Balancing the Books – January 2021

January is behind us. For some it will have been the longest January ever. For others it will have been busy enough to keep them occupied enough. For us, it’s been a daily balance of working full time and home-schooling children, a balance that hasn’t always been maintained. This has meant I’ve not had as much time as usual to read. However the books incoming has also been reduced so it may be that I’m closer to a balance this month than I had estimated.
Here’s what I read this month.

  1. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, a treat to myself from Reposed.
  2. Under a Dark Angel’s Eye by Patricia Highsmith, sent for review by Virago.
  3. The Rosary Garden by Nicola White, sent for review by Viper.
  4. The Corpse in the Waxworks by John Dickson Carr, sent for review by the British Library.
  5. Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden, sent for review by Canongate.
  6. How to Save a Life by Eva Carter, sent for review by Mantle.
  7. The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning.
  8. The Spoilt City by Olivia Manning.
  9. Friends and Heroes by OIivia Manning, all three Manning novels were sent for review by Windmill.

Happy reading and keep safe.

  1. The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean.
  2. Trace Elements by Donna Leon.
  3. Third Girl by Agatha Christie.
  4. Kitchen Essays by Agnes Jekyll (though I had started this last year and put it down).
  5. Black Widows by Cate Quinn.

Here’s what made it through the many snow drifts to land through the letterbox.
No books permanently left, though I did lend two to my mother in law and four to my mother. So it was nine in and five out (or 11 out if we include the temporary release). Not too bad. I expect February will be as quiet on the incoming and outgoing front so it may be even more balanced. We shall but see. Here’s to an uneventful (and preferably less snowy) February.