I've Been Reading

 The July list copied from my Books Read 2026 Page...............

• Dorothy L Sayers - The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. Crime Fiction (Published 1928) Lord Peter Wimsey finds the body of ancient General Fentiman. How did the General die, who is Mr X why  is he difficult to find and which of the General's heirs, also members of the Bellona Club, is lying.
• Heather Peck - Death on the Norwich Express. Crime Fiction Novella. (Published 2024) A DCI Greg Geldard story. The sudden death of the passenger in the seat opposite seriously disrupts DS Chris Matthew's journey home.
• Carlos Whittaker- Reconnected. Non Fiction (Published 2024) In the summer of 2022, podcaster and author Carlos Whittaker spent 7 weeks entirely screen free splitting his time between a monastery, an Amish Farm, and home with his family. A mix of experiment with guidance ideas.
• Heather Peck - Secret Places. Crime Fiction. (Published 2021) This is the first in the DCI Greg Geldard Series and is set in Yorkshire and then in Norfolk. A chance visit by archaeologists to her smallholding uncovers an old secret bunker and a skeleton. Tristan Smith , goat farmer, cheese maker and weaver knows it is nothing to do with her but tracking down the previous owners takes Greg down to the Norfolk broads.
• Sara Woods - Bloody Instructions. Crime Fiction. (Published 1962) The first in a long series of books about barrister-sleuth Antony Maitland and his Uncle Sir Nicholas Harding. Who stabbed mild mannered solicitor James Winter and why do two accounts of people seen entering the building seem to differ?
• Rhys Bowen - The Rose Arbor. Crime Fiction (Published 2024) It is 1968 and a village, abandoned since the war, seems to hold a memory for Liz Houghton, a journalist who accompanies her police friend Marissa to Dorset in the hopes of finding a missing girl or details of other children missing since wartime evacuations.
• D.E.Stevenson - Kate Hardy. Fiction. (Published 1947) The arrival of writer Kate Hardy to the Dower House in Old Quinings has the whole village talking. Kate bought the house without visiting and is escaping from her selfish sister and niece. She is welcomed by many including Mrs Stack who helps with the cleaning. When Mrs Stack's son Walter returns from the war he finds readjustment to village life very difficult but finds a friend in Kate.
• Jessica Mann - Funeral Sites. Crime Fiction (Published 1981).Phoebe Britton dies in an accident in the Swiss Alps but that doesn't stop her husband, Aiden, on his progress to being Prime Minister. After her funeral her sister Rosamund realises just how far her brother-in-law will go to secure his ambition. Rosamund has to go on the run as she has information about something that happened when Aiden was at university twenty years earlier.

Not Much Happening

 I'm going to have a bit of a break from blogging until I can think of something more exciting than a picture of shopping!

Sport Report Catch Up

I forgot to mention yesterday about the final days of Wimbledon. The Wheelchair Men's Doubles final gave Brits Alfie and Gordon another title - well done them. I think that Alfie was then exhausted for the singles final as he was beaten by Tokito Oda the number one seed in two easy sets.

Brit Henry Pattern was one of the pair winning the Men's doubles with Finland's Harri Heliovarra. There was talk of doubles matches getting less coverage ...........

In July 2026, the ATP Tour proposed controversial sweeping cuts internally termed "Product 28" for implementation in 2028. The plan could slash doubles draw sizes in half and heavily reduce the revenue share for doubles players to reinvest in singles.

As someone said......  playing doubles is what most people do in clubs and schools and is still popular to watch at the Slams. It's all about the money. 

The men's final on Sunday was a tough match for both men I think, as it went to tie breaks in the first two sets, then Jannik Sinner seemed to dig in and won the next two sets to retain his title from last year. I don't know if Sacha Zverev was affected by a nasty fall, he said he wasn't but ..............

And I heard that Andrew Castle and John Lloyd who have been rolled in as BBC commentators every Wimbledon for donkeys years are being pensioned off - I didn't mind them but I know some people weren't keen.

So all over for another year 😢

Just that football match tomorrow night then - and that will (probably) be the end of my Sports reports 2026 except for  the cricket test matches against Pakistan next month.

BUT Only Connect and University Challenge were back last night for quizzy Mondays - so it's not all bad news!