Tag: The pile

books, The pile

Books Incoming: mid May edition

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So technically two of these arrived last month – but were delivered to my parents so weren’t at home for last month’s post – I’ve already written about Romantic Comedy at length, but the actual book is very pretty – although I do like the US version too. The other late arrival is the beautiful hardback Virago edition of Nora Ephron’s Heartburn. Yes I already own a paperback copy AND the audiobook (read by Meryl Streep no less!), and no I don’t know whether I will manage to part with the paperback now I have this to add to my collection of Designer Classics.

Then we have a bunch of new releases and preorders. My copy of William Lee Adams’ Wild Dances came direct from the author, but The Tobacco Wives and Dressed to Drill were preorders – although they arrived later than I was expecting, especially the new Fixer-Upper which was nearly two day after release, but then it’s a US book so even though Amazon UK said they had it, they probably didn’t!

Then we have another Goldy Schultz as I continue to pick up second-hand copies of the ones that aren’t on Kindle, the next Cupcake Bakery that I haven’t read and a couple of impulse purchases: Beach Read which I bought after I finished Happy Place and The Golden Hour which I’ve had my eye on for ages. And then on Sunday I was in Sainsbury’s and couldn’t help myself when I saw a historical mystery series I hadn’t come across before. Poor impulse control.

And that’s your lot for this month!

The pile

State of the Pile 2023 edition

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So the key thing here is that the photo is of the pile in front of the tbr book case. Because that’s where we are at. I’ve expanded beyond the shelves. And that’s before this month’s Books Incoming pile gets added. What can I say. I have expanded beyond the space I had allotted myself. So I have a new motto – although I haven’t told Him Indoors this yet – and I am attempting to embrace it:

That said, I would like to get the pile back down to something that can be contained in the bookshelf. However, I would also like to reduce the NetGalley list and I suspect I can do one or the other, but probably not both. Hey ho. The thing is, Reading is my relaxation and my escape. And the more I try and force myself to read something the less fun it becomes. And that is the fundamental struggle I wrestle with as I continue to acquire ever more books…

books

Books Incoming: October Edition

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A real bumper crop this month, undoing all the good that I did by being restrained last month. There are two main factors at play here – firstly all the books that I had asked the comic book store to get in for me came in at once – that’s the left hand side. Then we have what I’m going to call the Shingles impulse purchasing as what I thought were insect bites had already appeared when I bought myself Death and the Brewery Queen in Waterstone’s Picadilly and then the Ali Hazelwood, Catriona McPherson and Jacqueline Winspear were all bought when I was on my sickbed ad feeling sorry for myself! And I’ve already read three of the four…

If you take those eight out of the equation, what you have left are two preorders – Blonde and Vera Kelly, two airport purchases (the Richard Osman and the Richard E Grant) and two purchases because I wanted them. Which would have been a reasonable month. So it’s all totally fine and explicable. Nothing to see here. Carry on.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: September 12 – September 18

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Yeah. It’s been another one of those weeks. Work has been crazy busy, I’m exhausted and some impulse purchasing may have taken place. 2022 is really proving to be quite something.

Read:

Make It Sweet by Kristen Callihan

Marple: Twelve New Stories by Various authors based on Agatha Christie’s character

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall

Death and the Brewery Queen by Frances Brody

Round Up the Usual Peacocks by Donna Andrews

Coq au Vin by Charlotte Carter

Bats in the Belfry by E C R Lorac

Started:

A Step so Grave by Catriona MacPherson

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Inverts by Crystal Jeans

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

One book in Waterstones Piccadilly, a couple more from Amazon and two preorders appeared too. I said the restraint wouldn’t last!

Bonus photo: a little mews near where I was staying last week. Charming.

An * next to a 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: September 5 – September 11

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I mean if you don’t know what happened in the UK this week, then I sort of envy your ability to avoid the news. It’s been a long, strange week. And no surprise that you can probably tell that in this post.

Read:

Stirring Up Love by Chandra Blumberg*

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish*

There’s Something About Merry by Codi Hall*

Started:

Make It Sweet by Kristen Callihan

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Inverts by Crystal Jeans

A couple of preorders arrived – on the kindle and on the doorstep, but I think that’s it. But my brain is a little frazzled right now.

Bonus photo: Sunday evening calm in the park.

An * next to a 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: August 29 – September 4

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Another busy week. It started with the end of a nightshift on Bank Holiday Monday morning and then had two nights away from home. I can confirm that the nightshift affected my brain power and concentration as it always does, so it took until the end of the week to make some progress on the long runners. But I have made progress. I’m also trying to pace myself with the new Taylor Jenkins Reid and try and make it last. We’ll see how long that resolution lasts, although it is helped by the fact that I own it in hardback and not on Kindle!

Read:

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber

Femina by Janina Ramirez*

Knit to Kill by Anne Canadeo

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

Death in Soho by Emily Organ

Til Death do is Part by John Dickson Carr

Started:

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Stirring Up Love by Chandra Blumberg*

The Inverts by Crystal Jeans

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*

One book bought, one preorder arrived. Still controlling myself admirably after Bristol…

Bonus photo: I’m still very cross about the one day I missed 500 odd days ago, because who knows how long the streak would be otherwise given that the weekly streak is over four years… when did they start gathering this data anyway? I’ve had a kindle a decade now and I think I’ve probably used it every week of that decade…

An * next to a 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: August 22 – August 28

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I mean I said writing the London Celebrities post had started me on rereading them, but it may have got a little out of control… Anyway, a good week in reading, ending in a bank holiday weekend with an overnight shift at work, so we’ll see what happens as my brain tries to deal with that! I have made some good progress on the long runners too, just not enough to get them off the list!

Read:

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery

Star Trap by Simon Brett

Act Like It by Lucy Parker

Pretty Face by Lucy Parker

Making Up by Lucy Parker

Venetia by Georgette Heyer

The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker

Headliners by Lucy Parker

Quick Curtain by Alan Melville

Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais

Started:

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Femina by Janina Ramirez*

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*

A restrained week in purchasing – which we can chalk up to lingering guilt after the spree that was Bristol and the fact that I didn’t walk past Foyles when I was in London last week!

Bonus photo: an aperol spritz and curly fries. So orange, but so good!

An * next to a 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: August 15 – August 21

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The week started in Bristol at the end of conference and then had more nights in London than usual because of the train strikes. But the list is actually pretty good – the new to me books include a couple of my conference purchases, a new release, the latest Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes book and a whole bunch of romantic comedies. The extra nights away from home explain why the still reading list is so long – a lot of the stuff on it is actual books – some of them hardbacks – which are at home and I was not!

Read:

Dimsie Carries On by Dorita Fairlie Bruce

The Twist of the Knife by Anthony Horowitz*

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

The Friendship Pact by Jill Shalvis

Donut Fall In Love by Jackie Lau

Castle Shade by Laurie R King

A Time to Dance by Robina Beckles Willson

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters

In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer*

Started:

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery

Still reading:

Godemersham Park by Gill Hornby*

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor

Femina by Janina Ramirez*

Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra*

Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais

Four books at the National Trust secondhand bookshop on the way home from conference. And another one at Foyles. And then a couple of ebooks. Oopsie daisy.

Bonus photo: the gardens at Dyrham Park, the aforementioned National Trust house on Monday. It was delightful.

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

The pile

End of the first half of 2022

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It’s the last day of June! How?! Where did the first half of the year go? And why did I write 2020 in the title of this post when I started putting it together? I mean I think the answer to that is the fact that it does sometimes feel like we got to March 2020 and never left it…

Anyway I started pulling together my favourite books of the years so far for this post, but it got way too long and unwieldy so I have split it up and it’s going to be two posts. Tomorrow it’s the stats as usual, then we have the quick reviews next week but there’ll also be a Fifty States 2022 update too.

I would say that so far in 2022 it has been the year of rereading. Last year I was revisiting old favourites mostly by listening to them on audiobook, this year it’s been actual rereading as well and going back through some of my favourite series. And although I’m still reading a lot of romance and mystery, in the last month I’ve also read a bunch of stuff that’s not either of those so maybe I’m finally starting to emerge from the anxiety related quest for resolution and happy endings? We can hope.

The pile

Books Incoming: mid January

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I suppose technically it’s late January now, but hey, I make the rules! Anyway, here is a quick look at the latest additions to the physical tbr pile!

So arriving this week are a couple of books I ordered for my birthday – The Tortoise and the Hare in a delightful Virago Hardback edition – to match the others as seen on the shelf last week. Or not quite match as the case may be but you know what I mean. The copy of Greg Jenner‘s Ask A Historian is a signed one that I ordered ages ago, but for reasons has only just appeared this week and the Anne de Courcy is the one I mentioned buying in the Vanderbilt-adjacent recommendsday post. The other four are the result of a trip to The Works on Monday, where I remain pathologically unable to resist their three for £5 offer and then added in the short history of Europe because it was super cheap (and not in the deal). My lack of willpower really should be legendary at this point shouldn’t it! Anyway, as always these will pop up on the week in books list sooner or later – Tortoise and the Hare potentially sooner because I read an email newsletter about it the other day that prompted me to buy a copy – and in fact this is the second copy that I have bought – because the first one (from Amazon) never made it to me – the delivery tracker tells me that it was damaged in transit and returned, which is quite something.