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What I Just Finished Reading
Death Writ Large by Susie Dent. I discovered this in the library's ebooks. It's the second book in the series - although I pretty much couldn't remember anything about the first one. But I still enjoyed this one. Since it's Susie Dent there's a lot of information about words, what they mean and where they come from. All of which I've forgotten, but I enjoyed learning about them while I was reading.

The List That Changed My Life by Olivia Beirne. I don't remember how I ended up reading this. It's general fiction, so of course it includes romance, but it wasn't the main focus of the plot, so I actually enjoyed the romance. And the rest of the book.

Her Ladyship's Girl by Anwyn Moyle. This is an autobiography really, of a woman who goes into service at sixteen in the 1930s and what her life was like. It was very easy reading and I really enjoyed it.

What I'm Currently Reading
Truckers by Terry Pratchett. Back in summer I mentioned to my sister about whether my nephew would like Terry Pratchett and thought he might like this series. Except that she didn't think she'd read it and I couldn't remember anything about it. So I am re-reading it, then I can lend the series to her.

What I'm Reading Next
Diggers and Wings. And then whatever I fancy next from my to read list.

Mirrored from my blog.

I've been meaning to try going to the gym for a while. Then this summer I discovered my local leisure centre were doing a weekend of trying things out for free to tie into the Commonwealth Games. For the gym it said there would be a staff member there to show you how things worked, which would be handy given that I didn't really have a clue.

As it turned out I didn't see a single staff member anywhere in the building. But it also turned out that most things were self-explanatory, had instructions or I had some experience of. ( Read more... )

Mirrored from my blog.

Summer was hot, so I spent it reading and running - and listened to some audiobooks while running. Here's a selection of the ones for which I have something to say.

That'll Teach Her by Maz Evans. I struggled to get through this. I didn't even care whodunnit, I just kept reading to find out how they dunnit (the murder was via a peanut allergy in a cake, which when tested later didn't have peanuts in). Sadly that was the only interesting part of the book.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. I had this one on my library wish list for a while and then it came up when I was looking for audio books. I really enjoyed it, it was fun. It's a fictionalised version of Queen Elizabeth II. It was written a while ago, so there's an unintentional joke when at her 80th birthday she mentions that she's seen ten prime ministers since she became queen.

Murder on the Oxford Canal by Faith Martin. I've read one of her crime series and enjoyed it, then found this one in The Works. And didn't enjoy it as much. It felt a lot like all of the police officers in it were fancying each other and it felt a bit OTT.

Murder at the University by Faith Martin. Nevertheless, I gave book two a try, in audiobook form. And the fancying each other was a bit less in this one, but I was also distracted by the fact that it was in American, despite the author and reader both being British. I did a lot of complaining out loud while running.

The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer. While reading this I kept thinking that he writes some very similar characters. I was about two-thirds of the way through when one of them told a story that I remembered from another book and I realised that The Hotel Avocado is a sequel to this one.

Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell. This was not great at all. Not a lot happens, but the main character has two romances and the sex scenes are all written out, which is unnecessary. And to make it worse, one of them involved her needing the toilet and the man not letting her until they'd had sex again. Which is just so wrong in my book.

People Pleaser by Bryony Gordon. When I started this it seemed like another of those general fiction books where nothing happens. But then some things did happen and it was fun.

Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett. I realised I've never read this series. This one I heard a radio adaptation of years ago and enjoyed it. Now I have listened to the audiobook and enjoyed that too.

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
The Killing Time by Elly Griffiths
I was very excited to read this one, although now I have it means I've read all of her books. I enjoyed this one, but I'm used to being able to read the next/other books in the series pretty quickly and having to wait until the next one comes out is ages.

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
I saw an amateur production of this and realised that I've completely forgotten the book, so I re-read it.

Epically Earnest by Molly Horan
I don't know why this one was on my wishlist. I only finished it because it was short and we were in a heatwave at the time. It's The Importance of Being Earnest but set in a modern day American high school with all the interesting bits taken out.

The Coming of Age of the Chalet School
I had this lying around from GGBP, so I re-read it. The more books I read with Mary-Lou in the more she annoys me. And grown up Joey also annoys me.

A Stocking Full of Spies by Robin Stevens
I keep thinking I'm not going to read any more of these because I'm not that into 12 year olds during the war, but then it was hot and this was an easy read. So I read it. It was quick and easy to read.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
I've seen the BBC adaptation of this and the book explains and expands things that aren't really explained in the series. Although interestingly, the series makes it all out to be about one thing she needs to get right, but the book isn't about that at all. I enjoyed both. But interestingly, there's a sequel to the book that cannot possibly be a sequel to the TV series.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Library by Bella Osbourne
I am enjoying this. It's about a teenager and older woman who become friends via the library.

What I'm Reading Next
The Long Shoe by Bob Mortimer
This library hold came up, because they're like buses. But now I know to expect a Bob Mortimer book to be what you expect from a Bob Mortimer book, I'm looking forward to it.

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths. Back to the 1950s, it was good to finally read all the exciting events that happened in this book that kept being referred to in the ones that came after. Of this series I think I prefer the ones set in the 1950s to the later ones set in the 1960s.

Kissing Girls on Shabbat by Sara Glass. This was written by someone who is a lesbian, but was also born a Hasidic Jew, where they effectively treat it as a choice, and the wrong choice too. It's pretty awful how she's treated, even by her own family.

One Small Step by Paul Sinton-Hewitt. This is the man who started parkrun. The book starts off talking about his childhood in South Africa, which was pretty awful. But I was way more interested to hear how and why he started parkrun and how it grew and changed.

The Great Deceiver by Elly Griffiths. The last one in the series. I was putting it off until it got hot and it seemed like an easy read with familiar characters, which it was. It was just the last one.

The Chalet School in Peril by Katherine Bruce. I thought a Chalet School book would be nice and easy, except this one is set during their last terms in Austria, where there's an event-present threat from the Nazis. So it was a bit more perilous than I was expecting, even though I knew what was going to happen.

What I'm Currently Reading
Further Tales from the Chalet School by Lisa Townsend. This is a selection of short stories, so a lot more calming. Although they'll have a short bit explaining it and I still don't really remember the incident in question. I'm still enjoying the stories though.

What I'm Reading Next
Something from my to read pile. Whatever I fancy reading when I finish my current book, probably influenced by how hot it is at the time.

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams. I read this in about a day, it was so interesting. The author worked for Facebook and started when she thought it could be a force for good in the world. It was clear pretty early on that it wasn't a good workplace, but she gets used to it. And then it gets worse. And then worse again. And worse. In summary: the people in charge of Facebook don't care about anyone. Not their employees, nor their users, nor people who were hurt (literally) by their algorithms. It's really awful what they did (and are probably still doing). I did know this stuff, at least sort of, but it hits different when reading a first-hand detailed account.

Barry Cryer: Same Time Tomorrow by Bob Cryer. This was really interesting to hear about his life and work. He was just a lovely and funny man who loved people.

Doctor Who: Origin Stories. This got a bit samey after a while - a lot of the stories were companions meeting a Doctor as children and then being made to forget about it. Which just felt a bit pointless. On their own they were fine, but it just me feel like I was reading the same thing over and over again.

The Return of Robin Hood by Paul Magrs. I found this a bit dull. There's nothing specific about it that I didn't like, it just didn't do anything for me.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Twat Files by Dawn French. This is stories from her life where either she behaved badly or made mistakes. It's quite interesting, I just stopped because I had library books to read.

A Witches Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna. I'm enjoying this. I got worried when it was clear there was a love interest, but actually the romance has been okay and not that big a thing. I'm only 30 pages from the end, so I'm confident it's not suddenly going to become one.

What I'm Reading Next
Excitingly, whoever had The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths out of the library has brought it back. I just need to finish the library books I have and hopefully this will still be there when I go. And then after I've read that, I'll read The Great Deceiver by Elly Griffiths, the last in the series, which I own but decided to save for last.

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
White Male Stand-Up by Alan Davies. This was a bit hard going because it was quite a bot of "I did this, and then I did that". I did get into it after a while, but his journey into comedy wasn't really that interesting.

Doctor Who: The Adventures After and Doctor Who: The Adventures Before. These are two books of short stories set just after and just before an episode. They were fine although I don't really remember a lot of the episodes in question, although I'm not sure how much difference that made to my enjoyment of them.

The Last Word by Elly Griffiths. The last of the Harbinder Kaur books, although she's hardly in this one, it's mostly the three characters that were introduced two books before. Which was fine because I really liked them and really liked this book. But it was ended in such a way that I can see that there won't be any more with these characters.

Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I reserved this ebook at the library and have no idea why. It was separate stories of people doing a bit of time travelling in an odd cafe in Japan. It was alright, but not particularly exciting.

Now You Seen Them by Elly Griffiths. Not the next book in the Brighton series - that one is in my library but someone else has it. So I skipped a book, found that this one skipped ten years and it seems like a lot happened in the previous book. I still liked this, but I missed the 1950s.

What I'm Currently Reading
Comedy Rules by Jonathan Lynn. This book is very hard to characterise because he's writing rules of comedy and then an incident that highlights it. Some of them are random and some of them go through a period in his life when he's performing with the Cambridge Footlights or writing Yes, (Prime) Minister. It's interesting, but feels a bit bitty to read.

What I'm Reading Next
The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths. The last library book I have in my pile and the next in the Brighton series.

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. According to her website this is a atandalone book, but one of the investigators is DS Kaur, who was in the previous book. And next two. Not that it matters, I enjoyed this one anyway.

The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths. The next one in the Brighton 1950s series. I'm really enjoying these. Plus, after this one the rest are in my local library, so I can get them for free (as long as someone else isn't reading one).

Esther is Now Following You by Tanya Sweeney. It took me a little while to get into this. It's about someone who starts obsessively following an actor and builds up this whole idea in her head about how he'd meet her and instantly fall in love. Which, of course, is never going to happen. But it was fascinating, and going back to the beginning of her story it was believable how she ended up in that situation.

What I'm Currently Reading
Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths. The next Harbinder Kaur one. I'm enjoying it.

What I'm Reading Next
White Male Stand-Up by Alan Davies. Annoyingly discovered it's a hard back when I picked it up from the library. I read his previous autobiography about his childhood and it was interesting, so I expect this one will be too.

Doctor Who: The Adventures After. Also annoyingly a hardback. Since this is short stories I expect some of them to be better than others because that's how it usually goes.

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
Mary Neal and the Suffragettes Who Saved Morris Dancing by Kathryn Atherton. I saw this in the Morris Federation newsletter, added it to my wishlist to think about later and then one day it was £2, so I bought it. And it was really interesting. As far as history is concerned, Cecil Sharp is the name you associate with the morris dancing revival, but it was actually Mary Neal who started it, he just had his own opinions and took it over.

The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths. I enjoyed this. It was nice to go back to the 1950s for a bit of murder. And the murders and characters were interesting.

The Sisters by Rosalind Noonan. I acquired this because I saw it on the front page on the library ebook website and thought it sounded interesting. A few chapters in I had to check why and the summary sounded interesting. Except that it was such a tiny part of the book and there was a whole lot else going on that wasn't.

What I'm Currently Reading
Suffragette Planners and Plotters by Kathryn Atherton. This one was 99p and much like the Mary Neal book, this is about two people who were so instrumental in the WSPU and the Suffragettes that they wouldn't have got going without them, but we only remember the Pankhursts. And the book reminded me of the original Black Friday: a terrible day of police brutality and not a month of sales/'sales'.

What I'm Reading Next
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. This is the first in the Harbinder Kaur series, of which I have book four. So whether I like book one or not, it won't take long to get to book four.

Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths. The second in the Brighton 1950s series. I am looking forward to this one.

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Didn't Finish Reading
Aurora: Darwin by Amanda Bridgeman. This was free as part of Kobo's first book of a series being free. I didn't get very far through it because it's really dull, there's so much explanation of things I don't care about, the main character and the attitudes of those around him wouldn't be out of place in the 1960s, and one of the women was described as petite and also 5'5". You can't be petite when you're (from my perspective) tall. What's strange is that there are a load of really positive reviews on Kobo, when most books have very few, if not no reviews there. I wonder if we were reading the same book.

What I Just Finished Reading
The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer. I don't know why I was worried about this - it was exactly the sort of book I'd expect Bob Mortimer to write. All the characters were a bit odd, their descriptions were similarly odd, there was the odd strange name, and an interesting plot. I really enjoyed it.

The Girl With Nowhere To Go by Louise Guy. I liked her previous books because although they were general fiction they weren't all about romance and had a twist, so if you thought you knew what was going on, you'd find you didn't. Except this one was pretty easy to guess. And all fo the characters meeting, in order for them to find out this secret that unites them, felt so contrived.

What I'm Currently Reading
A Very Courageous Decision by Graham McCann. This is really interesting about Yes, (Prime) Minister, which I am currently re-watching in preparation for going to the I'm Sorry, Prime Minister play. I stopped at Yes, Minister because it often recaps episodes and quotes them and I wanted to (re-)watch them first.

Interesting Stories about Curious Words by Susie Dent. This is interesting, but it's also a bit like reading a dictionary - a little at a time is best.

What I'm Reading Next
The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths. This is the first in the Brighton in the 1950s series and at least I know I'll like it. I also have the seventh in the series in my to read pile, so I just need to get the 2nd-6th from the library and I can cross two books off my to read list...

Mirrored from my blog.

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