Rather busy at the moment still. I've been reading but not reviewing much and am three books behind so it's time for another batch of quickish reviews. First up, The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith.



( McCall Smith, Martin Edwards, Nancy Farmer )

I read about A Gathering Light, by Jennifer Donnelly, on one of the Blogspot bookblogs I visit on a regular basis. I liked the sound of it so much I reserved it from the library and am so pleased I did. By the way, the American and original title of this book is A Northern Light. I can't think why they changed it for UK readers, perhaps it was thought that we might not understand the concept of 'northern'...



( A Gathering Light )

What with painting decorating the hall, stairs and landing, and various other things going on, my reading has suffered this month. Twelve books last month - I'll be lucky to hit six this. Anyway, I'll do quick reviews of the two books I've finished over the last couple of weeks.

First up, The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny.



( Yon books )

Something I usually try to do in November is read one or two war books. Today being Armistice Sunday, this is the perfect day to review Not So Quiet by Helen Zenna Smith.



( Lest we forget )

I'm so far behind with reviews it's not funny. On the other hand I have finished two challenges over the last few days, including the 25 book 'library' one, so it's not all bad. Perhaps I can do a brief summary of the four books in need of review and then start afresh.



( Thisaway to the books )

My final book for the Halloween challenge I've been doing was Tales of Terror from the Black Ship by Chris Priestley, his second book of creepy stories, the first being Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror.



( The Black Ship )

A couple of weeks ago I came home from the library with a crime story, The Arsenic Labyrinth by Martin Edwards. When I checked the author on FantasticFiction I discovered it was in fact book 3 in Edwards's Lake District series and that the first book was The Coffin Trail. I reserved that one immediately as I do prefer reading crime series in the order they were written in.



( The Coffin Trail )

I honestly did not intend to start a new series. Relics by Pip Vaughan-Hughes was a random library grab, a book that I thought sounded like a lot of fun. But after I'd started it I checked the author out on FantasticFiction and found the book I was reading was in fact part one of his 'Brother Petroc' series. Typical. Even when I try not to start any new series, I end up doing just that...



( Relics )

I first read about the Nicholas Flamel Young Adult series of books, by Michael Scott, on deslily's blog. She's been recommending them for years and for years I've been studiously ignoring her as I have enough series on the go. But book series are like salted peanuts - you can never have too many and, in one of her recent posts, I took one look at the beauty of the covers and caved in and bought the first two.

The first one is The Alchemyst.



( The Alchemyst )

Behind with book reviews once again, so this is another three-in-one post. Included - A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry, The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill and Good Behaviour by Molly Keane.

First up, A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry.



( Three good books )

*Fanfare* At last I have read The Thirteenth Tale! It's been on my tbr mountain for a couple of years, I've had it on lists for at least three challenges, maybe more, but just not got to it. This year, encouraged by deslily, I decided it was high time its tbr status was no more. So I added it to my pool of books for the Halloween challenge I'm doing, for which it is a perfect read.



( The Thirteenth Tale )

I suddenly realised that the finishing date for the non-fiction challenge I'm doing was rapidly approaching and I still only had four books read. So I took a quick look at the pile and chose The Cruellest Journey by Kira Salak to read.



( The Cruellest Journey )

For the last week or so I've been reading two books along side each other, so it's only fitting that they be reviewed together, especially as I enjoyed both equally.

First up, it's Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror, a young adult book, by Chris Priestly. After that a crime story set in India - Inspector Ghote's First Case by H.R.F. Keating.



( The books... )

Two non-fiction books this time. First, Birds, Beasts and Relatives by Gerald Durrell and then On Hitler's Mountain by Irmgard Hunt.



( Thisaway for the books... )

It's years since I read any Agatha Christie - I could even have been a teenager - so memories of it are a bit murky; what I do remember was that I liked her books but was never crazy about them as I was some authors. So here I am in my mid-fifties, gradually becoming a bit of a crime fan, reading other people's Christie reviews and wondering if I should try a few of her books. So I did. I nabbed Endless Night from the library because it sounded like an interesting plot and also rather spooky, so I thought it might make a reasonable read for the Halloween challenge I'm doing.



( Endless Night )

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson is my first read for the Halloween challenge I mentioned in my last post.



( A creepy book for the start of Autumn )

I tend to keep my book challenge posts to my Blogspot book blog because that's where the book challenge lovers hang out. But last year I noticed a couple of folk here said that a Halloween book challenge sounded like fun, so, for anyone who is interested, the link to Carl's RIP IV post is here.



And my first two posts about it are here and here. Anyone that decides to join please let me know!

Here's a bookish meme that's great fun and will get you thinking...

Using only books you have read this year (2009), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. It's a lot harder than you think!

( Life in Literature )

I need to make the most of today as the grandaughter is coming for the rest of the week. So I need to get this review out of the way: The Secret History by Donna Tartt.



( The Secret History )

I'm still only halfway through The Secret History by Donna Tartt (it's very good) so I thought I'd fill the silence with a recent acquisitions post. I still think I must be kidding myself that I haven't bought as many books as usual this year - these new book posts don't seem any less in number and nor have they less books in them it seems to me. Oh well.



( The books be thisaway... )