#coffeeandabook

Steve Levitan is asked to help an old schoolfriend who is accused of murdering her husband.

A good cozy that doesn't strain the brain. Just the thing for reading on a long flight without much sleep.

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Rochester clambered up onto the sofa next to me and rested his head on my lap, as if he was sharing the weight of the world with me.

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@ShyBookOwl

Ryland Grace wakes up out of a coma with amnesia to find himself approaching Tau Ceti. As his memory comes back in bits and pieces he remembers that he is on a mission to save the human race.

I really enjoyed this story, following Grace as he works out the nature of the problem, and seeks a solution. The author does a great job of showing how he arrives at a solution rather than just presenting the answer. All the stars.

#JuneReadingPlans

#coffeeandabook

The story of Medusa very well retold from the points of view of a variety of characters.

An orphaned Patrick Dennis goes to live with his Auntie Mame in the 1920s.

Not as funny as I remember from when I read it 50-odd years ago but it still does have its moment.

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Aliens who thought they were the only sentient life in the universe arrive on Earth.

The narrator is one of the aliens and the author does an excellent job of conveying an alien point of view, although it does mean the reader sometimes has to work hard to “translate“ it. However, the only culture the aliens look at to understand such Earth concepts as politics, marriage, and religion is American.

It has rained all day. Not that I mind rain, but this is the day I promised to put up the screens and take my kid to the beach.

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@ShyBookOwl

Patrick takes in his niece and nephew for the summer after their mother dies and their father goes into rehab.

I suspect this book wants to be this generation's “Auntie Mame“ but it can't make up its mind whether it's a screwball comedy or a “grouch redeemed by kids“ story. I nearly abandoned it a couple of times when it teetered on the edge of the super-saccharine. It did have its amusing moments but it's not as funny as I thought it would be.

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Pericles and an Athenian delegation come to Delos to remove the Delian League's treasure to Athens for safekeeping. When the priest heading the Delian's resistance to the move is found dead, a heavily-pregnant Diotima is appointed to head the investigation as priestess of Artemis.

A worthy wrap-up to the series.

The story of a Syrian couple's journey to the UK as refugees.

The author obviously wanted to bring attention to the plight of refugees and it is an important story but I felt publicising the issue got in the way of the story so that it wasn't as engaging as it should have been.

A time traveller suffering from time lag is sent to the 19th century to recuperate but the bishop's bird stump and the incongruities around the rescue of Princess Arjumand get in the way.

Not as funny as its reputation led me to believe but still a very enjoyable time travel romp.

There were five of us -- Carruthers and the new recruit and myself, and Mr Spivens and the verger.

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@ShyBookOwl

#forburyreading

Classic 19th century yarn of three men and a dog going on a boating holiday rowing up the Thames from London to Oxford.

It had some very funny scenes and some descriptive passages which may have been meant as parodies. Some of the historical digressions and the story of the woman who committed suicide were a bit odd to find in a humorous book, but perhaps they also made more sense when it was first written as parodies.

So that's where it comes from

Swans

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Alasdair and Toby are asked to investigate some threatening letters a friend has received. Are they connected to a serial killer targetting grey-haired men?

Another fun romp, though I did sometimes forget who was who.

"With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship."

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@ShyBookOwl

Two novellas set in 1950 in which two actors, Toby Bowe and Alasdair Hamilton, who play Holmes and Watson on screen, take up sleuthing off screen.

Good fun even if not particularly intriguing as mysteries. I did wonder at times whether Jeeves & Wooster or Lord Emsworth might put in an appearance.

“Not so haughty, milady. You‘re on the Swift Apollo now and the captain‘s word is law.”

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@ShyBookOwl

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A collection of short SFF stories, some verging on horror. They were variable, some I definitely wanted to spend more time in their world, most were OK, and only one I was tempted to abandon, and that was just because I didn't find it very interesting.

How else to celebrate my litsyversary? 🎉📚

A carefully posed dead body is found in a stone circle. Underneath the body is the local bank manager's wife who has been buried alive. Can DCI Peter Shand solve his first case?

I did actually laugh out loud at some points but all in all it was a fairly run of the mill detective story, with potential for a series, which didn't happen. Soft Pick

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Jamie Fraser and Lord John Grey work together to prevent a Jacobite uprising in Ireland.

Interesting characters and story but a few historical inaccuracies.

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@ShyBookOwl

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Last read it about 10 years ago. Difficult to read without visualising the Disney version to myself.

Kate is hired to accompany a singer and her friend to observe the 1927 solar eclipse. The friend is found in a coma and later dies. Was it murder or an accidental overdose?

Issues of self-medication for PTSD combine with a distinct Phantom of the Opera vibe to make this an enjoyable detective story.

#MayReadingPlans

While on holiday in Whitby, Kate goes into a jeweller's to buy a gift for a friend only to find the jeweller dead on the floor. In the meantime, Kate's god-daughter has disappeared, possibly to find her father, who is separated from her mother, or possibly to elope. Fortunately Mr Sykes and Mrs Sugden are also holidaying not too far away.

The usual good fun.

Celebrating my 17th Thingaversary

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On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Felicity Turner made a plan.

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@ShyBookOwl

As the General Strike gets underway, Kate takes up a case from 10 years before in which Lucian's deceased aunt was sure the wrong man was convicted and hanged.

There were lots of references to one of Kate's previous cases which I didn't remember that well as the backstory for one of the characters. They didn't get in the way of the mystery but were annoying.

Pick, verging on a So-So

#coffeeandabook

The time when Kepler's mother was put on trial as a witch.

Although the core story sounded interesting and it was put into context well, I found the book a bit of a chore to get through. It was never so bad that I wanted to abandon it, but I was never really looking forward to picking it back up again either.

Mark Hodkinson's memoir of growing up bookish in a community where reading for the sake of it is not common.

The early parts, describing his childhood and teenage years were, for me, more relatable and so interesting, but it did sag rather in the middle when he talks about his time as a journalist covering punk rock and sport (mainly football). The book then picked up when the author talked about his time as a publisher and his bookish life now.

A few weeks, never mind a few years

#readingonthetrain