Tag: reading

Last week was never going to be topped was it!  For a start I didn’t spent this week on a beach or by a pool – I was at work for four days of it – and staying away from home for two nights of that making the most of the fact that my train company can’t get me to London from home for 6am at the weekend with a weekend with my theatre buddy (dinners! shows! cocktails!).  But this is particularly bad – and the still reading list is mounting up again too.  Still, at least I’m back on the paperbacks amongst this – because last week’s mammoth efforts had absolutely no effect on the physical pile!

Read:

The Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters

No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean

Walking on Air by Christina Jones

Started:

Shakespeare’s Champion by Charlaine Harris

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

More Fool Me by Stephen Fry

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Sheila by Robert Wainwright

The Bride by Julie Garwood

I may have bought four books to cheer me up after having to go back to work after a lovely week in the sun…

Can you tell that I’ve been on holiday?  Long hot days spent lounging by the pool or laying on the bitch and evenings sipping cocktails mean that I’ve made inroads into my unread folder on the kindle.  I should have finished the Sarah Waters – which was one of my paperbacks – but The Boy only bought one book with him and so borrowed The Night Watch which took him most of the week to read.

Read:

Life is Sweet by Elizabeth Bass

Gently Does It by Alan Hunter

Gently By The Shore by Alan Hunter

Gently Down The Stream by Alan Hunter

Landed Gently by Alan Hunter

London Calling by Sara Sheridan

And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander

A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander

Mrs Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death by Mark Reutlinger

Wicked Autumn by G M Malliet

The Path of the Crooked by Ellery Adams

Going the Distance by Christina Jones

King Solomon’s Mines by Henry Rider Haggard

Started:

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Sheila by Robert Wainwright

The Bride by Julie Garwood

The Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters

Walking on Air by Christina Jones

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

More Fool Me by Stephen Fry

And because I was on holiday – I haven’t bought any books this week.  I banned myself from buying any sequels to any of the books that I cleared from the backlog so that I reduced the pile.  And so now the unread list on the Kindle is now merely huge rather than gigantic!

Not a bad hail considering that two days off at the start of the week and a lot of house work to do derailed the end of September.  Still the weekend made up for it.

Read:

Unbefitting a Lady by Bronwyn Scott

Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton

Oh Yeah Audrey by Tucker Shaw

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

A Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe

Miss Primrose and the March of Progress by Carola Dunn

Mrs Jeffries Dusts For Clues by Emily Brightwell

Dancing in the Moonlight by Christina Jones

Started:

More Fool Me by Stephen Fry

Night Watch by Sarah Waters

The Path of the Crooked by Ellery Adams

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

Four books bought – a second copy of The Bride by Julie Garwood to replace the one that wasn’t the right book and three early Christina Jones novels that were on offer.  Not a bad week really if it wasn’t for the pile of NetGalley requests…

 

Read:

Three Bedrooms, One Corpse by Charlaine Harris

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

Shakespeare’s Landlord by Charlaine Harris

The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry

Started:

Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton

Unbefitting a Lady by Bronwyn Scott

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Not a bad week really – a few of last week’s books finished, a few more read despite the nightshift for the referendum results.

Read:

Honeymoon Hotel by Hester Browne

The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy

Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews

A Piece of Cake by Trisha Ashley (short story)

The Luxe by Anna Godberson

Fools Gold by Philippa Gregory

A Knight In Shining Armour by Jude Deveraux

Started:

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

I ordered a couple of books this week – but the good news for the pile is that my purchasing orgy of the other week was decreed “undeliverable” by the courier and returned to sender (don’t get me started, I get very ranty about this), the bad news is that I’ve re-ordered some them and then some more…

Lots of stuff started, not as much stuff finished this week – mostly because I was at the theatre four evenings! I felt like a bit of a gadabout – but it was fabulous.

Read:

Shakespeare’s Trollop by Charlaine Harris

Shakespeare’s Counsellor by Charlaine Harris

Bad Bridesmaid by Portia MacIntosh

The Brandons by Angela Thirkell

Rock Courtship by Nalini Singh

Started:

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Honeymoon Hotel by Hester Browne

The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

The bright side is that whilst I haven’t read a lot, I haven’t bought anything either after last week’s orgy of purchasing!

There’s a couple of short stories on the list this week, which make it look longer than it should.  I spent Monday to Wednesday recovering from nightshifts (which finished at 6 on Monday morning) and catching up on housework so the reading got a bit left behind – though the slow trains home from my four late shifts at the end of the week helped redress the balance!

Read:

The Empress Chronicles by Suzy Vitello

Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell

No Weddings by Kat Bastion with Stone Bastion

Storm in a Tea Shoppe by Carola Dunn

An Unhappy Medium by Carola Dunn

The Lady’s Disgrace by Callie Hutton

Love Me or Leave Me by Claudia Carroll

Who Needs Mr Darcy by Jean Burnett

Started:

The Brandons by Angela Thirkell

Shakespeare’s Trollop by Charlaine Harris

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

I think we should skim over the number of books bought this week (6) as the arrival of parcels from previous weeks and from a publisher or two has already disturbed The Boy’s belief in my ability to reduce the pile.  Still this week I’ve got much closer to up to date on my NetGalley backlog.  Swings, may I introduce you to Roundabout.

Hopefully I’ll be asleep in bed when this posts recovering from round 2 of nightshift hell.  Again, lots of nice light reading, with a side order in some of my NetGalley books.

Read:

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

High Heels and Bicycle Wheels by Jane Linfoot

A Difficult Term for the Chalet School by Lisa Townsend

A Place for Us (Part 2) by Harriet Evans

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean

The Secret Paris Cinema Club by Nicolas Barreau

The Lost Staircase by Elinor M Brent Dyer

Started:

The Empress Chronicles by Suzy Vitello

Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell

Still reading:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

I’ve bought two books this week – the next Meg Langslow as a treat for finishing nights and a “classic” American romance novel (of the Harlequin/Mills and Boon persuasion) for a book group.

Two pieces of housekeeping, firstly, because the start of the month falls on a Monday this time, August stats are going to be posted tomorrow.  Stay tuned to see if I’ve done any damage to the to read pile.  Secondly, I’ve got a rash of new release books that I’m going to review, so the posting schedule (Mondays, Wednesdays Saturdays) may be a little out of whack the next few weeks and there may be some more extra posts – because I do try to post reviews as close to the book’s release date as possible (I get very frustrated when I read reviews of books that I can’t buy yet, so I try not to do that to you!).