Books read in February

I can't really believe that in the shortest month of the year I've managed to read 11 books (and it's almost 12). How on earth that happened I don't know, my average is generally 6. And I have to say, quality-wise, which after all is the important thing, it's been an excellent month.

February books:

7. The Icelandic Adventures of Pike Ward - K.J. Findlay

8. Howards End is on the Landing - Susan Hill. I think this is my 2nd. or 3rd. reread of one of my favourite books about books.

9. The Returning Tide - Liz Fenwick

10. The Giant Rat of Sumatra - Richard L. Boyer

11. Unnatural Causes - Dr. Richard Shepherd

12. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - Dorothy L. Sayers

13. St. Peter's Fair - Ellis Peters. Cadfael helping to solve the death of a Bristol Merchant at the annual St. Peter's Fair. Quite good.

14. The Leper of St. Giles - Ellis Peters. Cadfael investigates when a prospective groom, much older than the bride, is murdered. Suspicion falls upon one of his squires who it is thought is in love with the bride, his disappearance seems to give credence to the theory. This one was really excellent.

15. The Stone Circle - Elly Griffiths

Archaeologist, Ruth Galloway, is called in when the skeletal remains of two young girls are found on a henge site on the Norfolk saltmarshes. One turns out to be a Bronze Age burial, the other is Margaret Lacey, a 12 year old girl who disappeared some 30 years ago. The case is reopened and Nelson is heading the investigation with Ruth's help of course. Michelle has had her baby, a boy, further complicating everyone's lives but strangely, pulling her into the investigation too. Another excellent Ruth Galloway instalment. I'm not keen on the child abduction theme if I'm honest, but it didn't prevent me from enjoying the book. I read this series not just for the murder mystery but also for an update on the lives of Ruth and Kate, Nelson, Michelle and their kids, Judy and the wonderful Cathbad and so on. The books are a joy.

16. Beyond the Footpath - Clare Gogerty. This non-fiction is all about pilgrimages, not just of the religious variety but also to other spiritual sites, mountains, forests, lakes, ancient trees, locations of favourite books etc. That last one was my favourite section in a book that was interesting in parts but not so much in others. A pic of the cover is in my header photo.

17. Evening Class - Maeve Binchy


So there we are, 11 books of which 4 were non-fiction, 7 fiction. I majored as usual on crime fiction, 5 of those, all very good. But really it was a mixed bag and although the murder mysteries were good, my favourite two books turned out to be these:


I'm not sure what this kind of fiction is called now, 'modern' fiction? Whatever, I'm rather surprised that I enjoyed these two so much that they ended as favourites of the month. I can see that it means something and that something is probably that I should read more of these family orientated stories that often concern secrets from the past. I didn't know I had such a taste for them and am truly surprised.

So, onwards into March and hopefully more good books. I'll do a separate post on what I plan to read this month, the problem is there are so many of them...

~~~oOo~~~