Tag: books

Back to reality this week – and the book list is back to a more normal (for me) size.  It would be longer, but I’ve been exerting myself to finish the Prince Leopold biography which is proving something of a slog…

Read:

Christmas Present by Jodi Taylor

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

They Both Liked Dogs by Elinor M Brent Dyer

Angel Catbird by Margaret Atwood.

Started:

No Time Like the Past by Jodi Taylor

Murder Out of Tune by Lesley Cookman

Still reading:

The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead

Dustbowl Girls by Lydia Reeder

Queen Victoria’s Youngest Son by Charlotte Zeepvat

I was really well behaved and only bought one book this week – and it was a second-hand one from the Book Barge we encountered on a day out.  I got a couple of free kindle books though…

Can you tell that I’ve been on holiday?  Lazy days on the beach and even lazier evenings on the patio mean lots and lots of reading time.  And then there was the flight home on Saturday.  Lots and lots of lovely books – and a mix of fiction and non-fiction too.  This may be the first time I’ve been on holiday and read all the paperbacks I took with me too!

Read:

Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham

The Book Club Murders by Leslie Nagel

Primary Colors by Anonymous

A Proposal to Die For by Vivian Conroy

Discovery of Desire by Susanne Lord

The Sex Lives of English Women by Wendy Jones

The Barista’s Guide to Espionage by Dave Sinclair

A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor

Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham

A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor

When A Child is Born by Jodi Taylor

A Roman Holiday by Jodi Taylor

Started:

Dustbowl Girls by Lydia Reeder

Queen Victoria’s Youngest Son by Charlotte Zeepvat

Still reading:

The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead

The holiday meant reduced opportunities for physical book buying – but I did buy a few on the kindle – a couple of Chronicles of St Mary’s novels and novellas and a little spending spree in Gollancz’s ebook sale.

 Now that is much more like it. Lots of reading done this week and some good stuff in there. I suspect the Coulson Whitehead may take me a while to read – the writing is beautiful but by golly is the story tough. 

Read:

The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

You’re the One that I Want by Angela Britnell

Pumpkins in Paradise by Kathi Daley

The House in Quill Court by Charlotte Betts

Michelangelo’s Ghost by Gigi Pandian

Clockwork Gold by Jenny Schwartz

Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon

Louisiana Longshot by Jana Deleon

A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer

Started:

 The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead

 Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham

Primary Colors by Anonymous 

Still reading:

N/a

The only book I bought this week is Margaret Atwood’s new graphic novel Angel Catbird. Check me being better at impulse control!

Not a very disciplined week – I kept starting new books and didn’t manage to finish them all.  Naughty Verity.  I’ve got copies now of a couple of books on my Autumn Preview wishlist, but I’m trying to resist the urge to start reading them immediately until I’ve got the ongoing list down a touch!

Read:

Enchanted August by Brenda Bowen

The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell

After Dead by Charlaine Harris

Curious Minds by Janet Evanovitch and Phoef Sutton

When Everything Feels Like The Movies by Raziel Reid

The Rise and Rise of Tabitha Baird by Arabella Weir

Started:

The House in Quill Court by Charlotte Betts

You’re the One that I Want by Angela Britnell

The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Still reading:

A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer

The Jennifer Crusie got unexpectedly 50-paged-and-out (although i read the end to see if it went the way I thought it was going to – it did), hence its disappearance from the list.  I bought three second-hand books to get some free postage from Amazon, but apart from that, I was very restrained and good!

Ok, so I’ve actually read more this week than this list suggests – as I did another round of 50 pages and out (see Book Pile post) and got another half dozen books or so off the pile.

Read:

The Venetian Venture by Suzette A Hill

The Counterfeit Heiress by Tasha Alexander

Ready to Were by Robyn Peterman

The Secrets of Wishtide by Kate Saunders

A Leader in the Chalet School by Elinor M Brent Dyer

Herring in the Library by L C Tyler

The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy

Started:

A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer

Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie

The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell

Still reading:

n/a

I bought a stack of second hand Chalet School books while I was in York visiting my little sister – and the new (well newly rereleased) Trisha Ashley book.  But other than that I was very good.  Honest.  Apart from 3 books in the charity shop.  Oops.  But that was before the second phase of the cull.  I’ll be better now…

So I had a bit of a rationalisation this week.  A couple of books are gone from the long serving list because I decided I didn’t want to finish them.  A few more are gone from the pile and not mentioned on here at all because I started them and didn’t like them.  I still have more to do to get the pile under control, but I’m working on it.

Read:

Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich

A Mint Condition Corpse by Duncan MacMaster

Death of Liar by MC Beaton

Thursday’s Children by Rumer Godden

Dead White Female by Lauren Henderson

American Housewife by Helen Ellis

The Man on Top of the World by Vanessa Clark

Started:

The Secrets of Wishtide by Kate Saunders

The Venetian Venture by Suzette A Hill

Still reading:

n/a

In the spirit of dealing with the pile, I’ve been very restrained this week – I didn’t buy any new paperbacks at all – and my kindle acquisition was a freebie.  I’m working on being better…

Romance, crime and magic appear to be the themes of last week’s reading – and I didn’t even realise that I was doing it!  Some of the stories below were not full length novels, so I didn’t quite read as much as the list might suggest – although at over 500 pages Carry On might make up for that a bit!

Read:

What I Did For A Duke by Julie Anne Long

Rivers of London: Night Witch 3 by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel

Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham

A Right Honorable Gentleman by Courtney Milan

So Sweet by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Play With Me by Alisha Rai

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Started:

American Housewife by Helen Ellis

Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich

Still reading:

The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink

The Man on Top of the World by Vanessa Clark

I bought two books at the charity shop – for 75p altogether – they’re American editions of Old School Romances and you don’t see them very often so I had to have them!