Angelic Paranoia

What I Just Finished Reading
The Murder at Sissingham Hall by Clara Benson. I think this was a prequel and it was all about a bloke who'd had his engagement broken off, gone to South Africa, got into mining and was rich. Then he comes back and halfway through the book someone is murdered. I can't say I liked the main character much and it was all from his point of view. And then it turns out the series is about one of the other characters who was totally missable.

More Tales from the Chalet School... and Beyond by Adrianne Fitzpatrick
I bought this a while ago and then it turned up - another book to get in this year. I wasn't too sure about this one because although it's mostly Chalet School short stories some of them are from Elinor M Brent-Dyer's other series. But I enjoyed those stories just as much - they all felt pretty similar.

Lady Rample Steps Out by Shea Macleod
I really enjoyed this one. It wasn't that long, but it was fun and I really liked the characters. It turns out there are 12 in the series and the library doesn't have them, but Kobo does. Although the most expensive one is £3.49 they are all between 15k and 40k words, so that makes them less value for money. But since I'd love to read more of these characters I will probably end up buying them eventually.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Chalet School at Glendower House by Sheryl Burke
This one turned up yesterday - handily just after I'd finished the previous book. This is about the English branch (in South Wales...) after the main school goes to Switzerland. I am enjoying it so far.

What I'm Reading Next
I've ordered my unread books on my Kobo by file size, so probably whatever is smallest. Including the one I'm currently reading I have three books to finish this year. And that assumes none of my library holds come in (one definitely won't, but two might).

What I Just Finished Reading
The Belgrave Square Murder by Emily Organ. This has 73 pages. The story starts on page 5. I made it to page 12. Which was the start of chapter 3. It's just really badly written and I had no idea what was going on. I am not generally a fan of description, but this book really needs some. The first two chapters were the main character interrogating a witness, but pretty much all we got were their words. It felt like it went by so fast I couldn't take it in. And it's impossible to tell if the witness is telling the truth without body language or some way of telling how they say the words.

Secrets at Sutherland Hall by Jenna Bennett. A historical murder book that I actually enjoyed! Well, sort of. I felt the murder mystery went from 'no one could possibly have done it' to 'this person did it' without anyone making any progress. So it came out of the blue, wasn't really supported by anything that happened earlier in the book and I wasn't convinced they'd done it. However, I did really like the characters. I'd read more of the series with these characters in if they were available at the library or a whole lot cheaper than £7.

The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooley. This was a perfect read for when I was getting over norovirus and didn't have the energy to do anything. It's about some people on a train carriage who end up speaking to each other and then improve each other's lives. It's a lovely happy story.

The Examiner by Janice Hallett. This was the one book I bought in Kobo's Black Friday sale. I was waiting for the library to get the ebook and then decided it was worth paying £1.99 not to wait. And it was good. As with her first book, I guessed one of the things, but not all of what was going on. But then it felt way too insane to be guessable.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Lost Exam by DS Lang. This is entirely because it's short. Including this book I have 17 books I've acquired this year that I haven't read and I need to get that down to 12 by the end of the year. I only just started it today, so I can't say whether it's any good or not yet. Although interestingly it's by the same person as one of the books I gave up on for really not being my thing. It seems like this is more my thing, at least based on the 20 pages I've read so far.

What I'm Reading Next
I think I've read all the short historical murder mysteries now, so I need to pick one I think I might give up on. Of the free historical murder books I acquired I've read 9, given up on 2 and still have 12 to go!

What I Just Finished Reading
Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by CJ Archer. My mum recently sent me a link to get 19 free books of historical murder mysteries. Which is right up my street depending on the time period. So of course I downloaded them all and this was the first on my ebook reader. And it was dull. The main character had her family die and was taken in by estranged relatives who were rich and owned (and lived in) a hotel. And someone was murdered. And I just didn't care about any of the characters. I finished it, but I'm not sure why because I didn't care whodunnit even after I found out who did it.

Murder at Merisham Lodge by Celina Grace. This starts a pair of characters in service. Although there are murders, most of their time is taken up by work. It did have interesting characters, but there just wasn't enough of the murder mystery. I finished it because I wanted to know whodunnit.

A Precarious Homecoming by DS Lang. This was very much not my thing. For some reason I got two and a bit chapters in, someone was killed and all I wanted to do was to not read it any more. It's set in America which I'm not that interested in and I hated all the characters.

What I'm Currently Reading
Unruly by David Mitchell. I needed something different after those three and I've had this sitting around for a while after it was 99p. I am enjoying it - it's really interesting and I'm learning a lot, especially about the pre-William the Conqueror Kings. And I quite like his asides about learning history in the 1980s because it's not that dissimilar to my experience of learning it.

What I'm Reading Next
Displeasure Island by Alice Bell. I read the first book in this series a while ago and added it to my Kobo wishlist to remind me to check again later if the library has the ebook version yet. And then it was 99p, so I bought it. I am looking forward to a bit of fiction that I know I'll enjoy!

What I Just Finished Reading
A Fatal Flaw by Faith Martin, A Fatal Secret by Faith Martin, A Fatal Truth by Faith Martin, A Fatal Affair by Faith Martin, A Fatal Night by Faith Martin, A Fatal End by Faith Martin. In other words, I finished the series. I solved the problem of too many other people also reading these books and borrowed a few at once - I was getting through each of them in two or three days.

And I am really missing the series now it's gone. I don't know if I'll read any of her others yet, as it's the characters and the setting that I enjoyed and the others have different characters and different settings. But I also felt that there were a lot of things that get followed up in the next book and then don't get resolved. And although it was clear how it was going to end it still managed to be unsatisfactory. Not enough that it spoiled my enjoyment of the series as a whole, but enough to make it annoyed when I finished the last one.

What I'm Currently Reading
Make It So by Patrick Stewart. It is good, I'm just still dealing with the book hangover from the Faith Martin series and so I'm struggling to get excited about it.

What I'm Reading Next
I can't contemplate that yet. Although I did put a hold on an interesting library book. There are only 36 people waiting per copy! So it's definitely not going to be the book I'm reading next.

What I Just Finished Reading
A Fatal Mistake by Faith Martin. There are 8 books in this series and it turns out my library has all of them as ebooks. They are all now in my wish list in order and I do plan to read my way through them all. I enjoyed this one more than the previous one, now the characters and setting are established.

Nosy Neighbours by Freya Sampson. I've read her two previous books and then discovered she had written another. So I read it and I enjoyed it, but I think I enjoyed her previous books more.

What I'm Currently Reading
A Fatal Flaw by Faith Martin. Book three in the series. All I've really read so far is the murder and the set up of the story. I feel like I know what to expect from these books now and it's not going to be particularly unexpected.

Making It So by Patrick Stewart. I think someone else is reading through the 'Fatal' series before me, so while I was waiting I remembered America had a bank holiday and maybe that would be an occasion for a Kobo sale. It was, and this book was 99p. So far I'm still on his childhood, but it is really interesting because it's proper post-war northern working class.

What I'm Reading Next
A Fatal Secret by Faith Martin. Inevitably I'll be onto book four at some point once I've finished the other two.

What I Just Finished Reading
The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella. This started off interesting, with the main character being burnt out due to the ridiculous amount of work she had to do. And then turns into a story about things that are and have happened in the place she used to go on holiday as a child. All of which were fine. But then there was a romance in it, which I knew would happen as it does in all her books. It's just a shame because the characters and stories are so interesting and the inevitable spoils it a bit.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett. This is a sequel to her first book, which I enjoyed. This one I didn't as much because the people annoyed me. I'm not surprised they were struggling for members if their emails and texts are anything to go by. I do like the epistolary storytelling though.

A Load of Old Balls by James Harkin and Anna Ptaszynski. I bought this because it was on offer during the Olympics. And then I was too busy during the Olympics to read because there was sport on all the time. I finally got round to reading it and I really enjoyed it. It was interesting talking about various things that have gone on with sport. I have since forgotten everything in it, though.

What I'm Currently Reading
A Fatal Obsession by Faith Martin. This was a random pick from books I've had around for ages and can't remember why I bought them, but it had something to do with it being 99p. I had been putting this one off since it was the first in a series and that is a slippery slope. I've only just started it, but it's interesting since it's a police murder mystery set in Oxford in the 1960s.

What I'm Reading Next
Whatever I feel like from my unread books on my eBook reader. I can't currently read any of the physical books I need to read as they're currently in the hamster cage propping up platforms while I decide where things should go.