At the start of January (in December stats in fact) I promised you a more in depth look at my reading and rating patterns. And then I forgot about it until I was doing January stats. So I’m rectifying that now!
I noticed when I was putting together the December stats that the number of 5 star ratings I give out has been creeping up at a rate that’s disproportionate to the increase in books that I’ve read. And it led me to wonder why. Am I getting less fussy/discerning? Am I just picking amazing books to read?
The answer is a bit of both I think, but mostly the latter. I think I have, on occasion, reached for the 5 star rating too often. But I have also discovered new authors that I love and then whistled my way through their back catalogues at a rate of knots, instead of at a rate of a book a year (or however often they bring out a new book). I’ve also got a lot better at decoding back covers and reviews and working out what I’m going to enjoy and skipping over the stuff that I won’t. Then there’s my large to-read pile, loaded with books that I’ve heard good things about, from sources that I trust. And the pile also means that I can ignore stuff I’m not sure about (for ages) and go straight to the good stuff!
So what am I going to do about it? I’m going to try and have an extra cogitate before I rate books in Goodreads and try not to reach for 5 too often. But beyond that, all I can do is rate honestly and continue to work my way down the pile. And I’d always rather read a book I love than one I detest (who doesn’t) so all I can do is be honest and explain my choices.
Another strange week for me. I’m not entirely sure why, but long days and commuter trains may again have something to do with my inability to settle down to a book as well as usual. In the traditional one post two days late or two posts a day late each, the latter option has won – and January Stats will be tomorrow with Book of the Week on Wednesday.
Read:
My American Duchess by Eloisa James
Freeze my Margarita by Lauren Henderson
Bettany’s on the Home Front by Helen Barber
The Marble Collector by Cecilia Ahern
Rivers of London: Body Work 1 by Ben Aaronovich, Andrew Cartmel and Lee Sullivan
Mystery of the Skeleton Key by Bernard Capes
Started:
The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin
Whispers Underground by Ben Aaranovich
Still reading:
The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams
Sisters on Bread Street by Frances Brody
Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes
One e-book comic bought – and a pre-ordered novella arrived. I’m still clutching my book tokens and trying to resist the urge to spend!
A fit of indecision and some standing only train journeys are to blame for the somewhat shorter than usual list. I’ve started a few good books though and adopted a short stories by the bed policy. I’ll keep you posted!
Read:
London Rain by Nicola Upson
Death with an Ocean View by Nora Charles
Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury
Queen Lucia by E F Benson
Started:
Sisters on Bread Street by Frances Brody
The Marble Collector by Cecilia Ahern
Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes
My American Duchess by Eloisa James
Still reading:
Freeze my Margarita by Lauren Henderson
The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams
I don’t think I bought any books this week – but I did get a book token as a belated gift, so a spree may be imminent!
So, it was my birthday last week and we went to Barcelona to celebrate for a few days. Thus there was reading time on flights, in departure lounges, late at night etc. So a fun week’s reading.
Read:
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
The Girl from the Opera House by Nancy Carson
Geek Drama by Holly Smale
Far in the Wilds by Deanna Raybourn
Black Rubber Dress by Lauren Henderson
The Astonishing Return of Norah Wells by Virginia MacGregor
Charlotte Bronte’s Secret Lover by Jolien Janzing
Stars over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner
Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina
Started:
Death with an Ocean View by Nora Charles
Freeze my Margarita by Lauren Henderson
Still reading:
Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury
The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams
Queen Lucia by E F Benson
I did have a bit of a spending spree on books though (twice) but it’s my birthday so I’m allowed – right?!
So, a difficult choice for BotW this week – I finished the latest Laurie Graham last week and really enjoyed it – but I also read Lucy Ribchester’s Hourglass Factory and enjoyed that too. So in the end, I’ve picked The Hourglass Factory for BotW and decided to do an Authors I Love post on Laurie G instead, which’ll be coming up in a few weeks. So more for you to read. Bonus.
Some of my best photos are taken on the train. No idea why.
In The Hourglass Factory, tom-boy reporter Frankie George is trying to make waves in Fleet Street, but all she’s getting are the women’s interest stories an the gossip columns. When she gets assigned to write a profile of trapeze-artist-turned-suffragette Ebony Diamond she gets short shrift. But then Ebony disappears and Frankie finds herself drawn into a world of corsets, circuses, tricks and suffragettes. Where has Ebony gone? What is going on with the suffragettes? And will anyone listen to Frankie if she finds out?
This has been sitting on my shelf for aaaaaages (what’s new) and I kept meaning to read it. Then I saw it recommended by another blogger (Agi’s onmybookshelf) as one of her books of the year of 2015 – alongside several other books that I had read and liked and it gave me the push that I needed.
I really enjoyed this. I haven’t studied the women’s suffrage movement in Britain in much depth – apart from as part of my history GCSE – so I knew the basics, but I don’t think you’d have too much trouble if you knew even less. Lucy Ribchester paints a vivid picture of 1912. Post-Edwardian London springs to life – all dark corners, imminent peril, seedy clubs, variety acts, cuthroats, suffragettes and jails. Some passages were tough going – early 20th century jails were not nice places to get stuck in – but it was totally worth it. This is quite a long read (500 pages) but it is pacy, exciting and thrilling – you don’t notice the pages going by. So good. And another cautionary tale about letting books sit on the shelf.
Not a huge list this week – but The Hourglass Factory is 500 pages long – and it’s worth it. Busy week at work too and quick trains both ways several days (often on the way home in rush hour too) reducing the reading time.
Read:
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Night in Question by Laurie Graham
The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester
The Chalet School and Rosalie by Elinor M Brent Dyer
The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
Started:
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams
Queen Lucia by E F Benson
Still reading:
Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury
One short story pre-ordered – but I don’t think I’ve actually bought a book so far this year (the Deanna Raybourn spree was before New Year). I’m sure that will change though…
Welcome to the first Book of the Week post of 2016! I really enjoyed writing these last year – and find that having to pick a favourite book each week really helps to focus the mind – not just about what I like and don’t like about books, but also about what I chose to read from the pile. It doesn’t stop the bingeing on one author, but it does mean I try to add some variety in – after all a BotW from the same author each week would get very dull very quickly. And speaking of binge-reading, there’ll be a post coming up at the weekend about the Pink Carnation series – which is one of the reasons why one of the three Lauren Willigs I read last week isn’t occupying this spot now!
So, Bleakly Hall. This has been on the pile for over 2 years (!) – and had been on my radar for some time before that. I think it’s another that was mentioned in the Emerald Street book section (where I’ve found several really interesting books) which I then added to my Amazon pile to wait for the price to come down (although in the end it came from Waterstones who must’ve been doing a deal judging by the prices) which is what happens to a lot of books. Anyway, you all know about the state of my to-read pile and the less said about it the better.
This is my best attempt at artistic. I polished the wood specially.
Bleakly Hall is a hydroprathic spa, populated by a cast of misfits and damaged people after the Great War. New nurse Monty has taken a job there because she has a score to settle with Captain Foxley. The Captain is there because he served with one of the two brothers who own it. The other brother came back from the war minus his legs and now has a matrimonial problem on his hands. Ada worked with Monty during the war – and misses the purpose and status it gave her. The residents are elderly, thin on the ground and not conducive to a health bank balance for the owners. And then there’s the ominous noises from the pipes…
I read a lot of books set in and around the First World War as part of my A-Level English literature and the period has continued to fascinate me in the intervening years (no, I’m not telling you how many years) and so this book was right up my street. I’m particularly fascinated with the aftermath of the war* and how it affected people so I found the characters in this fascinating. And they are a bit of a microcosm of post-war society – people want nothing to have changed, people for whom everything has changed, others for whom everything has changed, but in a different way and then those who would quite like the war back in some ways.
This is quite black in places – there are moments that will make you laugh and then there are moments of horror. The spa is damp and run down and there’s comedy in the treatments and quackery provided and then there are the flashbacks to Belgium and the carnage of the trenches. The two are nicely balanced – and sometimes you realise you are still chuckling over the latest antics at the spa but you’re in the trenches and really shouldn’t be laughing.
I enjoyed (if you can call it that) Bleakly Hall – and got a lot out of it. If you’ve read the usual Great War suspects – like Goodbye to All that, Regeneration, Testament of Youth etc – then this might be a good place to go next. It’s available on Kindle, at Amazon (where there are some good second-hand prices), Waterstones and Foyles.
* It’s one of the aspects of Lord Peter Wimsey‘s character that I find really interesting, as is Daisy’s search for a career and a new future after the war and the changes it brought in Carola Dunn’s early Daisy Dalrymple books.
You may notice a theme in this week’s reading. Yes I went all out for the end of the Pink Carnation series and read another Lauren Willig I had on the kindle as well. And then while writing about Deanna Raybourn in my 2015 Obsessions post I found that a the book sale gods were smiling on me, and I could reading the rest of the Lady Julia Books safe in the knowledge that I wouldn’t get left on a cliff hanger! I’m still trying to ration myself on the new Laurie Graham – by which I mean only letting myself read a bit more every few days to try and stop myself from bingeing. So far it’s working.
Read:
The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla by Lauren Willig
The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig
Whisper of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn
The Lure of the Moonflower by Lauren Willig
The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn
Bleakly Hall by Elaine di Rollo
Started:
n/a
Still reading:
The Night in Question by Laurie Graham
Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury
Oh dear. Massive Deanna Raybourn spending spree in the Kindle sale (as mentioned in my 2015 Obsessions post), then there was the only Hellions of Halsted Hall book I haven’t read on offer for 99p. How could I resist.
As you may have noticed, I am a total binge reader when I discover an author I like and promptly buy up their back catalogue (or borrow it from the library) to fulfill my desperate craving for another fix. This does not help the state of the to-read pile or my bank balance and can make me look a little unhinged. So here – for your amusement – are my big obsessions of 2015 and a few examples of the ridiculous lengths I’ve gone to…
Janet Evanovich
Can it really be true that I only read my first Janet Evanovich novel in April? Goodreads assures me that it is so and thus it must be. Since my first taste (Wicked Business), I’ve read 18 Stephanie Plums – and all four between the numbers fill-ins, the other two Wicked books, two Full books, two Fox and O’Hares and a standalone romance. So that’s 30 Janet Evanovich novels in less than nine months. This is why people think I’ve got a bit of a book problem.
I’ve read so much Janet Evanovich this year, I’ve a whole shelf of her books – non-matching of course!
Deanna Raybourn
I read Silent in the Grave back in January – and since then I’ve read three more of the Lady Julia series – with a fourth waiting for me on the shelf. And the only reason that that has been waiting is because the price of the next one has been so expensive. And ditto her standalone novels. But in a piece of glorious serendipity, they’re all on offer on Amazon Kindle at the moment – so last night I spent just under £20 on 8 (!) books and novellas – buying up the rest of Lady Julia, the first Veronica Speedwell and two standalones and their prequel novellas. Now that is what I call obsession…
Only four of my Deanna Raybourn’s are here – Silent in the Grave is on loan to Little Sis!
Historical Romance
My love of historical romance has continued this year. In fact it’s turned into more of a quest – to find more authors who write my favourite sort of smart, witty, sexy romance novels. Because this is the problem with being a binge reader. You find someone that you like, you binge on their back catalogue and then you have to start following their publishing schedule like everyone else does – so you might have to wait a year before you can get another fix from them. So you need another author to read. In 2015 I’ve read some really good, some really bad and a lot of in between. Among the good were Sabrina Jeffries, Kerrigan Byrne, Johanna Shupe and Courtney Milan. I’m not going to mention the bad! There’s loads more I want to read – listening to the DBSA podcast each week will do that to you – but the prices of those sort of American-published romances are often really quite high over here – and fall into the same buying rules as the cozy crimes. So often I play roulette with NetGalley – requesting new releases there and hoping I like them. Sometimes it pays off – the aforementioned Byrne and Shupe for example – and sometimes it doesn’t…
Cozy Crime
I’ve always had a soft spot for the “lighter” end of the crime market, but I’ve really been rattling through various cozy murder mysteries this year. I’m still reading Donna Andrews (three of them this year) – but now I’m closer to the end of the series the books have got more expensive to buy and I have rules about what I’ll spend on a book that will only take me a couple of hours to read. So as a consequence my net has spread wider. Jenn McKinlay’s become firm favourite and there’s a bunch of other series I’ve dipped into too (again thanks to NetGalley) – to varying success. I feel more coming on in 2016.
All my Donna Andrews bar one are out on loan, but the McKinlay collection is growing!
Historical Crime
This is often the meeting of two of my other obsessions – Cozy crime and Historical romance. The Daisy Dalrymple and Phryne Fisher series were two of my discoveries of 2014 – and now I’ve read all of them, I’ve been searching for more – and not just those set in the 1920s and 1930s. That’s how I discovered Deanna Raybourn and started that obsession. But as well as Lady Julia, there’s Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily and James Runcie’s Sidney Chambers. And then there’s the ones which are more crime-y and less romance – like Catriona McPherson’s Dandy Gilver, Carola Dunn’s Eleanor Trewynn. And no romance at all – like Flavia de Luce (because she’s a child!). So many good books.
I thought the light shining behind them was a nice touch…
So there you are. My five big obsessions of the year. Of course some would argue that books in general are my biggest obsession of them all. And they’d be right. There’s nothing like sitting down with a book and being transported to another world to make life seem better. You can live so many different lives and visit so many different places by reading a book. And then there’s the friends that you can make – real people I mean – because of books and the book community. The ones that you chat to on Twitter, the ones you meet at author events and who turn into proper friends and everything in between. Long may my book obsession continue.
Happy 2016 everyone – and thank you for reading my bookish wafflings. I hope you’ve enjoyed them – and I’m sure that there’s more where they came from.
More Christmas-y reading and a few tie-in short stories for last week’s Make a Christmas Wish. I’m trying to make the Laurie Graham last – I love her books so much and I know there’s going to be a longer wait than usual for her next one, so against all my usual behaviour I’m trying to pace myself!
Read:
A Wicked Way to Win an Earl by Anna Bradley
Four Weddings and a White Christmas by Jenny Oliver
My Christmas Wish by Julia Williams
Dad’s Christmas Wish by Julia Williams
Granny’s Christmas Wish by Julia Williams
Anything for You by Kristan Higgins
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Started:
Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury
Still reading:
The Night in Question by Laurie Graham
No books bought, but several received as gifts – and they were all ones that I had asked for so that’s excellent news. I’m going to try to continue to restrain myself, although if I see some good bargains I may not be able to!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 