Balancing the Books – February 2023

janetemson

Mar 1

So February showed it's face and has disappeared again for another year. I started out with the use of one arm and ended it with the use of one and a half. The sling is off and the physio is about to begin. I don't like exercise at the best of times so I really looking forward to exercises that cause pain. I also managed to take a trip down to London, though again it seemed to be that someone or something was trying to thwart my plans as my first train was cancelled. It just meant I had to get an earlier train and spend some time seeing the sights (buying cakes and visiting bookshops). Incoming books were definitely slower and had it not been for the Faber party I attended I would have been in the biggest deficit since records began (which was whenever I started this boring series I inflict on you).

London saw me attend the Faber Spring party, where we heard from some fabulous authors, including Max Porter, Gary Younge, Louise Doughty, Helen Rebanks and Richard Armitage. I may have come home with a new tote bag and a book or two (nine, I came home with nine).

Here's what arrived this month:

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree, sent for review by Black Crow.
Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman, sent for review by Century.
Old Filth by Jane Gardam, sent for review by Abacus.
The Maiden by Kate Foster, sent for review by Mantle.
Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery, sent for review by Bloomsbury.
Until Proven Innocent by Nicola Williams, sent for review by Hamish Hamilton.
Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley.
The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji. Both of these were sent for review by Pushkin Vertigo.
Kala by Colin Walsh, sent for review by Atlantic.
The Cure for Sleep by Tanya Shadrick, a treat from me to me.
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes, sent for review by Headline.
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford.
The Farmer's Wife by Helen Rebanks.
Geneva by Richard Armitage.
Penance by Eliza Clark.
Shy by Max Porter.
I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore.
Termush by Sven Holm.
Enchantment by Katherine May. These along with another book yet to be revealed were picked up at the Faber Spring Party.
The Housekeepers by Alex Hay, sent for review by Headline.
The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges, sent for review by Pan Macmillan.
Prize Women by Caroline Lea, sent for review by Michael Joseph.

Here's what I read:

The Cloisters by Katy Hays.
Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree.
The Angel of Santa Sofia by Josep M Argemi.
What Child is This? by Bonnie MacBird.
Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood.
The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji.
The Close by Jane Casey.
Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery.

I also gave away 17 books to a friend (11 of which were going to her school. Children's books still count in the case of books leaving). I also gave a book to another friend. There was also a book I picked up from the Faber Spring party that I can't mention yet. So that's 23 in and 27 out. Finally a deficit, even if it was achieved by some creative accounting.

I hope you enjoyed whatever you read this month, even if it was just a page or two.

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