Stacking The Shelves

Welcome to my Stacking The Shelves post hosted by Reading Reality. This week I signed up for a Blog Tour:

Rum Affair by Dorothy Dunnett (click for link to Goodreads)

Book Description From Goodreads:

“This mystery is told from the point of view of the ‘Bird’; Tina Rossi, a famous coloratura soprano who arrives to sing at the Edinburgh Festival, only to find a murder victim in a cupboard, whilst at the same time her lover, top scientist Kenneth Homes, has gone missing. Saved from the long arm of the law by Johnson Johnson, a world renowned portrait painter and enigmatic solver of mysteries, Tina joins him on a yacht race to the Hebrides – there are connections anyway as Homes was conducting top secret research in the area. Here, though, there is yet more trouble and the mystery deepens as Johnson’s yacht ‘Dolly’ nears the island of Rum, where it turns into a race for life rather than prize money. This is the first title in the Johnson Johnson series and in common with the remainder involves an intricate plot and solution which is far from immediately obvious.”

I am due on the Blog Tour for this book on 27 June so keep your eyes peeled for my review!

What have you been stacking your shelves with this week?

#bookstagram #bibliophile #igreads #currentlyreading #bookreview #instaread #lovetoread #booksarelife #readingisfundamental #whatimreading #bookreviewer #bookaddicts #bookpost #tbrpile #justread #bookishphotography #whattoreadnext #readallday #bookworms #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #bookpic #newreads #booknerd #stackingtheshelves #whatshouldIread #stackingtheshelves #springreading #newbooks #mystery

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First Line Friday – Marple Twelve New Mysteries

It’s First Line Friday! Hosted by Reading Is My Superpower,you write the first line of the book you are currrently reading.

Today I have chosen my current library book Marple Twelve New Mysteries (click for link to Goodreads):

Book Description From Goodreads:

A brand-new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Mystery’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors.

This collection of a dozen original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.

Naomi Alderman
Leigh Bardugo
Alyssa Cole
Lucy Foley
Elly Griffiths
Natalie Haynes
Jean Kwok
Val McDermid
Karen M. McManus
Dreda Say Mitchell
Kate Mosse
Ruth Ware

Miss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Agatha Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.

First Line:

“‘ I wonder, sometimes, if there isn’t a concentration of evil in small places.'”

Would you carry on reading based on that first line?

I have read 3 of the 12 stories so far. All 3 were enjoyable and I am looking forward to reading the rest!

#firstlinefridays #bookstagram #bookish #instabooks #ilovebooks #readinglist #bookblog #readmore #reads #currentread #booknerdigan #readingaddict #avidreader #newread #readallthebooks #booksta #booksandbooks #readaholic #booksparks #booksarelife #bibliophile #bookwormlife #reader #beautifulbooks #bookphotograph #bibliophile #library #missmarple #mystery #agathachristie

“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “what should I read next”, “what are you currently reading”, “Agatha Christie”, “library book”, “new books”, “mystery”, “short stories”

What I have been reading this month – May 2023 Reading List

The Coronation of King Charles III by Vlasta Sopociova ⭐Rated 3/5⭐ CHILDREN’S NON FICTION

The Tiger Child by Joanna Troughton ⭐Rated 5/5⭐ CHILDREN’S FOLK TALES

The Medici Murders by David Hewson ⭐Rated 4.5/5⭐ CRIME/MYSTERY

The Boy Who Would Be King by Michael Porpurgo ⭐Rated 5/5⭐ CHILDREN’S FICTION

Royals by Rachel Hawkins ⭐Rated 5/5⭐ ROMANCE

Summer Wedding by Sarah Morgan ⭐ Rated 5/5⭐ ROMANCE

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins ⭐ Rated 5/5⭐ ROMANCE

The Adventures of Paddington The Crown Jewels Caper ⭐Rated 5/5⭐ CHILDREN’S FICTION

Summer At The Ice Cream Cafe by Jo Thomas ⭐ Rated 5/5⭐ ROMANCE

Review due 8 June

Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes⭐ Rated 3.5/5⭐ ROMANCE

Genre Goal Checklist:

Royal = 6 books read

Finally some 5 star reads! I have had a good month for reading and been lucky that those books were good enough to be considered 5 star reads!

#bookstagram #bibliophile #igreads #currentlyreading #bookreview #instaread #lovetoread #booksarelife #readingisfundamental #whatimreading #bookreviewer #bookaddicts #bookpost #tbrpile #justread #bookishphotography #whattoreadnext #readallday #bookworms #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #bookpic #newreads #booknerd #readinggoals #childrensbooks #romance #mystery #mayreading

“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “reading goals”, “what should I read next”, “what did you read”, what would you recommend that I read”, “what would get me out of a reading slump”, “children’s books”, “romance”, “mystery”, “may reading”

Goodreads Top 5 Wednesday (on a Saturday!) – Mysteries

Welcome to Top 5 Wednesday! Hosted by Goodreads T5W group, last week’s prompt was Mysteries, in honour of May being considered Mystery Month. I have read a lot of Mysteries (particularly as this is my favourite genre of book!) so here are the latest ones that I have read:

Book Description From Goodreads:

“When a well-known British TV historian, Marmaduke Godolphin, is found murdered in the canals of Venice during carnival, stabbed by a stiletto blade, the Venetian police are eager to have the case solved and cleared up within a day – murder is bad for tourism!

The police recruit the help of retired archivist, Arnold Clover. Godolphin had hired his services on arriving in Venice to help sort through some historical papers of note. These dusty documents may contain previously unknown information about the assassination of the murderer, Lorenzino de’ Medici, 500 years previously. 

How coincidental that Godolphin meets his death in the same place as the Medici murderer, Lorenzino, on a cold, dark, bloody night. Can Arnold use his powers of perception to establish a link and solve the murder of Godolphin?”

Random Things Tours – Book Review – The Medici Murders by David Hewson

Book Description From Goodreads:

“A Russian assassin is operating on the streets of London.

Emily Stearn – smart, headstrong, blessed with a photographic memory and niece of a former spy – has recently joined British Intelligence. She is a trainee. Watching, listening, analysing. Nothing too dangerous. Until she witnesses a colleague gunned down amid a routine surveillance mission.

Emily is convinced the masked killer is a woman. But the department concludes the killing bears the hallmarks of Andrei Reblov, codename Tinman. Reblov is suspected of working through a hit list of defence chiefs in revenge for European nations supplying Ukraine with weapons following Russia’s invasion.

Yet something doesn’t add up. Questions need to be answered.

Emily tracks Reblov across Europe, linking him to deaths in Rome, Berlin and Brussels. Now she’s sure he is heading for Paris, where the British prime minister is meeting European leaders in Versailles’ historic Hall of Mirrors.

As a special ops squad is assembled, led by veteran terror hunter Jack Easton, a vital clue to the London shooting drags Emily out of the office and into the field where not everything is what it seems.

Easton’s attempt to foil Reblov’s most daring assassination leads to an encounter aboard the last train to Paris. With the fate of Europe’s leaders at stake, neither man is prepared to back down.”

Book Review – The Hit List by Frank Malley

Book Description From Goodreads:

“It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal.

Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A local news legend is on the hunt for a sensational headline, and soon the gang are hot on the trail of two murders, ten years apart.

To make matters worse, a new nemesis pays Elizabeth a visit, presenting her with a deadly mission: kill or be killed…

While Elizabeth grapples with her conscience (and a gun), the gang and their unlikely new friends (including TV stars, money launderers and ex-KGB colonels) unravel a new mystery. But can they catch the culprit and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?”

Book Review -The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

Book Description From Goodreads:

“An isolated castle, a deadly crime. Is this real or nightmare?

In a remove castle high up in the Tuscan hills secrets are simmering among its glamorous English residents:

The ailing gentleman art-dealer

His dazzling niece

Her handsome Fascist husband

Their neglected young daughter

The housekeeper who knows everything

and Connie, the English widow working for them.

Every night, Connie hears sinister noises and a terrible wailing inside the walls. Is she losing her grip on reality?

Or does someone in the castle want her gone?”

Random Things Tours – Book Review – Murder Under The Tuscan Sun by Rachel Rhys

Book Description From Goodreads:

“After a fast paced introduction to the world of clairvoyance, ghost busting, mystery and murder, Tanz is currently hiding in bed, having nightmares about a suicidal psychopath, drinking red wine, irritating her cat and waiting to be evicted. Life as she knew it seven months ago has turned on its head and only the prospect of a new TV job in Newcastle and a month with her best friend Milo can help pick her up off the floor. But when she gets home, the Newcastle of more than a century before decides to haunt her bringing all kinds of spooks and horrors with it and she also finds that her new job involves more than it’s own share of intrigue and humiliation. Then it’s a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other, as Tanz, along with her dead friend Frank, attempts to expose a brutal murder that nobody even knows about. Join Tanz and her friends on another crazy, supernatural ride in GIN PALACE, the second in The Accidental Medium series.”

Random Things Tours – Book Review – Gin Palace by Tracy Whitwell

What books are on your list for Mystery Month?

#bookstagram #instabook #bookphotography #igbooks #ilovereading #bookhaul #bookhoarder #bookaddiction #bookstoread #whattoread #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogging #bookpics #weekendreads #bookrecs #booknerdproblems #bookpictures #bookstagram #amreading #booksbooksbooks #instablog #booknerds #bookphotos #bibliophile #goodreads #top5wednesday #mystery

“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “what book do you recommend”, “mystery”

Time Travel Thursday on Friday!

It’s Time Travel Thursday! This is where I take a look back at what I was reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…).

This day in 2022 I was reading:

Random Things Tours – Book Review – A Most Private Bank by Andreas Clenow

Book Description From Goodreads:

“A decade after Jim Dixon’s fall from grace, after the events that burnt his career on Wall Street, his past is catching up to him. Zurich had been the perfect place for a fresh start, a place where he could be a big fish in a small pond. The secretive world of Swiss high finance, a world of deception, greed, and excess, where everyone lies for one or another reason, provided the perfect cover. Until she showed up.

Meeting the socialite daughter of his former client was just a courtesy, nothing more. Another spoiled princess looking for VIP tickets to the opera, or a private shopping session at Louis Vuitton. So he thought. But Christina Rosenbaum was not the typical second generation heiress. This was the meeting that would set it all in motion.

Caught between unscrupulous bankers, hedge fund managers, organized crime, state actors, and law enforcement, Jim is left with no choice. One way or another, it will be over before the end of the week. This week would see careers destroyed, lives lost, and fortunes made.”

Random Things Tours – Book Review – Lucie Yi Is Not A Romantic by Lauren Ho

Book Description From Goodreads:

“An ambitious career woman signs up for a co-parenting website only to find a match she never expected, in this unflinchingly funny and honest novel from the author of Last Tang Standing.

Management consultant Lucie Yi is done waiting for Mr. Right. After a harrowing breakup foiled her plans for children—and drove her to a meltdown in a Tribeca baby store—she’s ready to take matters into her own hands. She signs up for an elective co-parenting website to find a suitable partner with whom to procreate—as platonic as family planning can be.

Collin Read checks all of Lucie’s boxes; he shares a similar cultural background, he’s honest, and most important, he’s ready to become a father. When they match, it doesn’t take long for Lucie to take a leap of faith for her future. So what if her conservative family might not approve? When Lucie becomes pregnant, the pair return to Singapore and, sure enough, her parents refuse to look on the bright side. Even more complicated, Lucie’s ex-fiancé reappears, sparking unresolved feelings and compounding work pressures and the baffling ways her body is changing. Suddenly her straightforward arrangement is falling apart before her very eyes, and Lucie will have to decide how to juggle the demands of the people she loves while pursuing the life she really wants.”

Quite different books, one a Crime/Thriller/Mystery and the other a Rom Com. I do like to mix up my reading!

What were you reading this time last year?

#bibliophile #igreads #currentlyreading #bookreview #instaread #lovetoread #booksarelife #readingisfundamental #whatimreading #bookreviewer #bookaddicts #bookpost #tbrpile #justread #bookishphotography #whattoreadnext #readallday #bookworms #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #bookpic #newreads #booknerd #timetravelthursday #pastreads #springreading #romance #thriller #mystery

“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “past reads”,”entertaining”, “what should I read next”

Goodreads Monday (add your links in the comments section for all to see!) -Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Welcome to the new home of Goodreads Monday!

Goodreads Monday allows you to post about what books are on your “to read” lists, the progress you have made on your current books and reading challenge, and any other Goodreads news!

✨Don’t forget to add your link in the comments section so that we can all see each other’s posts!✨

The book that I have chosen this week is Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (click for link to Goodreads).

Book Description From Goodreads:

“Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.”

I came across this book when Blog hopping back in October 2022. It seemed an interesting blend of magic and mystery!

Currently Reading:

Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes (click for link to Goodreads)

Progress on my Goodreads Reading Challenge:

I have read 24/50 books!

What book is on your Goodreads list? How is your reading progress and challenge going?

Don’t forget to add your link in the comments so that we can all see each others posts!

#bookstagram #bibliophile #igreads #currentlyreading #bookreview #instaread #lovetoread #booksarelife #readingisfundamental #whatimreading #bookreviewer #bookaddicts #bookpost #tbrpile #justread #bookishphotography #whattoreadnext #readallday #bookworms #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #bookpic #newreads #booknerd #goodreads #readingchallenge #goodreadsmonday

“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “don’t miss out”, “what should I read next”, “reading challenge”, “Goodreads”

Random Things Tours – Book Review – The Medici Murders by David Hewson

Genre: Crime Fiction

Number of Pages: 288

Date of Publication: 4 May 2023

My Review Summary: A detailed story with an interesting format and a great twist at the end. 

📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS📖

When a well-known British TV historian, Marmaduke Godolphin, is found murdered in the canals of Venice during carnival, stabbed by a stiletto blade, the Venetian police are eager to have the case solved and cleared up within a day – murder is bad for tourism!

The police recruit the help of retired archivist, Arnold Clover. Godolphin had hired his services on arriving in Venice to help sort through some historical papers of note. These dusty documents may contain previously unknown information about the assassination of the murderer, Lorenzino de’ Medici, 500 years previously. 

How coincidental that Godolphin meets his death in the same place as the Medici murderer, Lorenzino, on a cold, dark, bloody night. Can Arnold use his powers of perception to establish a link and solve the murder of Godolphin?

💭THOUGHTS💭

I was excited to start reading this Blog Tour book mainly because I have been to Venice and found it to be a fascinating place. I also love a murder mystery and so was ready to see how this one unfolded. It was set out in an original format and one that I would quite happily read again. 

The writing was very descriptive and a lot happened in a short space of time. It took a bit of concentration, but once you were in the zone you could read it quite easily. There were a few Italian words dotted around and those, together with the description of the settings, really made you feel as if you were there. 

The chapters were long so you got a lot of information before moving on. There was an interesting flow to the book in that you kept swapping from past to present tense. It was however written in such a way that I found it easy to keep up with the tenses. It added interest and kept me guessing as to what the end would be. 

The characters were interesting and I loved how they all knew each other from way back, yet were still connected to one another all these years later. It added to the intrigue. I enjoyed how the story was told from one character’s point of view with another character asking questions and gradually getting the whole story out. There were some bits that only you as the reader were able to see which was interesting. Not that it helped me guess the eventual outcome of the whole thing! 

Lastly the settings. I loved Venice when I visited and as I said above the description really made you feel like you were there. I want to go back and visit all the places mentioned!

Overall a detailed story with an interesting format and a great twist at the end. 

📖THE AUTHOR📖

📖FOR SHORTER REVIEWS SEE📖

Amazon

Goodreads

Instagram

Facebook – I have also posted in the following Book Groups – Random Things Tours Bloggers Group, Women Reading Great Books and Good Housekeeping Book Room.

Twitter

#bookstagram #instabook #bookphotography #igbooks #ilovereading #bookhaul #bookhoarder #bookaddiction #bookstoread #whattoread #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogging #bookpics #weekendreads #bookrecs #booknerdproblems #bookpictures #bookstagram #amreading #booksbooksbooks #instablog #booknerds #bookphotos #bibliophile #blogtour #randomthingsblogtour #bookreview #crimefiction #newbooks

“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”new”, “recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “crime fiction”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”

Top Ten Tuesday -Books I Recommend to Others the Most

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, this week I am doing the previous week’s theme Books I Recommend to Others the Most. 9 May was my birthday so I missed out on doing this post!

Here are books that I have already recommended and books that I would recommend:

Books I have recommended:

Book Review – The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune

FANTASY

Book Review – The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

COSY MYSTERY

Book Review – Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Sutanto

CONTEMPORARY HUMOUR

Inferno by Dan Brown (click for link to Goodreads)

MYSTERY/THRILLER

Library Book Review – The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict

CHRISTMAS/THRILLER

Library Book Review – You Had Me At Halloumi by Ginger Jones

CHICK LIT/ROMANCE

Book Review – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

FANTASY/ROMANCE

Books that I would recommend:

Library Book Review – Royals by Rachel Hawkins

ROMANCE

Book Review – The 13th Assassin by Frank Malley

SPY THRILLER

Book Review – The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

ROMANCE

What books do you recommend to people?

#bookstagram #instabook #bookphotography #igbooks #ilovereading #bookhaul #bookhoarder #bookaddiction #bookstoread #whattoread #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogging #bookpics #weekendreads #bookrecs #booknerdproblems #bookpictures #bookstagram #amreading #booksbooksbooks #instablog #booknerds #bookphotos #bibliophile #toptentuesday #bookrecommendations #romance #thriller #mystery #fantasy

“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”, “recommended”, “easy read”, “library”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “cosy books”, “romance”, “reading slump”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “what books do you recommend”, “book recommendations”, “mystery”, “thriller”, “fantasy”

Happy St George’s Day!

In light of this day, I have chosen two books with white covers and two books with red covers together with my review of them. Enjoy!

Random Things Tours – Book Review – The People Before by Charlotte Northedge

Psychological Fiction

Random Things Tours – Book Review – Someone To Kiss by Jamie Anderson

Romantic Comedy

Random Things Tours – Book Review – Do No Harm by Jack Jordan

Crime/ Thriller/ Mystery

Random Things Blog Tour – Book Review – Shadow Flicker by Gregory Bastianelli

Crime/Mystery/Thriller

#bookstagram #instabook #bookphotography #igbooks #ilovereading #bookhaul #bookhoarder #bookaddiction #bookstoread #whattoread #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogging #bookpics #weekendreads #bookrecs #booknerdproblems #bookpictures #bookstagram #amreading #booksbooksbooks #instablog #booknerds #bookphotos #bibliophile #bookreview #stgeorgesday #romcom #mystery #thriller

“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “spring reading”, “book review”, “st georges day”, “rom com”, “mystery”, “thriller”

Book Review – The Easter Sepulchre by Mel Starr

Library Book

Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery

Number of Pages: 240

📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS📖

 Keeping watch over the Easter Sepulchre, where the Host and crucifix are stored between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, is considered a privilege. So, it is shocking when it is discovered that Odo, the priest’s clerk, has abandoned his post in the middle of the night. 

But as the hours pass and Odo is not found, panic rises. At first light Bampton’s bailiff, Hugh de Singleton, is roused from his bed. 

It is Hugh that ingeniously finds the clue that leads all to fear for the life of the missing man… The question is, will Hugh be called to investigate another murder, or will he find the man hale and hearty? But if the latter, where has the blood come from?

💭THOUGHTS💭

I wanted a short Easter themed book and when I saw this on the Libby app it ticked those boxes. It actually took longer to read than I thought it would, but I got there in the end. 

The writing was good and I enjoyed reading about the time period. I particularly liked that some of the language used was also of the time period. I thought that added something extra to the story. There was a handy glossary at the beginning to help with some of the words, plus a map so that you could visualise where things were in relation to one another. 

The chapters were long and contained a fair amount of information. You were taken on a thorough journey through the main character’s thought processes and actions. The story was full of mystery and dead ends so like the main character, you felt like you had accomplished something by the end. 

The characters were good. I enjoyed following the main character on his adventures and liked that he talked things through with his wife. He obviously had a good relationship with her, which was nice to read about. There were quite a few characters to keep up with, but I think that I managed it well. 

Lastly the settings. I loved the 14th Century time period and enjoyed reading about what life was like back then as a backdrop to this Easter mystery. 

Overall an interesting read. 

⭐Rated 3/5⭐

#bookstagram #instabook #bookphotography #igbooks #ilovereading #bookhaul #bookhoarder #bookaddiction #bookstoread #whattoread #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogging #bookpics #weekendreads #bookrecs #booknerdproblems #bookpictures #bookstagram #amreading #booksbooksbooks #instablog #booknerds #bookphotos #bibliophile #historicalfiction #mystery #library #bookreview

“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “spring reading”, “book review”, “historical fiction”, “mystery”, “library”, “what book should I read next”, “book recommendation”