Tag: books

books, stats

November Stats

veritywilde

Books read this month: 39*

New books: 32

Re-reads: 7 (all audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 8

NetGalley books read: 5

Kindle Unlimited read: 9

Ebooks: 10

Audiobooks: 7

Non-fiction books: 1

Favourite book this month: Rivals or The Rom-Commers

Most read author: Simon Brett because of the Fetherings binge plus Charles Paris re-listen

Books bought: we will continue to not talk about it, although I did have a clear out of the bookshelves so that has improved things a little despite the amount incoming..

Books read in 2024: 375

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 741

Genuinely a really solid month in reading, mostly, but not entirely down to the holiday. I’m still quite a long way short of my 50 states though, and a fair few books short on the beat the to-read pile challenge in my journal, so I’m not sure I can complete both of them this year. Doesn’t mean I won’t try though…

Bonus picture: After writing about Avenue Q, this is from the night after that Q concert – with two of the stars, Jon Robyns and Simon Lipkin doing a late night show together in the West End. It was also wonderful.

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 6 this month!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 25 – December 1

veritywilde

A mega list this week because we’ve been on holiday. It was warm and sunny and there were plenty of comfortable places for me to read books. And there was a plane ride there and back to read on too. Generally most satisfactory. Less satisfactory is the situation with the various reading challenges, but I’m going to give them my best shot in the month that I’ve got left. I’m back at work tomorrow and I’ve got a theatre trip planned this week and it’s starting to get a bit Christmas-y so we’ll see how the list looks this time next week…

Read:

Murder at Christmas by Rupert Latimer

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb*

How to Solve Murders Like a Lady by Hannah Dolby*

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes

Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Guilt at the Garage by Simon Brett

Birding with Benefits by Sarah T Dubb

A Classic Case by Alicia Thompson

A Fatal Groove by Olivia Blacke

Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood

Started:

Not in My Book by Katie Holt*

Still reading:

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

The Divorce Colony by April White

One ebook bought.

Bonus picture: what else but a sun lounger snap?

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

Recommendsday, romance

Book of the Week: Rivals

veritywilde

I was trying to work out when I was finishing the Week in Books yesterday how obvious it was that what I was going to pick today. I was figuring that given that I wrote about the adaptation on Sunday and then a 700 page plus book appeared on the list and had been read in under a week the signs might have been there. But who can tell the workings of my mind? Anyway, here we are.

So (obviously) this is the book the Disney+ series is based on. And what I didn’t mention in the post on Sunday is that the eight parts of the adaptation don’t cover the whole of the book. And having been left on a cliffhanger of not knowing l of course I wanted to see how it all turned out without having to wait however many years it’s going to be for series two. If we get a series two because I’ve been burned before (see: My Lady Jane, Pushing Daisies, The New Adventures of Superman). And also I wanted to know how different the book is from the show.

And the answer to that second question is it’s pretty close. There are a few things that happen a bit differently most of which I can’t mention because of spoilers but the one I can is that Rupert being blonde in the book and dark haired in the show. And that didn’t bother me because traditionally I prefer a dark and brooding hero and I saw the adaptation first. I’m fickle me. The 80s attitudes to some things are still there in the book – but some of the best lines in the show come directly from the book dialogue.

Some of the people are worse in the TV show than the book, others the reverse. There are a few characters in the show who are more fleshed out on screen than they were in the book. I was wondering how they could do a whole other season out of what was left of the book but there’s so much plot still to cover I’m pretty sure they can – especially if they want to bring a few of the things that are different back around to the book. Plus the ending of the book is all very fast. So there’s a bit of scope there.

All in all it’s deeply readable and although it satisfied my craving for resolution it probably made me even more desperate for series two sooner rather than later. Hey ho. At least I can reread/rewatch if I want to.

You should be able to get a copy of this absolutely everywhere given the adaption and of course it’s on Kindle and Kobo too. Plus there’s a new reading of the audiobook performed by Georgia Tennant aka David’s wife if you want a bit of a crossover effect and nearly twenty five hours of audio to listen to!

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 18 – November 24

veritywilde

A pretty good week in reading, partly because I was commuting back and forth and not staying in lining, partly because the weather was awful so going out seemed very unappealing. I’ve started on the Christmas-themed reading now too, so there’ll be some more on that front coming too. And as you can see, I have now read the actual book of Rivals…

Read:

Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin

Dramatic Murder by Elizabeth Anthony

What Bloody Man is That by Simon Brett

Rivers of London: Stray Cat Blues by Ben Aaronovitch et al

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Rivals by Jilly Cooper

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

One Lucky Subscriber by Kellye Garrett

Started:

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Murder at Christmas by Rupert Latimer

Guilt at the Garage by Simon Brett

Still reading:

The Divorce Colony by April White

Two books, no ebooks.

Bonus picture: Snow at the station on Tuesday morning on the way to work. I think the season really has changed now…

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 11 – November 17

veritywilde

A steady old week in Reading and a very busy week in life. So I suppose I’ve done OK all things considered. And Kiss Me, Kate was wonderful at the cinema too yesterday afternoon so that was delightful as well.

Read:

The Killer in the Choir by Simon Brett

Star Trap by Simon Brett

A Comedian Dies by Simon Brett

Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy*

Death in the Dark by Julia Buckley

The Measure of Malice edited by Martin Edwards

The Top of the Climb by Betty Beaty

Started:

Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin

Still reading:

The Divorce Colony by April White

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

Another preorder turned up, and one other acquired. Oopsie

Bonus picture: The British Museum as I walked past on my way back from a comedy gig one night last week. I can’t pass it without thinking about Amelia and Emerson…

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: November 4 – November 10

veritywilde

What a week. What a weekend – my sister came to visit and we went to London and ended up seeing two shows in less than twenty four hours, which is pretty much my idea of heaven. And I’ve got another one on Monday night too so I’m carrying the weekend fun over into the new week. And on the reading front, the Fetherings binge continues as well as some Christmas reading and a new-to-me historical mystery series. I just need to work on that long running list now…

Read:

A Reconstructed Corpse by Simon Brett

Death at the Dress Rehearsal by Stuart Douglas

The Killer in the Cafe by Simon Brett

A Body on the Doorstep by Marty Wingate

The Anti-Social Season by Adele Buck

The Nosy Neighbor by Nita Prose

The Liar in the Library by Simon Brett

Started:

The Killer in the Choir by Simon Brett

Death in the Dark by Julia Buckley

Still reading:

The Divorce Colony by April White

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy*

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

So I spent the Waterstones voucher. Well all of it except about £1.80. And as you could see on Saturday, it’s all got a bit out of hand…

Bonus picture: Lego Liberty still makes me smile every time I go in, even if the crowds in the Christmas shop don’t!

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: October 28 – November 3

veritywilde

A busy week in life and reading. Am I on a bit of a Simon Brett binge? Yes. But actually most of them are books I haven’t read before that have been sitting on the virtual TBR so that is progress on the backlog right? And I have started another 50 pages and out run through the bookshelf which has weeded some books off the pile because I don’t like them and don’t want to read the rest. Again, progress of a sort.

Read:

Hide My Eyes by Margery Allingham

The Corpse on the Court by Simon Brett

The Strangling on Stage by Simon Brett

Reunion Dinner by Jessie Q Sutanto

Dead Room Farce by Simon Brett

The Tomb in Turkey by Simon Brett

A Holiday Homicide by Ellie Alexander

Crime of Fashion by Emma Rosenblum

Astor by Anderson Cooper

Started:

Death at the Dress Rehearsal by Stuart Douglas

The Divorce Colony by April White

Still reading:

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy*

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

Two books and one ebook added to the pile. And I still have that book voucher to spend remember…

Bonus picture: another night out at the theatre…

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

books, stats

October Stats

veritywilde

Books read this month: 31*

New books: 20

Re-reads: 11 (6 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 4

NetGalley books read: 2

Kindle Unlimited read: 8

Ebooks: 5

Audiobooks: 6

Non-fiction books: 2

Favourite book this month: Probably A Dark and Stormy Murder

Most read author: Charlaine Harris, with the Lily Bard reread

Books bought: moving on….

Books read in 2024: 336

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 754

A pretty solid month by figures, but still more than I’d like in novellas rather than actual books because that means it’s not reducing either the physical TBR pile or the Netgalley list. Still in the main they’re coming via KU so at least it means I’m getting value out of that membership!

Bonus picture: is it wrong to be proud of a cake?! Any way, I made this and I was so…

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 7 this month!

Book of the Week, cozy crime

Book of the Week: A Dark and Stormy Murder

veritywilde

This week I’m back in the cozy crime genre for my pick, and with a first in a series so I’m abiding by the rules (yes, those rules I set myself!).

And so the plot: Lena’s just landed a job as the assistant to her favourite writer, Camilla Graham and moved to a small town in Indiana. Lena has always wanted to be a writer and now she gets to learn from her idol. Lena’s best friend already lives in Blue Lake – in fact she’s the one who met Camilla first, but Lena quickly gets stuck into small town life and meeting the locals – including a notorious recluse and the chief detective. But when a body turns up on her boss’s land, and strange things start happening at the house Lena can’t help but start investigating…

This has a fairly classic cozy crime set up in many ways – small town, two potential love interests for the heroine and a developing group of friends. But the writing as a profession is fun and the actual murder plot is good and allows the development of Lena and Camilla’s working relationship as well as doing some world building work too. There’s also a secondary investigation going on that is setting up more for the series, so it feels quite action packed – and I mean that in a good way. At the moment Lena seems to be picking my least favourite of the two love interests but there’s plenty of scope for either him to grow on me or for her to change her mind. This is my first book by Julia Buckley, and there another five in this series and she has a couple of other series too so that’s something to look forward to, if I can just get the tbr under control…

I read this one in paperback, but it’s also available on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: October 21 – October 27

veritywilde

So… did I watch three episodes of Rivals back to back on Thursday night and a fourth on Friday while I was staying with a friend? Yes. Did this affect the amount of stuff I’ve read this week. Yes. Do I regret not having Disney + at the moment so I can watch the other four episodes? Absolutely. Is it for the best that I don’t have it at the moment? Also yes, but we’ll see how long my will power lasts because the last episode of Only Murders in the Building series four hits Disney+ this week… Anyway, to the actual books I did read, and I still need to do a bit of work at getting that long-running list down, but I may have got a little distracted by trying to get a couple more states ticked off my 50 states list for the year…

Read:

The Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham

Murder: The Biography by Kate Morgan*

Digging Up History by Sheila Connolly

Passed in Pennsylvania by Sheila Benning

A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley

Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started:

n/a

Still reading:

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy*

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

Astor by Anderson Cooper

One pre-order dropped onto my kindle, one book bought in Waterstones Piccadilly and one ebook bought

Bonus picture: my newest houseplant baby, which is growing fast!

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.