Verity Reads Books (lots of them)
In which our heroine attempts to tame the to-read pile
Finishing Christmas week with my festive new arrivals. And people have been paying attention! The three books I was given all came from my list and then the other two were gifts to myself in the Waterstones post-Christmas hardback sale. Lovely stuff.
It’s Boxing Day here at the end of a very emotional Christmas week. Big changes at work just before Christmas mean a longer Christmas break for me than usual, so I’m clinging on to that. And Christmas Day was lovely. I’m still on a Meg Langslow binge though… will I ever finish those long runners?!
Read:
To Get to the Other Side by Kelly Ohlert*
The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews
Some Like It Hawk by Donna Andrews
The Many Dates of Indigo by Amber D Samuel*
Hen of the Baskervilles by Donna Andrews
Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews
Started:
The Charity Shop Detective Agency by Peter Boland*
A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong by Cecilia Grant
Still reading:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
The Empire by Michael Ball*
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe
Several books received (watch this space) and the new Rivers of London graphic novel but that’s it…
Bonus photo: what else could it be but a Christmas tree?
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
Ah. Oh dear. Well it’s not really oh dear because I have enjoyed myself. But I have been burning through the Meg Langslow reread – because I was still poorly (or at least not 100 percent) and it was so cold outside and they’re such lovely comfort reads. Of course this means I have no idea what I’m writing about tomorrow! Never mind. It’s nearly Christmas and you’re allowed a treat!
Read:
A Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh
No Nest for the Wicket by Donna Andrews
The Penguin who Knew too Much by Donna Andrews
Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews
Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews
Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews
The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson
Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews
Started:
Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe
Still reading:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Going With the Boys by Judith Mackrell
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
The Empire by Michael Ball*
Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
The Many Dates of Indigo by Amber D Samuel*
To Get to the Other Side by Kelly Ohlert*
Well, I bought a stack of second hand copies in a cozy crime series and they arrived – does that count? And I bought the Patrick Radden Keefe because it was on a kindle deal.
Bonus photo: shamelessly using one of mum’s picture this week as I barely left the house – but here is the Dachshund in the snow – I treated myself to a Christmas hoodie this year that says “Dachshund through the snow” so I’m going to claim this is a festive photo too!
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
A smaller selection this month – and you’ve already seen two of them – Last Hero was a BotW already, and the Rainbow Rowell was a book I bought myself for Christmas! Then there’s a proof copy of Triple Cross that just appeared, my copy of Death of a Necromancer that I contributed to the Kickstarter for (and my bonus content!), the latest – and one of the last Girls Gone By Chalet School Books before my collection is complete and the new Jen DeLuca. Nice.
As I mentioned in last week’s Buy me a Book for Christmas post, I did a bit of purchasing while I was putting that post together, so this weekend, here’s the stuff I bought, in case you need further inspiration!
Firstly I should say that the way that I put together the Buy Me a Book post is the same every year – I go through my Amazon wishlists of Books and my Goodreads to-read shelf to look for books that I’ve added over the course of the year but haven’t bought. And then I go wandering around the various book buying websites to see how easy (or otherwise) they are going to be to get hold of. And secondly I try not to ask for books that might go on offers, be available in the supermarket 2 for however many offers and thirdly I should say that I was writing the original post in November, but it’s now December, so bear that in mind if I’m mentioning offers. Oh – and there are no graphic novels on the list because I buy those from my local comic book store and want to give them the custom.
Fiction picks
And the reason that the Buy me a book post was non-fiction heavy was partly because a lot of the fiction I was after was on some kind of offer! So I picked up the latest Emma Straub novel, This Time Tomorrow, and also the next book in Alexis Hall’s baking show series, Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble. I also preordered the next in Jen DeLuca’s Willow Creek series Well Traveled as well as the new Olivia Dade (which as you know already came out and I’ve already read), and I finally bought Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow. And because I happened to wandering around the Waterstones site, I picked up a signed copy of Rainbow Rowell’s new short story collection Scattered Showers. I did look at the British Library Crime Classics selection too – but that just added a load of books to my Kindle Unlimited list! Finally there’s Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, which was on offer in a special tie-in edition because the movie came out a couple of months back.
Non fiction picks
I’ve had my eye of Julia Boyd’s Travellers in the Third Reich for a while and this year a follow up is out. but both Travellers and A Village in the Third Reich were on offer on Kindle when I was putting the post together so rather than asking for the paperbacks, I just bought them! The new Anne De Courcy about Nancy Cunard (another in that group from the 1920s who pops up a lot) Five Love Affairs and a Friendship was on offer on Kindle at a sensible price for non-fiction, as was Mary Churchill’s War (the wartime diaries of Winston Churchill’s daughter, edited by Emma Soames) and Spying and the Crown by Richard J Aldridge and Rory Cormac. Then there is Heiresses by Laura Thompson, about heiresses from the Seventeenth Century to the present, which is in Kindle Unlimited at the moment, so I borrowed it. Oh What a Lovely Century would also have been on the list for this Christmas – if I hadn’t found that copy in the work charity book sale.
And I think that’s the lot. Have a great weekend everyone!
Books read this month: 30*
New books: 30
Re-reads: 0 – which is frankly astonishing given this year so far
Books from the to-read pile: 8
NetGalley books read: 5
Kindle Unlimited read: 8
Ebooks: 9
Library books: 0
Audiobooks: 0
Non-fiction books: 1
Favourite book this month: Probably Carrie Soto is Back – for all that it took me ages to read
Most read author: SJ Bennett on that binge read of HM the Queen Investigates series
Books bought: Oh dear. Quite a lot. Because of the research for the Christmas books posts. Yes, posts. About 20 books, including a couple of pre-orders. Eeeeeeeeep.
Books read in 2022: 350
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 667
Well. This is quite an interesting list. I have two audiobooks that I’ve nearly finished, but not in time for this list. I’m on a big podcast kick at the moment, and the proportion of my listening time that is audiobooks has gone down. And the fact that I didn’t reread anything is interesting. But then it’s nearly the end of the year and I have been trying to get on top of the NetGalley list again so have focused on that a little. But good progress in reading stuff off the physical to-read pile so that’s good. Win some and lose some.
Bonus picture: an action shot from the figure skating. As I said, hard to do on a phone but this is the best I have!
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 3 this month
So as you’ll see, there is a massive Harper Connelly binge as the start of the week and a weekend away at the end of it. And I still managed to get some other stuff read and made progress on the long runners even if you can’t tell that from the list. So it’s a net yay me. And this is the end of October, so we have all the usual things coming up this week for your delectation.
Read:
Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris
Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris
Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris
Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris
The Hog’s Back Mystery by Freeman Willis Crofts
Rooted in Deceit by Wendy Tyson
Some Hauntings Never Go Out of Fashion by Rose Betancourt
When Stars Collide by Susan Elizabeth Philips
Started:
Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan*
Dashing through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews
Still reading:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
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
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatio Sancho by Paterson Joseph*
The Empire by Michael Ball*
One book bought – but I was going on holiday so it’s practically a requirement!
Bonus photo: some monastic ruins and historic buildings out the back of Canterbury Cathedral cloister. I love a good cathedral.
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
So I spent five nights away from home last week. Five. And that’s probably all you need to know about why the list looks like it does. Still I achieved a lot in the real world – even if I didn’t in the actual reading – so I can’t be cross with myself. I even know what I’m writing about tomorrow already so that’s a bonus too.
Read:
Death in the Tunnel by Miles Burton
A Mansion for Murder by Frances Brody
Double Dip by Gretchen Archer
Cherry Ames: Boarding School Nurse by Helen Wells
Heartstopper: Vol 3 by Alice Oseman
Started:
The Hog’s Back Mystery by Freeman Willis Crofts
Still reading:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
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
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatio Sancho by Paterson Joseph*
The Empire by Michael Ball*
I went to Foyles and bought two books – including that new Kate Shackleton that i mentioned on Friday and have now finished. I also picked up the new Marian Keyes because it was a Kindle deal on Sunday. Apart from that, I’ve been very restrained!
Bonus photo: two bonuses this week – here’s me and my friends out playing mini golf on Tuesday – swipe through to see me celebrating and possible the best photo of me in half a decade. And then check out the flowers I got at the school I visited as a speaker at their careers day on Friday!
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
Well I’m making some progress on some of the long runners, but the first week back from holiday has been a super busy one. But it always is. And I don’t think this week coming is going to be any calmer. But we will see.
Read:
April Lady by Georgette Heyer
Murder at the Theatre Royale by Ada Montcrieff*
A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E Grant
A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone*
A Dancer from the Abbey by Elsie J Oxenham
Fangirl Vol 2 by Rainbow Rowell and Sam Maggs
Started:
Death in the Tunnel by Miles Burton
The Empire by Michael Ball*
Still reading:
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
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
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatio Sancho by Paterson Joseph*
Did I buy anything this week? I don’t think I did. So that’s something right?
Bonus photo: back on my walk through Fitzroy Square after the holiday!
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
Another hectic week. I’m working on that huge ongoing list and I will get there eventually. If only so many of them weren’t hardbacks! Still at least September is over. Please, please, please can October be a better month. Please.
Read:
Dead Room Face by Simon Brett
The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger
To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear
A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
The Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters
Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear
A Visible Man by Edward Enninful*
Started:
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
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
Yeah – at least six. But I’m not counting. I deserve a treat.
Bonus photo: I feel like my empty pill packets for the antivirals make a good metaphor for how empty I feel after September!
An * next to a book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
