It has been a really quiet month chez Bride. Apart from a trip to the dentist (exciting, I know), and meeting up with close friends that we haven’t been able to see in person since before the pandemic (cocktails may have been involved in our catch-up), it has been a month of puttering around the house and garden as spring seems finally to be springing.
It has, however, been a reasonable reading month.
The Stats:
- Books read: 5
- Pages read: 2175
- Goodreads progress: 21/72 books, 29% of my target, 2 books behind schedule
Which is all absolutely fine. I currently have four books on the go so I feel fairly confident that it won’t be long before I’m where I want to be.
I have decided not to pursue the TBR Reduction challenge; the prompts aren’t serving me well and to be honest most of the books I’ve read so far this year have been from the stacks anyway so progress is being made without external influence 🙂
Still more books coming in than being read though…..
In terms of the books I finished in April I don’t have a huge amount to say.
Excellent Intentions by Richard Hull is another in the brlilliant British Library Classic Crime series, and I will confess that I bought it (actually, I think it was a gift) because of the gorgeous cover. It’s a cleverly constructed book in the form of the proceedings of a murder trial where we don’t know the identity of the accused until very close to the end, interspersed with the investigation as it happened. The author gives enough clues that that the reader can work out who the killer is, and there is a nice twist at the end. I enjoyed it and hope that the BL publishes more of this author’s work. I may already have got my hands on one….
Broadcast by Liam Brown is an it-could-happen-now thriller where a tech bro has created an implant which allows real-time 24/7 streaming directly from the brain of the subject and he persuades a social media influencer/streamer David Callow (the clue is in the name, perhaps?) to be the first user (and actual guinea pig). We see the plot unfold from David’s perspective and of course it isn’t what he expected, doesn’t go according to plan and all the stuff you might expect. The first chunk of the book was excellent but I began to lose patience with David and the complex machinations of the company behind the tech. I had a distinct “why don’t they just bump him off?” thought towards the end. But it’s well written, with an Alex Garland’s DEVS vibe to it, though it predates that series by a couple of years.
My main achievement was in finishing off Splendours & Miseries, the first volume of Sir Roy Strong’s diaries covering the period between 1967 and 1987, when he stepped down as Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum. I suspect he and I would not get on IRL but I appreciate his gossipy tone, so plenty for me to enjoy here. I started reading this in February 2020, put it aside in May that year, and picked it up again this month to gallop to the end. And of course I have the next two volumes which will take us up to 2015. Looking forward to picking those up in the coming months.
So that’s the month for me. What have you guys been up to?
Bride of the Book God 2 