The Scriptorium

Despite being away for a week, crafting continued:

Just to be consistent, my TBL remains at 14, so I have titles which will carry me into next year.

Maigret in Vichy by Georges Simenon read by Gareth Armstrong
Maigret and the Wine Merchant by Georges Simenon read by Gareth Armstrong
Maigret's Madwoman by Georges Simenon read by Gareth Armstrong
Which means I've now listened to all the Maigret audiobooks currently in my library - however I have three in physical copy, so I shall not be missing my Maigret fix!  As always I enjoyed all three for the stories, for the way Maigret tackled the crime and for the sense of place.  The latter two are set in Paris, the first, clearly takes place in Vichy where Maigret and his wife are having a holiday to enable Maigret to take the waters as he hasn't been feeling well.

The Windsor Knot by S J Bennett read by Samantha Bond
This was on offer, so I thought I'd try it as I've heard it recommended.  I enjoyed the plot and how the Queen solved it, but could have done without hearing about how wonderful the queen was.  I have the second in the series and, if I enjoy that, may well continue, as it's pleasant listening.

The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré read by Michael Jayston
This was long, and although I've enjoyed the previous George Smiley books, I was ultimately disappointed.  

Six books this month, so I've read 31 so far this year.

Their Finest by Lissa Evans
Having read one of Lissa Evans WWII books last year I decided I'd see what else of hers the library had, and this is the first of two books.  It tells the story of the making of a film about Dunkirk by a ragtag collection of individuals.  I liked it, sympathised with the main character, but also enjoyed seeing various other characters and how they dealt with the difficulties caused by living in London during the war.

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
I didn't enjoy this book as much as many of the other Discworld stories.  Very much a standalone, I really missed the regular characters.  Also, while I understood where Pratchett was coming from, and would agree with a number of his thoughts, I felt it lacked some of the lightness of touch he usually has.

Plenty under the Counter by Kathleen Hewitt
Republished by the Imperial War Museum and written during WWII, this was one of the runners up for the Shedunnit wartime month.  As such I liked the sense of the period, but as a detective story I didn't find it that strong.

The Body in the Dumb River by George Bellairs
A couple of people have recommended Bellairs to me, so I borrowed this from the library.  Written in 1961, so outside the usual Golden Age period, although Bellairs started writing earlier.  Chief Inspector Littlejohn is my sort of detective, sorting through all the facts and working out what happened and why.  There's a definite sense of the people and the period, and although not an exciting crime, it's all very believable.

The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu
Goodreads has started running some different challenges, and this is one of the books in the Heritage category of the current seasonal challenge.  Having read a similar book last month, I thought it would be fun to read another (also from the library).  I quite enjoyed it, but I think that will do me for this particular type - too much time on the people, too little time on the cats.

Mrs Plansky's Revenge by Spencer Quinn
This was recommended as a slightly different take on the crime genre.  The basic crime is financial via the internet, and the interest comes from how Mrs Plansky deals with it.  The first third of the book is quite slow, but then it improves and I was definitely cheering Mrs Plansky on by the end, which was not as I'd initially expected.


My book bingo card.  Finally achieved a row and a column.  I'm expecting to complete this in July/August, slowly reading books in the last few categories.