BooksPlease

Library Loot/Saturday Snaphot

Published on November 9, 2013 by Margaret11 Comments

After my last post about reading from my own shelves I’m almost ashamed to write about the library books I’ve got out on loan at the moment.

But you see they’re from the mobile library and if we don’t use it the service will close down and that would not be a good thing! The library van comes once a fortnight and is an invaluable resource. And it’s so convenient as it stops just a short walk from our house.

The books from top to bottom are:

In the Woods by Tana French – a book I’ve read about and have been hoping to find in the library. It’s crime fiction, a psychological thriller, a murder mystery about a little girl’s death in an Irish wood. It has very mixed reviews on Amazon UK so I’m not getting my hopes too high.
Below Zero by C J Box. I keep seeing Box’s name on other book blogs and have wondered about reading one of his books. This is the 9th in his Joe Pickett series – Pickett is a Wyoming game warden. Below Zero is another book about a young girl who had been killed years earlier – or had she?
Perfect by Rachel Joyce. This book looks intriguing – in 1972 two seconds were added to time and the question that bothers James Lowe is ‘how can time change?’ I still haven’t read Joyce’s first book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (I have a copy which will be a TBR next year), but as they are two stand-alone books that isn’t a problem.
The Day of the Lie by William Brodrick. I’ve read two of his earlier Father Anselm books, so I’m hoping this one is just as good. It’s yet another murder mystery – this time with a monk as the detective, described on the book cover as ‘an unforgettable tale of love, death and redemption.’

For more of this week’s Library Loot posts see The Captive Reader.

For more Saturday Snapshots see Melinda’s blog West Metro Mommy Reads.

Mount TBR Challenge 2014

Published on November 8, 2013 by Margaret6 Comments

The Mount TBR challenge, 2014 is being hosted by Bev at My Reader’s Block. It’s the most simple challenge – read your own books – that is, books you’ve owned prior to January 1, 2014, but at the same time it is a difficult one for me, at any rate. Difficult because I’m always being sidetracked by new books – see yesterday’s post for example. And no matter how hard I try the number of my to-be-reads never seems to go down each year.

Out of the 83 books I’ve read so far this year only 28 were books I’ve owned before January 1, 2013, although some of the 55 books were new books. My target this year is 48, so it’s looking very doubtful that I shall reach it by the end of December.

Next year I’ll be making a more determined effort to read from my own shelves. My target for 2014 is to reach Mt Ararat, although I’d really like to make it up Mt Kilimanjaro (60 books), or even higher (most unlikely).

These are the challenge levels:

Pike’s Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR piles/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s

And the rules:

*Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you’re on a mountain-climbing roll and want to tackle a taller mountain, then you are certainly welcome to upgrade. All books counted for lower mountains may carry over towards the new peak.

*Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2014.

*You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2014.

*Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2014. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads. [To clarify–based on a question raised last year–the intention is to reduce the stack of books that you have bought for yourself or received as presents {birthday, Christmas, “just because,” etc.}. Audiobooks and E-books may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books.]

*You may count any “currently reading” book that you begin prior to January 1–provided that you had 50% or more of the book left to finish in 2014. I will trust you all on that.

*Books may be used to count for other challenges as well.

*Feel free to submit your list in advance (as incentive to really get those books taken care of) or to tally them as you climb.

*There will be quarterly check-ins and prize drawings!

Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin

Published on November 7, 2013 by Margaret9 Comments

I’ve just started reading Ian Rankin’s latest Rebus book – Saints of the Shadow Bible. It arrived on my Kindle this morning and I had to have a look at it straight away and then of course I couldn’t stop reading. I’ve now read 22% and am totally gripped. Rebus is back on the force, now a DS and about to cross swords with DI Malcom Fox.

It’s not often that I start to read a book as soon as I’ve bought it. I’ve always got other books on the go and plenty more waiting to be read. So I ‘shouldn’t‘ really be reading it yet as I’m part way into Gone With The Wind – nearly halfway! – and it’s very good. And I’m also reading Julius by Daphne du Maurier, also good.

But I can’t help myself and so I am reading Saints of the Shadow Bible, trying to make it last as long as possible and reading it slowly paying attention to all the details, but the pace and the characters are drawing me along so quickly. I don’t really want to finish it today!!!

In a Word: Murder: An Anthology

Published on November 6, 2013August 13, 2025 by Margaret2 Comments

Maxine Clarke was one of my favourite book bloggers, writing as Petrona. She died last December and there is a blog Petrona Remembered which her friends in the crime fiction community have created in honour of both her memory and in an attempt to keep alive the kind of community spirit she engendered.

Margot Kinberg (another of my favourite book bloggers) has put together an anthology with all proceeds going to the Princess Alice Hospice:

In a Word: Murder

with contributions from: Martin Edwards (Author), Pamela Griffiths (Author), Paula K. Randall (Author), Jane Risdon (Author), Elizabeth S. Craig (Author), Sarah Ward (Author), Margot Kinberg (Editor) and Lesley Fletcher (Illustrator).

R.I.P.VIII wrap-up

Published on November 4, 2013September 1, 2017 by Margaret7 Comments

We’re into November now and Carl’s R.I.P. book challenge is over. This year I completed the course. I did Peril the First, to read four books of mysteries, detective stories, horror stories, dark fantasies, and everything in between. I read 6!

Waiting for Mr Right and other Sinister Stories by Andrew Taylor
The Death Maze by Ariana Franklin
Relics of the Dead by Ariana Franklin
Not the End of the World by Christopher Brookmyre
The Shining by Stephen King
Ten Little Niggers/And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Well, some of them were very good and some were just OK, and some were scarier than others. Three of the six were books from my to-be-read shelves, books I’d been meaning to read for ages.

The scariest of all was The Shining!

The Shining by Stephen King

But I don’t know if I’m up to reading its sequel, Dr Sleep! It sounds even more scary, because according to the description it’s about quasi-immortals, living off the ‘steam’ that children with the ‘shining’ produce when they are slowly tortured to death. That is most definitely not my cup of tea, but I have reserved a copy from the library …. just to have a look. The cover is enough to give me nightmares – that demonic looking cat has a resemblance to our cat! Oh no!