I have been sleeping very badly recently. Yesterday I had to go back to bed around 8 a.m. (having been up since around 5 a.m.) I slept through the phone ringing (our eldest daughter phones most days on her way to work) but was just coming out of a really deep sleep to hear the toot, toot, toot of the Mobile Library. I threw on clothes and staggered out to it (Keith had got there to tell him I was asleep), and brought this wonderful haul of reading in with me. The Pamela Hartshorne and Anne Cleeves novels were ones I'd asked for. A Burnable Book, Plotted in Cornwall and The Serpent Papers I couldn't resist. The latter book I bought for our middle daughter for Christmas. Now I won't have to ask to borrow it. Pamela Hartshorne writes similar books to Barbara Erskine, where the main character seems to move (in their mind) between time periods, so they are always an interesting read.
I have only just discovered Ann Cleeves, though I saw some of the Shetland dramas on tv. I really enjoy her writing, and treated myself to her first four novels on Amazon (they cost less than £10 the four). The Jodi Taylor ones (I have all six) have been sent by a friend of mine, and are great escapism.
The latest Phil Rickman was released yesterday, and here is my copy! NO WAY could I not buy it. I was awake early again this morning so went downstairs and read it for a couple of hours. Merrily, her daughter Jane, boyfriend Lol etc are old friends of mine . . .
This was a Christmas present from my husband. My only problem is I want to read ALL of the books at once! Here, the tale is about the young Jamie, years before he meets Claire . . .
Finally, I couldn't resist this cookery magazine. I do have a weakness for such things, but in my defence I choose carefully and normally keep them for years . . .
Right, I had better get some housework done, especially if I want to read later . . .
What a wonderful selection of books - great choices! :) The Ann Cleeeves Shetland books are great - have just started the last in the series (treated myself on the Kindle!). then I will start the Vera Stanhope books. I have all my Jamie Frazer books in a storage box somewhere with a few still to read - I think I ought to start reading them from scratch. I think I shall have to buy the latest Phil Rickman Merrily book too - for the Kindle. I enjoyed Cold Calling though have to admit felt it a trifle scary!! Hope you start sleeping better soon. Having similar problems here due to a massive problem with my mother's house and it is not pleasant to lie awake for hours and hours and feel shattered next day :(
ReplyDeleteRR - I am delighted to find I have only just STARTED on all the Ann Cleeves books - all the others to look forward to! Oh lucky YOU, ALL the Jamie Frazer books to look forward to! I've just bought the first one for eldest daughter, for when she can't sleep at nights.
DeleteI agree with you about Cold Calling, but it was unputdownable. I slept better last night - think I am not drinking enough water as I had a pint of water in the evening and slept really deeply. I lie there worrying about selling our house (or rather, NOT selling it) and around 3 a.m. do a rerun of everything I've ever done wrong, regretted, etc in my life - as you do!
Must start taking notes of books you have read, just finished my last Rickman - The Remains of an Altar. Combines pretty bloody murders with some weird allusions to Watkins,(The old Straight Track) and Elgar, and of course the Marcher history, not forgetting the Three Choirs. Fascinating though.
ReplyDeleteAnd will use the library from now on!!
I'm glad you enjoy Phil Rickman too. The Remains of an Alter was a really good read. I think of it whenever we go to Malvern!
DeleteI am happy to buy the Phil Rickman books as I do reread them. There are so many Ann Cleeves I will have to rely on the library to get through those!
Why Oh why can I not get into the Rickman books.I keep hearing how good they are but have tried them twice and thought not for me.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it's not as if I don't have plenty of other reading waiting so I guess it doesn't really matter!
Which ones did you try Sue? His earliest works haven't settled into the easy read his Merrily books are. I wouldn't say The Lamp of the Wicked was a good one to try - his only one I didn't enjoy - I'll just say it's based around Fred West and say no more.
DeleteAt least you have . . . one or two . . . other books to turn to!!
Good to see Ann Cleeves has kept herself busy since avoiding having her head cut off
ReplyDeleteJust what my husband said Simon!!
DeleteI haven't picked up a book to read for ages, I have a stack ready to go but just can not seem to settle, 2 pages and I am squirming and need to move.
ReplyDeleteI have always been an avid reader - I scarcely like to leave the house without a book (in the car that is) in case we get stuck somewhere! When I am waking up early these days, I'm going downstairs to read - about the only way I will deal with the huge pile of books!!
DeleteI used to love to read. In fact I would read 3 books at a time. In the car, waiting for children, family room and bedroom. Now after the brain injury it is hard for me to read.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip
So sorry to hear you can't enjoy books any more parsnip. Can you get hold of audio books where you are?
ReplyDeleteMost of my reading is now on my Kindle, though I have several full bookcases around the house too, some read, many still to read. Thanks to your blog, I have just ordered the first in the 'Cornwall' series, "Betrayed in Cornwall' and hoping that the following books might be a bit cheaper by the time I've read it. I also found "Dark Tides of Talland" - can't resist books set in areas of Cornwall that I know well, though this is a very different genre to my usual reading.
ReplyDeleteHi Rambler, I have to stay, I have a Kindle and am happy to use it, but it's getting towards the end of its natural days and needs charging a bit too often for my liking. I hope you like the Cornwall series. I assume it is your favourite area for novels to be set. I love the Phil Rickman books for a similar reason, as we know the Welsh Border area well, and so I feel at home in his novels.
ReplyDeleteAha! I have an original Kindle which wasn't lasting long on each charge, so in the week of Black Friday, I treated myself to a brand new Kindle Paperwhite. I LOVE IT!!!! It doesn't need a light on to read, it can also be read in sunshine and it is lighter than the old Kindle even in its case. As well as the lower price during Black Friday, I always buy via Quidco, so I received cash back on the deal - proper bargain! G'wan, treat yourself . . . . .
ReplyDeleteAll of my library was transferred across from the old one, so it's armed and ready for bedtime reading and (when I can drive again) trips out to the beach, etc.
Ah Rambler, that's what was putting me off, whether I could transfer the books I have on it across to the new one. I see I can now. I had a BIG Christmas present, and we are about to have some work done on the house so need to save my pennies for the moment, but I shall look for a deal later in the year and go for it. Thank you .
ReplyDeleteI see that I didn't comment on this post when I first read it--that's been happening this week. I really hate that feeling of being wakeful most of a night, falling asleep just before dawn and then waking with a jolt--upsets me for most of a day.
ReplyDeleteI've decided to re-read the Shetland books--I had them quite a few years back--before 'Vera'--this will put me in the picture before I read Thin Air.
I intend never to go out with Jim unless I have snatched a book on the way out the door. As surely as I don't have one he ends up stopping somewhere and I'm left fidgeting in the car. Once recently I even resorted to perusing the road atlas, not having brought a book.
I will be interested in your review of 'Virgins'--I had 'The Scottish Prisoner' and was annoyed by it. I've thought the last few in the Outlander series had some really bizarre incidents--and far too much use of rape and kidnapping--then I remind myself that I am, after all, reading these huge volumes which have time travel as a basis. Diana Gabaldon's use of historical details, her perception of relationships, her vocabulary are all great, but I've thought she's gone a bit too much for the sensational of late.
Sharon - I am sure you will enjoy re-reading the Shetland books. A couple of the library ones I have are from the Vera series. You are EXACTLY like me - I always grab a book on the way out of the door for the same reasons as you (and if Keith is driving then I can read on the journey). If desperate, I have been known to peruse maps (we have a goodly supply in the car and they can be as good as a landscape history lesson), backs of sauce bottles, cornflake packets - you name it. I just HAVE to read.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely review Virgins when I get around to it. I'd have started it the day it arrived but was made to wrap it up for the Big Day instead! Some of her incidents are disturbing. I can never quite get my head around Jamie being flogged in the first book - it is something I shy away from and try not to watch in the tv series, which I rewatch now and again. As for bizarre incidents, there was a cannibalistic woman in one of the novels, and that chapter or two had absolutely no relevance in the book yet was included . . . The raping and pillaging can get repetitive in the end.