Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.
I thought I would join in with Stacking the Shelves this week because I actually bought some books this week. I am making an effort to buy less books this year and read the ones I own and so far I have been doing quite well.
I have decided to read the Dr Ruth Galloway books from the beginning because I haven’t read them all. This has also meant buying some of the books I don’t own and discovered this lovely book set and although I do own a couple of these books I just couldn’t help myself with the lovely book set.
I have already started reading The Crossing Places and absolutely loving it.
Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?
I hope everyone has some fab plans for the weekend.
My chosen poem this week is by another new poet for me. Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) was an American author and children’s poet.
A Bicycle Built for Two
There was an ambitious young eel
Who determined to ride on a wheel;
But try as he might,
He couldn't ride right,
In spite of his ardor and zeal.
If he sat on the saddle to ride
His tail only pedalled one side;
And I'm sure you'll admit
That an eel couldn't sit
On a bicycle saddle astride.
Or if he hung over the top,
He could go, but he never could stop;
For of course it is clear
He had no way to steer,
And under the wheel he would flop.
His neighbour, observing the fun,
Said, 'I think that the thing can be done,
If you'll listen to me,
You'll quickly agree
That two heads are better than one.
'And this is my project, old chap,
Around our two waists I will wrap
This beautiful belt
Of bottle-green felt
And fasten it firm with a strap.'
This done, with a dignified mien
The two squirmed up on the machine,
And rode gayly away,
Or at least, so they say,
Who witnessed the wonderful scene.
Carolyn Wells
When builders discover a human skeleton while renovating a café, they call in archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway, who is preoccupied with the threatened closure of her department and by her ever-complicated relationship with DCI Nelson. The bones turn out to be modern–the remains of Emily Pickering, a young archaeology student who went missing in 2002. Suspicion soon falls on Emily’s Cambridge tutor and also on another archeology enthusiast who was part of the group gathered the weekend before she disappeared–Ruth’s friend Cathbad.
As they investigate, Nelson and his team uncover a tangled web of relationships within the archaeology group and look for a link between them and the café where Emily’s bones were found. Then, just when the team seem to be making progress, Cathbad disappears. The trail leads Ruth a to the Neolithic flint mines in Grimes Graves. The race is on, first to find Cathbad and then to exonerate him, but will Ruth and Nelson uncover the truth in time to save their friend?
Review
In 2019 I discovered Elly Griffiths and her wonderful Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries and since then I have been hooked. I will be honest I still haven’t read all the books but I plan to read them all this year. I had this book preordered for months so I was so excited when it arrived in the post.
As usual there is a lot going on in this book. Poor Ruth is worried about the threatened closure of her beloved archaeology department, she isn’t sure what her relationship with DCI Nelson’s going to come to and now she has a body to excavate. Plus she also has added worries about friends and work colleagues.
Nelson finds himself finally making up his mind about Ruth and Kate but then not getting the response he was looking for from Ruth. Added to this he now has a murder investigation to run and it is anything but simple. He also has to find Cathbad who has gone missing and who is also connected to the murder case.
The thing I loved about this book was how it kept moving. From the first page there is something going on. The murder investigation keeps moving and more and more leads are found and more suspects and some very complicated relationships. There is the story of Ruth’s professional life and where her career is heading. We also follow Ruth make decisions regarding her personal life and see her love for her friends as she tries to help find Cathbad.
Norfolk is as usual heavily featured in this book and I have an even longer list of places I want to visit there. My best friend lives in Norfolk and I am constantly asking her where such and such place is as I want to visit all these places. I also want to visit Ely cathedral because of this book.
I loved this book so much and I couldn’t put it down. It was a fantastic book to end the series with and I will really miss these wonderful characters. The book has detailed and beautiful descriptions and a brilliantly written story. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Elly Griffiths is the bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries and the Brighton Mysteries. She has won the CWA Dagger in the Library, has been shortlisted five times for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and long listed for the CWA Gold Dagger for The Lantern Men. Elly has two grown-up children and lives near Brighton with her archaeologist husband.
The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. My week has been rather busy so far but I am still managing some reading. I had an exciting delivery of crafting supplies today so I am hoping to take some time to do crafting during half term.
What I am Currently Reading
I am absolutely loving The Count of Monte Cristo but I must be honest I am not getting very well with The Pilgrim’s Progress.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
I flew through The Last Remains and if I hadn’t had to do this thing called work I would have probably read it in one day. My review for The Woman Who Would Be King is here.
What I Think I will Read Next
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut’s Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney
Blurb
An engrossing biography of the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and the story of her audacious rise to power in a man’s world.
Hatshepsut, the daughter of a general who took Egypt’s throne without status as a king’s son and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty, was born into a privileged position of the royal household. Married to her brother, she was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father’s family. Her failure to produce a male heir was ultimately the twist of fate that paved the way for her inconceivable rule as a cross-dressing king. At just twenty, Hatshepsut ascended to the rank of king in an elaborate coronation ceremony that set the tone for her spectacular twenty-two year reign as co-regent with Thutmose III, the infant king whose mother Hatshepsut out-maneuvered for a seat on the throne. Hatshepsut was a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays with the veil of piety and sexual expression. Just as women today face obstacles from a society that equates authority with masculinity, Hatshepsut had to shrewdly operate the levers of a patriarchal system to emerge as Egypt’s second female pharaoh.
Hatshepsut had successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt’s most prolific building periods. Scholars have long speculated as to why her images were destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her rule. Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power—and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.
Review
I have been wanting to read this book for ages as I have always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt and have always been interested in Hatshepsut. My wonderful husband bought me the book for Christmas so I decided it would be my nonfiction read of February.
Hatshepsut was an amazing woman and one who was unrivalled for hundreds of years but as usual she was also a woman who was driven out of history. Due to the destruction of her statues, monuments and building projects a lot of her history is lost so Cooney has had to do some educated guesswork about certain aspects of Hatshepsut’s life. Cooney explains her reasoning for the guesswork and it is clear that it is all backed by what she knows about the period in history and also by the evidence of Hatshepsut’s life that does thankfully still survive.
Cooney’s writing is packed full of information but it is still an easy read that doesn’t make you feel bogged down with information. It almost reads in places like historical fiction but it isn’t. The only criticism that I do have and it did start to drive me a little crazy was the repetition. Cooney would tell you a fact then repeat it either on the next page or a few pages along and it really wasn’t necessary. I started to find myself sighing and thinking why are you telling me this again when you have literally just told me, I don’t need to be told again but with slightly different wording. I will definitely read more books by Cooney and I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Dr. Kathlyn M. Cooney aka Dr. Kara Cooney is an Egyptologist and Assistant Professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture at UCLA. She was awarded a PhD in 2002 by Johns Hopkins University for Near Eastern Studies. She was part of an archaeological team excavating at the artisans’ village of Deir el Medina in Egypt, as well as Dahshur and various tombs at Thebes.
In 2002 she was Kress Fellow at the National Gallery of Art and worked on the preparation of the Cairo Museum exhibition Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt. She was a member of the teaching staff at Stanford and Howard University. In 2005, she acted as fellow curator for Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Raised in Houston, she obtained her B.A. from the University of Texas.
She worked on two Discovery Channel documentary series: Out of Egypt, first aired in August 2009, and Egypt’s Lost Queen, which also featured Dr. Zahi Hawass.
Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.
Happy Monday!
I hope everyone has had a good start to the week so far. I will be honest I am desperate for half term as I am really starting to flag and this week seems busier than ever. When half term arrives next week I will be sleeping and reading and drinking my own body weight in tea.
My chosen book today is from one of my favourite series of books and one that I really want to complete reading.
Ruth Galloway has just returned from maternity leave and is struggling to juggle work and motherhood. When a team from the University of North Norfolk, investigating coastal erosion, finds six bodies at the foot of the cliff, she is immediately put on the case.
The problem with this series is I have read the books completely out of order so I am considering just starting at the beginning and rereading the books I have already read. It’s such a good series I don’t mind rereading some of the books.
Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.
Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and will not reveal her lover’s identity. The scarlet letter A (for adultery) she has to wear on her clothes, along with her public shaming, is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. She struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.
Review
I have wanted to read this book since it was mentioned in an episode of Downton Abbey and the Dowager thought the book sounded most unsuitable. It is also one of the books on my Classics Club list.
I will be honest I almost lost the will to live with this book. The introductory chapter of this book is a lengthy chapter about the author and his life in the Customs office and I must admit I found it extremely dull. I was determined to carry on because the main story had not started yet but I will be honest I almost gave up with the book there and then.
The storyline of this book is great but sadly Hawthorne could not have written it in a more boring and long winded way. I found that Hawthorne is quite similar to Washington Irving in his writing style and I will be honest I also struggle with Irving. Basically something that could be said in 500 words they insist on using 5000 and I just find myself shouting at the author ‘why? Get to the point!’.
Hester Prynne is a wonderful character who is thoroughly wronged but because of the time and the place she lives in she is the one who is held up to blame and judged. After Hester’s disgrace she forms a life for herself living in repentance and trying to be the best Christian she can be and because of this people start to accept her again.
I had to really think about my rating of this book because I just could not get on with Hawthorne’s writing style. I almost gave it a lot lower rating but I reconsidered because I really enjoyed the storyline and the character Hester. Overall, I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons but I will definitely say it won’t be a book that I read again.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation’s colonial history.
Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to painter and illustrator Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before returning to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children.
Much of Hawthorne’s writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce.
My chosen poem this week is by the writer, poet, TV and film producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival Henry Normal (1956).
Three Lies and One Truth about the Moon
1. The moon only exists at night, and occasionally during the day, in summer.
2. No one has ever landed on the moon, and the Russian President knows this but promised his mum he wouldn't say anything.
3. The moon is a hollow spaceship inhabited by nazi rabbits that turn men into werewolves.
4. If my heart was as big as the moon I couldn't love you more.
Henry Normal
Lady Book Dragon 