Books read in August

 What a summer it's been. Much of the UK experienced five heatwaves, although to me it felt pretty much like one just rolled into the next and the next and the next. Horrendous. Thank goodness it changed about ten days ago, we had the first serious rain since May, and the countryside and our gardens are just starting to turn from brown to green again. Welcome September, and a lovely autumnal feel to the air. I thought we would never get here.

So, August was an 'okay' reading month for me. Average, I would say. I read six books and these are they:

First up, The Villagers by A.J. Griffiths.  

 A couple and their children move into a quiet village, thinking it will be a good place to bring the kids up. But it's not long before Olive, the wife, begins to discover that people are not always what they seem. Their neighbours seem nice, if a little eccentric, but it turns out they all have secrets and some of them are very odd indeed. I'm a bit of a fan of secrets in books, plus I do like the tales Miss Marple tells about the people who live in St. Mary Mead, so this one ticked a lot of boxes for me. It's part of an unconnected series of books, there's a 'Seasiders' one, a 'Circus' and a 'Church' one (being a fan of churchy mysteries I think I'll grab that) and I gather from a friend that they're all good.

Next, Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell, the first in her Kay Scarpetta series of books.

 

It's Richmond, Virginia, in the early 1990s, and a serial killer has murdered three women in a very nasty manner.  Kay Scarpetta has just become the Chief Medical Examiner, which must've been unusual for a woman back then, and not everyone is happy about it. Add in a ten year old niece, whose mother doesn't want her, and the appearance of a fourth body and you have the ingredients of a good book. I quite enjoyed this, it was pacey and the characters were interesting, I'm just not sure I'll carry on with such a long series. It's a commitment and I had one or two misgivings... I just wish I could remember what they were... it's a whole month since I read it. LOL!

Next, a non-fiction book, The North Sea: Along the Edge of Britain by Alistair Moffat.  

This is a travelogue about the author's journey along the edge of the North Sea, from Kent to the north of Scotland. Interesting in parts, I would call this. I wasn't very interested in the Butlins or the seaside holiday bits, but the Doggerland details were excellent and even better was the section on how the Romans tried several times to defeat the Picts and failed. The author is Scottish so I suppose it makes sense that the Scottish bits would be the most engaging. Nice cover.

Shadows in Bronze is book two of Lindsey Davis's 'Didius Falco series. 

 

The story here starts with Falco, and one other, disposing of a body for the Emperor Vespasian. It leads to him, and a friend and his family, holidaying in Herculaneum and getting into all sorts of trouble along with the new love in his life, Helena. This was very slow starting and I felt like giving up to be honest. But it picked up halfway through and I ended up enjoying it. I could do with less of the bad luck Falco suffers from, it gets a bit wearing after a time when nothing ever goes right. I will continue with the series though as the Ancient Rome setting is superb. 

Next, I read one of the British Library's weird tales collections, Roads of Destiny edited by Alasdair Richmond. The theme of this is parallel universes, roads not taken, that sort of thing. There were several good stories, I didn't take notes so can't elaborate on those, but to be honest I thought this a very average collection. 

Finally, The Case of the Late Pig, an Albert Campion murder mystery, by Margery Allingham. 

 

Albert attends the funeral of 'Pig' Peters, whom he was at school with. Six months later the police summon him, the newly dead body of Pig Peters has been discovered. What's going on? Campion and Lugg head to the village of Kepesake to investigate. This was huge fun, if slightly confusing at times as regards who's who. The books are very engagingly written, lot of banter and humour. Apparently this is the only Campion book that Campion himself narrates. Will certainly be reading more of this entertaining vintage crime series.

So that was my August reading month. There were no massive stand-out wonderful books (on Goodreads I gave them all four stars apart from Roads of Destiny, which got three) but neither was anything terrible. And that's fine. 

Happy September reading! 

 

Books read in July

So, I've been awol again for most of July. No particular reason, just busy with visitors, and lazy because of the almost constant heatwave we've had throughout July. A drought has been declared for much of the UK but we did actually get a little rain on Friday. Not enough, of course, but it was so nice. Thank goodness it's only 4 weeks or so to September. I feel really bad for the countries currently experiencing such awful wildfires, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Canada, and even here in the UK there are a couple of nasty fires in the Cairngorms and Suffolk. I honestly can't wait to see the back of this summer.

I read seven books in July, hiding from the heat quite honestly, it's a brilliant thing to do when you haven't the energy to do anything else.

I started the month with The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. 

 

This is book 1 of the author's Didius Falco series, set in Ancient Rome. Falco is an informer, a sort of detective in Roman times, who saves a young woman and ends up investigating the smuggling of Silver Pigs, (lead ingots) from mines in Britannia. There's a lot more to this of course, the setting and historical background were very authentic and there is high drama (Rome at night was a scary place), murder and romance. I loved it and will definitely be reading a lot more in this series.

Next was The Sunken Sailor by Patricia Moyes, book 2 in her Inspector Henry Tibbett series.

 (What a cover!) Henry and Emmy go sailing off the Suffolk coast with some friends. They hear about the death of a sailor and Henry's ears prick up. He can't resist looking into it even though he's supposed to be on holiday. What I enjoyed about this one was its delightful sense of place. The village on the Suffolk coast was gorgeous and, although I'm no sailor, the lazy sailing days sounded wonderful. The mystery wasn't bad either and I didn't guess who'd done the deed. Love this 'new to me' series.

Next, The Instruments of Darkness by John Connolly.

 This is book 21 (I know!) of Connolly's Charlie Parker series, wherein Parker takes on the case of a young mother accused, by her husband, of abducting and murdering her own child. This is more of a police procedural that many of the Parker books, but there is enough weirdness - something lurking in the woodshed in Maine - to keep me happy and, as always the writing is sublime. 

Next, A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett.

 This book two in the author's Shadow of the Leviathan series. It's of the fantasy/crime genre, a bit of a rare bird in my experience, and a very interesting series indeed. The detective is Ana Dalabra, a strange female who is so overwhelmed by the outside world that she mostly stays at home and lets her assistant, young Dinios Kol, go out to investigate for her and bring his information back. The civilisation on the planet is based on Ancient Rome and people are altered to give them certain skills; Dinios has a photographic memory for instance. The crime here involves a treasury officer who has disappeared and Dinios has to go beyond the edges of the empire to investigate. The world building in the series is fantastic, so is the writing, but be warned, the books are quite weird. I love them but they would not be for everyone. 

Next, Beyond the Point by Damien Boyd.

 This book 9 in the author's 'Nick Dixon' series and is one of my absolute favourite current crime series. This one involves a woman found murdered at the Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset. This is a real place and because I was used to seeing it in the distance when I lived in Minehead, the setting felt nicely familiar. Brilliant mystery and, as always with Damian Boyd, superb writing, love the background story with Nick and his police woman girlfriend, Jane, and the dog, Monty. Honestly, this series can do no wrong for me. 

Next, a non-fiction, Roman Empire by Train by James Nally and Alice Roberts.

 Alice Roberts is well known in the UK for hosting TV archaeological and historical documentaries. I'm a big fan so tend to watch all of her programmes. Back in February she went around part of the Roman Empire by train, starting in Italy and finishing in Spain. Loved it - she's previously done Egypt, the Ottoman Empire and Greece - all well worth watching. This book is basically an accompaniment to the series and made for a very enjoyable read.

Last but very much not least, Murder at Gull's Nest by Jess Kid.

 It's the early 1950s and Nora Breen has just left a nunnery to go in search of a younger nun, Frieda, who did the same. She washed up in a village on the south coast of England, from where she wrote to Nora diligently until suddenly the letters stopped. Worried, Nora sets off to find her and goes to stay at the guest house where her friend was last heard of. There are some very odd people staying there but when people start to die Nora has trouble convincing the police that the deaths were anything but accidental. This is described on Goodreads as a cosy mystery, but I can't say that I agree. There's real darkness in this book involving the consequences of war, things that can happen to you when you're a child, sexuality, but also a lot of humour, Nora is very Irish and isn't afraid to let it show, and it's very well written. I love the budding relationship between Nora and Inspector Rideout, they suit each other, though I have no idea if that's the way the author will go as she progresses, because this is book one in a new series. Book two is already out but it's stupid expensive for Kindle so I'll wait for it to come down a bit. I will be getting it though as I absolutely loved this. 

So, that was my July reading. Seven books, six fiction and one non-fiction. For some reason this year, I'm not reading as much non-fiction as I do normally - only six this year so far. Oh well, it is what it is and I shall not stress on it. Of the six fiction books, I can't pick a favourite - all of them were top-notch - so I won't try, just be happy it was such a good month for reading, if not weather.

I hope you're all keeping well, coping in the heat if it's awful where you are, and finding lots of brilliant books to read. Is it September yet?

Books read in June

Heatwaves appear to be good for my reading figures. We endured a nasty one last week, temps up in the mid nineties, which for the UK is extremely unusual. All kinds of records broken, including the hottest June day ever. May it never return! I hate heat like that. I retreated indoors, lots of water, fan on, read books... and now it's over. Temps went down properly on Sunday and while it's still warm, it's 'normal' warm: that I can cope with. 

But because of the heatwave I got through nine books in June. These are they:

A Nice Class of Corpse - Simon Brett

Dead Men Don't Ski - Patricia Moyes

Cyanide in the Sun - edited by Martin Edwards

Starring Edward Woodward - Carolyn McGivern. An excellent biography of one of my favourite actors. He starred in The Wicker Man, Callan, The Equalizer etc.

Death and Croissants - Ian Moore. Cosy murder mystery, set in France. The middle-aged, male owner of a B&B, Richard, gets into all kind of trouble when a guest disappears leaving a bloody handprint on the wallpaper. A female guest insists he help her find out what happened to the man. I found this a bit silly. Richard needed to grow a backbone, all the too-ing and fro-ing confused me no end, and the intended humour was not actually all that amusing. Will probably not continue with this series.

Miss Percy's Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons - Quenby Olsen

Mildred Percy is an unmarried woman in her forties who has no choice but to live with her sister, Diana. Diana 'is' married, several children, husband who hides behind the newspaper. What the married sister has done is use Mildred to bring up her kids and as a skivvy, but otherwise she goes unnoticed and uncared for. Then things take a turn when Mildred is left an inheritance by an eccentric uncle. Diana is out when it arrives and Mildred chooses not to tell her sister that the trunk is full of books and papers and a strange, oval shaped rock. Instead, Mildred goes to the local vicar for help and things go pear-shaped from there. This was one of those books that was quite a lot of fun but would not have harmed for losing 100 pages. Too much waffle and attempts at humour via Mildred's rambly cogitations. But it was enjoyable. I liked Mildred with the vicar, his housekeeper was a good character too. The wicked sister was a bit of a caricature, a bit too awful, she needed a slap quite frankly. I have already grabbed book 2 for my Kindle, wherein Mildred and the vicar head off to Wales. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads, if 3.5 was available then that is what it would have got from me. 

 

The Rockpool Murders - Emylia Hall. This is book 3 in her 'Shellhouse Detectives' series. Ally and Jayden investigate the death of a rock-star who lived in a huge house overlooking the sea in their Cornish village. The rock-star is having a family get-together, although it is not exactly a happy family, when he's found face down in the swimming pool. Accidental death is the verdict, heart gave out after years of heavy living, but said rock-star no longer lived like that, so what happened? I have to admit that rock and roll themed crime novels are not my favourite. There's always one of the regular cast of characters for whom the pop group was part of their teenage years and he or she is star-struck blah blah blah. And so it turns out to be. 'But' Emylia Hall writes very well, and despite not taking to the theme of the book, I nevertheless rather enjoyed it. Ally and Jayden are always good value for money, the setting of a Cornish coast village is delightful, and I enjoy the background details of the lives of the regular cast: just occasionally there's a bit too much of that but that's okay. 

The Haunted Trail edited by Weird Walk (who the heck is called Weird Walk?), is a book of weird tales based on rambling holidays. There were a handful of good stories in this but it was not the best collection in this BL series that I've read. 

Defying Rome by Guy de la Bedoyere is a non-fiction book about the Romans in Britain and who stood up to them - Boudica etc. - or connived behind the scenes to depose emperors and so on. Interesting, if a little dry in places. I'd like to read his book on Samuel Pepys.

So that was June for me. Nine books, seven fiction, two non-fictions. Several stood out, the Simon Brett, the Patricia Moyes, the Emylia Hall and the Edward Woodward biography. But I have no complaints about my June reading months, overall it was a lot of fun. 

I hope you're all keeping well, enduring and managing the heat if you're in the northern hemisphere, and finding lots of good books to read. 

 

Some crime fiction

I'm on a crime writing binge at the moment. Sometimes that's all you want, some fun reading about dead people and how they got that way. Trying to figure out who did the dirty deed. So much to love. :-)

First up, A Nice Class of Corpse by Simon Brett.

Mrs. Pargeter, a widow of a certain age, is looking for a place to live. Her husband has left her quite well off so she applies to get a permanent room in the posh, Devereux Hotel, in a town on the south coast of England. On her first night she hears some odd noises but does not get out of bed to investigate. The next morning she discovers that an elderly woman has fallen down the stairs to her death. Did she fall or was she pushed? Her will reveals that she has left her fortune to be divided between the other residents. How many people knew about this? And something is not quite right about her jewellery. Not to mention that the dead woman inhabited the most coveted room in the hotel. Mrs. Pargeter knows a thing or two about human nature and criminal activity and sets about investigating the goings on in the hotel. Well, this was great fun. Mrs. Pargeter is a larger than life character with a personality that is more than a match for the snobby residents of the Devereux Hotel. It was nice to have a cast of elderly suspects and the book is written with a lot of humour, plus a very strong sense of an out of season town on the south coast. This is book one in the series and I'll definitely be reading more. 

Next, Dead Men Don't Ski by Patricia Moyes.

Henry Tibbett is an inspector with Scotland Yard. He and his wife, Emmy, are off on a skiing holiday to the Italian Alps. They're part of a motley crowd all staying at the same hotel, perched on the side of a mountain. There's a German family, three young Brits, the wife of a German baron and her two children and nanny, a mysterious chap no one likes, various Italian ski instructors and so on. All goes well until a dead man arrives at the bottom of the ski lift at the end of the day. The Italian police ask Henry to help solve the murder, which is awkward as he hasn't told anyone what he does for a living... This is book one in the author's 'Inspector Tibbett' series. I have to confess that I'd not heard of the series or the author until I saw it mentioned on a YouTube channel I watch. The cover struck me immediately and the review was positive so I checked it out. And I wasn't disappointed. The plot was a trifle convoluted and the cast of characters quite extensive. But Henry and Emmy were good detectives, very unassuming, and it was nice that they're middle-aged and ordinary. There was also a very strong sense of place, I'm a bit of a sucker for a mountain setting and this was depicted very well indeed. I had an idea who'd done the deed but didn't decide too early on so it kept me guessing. People who like a closed circle sort of murder mystery would enjoy this I think. I already have book 2, The Sunken Sailor, on my Kindle and I think there are about twenty altogether, so I'm delighted. 

Lastly, a short story anthology, Cyanide in the Sun, edited by Martin Edwards.

As suggested this is an anthology about holidays. I thought they would all be foreign holidays but no, thinking about it, back in the day, most Brits did not have the money to go on foreign holidays, it was Blackpool or Bognor or, if you were very lucky, Devon or Cornwall. Martin Edwards has picked out many excellent authors for this collection: Celia Fremlin, Michael Gilbert, Christiana Brand, Anthony Berkeley... the usual suspects. A few favourites: The Summer Holiday Murders by Julian Symons. An old lady, part of a coach trip, is pushed over a cliff by persons unknown. A crime writing author is also on the coach and the baffled police ask 'him' to keep watch over the passengers and report back. The Summer Holiday by Celia Fremlin. A woman has just become a widow and is so happy that she'll no longer be forced to go on holiday by her husband because she's a home-body and hates holidays. But... Loved this! Two on a Tower by Michael Innes. John Appleby takes up with a couple in Italy, she's young, married to an elderly man and there's another chap with them... A Holiday by the Sea by Will Scott features two tramps hitching a ride to Margate in an empty removal van. The tramps' cant was sometimes a bit hard to decipher but Giglamps was an excellent protagonist. There are more short stories about him but I fancy they're going to be hard to track down. Consider Your Verdict by Anthony Gilbert (female author using a pen-name) was a story set in the Lake District about a conman. Kill and Cure by Guy Cullingford features a burnt-out author whose doctor sends him on holiday to a hotel on the south coast. He can't help but study all of the other guests, their behaviour and how they treat their families or employees. This is a very solid anthology. I marked about 10 as good and all of the rest were never less than readable. Several authors I would like to follow up on, I must read one of Celia Fremlin's republished works for instance, and something longer by Julian Symons.

So that's my latest reading up to date, three good books. Very happy. I hope your summer reading is going well. 

 

Books read in May

 Good grief, it's already June and very soon we'll be halfway through the year. How can that possibly be? If someone has an explanation I'd be very interested to hear it.

May was quite a good reading month for me. I read eight books, so my reading mojo has definitely returned, and I'm pleased about that. I read a couple of non-fiction books too, which I've not been doing much of this year either, so I'm pleased about that too. It's all good. These are the books:

The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien

Bookish - Lucy Mangan

The Girl in Blue - P.G. Wodehouse

Murder in the Moor - Thomas Kindon. Whodunnit from the 1920s, involving a police inspector on a walking holiday on Dukesmoor (Dartmoor in Devon) and various dead bodies found on said moor. Nicely atmospheric and a very good sense of place. Enjoyed it but it's the only book the author wrote so no good going off on a pilgrimage to search for more.

The Secret World of Twilight, a non-fiction book by Sally Coulthard. Nice cover:

 

The author tells us about the creatures that come out at twilight, bats, badgers, owls and so forth, the various late blooming flowers, and how we as humans behave, deal, experience twilight. A gentle, informative, interesting book. And that cover...

A Fire at the Exhibition by T.E. Kinsey is book 10 in his Lady Hardcastle and Flo crime series set in the 1910s. I love this series with its banter between the two main characters and fun plotting. This one involves a village art exhibition where an expensive, unique book  and some art is stolen. Lady Hardcastle and her maid/companion, Flo need no encouraging to get involved. Great fun.

The Villa of Secrets by Emma Burstall, is a contemporary fiction story set on Crete. 

 

Our heroine, Cleo, after a messy divorce and falling out with her daughter, treats herself to a holiday on Crete at a wellness centre sort of place. She gets to know several women and why they're there and things look to be going ok until... well I won't say what but it's pretty major and I was a bit taken aback at where the book went from there. Not what this type of book usually does but I enjoyed it and would read more by the author.

Cousins from a Distant Sun by Tamor Myers is classified, I think, as cosy science-fiction.

 

I was halfway through this and having my doubts, when I thought I'd check Goodreads, only to find it has an overall rating of 2.67. Wow. I gave it a 3.00 because the plot had potential. An alien species kidnap a pre-history group of humans from China and spend thousands of years breeding and changing them, only to dump them back in Peru during the time of the Incas. They now live in a hidden valley, in secret, but need help, so one of their number seeks out an archaeologist to help them. I felt like this could've been excellent, but sadly it wasn't. I didn't like the archaeologist, the author made the valley-dwelling species ridiculous and the writing was very average. A shame but there you go, win some, lose some. 

So that was my May reading. Overall, not bad. Favourite book? Probably my reread of The Fellowship of the Ring. I'd forgotten how brilliant it is and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have a list of books I want to read this summer and the next book, The Two Towers, is on it.  

My potential summer books: 

1. Nephthys - Rachel Driscoll

2. The Seven Rings - Nora Roberts

3. The Rockpool Murders - Emylia Hall

4. The Fall of Hyperion - Dan Simmons

5. The Instruments of Darkness - John Connolly

6. Beyond the Point - Damien Boyd

7. The Two Towers - J.R.R Tolkien

8. A Nice Class of Corpse - Simon Brett (just finished)

9. Dead men Don't Ski - Patricia Moyes

10. Defying Rome - Guy de la Bédoyére (non-fiction about Boudica)

A lot these belong to series that I want to catch up on this year so I have an ulterior motive for reading them. If I get through half of these I'll be happy as I'm notorious for making a list of books and then going off the idea of reading the books on said list. We shall see.

Happy June reading, I hope you're all well and looking forward to your summer reading.  

I have been reading...

I wonder if I have my reading mojo back? Yes, I think maybe I have. Halfway through May and I have three books under my belt. Not heaps, but not too bad either. 

First up is a reread for me, I think I've only read this once, back in my late teens, but I'm not sure about that. The thing is, the movies of The Lord of the Rings are so familiar that I mix them up in my head with the books. Anyway, my first book of May was a reread of The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. 

This needs very little introduction. There's a special ring. Bilbo the Hobbit took it off Gollum in The Hobbit, and brought it home to The Shire with him. When you put the ring on it renders you invisible but it's far more dangerous than that. So powerful in fact that Sauron, the dark lord of the wizards, is searching for it. Dark forces are on the move and Frodo, Bilbo's nephew, is now tasked with getting the ring to Mordor where it can be destroyed. The first part of the story covers the journey from The Shire to the river Aduin. Many adventures are here included and I had forgotten most of them, despite being quite familiar with the movie. The book was huge fun, a lot more readable than I had remembered, I was sure it was a more difficult read, but it simply wasn't. What it was though, was a lot creepier than I remembered, very much full of suspense and edge of your seat moments. Really pleased that I reread it after all this time and, although I wasn't sure if I would, I'm now pretty sure I'll continue on and reread The Two Towers, probably in the autumn.

 

After that, or rather, alongside it, I read Bookish by Lucy Mangan. This is the author's second book about the joy of reading, and what's it's like to be so bookish that it matters more than anything else. I thought that was an interesting thing and, having thought about it, I realise that I'm not quite as addicted as that. Yes, I like to read every day, and I'm constantly buying new books (although 'that' is arguably a different hobby), but I don't think I'm quite on the author's level of obsessiveness. 'But' an interesting look at the books the author loved once she got into adulthood and I like that she is in no way a book snob; all bookish life his here within the pages of this book.

Next was a standalone book by P.G. Wodehouse, The Girl in Blue. 

The plot of this is very complicated, although it doesn't seem quite that bad while you're reading it. Jerry is engaged to Vera, a gold-digger who won't marry him until he forces his uncle to release his trust money. Doing jury service he meets Jane, and falls head over heels in love. His uncle sends him off to Mellingham Hall, the family pile, to find a missing miniature, only someone else is also looking for it. And Jane is also there, she's suddenly become an heiress and Jerry feels awkward as he himself does not want to appear to be a gold-digger. There's a lot more going on than this and it's all huge fun. And Wodehouse of course had one of the funniest turns of phrase in the English language, I was constantly laughing a lot as I do love an author who knows how to play with words (Terry Pratchett is another such one). This is a standalone, nothing to do with Jeeves and Wooster or Blandings but, to be honest, it is of that ilk, with loads of eccentric family members, misunderstandings and madness and whatnot. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will look at more of Wodehouse's standalones amd maybe revisit Jeeves and Wooster. I also have Wodehouse's book of golfing short stories which I started but didn't get very far with, so I must return to that. 

My current read is this:
 

Murder in the Moor was apparently the only book Thomas Kindon wrote and he's a mystery in himself as apparently no one knows who he was. He's called the moor 'Dukesmoor', but it's very clearly Dartmoor in Devon, which is fun as I know it. The plot involves a detective inspector on a walking holiday and a dead body beside a pool. Fantastic sense of place so I'm enjoying it very much so far. 

I hope you're all having a good reading month, finding lots of good books to read and keeping well.
 

Books read in April

I actually read a few books this month! Six in fact, which is more than any other month this year so it's a win as far as I'm concerned. Plus, I enjoyed them all to a greater or lesser extent.

I started the month with Night and Day by John Connolly, author of the Charlie Parker series, set in Maine. 

 

This is the author's third book in his anthology series entitled Nocturnes. I only gave it three stars on Goodreads, which is unusual for me for a John Connolly book, but it was odd. Half the book consisted of some good short stories but the other half was rather a rambling essay on an obscure horror movie. I did read it - many on Goodreads did not - but it wasn't all that rivetting. The short stories were quite good, particularly the two (or three) concerning the Caxton Library where characters in books come alive and arrive to live in the library. I wonder if Connolly will one day collate all of these stories into one volume?

Next was a reread, Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer.

 

I've read this one several times and it never disappoints. Miles Calverleigh is back from India after being banished there because of a scandal over an elopement. He is confronted by Abigail Wendover who wants him to call off his good for nothing nephew who is laying seige to her heiress neice. Shenanigans ensue of course, there's a wonderful Bath setting, lots of humour, I loved it. 5 stars

After that, I read two books in Damien Boyd's excellent 'Nick Dixon' crime series, Heads or Tails and Dead Lock. 

 

 Heads or Tails begins with Nick Dixon on a beach in the Bristol Channel trying to save a man who's been handcuffed to his steering wheel, in a van, with the tide coming in and about to drown him. Edge of the seat stuff. Nick ends up going to Manchester to investiagte 1990s gangland killings. Dead Lock concerns a ten year old girl going missing, followed by another who is the grand-daughter of the team's forensic expert. This one is full of twists and turns and more Somerset based than the previous one. I gave both of these 5 stars as they were excellent. I'm trying to catch up with this series this year as I'm rather behind; it's no hardship as it's so good. I do think knowing the area where it's set helps but even so, they are superb books. Damien Boyd is such a good writer. 

Next another book of short stories, Beware of the Trains by Edmund Crispin.

 

I didn't write about any of the stories as I went along so can't give details 'but' they were mostly centred on Crispin's sleuth, Gervase Fen. This was an absolutely excellent collection, pretty much every story was clever, funny and had nice twists. It is of its time, with corresponding language, particularly in one story, but it's well worth reading if you like these kinds of vintage tales. And just look at that cover! 

My last books for this month was one I've been reading for a while and which I saw on Lark's blog, The Paranormal Ranger by Stanley Milford Jr. 

 

This is a non-fiction account of the life of the author who was a Navajo Ranger in the Navajo Nation for many years. He talks of UFOs, skin walkers, Bigfoot and hauntings and, being very open minded about such things, I found it absolutely fascinating. 

So, that was my reading for April, an interesting mix and all good books, which is all you can ask for really.

I'm currently reading two books. The first is a reread from about 55 years ago. 

 

It's The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein of course, first read when I was about sixteen or seventeen. And I don't believe I've read it since. The reason I'm not sure is because I've seen the films so many times that I'm confusing them in my mind with the books. I know I've read The Hobbit several times, but The Lord of the Rings, I'm not sure. Anyway, really enjoying this.

The other book is a non-fiction I'm reading slowly, through the year is, The Country Commonplace Book by Miranda Mills. 

The author has a very successful channel on YouTube where she talks mainly about books, but also other things as well. Her first book is full of seasonal quotes from various classics, old and new, and poetry appropriate to the seasons. It really is a beautifully presented book.

I hope you're all keeping well and enjoying the spring if you live in the northern hemisphere, autumn if you're south of The Equator. I hope too that you're finding lots of good books to read. 

Catching up

Well, I didn't expect or plan to take three months away from blogging about books but somehow or other ended up doing so. Partly the reason is that I haven't read heaps of books this year, but also I've had other stuff going on with family and so forth and this month the death of a close American friend has thrown me a bit. Plus, as soon as the sun came out here and the rain stopped, I went down with a nasty cold, which I'm still fighting off. 

I thought I would just do a post mentioning a few books I've enjoyed this year, the first has more detail because I wrote it back in January, fully intending to post it before the end of March!

I finished off 2025 and started 2026 with a rather nice contemporary fiction story. The Cornish Cream Tea Christmas by Cressida McLaughlin.

 

I would say that this has 'Christmas' plastered all over the title but it's really more of a 'run-up' to Christmas tale. It also turns out to be book 3 in a series but the other books feature different characters (some of whom turn up in this one) so the book can easily be read as a standalone. The heroine, Hannah Swan, is sent from her home in Scotland to a Cornish fishing village near Newquay to advise on how a hotel can be more eco-friendly. She's joined by a feelancer from Mousehole (further down in the county), Noah, who is at first a bit frosty. Naturally he doesn't stay frosty as Hannah slowly breaks down his defenses and works out the reasons for them. There's also a supernatural element to the story but that's fun and doesn't overwhelm the plot at all. I wasn't expecting a lot from this other than a fluffy Christmassy romance but actually the Cornish setting is 'spot-on', the author knows her Cornwall. So, in point of fact, I really enjoyed it. So there you go, surprise, surprise.

My first book of 2026 was Death in Ambush by Susan Gilruth a BLCC book, first published in 1952.

Coincidently, this also is a 'run-up to Christmas' story. Liane Crauford goes to stay with the Metcalfe family, they're Lord and Lady Metcalfe, him being a retired judge, so that's the kind of social strata we're talking. He dies, supposedly of a stroke, but is it? I loved this country house, country village murder yarn by an author not previously known to me. Gilruth was a good writer but her books are nigh on impossible to find now, which is a crying shame. Perhaps the BL will reissue more as this was top rate.

A Case of Life and Limb is book two in Sally Smith's new 'Gabriel Ward' series. (I read book one, A Case of Mice and Murder, in November, review HERE.) KC, Gabriel, is once again a reluctant investigator as Lincoln's Inn is shaken by mysterious parcels being delivered to various worthies, the parcels have rather macabre contents... and then there's a murder.  Gabriel is once again ably assisted by Constable Wright. I can't over-emphasize how much I love this series, and this book was every bit as good as the first instalment. Tragically, book three will not be out until next January.

A Body at a Boarding School by Benedict Brown is the second outing for the retired detective, Lord Edgington and his grandson, Christopher.

 

This is what it says on the tin, a boarding school tale of a dead, unpopular teacher and who knocked him off. In the running are other teachers of course, but also prefects, pupils and lord knows who else. I enjoyed this as I like a school based murder mystery and this series is fun with likeable investigators.

A quick mention of The Arctic Cruise, a contemporary romance with older protagonists by Caroline James.  This was a Norway Fjords cruise yarn, I liked the older characters very much, secrets and so forth abound, but all of the cruise detail was too much really, and did not make me want to jump on a ship and go cruising. Which I fancy was not the intention...

My first book of March was Sky High by a favourite vintage crime writer, Michael Gilbert.

This crime yarn from 1955 has a village setting (I seem to like those) and involves a house being blown up and the occupant killed. Was it an accident or was he knocked off by persons unknown? Choir leader and motorcyclist, Liz, her son, whose occupation seems to be a bit hush-hush, and a retired army general take the investigation on. I loved this. Michael Gilbert was such a classy writer, loads of dry humour in all of his books, I've read quite a few now and have loved them all. Can't recommend this highly enough. 

Richard Osman needs no introduction from me, We Solve Murders is the first book in his new series of the same name. 

Steve Wheeler is a retired police detective, his daughter-in-law, Amy, is a private security type. Her life is suddenly in danger, she's in South Carolina protecting a mad author, and she has to go on the run. Steve hates leaving his village and the weekly quiz team but would do anything for Amy, so off he goes travelling the world to save her. I enjoyed this but with reservations. It was fun, I liked the international spy thriller flavour of it, but Steve and Amy did not really gel with me. The mad female author though, Rosie D'Antonio, I thought she was great. So I probably 'will' read the next book when it comes out. We'll see. 

My latest book was The Furies, book 20 in the Charlie Parker series by my favourite author, John Connolly.  This was two creepy novellas in one book, not his best, in my opinion, but he can't write a bad book so I still gave it four stars on Goodreads. I only have two books to go now and I will be caught up with this amazing series. 

So that's a few of the books I've enjoyed this year so far. As I said, I haven't read heaps but those I have read, mainly murder mysteries, have all been excellent. 

I will try to catch up with a few posts over the next few days, and also, be around a bit more. Hope everyone has had a good start to 2026 and are keeping well? 

Merry Christmas and a few books

So, I've been a bit absent for several weeks, mainly due to it being the run-up to Christmas but a week long bout of sciatica stopped me in my tracks rather. I do my blog posts on an old fashioned desktop pc and sitting at it for any length of time proved painful. Thankfully, the sciatica is now in retreat and also family have now arrived to help out so all is now well.

I have managed to read a bit this month, just not review. So, a quick rundown of what I've read:

The Tesla Legacy by Rebecca Cantrell is  book 2 of her 'Joe Tesla' series and concerns a machine his grandfather invented which vibrates and can destroy buildings, bridges etc. Where are the plans? 

Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities by James Lovegrove is book 2 of his Cthulhu series. It's bonkers but fun and I loved the setting of the North Kent marshes. 

Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie sees Poirot investigating the death of wealthy Simeon Lee in a country house mystery. Which of his relatives did him in? Great fun.

Tha Harbour Lights Mystery by Emylia Hall is book 2 of her Shell House Detective series.  This is set around the Mousehole Christmas lights which I've seen many a time so it was a nice nostalgic read. Good mystery but maybe a bit too much relationship stuff. 

My current read is a Christmas romance set in Cornwall.

 

It's frothy and fun and the setting of a hotel on the north Cornwall coast is well done.

As I said, I have family staying now and consequently will not be back until the new year. 

I want to wish everyone who visits my blog, whether you comment or not, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. See you in 2026. 

November reading

November was a quietish reading month for me. Not sure why but that's the way it goes sometimes.  

I started the month by finishing Inheritance by Nora Roberts. My review of that is HERE. Thoroughly enjoyed that and then went on to read book 2 of the trilogy, The Mirror. That was basically more of the same, more hauntings, more stories of dead wives, more of Sonya's new business, her friends, and all of their new romances. Good fun, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading book 3 soon. 

I then went back to a series I haven't read anything from since 2018, apparently, and that's the Kate Shugak books by Dana Stabenow. 

Midnight Come Again is book 10 in the series. It sees Kate burying her grief from a terrible incident in the last book by working all hours for a flying freight company in Bering, Alaska. No one knows she's there but state trooper, Jim Chopin, comes across her when he's sent to work for the company, undercover. Kate naturally gets embroiled in Jim's case, involving Russian smuggling and more danger than either of them bargained for. So this was 'ok'. I felt it got bogged down in too much superfluous detail and Kate's selfishness annoyed me. She left all her friends worrying about her and didn't bother to let them know she was ok. But then I have always thought that one of Kate's faults is that she is rather self-absorbed. It might be why I've not read anything from this series for 7 years. Will I read on? I'm not sure. 

Next up, I read a delightful fanfiction novella for the Book Bingo challenge I'm doing. Only three categories to fill now, Thriller, Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. I've just started the thriller, will probably reread The Hound of the Baskervilles, and am not sure about Agatha yet... plenty to choose from.

All month I've been reading a non-fiction book by Guy Shrubsole, The Lost Rainforests of Britain.  

 

The Amazon is not the only place in the world that has rainforests. There are plenty of places in the world where there are 'temperate' rainforests as opposed to 'tropical' ones. I suppose the most famous would be The Pacific Northwest but at one time Britain had a huge stretch running the length of its west coast from Cornwall to Scotland. There are still remnants but they're rapidly disappearing for many reasons. Yes, climate change, but a bigger culprit is the grazing of sheep that eat the saplings in these small woodlands, so they can't regenerate. Can anything be done? Anyway, this was a bit dry in places, info dumps etc. but all in all I enjoyed this trip around the small rainforests of the UK and learnt quite a lot. Dartmoor, one of our Devon moors, featured quite a bit which is probably why I fancy rereading The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Lastly, I've just finished a collection of weird Winter/Christmas short stories, Sunless Solstice edited by Lucy Evans and Tanya Kirk.

 

This collection was so good I almost gave it 5 stars. Then towards the end two really very average stories cropped up that I was not enthused by, so it ended up a 4 star read. (It's a 4.5 really.) It starts with an Irish yarn, the author of which is anonymous, that one was good. I liked On the Northern Ice by Elia Wilkinson Peattie, a story about a man skating to a village on Lake Superior... very full of atmosphere. The Black Cat by W.J. Wintle is about someone who hates cats being haunted by one. Mr Huffam by Hugh Walpole is one of those tales where someone picks a stranger up, takes him home and said stranger changes the household - in a good way. The Third Shadow by H. Russell Wakefield was an excellent mountaineering story, bit of a murder mystery. Daphne du Maurier's The Apple Tree was quite depressing, about a marriage gone sour, but so beautifully written that I enjoyed it. The last story in the collection, A Fall of Snow by James Turner concerns a 15 year old lad who goes to spend Christmas with an uncle and his family in Norfolk. While out tobogganing with his cousin he sees the dead body of one of the maids. Only it's not, she's in the house and is fine... good twist at the end. I think if you're looking for some spooky or weird stories to read over the Christmas you could do a lot worse than this anthology. The writing is superb throughout and with only two stories I didn't like (your mileage may well vary on those), I was very happy with this collection. 

So that's my reading up to date. I hope yours is going well and that you're managing to escape all the marauding lurgies. 

 

Two short reviews

I had family staying for most of last week and into this, it being half-term here in the UK, so as usual I'm a bit behind with everything blogging connected. Trying to catch up but 'bear with' as they say: I will get there.

My last book for October was A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith, which Constance at Staircase Wit reviewed a few weeks ago. It sounded fun so I thought I'd try it. 

The setting for this is London in 1901, Lincoln's Inn and the so called Inner Temple (I found all the details about the various courts a trifle confusing). Gabriel Ward is a KC... King's Counsel as opposed to QC - Queen's Counsel - which is what I'm used to, me being a child of the reign of Elizabeth II. Anyway. He lives alone in Lincoln's Inn, keeps himself to himself, is obsessively regular in his day to day habits and likes it that way... until he trips over the dead body of the Lord Chief Justice one morning and is told to investigate or be at risk of losing the chambers where he lives. The Lord Chief Justice has a knife sticking out of his chest and no shoes or socks on... this latter fact being what seems to scandalise people the most. Along with a young police constable, a reluctant Gabriel sets about finding out what happened. Naturally, a can of worms is revealed as regards the dead man's family, associates and all of their goings on. This book was such a breath of fresh air. I loved Gabriel and his love of a quiet, orderly life. Yes, these days we would probably give him some kind of diagnosis, but back then he was just a very clever, reclusive sort and no one batted an eyelid. Pairing him up with a bright young constable who is out in the world a lot more and from a humble background (Gabriel's background is the complete opposite) is a stroke of genius and works beautifully. 1901 London is a very real presence in the book and is a time period I love. And all through the book there's a delightful vein of humour as Gabriel's eyes are well and truly opened as regards how people behave and the lies they tell. The only negative, the author's over use of the word 'snuffle'... are there no editors these days? Regardless, a delightful story, book 2, A Case of Life and Limb, is already on my Kindle. 

So, my first book for November was Inheritance by Nora Roberts. This is book 1 in the author's 'Lost Bride' trilogy, recommended by my daughter. 

Coming home unexpectedly early one afternoon, Sonya finds her fiance in bed with her cousin. Naturally she ditches him, pronto, but he turns nasty at work and she ends up resigning from her web design job in Boston. Which is when there's a knock at the door and a lawyer type tells her an uncle she didn't know she had has left her a mansion in Maine. (I do wish someone would leave me a mansion in Maine... Italy or Greece would do at a pinch but 'Maine'... wow.) With few ties, off she trots, leaving Boston and her ratbag ex-fiance behind. What Sonya discovers when she arrives at Lost Bride Manor is basically a house possessed by ghosts and a witch. The house has been in the Poole family for centuries and for a couple of them, seven new brides have died by various means. It's clear that the ghosts of these brides want Sonya to rid the house of the curse and as she's a Poole too, it seems she needs to do this for the sake of her own future. So, I gave this 5 stars on Goodreads because, as with all of Nora Roberts books, it's quite compelling. A lot of it is concerned with Sonya's new small business and some might find that a bit tedious. But the setting is to die for, coastal Maine, what's not to love. I enjoyed the characters and loved the dogs and cats. I was watching a YT vid last night where someone, who loves the author's books, was reading some of her older output from the 1980s and 90s and described her male characters as 'high-handed'. I realised she'd changed that as the two men in this trilogy are not that way at all. Interesting. The spooky goings on are well done and clever as Sonya is taken back in time to witness each of the brides' deaths. All that said, I'm not sure there's enough meat on the bones of this to warrant a trilogy, there's quite a bit of padding... I don't mind it too much, your mileage may vary. I'm almost halfway through book 2, The Mirror, it's good, but I will probably wait until the new year to read book 3. 

I can't believe it's already November, we're having a real, blustery, at times stormy, wet autumn here in the UK. Perfect for spooky books and comfy chairs. I hope you're keeping well and finding plenty of excellent books to read. 
 

I have been reading...

So, after finishing the two YA novels in my last post, I did what I'd been promising myself I'd do for several years - a reread of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. 

The first thing I'll do is post a link to my review of 2007. It's HERE. That's an OK description of the book, I think, so I won't go into describing it all over again. I didn't reread that before I did my reread as I wanted to go into it having forgotten most of the detail, which I had. Thus, the gorgeousness of The Historian took me by surprise all over again. I knew of course that it was long and rambly, 650 pages long and rambly in fact, and that's a bit of a committment. And it did take me 10 days to read. But that fine, I don't mind that when I know what I'm getting into. Several things I had forgotten about this book. Firstly the sense of menace from Vlad Dracula, and those in league with him, that runs right through the book. I'd forgotten how wrapped up I got in the mystery of what has happened to various people like Elena's mother, Professor Rossi and then later, her father. I'd also forgotten how rich this book is in history and travel and how much Elizabeth Kostova clearly loves Eastern Europe. This book is quite the love letter to it and we visit Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, plus Balkan countries such as Croatia and Greece. Other cities such as Paris and Instanbul also play a big part. I'm going to be controversial now and say that I like The Historian better than I like Bram Stoker's Dracula. That's purely because the whole book suits my reading tastes slightly more than Stoker's classic. Ryan from Wordsmithonia commented on my last post that he didn't find The Historian too long and actually wanted more. Me too. And the author must be aware of how many people feel like that, because there's a kind of sequel coming out in October 2026, Mystery Play. I believe this will be set in Boston, or at least starts out there, knowing this author, heaven only knows where the book will end up. I can't wait and wish it wasn't a whole year before it's published. 

Next up is, The World Beneath by Rebecca Cantrell.

This is book one in the author's 'Joe Tesla' series and was recommended to me by a lovely visitor a few weeks ago. Joe Tesla used to work for a tech company (possibly owned it, I can't quite remember) but had to retire unexpectedly when he became afflicted with agoraphobia. It's dibilitating of course and he ends up living in a house that was built in the New York subway, with his service dog, Edison. Joe becomes suspect number one in a murder case when he comes across a frantic young man dismantling a bricked up entrance to something in the subway. Feeling threatened, Joe leaves the scene, only to come back later and find an abandoned railway carriage behind the wall and the young man beaten to death. There are also three very old skeletons. Joe, unable to face being taken outside by the police goes on the run and with the help of a female security guard tries to prove his innocence. So, I'm not really a massive reader of thrillers and elements of this were outside my comfort zone, I can't say what as it would involve spoilers. Suffice it to say, it was scary in a militaristic manner. (To be honest it's fairly obvious from the beginning the kind of thing that's going on.) I was attracted to this because of the underground aspect, tunnels and hidden worlds and secrets and all that. And the book delivered. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was fast paced, exciting and I loved the dog. It wasn't perfect... Joe sees numbers as colours and while I suppose that's interesting I found it a bit intrusive to read. Luckily, there wasn't heaps of it. I will definitely read on in this four part series. For a start there's the mystery of what happened to Joe to cause his agoraphobia, it's clear from the book that it didn't just happen randomly. I had already read one other book by Rebecca Cantrell, Blood Gospel, a rather good vampire yarn: she might become a new favourite author. Who knows? And that's the joy of reading. 

So my two current reads are:

 

This is basically what it says on the tin, a book about British weather... mainly wild and woolly weather I notice. The writing is 'so' beautiful but then I knew it would be as I've read Matt Gaw's delightful book about rivers. 

And this: 

 

Fabulous cover on this edition of Bleak House by Dickens. It's a painting by John Atkinson Grimshaw and entitled Waterloo Lake, Leeds. (The lake was built by soldiers returning from the Napoleonic wars.) This is a Dickens novel I've not read but I have seen the BBC adaptation from 2005, so the storyline is quite familiar. Author, Katie Lumsden, is hosting a 2 month readalong of the novel on Youtube so I thought I would join in. I'm only 70 pages in but am already hooked. One thing I had definitely not expected... it's funny, the tone is humorous. Well, well. Nice that I can still be taken by surprise. 

I hope you're all keeping well. The clocks go back tonight in the UK and BST disappears. Time to get out all the wintery, spooky, atmosperic books you can find, sit in your favourite chair and hibernate. Happy autumn reading. 

 

Two Young Adult books

It seems crazy that we're in mid-October already and people I know are already thinking about Christmas! One piece of sad news is that the blogging community lost one of its best loved bloggers a few weeks ago, Nan from Letters from a Hill Farm.  She was beloved by many for her gentle kindness and interest in all things to do with gardening, nature and books. Her family must be bereft. This mad world does not need to lose beautiful people like Nan and she will be missed. 

A couple of Young Adult novels today, to be honest they're more middle-grade, but as I'm never certain what the age-range is for either and I'm sure there is over-lapping, I'll call them YA. 

First up, The Snow Spider Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo. This is an omnibus edition of three short novels, all set in the mountains of North Wales.

Nine year old, Gwyn, lives with his parents on a hill-farm in Wales. There's a feeling of deep melancholy about the family because Gwyn's older sister, Bethan, disappeared on the mountain 2 years ago. In the first book of the trilogy, The Snow Spider, Gwyn is given 5 gifts by his grandmother, on his birthday: she suspects he might be the reincarnation of a Welsh wizard. One of these gifts leads to him being sent a beautiful silver spider and Gwyn hopes to use the spider to help him find his sister. In book 2, Emlyn's Moon, we meet Nia, with loads of siblings, one of whom is Gwyn's best friend, Alun. Nia is drawn to Emlyn, a strange boy in the village whose mother has disappeared; no one mixes with Emlyn and his father, although she doesn't know why. Nia, of course, ignores all the warnings. In book 3, The Chestnut Soldier, Nia's family are to have a visitor, a cousin recovering from serving in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. But Gwyn has suddenly lost one of the gifts his grandmother gave him, one with an evil reputation... how will this mix with a troubled soldier? This was such an excellent young adult trilogy. What worked for me was not so much the magic and all that, although that was good too... it was the setting. Having travelled quite a bit around Wales, I could see that Jenny Nimmo was absolutely spot on with her sense of place and the characters of people who live on these isolated mountain farms and in the villages. It is almost other-worldly and she makes it even more so with a certain extra element she introduces. She doesn't shy away from the hardship experienced by people who don't have a lot, either. I loved this and gave it 5 stars on Goodreads, without quibbling.

The second book is, The Betwitching of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes. I read the first book in this trilogy, The Haunting of Aveline Jones, last year. My review is HERE. 

Aveline and her mum are spending a week away in a holiday cottage, around the end of the school summer holidays, which in the UK is early September. The cottage is not too far from Bristol, where they live (my thought was Wiltshire as it has the right ancient, mystical kind of atmosphere). Almost as soon as they arrive, Aveline sets out to explore her surroundings and is delighted to discover a circle of standing stones in the field behind their back garden. There she meets Hazel, a girl seemingly of her own age but unlike anyone Aveline has ever met before. The stones are apparently known locally as The Witch Stones and Aveline, who has an interest in such things, wants to know more. Her friend, Harold, whom she met in the last book, is coming to stay with his uncle, the one who owns a bookshop. She messages him to 'bring books' on the subject. He does and the adventure begins as they try to find out about the contents of a mysterious plugged bottle Aveline found in the garden and what it could possibly have to do with Hazel. I enjoyed this as much as book one, although the seaside setting of that one probably appealed to me more. This one has an ancient site feel to it and is atmospheric and creepy, particularly towards the end as you find out what's what and how much danger both Aveline and Harold are in. As young teen I think I would've 'loved' this and, although there were some excellent books around in the 1960s, there is now a 'huge' choice for kids and I often feel very envious of the sheer number of books and choices available now for children and teens. Recommend this series of novella length creepy books even if you're 72 like me and not 13 or 14. 

So, that's what I've been reading. Now and for the last week or so I've been rereading a favourite book that I last read in 2007.

 

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is a sweeping tome of a novel, spanning centuries and dealing with the history of one, Vlad Dracula, and the people searching for him and his place of burial. It's a love letter to Eastern Europe, I thought it was wonderful back in 2007 and I love it even more now and wish I hadn't waited so long to reread it. 

I hope you're enjoying October - it's one of my favourite months - keeping well and finding some good books to read.