Tag: books

I think I ticked off six of my missing stars last week – so maybe I’ll finish the challenge after all? Anyway, a cold and wintry week mean lots of reading.

Read:

Giraffe and Flamingo by Curtis Sittenfeld

Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer

Strangled Prose by Joan Hess

Mary Anne Saves the Day by Anne M Martin and Raina Telgemaier

Man Hands by Sarina Bowen

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton

Dakota Born by Debbie Macomber

Pollyanna by Eleanor H Porter

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

The Bloomsbury Group by Frances Spalding

Started:

Checkmate to Murder by E C R Lorac

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Sick as a Parrot by Liz Evans

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: my dad took this of sunset out in the village last week. It may look like somewhere exotic, but it is in fact Northamptonshire!

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

Another steady week in reading as I attempt to finish all my reading challenges but get distracted by shiny new books and library holds. And once again, the end of the month is timed to annoy me! Book of the week as per usual tomorrow, Mini-reviews on Wednesday and Stats on Thursday seems to be the order of the day. Where has this year gone and also how has this year been forever?

Read:

Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz*

Can’t Even by Anne Helen Petersen

Well Met by Jen Deluca

Gluten-Free Murder by P D Workman

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Twisted Twenty-Six by Janet Evanovich

Started:

Giraffe and Flamingo by Curtis Sittenfeld

Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Sick as a Parrot by Liz Evans

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: we’ve reached the Misty, foggy, cold part of the year when I always want a fire in the evenings so I’m cursing that one of the covid-complications has been that the chimney people haven’t been able to come and fix the top of the sitting room chimney so I don’t dare light a fire, because 2020 has already been bad enough without burning the house down…

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

Some really good stuff read this week – and I held a pre-December audit of where I am with regard to my reading challenges for the year. Expect to here more about that anon!

Read:

Life, Death and Cellos by Isabel Rogers

Bold as Brass by Isabel Rogers

Steamed Open by Barbara Ross

Help Yourself by Curtis Sittenfeld

First World War Poets by Alan Judd

The Residence by Kate Andersen Brower

Peace Breaks Out by Angela Thirkell

Holidays with the Wongs epilogue by Jackie Lau

Cosmoknights by Hannah Templar

Death in Daylesford by Kerry Greenwood

Started:

Can’t Even by Anne Helen Petersen

Sick as a Parrot by Liz Evans

Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz*

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: I found this blue plaque for Edward Murrow just up the road from work on a lunchtime stroll. I don’t know how I haven’t noticed it before. If you’ve never heard of him, he was a legendary war correspondent for CBS during World War 2 and then went on to be instrumental in bringing about the downfall of Senator Joseph McCarthy (as in McCarthyism and the Red Scare). Here’s his wikipedia page, but I also reccomend the film Goodnight and Good Luck (named for his famous sign off) about his work on McCarthy – David Strathairn was nominated for an Oscar for playing Murrow and which also has George Clooney in it – here’s the trailer.

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

Spent the weekend at work – which is why I have a whole bunch of stuff started and not finished – or still going – I’m reading across physical copies, kindle and iBooks and it all got a bit complicated. I’ll get it under control though.

Read:

The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found by Karina Yan Glaser

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote*

Mr Wilder and Me by Jonathan Coe*

Grumpy Jake by Melissa Blue

Iced Under by Barbara Ross

Stowed Away by Barbara Ross

Started:

Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner*

Life, Death and Cellos by Isabel Rogers

Cosmoknights by Hannah Templar

Steamed Open by Barbara Ross

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

The Residence by Kate Andersen Brower

Peace Breaks Out by Angela Thirkell

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: my latest bunch of flowers. They’re Peach Amaryllis and they’re gorgeous.

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

Well. Well. That was a week wasn’t it? I did a lot of hours at work – and my brain was correspondingly fried, so there’s a lot of familiar authors on this weeks list as I retreated to books I knew wouldn’t require too much effort of my frazzled brain!

Read:

The Body on the Train by Frances Brody

Somebody to Romance by Mary Balogh

Musseled Out by Barbara Ross

The Churchill Complex by Ian Buruma

The Last Mrs Summers by Rhys Bowen

The Falcon Always Wings Twice by Donna Andrews

Started:

The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found by Karina Yan Glaser

The Residence by Kate Andersen Brower

Peace Breaks Out by Angela Thirkell

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: Early morning in central London on Thursday on my way for some post-US election action at work.

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

In case you missed it, it was October Stats yesterday. Book of the Week as usual tomorrow and Mini reviews coming up on Wednesday. I had a few days off work last week, which was delightful and very nice ahead of what is going to be a very, very busy week in the day job – with US presidential elections and a second lockdown in the UK. I feel like it’s going to be escapist reading all the way this week because my brain won’t be able to cope with any complicated ideas.

Read:

Southern Peach Pie and a Dead Guy by A Gardner

Sweet Dreams by Dylan Jones*

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Dance of Death by Helen McCloy*

Happily This Christmas by Susan Mallery*

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Boiled Over by Barbara Ross

This Green and Pleasant Land by Ayisha Malik*

Started:

Musseled Out by Barbara Ross

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

The Body on the Train by Frances Brody

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: I made my Christmas cake, here it is, fresh from cooling and ready for feeding and maturing over the next few weeks….

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

A much better week in reading and in life. And check me out for reducing the number of books on the still reading list. But Sweet Dreams by Dylan is nearly 500 pages long so that might be on the list for a while!

Read:

Merit Badge Murder by Leslie Langtry

Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley

Jeeves and the Leap of Faith by Ben Schott*

Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busybody by Barbara Ross

Mint Cookie Murder by Leslie Langtry

The Killing at Kingfisher Hill by Sophie Hannah

Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

Started:

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

The Body on the Train by Frances Brody

Still reading:

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

This Green and Pleasant Land by Ayisha Malik*

Sweet Dreams by Dylan Jones*

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: An autumnal photograph from the park on Sunday.

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

So it’s been a bad week in my Real Life. I’m not going to bore you with all the details, but I’m fine. I’m hoping that next week will be better, but given the way 2020 has gone so far, I’m not holding my breath. Still I ticked another two states off my 50 states challenge list, I’m nearly halfway through my NetGalley list for the month and I’ve got a couple of Bonus posts nearly finished. So lets count them as small wins. Onwards and upwards.

Read:

Vanishing Act by Charlie Hodges*

Lumberjanes: Campfire Stories by Shannon Watters et al

Grave Secrets by Alice James*

Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Crusie

Manhunting by Jennifer Crusie

Too Much and Never Enough by Mary Trump

Started:

Sweet Dreams by Dylan Jones*

Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas

Still reading:

Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley

The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

This Green and Pleasant Land by Ayisha Malik*

Jeeves and the Leap of Faith by Ben Schott*

Still not counting, still don’t care

Bonus photo: I spotted this postbox on my walk the other day – and it seemed like an apt photo for this week. Why I hear you ask? Well I’ve been sending a lot of post to people through the pandemic – including a whole bunch of cards to people last week, I’m in a research study about covid antibodies in the general population that involves me sending blood samples by post and one of the things that keeps coming up at work at the moment is postal voting in the US Election. This isn’t the flashiest or biggest postbox – but it is a King George one – which means that it’s at least 68 years old, but could be 100. A pillar of stability in a crazy world.

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