I know! I’m on a book ban! What the hell am I thinking?!?! Well. I’m thinking on less than 5 hours sleep. I went to see the doctor yesterday as the pain I have been feeling for two months was getting worse and not better. They put me on antibiotics…again! With the lack of sleep, the gross taste of trying to swallow the large antibiotic, and the woodpecker pounding of my skull, I was tempted by the email from The Book Depository that said I had 10% off selected books till the 17th November. I primarily use TBD for buying books I’ve enjoyed on Kindle in paperback, but I have been known to buy ‘firsts in a series’ that I’ve discovered there.

I’m on a book ban because it’s nearing Christmas, and I’m ever hopeful that my Amazon book lists will be hit by family and friends and I don’t want to accidentally buy a book that has been wrapped as a present. (I say ever hopeful because my lists are mega long!)

Monday 4th November to Sunday 10th November was a write off week in terms of reading. I just couldn’t engage my brain and then I had all these migraines and a very stressful and anxiety inducing time at work and reading just fell by the wayside.

I have already read two books this week (I’m writing this on Wednesday 13th), so I am hopeful that my reign of non-reading has ended and that I can look forward to reading lots more this November.

I actually have made headway with my tbr shelves, there is no space, BIG FAT SPACE, on my shelves.

This is my growing crime shelf, actually its a lot fuller now with various books I’ve loved on the Kindle, that I’ve now got in paperback. But, there are actually a couple on this shelf that I’ve yet to read, the Agatha Christie books, the Louise Penny book and one Patricia Gibney book. Oh, and two Detective Tom Reynolds books.

Anyway, lets stop this rambling here, and actually show you the books I did get.

See, I only got four books! That’s restraint, that is!! I’ve wanted to read ‘Thirteen’ by Steve Cavanagh since the beginning of October, so happy to finally have it coming to me. Henning Mankell’s ‘Faceless Killers’ was something I wanted to read because my Mum loved the Wallander series on the television but I don’t think she’s actually read the books. I wanted to read them to be able to explore where the TV show started from. Peter James’s series is one I’ve always thought I should read, I just haven’t gotten around to it before. However, my interests are becoming more focused on crime and thrillers, so I thought this was the perfect time to explore this series. I actually have an Ian Rankin book on my shelf that I haven’t read yet, it was brought when my Mum and I were thinking of going to Edinburgh. I have a thing about reading books out of order – if fact its something I hate – so getting the first in this series was justified.

For those that haven’t read/heard of these books, here are the synopsis’s for them:

Dead at First Sight by Peter James

You don’t know me, but I thought I knew you . . .

A man waits at a London airport for Ingrid Ostermann, the love of his life, to arrive. Across the Atlantic, a retired NYPD cop waits in a bar in Florida’s Key West for his first date with the lady who is, without question, his soulmate. The two men are about to discover they’ve been scammed out of almost every penny they have in the world – and that neither women exist.

Meanwhile, a wealthy divorcée plunges, in suspicious circumstances, from an apartment block in Munich. In the same week, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to investigate the suicide of a woman in Brighton, that is clearly not what it seems. As his investigations continue, a handsome Brighton motivational speaker comes forward. He’s discovered his identity is being used to scam eleven different women, online. The first he knew of it was a phone call from one of them, out of the blue, saying, ‘You don’t know me, but I thought I knew you’.

That woman is now dead.

Roy Grace realizes he is looking at the tip of an iceberg. A global empire built on clever, cruel internet scams and the murder of anyone who threatens to expose them.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

One frozen January morning at 5am, Inspector Wallander responds to what he believes is a routine call out. When he reaches the isolated farmhouse he discovers a bloodbath.

An old man has been tortured and beaten to death, his wife lies barely alive beside his shattered body, both victims of a violence beyond reason. The woman supplies Wallander with his only clue: the perpetrators may have been foreign. When this is leaked to the press, it unleashes a tide of racism.

Wallander’s life is a shambles. His wife has left him, his daughter refuses to speak to him, and even his ageing father barely tolerates him. He works tirelessly, eats badly, and drinks his nights away. But now Wallander must forget his troubles and throw himself into a battle against time and against mounting racial hatred.

Thirteen by Steven Cavanagh

‘To your knowledge, is there anything that would preclude you from serving on this jury?’

Murder wasn’t the hard part. It was just the start of the game.

Joshua Kane has been preparing for this moment his whole life. He’s done it before. But this is the big one.

This is the murder trial of the century. And Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house.

But there’s someone on his tail. Someone who suspects that the killer isn’t the man on trial.

Kane knows time is running out – he just needs to get to the conviction without being discovered.

In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin

IN A HOUSE OF LIES…

Everyone has something to hide
A missing private investigator is found, locked in a car hidden deep in the woods. Worse still – both for his family and the police – is that his body was in an area that had already been searched.

Everyone has secrets
Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is part of a new inquiry, combing through the mistakes of the original case. There were always suspicions over how the investigation was handled and now – after a decade without answers – it’s time for the truth.

Nobody is innocent
Every officer involved must be questioned, and it seems everyone on the case has something to hide, and everything to lose. But there is one man who knows where the trail may lead – and that it could be the end of him: John Rebus.

Have any of you read these series? Or started a new series recently that you think I’d like? Please let me know below 🙂