Tag: reading

Well I said on Friday that I was on a mega-binge of Mitchell and Markby books, and you see the results of that here – in the read list and in the purchases because I had to buy them to keep reading. We had a lovely trip away at the weekend and it was a busy week at work so I’m choosing to blame that for the increasing length of the still reading list…

Read:

A Farewell to Yarns by Jill Churchill

Where Old Bones Lie by Ann Granger

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

A Fine Place for Death by Ann Granger

Flowers for his Funeral by Ann Granger

Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer

A Candle for a Corpse by Ann Granger

Started:

N/a

Still reading:

The Beast of Littleton Woods by T E Kinsey

Curtain Call to Murder by Julian Clary

The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym

Wish You Were Here by Jess K Hardy*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Five books bought.

Bonus picture: Another photo from a sunny Sunday afternoon in the countryside. Just glorious.

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

So here’s the thing, despite the fact that I have a tonne of books waiting to be read, at the start of last week all my brain wanted to do was re-read Mitchell and Markby books. Now this started because I bought the first one second hand a few weeks back as you know, and started reading it on Sunday night. And then I ended up buying the next few on kindle so I could read on because when I read them originally I had borrowed them from a friend and I gave them back like the good girl I am. And then I really struggled to get started on anything new to me and so moved on to more familiar old friends – with new books in series that I like and a dash of Terry Pratchett. We will see where this week takes us…

Read:

Say it With Poison by Ann Granger

A Season for Murder by Ann Granger

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

Cold in the Earth by Ann Granger

Murder Among Us by Ann Granger

Underscore by Andrew Cartmel

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Started:

A Farewell to Yarns by Jill Churchill

The Beast of Littleton Woods by T E Kinsey

Still reading:

Curtain Call to Murder by Julian Clary

The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym

Wish You Were Here by Jess K Hardy*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Four books bought and one pre-order made. And of course another preorder arrived.

Bonus picture: we have a flower on the new(ish) arrival!

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

It’s a Bank Holiday in the UK today so if you have a day off work, I hope you’re enjoying it and sorry that the nice weather didn’t last. It’s also May, which means hopefully the nice weather will come back at some point, although we’re all bound to spend the next month getting our outfits wrong as we try and predict whether we need to be dressing for heat or cold. Anyway, continued progress on some fronts on the reading, and less so on others as there’s been a lot going on in real life. But I seem to be saying that a lot at the moment, so maybe this is just normal now? What a worrying thought.

Read:

Death on the Pier by Jamie West

The 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie

Death at the Matinee by Jamie West

Murder on Line One by Jeremy Vine*

Tea on Sunday by Lettice Cooper

Death at the Playhouses by Stuart Douglas

Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer

Started:

Curtain Call to Murder by Julian Clary

The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym

Still reading:

Wish You Were Here by Jess K Hardy*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Two books bought – one in Quinns, one in Oxfam.

Bonus picture: the narrow alley down to Quinns bookshop – which I always expect to be higher up the hill than it is…

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

Another pretty solid week of books. I’ve got one of the long running list and I’ve made progress on some of the others too. Perhaps not quite as much progress as I wanted but it was a very busy week in real life and there’s nothing you can do about that.

Read:

A Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh

Barking! by Grace Smith

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

Fell Murder by E C R Lorac

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Murder Will Out by Alison Joseph

Started:

Wish You Were Here by Jess K Hardy*

Death at the Playhouses by Stuart Douglas

Still reading:

Murder on Line One by Jeremy Vine*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Three books bought.

Bonus picture: a misty morning on the train. It’s nearly impossible to get a good photo from the train but I keep trying because it can be so beautiful.

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

A really, really lovely week. I was off work and it has been really productive and just generally delightful. I’ve read some really good stuff too – a train journey to Brighton and back really helped with that! I have made some more progress on the long runners, but maybe not as much as I would like. I will get there though. I will. I have, however, had a good week on the NetGalley front, so I’ll take my wins where I can get them!

Read:

Devil’s Food by Kerry Greenwood

The Witching Hour by Catriona McPherson

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar*

Death at the Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh

A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith

A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith*

The Mystery at Rake Hall by Maureen Paton*

The Cat Who Saved The Library by Sosuki Natsukawa*

Started:

Fell Murder by E C R Lorac

Murder on Line One by Jeremy Vine*

Still reading:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Two books bought, because I can’t resist a bookshop…

Bonus picture: Brighton Beach on Thursday, looking out at the remains of the West Pier.

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

So a couple of things are notable from last week’s list. Lets take them in order. Firstly: I finished the Ruth Galloway series. So that binge is over, and the book hangover has commenced. Secondly a large amount of Kerry Greenwood was read after the news that she had died – I’m more than halfway through Corinna Chapman book three – and would have finished it (and probably the next one too) if I hadn’t suddenly realised that I was going to have to write about other things than Kerry’s books on here in the near future. Thirdly: I’m having a good go at the NetGalley list this month. The Simon Brett is out in a couple of weeks (he’s clearly writing at a rate of knots at the moment!) and the Catriona McPherson came out last week. And I’ve started another one that came out last week. Now should I have read them in a different order: yes. But the fact that I’ve read them is progress in itself!

Read:

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths

Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood

They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie

Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood

Camping and a Steak Out by Patti Benning

Major Bricket and the Circus Corpse by Simon Brett*

At Mrs Lippencote’s by Elizabeth Taylor

The Edinburgh Murders by Catriona McPherson*

Started:

Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar*

Devil’s Food by Kerry Greenwood

Still reading:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Four books bought – I just couldn’t help myself… but on the bright side none of them were hardback new releases, so I did at least resist that temptation!

Bonus picture: I have deployed the hammock! Sadly it was so lovely I fell asleep while reading the Cher memoir and ended up with a headache from too much sun and still without having finished the book. But I shan’t let that deter me. I shall put my head in the shade next time and wear a hat.

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

So, I’m down to the final book in the Ruth Galloway binge, and I paced myself and only let myself start it at the weekend – and didn’t let myself finish it. Whatever will I do when I’ve finished them? Well the answer should be read the April books from NetGalley, but we all know that what should happen and what actually happens can be radically different things when it comes to me! Ahem

Read:

Gemma by Noel Streatfeild

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths

They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie

The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths

The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe

The Long Divorce by Edmund Crispin

Dimsie Grows Up by Dorita Fairlie Bruce

Started:

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths

The Edinburgh Murders by Catriona McPherson*

Still reading:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Three books bought at the National Trust second hand bookshop on Sunday.

Bonus picture: genuinely starting to feel like winter might be over now. This was Sunday afternoon and it was glorious.

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

A somewhat steady week in books because it was an incredibly busy week in reality life – I went to a concert on Monday night, my sister came to visit, I had two leaving dos to go to, we went to see Dr. Strangelove and then went to see Him Indoors’ family for Mother’s Day. And when I write it all out like that it’s suddenly not a surprise that the list is a little shorter than usual. And it’s nearly the end of March and I have no idea what’s going to go in the quick reviews on account of the fact that a good proportion of the books I’ve read this month have been Ruth Galloway ones. And I’ve got tickets to a show tonight so not a huge amount of time to finish anything else…

Read:

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths

The Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin Markovitz*

Ring Leader by Patti Benning

Steak It or Leave It by Patti Benning

Started:

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths

Gemma by Noel Streatfeild

Still reading:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

No books bought, mostly because I bought all the rest of the Ruth Galloway’s last week…

Bonus picture: definitely springtime in the village this week. And yes that is the sun, it’s not coming from the street light.

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

Another good week – nice books and good entertainment when I wasn’t reading with a theatre trip, Formula One on the TV (albeit still in a somewhat antisocial timezone) and a bit of a day out on Sunday too. And it’s starting to feel like spring. The temperatures have improved and it’s light when I catch the train to work now. Of course the clocks haven’t changed yet, so I’m about to be plunged back into darkness but I’ll enjoy a few days of being able to see the alpacas in the field when I go passed them while I can – it’s been a long old winter.

Read:

Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh

The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths

Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths

Ruth’s First Christmas Tree by Elly Griffiths

Murder Below Deck by Orlando Murrin*

Juliet Overseas by Clare Mallory

To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins

Started:

The Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman

Still reading:

The Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin Markovitz*

Abdication by Juliet Nicolson

Cher: The Memoir Part One by Cher

Ummmmm. A few. Because y’know I’m reading the Elly Griffiths back to back and acquiring the next one(s) in the series as I go…

Bonus picture: Kirby Hall this weekend, where we went out to get some culture

Hilariously, the secondhand book sale selection had one of the Puffin Island books in it – the first time I’ve seen any of them in person for ages. It’s like I willed it into being by writing about them on Friday!

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