Books #35

[twilightgarden]

Let's talk about it cos you're making me feel better! I have 187 on my Kindle, and about 50-60 physical books!

489 TBR on my Kindle and goodness knows how many physical books.

 

[ordinaryjelly]

My mum is a huge reader, always has a book with her. As children we always saw her with a book and that has rubbed off on her children. We now carry books at all times.

That policy of mine has rubbed off on two of my three children, they are never far from a book.

 

[Boogs]

930 unread books on my kindle I really do need to do a cull of free books that I got just because they were free. I’ve stopped grabbing free books the last couple of months. I don’t want to count my unread physical books but added 26 to the pile at 66 books last weekend

 

[CommentBelow]

Thank you. I shall look into these. Though resist purchasing until I make my way through existing tbr reading projects I have going on.

I am definitely stealing ‘reading projects’.

‘I can’t load the dishwasher, I’m working on my reading project’
‘I would love to go to *insert name of place I don’t want to go to... but I’m busy with my reading project’

I am 1 book behind on my Booker Prize challenge - so may actually need to use this reading project excuse.

 

[Libbylulu]

Saw this and thought it perfect for this group

 

[Tofino]

I can't believe as a VIP tattler and a book OBSESSIVE that I've only just found this thread!!! I've read this whole thread and added the Strike books to my wishlists and looked up a few others so this may be a bad idea!!!! I have over 500 books on my kindle, two bookcases full - one fiction, one non fiction plus there are book cases in most rooms in the house as well. I will read quite a wide variety of books but really into history at the moment and I will NEVER be doing a 'not buying anymore books till I've read all the TBR' challenge!!! I am a trustee for our local library and I find it impossible to even go in for other things without bringing at least one book home!!!! I always think it could be worse....could be drugs!!!

I usually aim to read 52 books a year (one a week ) but have only managed to do it since having kids once but this year I'm on 29 books read already - partly due to deleting tik tok off my phone! So looking forward to chatting books with you all! <3

This thread is the worst. Your TBR just gets bigger and your bank balance gets smaller. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

 

[daisynoon]

My March! Bit of an odd month's reading from me, ending on what felt like a rushed sequel (The World We Make) and White Nights, which I wasn't in the right frame of mind for. I do love the cover of Glorious Exploits glaring at the rest of my books.

 

[twilightgarden]

I had over 90 days reading streak on my kindle and I’ve missed a day irrationally sad about this.

 

[emmer_moans]

I was naughty and bought a Kobo Clara BW on payday, firstly so I can back up future books I buy (screw you, Amazon!) but also because I want to be able to borrow more books from my library. I have just managed to check out my first book and I look forward to borrowing more and supporting the library that way. I don't borrow actual books from the library because mine is a small mobile building and open limited hours that don't match my availability, but this way I feel like I'm still supporting them a bit, still?

I also have a Kindle Paperwhite 12th ed, which I do love to read on, and that will be my main device for books I already have (I have about 50 unread ), and I can sideload onto it with books I have purchased elsewhere, plus I sideload fanfiction onto it etc, so it will still get used. But the Kobo Clara BW is smaller, lighter, and can have my library books and future purchases on it, and I'm planning on using it as my out-and-about e-reader for trains/waiting rooms/ lunchtime at work, etc. I had been a bit wary of losing my Paperwhite anyway so tended to leave it at home, and reading on the kindle app on my phone was not the best for my eyes.

So yes, a bit of a costly purchase, but I definitely have a couple of 'use cases' for it.

I still buy and love a new paperback but I'm trying to limit those purchases to ones where it's series I'm halfway though or books I can tell I am going to love. Or ask them as gifts for birthday/Christmas etc.

Then I'll use the library for e-books I am unsure about or curious about, and I will try to buy other e-books I want to keep, like Agatha Christies (whose works I want to eventually read all of, I have a spreadsheet ), from other sites and back them up.

I still may buy 99p deals on Amazon for the kindle but at least I do so now knowing it's a licence and not buying the book . I am pissed that I have spent £££ the past few years on books I thought I was owning (Buy Now, button, anyone?!) when that actually wasn't the case, and yes I downloaded my books before the cut off on 26th Feb. I mean, recently I paid 14 quid for a kindle book, a trilogy, before all that furore kicked off, and to think I could pay so much and not even be able to back it up if my amazon account ever got locked and not have access to it? Fuming! Kobo books also have DRM on the books but they let you take a download as a back up. And being able to link to my library, well that's what made me decide to get one.

No-one asked for all this blurting from me but it's been on my chest all week, and I've been trying to organise by TBR

I don't do piracy though, I have just backed up the books I have paid (quite a lot) for by download which the system let me do until the cut off. I don't redistribute. Just back up in case my account disappears. Any kindle purchases made from this point forward I do so knowing it's like a rental, but I'll try to buy the books elsewhere first. I don't do Kindle unlimited because I don't need to add another subscription to my list

Anyway, the library book I have just borrowed is Emma Flint's Other Women, a historical mystery, which I hope I will enjoy.

My favourite read in February is Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood.

Now off to eat beans on toast to offset the buying a Kobo

 

[lokp0009]

March Books

Lessons in Chemistry - .5

Archer’s Voice -

The Alice Network -

The Menai Bridge Killings -

The Conway Harbour Killings -

The River Seine Killings -

The Lake Vynwy Killings -

The Chirk Castle Killings -

The Portmeirion Killings -

The Llandudno Pier Killings -

The House of My Mother (Audio) - .5

Beneath A Scarlet Sky - .5

The Denbigh Asylum Killings -

 

[BWGossip]

I'm reading Frederica (on a Georgette Heyer spree atm), the handsome hero is named Vernon and all I can picture is this

 

[ordinaryjelly]

I finished book number 20 (of the then remaining 20) on Friday.

20 was The Last Library by Freya Sampson, not sure how this slipped under the radar when I was deleting books. A big fat meh from me, not my genre at all which is probably why I didn't enjoy it. It is well reviewed so if you like that kind of book I am sure it is better. It was a 99p purchase in Sept 2021.

I finished 19 this morning which was Little White Secrets by Carol Mason - 99p purchase, September 2022. Loved it. She is definitely on my possibly purchase list in the future.

My remaining 18 books are -

18. Her Final Words by Brianna Labuskes - Sept 2020 purchas, Amazon First Reads (did that exist back then?) Or free.

17. Beneath Devils Bridge by Loreth Ann White - May 2021 purchase, Amazon First Reads/free

16. White Lies by Lucy Dawson - 99p purchase,
Sept 2021

15. At The Quiet Edge by Victoria Helen Stone - 99p purchase, April 2022

14. Hide by Nell Pattison - 99p purchase, December 2021

13. In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware - part of a £14.92 Kindle book purchase (this is when I first became paraplegic, the other books I have read) November 2021

12. The Stolen Ones by Vanessa Curtis - 99p purchase, November 2021

11. The Last Lie Told by Debra Webb - 99p purchase, February 2022

10. White Lies by Lucy Dawson - £1.49 purchase, September 2021

9. Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh - 99p purchase, February 2022

8. False Witness by Karin Slaughter - 99p purchase, January 2022

7. I Know What You've Done by Dorothy Koomson - 99p purchase, December 2021

6. Long Bright River by Liz Moore - 99p purchase, September 2021 (I think this is the book I am most excited to read, it sounds awesome and was Barack Obama's book of the year.)

Then I have the 5 remaining books from the Six Tudor Queens series by Alison Weir, all 99p purchases in November 2022

5. Anne Boleyn
4. Jane Seymour
3. Anna of Kleeve
2. Kathryn Howard
1. Katharine Parr

I quite fancy myself as a lady in waiting at court so I might read those all one after another next. Certainly Anne Boleyn is next so we'll see if getting her head chopped off turns me away from court for a while.

 

[wishiniwasskinny]

Saw this and thought of this thread haha

 

[AllieBee]

My rating system - not that anyone asked or cares - is 3 stars is a good, solid read. I have thought about changing it though since I think Goodreads ratings may affect authors (?)

I think we probably all vary a bit in how we score books. 3 for me would be one that was average, not good, not bad enough for less. I would do

5 stars - excellent, book hangover, may reread or want to read next in series (if in a aeries)
4 stars - very good, enjoyed very much
3 stars - ok, storyline ok, would.neither re read nor recommend and wouldn't read more by the same author
2 stars - bad
1. Terrible.

 

[mindlessness]

Do school children sometimes get given book tokens for World Book Day? Today I saw a class visiting my local Waterstones. It was rather charming seeing each group of children come out clasping their new books and showing them to their friends! That new book feeling I had as a kid still feels the same

So Happy World Book Day to all, old and young! Literacy and access to books are such gifts, ones I do not take for granted!

 

[HoGi]

My February reads

Standouts were The Measure and Prima Facie.

The Sirens was a huge disappointment, especially considering how much I love Weyward.

 

[ScoutFinch]

These are my February reads. I still haven’t rated a book less than 4* in 2025 so feeling the pressure choosing my next!

 

[LaBlonde]

my march reads! i feel bad including the lucy score here given that i abandoned it but i got over halfway so i’m counting it

brotherless night - vv ganeshananthan
things we hide from the light - lucy score
intermezzo - sally rooney
the pairing - casey mcquiston
the late americans - brandon taylor
somewhere beyond the sea - tj klune ?

 

[Brightlycolouredbowels]

I have just finished The Will of the Many.

wow.

I think I need to go and sit down in a darkened room for an hour to process everything.

The Heirarchy parts reminded me of the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown which were brilliant - might be worth a read before The Strength of the Few comes out in November.

I am now going to read a fake marriage mafia romance as a palette cleanser. I need something frivolous after all that intensity.

@Twofor I loved all the world building in the first half of Babel and then got really bored in the second half when all the action started! Funny how different we can all be with our reading - I think a lot of people find the world building dull so I’m the anomaly.

 

[StephenTJackson]

They are so pretty. But so expensive.