Tag: reading

Book of the Week, new releases

Book of the Week: Summer Romance

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Last week was a bumper week of new romance releases, and Annabel Monaghan’s new book was one of them. And this choice may not be a surprise to those of you who study the reading lists each Monday.

Ali’s mum died two years ago, a year later her husband left her and she’s been trying to keep her head above water ever since juggling her kids and her career as a professional organiser. But the first time she put proper clothes (ie not joggers and a baggy t shirt) on in months to take the dog to the dog park she meets a man who she is fairly sure is flirting with her. And the more she gets to know Ethan, the more she likes him. But he’s only in town for the summer, so it’s just a summer romance – isn’t it?

As you may remember, I really loved Nora Goes off Script – but I didn’t like Monaghan’s follow up last year the same way. This however was a lovely return to what I wanted. It’s pretty low stakes and low conflict between the romantic leads, but there is plenty of stuff to work through for the heroine to get her happy ending. And I was rooting for her the whole time. My only real complaint is that I wanted more comeuppance for Ali’s ex husband for being so horrid and dismissive of her. But she’s definitely the winner in the end – and she does it for herself too, not because Ethan makes it happens for her – which is my biggest gripe with the Legally Blonde musical vs the film and I can rant at you about that all day if you set me going!

I had a copy of Summer Romance pre-ordered (although I also got approved for it on NetGalley on release day!) and it’s out now on Kindle and Kobo for your summer enjoyment.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: June 3 – June 9

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Well that was a week. I’m trying to get ahead on my summer reading so I can recommend some of them but there’s just so much good stuff. And yes I did buy the final Maisie Dobbs, on release day, in hardback – but I am trying to pace myself with it so it’s not over too soon. And given that it is a hardback and I don’t want to wreck it, that may be easier than if I had bought the kindle version!

Read:

Grilled Cheese Murder by Patti Benning

Chicken Pesto Murder by Patti Benning

The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur

The Body in the Bookstore by Ellie Alexander*

The 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins

A Telegram from Le Touqet by John Bude

Started:

The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear

One Last Summer by Kate Spencer*

The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Three book-books bought, one ebook, two preorders arrived – one ebook and one actual book.

Bonus picture: Virginia Water on Saturday looking so quintessentially English countryside it almost hurts!

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

Recommendsday

Recommendsday: May Quick Reviews

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As you may have realised, May has been a really busy month – and I’ve already written about a lot of the new-to-me stuff that I’ve read this month, so only two books here this month in the quick reviews.

Lips Like Sugar by Jess K Hardy

This didn’t make it in to the Summer of Sequels post, because it actually came out in February and it just took me a while to get to it. Also it’s not really a sequel because it’s a romance series so it’s a fresh couple that are linked to the one in Come As You Are. Anyway, we’re back in the same town in Montana – but this time our heroine is Mira, bakery owner and mum to a teenage boy. Our hero is Cole, grunge-band-drummer turned music-studio-owner. It starts as a fake date to Madigan and Ashley’s wedding, but obviously it turns into something more. It’s lots of fun and really easy to read – and hopefully setting up for a third because there’s a big old loose end dangling I think – although it’s would be a bit of a pivot for the series.

Cut and Thirst by Margaret Atwood

Every now and again, Amazon pops up with a new short story from Margaret Atwood and I rush out to read it. I have a somewhat mixed record with her novels but I really like her short stories. This one is about three older women who are plotting to take revenge on the men who did one of their friends wrong years ago. It’s just dark, and funny and delightful. If you’ve got Kindle Unlimited, then this is really worth a read.

And that’s it – like I said, only two reviews this month but hey, what can I do. There have been some other great books in May that I’ve already written about – so if you’re not caught up on my reviews of Happy Medium, Mona of the Manor, You Should Be So Lucky and The Reunion, go check them out as well as my Recommendsday post about Books with Ghosts.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: May 27 – June 2

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I’m hoping I’m getting into my summer reading stride. Of course it could all go terribly wrong – and it frequently has in the past – but I’m choosing to be optimistic. I think the weird and unpredictable weather has helped with this, because when it’s not sunny outside it’s nice to read summer-y books to hope that the nice (but hopefully not too boiling) weather is coming soon.

Read:

The Case of the Late Pig by Margery Allingham

The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood*

The Winner Bakes it All by Jeevani Charika*

Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham

Corned Beef Murder by Patti Benning

Cold Cut Murder by Patti Benning

Summer Fridays by Suzanne Rindell

A Scream in Soho by John G Brandon

Started:

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins

Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

One book bought

Bonus picture: Summer statues near St Paul’s last week, in a rare moment when they weren’t being climbed on by happy children!

*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, books

Book of the Week: The Reunion

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As I said yesterday, it was a busy week last week, but I did have time to finish The Reunion – which I started before the Lagos trip, but couldn’t take with me because I was too far through to make it worth it. And given how much I enjoyed it, it was an obvious choice for today’s pick.

Liv is an actress working in LA. As a teenager, she was star of a wildly popular TV show – Girl on the Verge – and she spent a lot of her teenage years having to live up to and in the shadow of her character on the show. Now it’s twenty years since the show’s premiere and a streaming service is getting the original cast back together for a reunion episode. The fans are excited to see some unfinished business from the original finale resolved, but for Liv, it’s about seeing Ransom Joel again. He was her character’s love interest on the show – and her best friend and confidante in real life. But as the show ended he told her he needed space from her and left her reeling. Once they’re back on set together, they fall back into their old habits – but can this time have a different ending?

If you watched any of the WB shows back in the day, you’ll understand what this is trying to evoke – and there have been enough old tv shows getting reunions like this since the advent of the streaming services that it all feels pretty plausible. I was a teenager in the heyday of these sorts of series so I was a total sucker for the premise of this, but The Reunion has the worrying words “a novel” on the front – which can sometimes mean “we’ve written a blurb that suggests it’s a romance novel, but don’t get your hopes up for a happy ending” so I was slightly apprehensive going into this. But I think in this case, “a novel” is warning you more that this is about Liv and how she grows and develops as much as it is about her relationship with Ransom. There is not a lot of tension in their relationship – and when there was an issue, I had the culprit pegged pretty fast. But I still enjoyed it – I’m at a place at the moment where I don’t really want high angst and drama in my reading, so a meander through the life of an actress and a reunion of a show that reminded me a lot of the sort of thing that I used to watch was pretty perfect for me at the moment.

This looks like Kayla Olsen’s first book in this sort of area – I see some dystopian future type stuff on her good reads page, but nothing else giving these sorts of vibes – so I hope she does more because this was a really nice way to spend a few hours. My copy of The Reunion came from Foyles (in store, although they claim to have no click and collect copies at the moment), but it’s also on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: May 20 – May 26

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So it turns out that despite there being no time difference between Nigeria and the UK, it can still make you exhausted. To be honest, I think it was the night flight home that was the big problem – and then I had (another) super busy week on top. Hopefully this week will be calmer/better/easier!

Read:

Lips Like Sugar by Jess K Hardy

Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham

Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham

An Assassination on the Agenda by T E Kinsey

The Reunion by Kayla Olsen

Flowers for the Judge by Margery Allingham

Pastrami Murder by Patti Benning

Started:

The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood*

Still reading:

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Hold on to your hats: No books bought! Frankly I’m as amazed as you are.

Bonus picture: The Mall on Sunday late afternoon – where the Ride London event had been taking place.

*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: May 13 – May 19

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So I got back yesterday morning from a work trip to Nigeria! I spent a week in Lagos and it was amazing – but so very, very hot! Obviously one of the books on this list was last week’s BotW, and I had to leave The Reunion at home (because I was already a third through it) so that didn’t get finished this week – but I did finish the Shardlake, so swings and roundabouts! This week coming is a much more normal week so we’ll see what happens next.

Read:

Happy Medium by Sarah Adler

Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

Impact of Evidence by Carol Carnac

Slain in Scotland by Patti Benning

Sovereign by C J Sansom

Nixed in Nantucket by Patti Benning

Started:

Lips Like Sugar by Jess K Hardy

Still reading:

The Reunion by Kayla Olsen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

One book bought, one pre-order arrived.

Bonus picture: Lagos!

*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: May 6 – May 12

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Not going to lie, there was a slightly fatal flaw in my reading plans this week – I bought two books in Foyles and started reading one of them – forgetting that I was going away at the weekend and that I was going to be too far through it for it to be worth carting it away with me for more than a week (I would have finished it before the end of the first day). And so there we are – a shorter list, with one book that was in contention for BotW unfinished, and no idea what I’m going to do tomorrow. Why am I so bad at organising my reading? Actually it’s not bad at organising. I know what I should be doing, it’s just that I am so easily tempted by shiny new books and then it derails all my plans!

Read:

Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham

Excellent Intentions by Richard Hull

Harbored in Hawaii by Patti Benning

Axed in Alaska by Patti Benning

Cut and Thirst by Margaret Atwood

Started:

The Reunion by Kayla Olsen

Happy Medium by Sarah Adler

Still reading:

Sovereign by C J Sansom

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Four books bought – two in Foyles and two at the weekend – and two preorders dropped onto my kindle!

Bonus picture: I do love a mews. And I was wandering near work one evening last week and took this one. I could fancy living in one of these. Sadly I do not have the requisite millions!

*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, books

Book of the Week: Mona of the Manor

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I wonder how many of you predicted that this would be today’s choice when you saw the list yesterday? Yes, it is breaking a rule because it’s the tenth in a series, but I think you absolutely can read this one standalone, although obviously you’ll get more out of it if you’ve read the others.

It’s the 1990s and we’re in the English countryside. Yes, this is filling in a gap in the series and we’re finally going to find out what Mona got up to in Britain after she inherited a stately home from her husband. Of course it’s all a little more complicated than that, but that’s the bare bones of how she ended up running a hotel – of sorts – in order to keep the bills paid and avoid having to sell up. At the start of the novel, while Mona and her adopted son are looking forward to a visit from the San Francisco contingent, they welcome a couple from the US and it all gets a little complicated and they have to sort it all out before Michael arrives.

Not going to lie, reading this was a treat that I had been saving myself and I just couldn’t wait any longer. I love this world and I love Maupin’s writing, and it was lovely to go back in time and get some more of them in their younger glory. And there are some nice nods in this to earlier books – and some bits of 90s culture that Maupin would have had to disguise or fictionalise at the time (if he’d known about them) but can now just put in there. This isn’t as interwoven with the events of the time as the original few books were – but that’s only to be expected when they’re no longer being written contemporaneously with the events themselves. If you like the series, I don’t think this will disappoint. If you’ve never read them before then it’s not a bad place to jump in – but you could always just start at the beginning and slot this in in its chronological spot in the series.

You should be able to get this in any good bookshop – I think they’ve even put the paperbacks out in new editions to match this one, which is nice but also annoying because now my set matches even less. I’ll cope though I’m sure! And of course it’s on kindle and kobo too

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: April 29 – May 5

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Did I go on a bit of a binge of Ovidia Yu’s Crown Colony/Su Lin series, why yes. Should I have been reading other things? Probably. Am I sorry? Not at all. And it was a pretty busy week too. And it’s only getting busier over the next few weeks too, so we’ll see how that goes.

Read:

The Truth by Terry Pratchett

The Mimosa Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu

The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

Diva by Daisy Goodwin*

The Cannonball Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu

Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham

The Mushroom Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu

Mona of the Manor by Armistead Maupin

Started:

n/a

Still reading:

Sovereign by C J Sansom

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Seven books bought – mostly because of writing the offers post – and one preorder arrived.

Bonus picture: Sunday gardening. This bag doesn’t look that big on the photo, but it’s actually huge, and yet despite that the garden doesn’t look that much better. Never mind.

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