Tag: books

stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: July 27 – August 2

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A real mix of reading this week – classic crime, non fiction, women’s fiction, cozy crime.  I’m struggling a bit with Little Paris Book Shop (as you may have guessed by now), but I’m loathe to give up on it as I’ve heard good reports from elsewhere.

Read:

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

Wickham Hall Part 1: Hidden Treasures by Cathy Bramley

A Deceptive Homecoming by Anna Loan-Wilsey

The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell

Drape Expectations by Karen Rose Smith

From Pasta to Pigfoot by Frances Mensah Williams

Started:

The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Warren Adams

Still reading:

The Little Paris Book Shop by Nina George

The Girl of My Dreams by Peter Davis

A bit of an ebook spree this week – 5 bought.  But no actual books.

books, stats

July Stats

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On Good Reads to-reads shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 406

New books read this month: 27*

Books from the Library Book pile: 2

Books from the to-read pile: 10

Ebooks read: 12

Most read author: Ngaio Marsh (3)

Books read this year: 213

Books bought: 16 – (13 ebooks and 3 paperbacks)

Backsliding on the book buying – a lot of ebooks this month and a few paperbacks.  But I did much better on the New Year’s Resolution front – two library books read and two non-fiction books too.  I’m fighting back against the NetGalley backlog and trying to control myself when it comes to requesting more.  The number of books read this month is down – due to getting the windows replaced and the attendant packing away and cleaning and unpacking this entailed.  But it did mean that I had a big weed of the to-read pile and reorganised it too – I’m more aware of what I’ve got and have it arranged in a way that I can lay my hands on what I want.  I also went through the good-reads to-read list and weeded out some duplicates and various other bits and bobs so overall it’s not looking too shabby.

*Includes some short stories/novellas – 6 this month

stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: July 20 – July 26

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I’ve admitted defeat this week on The Weightless World.  It’s been lingering for more than a month – and it didn’t grab me.  I shall hold on to my copy and maybe try and come at it again at a later date.  Just not for me at the moment.  The Boy rattled through The Year of Living Danishly this week – and spent so much time chuckling over it that I’m going to have to read it soon to see what he was laughing at.  I had six days off work this week (!) and there seems to be a correlation between train journeys and amount read.  I’m working a lot this week – so we can put this theory to the test! As I was at home, most of my reading this week was actual books from the pile – so that’s progress of a sort at any rate!

Read:

The Other Daughter by Lauren Willig

A Woman of Consequence by Anna Dean

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

Bricks and Mortar by Ann Granger

Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn

Started:

The Girl of My Dreams by Peter Davis

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

Still reading:

The Little Paris Book Shop by Nina George

I *may* have bought a couple of e-books this week, but I nobly resisted the urge to buy actual books – despite a trip to the supermarket and to the charity shop.

stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: July 13 – July 19

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Not massive amounts read this week – family wedding, jobs to do etc – but I enjoyed what I did read, which was a little murder mystery heavy…

Read:

Wallis: My War by Kate Auspitz (I say read, it was actually an audiobook)

The Cake Shop in the Garden by Carole Matthews

Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh

Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh

Death at the Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh

Started:

n/a

Still reading:

The Weightless World by Marcus Trevelyan

The Little Paris Book Shop by Nina George

Only one kindle book bought this week – I’m trying to behave myself.

stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: July 6 – July 12

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A better week of reading – although there’s a fair few novellas in there.  I’ve had a blast reading stuff this week though and having reorganised the to-read bookshelf I’m feeling reinvigorated in my quest to get the backlog down…

Read:

The Wedding Reject Table by Angela Britnell

How to Manage your Slaves by Marcus Sidonius Falx by Jerry Toner

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

Wellies and Westies by Cressida McLaughlin

Sunshine and Spaniels by Cressida McLaughlin

The Great Allotment Proposal by Jenny Oliver

One Summer Night at the Ritz by Jenny Oliver

The Day We Disappeared by Lucy Robinson

Started:

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Still reading:

The Weightless World by Marcus Trevelyan

A bit naughty on the purchase front – 4 novellas and two ebooks – and I preordered the new Harper Lee book because I couldn’t restrain myself.  I’m seriously debating just returning it after reading the early reviews.  I don’t think I can bear it.

The pile

The Pile: July 2015 update

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So. It’s been 11 months since I did an update on the to-read pile. Which is shocking to be frank, because the whole point of this blog when I started was to try to get me to get a grip on the pile and bring it down.  While time has got away from me somewhat, I’ve also been a bit embarrassed that the pile hasn’t really shrunk.  There’s been turn over, don’t get me wrong, but it’s still huge.

The top layer of one of the boxes

But last week I had to pack it all away so that the men could come and replace our windows.  I took the opportunity to have a bit of a weed of the pile – getting rid of books that have been sitting on the pile for ages that I know deep down I won’t get around to and sending them on to the charity shop.  Despite this, the books that I’m waiting to read still took up the vast majority of two 65 litre crates.  Oops.

The book crates
Yes, that really is two 65 litre crates full of books waiting to be read….

Now the windows are done and the post-window cleaning is done (mostly) I’ve unpacked.  I’ve reprioritised the pile – the 40 books that I want to read next (or think I’m likely to read next) are now on the bookshelf next to me, along with the little stack of books I’ve borrowed from people – to remind me to read them.  Then next to the bookshelf is the pile of books that I’ve been sent to review for Novelicious and then next to that are the complicated series of piles that make up the rest of the to-read pile.

to-read bookshelf
The reassembled to-read bookshelf – whith the stuff I think I’ll read first.

I didn’t count how many there are waiting to be read, beyond what’s on the actual shelves, but I think as well as the shelves there’s probably another 50ish hidden out of sight of The Boy.  I’ve been better at not buying books recently – although I’m still on the Janet Evanovich jag and I’ve just discovered Ben Aaronovitch as well which I suspect may not help on the purchase restraint front.  Here’s hoping I can restrain myself a bit and get the pile down to manageable proportions soon!

stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: June 29 – July 5

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Home improvement works have disrupted my reading schedule this week!  Lots of packing up and cleaning to do and no time for books, but I’m sure the new windows will be worth it when they’re done.

Read:

The Chateau on the Lake by Charlotte Betts

Mr Rosenblum’s List by Natasha Solomons

The Rhyme of the Magpie by Marty Wingate

Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine

Started:

How to Manage your Slaves by Marcus Sidonius Falx by Jerry Toner

The Weightless World by Marcus Trevelyan

Still reading:

The Day We Disappeared by Lucy Robinson

A little bit of backsliding on the purchase front this week – three books – after prices dropped on a couple of things I’ve been hankering after. But I did have a bit of a cull of the physical pile as I was packing everything away for the window fitters so the pile has actually shrunk really!

books, stats

June Stats

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On Good Reads to-reads shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 457

New books read this month: 32*

Books from the Library Book pile: 0

Books from the to-read pile: 15

Ebooks read: 11

Most read author: Janet Evanovich (again)

Books read this year: 186

Books bought: 3 ebooks – no paperbacks!

A miracle has occured.  I didn’t buy any physical books this month!  That almost excuses the continuing failure on the library book New Year’s Resolution and the non-fiction one – although I have got a non fiction on the go, I just haven’t finished it yet!  I caught up slightly on the NetGalley list and tried to control the Janet Evanovich obsession so I’ve done better than I did last month.  Here’s hoping the improvement continues…

*Includes some short stories – 1 this month

stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: June 22 – June 28

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This week I was on holiday – as in out of the country, on a beach sunning myself – for six days – so I had plenty  of time to do some reading – although we did do some sightseeing too, so it wasn’t entirely a reading-on-a-sunlounger kind of holiday.  It does mean that you’ll be getting a holiday reading suggestion post in the next little while too!

Read:

Three Times the Scandal by Madelynne Ellis

The Mangle Street Murders by M R C Kasasian

Murder at Beechwood by Alyssa Maxwell

The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance by Kirsty Greenwood

The Norma Gene by M E Roufa

The Art of Sinning by Sabrina Jeffries

The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

The Doris Day Vintage Film Club by Fiona Harper

The Rivers of London by Ben Aaronvitch

False Scent by Ngaio Marsh

Started:

The Day We Disappeared by Lucy Robinson

The Rhyme of the Magpie by Marty Wingate

Still reading:

Mr Rosenblum’s List by Natasha Solomons (which I started last week and accidentally left off the list in my pre-holiday excitement)

The Chateau on the Lake by Charlotte Betts

No books bought!

stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: June 15 – June 21

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Not a bad week of reading really – and a nice mix of genres too.  Exciting times.  Even if Chateau on the Lake is still Awol…

Read:

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

Full House by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughe

Stealing the Show by Christina Jones

Spelled by Betsy Schow

The Comforters by Muriel Spark

Soulless the Manga III by Gail Carriger and REM

Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

Started:

Three Times the Scandal by Madelynne Ellis

The Mangle Street Murders by M R C Kasasian

Still reading:

The Chateau on the Lake by Charlotte Betts

No books bought!