1st to 28th February, 2019
I can’t believe that February has come to an end. Time just flies by, doesn’t it? Is it just me or do you too feel that New Year was just yesterday and today, here we are, welcoming the season of Spring. Well, I don’t think I should call the weather in Bangalore as Spring! It is hot and dry; not a very good combination if you ask me. Even ice cream tastes warm! Ugh! Kitty’s been having a bad time and she cannot sleep without the fan on. I wonder how March-April-May would turn out to be!
Moving on, it has been a mixed month in terms of reading books. There were a few which I did not like and some, I liked it very much. I read 16 books this month so not bad, eh? (sweet sixteen 😉 )
The first book I read this month was The Case of the Climbing Rat by Christopher Bush. It is a crime classic. After seeing a couple of 3 and 4 star rating on the book, I decided to give it a try. I tried reading it once in January but I gave up after reading the first two chapters. I thought of giving it a try this month and it took me four days to read it! Four days!!! Of course, I only read for an hour or so everyday so it’s not like I took 96 hours to read the book!! The story went off my head. The beginning was good and as the story proceeded, I was lost. Then, it turned out to be interesting and after a few pages, I was lost. And… the story ended!
It takes me some time to get used to an author’s writing style. This doesn’t happen always. Like, take Bellairs’ books for example. I loved it from the very first chapter and having read three of his books so far, I feel pretty comfortable reading his works. But I cannot say the same about Margery Allingham’s works. It took me three books to get used to her writing style. And now I am a fan of Albert Campion. So what do you suggest? Should I give Bush’s books another chance?
After setting a record (on The Book Decoder) of accepting nine blog tours in the month of January, I have learned my lesson. Though the blog tour invites I receive are tempting – I mean, who says no to books????? – I am learning not to accept many.
The blog tours that I was a part of this month:
The Cocktail Bar by Isabella May
The Gun Also Rises by Sherry Harris
Street Cat Blues by Alison O’Leary
Grand Slam Murders by R.J. Lee
The Novel Art of Murder by V.M Burns
Running From Arrows by T.C. Wescott
Three Cover Reveals this month:
Cover Reveal of A Little Hotel in Cornwall by Laura Briggs
Cover Reveal of Flower Power Trip by James J Cudney IV
Cover Reveal of A Bakery at the Little Duck Pond Cafe` by Rosie Green
The other books that I reviewed this month include:
Crime in Lepers’ Hollow by George Bellairs
The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
The Birthday Mystery by Faith Martin
Running From Arrows by T.C. Wescott
The Riverboat Mystery by Faith Martin
Battlestar Suburbia by Chris McCrudden
How To Remove a Brain by David Haviland
The Winter Mystery by Faith Martin
The Girl in the Corner by Amanda Prowse
Traitor’s Purse by Margery Allingham
The Dennis Bisskit Adventures by Stephen Ainley
Quite a lot of books, isn’t it? Except for Running From Arrows, I read all the other blog tour books in January.
My favorite reads from this month include Crime in Leper’s Hollow by George Bellairs, Traitor’s Purse by Margery Allingham, The Dennis Bisskit Adventures by Stephen Ainley and Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham. I finished Sweet Danger last evening so I will be reviewing it sometime in the first week of March. Also, Anjana and I have planned a buddy read in second week of March and it is going to be super fun. 😀 😀
I still have a couple of NetGalley ARCs to review and, a couple of books from my Kindle Unlimited subscription and, a few paperbacks. So many books, so little time! Sigh!
By the way, I have started a Facebook page for my book blog. You can click here to visit my page. Also, for those who do not know, I have a photo blog too (where I occasionally write short stories too). After starting this blog, photo blogging took a back seat. I managed to revive it this month and I post there twice every week. And, also started a Facebook page for my photography. You can visit my photo page here.
This post has turned out to be more of links and less of chit-chatting. Hah! With four reading challenges and so many books out there, I am having a hard time reading all the books out there. Why can’t I be like The Flash and read a book every minute. Anybody know the way to Central City? 😉
And one last ‘shop talk’ before I leave. Since I have already mentioned it in my other blog, why not here. I am writing a novel. The story is about how pink elephants fly on full moon mornings while Tigers meow in the alleys. 😉 Jokes apart, I am writing a novel. May be in a couple of months, I hope to see myself as a published author. 😀
The Book Decoder 
Good luck with your novel rekha. Excellent wrap up. I can’t imagine doing so much 😵 enjoy your photography 😃
Thanks, Vandy. 😀
16 is very good total. Only managed 13 myself. Hoping to a do a bit better in March, as I have finally finished a project I was on, which had a rather short deadline.
Very excited to hear about your forthcoming book. Is it too much to ask if it will be a mystery novel?
It is a Cozy mystery. The story is set in a small town in India. (Fictional town) 🙂