Tag: to-read pile

Authors I love, books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: March 7 – March 13

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So I didn’t go to the theatre last week, but it was another busy one. A real mix of reading too – with a few library books coming due that I finished off and more of the aforementioned Sookie Stackhouse reread as well. Probably not making as much progress on the NetGalley list as I should be so might have to tackle that a bit more this week…

Read:

Summer Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews*

Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claibourne Johnson

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

Started:

The Editor by Steven Rowley

The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis

The Radical Element ed Jessica Spotswood*

It Takes Two by Cathy Newman*

Still reading:

The Story of a Life by Konstantin Paustovsky*

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson*

I had a mega book buying spree – Virago were doing their designer hardbacks at fifty percent off and I filled in a few gaps in the collection. I just couldn’t help myself.

Bonus photo: I know, not the most exciting picture this week, but at least it looks a bit like spring is coming – this was Fitzroy Square on the walk to work last week!

 

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

 

Authors I love, books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 28 – March 6

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As I mentioned on Saturday, this week hasn’t really been any better than last week and was certainly as busy. I’m still deep into the mystery and romance section of my tbr shelves (physical and virtual) because I can’t deal with any more uncertainty right now, but I did finish two non-fiction books last week, which were eyeopening and depressing for completely different reasons, so I’m not all happy endings and resolutions. This week coming, I’m in the office again for at least one day, so there will be some train reading, and it’s also the first week in six (!) that I don’t have a theatre trip booked. And now that I’ve worked that out and written that down, I realise how much theatre I’ve done over the last month, and am also wondering if I can squeeze a trip to something in this week too. I mean after all it really does lift my mood…

Read:

Silver Street by Ann Stafford

The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer

Sex Cult Nun by Faith Jones

Cold Clay by Juneau Black*

The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer

Unnatural Death by Dorothy L Sayers

Get Rich or Lie Trying by Symeon Brown*

Island of the Mad by Laurie R King

Who’s Calling by Helen McCloy*

Started:

Summer Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews*

Still reading:

The Story of a Life by Konstantin Paustovsky*

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson*

Bonus photo: I could have done another photo of a theatre before a show, because I went to see Bedknobs and Broomsticks on stage on Friday night, but I thought that might be gratuitous theatre pictures, so instead I offer you my Saturday night on the sofa with a book. Because if I’m not at work or at the theatre, that’s my default spot right now!

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

 

Book of the Week, Forgotten books

Book of the Week: Silver Street

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I said yesterday that I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about today – and here’s the answer – I finished this on Monday evening, so it’s a bit of a cheat but hey you’re used to that now!

Ann Stafford’s Silver Street follows a group of people from Armistice Day in 1918 through til 1932. Although initially unconnected, by the end their lives have all intertwined, mostly because of Alice Gedge a former ladies maid who ended the war as a supervisor of a group of clerks at a Ministry but who, when the men return becomes a “treasure” – aka a rather superior sort of daily maid to the residents of a building in Silver Street. Over the years the tenants include an elderly woman who likes to hold court for her birthday, a spinster who works as a social worker, two independent young women, a newly married couple and a single young man. And on top of that there’s Alice’s husband and her two children.

This is quite an every day story of normal people and normal lives – where there is no huge drama, I mean except your future happiness, but not death or peril if that makes sense. It’s not comic, but it’s not tragic – it’s closer to Barbara Pym than Miss Buncle but it’s another example of a novel by a women, first published in 1935 and now a bit forgotten and as such was right in my wheelhouse. And yes I know that Barbara Pam isn’t forgotten, but you know what I mean. I read it in two sittings – and it would have been finished for last week’s list if we hadn’t gone out for the day on Sunday and I didn’t have space in my bag to take it with me – even if I hadn’t borrowed it from someone and not wanted to mess it up!

My copy is on loan from a friend and this is going to be one of the harder books to get hold of I’m afraid – as it’s published by a small house and there is no ebook version. So if you want to read it, please buy it from Greyladies here. And mum, if you’re still reading and haven’t already messaged me to ask, yes, you can borrow it.

Happy Reading!

Authors I love, books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 21 – February 27

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Well. It really was quite a week wasn’t it. I mean so much going on. So very, very much. And as you might be able to tell, I’ve plunged into a massive Sookie Stackhouse re-read to deal with it all as well as listening to Georgette Heyer and Amelia Peabody. It’s been delightful, but I have actually no idea what I’m going to write about tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll work it out though.

Read:

Death by Intermission by Alexis Morgan

Pat’s Pantry by Rhoda Baxter

The Case of the Late Pig by Margery Allingham

Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

Started:

Silver Street by Ann Stafford

The Start of Something by Miranda Dickinson*

Still reading:

The Story of a Life by Konstantin Paustovsky*

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Sex Cult Nun by Faith Jones

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Bonus photo: We went to London on Sunday for a day out and so here is a picture of Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial looking delightful in the wintry sunshine, just after the Changing of the Guard finished.

Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial on Sunday Morning

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

 

Authors I love, books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 14 – February 20

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An interesting week in reading – revisiting an old friend in Sookie Stackhouse and also re-reading Thrones, Dominations for the first time in a few years and in the light of my newly intensive listening of the proper Peter and Harriet books. Then I got a couple more states ticked off the map of America with a couple more books in cozy crime series that I like – and when my library hold for Well Matched came in. Really quite a satisfying week in reading.

Read:

Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanna Fluke

Home Work by Julie Andrews

Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh

The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories by Charlaine Harris

Playing for Love by Jeevani Charika*

Pumpkin Spice Peril by Jen McKinlay

Well Matched by Jen De Luca

Started:

Sex Cult Nun by Faith Jones

Fire Court by Andrew Taylor*

Death by Intermission by Alexis Morgan

Still reading:

The Story of a Life by Konstantin Paustovsky*

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Bonus photo:  I went to the theatre – again – last week, so it’s another gratuitous theatre photo – this time from the Six the Musical tour.

Shot of a the stage for Six the musical before it started

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

 

book round-ups, previews, Uncategorized

Books incoming: February edition

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Honestly I am amazed at my own restraint. No seriously. And actually I’m also pretty transparent. The Jenn McKinlay is the book I told you I bought in the Cupcake Bakery post. Poison for a Teacher is because of Death Goes On Skis. Lions of Fifth Avenue is because I was shopping for a birthday book for my mum (hi mum!) and bought this for myself at the same time, and the Unforgettable Guinevere St Clare is something I had my eye on for the 50 States Challenge last year so I treated myself to it for this year’s edition. There are two more books that haven’t arrived yet – I put in an order for the Antony Sher memoir and also a book about musicals, but everything else has been an ebook or a preorder…

Authors I love, books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 7 – February 13

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Another really busy week, finishing in me staying up until all hours on Sunday night watching the Rams win the Super Bowl. I continue to try and work my way through the Paustovsky, but it is slow going and other books are really quite tempting as being easier and lighter going…

Read:

Death Goes on Skis by Nancy Spain

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

Shady Hollow by Juneau Black*

The Prize Racket by Isabel Rogers

Rivers of London: Monday, Monday by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel et al

Prologue to Murder by Lauren Elliot

Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L Sayers

Started:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton

Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanna Fluke

Still reading:

The Story of a Life by Konstantin Paustovsky*

Home Work by Julie Andrews

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Three pre-orders and another Nancy Spain. All in actual copies. I don’t think I bought any kindle books last week, which might be a record in recent weeks…

Bonus photo: Another week – another trip to the theatre. This time it was to see Heathers at The Other Palace. I did three theatre trips in nine days – which is almost back to pre-pandemic levels so was really quite reassuring and normal!

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

 

Authors I love, books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 31 – February 6

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Okay – blimey Charlie the Konstantin Paustovsky is long. And I also had two nights out in London last week. So the Still Reading list is looking longer – as the Nancy Spain and the Julie Andrews are actual books. But I might have finished one of them if it wasn’t for the arrival of The Two Mrs Abbotts on Saturday – which was my first pick from the Persephone Book a Month subscription I got given for Christmas, and which I just couldn’t resist reading straightaway!

Read:

The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L Sayers

The Smuggler’s Secret by Annabelle Sami*

Flying High by Perdita Cargill*

The Dead Side of the Mike by Simon Brett

Seeing a Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters

The Two Mrs Abbotts by D E Stevenson

Started:

Shady Hollow by Juneau Black*

The Prize Racket by Isabel Rogers

Still reading:

Death Goes on Skis by Nancy Spain

The Story of a Life by Konstantin Paustovsky*

Home Work by Julie Andrews

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Bonus photo: As part of the London trip on Saturday, as well as going to see Elizabeth and Mary, we went for a wander around the National Gallery, where as well as seeing the Blue Boy, I spotted this rather faboulous John Singer Sargent.

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

 

Authors I love, books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 24 – January 30

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This is a week of mostly audiobooks. Can’t quite figure out why, except that the Paustovsky book is really long and I’ve been trying to prioritise reading it, and I’ve done a lot of cooking and wandering around this week and that’s when I tend to listen to audiobooks. I wish I had more exciting things to say today, but really this has been a busy week and my brain is frazzled!

Read:

Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham

Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L Sayers

Too Much Blood by Simon Brett

Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh

Capital Crimes ed Martin Edwards

Beware False Profits by Emilie Richards

Started:

The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian

Home Work by Julie Andrews

Worn by Sofi Thanhauser*

Still reading:

Death Goes on Skis by Nancy Spain

The Story of a Life by Konstantin Paustovsky*

Several preorders dropped onto the kindle, and as mentioned in the post, I bought the next Cupcake Bakery book in the series…

Bonus photo: did I go to Ikea after work on Tuesday and buy more houseplants? Why yes I did!

Houseplants in an ikea trolley

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

 

not a book

Bookshelfie: Romance and cozy crime

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In the last Bookshelfie post we were in the front of the house, with books in my fanciest set of shelves. Today, we’re at the back of the house and a much more crammed full shelf, where you will spot some old friends of mine – including a stack you may recognise from yesterday’s Series I Love post! And you can also see a couple of problems I have here too. Last time out, I mentioned my shelving issues with the Viragos, well here we have the shelving issue with the Gail Carriger. No, I don’t know why my Heartless is a different size to the rest of the set. Yes, I do know why the Custard Protocol changed size – the publishing deal changed and they have a different cover model to the US version as well as the difference in sizes.

Then there is the historical romance collection. And the eagle eyed will spot that I have a UK edition of Brazen and the Beast and a US one. The UK one is because I wanted Sarah MacLean to sign it when I went to her tea party. The US one is because I couldn’t bear the non matching set. Behind the front row of Sarah Macleans are the Eloisa James’s – mostly in US mass markets, but a few in UK paperback. Also hiding in the back row are my Julia Quinn books – which are a mix of my favourite Bridgertons and then a selection from the Bevelstoke and Smythe-Smith series.

Also hidden in the back row are a couple of old favourites – there are three Melissa Nathan novels (how is it fifteen years since she died?) and my favourite Sarah Mason Playing James (I hope she’s still writing somewhere out there under a different name that I don’t know about), an aged Carole Matthews, Welcome to the Real World which is both the first book of hers I read and still my enduring favourite – it’s about an aspiring singer who gets her big break on a tv singing competition the same week she lands a job as PA to an opera singer who, unbeknown to her is the newest judge on the very talent show she’s about to be a contestant on. To the far sides of the front we have crime – historical crime on the left with Frances Brody and cozy crime on the right with Jenn McKinlay’s Cupcake Bakery series (as discussed yesterday). Further back are some of her library lovers books as well as some odds and ends of other cozy crime series. And finally, there’s also the baseball I caught at Nationals Park when I was in D.C. – although I still deny that I elbowed anyone out of the way to get to it though and credit my success to catching practice with my dad back in primary school cricket days!

It’s not the most obvious of stuff to put on a shelf together at first glance, but I promise there is reason there: it’s favourite authors and books at my eyeline in fairly logical order. They’re all books that I might want to lay my hands on in a hurry for a reread. Case in point I took the photo for this post after I’d already written half of the post and wrote the whole thing on the sofa, only going to the shelf right at the end to check that it was the Nathan, Matthews and Mason in the back row – the only book I had forgotten was there was Bridget Jones! I definitely can’t claim the same level of familiarity with the other shelves in this bookcase. But that’s a story for another day…