chesilbeach

Finished one Kindle freebie last night, and have started another today. After this one, I'm going back to one of the older books on my TBR, and have lined up The Various Flavours of Coffee by Anthony Capella.

Last up with the supernatural freebies, and this time it was a werewolf story, but no comic element here. Another freebie first book in a series, Once Bitten by Trina M. Lee is a murder mystery with most of the main characters being werewolves or vampires, and the author is obviously inspired by the writers such as Kelley Armstrong, but for me, this fell short of the standard. I never really warmed to the heroine, even when finding out some of her back story and why she was as hard as nails, and it's hard to stay with the story when you're not engaged with the lead character. Having said that, I might try the second book at some point, but I won't be rushing off buying it any time in the near future.

I didn't have as much success with all my freebies. I found Bound To Remember by Lola James too confused and lacked depth in the characters. The story didn't seem to flow well, and then the ending felt rushed and I think the author wanted to create a cliff hanging finale, but it almost came out of nowhere, and I was a bit bemused by it. Won't be bothering with the rest of the series.

Not all my chick-lit reads are paranormal, I also like a crime or spy thriller mixed in with my romcoms, and Armed and Fabulous by Camilla Chafer fitted perfectly. Another first book in a series free, but it was a good mystery with a bright, intelligent but flawed heroine, and a good side dish of sexy investigators and comic capers, and another series I'll definitely carry on with.

Very far behind with reviews although, to be honest, most of the books I've read recently don't warrant any in depth thoughts! I've been on a spending freeze recently, so I've been downloading a lot of Kindle freebies. I've read quite a few, as most of my choices have been easy, fun stories. First up, a couple of book by H. P. Mallory - To Kill A Warlock and Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble. The two books that are available as free and both firsts in a series, so the author/publisher have obviously decided that this may help encourage new readers to try a new author and hope they will then spend money on the next books in the series. Both books are paranormal romcoms, and if you like that sort of story, I think you're going to enjoy these books. The heroine in To Kill A Warlock is a fairy who works as a sort of detective for a supernatural law enforcement agency, and this is a comic murder mystery, with a dollop of romance on top. I've added the next book to my wish list for when I start to buy books again, so the publishers gamble in this case has paid off. As might be obvious from the title, the heroine in Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble is a witch, and a newbie at that. It was ok, but I did get a bit irritated that from being a dowdy, almost spinsterish, shop owner, she becomes a gorgeous, all men want her, extremely powerful and gifted witch, all within the space of a few weeks! I know it's fantasy and the fluffiest type of chick-lit, but maybe a bit too ridiculous for me. Not sure I'll carry one with this series, but it was an ok read.

I have an iPad and a Kindle, and the only time I read on the iPad is in bed, and that's only rarely, and not for very long. I had it before I got my Kindle, and although it completely converted me to the ebook, I found I could only read for an hour maximum because of the back lit screen giving me a headache, whereas with the e-ink technology of the Kindle (I have the keyboard model) I can read for hours without any problems. I use my iPad for lots of other functions, but using either iBooks and the Kindle app on it is limited for me.

Rewatching The Great British Bake Off series two, as it's been repeated on BBC Two this week, so I've recorded them all again. Perfect viewing while I'm waiting for things to happen in my own baking!

Good to hear you're enjoying The Crimson Petal and the White, willoyd. I loved reading it, and ended up rationing myself to a chapter a day to savour it, as I felt I might rush it otherwise, but definitely a true pageturner.

I started my latest M. C. Beaton acquisition this afternoon, Annabelle and already about a third of the way through - can't see this one lasting long!

Masterchef

It was her first novel, Miss Mabel, but her second is due out later this year and is called Bellman & Black

http://blog.waterstones.com/2013/04/waterstones-week-in-books-quiz-5th-april-2013/ A very respectable 8/10 this week.

Finished The Art of Destruction by Stephen Cole and have listened to Jeeves in the Offing by P. G. Wodehouse this morning, read brilliantly by Simon Callow.

We do love a good list here, don't we! Not a bad one this, and I've read 46 on there, and enjoyed most of them too.

Emmental and mushroom toasties

I've been racking my brains to try and pick just one book, especially as the book that jumps out at me is short and doesn't take me long to read, and I keep thinking I should pick a big doorstop of a book so that it wouldn't be over too quickly and I wouldn't mind going back to the beginning each time I finished it, but I just can't seem to get past my choice - Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith. I've read it a few times now, and each time I read it, I get something new out of it, and I still feel the same swell of emotion every time.

An old Top Gear

I loved Matilda when I was little, Athena, and for me, you can't have a Roald Dahl book without the Quentin Blake illustrations - ALL my Dahl books I had when I was a kid had Blake illustrations in them. I think he's an amazing illustrator and I actually bought my other half a wonderful book for Christmas called Beyond The Page where he writes about the projects he's worked on since 2000, and has some stunning colour illustrations in it. I actually really like the film version of Matilda too, despite it being moved to America, I think it works really well, and I always sit and watch it if I come across it on television.

I love that you casually mention you read three books, but list all 10 of the books you bought! Anyone would think you enjoyed buying books more than reading them.

Finished reading Fire Burn And Cauldron Bubble by H. P. Mallory and have been listening to a Doctor Who book, The Art of Destruction this afternoon. An ebook I'd completely forgotten that I'd preordered was published today, and at a bargain 99p it isn't going to break the bank!

I don't use a screen protector either, but like Lucybird, I have a keyboard model, so the screen doesn't get touched much. I do have a case for carrying it around, and it's a zip around one, so that if any of the crumbs from my lunch escape in my bag, they don't get in the kindle, and it also is padded so if I drop it, it has a bit of protection too.

I finished listening to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone this afternoon. It's been a long time since I read or listened to it, and I hadn't realised how virtually all of the action of the denouement is contained within a single chapter! Am also still reading one of my freebie Kindle books, a silly paranormal romcom, but a nice bit of escapism at my desk during my lunch break.

The first asparagus of the year has arrived!!!! Tonight will be linguine with asparagus and lemon

Very sad to see the news of the death of writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. She wrote the Oscar winning screenplays to two of my favourite films, A Room With A View and Howards End, as well as a dozen novels, and I loved her work.

Have read a few freebie Kindle books over the last week, finishing another one at lunchtime - most of the ones I've read so far have been the first in a series being offered free as an enticement for you to buy the rest from self-published or less well known authors. One or two I've enjoyed enough to want to read more of the series, so I guess the free offer has served its purpose! The others haven't been bad, but have lacked something or been a bit confused with story, characters or themes. It's odd that I rarely use the option to download a sample, yet I've been happy to download free ebooks in order to test a new author. I also listened to the BBC Radio 4 programme Open Book today, which featured Patrick Ness talking about his latest novel aimed at adults instead of the YA market, and it sounds brilliant. Definitely added to my wishlist for when my spending freeze is over!