We are in June now which means that a) it’s raining (of course) and b) it’s time to look at what I did in May.

What I read

It would have been 10 if I hadn’t finished two on the 31st! One book was over 800 pages, (but some of the others were quite short).

Quick stats:
12 books read
76 out of 150 so far
14 ahead of schedule
0 (!!) BABALs*
0 Val McDermids
2 new authors
3 library books

April’s five star reads:

None!

April’s four star reads:

The Borrowers (Borrowers #1) – Mary Norton
I love the idea of The Borrowers, which I discovered from the 90s TV series with Ian Holm and Penelope Wilton. This is my second time reading the book, as I thought Brodie would like it as a bedtime story. He loved it and hung on every word as the underfloor world of the Borrowers is revealed and Pod, Homily and Arrietty face been seen by the human beans above the floor.

Rivers of London (Rivers of London #1) – Ben Aaronovitch
My second time reading this one too, the first in the series about Peter Grant, an ordinary officer in the Met police who discovers that magic is real and starts working at The Folly, the met’s previously one-man unit which deals with supernatural threats.

Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow #3) – Rainbow Rowell
The final Simon Snow book. Now that Simon’s not the Chosen One any more there are a number of other Chosen Ones declaring themselves. Only one of them is tied to a bunch of missing mages and so Simon and Baz start investigating. Meanwhile Penny tries to un-curse Shepherd who’s come back to England with them, and Agatha is dealing with runaway magical goats. While this book didn’t end with everyone completely happy/fixed/everything wonderful, it did end with hope for them all. (Still wish there were more books in the series, though.)

Good Girl, Bad Blood (Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #2) – Holly Jackson
After solving the murder of Andie Bell and clearing Sal Singh’s name Pip’s parents hope she will return to normal life. But now Jamie Reynolds has gone missing, and his brother has come to Pip for help. As Little Kilton is a small place, her investigation takes her down paths she’s already tread in making her first series of her podcast, and against people she’s already made enemies of. This was well-plotted with multiple strands of mystery that all came together in the end.

As Good as Dead (Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #2) – Holly Jackson
Pip is struggling after the violent ending of her previous investigation, and she’s convinced that if she can solve one more mystery, something black-and-white she’ll feel better. She half-looks at a few things (which I’m sad she didn’t end up investigating) but her attention is then taken up by the fact she has a stalker. Pip’s path is clear: find her stalker and unmask them. In doing so she uncovers a miscarriage of justice and discovers that there’s someone still walking around Little Kilton whose actions ultimately led to the deaths of Andie and Sal.

This is a bit different to the first two as the podcasting rather takes a back seat, and the second half is… well, I can’t really say much without giving too much away. But Pip is weary with the uselessness of the police after they’ve failed her and those she cares about too many times, and she takes things into her own hands. Overall very clever how it all tied into what happened in the first book.

Wish You Were Here (And I Wasn’t) – Colin McNaughton
A fun book of travel-themed poems as Brodie was desperate to read more like There’s an Awful Lot of Weirdos in our Neighbourhood. At least I got this one from the library!

The Mystery of the Whistling Caves (Adventure Island #1) – Helen Moss
I’ve done a review of this series before, so I’ll just add that Brodie enjoyed this and came up with a lot of theories about who the thief was. Very few of them were right!

The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1) – Lemony Snicket
I’m sure I’ve read this more than once in physical form and once in audio, but Goodreads only shows one for each. I may have read it a couple of times before 2012 when I started keeping records.

Anyway, this is the first of 13 about the Baudelaire orphans whose lives become a series of unfortunate events after their parents die in a house fire. In this book they are sent to live with the dirty, nasty and scheming Count Olaf who gives them one bed to sleep in, and plans to steal their fortune.

March’s three star reads:

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
I honestly can’t even remember too much about this book as very little actually happens in it. There were parts I liked – the brother’s wife so ably scheming to persuade him that he needn’t financially support his sisters, and the part where one of the sisters takes ill. But a lot of the rest was taken up by endless lengthy conversations, and there was too much telling and not enough showing. Even what should have been dramatic – one of the sisters finding out her suitor is engaged to someone else came off as a bit flat.

A Woman of Substance – Barbara Bradford Taylor
I saw an advert for the TV series and thought it looked like something I would like, so I read the book. I wanted to really like this, but it dragged on rather a lot. Emma was not likeable and in fact I actually understand why her children behaved the way they did. She was so caught up in her revenge plan – and then with her affair – that she pretty much ignored them as well as lying to her eldest daughter. I couldn’t understand a lot of her motivations or why she kept making the same mistakes over and over.

Courage for the Country Nurse (Country Nurse #3) – Kate Eastham
I loved the first two in this series but this one was a bit disappointing. I found it repeated itself an awful lot as it desperately tried to drag out the will-they-won’t-they of Lara and Leo. Lara also annoyed me by being so forgiving and kindly towards people who had viciously hurt her in previous books.

Corpse Path Cottage – Margaret Scutt
This quickly became something that I didn’t expect. From the cover and the publish date I actually assumed it was a recently written book set in recent times. Then as I listened I realised it was set in the late 40s, and after looking up details I found out it was written in the late 40s and only recently published at the behest of the author’s relatives.

While it wasn’t a bad mystery the murder doesn’t occur until over 50% of the way through, and before that the only real intrigue is the anonymous letters which appear shortly before. Our main character is at first a suspect, then once cleared, sort of assists the police in finding the true culprit so it felt unsure of what kind of book it was trying to be.

Version 1.0.0

April’s two star reads

None

April’s one star reads

Thankfully none.

Not yet rated, as I didn’t finish them in April:

Generation Hex (Moonshadow Cove #3) – Molly Harper

What I watched

• The latest series of Taskmaster
• I’ve started Wire in the Blood, though it turns out that only about four episodes over the whole series are based on the books, the rest were made up. Some episodes are better than others.
• A few episodes of the Simpsons.

What I did

• Worked on my miniature book shop
• Found 13 geocaches on a few different walks
• Built my hummingbird Lego set
• Museum – curtain call
• Aquarium & more beachcombing
• Did some more outdoor reading with Brodie
• Bought a new air fryer because ours spat nuts and bolts into our food one day
• Had a day out at the beach and did more beachcombing
• Made some origami corner bookmarks for our craft at work
• Went scarecrow hunting in the rain

What I bought

An edition of the Enid Blyton Society Journal I had missed by forgetting to subscribe on time and a copy of A Non-Stop Run.

How was your April?

*Books About Bookshops and Libraries