Category: books, reading,

Showstopper (Peter Diamond #21) by Peter Lovesey

Having just finished my 22nd book of the year (of the month) it seems a nice time to start my regular posts.

Since last year I have been reading a detective fiction series by the British author Peter Lovesey, the series in named after the main character DCI Peter Diamond. It is set in Bath and the surrounding areas and luckily they are places I have been to quite often so an added bonus is that I can picture the scenes and find myself realising I have sat in the exact same spot as our fictional detective. First time in detective fiction that has happened to me, most of my fiction is translated.

The book I just finished is called Showstopper and is the 21st and as of now final entry in the series. I do hope there is more to come as on the whole it is very enjoyable series. Some of the more recent books were not up to par but generally they are usually 4/5 to me.

This one follows the filming of a television series and so-called jinx where several persons involved have come to sticky ends. A very interesting case and plenty of red herrings and misdirection – I do wonder how someone could think of some of the plots and goings on, its beyond me!

The characters and locations are the true stars of the books, they bring the book to life and as I said above Bath is described that you are there (may even have been there too) and the characters are a mixed bunch with the old school boss who is no nonsense, the assistant who is is right hand man and various other foils who add to the depth.

No book in the series is the same, they are all unique and different and I would say can be read as stand-alone but some events are referred to as the series progresses, most notably diamond’s marital status.

I am happy to have read this book, but also sad I have finished the series at the time of writing this. Here’s hoping there is more Peter Diamond to come, thankfully there is plenty of works by Peter Lovesey to get into.

Been a While

I was laying awake in bed this morning and it struck me I had a blog on WordPress that I always fancied keeping up to date but somehow forgot about it. Luckily I had the username and password saved in the browser and well here it is.

I think i will certainly try my best to keep it updated more going forward and despite the username being ValleyReading, I would also like to get back into my hobby and interest of shaving things which I am a lapsed poster on Instagram of my Shave of The Day’s or SOTD. It was good fun to set up the photos and share my shave with other like minded people. It must be a year or so since I posted one. I really should get back into it.

Back to here and I should keep my reading up to date here, despite my laziness I do religiously keep my goodreads page up to date and as of right now have read 21 books out of 50 for my 2023 Reading Challenge. I just choose 50 as a nominal number and I know it will be exceeded to about 90 or even 100. I’m not a reader who will pad it out either with comics or short books, though I did read the entire Maigret series on 75 books, roughly 200 pages each. That was an enjoyable 4 years dipping in and out of them.

So if I remember and aren’t too lazy I will regularly update here with both my reading and shaving goings on.

My

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8797999

Shaving IG https://www.instagram.com/valleyshaving/

Its Been a While

It has been a while since I posted on here, I did plan to post regularly but it slipped my mind to post and then weeks turn into months.

From here on out I will try to write a bit more regularly and update my progress on the books I am reading.

As of now it is the 9th June 2020 and I have read 43 books so far this year. Currently I have several books on the go. The one I’m concentrating on is To Catch a King by Charles Spencer.

I have read some personal favouritesthis year and started series I am looking forward to going further in. A couple of note are:

  • The Colder Summer by Gianrico Carafilgio
  • The Second Sleep by Robert Harris
  • The Wood by John Lewis Stempel
  • Still Water by John Lewis Stempel
  • The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
  • The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr
  • Butchers Crossing by John Williams
  • Killers of The King by Charles Spencer
  • The Crocodile by Maurizio de Giovanni
  • Stoner by John Williams

As ever I am ploughing on with reading the Maigret series of books by Georges Simenon, currently I have read 49 and perhaps I might finish the series this calendar year. It will be a big ask but possibly achieveable. I did just read my favourite of the series so far: Maigret Sets A Trap.

2018: My Year In Books

When I posted last on here it was my intention to update the blog regularly with my reading progress but for one reason or another I didn’t seem to get around to it, which is a shame. This coming year I will make more of an effort to update and maintain this site, it will be my goal, regular updates (not that anyone will read them).

On to this pasy year, it has certainly been an eventful one this year. My trusty Sony Reader PRS-650 bit the dust and for my birthday I received an 8th Gen Kindle and subsequently upgraded to a 10th Gen on Black Friday. They have, along with Amazon in general changed the way I read, so convenient and cheap, some cracking deals on books for 99p or pocket change.

Kindle Unlimited has been great too and through it I have discovered some books and authors that I now count amongst my favourites.

Initially I had a goal of 24 books for the year, conservative estimate but I think I achieved it by March. Aside from one day that I can remember I pretty much stuck to my reading daily goal. I also read more frequently such as in the car, when waiting around and now I take my Kindle everywhere with me. Can always fit in a few pages here and there. I finished at 98 books read for the year and since March and my birthday they are almost exclusively digitally read, just so convenient and easier to take when heading out.

I also discovered Audible and have completed and thoroughly enjoyed several titles on there, most notably being Shogun by James Clavell, I read and listened to it. Audible is superb and my library is currently has 31 titles. They have some superb deals and the credit pricing is reasonable and a book s far more palatable for a £7.99 credit than £30+ purchase price. Whisper-sync is also something I never heard of prior to both using a Kindle and Audible, it is fantastic and accounts for most of my Audible library where you buy the ebook and get the audiobook at a vastly discounted price and progress in either copy carries forward between devices.

That’s enough waffling about Kindles, this is supposed to be about books. Onto the stars of the show…

I didn’t realise I had read so much but by reading a bit each day I seem to have raced through hell of a lot of books, not too quickly though that I can’t recall them, one or two were forgettable but on the whole I enjoyed almost all of what I read this year. Gosh 93 books and over 26000 pages read. Seems a lot when you take stock and look at the figures. My detailed yearly reads can be found here.

I made some great discoveries this year, the biggest being detective fiction. Having stumbled upon and loving several series most notably Marco Vichi’s Inspector Bordelli series of 6books (so far) a wonderful light hearted journey to 1960’s Florence with the titular Inspector and his underling Piras. Another Italy based dectective I very much enjoyed was Valeri Valero’s Commisario Soneri, a mondern day dectective in the misty City of Parma, quite enoyed him but Bordelli jut shades it for me. A final series I enjoyed was Martin O’Brien’s Jacquot series of books, following French detective Daniel Jacquot in Marseilles and regional Provence. I am currently 5 books into that 9 book series and have loved every one so far.

This coming year I have no plans for anything specific beyond finishing a few series and starting others. As for a set goal I would set a token goal of 36 books for the year and much like last year read daily with quality over quantity.

That said some specifics I would like to knock off are:

  • Complete The Asian Saga by James Clavell (6 books)
  • Complete Daniel Jacquot series by Martin O’Brien
  • Make a dent in Maigret series by Georges Simenon
  • Read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
  • Read The Sea of Fertility Quartet By Yukio Mishima
  • Re-read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • Re-read The Chronicle of The Black Company by Glen Cook

Aside from those I will see where my interests take and hopefully I can discover lots of new favourites and enjoyable reads. I don’t expect to reach 98 books and I’m not even going to try. If I can achieve one of my bullet points above I will be very happy. The most important thing for me is to get enjoyment in reading.