Tag: books

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: The Fan Who Knew Too Much

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I’ve got one of my recent purchases for this week’s pick – I love it when a bookshop wander turns up something good that you didn’t know about before, and that’s exactly what happened with The Fan Who Knew Too Much.

When a podcaster is murdered live on air when about to reveal a secret about cult 1980s TV show Vixens from the Void, fellow fan and friend Kit finds herself dragged into an investigation disguised as a Blu Ray extra documentary. Was Wolf killed because he had discovered something new about the disappearance of an extra on the show 40 years earlier – and is there as yet undiscovered trivia to be found from reuniting the original stars of the show?

Nev Fountain is a writer on the sketch show Dead Ringers and this has got blurbs from Andrew Cartmel, Ben Aaronovitch and Jenny Colgan if that gives you a clue about the sort of end of the mystery and fiction spectrum this falls into. I would also say it’s pretty British and has got a lot of references to British culture (beyond that of old TV series) that might be lost on you if you’re not someone who grew up watching low budget TV and setting the video for your favourite shows.

I’m not a massive Doctor Who fan, but I was a big viewer of Star Trek and also of shows like Buck Roger when they were repeated when I was little. I’m also not a stranger to the world of online fandom and communities so this really appealed to the nerd inside me. And it’s not perfect – some times it’s just too, too bonkers – but I think that’s part of the point. If you want to follow a group of professional fans trying to recreate some low budget sci fi in Brighton while corralling a group of aging actors and their egos, this delivers on that in spades. Some of the murder plot is frankly insane and it could have used being slightly shorter, but I forgave it because it had enough hilarious moments that they’re the bits that stick with you.

I bought my copy in Waterstones, but it’s also available on Kindle and Kobo – where it also looks like it’s in Kobo Plus. And there’s a sequel coming later in the year too.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 27 – February 2

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Another busy but solid week in the end. Slightly more novellas than usual, but a few things crossed my path and it was a bit of a difficult week so they suited what my brain could cope with. Hopefully this week will be better.

Read:

The Bookstore Sister by Alice Hoffman

The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman

Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh

Murder as Fine Art by Carol Carnac

Vexed in Vermont by Patti Benning

Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh

Oddities in Ohio by Patti Benning

The Fan Who Knew Too Much by Nev Fountain

Tune in Tomorrow by Melanie Benjamin

Started:

A Victim at Valentines by Ellie Alexander*

Still reading:

Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson

The Favourites by Layne Fargo*

A Traveller in Time by Alison Utley

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

One book, one pre-order. Restrained.

Bonus picture: another jigsaw finished. The Discworld Emporium ones are really tricky. Lots of similar colours in different areas.

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

books, stats

January Stats

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Books read this month: 31 *

New books: 19

Re-reads: 12 (all audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 5

NetGalley books read: 2

Kindle Unlimited read: 8

Ebooks: 4

Audiobooks: 12

Non-fiction books: 1

Favourite Book: Paradise Problem (although the final part of the Fangirl Manga was also really good)

Most read author: excluding the Ngaio Marsh and Kerry Greenwood audiobooks, Diane Mott Davidson and Vicki Delany with two each.

Books bought: Five books and three ebooks

Books read in 2025: 31

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 760

A very busy month in real life, and a set of stats held up by the fact that it’s the start of the new year and audiobook relistens count to the total again. Relatively restrained on the purchasing front – mostly helped by the fact that a lot of what I wanted to read was in Kindle Unlimited.

Bonus picture: my favourite sign from my visit to Bookends at the start of the month

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including this month!

book round-ups, Recommendsday

Recommendsday: January Blues selections

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It’s the tail end of January. It feels like a long time since Christmas. You could be forgiven for having a bit of the blues at the moment. So I’ve got a bit of a recommendsday supercut for you, of suggestions to try and help you through the gloom and towards the spring.

First of all I have a whole list of novels about fresh starts – not to be confused with the non fiction post of self help books. I’ve also got a lot of recommendations for books about house renovations- which are a sort of fresh start aren’t they? – whether it’s this recommendsday post or the Fixer Upper mysteries, the Real Estate Rescue ones or a romance with Maggie Moves On?

I find small town romances very comforting but also cheering – so how about Happily Inc or Blessings? But maybe you want to escape away to somewhere tropical. Obviously The Paradise Problem was book of the week the other week but there’s also The Unhoneymooners. And finally if you want to go completely the other way there’s ski resort action with the O’Neil Brothers.

Happy Humpday!

Book of the Week, non-fiction

Book of the Week: White House by the Sea

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After last week’s Inauguration recommendsday, this week I’m back in the US presidential adjacent sphere with my BotW. It may have taken me a couple of weeks to read – but that’s because it’s a nice if US sized paperback and I didn’t want to wreck it by putting it in my work rucksack!

Kate Storey’s The White House by the Sea is a whistle stop tour through the history of the Kennedy family at Hyannis Port. Yes it’s more than 300 pages long, but that’s not a lot of pages to cover three and a bit generations of a very large family. That means that you’re not going to get lots of detail on everything that happens in the Kennedy family – but you don’t necessarily need to know all the details of everyone’s lives to follow it either.

You’ll probably find it easier if you know at least the main beats: Joe and Rose had a lot of children of whom Joe Jr died in World War Two, Kathleen died just after the war, JFK was assassinated while president, RFK was assassinated while running for president, Ted kept considering running for president and Rosemary was given a lobotomy. There are also a lot of grandchildren – many struggled in various ways to live up to their family’s legacy and some of them also died tragically young. There. That’s about all you need to follow the family’s love affair with this part of the Massachusetts coast – and the effect that it had on a small town that found itself at the centre of national attention because of its most famous residents.

Storey has conducted lots and lots of interviews with the people of Hyannis Port and those connected to the Kennedys so it does feel like you’re getting new insights into the subject. I’ve still got Ask Not on the to read pile, and will report back on that one too but this is certainly worth reading. I have long come to the conclusion that the Kennedy family wasn’t a great one to marry into, and nothing here has changed my mind but it remains fascinating to see the outsize impact of one family on America.

I got this one for Christmas and it’s probably going to be a special order job rather than a wander into the bookshop and find a copy book, but if you’re interested it’s worth it.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 20 – January 26

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A fairly solid week – it may be the end of January but I’m still reading a bit of Christmas stuff here and there, which is fairly typical for me. I also need to remember to keep track of this so I don’t forget them by the autumn! Anyway – more physical books than ebooks, but also still not the long runners. Hey ho. Better luck this week…

Read:

A Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths

Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh

White House by the Sea by Kate Storey

Deadly Directors Cut by Vicki Delany

Murder under the Mistletoe by Rev Richard Coles

Fangirl the Manga: Vol 4 by Rainbow Rowell and Gabi Nam

Natural Selection by Elin Hilderbrand

Started:

The Fan Who Knew Too Much by Nev Fountain

Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson

Still reading:

The Favourites by Layne Fargo*

A Traveller in Time by Alison Utley

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Well… I may have been in to Waterstones Piccadilly, and I may have bought two books and ordered two more. I’ve read two of them and started a third (the fourth hasn’t arrived yet). And I bought an ebook too. Oops.

Bonus picture: Shaftesbury Avenue on the way back from that Waterstones jaunt on Monday night – in a rare moment I haven’t seen any of the shows whose theatres you can see. But I do intend to change that asap with Oliver!

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

Book of the Week, cozy crime, historical, mystery

Book of the Week: Deadly Summer Nights

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Happy Tuesday everyone and today’s pick is a first in series historical cozy crime that I picked up when I was spending that Waterstones gift card before Christmas.

Our setting for Deadly Summer Nights is a holiday resort in up state New York. It’s 1953 and it’s the second season that Elizabeth has been managing Haggerman’s Catskill’s Resort. Her mother is a former actress and dancer and inherited the resort – and although she’s using her connections to book entertainment acts for the resort, it’s her daughter who is doing all the hard work on the day to day. And because it’s the 1950s and she’s a woman, not everyone is pleased about that – or prepared to listen to her. The last thing they need is a dead body at the resorts, but that’s what they’ve got. And in the dead man’s cabin the chief of police finds a copy of The Communist Manifesto and suddenly everyone is claiming that the resort is a hotbed of communists. But Elizabeth isn’t convinced and sets out to try and figure out what happened herself.

I really, really enjoyed this. The setting is fun and a bit different – even if I was really annoyed on Elizabeth’s behalf at all of these useless men who wanted to dismiss her. I do like a historical murder mystery and I haven’t read a lot that are set in mid-century America outside of a big city like New York. And the resort setting is a lot of fun whether it’s modern or historical- I’ve read Kathi Daley’s series set on a resort and I would happily read more if they appear.

This is also my first Vicki Delaney novel – although I have read one of her books under her Eva Gates pen name. There is only one other book in this series so far – and I will try and get hold of it to see what happens next. This has the start of a promising love triangle going on and I hope there’ll be clues in that about whether there will be more – Delaney seems to have a lot of series going on under her various names and I don’t know enough to know which ones are still active.

My copy came from the lovely cozy crime bookshelf in Waterstones Piccadilly, and I think it’s going to be a special order if you want the paperback version. And it’s also on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 13 – January 19

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I had a week off work. And this year we didn’t go on the usual January holiday, instead I’ve been up to Carlisle and back again and then mooched around the house and town for the rest of the week. But a four hour each way drive means you can’t read a book (if you’re driving, which I was) and quality time with the family is more important than reading. So this week’s list is heavy on the audiobooks and light on the new reads and finishing of long runners. But it was a lovely, lovely week.

Read:

Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh

Deadly Summer Nights by Vicki Delany

The Nursing Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh

Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood*

Murder on the Celtic by Edward Marston

Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh

Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson

Started:

The Favourites by Layne Fargo*

Still reading:

White House by the Sea by Kate Storey

A Traveller in Time by Alison Utley

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Four books bought – which you saw on Saturday as the majority of the Books Incoming. Three in Bookends and one in Milton Keynes.

Bonus picture: Carlisle again! It was damp again. In fact when I’m there it’s almost never dry.

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

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: Dark Tort

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After breaking the rules last week with a book I finished on Monday, I’m breaking a different rule this week and writing about a book that’s later in a series. But it’s ok. I can explain.

This is the thirteenth in the Goldy Schulz series and sees our heroine taking on a catering contract for a local law firm. One of the staff at the firm is Dusty, a friend and neighbour who has recently started working at the law office and who has asked Goldy for cooking lessons. But when Goldy arrives at the office to prep the next day’s breakfast meeting food, she finds Dusty dead on the office floor. Of course she can’t help but start investigating – especially when the victim’s mother asks Goldy to because she doesn’t trust the police. It turns out that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes at the law firm – and plenty of options for Dusty’s killer. But can Goldy avoid the killer’s attentions herself?

What I like about this series – apart from Goldy herself and I’ll come back to that – is the way that Mott Davidson uses the catering business to find new and interesting settings for the murders that Goldy gets caught up in. This means that there are always new characters coming through (so your old favourites don’t get killed or turn into killers) and helps combat the “how does this business stay open with all these murders” issue of so many small business cozies. And Goldy is such an appealing character – and she’s so consistently herself too. I’ve read all bar two of the series now and although her life has changed and improved, she’s still recognisable as the same person as the first book and that’s not always the case – especially when a series has been written across a long period of time.

This is an older cozy crime series (the first one Catering to Nobody came out in 1990!) and in my series post a year ago I said that it was tough to get hold of some of them because they’re not all in ebooks. But much to my delight since that post (and since I ordered a second hand copy of Dark Tort and sighed sadly over the cost of the others second hand) the rest of the series has not only appeared as ebooks but is currently in Kindle Unlimited. Meaning that I could read this on KU while away from home and still get a book off the pile! And of course it means that it’s easier for the rest of you to get hold of it too now. Three cheers all around.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 6 – January 12

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Well it’s that time of year where the counters are reset and some of the audiobooks that I listen to more than once a year will appear on the lists again. And aside from that, I’m also trying to be better with the NetGalley reading than I was for some (most?) of last year. So still a bit behind on clearing the long runners, and of course I broke my own rules with last week’s BotW so we’ll see what I do about tomorrow on that front…

Read:

The Cinderella Killer by Simon Brett

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson

Murder and Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood

Scared Off by Barbara Ross

Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood*

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

Started:

Deadly Summer Nights by Vicki Delany

Murder on the Celtic by Edward Marston

Still reading:

White House by the Sea by Kate Storey

A Traveller in Time by Alison Utley

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Only one ebook bought I think, but that’s seems strangely low so I might have missed something…

Bonus picture: beautiful but cold Northamptonshire on the way to Stratford for Twelfth Night on Saturday!

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