Tag: novels

Slightly derailed by an unexpected nightshift on Friday night but an unexpected Saturday evening at home meant I finished Bill Bryson which made everything look a lot better.   This week coming up is #sunathon – as dreamt up by @EmmaIsWriting – so I’ve put together some summery reads I’m hoping to be reading this week – you can look at them here.

Read:

Death Cloud (Young Sherlock Holmes 1) by Andrew Lane

Tiger Milk by Stephanie de Velasco

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

How the Scoundrel Seduces by Sabrina Jeffries

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson

Started:

Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons

American Blonde by Jennifer Niven

Still reading:

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

Now as regular readers will know, nightshifts usually mean book buying in the early hours.  Well I resisted – this time the impulse buying was from ASOS’s sale…  So the bank balance did suffer – but not with a book splurge – which is an achievement!  Several arrived in the post – a twitter competition prize from Doubleday for #bookadayuk, a Goodreads review copy of The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House (which isn’t due out until the very end of August so I feel very special to have that one) and Clare Sandy’s What Would Mary Berry Do which is out at the end of the month (and which the author sent to me so I’m very excited about that too).  I’ve been through my diary marking up when the various books I’ve been sent ahead of publication are due out – in the hope that I’ll schedule posts for the appropriate times – I think there’s nothing more annoying than finding out about a really good book that someone else has read and not being able to get hold of a copy yourself!

Despite appearances, I’ve actually made good progress this week – I’m more than half way through Tiger Milk now (thank you trip to the hairdresser!) and probably would have finished it already if I wasn’t working over the weekend, which necessitated taking a fresh book with me rather than a nearly finished one.  I did re-read Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret – but I can’t count that as it’s one I read over and over when I was at primary school, and I’ve finished my Phryne Fisher re-read too.

Read:

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell

Don’t Point That Thing At Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli

Ivy Lane: Spring by Cathy Bramley

Started:

Death Cloud (Young Sherlock Holmes 1) by Andrew Lane

Still reading:

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

Tiger Milk by Stephanie de Velasco

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson

As far as the buying goes – 4 from the charity shop and two from the Kindle means no net progress on reducing the pile – especially as Ivy Lane was on the Kindle.  Bad times all around!

I’m finding Tiger Milk (which was a Goodreads win) heavy going so far – and Bill Bryson is too big to take to work with me – so thee are some new lingerers on the pile, although of course Titus is still the King of Lingering.  I really enjoyed Michael Tolliver Lives though – and I’m desperate to know what happens next in the Harriet Evans – as my pleadings earlier in the week will attest!

Read:

Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin

Memento Mori by Muriel Spark

A Place for Us Part One by Harriet Evans

A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris

Tom Brown’s Body by Gladys Mitchell

Started:

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

Still reading:

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

Tiger Milk by Stephanie de Velasco

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson

As far as purchases go – only two this week – but I’ve acquired two more – so the physical to-read pile isn’t even any smaller, because the Harriet Evans was on the Kindle.  When will I learn?  Still at least I only paid for two of them!

Acutally a good week in the end – I’m not as tired as I was last week, but that’s because I’ve had a fair few days off and that means less commuting.  And a wedding at the weekend meant I didn’t have the traditional weekend sofa reading time either, so not bad considering all that!

Read:

The Liar’s Daughter by Laurie Graham

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark

No Nest for the Wicket by Donna Andrews

Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

Started:

A Place for Us by Harriet Evans

Tiger Milk by Stephanie de Velasco

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson

Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin

Still reading:

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

A trip to Milton Keynes mid-week led to six book purchases for me (although a couple were books that I’ve already read on Kindle that I wanted hard copies of) and some picture books for some little cousins we went to visit. Add to that a book on the Kindle, an impulse purchase in Sainsburys and the next Meg Langslow and the to-read pile is multiplying again…

This week’s other excitement was getting pre-approved on Net Galley for Part One of the Harriet Evans book mentioned above.  I’m still quite new to Net Galley (and it’s not as if I need further encouragement to add more books to the pile!) and it’s the first time I’ve been pre-approved for something. It’s the simple things isn’t it.  I’ll let you all know what I think of the first installment as soon as I’m finished reading it.

Ok, so this doesn’t look like a very productive week reading-wise.  And you’d be right.  Sort of.  I’ve re-read two and a bit Phryne Fisher books this week – and I’m doing something very rare – I’m trying to pace myself and make a book last.  I love Laurie Graham’s books and Liar’s Daughter is her latest to be released in paperback (I valiantly resist the urge to buy them in hardback) and I’m trying not to gobble it up in one sitting.  I had about 80 pages to go when I left home for a weekend working on Friday night – which meant fell under my rule about not taking books with me when I have less than 100 pages to read (because it means I have finished it before I get to London and then have to carry it around with me for no benefit) – so I’m expecting to finish this on Monday.  On the bright side I did take Titus Groan with me for the weekend to try and finish it – as I’ve been reading it on and off for months now.

Read:

Owls Well That Ends Well by Donna Andrews

Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay

Started:

The Liar’s Daughter by Laurie Graham

Still reading:

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

Purchase wise – a good week – only one book bought – the next Meg Langslow which is coming from the States so may not arrive for another week yet.  I also won another Goodreads First Read book – which has already arrived – so I have two of those that need reading asap now.  Look for them on this list next week!

You can tell I worked four days this week and commuted each day can’t you?! A much better week for reducing the to-read pile – and a library book in there too!  I also finally got around to reading The Fault In Our Stars ahead of the film release.

Read:

The Valley of the Shadow by Carola Dunn

The Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

High Rising by Angela Thirkell

The Temptress by Paul Spicer

The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry

Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Started:

Owls Well That Ends Well by Donna Andrews

Still reading:

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

On the purchasing front, I bought the next Meg Langslow book, my pre-order of Laurie Graham’s Liar’s Daughter arrived (I’d forgotten that was out this week – hurrah!) and that was it – apart from two children’s books from the New Foyles flagship store for The Boy’s nieces (Weasels and The Great Granny Gang if you’re interested). So progress on that front too!

Scuppered by nightshifts and a hen party…

Read:

We’ll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews

Mr Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia McNeal

Mad About You – Sinead Moriarty

Started:

The Valley of the Shadow by Carola Dunn

The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry

Still reading:

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

On the bright side only one book bought – the next Meg Langslow, which I couldn’t just resist in the end!

Oh nightshifts.  You really do fry my reading plans.  I suppose it doesn’t help that I’ve been re-reading Phryne Fisher during my dinner breaks rather than reading something new, but I need something easy and fun in the early hours.  Still, I don’t think I’ve done too badly all things considering.

Read:

Mutton by India Knight

Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

Scruples by Judith Krantz

Started:

We’ll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews

Still reading:

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

The downside is that I had a bit of a book buying spree – one in the early hours of Monday morning, two in the early hours of Tuesday and two more in the early hours of Thursday. So the to-read pile hasn’t exactly shrunk this week – and I’m currently resisting the urge to by the next book in the Meg Langslow series as I’m enjoying We’ll Always Have Parrots…

Oh dear.  All those train journeys and I didn’t manage to read much as I was hoping – the list was looking very poor until a concerted effort at the weekend.  This week coming I’m on nights – so it could go either way…

Read:

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan

The Perfect Match by Katie Fforde (review)

A Colourful Death by Carola Dunn

The Blessing by Nancy Mitford

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

Still reading:

Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

On the brightside, all I bought this week was a free short story on Kindle and a mystery novel on the Kindle for 99p and I’m counting that as progress!