Julie Elizabeth Crockford

A collage of book covers showing: Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin; Past Lying by Val McDermid; Tom Lake by Ann Patchett; The Clocks by Agatha Christie; The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie; The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie; Big Sky by Kate Atkinson; With a Vengeance by Riley Sager; Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offrett; D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton; Maurice and Maralyn: a Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst; Book Lovers by Emily Henry; The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths; A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant; We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Books completed in September

15 books
10 books by women
1 by LGBTQ+ community
2 with LGBTQ+ characters
1 by a person of colour
1 non-fiction

Top Three reading experiences: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett; Big Sky by Kate Atkinson; The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

#booksky

Collage of book covers: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid The Manor House Murder by Faith Martin The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen Aunty Lee’s Deadly Specials by Olivia Yu The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck Letters from the Ginza Shinto Stationary Shop by Kenji Ueda Just for the Summer by Abbey Jimenez The Golden Gate by Amy Chua Secrets of a Scottish Isle by Erica Ruth Neubauer A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton B is for Burgler by Sue Grafton C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton

August Reading recap! Holiday reading!

12 completed
11 fic & 1 non-fiction
I lit fic
9 by female authors
5 by BIPOC
1 front list
1 centring LGBTQ+ relationship
1 featuring an LGBTQ+ relationship

Top 3: Letters from the Ginza Shinto Stationary Shop; B is for Burgler;
The Oregon Trail
#booksky

Collage of book covers showing: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry; Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green; The Plague and I by Betty McDonald; Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars; The Time Capsule Murder by Alex Crockford; A Fiancée’s Guide to First Wives and Murder by Diane Freeman; A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder by Diane agreement; The Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters; The Last Word is Death by Faith Martin; The Lyndon Johnson Years: The Path to Power by Robert A. Caro; Absolution by Alice McDermott; The God of the Woods by Liz Moore; So Far Gone by Jess Walter; Big Chief by Jon Hichey; The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones; Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon; Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs

Books I finished reading in July!

Top Three: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry; Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars; and (of course) The Time Capsule Murder by my husband @gingerwandrer.bsky.social

Too many other 5* Reads for a Bluesky post, so check out my insta for more #booksky #Julyreads

In case anyone is hankering to hear me bang on even more about this, My will be discussing Time Capsule Murdery matters on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire tomorrow at 12:10ish (delightfully, their studios are less than 5 minutes walk from my house so I can pop over on my lunch break)!

My husband will be on the Radio #booksky

@johngreensbluesky.bsky.social do you know this book by the author of the Mrs Piggle Wiggle kids books? It’s about her time as an adult in a TB sanitarium but written with her usual Barbara Pym/Murial Spark style of humour

A collage showing the covers of books completed in June 2025: Yinka Where is your Huzband by Lizzie Damiolola Blackburn; Two Parts Sugar, One part Murder by Valerie Burns; A Death in the Parish by the Rev Richard Coles; The Killing Hills by Chris Offret; Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd; Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldeee; Murder by Cheesecake by Rachel Ekstrom Courage; and Big Chief by Jon Hickey;

#booksky #Junereadingrecap
Books completed in June 2025! 3 by PoC; 4 by women, 1 LGBTQI+ author (2 more w/LGBTQI+ ❤️); 1 neurodivergent
Standout out pick this month is Big Chief, the debut novel by John Hickey (bit of lit fic, bit of family drama, a bit of love and mystery, and a lot of politics).

My husband wrote a book so I’m shamelessly plugging it! Currently available on Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble (and a few other international places): working on bookshop.org (fingers crossed soon!) #booksky @gingerwandrer.bsky.social

Picture of nine book covers including From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough, Vicarage Murder by Faith Martin, The Last Pope by Luis Miguel Rocha, Murder on the Oxford Canal by Faith Martin, A Pinch of Poison by Alyssa Maxwell, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higgenbotham, Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway, and Berlin Game by Len Deighton.

#booksky May reading recap; books I completed in May. I enjoyed them all and started a lot of longer books so fewer completed.
Top 3 were Project Hail Mary (audio) by Andy Weir; Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway; Berlin Game by Len Deighton

11 by women; 5 by POC; 4 by another minority (LGBTQ+, religious minority, etc).

Image of the covers of the following books: Books April Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett (reread) Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham The Case of the Late Pig by Margery Allingham The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Sutanto Entering the Passion of Jesus by Dr Amy-Jill Levine A Fatal Obsession by Faith Martin A Fatal Mistake by Faith Martin Murder Before Evensong by Rev Richard Coles The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd Murder at Mallowan Hall by Coleen Cambridge Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Books completed in April!

5* reads were:
Entering the Passion of Jesus

My Name is Barbra

The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby

The Case of the Late Pig

Mercury Pictures Presents

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Arsenic and Adobo

The Persians

The rest were ALL 4*
#booksky

Easter outfit

@gingerwandrer.bsky.social and I went to Paradise Under the Stars by The Lost Estate (an immersive experience at the Tropicana nightclub in pre-revolutionary Havana) Wonderful! We lived out all our James Bond/Don Draper/Betty Draper/Audrey Hepburn dreams!
#paradiseunderthestars #thelostestate

Good job Wisconsin!

Photo showing book covers of: Challenger by Adam Higginbotham; Duma Key by Stephen King; A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Diane Freeman; A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder by Diane Freeman; Murder in Fulbridge Village by Jay Gill

Photo showing book covers of: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming; Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree; Only Say Good Things by Crystal Hefner; Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews; Recipes for Love and Murder by Sally Andrew

Books I completed in March 2025

The standout three were : Challenger by Adam Higginbotham; Duma Key by Stephen King; Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

#booksky

I’m listening to Barbra Streisand’s autobiography atm, and a great example of why I am enjoying it so thoroughly is the line:

“Also, I didn’t drink very much. If some guy offered to buy me a drink, I’d say ‘I’d prefer a baked potato’, and that often put an end to the conversation.”

#booksky

Really love this!

Screenshot of Facebook post from 11 March 2010 saying Greatest book title ever: Monasticon Anglicanum: a history of abbies and other monasteries, hospitals, frieries, and cathedral and collegiate churches, with their dependencies, in England and Wales; also of all such Scothch, Irish, and French monasteries, as were in any manner connected with religious houses in England

Still the best book title #booksky

Photo of the cover of the RSCs Hamlet being held by three hands

Beautiful and powerful production of Hamlet at the RSC in Stratford last night. Masterful direction by @rupertgoold and captivating performances by the whole cast, and particularly by Jared Harris, @elliotlevey Anton Lesser and Luke Thallon

So glad to have this be R’s first Hamlet on stage!

Photo collage showing I’m Glad My Mother Died by Jennette McCurdy; The Kill Fee by Fiona Veitch Smith; Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda; Smaller and Smaller Circles by FH Batacan; Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen

Book collage showing Sonny Boy by Al Pacino; Home Seeking by Karissa Chen; Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson; Intrigue in Istanbul by Erica Ruth Neubauer; Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie

Books completed in Feb! I enjoyed all of them (I’m a mood reader so I DNF things I’m not enjoying).
All but Woman, Eating; Smaller and Smaller Circles; Strip Tease were audiobooks.
Top 3 no particular order: Sonny Boy by Al Pacino, Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda, Home Seeking by Karissa Chen #booksky

January books I forgot to post #booksky

Snoopy Tuesday

Old clothes, new fit

"It's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers." ~ Judy Blume

Happy birthday Judy Blume
#BookSky

Image showing the covers of The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise by Darío Fernandez-Morera;Just Good Manners by William Hanson; Camilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fan

My family know me so well 😅 #vampires #medievalspain #manners
#booksky #birthdaypresents

Being the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything feels pretty good!

#oxfordcommaforever #hitchhikersguidetotheuniverse

Wonderful family outing to London to see the @englishnationalopera revival of Mike Leigh’s production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance! #gilbertandsullivan #opera

A photo collage showing the covers of Murder Most Malicious; The Women; My Darkest Prayer; Radiant Heat; and Dolls of Our Lives

A collage showing the covers of The Nine Taylors; Cher: The Memoir; The Riviera Express; and The Man Who Died Twice

Books completed in January! I enjoyed all of these books, with My Darkest Prayer by SA Cosby, The Women by Kristen Hannah, and Cher: A Memoir being my favourites.

#booksky #books

Here are all of my 20 Books that had the biggest impact on me or stayed with me the most in one photo. If I’d started compiling this now rather than a few months ago, I would not have included Neil Gaiman (despite the impact of his work)

#booksky #bookchallenge

Picture of the original edition of Feast by Nigella Lawson showing Nigella kneading dough.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky #books #bookchallenge 💙📚 Day 20