Tag: books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 16 – March 22

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So the week started ok, and then everything in the world changed. Again. I’m exhausted and a bit anxious and I’m sure you all are too.  I’m still working on that bonus content that I mentioned last week, but my reading mojo is quite hard to find at the moment (you’ll notice I’ve started a lot and not finished much of it because I can’t keep my focus) and I’ve already talked about a lot of the stuff I really love – and at some length. Please stay safe everyone, follow your government’s advice for where ever you are and remember that it’s not just about you, it’s about the other people that you could make ill too.

Read:

In Prior’s Wood by G M Malliet

Secrets on the Shore by Katherine Woodfine

Murder by Matchlight by E C R Lorac

Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams*

Started:

Legendary Children by Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez

Unflappable by Susie Gilbert*

Open Book by Jessica Simpson

She-Merchants, Buchaneers and Gentlewomen by Katie Hickman

Still reading:

Anna K by Jenny Lee*

The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healy*

I bought a bunch of books and I’m not sorry about it. And a preorder or two showed up as well. In fact at these difficult times I’m not sure I’m even going to keep count.

Bonus photo: I class as a key worker (I was as surprised as you are) and I was working this weekend, so I had my hostel room booked as usual because the Sunday trains are unreliable and don’t start very early. I was a bit apprehensive about still staying because it’s usually shared rooms. Not any more – YHA has moved to one booking one room – so I had a choice of six beds, and it really brought home to me how everything is changing – I’ve been using various YHA hostels around London for at least 9 years and I’ve never had a dorm to myself. My brain could just not compute.

An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 9 – March 15

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A slightly better week in general. I mean it’s still very stressful and anxiety inducing, but I’m operating more as normal. Not quite the normal list, but better than last week and some really good stuff here. I’m plotting some bonus posts too so watch out for some extra content coming soon.

Read:

American Sweethearts by Adriana Herrera*

The Five-Year Plan by Carla Burgess*

Death Stops the Frolic by George Bellairs*

Unfrazzle by Stephanie Lam

Murder in the Mill Race by E C R Lorac

Love Hard by Nalini Singh*

Started:

The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healy*

In Prior’s Wood by G M Malliet

Still reading:

Anna K by Jenny Lee*

Two ebooks bought – but for my sister so they don’t count right? – and a preorder of Greg Jenner’s new book, which I am so excited to read.

Bonus photo: some of my ebook stockpiling in case of need…

An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley.

book round-ups, Recommendsday

Recommendsday: Mini Reviews from February

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Yes, this was meant to go up last week. I did say the week got away from me a bit… anyway, it’s here now.  Only a couple this time because February was a short month, but I am trying to make this a regular thing this year, so I didn’t want to fall down on month two. If you missed January’s mini reviews, you can find them here.

World of Wolf Hall 

The Mirror and the Light is now in the shops but if you’ve forgotten what happened in the first two, this kindle freebie (which I’ve also saw in actual paperback in Foyles, but no idea how much it costs/how to qualify for one) recaps the events so far, the cast of characters, the world and some key themes and reader questions. It’s slight, but if it’s been a while since you’ve read the first two parts then it’s a nice reminder. I’m still conflicted about whether to buy this in hardcover (I love the cover, I prefer to read these on paper) or in ebook (so much lighter, but so much easier to ignore in favour of romances). I’ll keep you posted.

Meat Cute by Gail Carriger

This is definitely not the place to start the series, but this is the long wished for prequel that tells the story of the infamous hedgehog episode where Alexia Tarabotti (heroine of the Parasol Protectorate series) meets Conall Maccon. If you’re a fan of this does everything you’re hoping for, and a little bit more! If you’re not yet a fan, I have a lot of posts about my love for Gail Carriger’s steampunk world. My advice is start with Soulless and go from there.

Case of the Drowned Pearl by Robin Stevens

There’s still a few months to go before the final (sniff) full-length book in the series comes out, but there’s a Wells and Wong short for World Book Day. The Case of the Drowned Pearl sees the Detective Society and the Junior Pinkertons on a seaside holiday with Daisy’s Uncle Felix. Again, probably not the place to start the series, but it’s a lot of fun. The mystery is clever and Olympic-themed and I loved Hazel’s reaction to the British seaside. This has some Daisy PoV stuff too, which is always nice. Do start at the beginning with these too – and if you haven’t already bought them for the middle-grader in your life, why not?

So there you go, three slightly belated mini reviews for other stuff that I read in February. I bought all of my copies of these (except for the free one but you know what I mean) so you should be able to get all of them fairly easily – although you might want to rush if you want a physical copy of the Robin Stevens.

Happy Reading!

Book of the Week, memoirs

Book of the Week: You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams

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I said yesterday that I wasn’t sure if there would be a BotW pick this week, but I had a think and had a write and this is what I came up with. It seemed a shame not to have a book of the week post for the week that included world book week – even if I didn’t have the greatest week and it had an impact on my reading. But You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams perked me up last week when I was feeling a bit blue and stressed so here we have it.

You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams is a coffee table book with a bit of extra. It’s a set of picture essays about moments in the actor and singer’s life. Depending on your age you’ll know Cumming from GoldenEye, the first batch of X-Men movies, The Good Wife or his work on stage – notably as the MC in the revival of Cabaret. If you’re a certain age and British, you may remember him from his sitcom about a minor Scottish airline, The High Life. His life has been eventful and this gives you snapshot glimpses of it all – from his difficult relationship with his dad, to his fragrance range (Including a body wash called Cumming all over) to meeting Liz Taylor and being friends with Liza Minnelli. Cumming has picked his stories carefully and it feels gossipy and revealing as you read it, but is actually very cleverly picking what it’s divulging. He has written a memoir about his relationship with his father which was painful and difficult and this is not that and I don’t think covers much of the same material at all – it’s more about the different facets of Cumming’s life and the pictures he’s taken of it.

I bought this when I saw Cumming in concert in London a few years ago*, which is why the book is signed and it had a fairly similar mix of stories to that gig – which was lovely and brought back the memories of that night in the theatre. I’m not ruling out reading Cumming’s memoir about discovering his real family history when he went on Who Do You Think You Are (even after hearing the story from the video below) but that wasn’t what I needed last week – and this was.

This one might be a little tougher to get hold of than some of my other picks because it is a couple of years old now, but Amazon tells me that it has hardcover copies in stock. It’s also available in Kindle and as an audiobook, but the photos are such an integral part of this that I can’t imagine that it would work anywhere near as well without them alongside at the least.

Happy Reading!

*I found the ticket for that concert tucked in this book and was shocked, shocked I tell you, to discover how long this has been on the to-read pile.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 2- March 8

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So this week got away from me somewhat. Can’t really explain what happened, except that my brain was frazzled and all I could cope with was binge watching old seasons of Drag Race on Netflix. There may or may not be a BotW post tomorrow – it depends if I can actually write more than a sentence about any of these. Fingers crossed this week is better.

Read:

You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams by Alan Cumming

Love and Other Scandals by Caroline Linden

A Warning by Anonymous

Aunty Lee’s Chilled Revenge by Ovidia Yu

Started:

American Sweethearts by Adriana Herrera*

Unfrazzle by Stephanie Lam

Still reading:

The Five-Year Plan by Carla Burgess*

Anna K by Jenny Lee*

A couple of books bought for me, a whole bunch bought for other people. I can’t work out if that is progress or not!

Bonus photo: it was World Book Day this week, so here’s a shelfie of some of the collectables and some of the favourites.

An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 23 – March 1

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I finished the last of the longrunners! It’s been a bit of a week – three nights away from home for work (including one in Manchester), but managed to get a bit of reading in – especially on the trains. Anther busy week coming up – I’ll keep you posted. And in case you missed it yesterday, here’s the February stats.

Read:

The Case of the Drowned Pearl by Robin Stevens

Ask Me No Questions by Shelley Noble*

Morning Glories Vol 1 by Nick Spencer et al

Seven Dead by J Jefferson Farjeon

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia

Year of the Mad King by Antony Sher

Answer in the Negative by Henrietta Hamilton

Started:

The Five-Year Plan by Carla Burgess*

Anna K by Jenny Lee*

Still reading:

n/a

No books bought for once, although I bought quite a lot in February so I can’t be too smug!

Bonus photo: the obligatory Salford photo!

An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley.

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: The Colour of Murder

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Another week, another crime pick, and another British Library Crime pick, so what if it’s been less than a month since I last picked one – I couldn’t help myself because this was so clever and so readable.

The Colour of Murder is told in two parts. The first, Before, is a psychiatric report on John Wilkins. Told in his own words, it sets out his life, his unhappiness in his marriage and his job, his mysterious blackouts when he drinks, and his flirtation with a local woman. The second part, After, is the story of Wilkins’ trial for murder. It’s really unusual for a murder mystery in that for half of the book you don’t know who the victim is and you also don’t see any detection at all. And that is beauty of it – it lets you draw your own conclusions – or perhaps more accurately make your own assumptions – all the while adding more details and information.

It’s quite hard to talk about this book because it would be easy to say too much, but I don’t think it’s giving away a lot to say that John is a massively unlikeable man. He’s unhappy in almost every part of his life, but you don’t really feel much sympathy for his because he’s so awful even in his own words. His wife isn’t much more likeable according to him, but she has all the disadvantages of being viewed through his self-obsessed eyes – as well as suffering from the lack of opportunity and independence that a stay at home wife had in the 1950s. 

I absolutely raced through this, it’s not long but it’s also a massive page-turner. The writing is so clever that I kept changing my mind about what was happening. I read it via Kindle Unlimited but it’s also available to buy from all the usual sources.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 17 – February 23

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A really bookish week – but lots of nights spent away from home, which affected the reading somewhat.  Had a wonderful time on Monday night listening to Ben Aaronovitch talk to Temi Oh about Rivers of London and his writing. I nearly got all the still reading books finished – but then I had to head down to London ready for more earlies on Monday – and my copy of Bellweather Rhapsody is a hardback and I didn’t have space in my luggage, so that didn’t happen. Next week…

Read:

An Unsuitable Woman by Cat Gordon

Room Service by Rochelle Ayers

What Would Wimsey Do? by Guy Fraser-Sampson

Meat Cute by Gail Carriger

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg*

The Colour of Murder by Julian Symons

Started:

Ask Me No Questions by Shelley Noble*

Year of the Mad King by Antony Sher

Still reading:

Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia

Three books bought – one impulse purchase online, and then at Foyles for the Ben Aaronovitch talk, I bought a hardback copy of False Value so I could get it signed – even though all my other copies are paperback so it won’t match – and I bought Temi Oh’s Do You Dream of Terra Two too. And then four ebooks bought – including Guards! Guards! which doesn’t really count because I’ve already read it, but I wanted a kindle copy because I love it and it was on offer, Meat Cute (which you can see up above I’ve already read because I have been waiting for this for so long) and She Said by Jodi Cantor and Megan Twohey because that was also on offer, and having read Ronan Farrow’s book about Harvey Weinstein, I want to read theirs too.

Bonus photo: from the aforementioned Ben Aaronovitch and Temi Oh chat at Foyles. They have signed copies of False Value if you want them…

Ben Aaronovitch and Temi Oh at Foyles

An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley.

Book of the Week, non-fiction

Book of the Week: Burnout

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Burnout is a topic on lots of people’s minds.  Anne Helen Peterson‘s essay about Millennial Burnout just over year ago started a conversation – and she has been writing a book about the subject ever since (it’s due out in September). This week’s book of the week looks at female burnout and stress.

The blurb for this is: “This groundbreaking book explains why women experience burnout differently than men – and provides a simple, science-based plan to help women minimize stress, manage emotions and live a more joyful life. The gap between what it’s really like to be a woman and what people expect women to be is a primary cause of burnout, because we exhaust ourselves trying to close the space between the two.” I think this is quite an accurate description of what is inside the book without sounding either too way out or too serious. Emily and Amelia are identical twins – Amelia is a choral director and Emily is a sex educator and between them they explain the science and emotions behind female burnout.

As has been noted in the past, I have mixed results with self help and self improvement type books, but I actually found this really quite helpful. To use an Americanism, it’s quite validating in some ways to see things that you have experienced or suspected talked about in a “proper” book. I particularly liked the section on the stress cycle and how dealing with your stress doesn’t necessary mean actually solving the problem that is causing you stress per se but actually finishing the cycle and releasing the stress somehow. I’ve already started implementing some of the ideas from this, although I actually need to sit down with some of the worksheets on other areas.

I’m also midway through reading Tiny Habits at the moment and the two are proving to be quite a good pairing for me. One is tackling my stress, the other one is helping me figure out how to change a few things about my life without increasing my stress with unrealistic goals or trying to do too much too fast.

My copy of Burnout came via NetGalley, but you should be able to order it from all good bookseller or buy an ebook copy from all the usual sources (Kindle, Kobo). And if you like this, I’ve also read Emily Nagoski’s other book Come As You Are abut female sexuality. And if you’re not quite sure if this is one for you, there are episodes of the Smart Bitches Trashy Books podcast for each book with interviews with Emily (both) and Amelia (for Burnout), which will give you a bit of an overview – here’s the Burnout one, this is Come As You Are (NB it’s at times like this I realise how long I’ve been listening to Smart Bitches!).

Happy Reading!

Bonus photo: the very boring kindle cover – hence my use of the Apple Books cover up-post!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 10 – February 16

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An interesting week in reading and one where I’m really not sure what my Book of the Week is going to be tomorrow.  I’m sure it’ll come to me. It usually does. This week coming I have a lot of earlies and a lot of nights away from home, so we’ll see what happens to the reading list because of that…

Read:

The Threat Level Remains Severe by Rowena MacDonald*

Essex Poison by Ian Sansom

In the Crypt with a Candlestick by Daisy Waugh*

World of Wolf Hall and Bringing Up the Bodies

Year of the King by Antony Sher

The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Anne Long

Burnout by Emily Nagoski*

Started:

An Unsuitable Woman by Cat Gordon

Still reading:

Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg*

I wish I could say that I was restrained last week and didn’t buy any books, but I can’t.  Little Sister is stuck in China with nothing to do, so I bought a bunch of Kindle Daily Deals because we share a kindle account. Also the prequel for Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series came out so I had to buy that too.

Bonus photo: Regular readers will be aware of my love of Terry Pratchett – and so this week’s bonus is the Discworld Emporium’s Valentine’s message from the Guild of Seamstresses – which my sister sent me andwhich made me laugh a lot.

An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley.