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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you remember my post about comfort reading, you’ll remember me saying that I one of the genres I turn to is cozy crime. And I’ve been reading an awful lot of them recently, so I have books (and series) to recommend. There are definite trends in cozies, and so I’ve tried to provide some variety – and also go for new/newer series that you might not have come across before. I have lots of old favourites too, but here are some new (or at least new-to-me) series to take a look at.
Max Tudor by GM Malliet
This is the 5th Max Tudor – currently waiting on the to-read pile!
Max Tudor is a vicar – who was in the secret service before he was ordained – which is a nice touch which explains why the police might be willing to have him involved in their investigations (always a problem when your “detective” isn’t actually a police man). He’s unmarried – and the subject of matchmaking among his parishioners – and his eventual choice makes for some nice conflict of its own. I’ve read the first four books in the series (which are all named after seasons) and am keeping my eyes open for the next two. These are fun, clever and witty – even if the author needs to remember that no Land Rover owner would ever call their vehicle a Rover!
Headlines in High Heels by LynDee Walker
I wanted to include some competence porn in here – because I do love a book where the main character is good at their job. Reporters/journalists make great leads in cozy crime series – because they have an excuse for coming across bodies – or at least getting involved in solving mysteries in a way that say… cupcake bakers don’t. But there are some pitfalls. I’ve recently been infuriated by a reporter in a book not doing their basic fact checking (it did come back and bite them, but they shouldn’t/wouldn’t have done it and it shouldn’t be a plot device) and while Nichelle Clarke does have a slightly dodgy (for her job) relationship, for the most part she’s a conscientious reporter who does the job properly. And the cases are interesting too. It didn’t surprise me to find out that the author is a journalist…
Mainely Needlepoint by Lea Wait
I’ve read three (of the four) books in this series and they are well put together mysteries set in Maine. At the start of the series, our heroine, Angie returns to her home town after ten years when her missing mother is finally found. She soon ends up helping her grandmother with her needlework business and sets about trying to reintegrate in a town where she struggled as a child as she tries to work out what she wants in her life. I like Angie, and while these books don’t have the humour in them that I prefer in my cozies, they are interesting and page turning mysteries, even if I do find the references to guns and concealed carry a little disturbing and off-putting as a Brit who is not used to guns being around in every day life!
Amory Ames by Ashley Weaver
Another photo of a book taken on a train. I know. I’m so predictable!
I do love a good book set in the period between the wars – it’s my book sweet spot. So many good series are tucked up in here – my beloved Lord Peter Wimsey, Albert Campion and the early Inspector Alleyns all written at the time and series like Phyrne Fisher, Daisy Dalrymple and the Lord Edward Corinth series. And Ashley Weaver’s Amory Ames series has potential. Amory is a wealthy young woman who has married a playboy and is regretting it. Milo is handsome and charming – but, Amory fears, unreliable and possibly (probably) unfaithful. There are only three books in the series so far – and I’ve read two of them – but this has a complicated central relationship and a sparky heroine and the mysteries are well worked out. I have high hopes for book three.
So there you are. As you can see, I’ve read at least two books in all of these series, more in some cases, because cosy series can take a while to hit their stride… And this feels like only the tip of my cozy crime reading iceberg – to get to this (slender) list of recommendations I’ve read a few turkeys as well! And if this not enough cozy crime for you, in a nice piece of serendipity, I did a similar post this time last year, and those recommendations still stand too! And don’t forget previous BotW picks Death of a Nobody (and Death of a Diva), Earthly Delights and Murder on the Half Shell.
Happy reading – and apologies if this has got a little expensive for you…
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.
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!
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.
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!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 
