Musing Mondays (January 12)

Musing Mondays asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!
• What are you currently reading? What do you think you’ll read next? What did you recently finish reading?

We are now more than a third of the way through January so how many of you who made bookish resolutions have kept them? I don’t make resolutions and I certainly wouldn’t publish them as in no way do I want to be held accountable for my failings. However I do want to read more of the books I’ve chosen for myself this year rather than allowing them to disappear further down the TBR pile.

So how have I done so far? Well I’ve read 4 books, 1 Novella and 1 short – out of those 4 books were review copies, the novella was A Hank of Hair and I bought this copy in September 2014. The short, Broadchurch: The End is Where It Begins which doesn’t really count as towards any total being just 17 pages long was purchased and read on the same day!

My other reading has been done on-line where I have been browsing The Proceedings of the OLD BAILEY 1674 to 1913 which is absolutely fascinating!!  The link I have provided is about a fourteen year old girl consorting with soldiers against her mother’s wishes. The mother has her charged with stealing a shawl in what appears to be revenge for her disappearance. I started by browsing randomly, there are multiple search terms you can use, and  have been shocked by the number of charges there are for bigamy, it appears that in the absence of easy access to divorce men and women just remarried hoping that their previous marriage wouldn’t be discovered!

I am currently reading another review copy Alice And The Fly by James Rice

Blurb

This is a book about phobias and obsessions, isolation and dark corners. It’s about families, friendships, and carefully preserved secrets. But above everything else it’s about love. Finding love – in any of its forms – and nurturing it.
Miss Hayes has a new theory. She thinks my condition’s caused by some traumatic incident from my past I keep deep-rooted in my mind. As soon as I come clean I’ll flood out all these tears and it’ll all be ok and I won’t be scared of Them anymore. The truth is I can’t think of any single traumatic childhood incident to tell her. I mean, there are plenty of bad memories – Herb’s death, or the time I bit the hole in my tongue, or Finners Island, out on the boat with Sarah – but none of these are what caused the phobia. I’ve always had it. It’s Them. I’m just scared of Them. It’s that simple. Goodreads

I have recently finished Runaway by Peter May

Blurb

In 1965, five teenage friends fled Glasgow for London to pursue their dream of musical stardom. Yet before year’s end three returned, and returned damaged. In 2015, a brutal murder forces those three men, now in their sixties, to journey back to London and finally confront the dark truth they have run from for five decades.
Runaway is a crime novel covering fifty years of friendships solidified and severed, dreams shared and shattered and passions lit and extinguished; set against the backdrop of two unique and contrasting cities at two unique and contrasting periods of recent history. Goodreads

My review will be posted later this week.

Next I am planning to read another recent purchase, probably Taunting The Dead by Mel Sherratt

Blurb

Nine out of ten murders are committed by someone the victim knows. So when Steph Ryder has her head bashed in within earshot of her family and friends, D.S. Allie Shenton begins her investigation close to home.
Soon the lies, backtracking, and secrets multiply as each of the suspects tries to cover up their actions on that fateful night. Before long, Allie homes in on Steph’s ambitious and powerful husband, Terry. Convinced he’s hiding something, she interviews him again and again—only to find that she is falling, despite herself, for his smooth charms.
As the trail grows hotter, along with Allie’s feelings, the web of deceit pulls tighter and more bodies begin to pile up. Allie must race against time to uncover the shocking truth before she becomes the killer’s next victim. Amazon

How is 2015 shaping up for you in 2015?

What are you reading this week?