Tag: books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 26 – September 1

veritywilde

Another really busy week.  And really quite hot too. A shame I was at work for most of it!  Hey ho.  There was some really interesting reading this week – a lot of it on the train – and I’m still not sure what I’m going to pick for BotW tomorrow, which is unusual.

Read:

Schoolgirl Reporter by Constance M White

A Study in Scandal by Caroline Linden

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

The Painted Garden by Noel Streatfeild

Scandals of Classic Hollywood by Anne Helen Petersen

Meddling and Murder by Ovidia Yu

Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski

Started:

City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn

Out of Africa by Isak Dineson

Still reading:

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

The Girls by Emma Cline

Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr

The Queen Con by Meghan Scott Molin

One book bought in the charity shop and one ebook.

Bonus photo: The nice cupboard with my “fancy” (aka hardback) Girl’s Own books…

Shelf of hardback children's books

Book of the Week, cozy crime, mystery

Book of the Week: The Frame-Up

veritywilde

Hello hello hello! Fresh from a bank holiday Monday off work and a Drag Race marathon, this week’s book of the week is The Frame-Up – which has nerd culture, comic books and drag queens.  Perfect.

Cover of The Frame-Up

MG (that’s short for Michael-Grace, but she won’t thank me for telling you) is a writer at a comic book company with a side line in costume designing. She’s in the queue for her morning latte when she recognises a panel from a comic in a crime scene photo in the newspaper. Soon a handsome police officer is asking for her help in untangling the clues to the crime – but his colleagues are suspicious of her. Can MG solve the mystery and win the big costume competition?

I really, really enjoyed this. MG is a fabulous main character and only occasionally strays into territory where you think she’s too stupid to live. Most of the time you understand why she tends towards the headstrong and foolhardy: she’s a woman in a male dominated environment who is trying to get equal treatment at work and not getting listened to. Matteo the cop is a great foil for her- nice enough that you’re worried he’s going to stuff up his career over MG but mysterious enough that you don’t entirely trust him. There is a big cast of characters here – mainly guys – and I would like to see MG getting some female friends at some point in the future to stop her from verging into Not Like Other Girls territory* but I’m hopeful that the seeds of something were being set up for that in this.

This isn’t too violent and there’s no psychological suspense – it’s basically a cozy crime with a twist – nerd culture instead of crafting/cooking/baking. And that was pretty much just what I needed at the moment after a run of disappointing romances (don’t ask). In fact I liked this enough that I’ve gone straight on to book two to see if it’s a concept that can sustain itself. And if it is, this could be another (murder) mystery series to add to my list.

I got this as a Kindle First Reads pick at the back end of last year and have only just got around to reading it – but it’s also available as a paperback from Amazon.  Because it’s in Kindle Unlimited it may be harder to get elsewhere I’m afraid.

Happy Reading!

* I’m having trouble with an epidemic of Not Like Other Girls heroines in romances at the moment and it’s driving me mad

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 19 – August 25

veritywilde

Super busy week again – and lovely weather.  Of course I missed most of it at work.  Sigh.

Read:

Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas

Shirley Flight: Air Hostess and the Flying Doctor by Judith Dale

Crimson Rust by C Bernard Rutley

Deliver Me by Farrah Rochon

The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin

A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

Started:

The Queen Con by Meghan Scott Molin

Still reading:

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

The Girls by Emma Cline

Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr

I may have bought a few books.  Ok, there’s no may about it, I did. One actual book and two ebooks.  Oopsies.

Bonus photo: Northampton in the sunshine… some things never change…

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 12 – August 18

veritywilde

So a few books still haven’t turned up after the move – I think you can work out which ones  – which is annoying and means I’m going to have to do some more unpacking and tidying on my days off this week.  Sigh.  And a bit of a weird week in reading too – I’m really enjoying Empty Mansions – but it’s loooooong.  And why the list is a little bit shorter than usual this week.

Read:

Top Marks for Murder by Robin Stevens

Spice and Smoke by Suleika Snyder

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare

Shirley Flight: Air Hostess in Desert Adventure by Judith Dale

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

Started:

A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas

Still reading:

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

The Girls by Emma Cline

Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr

Two more Shirley Flight books bought (oops) and an ebook.

Bonus photo: A shelf of old school children’s books I somehow managed to resist at the vintage store…

Old books

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: August 5 – August 11

veritywilde

A mix of earlies and late shifts this week and a lot of train journeys.  Some interesting reading  and some that was kind disappointing.  But that’s fairly par for the course really isn’t it!

Read:

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Shirley Flight Air Hostess in Storm Warning by Judith Dale

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Love and Death Among the Cheetahs by Rhys Bowen

We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby

Dig Here by Charlaine Harris and Andrew Gross

A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian

Started:

Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr

Top Marks for Murder by Robin Stevens

Still reading:

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

The Girls by Emma Cline

No books bought – but two pre-orders arrived – one book and one ebook!

Bonus photo: Another week, another Shirley Flight book – this one was a house warming present from a friend and hoo boy it was a wild ride!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: July 29 – August 4

veritywilde

So.  Turns out the week after the move is just as busy (maybe worse?) than the week before the move, especially when you’re away from home for 4 nights of it. Hey ho. We’ll get there.  And the bookshelves are mostly unpacked now, so the new house is starting to look really good!  And on Saturday I met up with part of the UK contingent of Sarah MacLean’s Romance book club as well as Sarah herself for lunch – so it’s been a pretty bookish week all things considered!

Read:

Say No to the Duke by Eloisa James

The Hairy Hand by Robin Bennett

Shirley Flight, Air Hostess in Canadian Capers by Judith Dale

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Muraka

Dim Sum of All Fears by Vivien Chen

Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud by Anne Helen Peterson

Started:

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Still reading:

We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

The Girls by Emma Cline

Two actual books bought – the Shirley Flight (see photo) on a cheeky lunchtime trip to The Second Shelf and the new Sarah MacLean.  Also pre-ordered a couple – one in ebook, one actual book.  August, already the month of book buying.

Bonus photo:

Copy of Shirley Flight Air Hostess in Canadian Capers in a pink and white striped paper bag.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: July 22 – July 28

veritywilde

So we moved house.  I’m exhausted and still surrounded by boxes, despite my best efforts.  And this week I’m away three nights for work, so it’s only going to get worse right?  Anyway, the house got packed up on Tuesday, so most of this weeks reading were ebooks – because the actual books were Unavailable!

Read:

Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy

T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

The Great Successor by Anna Fifield

A Kiss in the Snow by Susan Mallery

Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Started:

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Muraka

Say No to the Duke by Eloisa James

Still reading:

We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

The Girls by Emma Cline

No books bought.  Hurrah.

Bonus photo: the bookshelves in the process of being reassembled.  NB: The car magazines belong to Him Indoors.

Bookshelves part filled

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: July 15 – July 21

veritywilde

As an addendum to last week’s post about historical mysteries, you’ll now note that I’m completely up to date with Her Royal Spyness and am going to have to wait for the next book to come out before I can find out what happens next.  This is a real trial to me.

Read:

The Burning Issue of the Day by T E Kinsey

On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen

Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding by Rhys Bowen

Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton

So Disdained by Nevil Shute

A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton

Gallows Court by Martin Edwards

Sharp by Michelle Dean

Started:

Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy

The Girls by Emma Cline

Still reading:

We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby

The Great Successor by Anna Fifield

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

No books bought. Hurrah for me!

Bonus photo: a wooden knight at an old abbey where we went for a walk on Sunday afternoon

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: July 8 – July 14

veritywilde

I thought this list was going to be shorter than usual this week but actually it’s worked out ok. Why did I think the list would be shorter? Well the Michelle Dean is long and I’ve spent a lot of train journeys reading that, and secondly because I’ve had one of my periodic culls of the tbr-pile which included another round of “50 pages and out” on stuff that I wasn’t sure whether to keep or jettison.

Read:

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

Best Of My Love by Susan Mallery

Of Dogs and Walls by Yuko Tsushima

Springtime at Cherry Tree Cottage by Cathy Woodman

All Or Nothing by Rose Lerner

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

Dockside by Susan Wiggs

One Hot Summer by Kat French

Started:

The Burning Issue of the Day by T E Kinsey

The Great Successor by Anna Fifield

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

Still reading:

Gallows Court by Martin Edwards

Sharp by Michelle Dean

We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby

And no books bought – I’m trying hard to restrain book buying urges and the library with its ebook loan service is really helping me.  I did pick up a kindle freebie or two though.

Bonus photo: Summer flowers in my parents’ garden this week – it looks so perfectly English country garden to me.

flower borders

 

Book of the Week, LGTBQIA+

Book of the Week: Proud

veritywilde

Picking a BotW this week was a mix of hard and actually quite easy this week. I read a lot of stuff, but actually didn’t love a lot of it – and some that I did like were by authors that I’ve already written a lot about. But then there was Proud. And it was Pride in London this weekend and I spent my Saturday walking through happy, rainbow-bedecked crowds – firstly on their way to the parade, which started by work and secondly wandering through the after parties in Soho on my way to the theatre in the evening and then back to my hostel afterwards.

Proud is a collection of Young Adult short stories poetry and art edited by Juno Dawson and featuring a mix of new and established LGTBQ+* authors. There’s a huge range of experiences and identities here – including a few that I haven’t seen represented much in my own reading.

I can’t pick a favourite of the stories, because they’re all good and there were several that I really liked. I love a Pride and Prejudice retelling, so I Hate Darcy Pemberley really appealed to me. But then so did The Courage of Dragons – a story about a group of Dungeons and Dragons playing friends who band together during prom to right some wrongs done to one of their number. And then there is Penguins – about prom and crushes and two male penguins who have fallen in love.

Although I read a lot of Middle Grade fiction, I don’t really read a lot of YA – because I find it can tend towards the depressing – particularly when dealing with LGTBQ+ issues. But this is the opposite of that – the stories are affirming and joyous and romantic which is exactly what you want in a book called Proud.

My copy came from NetGalley (yes, I know, I’m super behind because this came out in March and I’ve only just read it) but you should be able to get a copy of Proud from any good bookshop and it’s also available on Kindle and Kobo.

Here’s a bonus picture of the post-Pride march parties.

Partying in the street in Soho near the King Edward Theatre which has Rainbow flags on its big screens

Happy reading!

* I’m using LGTBQ+ here as this is how the book itself describes itself and its contributors.