Acquired Books of September 2021

Hello!

Now I know I was very well behaved in August and did not buy one book but in September I made up for it. Here are all the wonderful books I acquired in September.

The search for the legendary ring of King Solomon has begun, and Penelope must sift through its long and convoluted history of lost emperors, crusaders, and other famous historical figures—including one with whom the magicians share their own complicated past— if she hopes to find it in time.

As Penelope’s magic continues to grow stronger with the coming high tide, she and Alexis will have to depend upon each other more than ever to keep everyone they care about safe from the continuing attacks by Thevetat’s priests.

When the magical high tide finally peaks, the long-awaited battle against Thevetat will begin, and Penelope, Alexis, and the magicians will have to rely on both powers of old and new if they hope to defeat their enemy once and for all.

A new Downton Abbey movie is slated for Christmas 2021. Highclere Castle, having achieved fame as the setting for Downton Abbey, is the epitome of the perfect English country house. The seasons govern life at the estate, and Lady Fiona Carnarvon, the current chatelaine, invites readers inside Highclere, past and present, as she describes the annual rhythms of English country life.

The Countess is a consummate hostess and a compelling authority on the castle, its history, and day-to-day life. With gorgeous full-color photography specially commissioned for this book, here she discusses entertaining for different seasonal feasts and holidays through the year and explores changing tastes and menus, plants and produce grown in the Highclere gardens, the charming menagerie of resident animals, and the traditions of living in the English countryside. Each season brings its own special activities and chores, many ancient, their names often a reference to the traditions and superstitions of country lore. Full of charming ideas and seasonal advice, this book will inspire readers seeking to brighten their approach to living with traditional English country style.

Dr Ruth Galloway returns to the moody and beautiful landscape of North Norfolk to confront another killer. A devastating new case for our favourite forensic archaeologist in this acclaimed and bestselling crime series.

The Night Hawks, a group of metal detectorists, are searching for buried treasure when they find a body on the beach in North Norfolk. At first Nelson thinks that the dead man might be an asylum seeker but he turns out to be a local boy, Jem Taylor, recently released from prison. Ruth is more interested in the treasure, a hoard of Bronze Age weapons. Nelson at first thinks that Taylor’s death is accidental drowning, but a second death suggests murder.

Nelson is called to an apparent murder-suicide of a couple at the isolated Black Dog Farm. Local legend talks of the Black Shuck, a spectral hound that appears to people before they die. Nelson ignores this, even when the owner’s suicide note includes the line, ‘He’s buried in the garden.’ Ruth excavates and finds the body of a giant dog.

All roads lead back to this farm in the middle of nowhere, but the place spells serious danger for anyone who goes near. Ruth doesn’t scare easily. Not until she finds herself at Black Dog Farm.

Starfleet was everything for Cristóbal Rios—until one horrible, inexplicable day when it all went wrong. Aimless and adrift, he grasps at a chance for a future as an independent freighter captain in an area betrayed by the Federation, the border region with the former Romulan Empire. His greatest desire: to be left alone.

But solitude isn’t in the cards for the captain of La Sirena, who falls into debt to a roving gang of hoodlums from a planet whose society is based on Prohibition-era Earth. Teamed against his will with Ledger, his conniving overseer, Rios begins an odyssey that brings him into conflict with outlaws and fortune seekers, with power brokers and relic hunters across the stars.

Exotic loves and locales await—as well as dangers galore—and Rios learns the hard way that good crewmembers are hard to find, even when you can create your own. And while his meeting with Jean-Luc Picard is years away, Rios finds himself drawing on the Starfleet legend’s experiences when he discovers a mystery that began on one of the galaxy’s most important days…

The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. The widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling case involving blackmail and death, that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “grey cells” before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his career.

The follow-up to the international bestseller Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, this book moves the story into the 1920s, and focuses on the remarkable American heiress who came to reign at Highclere Castle.

I can’t wait to get reading!

Please drop me a comment if you want to talk about any of the books

Happy Reading

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Reading My Height in Books #9

Hello!

It is time for another instalment of Reading My Height in Books. Another 4 books have been added to the stack.

The height of the stack is now 41.5 inches. That just means I have 25.5 inches left to go and I think I will be able to manage this, all being well. The dissertation is finished now and that means I have been enjoying a little bit more reading time.

Here are the pictures from the previous months. Look at that book stack grow!

Happy Reading

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The Weekly Brief

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. I played for a wedding and a pet service yesterday and I must be honest I was in my element at the pet service. There were so many cute dogs for me to make a fuss of.

Posts this Week

Currently Reading

Just started The Yellow Dog and so much has already happened and I’ve only read 13 pages!

Books Acquired

So many wonderful books to start reading. The Maigret books will help me complete my challenge.

Happy Reading

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September 2021 Wrap Up

Hello!

Another month has been and gone and I must admit September was probably my busiest month so far this year. I’ve started back at school, and taken on another church playing job so I have been quite busy. However, I have got my reading mojo back so I have been doing lots of reading as well and ignoring the housework when I can.

Statistics

Books

Pages: 511

Format Read: Kindle

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review

Pages: 224

Format Read: Hardback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review

Pages: 480

Format Read: Hardback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲

Review

Pages: 344

Format Read: Hardback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review

Pages: 154

Format Read: Paperback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

47/70 Goodreads Challenge

Still behind on the Goodreads challenge but I am slowly catching up.

Please drop me a comment if you want to chat about any of the books.

Happy Reading

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Friday Poetry: D. H. Lawrence

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week so far and I hope that everyone has some good weekend plans ahead.

My chosen poem this week is by David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) who was an English writer and poet.

Autumn Rain

The plane leaves
fall black and wet
on the lawn;

the cloud sheaves
in heaven's fields set
droop and are drawn

in falling seeds of rain;
the seed of heaven
on my face

falling - I hear again
like echoes even
that softly pace

heaven's muffled floor,
the winds that tread
out all the grain

of tears, the store
harvested
in the sheaves of pain

caught up aloft:
the sheaves of dead
men that are slain

now winnowed soft
on the floor of heaven;
manna invisible

of all the pain
here to us given;
finely divisible
falling as rain. 

D. H. Lawrence

Happy Reading

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