Tag: reading

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: April 1 – April 7

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Well well well. I actually finished a non-fiction book in a reasonable time frame. Who knew I could do that? Certainly not the long runners list recently. Anyway, reading that and trying to make some more progress on that long running list along with a fun evening trip to a concert dominated my efforts this week. Let’s see if I can actually get the list shorter this week…

Read:

Death at the Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn*

A Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh

Mud, Muck and Dead Things by Ann Granger

Sabotaged in South Carolina by Patti Benning

Hitchin’ Up by Patti Benning

Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley

Started:

The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Still reading:

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang*

The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R King

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Well I wrote the Kindle offers post so there were a few…

Bonus picture: the clocks have changed, the evenings are lighter and hopefully soon the mornings will be too when I’m getting up for the train. It definitely feels less awful being up before 6am when it’s light already!

*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, new releases

Book of the Week: The Potting Shed Murder

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I’m going for a new murder mystery novel this week – new as in not out until Thursday, so for once I’m ahead of the game. Mark your calendars, it’s not an April fool (that was yesterday!) and it may not happen again this year!

Daphne sends her family have left London behind and moved to Norfolk. Their new home is a a historic farmhouse in a seemingly idyllic village that even has a name to match – Pudding Corner. But when the primary school headteacher is found dead, Daphne realises that all is not what it seems. Daphne gets even more involved when one of her new friends is implicated – but Mr Papplewick was a on the verge of retirement after a career spent in the village – could some one from his past want him dead, or is it one of the other parents at the school?

I really enjoyed the setting and the characters, but I will say that I had the murderer pegged pretty early on, but I read a lot of murder mysteries and this is a debut. It sounds like they’re setting up for a series. So as I liked the premise so much, I will definitely comeback for more if more is offered to me. This is written by Paula Sutton, aka Instagram‘s Hill House Vintage and as well as the murder mystery this also has dollops of her vintage style. This has blurb comparisons to Richard Osman and Richard Coles and I think that’s pretty fair, but also some of the American cozies themed around hobbies and handicrafts.

My copy came from NetGalley, but is out on Thursday so you have a few days left to preorder a physical copy, kindle or kobo edition. As it’s not out yet and it’s a debut novel I V have no idea how easy it will be to get in the shops, but I will keep an eye out for it.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 25 – March 31

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it’s April Fool’s Day, and I’m wondering if I’m fooling myself because I’ve started another non-fiction book that has potential to end up in on the long-runners list because it’s a hardback. But the documentary that goes with the Lucy Worsley Agatha Christie book was on TV the other day and it reminded me that mum has just read the book and said it was really good, so off I went. Anyway, beyond that I’m challenging myself to try and get a little ahead with the NetGalley reading, by which I mean I’ve started the April books already – because we all know that I’m way behind with the NetGalley reading in general! But hey, at least I got one thing off the long-runners list last week. This week I’ve got a couple of days off work but also a couple of days of rail disruption (engineering work *and* strikes) so less commuting time than usual so we will see what happens.

Read:

Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh

Nabbed in New Mexico by Patti Benning

Lurking in Louisiana by Patti Benning

Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Foul Play in Florida by Patti Benning

The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton*

Started:

Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn*

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang*

Still reading:

The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R King

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

One pre-order, one ebook, two second-handbooks. Posititively restrained

Bonus picture: Easter Saturday evening in All Saints, Northampton. I do love a bit of church architecture and I always forget how spectacular it is inside here – it looks like something from Mayfair has been transported out of London.

*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, series

Mystery series: Max Tudor

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Happy Friday everyone! Here in the UK it’s a bank holiday for Good Friday so I’m taking the opportunity to write about a murder mystery series featuring a vicar!

Max is a former MI5 agent turned vicar, who is now parish priest in an idyllic village on the south-west coast of England. He was hoping to escape his past, but he’s still attracting more attention than he would like from his female parishioners. The ex-spy situation gives Max a really good reason to be involved in investigating deaths, including ones where he doesn’t stumble across the body himself. Across the course of eight books Max has found his place in the village and started a family of his own, which poses its own challenges too.

I really like Max as a character and the options for stories that his backstory provides. Plus the secondary characters are interesting and the setting is charming. They’re often a little darker than some other cosy mysteries, but there’s the solutions aren’t usually as unexpectedly dark as, say, the Dandy Gilver series often turn out to be. I haven’t read the latest book because, well you’ve seen the state of the tbr pile, and I haven’t seen it in a store yet, and you all know that’s when I find it hardest to resist buying books!

If you want more cosy crime mysteries that are vicar adjacent, you might want to check out the ministry is murder series, although they added a little harder to get hold of than Max Tudor is, as the latest Max book came out last year. And they don’t have vicars, but G M Malliet has a couple of other series that you can check out too.

Have a great weekend!

Book of the Week, books

Book of the Week: When Grumpy Met Sunshine

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A big old stack of reading last week because: holiday, so a few things to chose from, but this was easily my favourite – although I have one reservation if you read on!

As the title suggests, this is a grumpy-sunshine romance, where the sunny half of the couple is ghost writer Mabel and the grumpy is her latest subject, former footballer Alfie who has been persuaded to write his memoirs. Except that he doesn’t want to reveal anything about himself and he doesn’t do emotions. So Mabel’s job isn’t going to be easy, but she tries and they start snarking and squabbling as they try to get something down on paper. And then they’re spotted together in public and the press decides that Mabel and Alfie are a couple. And of course the first rule of ghost writing is that no one can know that you’re a ghost writer so they pretend to be in a relationship. Except that there is a lot of chemistry going on and Mabel is in very real danger of catching feelings for Alfie. But he couldn’t really be interested in a girl like her, could he?

And therein lies my problem with this book. Because it is absolutely clear that Alfie really does have feelings for Mabel and he has them from quite early on, and she is just the most obvious person that was ever oblivious not to see it. And obviously that’s how she has to be for the plot to work, and Charlotte Stein does make a good attempt at trying to give a reason why Mabel might not think he’s into her and it does make his grand gesture at the end very grand but still. For a smart woman, Mabel is very stupid when it comes to noticing how into her Alfie is. But the banter was so fun and it was so funny I forgave it because it really was a lot of fun. And it is also really quite steamy during the fake relationship portion of it – I had to put it down while I was on the plane home because I was worried the person next to me was going to read it over my shoulder and then I would have died of embarrassment!

This is the first Charlotte Stein novel that I’ve read – and from what I can see it’s her first novel in this sort of area – she’s written a couple of dozen romances before but the rest of her back catalogue seem to be in the ménage/erotica end of the genre which is not really what I read, so I will be keeping an eye out for what she writes next if there is going to be more like this!

I’ve seen When Grumpy Met Sunshine in the shops all over the place – and of course it’s on Kindle and Kobo too.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 11 – March 17

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I actually have no idea what I’m going to write about tomorrow. Well maybe a little idea. Anyway, another super busy week, but still a few things read. I’ve got some days off this week which I’m really looking forward to – and plotting some reading time as part of that. I’ve got to get that long-runners list down. It’s starting to get embarrassing.

Read:

Chillin’ Out by Patti Benning

The Antiques Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C L Miller*

Scales of Justice by Ngaio Marsh

Warned in Wisconsin by Patti Benning

Off With His Head by Ngaio Marsh

Mayhem in Montana by Patti Benning

Miss Pickle by Constance Mackness

Started:

n/a

Still reading:

The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R King

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

One book bought. After quite a lot more than one the week before!

*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, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 4 – March 10

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I cannot tell you how busy last week was. But I am back in home in the UK and attempting to get my body clock back onto GMT. And not going to lie – I didn’t get much read last week – I mostly slept on the flights home rather than using it as reading time and I regret nothing to be honest! Anyway, this week should be a return to slightly more normal service. Possibly.

Read:

Buyin’ Trouble by Patti Benning

Murder in Michigan by Patti Benning

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers

The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers

The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Started:

The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R King

Still reading:

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake

The Antiques Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C L Miller*

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Three preorders arrived but I think that was about it.

Bonus photo: spotted on the baggage carousel. I would not have any faith it that all having survived a flight unscathed.

*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: First Lady

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I said yesterday that whatever I chose today was going to be tricky for one reason or another, so I’ve gone for a rule breaker on the repeat front, rather than tell you (again) how much I love the Peter and Harriet books in the Wimsey series. If you want to know about that, you can go and read this post. So, instead I’m back on the Susan Elizabeth Philips train with a book from her Wynette, Texas series.

This plot is quite a lot, so hold on and bear with me. Our heroine is Cornelia Litchfield Case, widow of the President of the United States and also daughter of a former vice president. She’s found herself being pushed back into the role of First Lady and it’s killing her from the inside. So she gives her secret service minders the slip and escapes DC for a cross country road trip. Our hero is Mat Jorik, a disillusioned journalist whose ex wife has just died and is now taking charge of her children – but only to deliver them to their grandmother on the other side of the country. Nealy and Mat’s paths cross at a service station, and soon they’re on a cross country road trip together -in an RV with a surly teenage girl and a baby. The sparks fly between them – and this is the first time ever Nealy has had the chance to get to know a man who doesn’t know all about her baggage and her background, and who has no expectations of her. What could possibly go wrong?

So this is a road trip romance with a side of found family. I loved Mat from the start – he’s an absolute softie with a heart of gold that he hides behind a bit gruff exterior. And Nealy is one of the more interesting heroines you’ll encounter – her backstory is wild. I wasn’t quite sure how this was going to work itself out at the end, but it did and it was really quite neatly done – although it did all happen quite quickly, which is always annoying. But basically this is a fun read with a bit of an unusual set up and is all the better for it. I have the next two books in the series lined up (because they were on offer, although this was not) so I look forward to reading more of the series – and maybe seeing a bit more of the Wynette of the name!

I have no idea if it’s possible to get this in paperback for a reasonable price – but it’s available on Kindle and Kobo. And yes, I did break my usual pricing rules while buying it, but I’m blaming the jet lag!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 26 – March 3

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Hello from a mystery location, where it is 30+ degrees and very humid and where I can’t get my head around the massive time difference to home and my brain is a little frazzled. I’m on a work trip, so it’s been super busy – and that’s why the list is a little shorter. I have no clue what I’m going to write about tomorrow, because you’ve heard about all of these authors pretty recently but I’m sure I’ll think of something, or break the rules as usual!

Read:

Have His Carcase by Dorothy L Sayers

Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh

Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers

First Lady by Susan Elizabeth Philips

Mr Hot Shot CEO by Jackie Lau

Angel Catbird Vol 3 by Margaret Atwood et al

Sellin’ Out by Patti Benning

Started:

n/a

Still reading:

The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake

The Antiques Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C L Miller*

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Ummm. Well, two books bought at the airport, two more bought in a bookshop here and a couple of ebooks too. I blame the jetlag!

Bonus photo: clouds appearing on the plane camera just as I approached flying over home!

*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, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 19 – February 25

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Well this list looks a lot longer than it should because of the short stories from Improbable Meet Cute and a graphic novel. And obviously it has last week’s BotW on it because it was one of those weeks too. I’m off on my travels for work this week – proper travels out of the country – so we’ll see what that does to the list. I’m going to try and get that long running list down, but we will see. Service here should continue as usual though, even if I am in a different time zone.

Read:

Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh

The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

A Death Inside by Frances Brody

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh

At First Spite by Olivia Dade

With Any Luck by Ashley Poston

Drop, Cover and Hold on by Jasmine Guillory

Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson

Rosemary takes to Teaching by Patricia Baldwin

Fence Vol 5 by C S Pascal et al

Started:

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake

The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson

Still reading:

Mr Hot Shot CEO by Jackie Lau

The Antiques Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C L Miller*

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Two ebooks bought and one paperback preordered.

Bonus photo: somewhat flooded on the way to work last week

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