Tag: reading

I gave up on the Elizabeth Jane Howard this week.  I’ve been hanging in there trying to plough through because I love the Cazalets so much, then my Mum said I didn’t have to keep reading it if I wasn’t enjoying it – and that if she was trying to read something she wasn’t enjoying, I would be the first person to tell her to give up and move on so she was returning the favour for me.  I have a great mum.

Read:

Once a Soldier by Mary-Jo Putney

Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger

Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie

An American Airman in Paris (short story) by Beatriz Williams

Sleepless in Manhattan by Sarah Morgan

The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean

Started:

Queen Bees by Siân Evans

The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Still reading:

n/a

I bought six books on Friday.  It was very naughty of me, but I don’t regret it at all.  I’ll try and restrain myself this week though.

I can’t work out whether I did well this week or not.  Ok in numbers, the amount of books I read is not that big, but several of them were quite chunky books so I’ve actually done a lot of pages – over 2500 pages in fact.  But is that good or not?  I don’t usually add up pages, so I have no idea, and I don’t have the time (or inclination) to go back and add it up for a representative number of weeks.  My Goodread stats average out at just over 2000 pages a week for this year so far, and just over 2100 a week for the whole of last year – but I know that there are always some books that I’ve read that don’t have a good reads page count so won’t have made it into the total.  But hey, on that basis, I’ve done well – because the 2500+ figure doesn’t include the half of the Mary-Jo Putney that I read on the train on Sunday evening…

Read:

Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

The Tumbling Turner Sisters by Juliette Fay

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Stormswept by Sabrina Jeffries writing as Deborah Martin

From Pasta to Pigfoot: Second Helpings by Frances Mensah Williams

Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie by Jean Fullerton

Started:

Once a Soldier by Mary-Jo Putney

Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie

Still reading:

The Long View by Elizabeth Jane Howard

I pre-ordered Eloisa James’s upcoming novella, but that’s it.  I’m trying to be restrained…

On holiday this week (and last week for that matter) but family wedding, visiting more family and sightseeing means not a lot of reading done by my standards – and certainly not as much as I’d’ve done on a beach holiday!

Read:

Wildflower Bay Part 1 by Rachel Lucas

Goodbye Mrs Chips by Dorothy Cannell

Vienna Waltz by Teresa Grant

Naked in Death by (Nora Roberts writing as) J D Robb

Bury Her Deep by Catriona McPherson

Unnatural Fire by Fidelis Morgan

Started:

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

Still reading:

The Long View by Elizabeth Jane Howard

I pre-ordered Gail Carriger’s first self-published novella and a copy of Vita Sackville-West’s The Edwardians…

 I thought I would read more this week, but best laid plans etc. Still some really good stuff in there, and some less so!

Read:

The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham

Fixin’ to Die by Tonya Kappes

Murder on a Designer Diet by Shawn Reilly Simmons

The Madness of Mercury by Connie Di Marco

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

Oliver Twisted by Cindy Brown

Started:

Unnatural Fire by Fidelis Morgan

Goodbye Mrs Chips by Dorothy Cannell

Still reading:

The Long View by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Bury Her Deep by Catriona McPherson

 Still no books bought. I’m trying really, really hard! 

This week started quite slowly – but ratcheted up at the end as I finished some books that had been on the go for a while (because they were hardbacks not because they weren’t any good).

Read:

Act Like It by Lucy Parker

It Had To Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Dead is Better by Jo Perry

Lucia in London by E F Benson

Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes

Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Started:

The Long View by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Bury Her Deep by Catriona McPherson

Still reading:

n/a

And I didn’t buy any books either.  Go me.  I’d be impressed with myself, except that I’m fairly sure it’s not going to last.

Another positive week in reading – I’m practically up to date with NetGalley – and I’m continuing to work my way through the to-read bookshelf before I refill from the pile…

Read:

The Locked Room Mystery mystery by Jasper Fforde

Rock-a-Bye Bones by Carolyn Haines

Death at a Fixer-Upper by Sarah Hobart

A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde

Miss Mapp by E F Benson

Death of Nobody by Derek Farrell

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham

Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Philips

Started:

I finished everything I started!

Still reading:

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes

The only books I bought this week were travel guides for holiday planning.  I’m almost impressed with myself…

Quite a quiet week in reading this week – lots going on in the real world and a busy time at work as well.  You’ll notice I went on a Lorna Hill kick – they were part of that big second-hand/collectable order that I put in with my favourite book dealers a few months back and have been sitting on the side of the to-read bookshelf – so came to the top of the pile as part of my clear-the-bookshelf-so-I-can-refill-it kick.  I think I had read Swan Feather before – but a very long time ago and some of the time line in the Wells books overlaps a lot, so it’s hard to be sure when it was so long ago (20 years I think) so I’m counting it!  The Sali Hughes – which I’ve been dipping in an out of on an as-and-when basis for about 9 months – joins the in progress pile because I’ve started reading it from cover to cover…

Read:

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

Northbridge Rectory by Angela Thirkell

Principal Role by Lorna Hill

Swan Feather by Lorna Hill

Back Stage by Lorna Hill

Night Shift by Charlaine Harris

Started:

Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes

Still reading:

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

I continue to exert my willpower to the max – and haven’t ordered any books.  One of the secondhand books I ordered a few weeks back arrived from America this week (the next Charles and Melanie/Malcolm and Suzanne book) so I’m still feeling like things are arriving which is nice.  I’m also trying to be very good with the NetGalley requests too – I’m nearly up to date and want to keep it that way!

A very profitable week’s reading.  My quest to empty the to-read bookshelf continues – as does the 50 page challenge (if I’m not enjoying it/interested by it by page 50, I give it up).  At current rate of progress I’ll be replenishing the bookshelf in no time!

Read:

The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

Mystery and Mayhem by Katherine Woodfine, Robin Stevens et al

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

Reining in Murder by Leigh Hearon

A Muddied Murder by Wendy Tyson

Miss Buncle Married by D E Stevenson

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch et al

The Song Collector by Natasha Solomons

Death and the Lit Chick by GM Malliet

Started:

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Still reading:

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham

And I didn’t buy any books either.  Total result.  I’m almost proud of myself.  I would be if it wasn’t for the huge pile of books nestling behind my sofa arm!