Verity Reads Books (lots of them)
In which our heroine attempts to tame the to-read pile
If this had been last weekend, there would only have been two books in this picture. I bought the Roman Beaird and the Rory Carroll at the airport on the way to Pisa. But then I went into Foyles on Monday night, and bought the new Alexandria Bellefleur and the Kayla Olson, and when I got home on Thursday the other two had arrived – after taking so long (in the way that second hand orders often do) that I had forgotten I had ordered them in the first place!
I’m back with another stack of books that I’ve managed to acquire some how. There’s two pre-orders here – the new Vinyl Detective and Steven Rowley’s The Celebrants, which has been out in the US for ages but has only just got here. Then there’s my two purchases on the way to Portugal – which were When Grumpy Met Sunshine and Death at the Chateau. Then there’s the books I brought back from Portugal. Seven Scamps was a belated birthday gift and the two Julia books are loans (I think!) from the same friend. The Patricia Wentworth, Susan Elizabeth Philips and Jenny Colgan were acquisitions from the book exchange in Portugal. And then at the very back is Delayed Rays of a Star which was an impulse purchase second hand. So just a few then…
Have a great weekend!
So I’ve pulled the trigger on an emergency Books Incoming because the pile of books that have arrived was getting very tall and a little wobbly, and that was before the arrivals while I was in Portugal. So here we are. To be fair, the mid-month post was early this month, and the photo was taken before Manila, so it was more a late February arrivals situation, but still. Ahem.
Half of this post is preorders of new releases – the RuPaul (which is signed!), the Armistead Maupin and the two Angela Thirkells – as Virago appear to have decided to release some more, which is going to mean another rearranging of the bookshelves! Then we have the airport purchases on the war to the Philippines – the Nita Prose sequel to The Maid and the new Tessa Bailey because I was intrigued by the idea of a golf romance!
The actual Manila purchases are the Beverly Jenkins, Susan Elizabeth Philips – which I have read but via the library and was such a bargain I couldn’t leave it in the shop and the final part of Angel Catbird which you can just about see at the back. And finally there’s the Diane Mott Davidson, which as I mentioned in the Goldy Schulz post is the last reasonably priced one that I can find.
And that’s it – as if it wasn’t enough! – until the next post at least and the pile is already not that small…
As the title says, this is slightly earlier in the month than it would usually be, but as you know, I’ve been Away for work and I was planning all of this out before I went and this just seemed to make sense. Anyway, what you’re seeing here are the books in Ann Granger‘s Campbell and Carter series that I haven’t read yet, a book in the Herring series that I picked up in Foyles the other week on a whim, the new Martha Waters that I mentioned the other week and a couple that you’ve already heard about – At First Spite and one of the volumes of the Fence series. I know that I’ve got a lot of stuff arriving in March – because I’ve got pre-orders in but also because I always buy books at the airport and for the trip and I try to go to bookshops in countries that I visit and so there’s a chance there’ll be more from that. So watch this space!
Not going to lie, I didn’t want to do this post because, well you’ll see. But I do try to be honest here and so here is some transparency…
We enter 2024 with the to read pile bigger than ever. I’d love to say that all the books in front of the shelves are borrowed, but they’re not. I’ve just expanded beyond the shelves – which I said I wouldn’t do. It’s been a little this way all year, but has got worse in the last few months as I’ve been away from home a lot and so reading off the kindle and not physical books, and while I was trying to finish off the 50 states. So my goal for this year is to try and get back into *just* having the bookshelf of unread books and not piles nearby too. Wish me luck everyone…
Taking a break from my end of the year wrap ups to post my Christmas book arrivals – and they’re just what I wanted! However did everyone know what I was hoping for? Truly a Christmas miracle. I started Capote’s Women on Christmas Day, and will carry on with it just as soon as I’ve finished those last few states…
Happy Christmas everyone! I hope you’re all having a delightful day filled with whatever you want to be doing and hopefully lots of lovely food. And that you got the books you wanted of course. I’ve checked off another four of my missing states so I may still get the list finished before the end of the rest! Wish me luck.
Read:
Tempest by Beverly Jenkins
The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan
Six Geese a’ Slaying by Kathleen Bacus
Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score
The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters
Cowboy Dancing All Night by Jessie Gussman
Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello*
Started:
If Only You Knew by Kristen Higgins
Still reading:
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
Animal, Vegetable, Criminal by Mary Roach
Seven books bought and another preordered – there’s a sale on Beverly Jenkins and I needed to get the new Rivers of London ordered.
Bonus photo: a pile of presents (not for me) because if can’t post another gratuitous Christmas picture on actual Christmas Day when can I?!
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
Here we are with the pre-Christmas book haul. The Judi Dench was a whole saga, because the first copy went missing in the post and I didn’t think Simon at Big Green Books would have another one, but I got really lucky and he had a return. Which I got delivered to my parents’ house just to be safe! Then there’s a little batch of career novels which I treated myself to, another of the Edward Marston ship mysteries and two books from Foyles last week because I can’t help myself! Now depending on the amount of books I get for Christmas you may get a Christmas special books incoming, but I’m not sure yet, so I’m reserving the right to change my mind and bundle it all into January!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Well, the like was tiny this month for ages – just the Fangirl manga and then… well. The Worrals and the James Bond came from the vintage warehouse (same as the last Worrals did), the Vanderbeekers was a preorder that I had forgotten I had made (the best sort of preorder!), the Pamela Brown was a secondhand purchase after I saw a recommendation and the Dallergut Department Store and the Edward Marsden were the result of a trip to Foyles on Tuesday before the theatre after I’d seen Dallergut mentioned in Waterstones’ new book email and wanted to check it out. And of course I can’t just buy one book, it’s always two! I am going to try and control myself now in the run in to Christmas but I know I’ll have at least one in the photo this time next month – because I already have the dispatch email for it!
Have a great weekend!
Well, I’ve already read nearly fifty percent of this month’s acquisitions – which is quite a lot for me as you all know. Anyway, what’s on the pile? The first to arrive was the Tom Hanks, which only just missed last month’s post. I haven’t read it yet and it’s had mixed reviews, but I don’t care because my copy is signed! Then having really enjoyed the Fixer-Upper mysteries, Gower Street Waterstones enabled me to try one of Kate Carlisle’s other series, from that same trip I got Buried in the Country and the Laetitia Rodd mystery.
Then there are the latest arrivals in the summer romance releases – Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman and The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren and this week’s purchase, Mrs Nash’s Ashes. Then there’s the new Rivers of London (already read it!) and the new Andrew Cartmel. And finally there’s two more cozy crimes – both from series that I’ve read before – the Silver Six crafting series and the Library Lovers. And that’s your lot – four were preordered, the rest were… not, which means it’s actually not as impulsive as it looks. Or that’s what I’m telling myself!
Have a great Saturday and buy a book!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 