Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
I've been doing a fair bit of late night reading still - in fact, the only time I am getting to read - on the Kindle. I haven't kept up with writing about what I have read, so this is a brief catch up. As I'm not usually that alert at night, they have been fairly unchallenging reads.
"The Chimera Secret" and The Eternity Project," by Dean Crawford.
"The Chimera Secret" and 'The Eternity Project' are the latest novels in the series of novels by Dean Crawford which feature Ethan Warner and Nicola Lopez. I have read and enjoyed previous entries in the series, which I have reviewed here.
These novels continue the story arc, in which Ethan is looking for his journalist fiancée, Joanna, who was kidnapped in Gaza. Alongside this arc, each novel has it's own "monster of the week" storyline. In "The Chimera Secret" Dean Crawford draws on Bigfoot mythology, and "The Eternity Project" is of a more ghostly ilk.
These 2 novels form a satisfying conclusion to the story arc, and are so addictive that I went straight from one to the other (which I had not initially intended to do). I got the impression that "The Eternity Project" is intended to be the last book featuring this entertaining pairing, which is a shame.
"Up with the Larks: Starting Again in Cornwall" and "Seagulls in the Attic: Making a New Life in Cornwall," by Tessa Hainsworth.
As a Cornish girl who has relocated to Devon for love but still thinks Cornwall is better, I was attracted to these books for nostalgia reasons. I wanted to be reminded why Cornwall is better than Devon, and I was. These books are nice, gentle reads, set in a rural society which is gradually being eroded by declining fishing opportunities and the influx of retirees and second-homers which are pricing out the locals. There is a 3rd in the series which I intend to read at some point, but maternity leave pay has resulted in a shortage of book-buying funds (and, indeed, anything buying funds).
"The Greatcoat," by Helen Dunmore
I think I've mangled the order of these a bit, as I think I read this just after "The Ghost Hunters" when I was still in the mood to be creeped out on late night feeds. It is the well-written tale of a new wife who moves into a flat with her husband and finds a greatcoat in a cupboard. Following this, she starts to be visited by a ghostly airman. Well-written though it may be, I didn't find it creepy which means that it ultimately didn't work effectively for me as a ghost story.
"Guardians of Stone" and "Fountain of Secrets," by Anita Clenney
A random find on the Kindle Prime library; the first two novels in a relic hunter series described as Indiana Jones meets Janet Evanovich. I couldn't resist that combination. I think ultimately the Janet Evanovich comparison came from a sex triangle vibe, but these novels didn't really have the sense of humour that I so enjoy in the Stephanie Plum series. They were an entertaining diversion for late night feeds, but I haven't yet decided if I enjoyed them enough to want to continue with the series.
