is the first Gideon Fell mystery that I have read – although I read another of John Dickson Carr’s novels earlier in the year, and gave another Fell lined up already. But I can see why this one in particular has such an impressive reputation. It’s really pacy and makes you feel completely off balance as a reader because it twists and turns around so much you’re never really sure what you think – or what you’re meant to think. And I can’t really say any more about it than that because it gives too much away – even writing the plot summary was tricky! Anyway, give it a look for yourself.
My copy of Til Death Do Us Part came via my Kindle Unlimited subscription, but it’s a British Library Crime Classic, so when it cycles out of KU it should be available on all the major ebook platforms. And of course you can buy it in paperback direct from the British Library Bookshop online.
Happy Reading!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 