My first taste of William Boyd, and I rather enjoyed it. The main character is, for the most part, a likeable character - apart from when he seem to go a bit mad and out of character, turning into a mad stalker for an entire chapter. Do all of Boyd‘s books have a disturbing obsession with sex filtering through?

Book 59/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I loved the first book in this series, but it feels like it‘s getting a bit tired now.

Book 58/60 # Read2025 @DieAReader

In a way, I kind of enjoyed this. It‘s a bit of good, fun, easy-reading “chick lit” with friendships forming across a class divide.
But… I couldn‘t get away from the plot feeling a little too implausible.

Book 57/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I‘ve gone from a book I felt was way too long to one that I want to be longer! This short novella is a taut look at the effects of trauma, when the death of Matthew‘s parents lead him to uncover a 35-year-old secret.

Book 56/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#Water #FictionalTraveler @julieclair

A typical Jilly Cooper romp, but at over 1,000 pages, it felt way too long for its genre!

Book 54/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

I‘m not sure if it‘s the book or me that‘s getting a bit jaded, but this 4th instalment of Dunbar‘s Borrow-a-Bookshop series didn‘t seem to have the charm of the first three.

Book 53/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

My second Anne Tyler this month. I seem to be in the mood for well-written observations on normal life. Micah is a quiet, well-mannered IT expert/apartment block caretaker who maintains routines in his everyday life almost to the point of obsession, until events throw the routines off track. It‘s a gentle, character-driven short novel and I adored it.

Book 52/60, page 17,255 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterR #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader

I liked the idea of this book, but the execution did not deliver. This main character was difficult to feel engaged with, and the 1979 story line seemed very flat. Sad, because this could have been great.

Book 51/60 Page 17,083/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#PlaceYoudLikeToVisit #FictionalTraveler @julieclair

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an expert at making you care about her characters. The novel is a love story set in NASA during the early 1980s, the early years of the Space Shuttle program, and it touches on sexism and homophobia. And that ending!!

Also - I much prefer the UK cover to the US one.

Book 50/60 Page 16,695/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader

A soft pick for me. I enjoyed the slow burn investigative element, and the court room scenes, but something about the writing style niggled me slightly. With the MC “snuffling” and saying things “in his gentle way” I sometimes felt like I was reading a Bagpuss script. I probably will read the second in the series, though.

Picture shows the Inner Temple garden.

Book 49/60 Page 16,327/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I‘ve never felt more seen! 🤣🤣

When I started reading this, I wasn‘t sure it was going to be my sort of thing. But by then end, I was so invested in the characters, willing Gail to not let me down (she didn‘t!). This short novel is an exquisite exploration for relationships and forgiveness. I adored it.

Book 47/60 Page 15,811/18,000 #Read2025
#LetterT #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader

I was expecting a feelgood story about mother-daughter relationships and “found family”, but what I got was a woman who sees ghosts, superficial relationships and a confused and confusing story. This one wasn‘t for me, sadly.

Book 47/60 Page 15,811/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterQ #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader

A soft pick. This is fundamentally a thriller hing on the hook of the original Sweetpea novel. Sweetpea had originally that subsequent books on the series naturally can‘t match, but it‘s still a good read.

Book 46/60 Page 15,564/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

A slow-build Gothic novel that took me in a direction I wasn‘t expecting it to go in.

Book 45/60, Page 15,094/18,000 #read2025 @DieAReader

After nearly bailing on this series after two disappointing books I found this a great improvement, and a nice bit of escapist fun.

Book 44/60 Page 14,902/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

This book is such fun, Vera is a great character, but it also touches on dark subjects. Overall, a good balance.

Book 43/60, Page 14,344/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterV #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
Book 2 in the series #SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

I was disappointed with this one, it felt a little messy. Also, I chose it as my choice for this month‘s #FictionalTraveler, #SpanishSpeaking, but being set in a rambling old Manor House owned by an English family, there was little sense of place.

Book 42/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader

@julieclair

I was wondering whether to carry on with this series, because one of the main character‘s behaviour was so appalling that it was grating on me. But this, the fifth in the series, turned it to a bit of a whodunnit and now I want to carry on and read the rest of the series!

Book 39/60, Page 12,918 #Read2025 @DieAReader
Rutshire Chronicles #6 #SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

Having been disappointed with one of Shriver‘s more recent novels, I went into this somewhat trepidatiously, but I have been pleasantly surprised. This is an excellent book that poses the question “nature or nurture” in a quite brutal fashion. Was Kevin born a killer, or was his mother‘s attitude towards him the problem?
Shriver‘s female lead characters all seem to be of a type, and all unlikeable.

Book 38/60, Page 12,653 #Read2025 @DieAReader

There are a few interesting snippets of Townshend‘s life in this 516 behemoth, but mostly what I got out of it was that he was a serial adulterer who “fell in love” with any woman who batted her eyelids at him, and he wants to remind us that he was the songwriter so he was always the richest member of the band. I guess I‘m #TeamRoger

Book 37/60 Page 12,253/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I‘ve loved the Phryne Fisher series, and have now read all 23 books in the series. This one isn‘t the best, it feels like the author, being aware of the limited time she had left, wanted to ensure that the series cameto and end with no loose ends - Greenwood passed away in March this year.

Book 36/60 Page 11.715/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

I am enjoying this series. There a nice mix of serious issues alongside romance and humour, with a nice mix of likeable characters.

Book 35/60, Page 11,419/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

I expected to enjoy this book, but I actually found myself having to force myself to pick it up and continue. It all felt a bit too preachy. Shriver is, as far as I‘m aware, a hugely respected writer, so I‘m not sure if she‘s just not my thing or if this is not her usual standard. I think I need to read We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Book 34/60 Page 11.033/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader

Cooper‘s books definitely fall into the #GuiltyPleasure category. Despite being a National Treasure, I don‘t think she‘s that great a writer, but the books are fun, if a little on the long side - do editors fear to tell their top authors to make cuts?

Book 33/60 Page 10,745/18,000 #Read2025
Book 5 of 11 The Rutshire Chronicles #SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

An interesting skip through Daltrey‘s life from school years, through the formation and progression on the Who, as seen through Daltrey‘s eyes, to his life today. I feel the need to read Pete Townshend‘s memoir now, to get a balanced view.

Book 32/60 Page 9,849/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I loved this 1958 satire poking fun at the British Secret Services.

Book 31/60 Page 9,577/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterO #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
#Island (Cuba) #FictionalTraveler @julieclair

#BookReport #WeeklyForecast
My reading this week:
Finished Alexandria:
Finished In Bloom:
Read:
- 108 pages of Daltrey‘s autobiography;
- 138 pages of Appassionata;
- 69 pages of Mania;
- 91 pages of Our Man In Havana.

I‘m happy with that. It‘s been a busy week so midweek reading was minimal, but I managed to get some done on Good Friday and Saturday.

I think this week, I‘ll finish Daltrey and Our Man In Havana.

I enjoyed the writing, the dark humour and the wise-cracking, sarcastic main character, though it lacks the impact of the first book in the series. It will be interesting to see where book 3 goes.

Book 30/60 Page 9,359/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterI #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
#SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

Blurbs and reviews by famous people/other authors that bear absolutely no relation to the actual content.

#SundayFunday
@BookmarkTavern

A history of the city of Alexandria, from its conception by Alexander the Great in 331BC to the Arab Spring of the early 2010s. As I have a fondness for ancient history, I found the early chapters most interesting. I felt a bit bogged down with various invasions and a little depressed at the recent “islamification” that has cost the city much of its multiculturalism.

Book29/60 Page 8939/18000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterA #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader

#BookReport #WeeklyForecast

Finished Alexandria today. Expect to finish In Bloom this week, as well as read a bit each day of the other 4.

Whilst I sometimes find the writing a bit clunky in this series, the plot, characters, and issues covered all make this a compelling series for me. Book 11 in the series tackles vigilante action after what many would consider to be one of the most heinous of crimes.

#Book28/60 Page 8,523/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

I adore Natalie Haynes‘ stand-up routines, which make Greek and Roman myths accessible and relevant to the modern world. I don‘t feel her style translate as well into book form, but this is still an interesting introduction to a selection of Greek goddesses, and her comparison of Artemis with Katniss from the Hunger Games has made me intrigued to read the latter.

Book 27/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader

4th of the Rutshire Chronicles, and the weakest so far. I do struggle with novels that seem to accept domestic violence as a part of marriage, though given the relative age of this book, perhaps it helped bring it to the fore. But aside from that, the characters and plot were rather dull until our old favourite, Rupert Campbell Black, puts in an appearance.

Book 26/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

Catching up with books I‘ve finished this week.
This took me a while to get into, and I wasn‘t sure that I liked it, but after few days after finishing it, I‘m remembering and chuckling at bits of it. I do think something is lost in not being familiar with the books it was parodying, though.

Book 25/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I read this collection of short stories because it was my book club‘s choice. Each of the 10 short stories is supposedly a response to (or echo of) a poem, though there‘s at least 1 where I could see no connection between the chosen poem and the story. Of the 10, 3 have stuck in my mind, 2 as being good and thought provoking, 1 for pushing a dangerous ideology.

Book 24/60, Page 6,873/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader

#BookRepprt #WeeklyForecast

Finished the Britney memoir today, and have made headway with the rest this week. Next week‘s plan is continue with the 5 unfinished books!

I was never really a Britney fan - I was already in my 30s when she burst on to the music scene, and hence not her demographic! But you couldn‘t not notice her and her subsequent troubles, so I was interested in what she had to say. The first half is interesting, at times sad, at times rightly calling out an industry that treats women very differently to how it treats men. The second half is less engaging - because she finds it difficult to talk⬇️

Not the best in the series, but still an enjoyable “cosy” read. Phryne is such a wonderful character.

Book 22/60; page 6,468/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

Planning on making a start on all of this next week.
Cold Comfort Farm and The Poet and The Echo are both for my irl book club; Divine Might and The Woman In Me are for the Her Story Goodreads Reading Challenge prompt (I couldn‘t decide which one to read so chose both!), Jilly Cooper is the next in the Rutshire Chronicles series for #SeriesLove2025, and Alexandria is because I spotted it on my TBR pile and it called to me!

#WeeklyForecast

#BookReport
Finished all of these this week, mostly ahead of schedule!
I didn‘t take to Eurotrash at all, but enjoyed the others for various different reasons.

The fifth, and (so far?) final instalment of the Before The Coffee Gets Cold series is as delightful as the rest of the series. Criticism that there is a lot of repetition is a little justified, but it doesn‘t detract from the charm of the series. Reading this series always gladdens my heart.

Book 21/60 Page 6,132/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

I feel bad about this rating, because Jilly Cooper is a bit of a National Treasure, particularly so in Gloucestershire, the county she and I both live in. This third instalment in her Rutshire Chronicles is, on the whole, a good book: though it‘s bold and brash, at its heart is romance and true love. But I can‘t ignore the domestic violence and animal cruelty in it 😩

Book 20/60, Page 5,930/18,000 #Read2025
#SeriesLove2025

I feel that this is a very “noisy” book, very much a product of the 1980s (certainly in the era before the stock market crash of October 1987). But covering, as it does, manipulation of the media, corruption, and people from all sectors using an accident to further their own careers/funds, it has as much relevance today, as it did when it was first published in 1987. It‘s sad how little some things have chan

Book 19/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader

Sorry, this just isn‘t my thing. There are a few funny moments, and some sad moments that are too quickly glosses over. But mostly, I just didn‘t get it. As it‘s been nominated for awards, I‘m sure it‘s me, not the book. I just didn‘t get it.

Book 18/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterE #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader

A very soft pick for this one. The main character is typically flawed but likeable, and the plot develops well, until the end, which seems rather sudden, with the case being solved rather suddenly and far too neatly.

#LetterD #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
Book 17/60, pages 4,744/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I do love this series: lovely, wholesome feel-good stories

Book 16/60 Page 4,444/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
Book 4 in the Before The Coffee Gets Cold series #SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView

#BookReport #WeeklyForecast
I updated my spreadsheet for the new month and forgot to keep a note of my starting position for the week 🤦‍♀️. So these are approximate figures…

Eurotrash 103pp
Death in Daylesford 89pp
Dead Sweet 94pp
Polo (audio) 43%
Before We Say Goodbye Finished
Bonfire of the Vanities c60pp

Plan for this week is to continue with the ones I haven‘t finished, and add Before We Forget Kindness

#WeeklyForecast

As seems to be my wont these days, I‘ve started out on multiple books. Started all by Bonfire of the Vanities yesterday. This weeks target:
Finish Before We Say Goodbye:
35 pages of Eurotrash
56 pages of Death In Daylesford#l
42 pages of Dead Sweet
21 pages of Bonfire of the Vanities
18% of Polo (audiobook)