Tag: books

Reading Fatigue

Its been a very lean month so far for me in terms of my reading. I’m normally 3 or 4 books deep by now but this month I haven’t been feeling it yet. I don’t think there is a specific reason though maybe I’m watching more TV or playing video games. I don’t feel as though I am but since BST (British Summer Time) I have barely read.

I think also losing my Kindle Reading Streak affected it, I was trying to maintain it and one day it didn’t register my reading and it pissed me off no end. I almost got to 200 consecutive days. I was devastated lol. I nurtured that like a newborn chick and was super pissed because I had read and it wasn’t logged. Fucking Amazon servers!

I do intend to read and I have read but barely made a dent in anything. Could be fatigue or just having a break and reset. I do hope I can kindle the reading flame again, I do miss it greatly. Hopefully it picks up for the rest of the month.

It hasn’t stopped me buying books, though I have found less of interest recently in the kindle deals. I used to find one almost daily, recently though I barely buy 4 a month from the Daily Deal.

I just wanted a little rant to keep this blog ongoing or else I will neglect it again.

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.