At the moment there is a hashtag on Twitter #beathebacklog as a whole slew of book lovers are trying to get their To be Read backlog reduced. Nobody thinks for one moment that it is ever going to happen but we thought we would see if we could get it down a bit. I have managed to get rid of about five or six that I have had since the autumn but I know I am doomed to failure as another heap arrived this week, either from purchases or from lovely authors and publishers.
You can see that this pile adds ten back onto the TBR backlog so it is clear that I am going nowhere. I admit that at the moment I am finding it hard to settle to any reading at all. I loathe January and I loathe the cold and the drear and am spending most of my time either watching 
the tennis or having a binge on box sets on the tv. My brain feels as if it has gone to mush so I am patiently waiting for the weather to get a bit better and hope that I can get on with things.
You will see from the top of the recently received, four D E Stevensons and one Molly Clavering. They were friends and neighbours up in Scotland I gather and I am looking forward to writing about D E Stevenson in particular at a later date. Dean Street Press are republishing a shedload of her titles and, as they have only been available in second hand copies up to now, this is a blessing and I am so grateful to them for sending me copies. I have just started the Fair Miss Fortune and am enjoying it very much.
Then the British Library Classic Crime series have sent two, one by Anthony Berkeley and one by E C Lorac who is one of those unknown (well to me anyway) writers of the Golden Age and who I now love. This is going to be moved to the top of the heap.
Back to the Shops by Rachel Bowlby looks really interesting. Here is what the blurb has to say:
"Back to the Shops offers a set of short and surprising chapters, each one a window into a different shop type or mode of selling. Old shopping streets are seen from new angles; fast fashion shows up in eighteenth-century edits. Here are pedlars and pop-ups, mail order catalogues and mobile greengrocers' shops. Here too are food markets open till late on a Saturday night, and tiny subscription libraries tucked away at the back of the sweet shop".
I have already dipped into this – just the kind of social history I like.
Walking Invisible by Michael Stewart is a literary guide through the walks and nature of the Bronte sisters. The author walked in the steps of the sisters and, while it is unlikely I will ever be able to copy his feat, I can come with him in spirit as I read. It looks a lovely book and I love all things Bronte.
Queen Alexandra by Frances Dimond. It has been years since a biography was written on this rather forgotten Queen of England. We know all about her husband, there has recently been a wonderful biography of George V but Alexandra seems to lurk in the shadows. Time to open this up and have a delve.
Mary Seacole by Helen Rappaport. I love this author's books. She has written on a variety of historical subjects with a slant to all things Russian, but writing the biography of Mary Seacole has been a dream of hers for many years and here, finally, the result of all her hard work and research is in print. Everyone knows who Florence Nightingale is and her exploits in the Crimean War but it is only fairly recently that the name of Mary Seacole has become better known.
So there you have it. These are the hard copies of books that have recently arrived but I have also downloaded quite a lot on my Kindle so I have a long hard slog in front of me…
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