“I do not have a sweet tooth, I have an alcohol molar.”

Oh this book is making me laugh!

This was just too melodramatic for me. But then that‘s probably the aim a because it‘s Bollywood themed and Bollywood movies can be super melodramatic. Fun, just not my sort of fun.

I totally got there at just the right moment to beat the queue!

First Christmas book of the season. If it can be called the season yet...

I am in the queue...

In had to do a bit of virtual shouting at Amazon, but my preorder of the new Sherry Thomas has arrived, only a day late and definitely much sooner than the era they gave me last week of November. I rebelled yesterday when it was showing on the site as buy now and it‘ll arrive tomorrow...

Remember yesterday when I said I sort of hate this series but I‘ll keep reading them? Well I‘ve already started the next one...

The history of possibly the most famous hotel in Hollywood, which means it‘s also full of bite sized chunks of the stories of Hollywood legends. I really liked it.

October is black history month here in the UK and I‘m trying to add a few things into my reading list accordingly.

Latest contemporary romance read.

I think this might be my new hate read. I‘m perplexed as to why these do so well - even with the famous name behind them.

Clever but slightly terrifying in the way it draws parallels with the modern world. I‘m not quite well versed enough to know how many liberties have been taken with the timeline but I thought it worked really rather well.

Current crime fiction read!

I‘m about to be a total outlier on this one but...
I liked the characters and I liked the idea of the set up. I liked the dialogue and I loved the younger sister.
BUT
There is no way that these two should have been carrying on a relationship while she was involved in their legal situation - and that wasn't even addressed. There was a way to write this where it wasn‘t so ethically murky but the more i think about this, the more annoyed I get!

Latest nonfiction library hold to come in!

Current romance read from the library.

I‘m never going to f finish this before my library loan runs out - and there‘s a queue behind me. I‘m totally going to up buying a copy aren‘t I?!

Distinctly mixed on this. I didn‘t like any of the characters really - but that‘s not a necessity. What is a necessity is feeling like there has been some resolution or outcome at the end of it all. And I didn‘t get that. I felt like a spent a lot of time in the presence of someone very damaged, but I didn‘t feel like I came away understanding her any better than at the start. Or at least not on any deeper level. Disappointing but not terrible

Friday night reading!

Absolutely fascinating. Another book I‘ve had on my want to read list done the author appeared on the daily show. And it was well worth it. A look at the personal histories of some of the people who built the atom bomb without knowing

Next romance read from the library - and I have a mixed record with Shute, so we‘ll see...

Starting to get some Christmas holds coming in from the library now. I am at least attempting to read some festive stuff nice and early so I can blog in a timely manner!

Skip the line loans now showing up as options in available books at my library - although I couldn‘t actually persuade it to end me any of them...

I really, really enjoyed this. There‘s something about Helen Ellis‘s writing style that really speaks to me. This is funny and a little sly and although it‘s essays, it still keeps you guessing a little about the line between fact and fiction. Right in my wheelhouse.

Latest nonfiction library hold to come in...

Queer teen romance in very Mormon Utah. This had pretty much the right level of angst for me, and enough uncertainty over whether it would get a happy ending. Empathetic to both sides of the story. Very readable.

My GCSE art mock exam was inspired by Alfonso Mucha‘s posters, so this cover variant is very much my jam.

Finished this last month, but only now getting around to writing this. This is Deanna Raybourn doing Amelia Peabody with a dash of aviation and sex appeal. I liked it a lot

This really spoke to me. I‘m not ruling out having kids just yet, but I‘m not ready for it yet and I‘m not sure if I will be. But I‘m ok with that and I love the life I have with Him Indoors.

1. Tagged. Love Deanna Raybourn
2. Blue
3. Went to see Big The Musical (sadly it was baaaaad)
4. Whistle but not with my fingers, and yes I can snap my fingers
5. #friyayintro ❤️💙💛💚💜🧡

My second Hemingway wives book of the week. And although I liked the Paula McLain more, this is still fun. And I still Team Martha, even if she is less sympathetic in this than in Love and Ruin. He‘s still a nightmare though, for all that he was a brilliant writer

My signed special edition arrived!!! Isn‘t it gorgeous?

Really enjoyed this. Two strong personalities fall in love and fight. I really liked this version of Martha Gellhorn and I was rooting for her in a way that I didn‘t expect. Enjoyable - even if you‘re not a Hemingway fan.

Latest library hold to come in!

Great premise and lovely soapy-saga-y set up but the ending made this a so-so for me because I don‘t think it fulfilled its end of the bargain with the reader. And I can‘t say more because: spoilers

1. Good. I beat my goodreads target!
2. I play the clarinet
3. Musicals. Or boy bands
4. This month! 13 years since our first date!
5. My grandma would have been 100 this month (on the 11th)
#friyayintro

Friday evening reading!

Current kindle homepage!

Thank you NetGalley and my feedback record... this isn‘t out until January!

Starts off as another Rich People on the Riviera book but is actually something much more serious. The second half of this book covers the Nazi occupation of France - and life in non-occupied France. Chanel may be in the title but she‘s only a part of this book. Really clever, very readable and really quite shocking

On a big old interwar novel kick atm...

I got some very exciting book post today! Check it out: the new Trisha Ashley complete with goodies to make a bauble and all recyclable! So looking forward to reading this!

My afternoon: ironing and Styling Hollywood - which has made me yearn for some books about Hollywood glamour and backstagey stuff. I‘m open to fiction and non fiction - give me your recommendations pretty pretty please!

Squeeee! I have a (signed) copy coming but I still wasn‘t able to resist this!

Another skip the line loan! I‘ve heard such good things about this one and been waiting ages to read it. Let‘s hope this is more successful than the last skip the line...

So disappointing. I had such high hopes and it‘s had such good reviews. But I found it long winded, pretentious and full of characters that I hated. Also, it uses the words “retarded” and “schizoid”. Not cool. I got to page 150 (of 500!) before I started jumping forward and skipping bits. Nothing improved. Urgh.

Library hold came in at last!

I‘ve got a mega yearning for novels about real people, so I started this tonight. But what on earth is this genre called? Fictionalised biography? Biographic novels? Help me!!

Really brilliant. Not just a fascinating person but impeccably researched - from primary sources - and engagingly written. Despite the support and cooperation of the family this is not a hagiography- Henson comes across as incredibly human with great talents balanced by some significant flaws. Long but worth it.

This is a lot of fun while you‘re reading it - it rattles along so fast that you don‘t get a chance to analyse or dissect the backstory and the set up too much. I would say that it is New Adult, but (unusually for NA) most of the drama and angst is external to the couple which worked really well for me. And by the end I wanted the ending to be true in real life. Just don‘t think too hard about it all or it all falls apart!