books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: November 27 – December 3

So I may have slipped up a bit in the book buying stakes this week – but it’s nearly Christmas and there are offers.  My main task in the next few weeks has got to be finishing off #ReadHarder2017 – I’ve really got to pull my finger out now…

Read:

The One that Got Away by Melissa Pimentel

Need You Now by Emma Douglas

China Court by Rumer Godden

The Finch that Stole Christmas by Donna Andrews

The Christmas Surprise by Jenny Colgan

Marling Hall by Angela Thirkell

Started:

Runout Groove by Andrew Cartmel

Paris for One by Jojo Moyes

French Poems of the Great War translated by Ian Higgins

Maybe This Christmas by Sarah Morgan

Still reading:

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

The Square and the Tower by Niall Ferguson

1 book and 3 ebooks bought – and 4 collectable Girl’s Own books, which count but sort of don’t!

 

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: November 20 – November 26

In case you missed it over the weekend – here are my first two Christmas book suggestion posts: Books for Him and Books for Her.  The post with books that I want for Christmas is coming this week.  Meanwhile it’s been a murderous week of reading!

Read:

Gone Gull by Donna Andrews

And Death Goes To… by Laura Bradford

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

Hollywood Hang Ten by Eve Goldberg

Rivers of London: Cry Fox 1 by Ben Aaronovitch et al

New Romancer 3 by Peter Milligan and Brett Parson

Historically Dead by Greta McKennan

Started:

The Square and the Tower by Niall Ferguson

The One that Got Away by Melissa Pimentel

Still reading:

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

China Court by Rumer Godden

Marling Hall by Angela Thirkell

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

I bought quite a few books this week – but they were all presents, so they don’t count!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: November 13 – November 19

Still too many on the still-reading list, but I’m working on it.  I’m also still working on my #Noirville entries. And regular readers may already have an idea as to what tomorrow’s BotW might be…

Read:

Clouds in my Coffee by Julie Mulhern

Imprudence by Gail Carriger

My Name is Markham by Jodi Taylor

The Perfect Storm by Jodi Taylor

Mystery in White by J Jefferson Farjeon

A Murder for the Books by Victoria Gilber

A Gentleman of Fortune by Anna Dean

Started:

Gone Gull by Donna Andrews

Still reading:

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

China Court by Rumer Godden

Marling Hall by Angela Thirkell

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

Still no books bought. But I’m not getting ahead of myself and getting smug, no indeed, because that way lies complacency and book buying!

Adventure, Young Adult

Book of the Week: A Spy in the House

This is quite a short post this week, because I’ve been busy with those #Noirville entries, but what could be more up my street than a Victorian-set adventure mystery with a feisty teen girl as a heroine? Not a lot, and that’s why Y S Lee’s A Spy in the House is this week’s BotW pick!

Paperback copy of the Agency

Mary Quinn is rescued from the gallows by a school for girls that’s actually cover for a female spy agency.  At 17 she gets her chance to prove herself when she’s sent to help with an investigation by taking a job as a paid companion to the daughter of a shipping magnate. Once she’s in the house though she ends up getting more involved than she’s meant to and soon she may be in over her head. On top of all this, there are secrets in Mary’s past which seem like they may be linked to the mystery.

Mary is an interesting and feisty heroine and the story is fast-paced and exciting. I think this is aimed at a YA audience and it would make a great next step for teens who’ve outgrown (or want the next step) from the Wells and Wong series or the Sinclair mysteries and who aren’t quite  ready for full on-adult mysteries yet. This has a developing love interest, but nothing too full on or adult-contenty if you know what I mean.

This is the first in a series and I’ll definitely be looking out for the others.  You should be able to get hold of a copy from all the usual sources (like Big Green Bookshop)- and it’s available on Kindle and Kobo too.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: November 5 – November 12

I officially have too many books on the go at once.  Admittedly some of them are hardbacks and I’ve been staying away from home a lot, but some of them are books I’ve started and not got into and ended up leaving in favour of something else.  So this week I’m going to try and do something about that – either finish some of them or give up and cull them.   And I’ve still got more #Noirville entries to read too…

Read:

Holiday Wishes by Jill Shalvis

Altered to Death by Christina Freeburn

A Spy in the House by Y S Lee

The Deep End by Julie Mulhern

Paper Girls Vol 3 by Brian K Vaughan et al

The Very First Damned Thing by Jodi Taylor

The Great St Mary’s Day out by Jodi Taylor

Started:

Imprudence by Gail Carriger

Clouds in my Coffee by Julie Mulhern

Still reading:

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

China Court by Rumer Godden

Mystery in White by J Jefferson Farjeon

Marling Hall by Angela Thirkell

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

No  books bought at all – although 2 pre-orders did arrive on my Kindle.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: October 30 – November 5

Round Two of #Noirville arrived this week, so that’s where some of my reading time has gone, but it’s also been a super busy week.  It happens.

Read:

My Kind of Wonderful by Jill Shalvis

Nobody But You by Jill Shalvis

The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin

The Wyndhams Went To Wales by Mabel Esther Allan

Seeds of Revenge by Wendy Tyson

Only Beloved by Mary Balogh

Started:

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

A Spy in the House by YS Lee

Still reading:

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

China Court by Rumer Godden

Mystery in White by J Jefferson Farjeon

Marling Hall by Angela Thirkell

 

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: October 23 – October 29

Plenty of late night train journeys for reading this week and some progress down the pile. Some excellent books, some… not, but it was all enjoyable on some level.

Read:

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

Kidnappers at Elmhurst School by Betty Laws

Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis

To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski (writing as Sarah Russell)

Get Me the Urgent Biscuits by Sweetpea Slight

Moonstruck 1 by Grace Ellis et al

Top Secret Twenty One by Janet Evanovich

The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin

Started:

Mystery in White by J Jefferson Farjeon

Marling Hall by Angela Thirkell

Still reading:

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin

China Court by Rumer Godden

No actual books bought, but two ebooks bought…

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: October 16 – October 22

Another week with lots of work and lots of unpacking.  So another steady week of reading.  What can you do?!

Read:

The Doctor’s Engagement by Sarah Morgan

Cold as Ice by Julie Mulhern

Dancer in Danger by Lorna Hill

Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett

Death at the Alma Mater by GM Malliet

Started:

Get Me the Urgent Biscuits by Sweetpea Slight

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

Still reading:

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin

The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin

China Court by Rumer Godden

No actual books bought, but three ebooks bought.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: October 9 – October 15

My house has furniture again!  More importantly my books are back – as you’ll know if you’ve read my new State of the Pile post.  But all the unpacking means that I haven’t read as many books as I was hoping for this week – although I have started making inroads into the newly returned backlog!

Read:

Moonlight over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan

Fireworks in Paradise by Kathi Daley

Margaret finds a Future by Mabel Esther Allen

Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich

Blue Ridge Sunrise by Denise Hunter

Started:

The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin

China Court by Rumer Godden

Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett

Still reading:

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin

And given the state of the aforementioned pile, I’m redoubling my efforts not to buy books and so I have been newly virtuous and haven’t bought anything this week.  Lets see how long that lasts…

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week In Books: October 2 – October 8

A week off work – where we should have been going on holiday, but ended up working on the house.  So not as much reading time as I would have had had I been on the beach.  But the list is deceptive – I’ve also read my 30+ first round submissions for #Noirville and I can’t wait to tell you about my favourites!

Read:

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

The Ninja’s Illusion by Gigi Pandian

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

In the Market for Murder by TE Kinsey

Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott

Started:

The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin

 Still reading:

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Moonlight over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan

 I may have bought a few books – but then I was on holiday and what’s a girl to do? You’ve got to have a holiday book or two!*

*NB actually six – two ebooks and four actual books.