So the elbow is still giving me trouble, but I did find time to sit down and finish The Underground Railroad. And I’ve properly started my Christmas reading kick now – with two festive short stories, finishing the Christmas Meg Langslow and starting a holiday-themed Sarah Morgan. I foresee this situation continuing.
Read:
Duck the Halls by Donna Andrew
The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
Silent Night by Deanna Raybourn
Twelfth Night by Deanna Raybourn
The Wangs vs the World by Jade Chang
Herring on the Nile by L C Tyler
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
Started:
What Nora Knew by Linda Yellin
The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh
Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan
Still reading:
n/a
One book bought – to get some free postage for a Christmas present. Progress!
A quite while back now (September, yikes) I had a little look ahead to some of the books that I was excited about this autumn. And now I’ve read a few of my picks, I thought it was time to give you an update in the form of a bonus post…
Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple(6 October)
I was worried about hating this, but this is neither good Semple or bad Semple – it’s somewhere in between. But the good news here, is that I’ve worked out what I like about Maria Semple’s writing and what I don’t. I don’t like being inside the head of her female leads – they’re self-centred, middle-aged quirky-to-the-point-of-irritation and they drive me crazy. But viewed through the eyes of someone else (more normal) they can be funny and touching. And that’s why I liked …Bernadette – because she’s not there for most of the time and it’s Bee who’s trying to work out what’s going on. This didn’t make me tear my hair out like This One is Mine did, but it did make me vaguely annoyed. So lesson for the future: if Semple’s next book is written from the perspective of a woman with children then I won’t bother reading it.
The Wangs vs The World by Jade Chang(3 November)
Well I liked this, but I didn’t love it. May be I was reading it too soon after Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians, or maybe the fractured elbow was impeding my sense of humour. I think my problem is that there wasn’t a family member that I loved – and I wanted to fall in love with one (or more of them). Each of them has a frustration (or two) about them which stopped me from embracing this as fully as some of the people I’ve heard recommending it have. It’s a good road trip book and it was funny in places, but it wasn’t hilarious. And I really wanted it to be.
The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch(3 November)
I loved this so much. So much. There’s magic, and the super-rich and posh school kids and all sorts of new complications. If you like the other books in the series, I suspect you’ll like this – but the overarching story is not finished yet and there is a frustration that comes with that, along with a delight that there should/will be more from Peter and the Folly. I read it too quickly – once I started reading it that is – and now I suspect I may have a long wait until the next installment appears. I’ll have to console myself with the graphic novels in the interim.
I still haven’t read Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson(22 September) or How to Party with an Infant by Kuai Hart Hemmings(8 September) because I haven’t managed to get copies of them yet, but I live in hope that one or both of them may appear in my Christmas stocking…
Ok. So I went ice skating on Monday and fell over and now I have a little fracture in my elbow. The hospital don’t like to immobilise elbows (you lose movement fast and it’s hard to get it back) so until the giant bruise appeared on Saturday I had no evidence of my injury, but I have had lots of sympathy and I’m hopped up on painkillers so it’s fairly ok. I’ve been taking it easy (mostly on the sofa) but I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything serious – or hold heavy books. I called time on The #MonuMeta Social Media Book this week – I’ve tried and tried and tried (I’m not sure the pain helped when I gave it another go in A&E), but I just couldn’t get into it. It’s got great reviews on Goodreads though, so it’s clearly me that has a problem not anyone else!
Read:
The Season by Sarah MacLean
Burke’s Last Witness by C J Dunford
It Must Be Christmas by Jennifer Crusie, Donna Alward and Mandy Baxter
Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber
A Whole Latte Murder by Caroline Fardig
The Best of Dear Coquette by The Coquette
Potent Pleasures by Eloisa James
Started:
The Wangs vs the World by Jade Chang
Duck the Halls by Donna Andrew
Still reading:
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
Perhaps unsurprisingly given my weakened state, I had a kindle spending spree from my sick bed on Tuesday and Foyles were doing 20% off for Black Friday so I bought myself a book along with the ones I was buying as presents, but apart from that I’ve been remarkably restrained. Or at least I think that I have.
I did a lot of work this week – a lot of nights away from home and only one day off in the last seven. Consequently a lot of sleeping and not as much reading time!
Read:
Charlaine Harris’s Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris, Royal McGraw and Ilias Kyriazis
Baron by Joanna Shupe
Hero in the Highlands by Suzanne Enoch
Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood
All I Ever Wanted by Lucy Dillon
Lumberjanes Vol 3: A Terrible Plan by Noelle Stevenson et al
Started:
Potent Pleasures by Eloisa James
The Best of Dear Coquette by The Coquette
Burke’s Last Witness by C J Dunford
Still reading:
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
The #MonuMeta Social Media Book by Roger Warner
The Season by Sarah MacLean
A slight shopping spree in the comic book store – and a few secondhand books to get some free delivery from a well known online retailer, but over all fairly restrained given that I was wandering in Foyles on Tuesday night!
What a crazy week. As you might expect my working life has been very busy and I haven’t got a lot of reading done. Most of what I have read has been short stories with only two full length novels on the list this week, one of which I actually started last week. Fingers crossed normal service will soon be resumed.
Read:
Cheerfulness Breaks In by Angela Thirkell
The Lady Always Wins by Courtney Milan
The Haunted Season by G M Malliet
The Perks of Being a Beauty by Manda Collins
This Wicked Gift by Courtney Milan
Started:
Charlaine Harris’s Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris, Royal McGraw and Ilias Kyriazis
Baron by Joanna Shupe
Still reading:
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
The #MonuMeta Social Media Book by Roger Warner
The Season by Sarah MacLean
On the upside, only one ebook bought and no real books.
Not sure what happened this week, bit of a strange one. A bit of a mini reading slump. I read a few things that I liked, but had trouble settling to some other stuff as well. Not quite sure what caused it, but here’s hoping I’m over it now! On a brigher note, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, Novelicious is back – and my first review since its hiatus is up today – it’s Sarah Morgan’s Miracle on Fifth Avenue and you can read it here.
Read:
Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens
Romancing the Inventor by Gail Carriger
Someone to Love by Mary Balogh
Dark Chocolate Demise by Jenn McKinlay
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
Once Upon a Winter’s Eve by Tessa Dare
Started:
The Season by Sarah MacLean
The Haunted Season by G M Malliet
Still reading:
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
The #MonuMeta Social Media Book by Roger Warner
I bought one book this week – and that was the new one from Cesca Majors at her book launch – which was fab and which I’m looking forward to reading.
If you remember my post about comfort reading, you’ll remember me saying that I one of the genres I turn to is cozy crime. And I’ve been reading an awful lot of them recently, so I have books (and series) to recommend. There are definite trends in cozies, and so I’ve tried to provide some variety – and also go for new/newer series that you might not have come across before. I have lots of old favourites too, but here are some new (or at least new-to-me) series to take a look at.
Max Tudor by GM Malliet
This is the 5th Max Tudor – currently waiting on the to-read pile!
Max Tudor is a vicar – who was in the secret service before he was ordained – which is a nice touch which explains why the police might be willing to have him involved in their investigations (always a problem when your “detective” isn’t actually a police man). He’s unmarried – and the subject of matchmaking among his parishioners – and his eventual choice makes for some nice conflict of its own. I’ve read the first four books in the series (which are all named after seasons) and am keeping my eyes open for the next two. These are fun, clever and witty – even if the author needs to remember that no Land Rover owner would ever call their vehicle a Rover!
Headlines in High Heels by LynDee Walker
I wanted to include some competence porn in here – because I do love a book where the main character is good at their job. Reporters/journalists make great leads in cozy crime series – because they have an excuse for coming across bodies – or at least getting involved in solving mysteries in a way that say… cupcake bakers don’t. But there are some pitfalls. I’ve recently been infuriated by a reporter in a book not doing their basic fact checking (it did come back and bite them, but they shouldn’t/wouldn’t have done it and it shouldn’t be a plot device) and while Nichelle Clarke does have a slightly dodgy (for her job) relationship, for the most part she’s a conscientious reporter who does the job properly. And the cases are interesting too. It didn’t surprise me to find out that the author is a journalist…
Mainely Needlepoint by Lea Wait
I’ve read three (of the four) books in this series and they are well put together mysteries set in Maine. At the start of the series, our heroine, Angie returns to her home town after ten years when her missing mother is finally found. She soon ends up helping her grandmother with her needlework business and sets about trying to reintegrate in a town where she struggled as a child as she tries to work out what she wants in her life. I like Angie, and while these books don’t have the humour in them that I prefer in my cozies, they are interesting and page turning mysteries, even if I do find the references to guns and concealed carry a little disturbing and off-putting as a Brit who is not used to guns being around in every day life!
Amory Ames by Ashley Weaver
Another photo of a book taken on a train. I know. I’m so predictable!
I do love a good book set in the period between the wars – it’s my book sweet spot. So many good series are tucked up in here – my beloved Lord Peter Wimsey, Albert Campion and the early Inspector Alleyns all written at the time and series like Phyrne Fisher, Daisy Dalrymple and the Lord Edward Corinth series. And Ashley Weaver’s Amory Ames series has potential. Amory is a wealthy young woman who has married a playboy and is regretting it. Milo is handsome and charming – but, Amory fears, unreliable and possibly (probably) unfaithful. There are only three books in the series so far – and I’ve read two of them – but this has a complicated central relationship and a sparky heroine and the mysteries are well worked out. I have high hopes for book three.
So there you are. As you can see, I’ve read at least two books in all of these series, more in some cases, because cosy series can take a while to hit their stride… And this feels like only the tip of my cozy crime reading iceberg – to get to this (slender) list of recommendations I’ve read a few turkeys as well! And if this not enough cozy crime for you, in a nice piece of serendipity, I did a similar post this time last year, and those recommendations still stand too! And don’t forget previous BotW picks Death of a Nobody (and Death of a Diva), Earthly Delights and Murder on the Half Shell.
Happy reading – and apologies if this has got a little expensive for you…
A bit of an odd week. I had a couple of days off work and went away for a bit of sightseeing and then the nightshifts caught up with me and I was exhausted for the rest of the week and didn’t get as much reading done as I would have wanted.
Read:
You Can’t Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson
Blessed is the Busybody by Emilie Richards
Forbidden Fruit by Kerry Greenwood
How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Tessa Dare
The Murdstone Trilogy by Mal Peet
Lord Dashwood Missed Out by Tessa Dare
Started:
The #MonuMeta Social Media Book by Roger Warner
Still reading:
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
On the brightside, I didn’t buy any actual books this week, although I did have a bit of a spree on novellas – in particular historical ones – and a few preorders. I need to start making a list and asking for things for Christmas instead. And all the books I ordered during nightshifts have turned up now and I need to start reading them, pronto!
Nightshifts are over! Hurrah! I spent most of the week sleeping, and staying away from home, both of which means I didn’t read as much this week as I usually do on nights (not much commute) but there’s some quite good stuff on the list of stuff I did read. Also, as a side note, Novelicious is back – and I’m reviewing for them again, so more on that soon!
Read:
Eggnog Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross
Front Page Fatality by LynnDee Walker
A Killer Location by Sarah T Hobart
Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver
Wonder Women by Sam Maggs
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse by Alan Bradley
Started:
The Murdstone Trilogy by Mal Peet
Still reading:
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
So, nightshifts. I might have gone a little crazy with the book buying in the early hours of the morning. Twice. Oops. I’ve more than replaced everything I read from the pile this week!
I’ve had a busy week – and lots of different shifts, working my way towards nightshifts – so I’m actually quite pleased with how much I’ve read. We’ll see what happens now the nightshifts are underway…
Read:
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
Dangling by a Thread by Lea Wait
Geek Girl: All Wrapped Up by Holly Smale
Devil’s Food by Kerry Greenwood
Wallace at Bay by Alexander Wilson
Sidney Chambers and the Dangers of Temptation by James Runcie
A Killer’s Guide to Good Works by Shelley Costa
Started:
Wonder Women by Sam Maggs
Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver
Still reading:
The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
And I resisted the urge to buy any books too. I’m almost proud of myself!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 