Well the week started with my birthday (yes I know, I was celebrating last week. We take birthdays seriously in my house) and although I read a lot of American Wife and First Women I didn’t finish them, and I also spent a lot of the second half of the week reading about the handover of power in the US, the end of the Obama administration and the start of the Trump one. So not a lot of books got finished.
Read:
Rivers of London: Night Witch by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel and Lee Sullivan
A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams
Blitzed by Norman Ohler
Privates on Parade by Peter Nichols
Started:
A Thrilling Term at Janeways by Elinor M Brent Dyer
Still reading:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
First Women by Kate Andersen Brower
I had a mega spending spree in Hay on Wye on my birthday (Monday) buying half a dozen books for myself and another couple as gifts for other people. But beyond that I was very good and restrained.
Quite a tough decision on what to pick for BotW this week – there were several contenders. But in the end I’ve plumped for Lissa Evans’ Crooked Heart, which I devoured over the weekend while we were away for an extended jolly for my birthday. This was another book which had ended up at the bottom of my to-read pile and resurfaced because of the Big Box Up and I’m so glad that it did.
Mine had an extra cover on it – the actual cover is prettier.
Crooked Heart tells the story of Noel, who is evacuated to Hertfordshire in 1940. Noel is an unusual 10 year old. He’s been brought up by an old lady and is precocious and smart beyond his years. He ends up with Vera – a 36 year old single mum struggling with debt, a recalcitrant and secretive son and her demanding mother. Vera is sure there is some money to be made out of the war, but the trouble is that she’s not very good at making a plan and sticking to it. But Noel is a different proposition. He’s smart, he’s calm and he might be the answer to Vera’s problems. But of course they’re not the only people making money from the war, and there are dangers other than air-raids in Noel’s new life.
I really enjoyed this. Noel and Vera are engaging characters who make a good team. Vera is almost a proto-Del Boy – but with Noel to help she has the chance of her deals actually going right. In some ways Noel reminded me of William in Goodnight Mr Tom (that’s a good thing) – Noel has had more advantages in his education and home life that William did, but he’s still a little boy who has had to grow up too fast and deal with things that children aren’t meant to deal with. And one of the themes of Goodnight Mr Tom is finding your own family and your own place in life and there’s a lot of that here although Vee is very different to Tom.
It’s a heartwarming romp through the grey, greyer and uglier areas of life on the home front. I could easily have read another 100 pages of Vee and Noel, but actually the ending is a brilliant touch. I haven’t read any of Lissa Evans’ books before, but my little sister still has a copy Evans’ first novel, Spencer’s List, on her shelf which I bought for her back in the day 15 years ago, so I’m going to have to borrow that off her and read it. Coincidentally someone posted a trailer on Facebook for the upcoming film Their Finest on the same day as I read this – and that’s based on Evans’ previous book Their Finest Hour and a Half, which I totally need to read now as well.
You can get a copy of Crooked Heart from Amazon, Waterstones and Foyles or on Kindle or Kobo. And it looks like there might be a (slightly retitled) tie-in edition of Their Finest Hour and Half coming out too.
I’m not quite sure where my reading time went at the start of the week, but I know where it went at the end because we went away for a long weekend for my birthday. What a treat.
Read:
The Draycott Murder Mystery by Molly Thynne
A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
New York, Actually by Sarah Morgan
Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans
Wrong For Me by Jackie Ashenden
Three Men and a Maybe by Katey Lovell
Started:
Blitzed by Norman Ohler
Still reading:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
First Women by Kate Andersen Brower
I may have bought a few books. But hey, I’m having an extended birthday treat!
Three nights away from home impaired my reading progress somewhat this week, and also my attempts to read my way through the bottom of the to-read pile. Still at least one of the books I did read is eligible for a category on the #ReadHarder challenge, so that’s good.
Read:
The Making of A Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Fountain of Sorrow by Paul Charles
More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham
The Vets at Hope Green, Part 1 by Sheila Norton
Paradise Lodge by Nina Stibbe
Started:
The Draycott Murder Mystery by Molly Thynne
Still reading:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
First Women by Kate Andersen Brower
Two books bought this week – but one’s in French, so its educational – and the other was for Him Indoors as well as me.
Now 2017 is well underway, and I’ve told you about my obsessions, the state of the (enormous) pile, and my #ReadHarder ambitions, it seemed like a good time to finally work out what my favourite books published last year were. I know. Everyone else did this weeks ago, but I didn’t want anything really excellent that I might have read at the end of the year to get missed out. And yes, fractured elbow. It’s my excuse for everything.
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
“Fred!” the nurse said, though they had never met. “How are we today?” Reading the nurse’s name tag, Mr. Bennet replied with fake enthusiasm, “Bernard! We’re mourning the death of manners and the rise of overly familiar discourse. How are you?”
Considering how much I loved this book, I have said remarkably little about it on here. I recommended it in the Christmas gift post and back in the Summer Reads post, but it wasn’t a Book of the Week – because I was expecting to be reviewing it elsewhere. And I don’t think that adequately conveys how much I adored it. But Sittenfeld’s modern reworking of Pride and Prejudice is my favourite book of last year.
If the quote at the top makes you laugh or smile (even if it’s only inside because you’re too cool) then you need to read this book. I’ve read a lot of Austen retellings, reworkings, sequels and the like and this manages to strike a perfect (for me) balance of retelling the story but modernising it so that it feels relevant to today. Lizzie (nearly 40 rather than 20) and her sisters are trust fund babies in Cincinatti, but the money is running out, their father has medical problems and their mother has a shopping problem. Darcy is a surgeon, Bingley a reality TV star (don’t let that put you off) and Lydia and Kitty are obsessed with Crossfit. I want to read it again – but my copy is still out on loan. The paperback isn’t out until June, but you could pre-order from Amazon or Waterstones and have a lovely treat in the summer, the Kindle and Kobo versions are £5.99 at time of writing or you could go nuts and buy the hardback from Amazon, Foyles or Waterstones – Waterstones was cheapest when I was writing – doing it on click and collect for £7.50 which is a total bargain for a hardback. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
The Underground RailroadAs I said in my BotW post last month, this book is going to win all the prizes and will be on English Literature sylabuses in years to come. Cora’s story is incredibly tough to read – and it’s partly the contrast between the realism of the terrible things that are happening and the magical realism of making the Underground Railroad a real, actual railway with stations, and trains that makes this such an incredible read. And the writing is beautiful. As you all know, I don’t read a lot of “literary fiction” – and I don’t have a lot of success with books that have been nominated for awards, but I’m so glad I read it – and I’ve been singing its praises to my literary fiction-reading friends. Still only in hardback I’m afraid, but bizarrely the paperback comes out the same day as Eligible – even though this was released six months later than the Sittenfeld. Odd. Anyway. In hardback from Amazon, Foyles, Waterstones, on Kindle and Kobo or pre-order the paperback on Amazon or Waterstones.
The Barista’s Guide to Espionage by Dave Sinclair
The Barista’s guide to EspionageYes I know. You’re sick of my Fahrenheit obsession. Well tough. Their books made up nearly 20 percent of my 5 star books last year, so they were bound to figure here. Sorry, not sorry. Anyway, this story about Eva Destruction – James Bond and Stephanie Plum’s lovechild – was another BotW and I defy anyone not to enjoy Eva’s battle to try to stop her evil supervillain ex-boyfriend from taking over the world. It’s an action thriller film in book form but with a smart woman doing the saving not a suave bloke in a suit (he tries, but she’s better than him). Get it on Kindle or in paperback.
Death of a Nobody by Derek Farrell
From Eva Destruction to Poirot on Poppers, the second Danny Bird book is the second Fahrenheit book on this list. The first book (Death of a Diva) is funny, but this book feels like a series hitting its stride. It’s got a great, off-beat cast, zingy one-liners, lashings of sarcasm and an up-and-coming gastro pub with a rising body count and a gangster breathing down Danny’s neck. I’m recommending this to my friends who read cozy crime who want something that’s not cupcakes, bakeries or crafting. I can’t wait for book three. Get it on Kindle or in paperback. You can thank me later.
Grunt by Mary Roach
Grunt by Mary RoachAnd this is why I’m glad I wrote this post so very late. This was the last book I finished in 2016 and it was one of the very best – definitely the best non-fiction book I read last year. It was BotW last week – so there’s no need for me to say anymore about it really because it’s less than a week since I raved about it at you. I think it’s going to be this year’s go-to pick for a non fiction book to give as a gift. Buy it (paperback!) from Amazon, Foyles and Waterstones or on Kindle.
Welcome to the week after Christmas. You’ll see that I got one of the books I wanted and have already started reading it. You may also detect a slight free book spree over New Year. What can I say. I regret it. And because of the fireplace situation, the bottom of my to-read pile is in the box at the top, so there are some books I’d almost forgotten I had getting an outing!
Read:
Midnight at Tiffany’s by Sarah Morgan
Deadly Duo by Margery Allingham
Grunt by Mary Roach
A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley
Open for Business by Cressida McLaughlin
I Love The Sound of Broken Glass by Paul Charles
The Billionaire’s Christmas Virgin by J S Scott
Perfect Holiday Fling by Farrah Rochon
Started:
First Women by Kate Andersen Brower
Fountain of Sorrow by Paul Charles
The Making of A Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Still reading:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
I didn’t buy any books this week – but as I mentioned, I had a little wander through the free book chart on Amazon. But hey, they didn’t cost me anything and I don’t have to finish them if I don’t like them…
As we all know, I am the bingiest of binge readers, so before I post my 2016 obsessions post, I thought it might be fun to revisit my obsessions from last year to see if I’m fickle and flighty, or true to my obsessions before you point and laugh at all the ways I’ve been derailing my efforts to shrink the to-read pile this year! NB links to series are to Goodreads and links to individual titles are to Amazon as I’ll be here all week if I link to all the different sellers and Goodreads will give you links through to retailers via the individual book pages that way.
Janet Evanovich
So after binging on Evanovich last year, the pace has slowed somewhat in 2016. From 30 books last year, to 6 this year. And that’s not because I’ve gone off her – just that I’m running out of books to read. I’m up to date in the Lizzie and Diesel and Fox and O’Hare series, I’ve read another of her backlist romances and the first book in the new series (didn’t like it sadly, but it’s the first real big failure I’ve had from her). I’ve only read one more Stephanie Plum, although I have book 20 waiting on the pile, so I’m still a few behind in that, but that’s because I’m waiting for the prices to drop/paperbacks to appear.
Deanna Raybourn
I’ve been very good at rationing myself with Deanna Raybourn this year. She doesn’t turn out as many books as Janet Evanovich (who does?!) so I’m very aware that if I’m not careful I’ll find myself with a long wait to read more from her. I’ve now read all of the Lady Julia books and novellas, but I still have a couple of her standalone books waiting for me to read. I loved the first Veronica Speedwell (A Curious Beginning) – and have managed to get the second one, A Perilous Undertaking, from NetGalley – it’s out in January so I’ve just started reading it in the last week as a post-Christmas treat to myself for being back at work. Now you may remember that this time last year I did a bit of bulk Raybourn purchasing because the prices had dropped – and I’m delighted to report that at time of writing the same things seems to have happened again – and you can pick up the first Lady Julia, Silent in the Grave, for 99p and none of the others cost more than £2.99. A Spear of Summer Grasshas also dropped in price – making it cheaper than when I bought it last year gnash – and most of the others are cheaper too. Tell you what, I’ll just leave the link to her Amazon kindle title list here.
Historical Romance
So, after spending 2015 searching out new historical romance authors, this year I have tended to stick with authors I’ve already read, with a few exceptions. I also think that although I’ve read about the same amount of romances over the year, I’ve read more contemporary romances and less historicals, partly because of all the bingeing on historicals meaning that I’ve run out of cheap backlist titles and unless I can get them through NetGalley the new releases are more expensive on Kindle than I’m prepared to pay for a book that is only going to take me a few hours to read, so I wait until they go on offer/second hand prices sort themselves out. I also think I’ve got pickier about the tropes that I’m prepared to read. So unless it’s an author that I know I usually like, I tend to avoid Highland romances, pirates, amnesia, accidental pregnancies, secret babies, tortured heroes and heroines and to a lesser extent reunited romances (it depends what it was that split them up first time around) in historicals – and in contemporaries too, although you don’t get a lot of pirate or highland contemporaries – and going straight for my catnip: disguises, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, marriages of convenience, rakes, guardians/wards (a la Regency Buck, not creepy old men and young girls obviously) and fake engagements.
Cozy Crime
I said last year that I felt more cozy crime reading coming on in 2016 and I was right. I have read *so* much cozy crime this year. So much. I’ve worked my way through various of Henery Press’s offerings on NetGalley, carried on with Jenn McKinlay‘s series (when prices allowed), tried various crafting-based cozies and quite a few with journalists as main characters (some successful, some less so), some with vicars, a few with police as main characters (more unusual in the genre than you’d think), wondered how many bodies need to turn up outside a cafe/bakery to make the business unviable and even dipped my toe into paranormal/ghostly cozy crimes. I still have the rule about how much I’ll spend on them (which is pretty much the same as with historical romances) so I’ve read a lot of first in series (which tend to be cheap/free) and then added the rest to my ever-growing Amazon list to wait for the prices to drop on the sequels. I’m still working out which sort of plots work best for me, but I reckon by the end of 2017 I should have got it sussed.
Historical Crime
As with 2015 I’m still searching for those elusive books that will scratch my Daisy Dalrymple/Phryne Fisher itch. We haven’t had a new Phryne for 3 years now and I’m starting to wonder if we’ll ever get any more (the TV series is Not The Same) which fills my heart with dread, so I’ve read pretty much all of Kerry Greenwood’s Corinna Chapman books this year (I read one in 2015 when I happened up it at the library) to try and cheer myself up but as they’re set in modern day Melbourne they are really quite different. I’m pretty much up to date with Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily series now thanks to a string of them popping up at The Works, and the latest Sidney Chambers appeared on the shelf of books at work too although I find that they’re a bit out of my favourite time period now they’ve hit the 1960s. I’ve filled in pretty much all the gaps in Flavia de Luce and Dandy Gilver now so I’ve had to cast my net further. The results have been somewhat mixed. I like Ashley Weaver’s Amory Ames series, but the third book has only just come out, so there aren’t enough of them and Frances Brody’s Kate Shackleton series has grown on me. I’m still searching for another good 1920s or 1930s-set murder mystery series now I’ve exhausted all the obvious options. I’ve read one of Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness series and have another on the pile so it’s too early to tell if I like them, but if I do, Bowen’s Molly Murphy series might be my next stop. Luckily, I was sent some of Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion series that I hadn’t already read to read and review (on Amazon) so I’ve filled my historical crime gap with some actual genuine Golden Age crime instead.
So there you have it – a look back at last year’s obsessions and an insight into what happens after you’ve binged on an author and can’t get your fix. Any suggestions for historical romance, cozy crime or historical crime books or series that I might like are gratefully received.
Happy Boxing Day everyone. I hope you all got what you wanted and have a lovely day and that your food babies today aren’t too big.
Read:
Deadly Treasures by Vivian Conroy
Twas the Night before Christmas by Sabrina Jeffries
A Cornish Christmas Carol by Liz Fenwick
The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What Could Possibly Go Wrong? by Jodi Taylor
A Bachelor Establishment by Jodi Taylor writing as Isabella Barclay
Christmas Ever After by Sarah Morgan
Started:
A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley
Still reading:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
I had nights last week, so there was the usual nights related impulse purchasing – but on a fairly small scale as I was trying to restrain myself because i was hoping for Christmas books!
So this week coming is Nightshift week, so that means impulse purchases and light reading. So not that different to a normal week then! And this week’s reading ended up being really un-Christmassy – even though I’m feeling quite festive now. And in unrelated but rather lovely news, I’m on Fahrenheit Press’s list of Book Bloggers of the Year which was very touching and made me come over all teary eyed. But then I’ve got a fractured elbow, a terrible cough and am fighting off the newsroom lurgy so I think I’m particularly suseptible to tears at the moment. Or that’s my story and I’m sticking to it – after all I cried at the Strictly final on Saturday night. Twice.
Read:
The Case of the Screaming Beauty by Alison Golden
Last Boat to Camden Town by Paul Charles
The Case of the Hidden Flame by Alison Golden
Sweetest Regret by Meredith Duran
Juniors at the Chalet School by Katherine Bruce
A Little Murder by Suzette A Hill
Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
Started:
Deadly Treasures by Vivian Conroy
Still reading:
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Three e-books bought – and three real books when I went into The Works for some Christmassy bits. Oops. And I’m never good at avoiding buying books on nights either am I? Still I’ll try and restrain myself – because who knows what Santa might bring – if you want to know what I’m hoping he’ll bring, check out my Christmas gift post – or if you’re still looking for last minute things here’s the book gift guide.
