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@josiesprobablyreading

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📚bookworm, coffee addict, proud owner of towering tbr
📖:Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate
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Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

This was a reread. I remembered most of the plot points and the characters, but what I had somehow forgotten, was how bloody good this book is.
On the face of it it’s a funny story about Polly Perks, who dresses as a boy to join the army and find her brother. There are jokes about toilets, swearing, nose picking, and spare pairs of socks. But all this is just surface level. Monstrous Regiment is fierce, feminist, stridently anti-war and profoundly pro-people. In a story about a girl joining the army in a country where the god bans jigsaws, Pratchett shows us the real impact of constant war on a country and its people.

“Yes, a good swipe at head height would kill…some mother’s son, some sister’s brother, some lad who’d followed the drum for a shilling and his first new suit. If only she’d been trained. If only she’d had a few weeks stabbing straw men until she could believe that all men were made of straw.”

And the characters! Polly and the rest of the gang are clever, funny, brave, silly and sincere. They really grow over the course of the book, and you can’t help but love them. Even Blouse. And what about the legend in his own lifetime that is Sergeant Jackrum?!

Even if you’re not normally a fantasy fan, you should read this book. And if you haven’t read any Pratchett, why not start here? It’s a standalone, so a good place to dip your toes into Discworld. And it’s just really, really good.

I listened to the audiobook read by Katherine Parkinson (of IT crowd fame) which was excellent.
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#bookreview #fivestarread #terrypratchett #monstrousregiment #discworldseries rereading Discworld - rereader - book reviews - reviews of bookstagram - booksta community - reading community - reading for pleasure - just great reads - add this to your TBR - read more Pratchett - audiobook - borrowbox - five star read alert - recommended reading by @josiesprobablyreading

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3

3 hours ago

Currently reading…

A bit of a change for me to have so many books on the go at once, usually I just have a physical read and an audiobook. At the moment I’m #currentlyreading

📖 A History of the World in 51 Heroes and Villains by Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook - I enjoy the Rest is History podcast so picked this up from the library and am reading a chapter or so before bed.

📖 The Z Murders by J. Jefferson Farjeon - another British Library crime classic I picked up at a book sale. I started reading this when I went to London the other week (the book starts on a train to Euston so felt appropriate!)

📖 Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie - my choice this month for #readchristie2026 . Ok not technically a cold case but it’s one of my faves and I wanted to reread it. Plus it definitely had “old sins have long shadows” vibes.

🎧 Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett - I’m currently listening to the fantastic audiobook narrated by Katherine Parkinson. I forgot how good this book is! I have been laughing along on my dog walks!

Do you read lots of books at once or are you a one book at a time reader?

#bookishflatlay #currentreads #secondhandbooks what I’m reading - fantasy books - preloved books - I read second hand - library books - crime books - bookstagrammer - bookstagramuk - rereading old favourites - rereading books - so many books by @josiesprobablyreading

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4

4 days ago

Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate

I read this recently as part of my (neglected) TBR advent for this year. The book follows the trial of a woman accused of murder. Uniquely, we get to see all aspects of the trial: the woman’s background and the time leading up to the trial, we get chapters on the jurors and their (sometimes surprising) backgrounds, we see the trial itself of course, the jurors’ deliberations and the aftermath.
If that all sounds a bit dry it wasn’t at all. I was hooked from the first chapter. It was such an interesting and entertaining read and maybe my favourite of the British Library crime classics that I’ve read so far. I thought I had it sussed but I was wrong!
I’d definitely recommend this if you’re a fan of classic crime or a courtroom drama!
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#bookreview #britishlibrarycrimeclassics #recommendedreading #classiccrime #bookishflatlay Friday flatlay - courtroom drama - Book reviews - read this book - slowly reading my TBR - preloved books - second hand books - recent reads - bookstagram - booksta community - read your shelves by @josiesprobablyreading

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9 days ago

September wrap up

I read four books in September but I enjoyed them all.
My favourite, and read of the month has to be The Silent Appeal by @janice.hallett . I love Hallett’s books and had to drop everything to read this - not that it took me very long as I couldn’t put it down! Definitely check her books out if you haven’t already!

A Murder is Announced was my choice for #readchristie2026 this month. I’d been wanting to reread this one for a while, and really enjoyed listening to the audiobook narrated by Joan Hickson.

I finished up my reread of The Discworld Watch series with Snuff, which was much better than I remembered, and a fitting end to Vimes’s story (though of course I wish there was more!) Next in my big Discworld reread I’ll be revisiting the Monstrous Regiment…

I spent a week in Torquay for the Agatha Christie festival and took V is for Venom by Kathryn Harkup with me to dip into between events. This was a really interesting read, and I enjoyed Harkup’s dark humour and wry warnings to potential murderers that these methods would be discovered much more quickly these days! Thanks to @bloomsburyoutdoors for sending me this #gifted copy.

Have you got any autumnal or spooky reads planned for October?
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#readingwrapup #septemberwrapup #readingroundup
Books round up - books wrap up - what I read in September - my September reads - round up - wrap up - bookish post - recent reads - September reads - rereader - gifted book - reading for pleasure - preloved books - bookworm - booksta community by @josiesprobablyreading

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14 days ago

September scavenger hunt 🔎

Another fun scavenger hunt from @nothing.beats.a.good.book - only six prompts this month although ‘heart, heartbeat, life’ had me stumped for a while!

🎶 Optional - Well if like me you’ve loved the Bee Gees at some point or another Barry Gibb will be 80 on 1st September so feel free to use a Bee Gees song you love.

9️⃣ A book with 9, Nine or Ninth in the title for the ninth month (or a nine word title if stuck):
- The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers

🎗️ A Book you bought from a charity shop and loved for International Day of Charity on 5th
Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier

📖 A book you plan on reading in September for National Read A Book Day on 6th
Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate

🕊️A book with a dove on the cover, peace in the title or a
white book for International Day Of Peace on 21st
Sabriel by Garth Nix

🍂 A Book with an Autumn theme for the first day of Autumn on 23rd
Autumn Chills by Agatha Christie

🫀 A book with Heart, Heartbeat or Life in the title for World Heart Day on 29th
Terry Pratchett: A life with footnotes by Rob Wilkins

I’ve read all of these apart from The Nine Tailors which is TBR and Verdict of Twelve, which is my current read.

#scavengerhunt #bookishscavengerhunt #septemberscavengerhunt #bookishchallenge #bookscavengerhunt preloved books - second hand books - special edition books - classic reads - classic crime - bookstagram challenges - bookstacommunity by @josiesprobablyreading

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22 days ago

Snuff by Terry Pratchett

I think I must have hardly reread this book at all, as I didn’t remember much about it beyond the goblins. This is rare for me - some Pratchett’s I have reread probably 5 or more times - so I assumed this meant it wasn’t a great read.
But I was actually pleasantly surprised with how good it is! Vimes is on form; angry on behalf of the vulnerable, haunted by the summoning dark. I loved the way young Sam is characterised, as well as Sybil and Vimes’s relationship. Plus more Wilikins is always a good thing!

The plot is satisfying and the Discworld is a better place by the end of it. It seems a good note to end on for Vimes, and I did wonder if Pratchett intended to say goodbye to Vimes with this book, if not to the rest of the Watch, who don’t get much page time beyond a very small side plot.

Did Pratchett have more planned for Vimes? We’ll never know but what more could he have done? He’s already fought a dragon, travelled in time, discovered the truth to Koom Valley, and killed werewolves with his bare hands.

This is the last reread in the Watch series. Next I’ll be reading Monstrous Regiment (which is a stand-alone but has a Vimes cameo, so made sense to read that next). I’m leaving the Witches series until last because obviously I need to end this big Discworld reread with The Shepherd’s Crown.
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#bookreview #discworld #reread #gnuterrypratchett #samvimes rereader - rereading Discworld - fantasy book series - humanist - reviews of books - bookstacommunity - book reviews - reading - Sir Terry Pratchett - fantasy - i reread my books - bookstagram - bookstagrammer - recent reads - read more Pratchett by @josiesprobablyreading

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25 days ago

Currently reading 📖

@bloomsburyoutdoors very kindly sent me a copy of Kathryn Harkup’s V is for Venom which is out in paperback at the end of September.

It seemed the perfect book to bring down to @agathafestival with me and dip into between events. It’s interesting stuff and even darkly funny in parts. But fair warning - some of the descriptions of the effects of the chemicals and bacteria are a bit grisly!

In V is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s chemicals of death, Kathryn Harkup explores fourteen poisons from the works of Agatha Christie. She investigates the science behind the deadly substances, the history of their use in real-life murder cases, and how feasible was it to obtain, administer and detect these poisons in Christie’s time and today.

Do you like reading non-fiction books about your favourite authors or books?
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#gifted #agathachristie #visforvenom #kathrynmarkup #currentlyreadi̇ng non-fiction books - current read - non fiction reads - Agatha Christie non fiction books - coming soon - what I’m reading by @josiesprobablyreading

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a month ago

What better way to celebrate Agatha Christie’s birthday than with a visit to Greenway, her holiday home and the place she dubbed “the loveliest place on Earth”

#literaturetourism #agathachristie #greenwaynt #southdevon #dartmouth

I had planned to get the bus but it was delayed by half an hour so I had to travel in style on the steam train instead! What a shame 😆

#paigntonsteamrailway

Fabulous views from the steam train as we pull into Kingswear

Spotting the boathouse from the ferry to Greenway, as seen in Dead Man’s Folly where poor Marlene Tucker is discovered.

If you have a chance you NEED to travel to Greenway by water, the River Dart is just stunning

#greenwayferry @greenwayferry

Possibly the best view from a bench I’ve seen

#greenwaynt @ntsouthdevon

Greenway House in all its loveliness. taken in Agatha Christie's Greenway by @josiesprobablyreading

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a month ago

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30pm. Friends please accept this, the only intimation.’

I had a lot of fun rereading this for #readchristie2026 this month. The prompt was best according to Christie; I found a list she’d apparently made with several very good books on it (hello And Then There Were None and Endless Night). I went with A Murder is Announced because I’ve been wanting to reread it for a while and the premise is just so fun.

The residents of the quiet village of Chipping Cleghorn read a strange notice in the local paper stating that a murder will take place at Little Paddocks, the home of Miss Leticia Blacklock. Thinking it is a party game, curious neighbours gather at the house, but when the lights suddenly go out and shots are fired, the game turns into reality.

This is such a clever mystery, convoluted in the best Christie way, with lots of characters all bustling into each other’s houses and gossiping about their neighbours. Miss Marple comes into the story fairly early this time and is helping the police from the first, gently pointing them in the right direction. There’s some genuine emotion in this book and I even found myself pitying the murderer.

I listened to the audiobook read by Joan Hickson, which added to the fun because it was like Miss Marple was telling the story!

What book have you chosen for this month’s prompt?
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#bookreview #agathachristiebooks #missmarple #rereadingbooks recommended reads - cosy crime - golden age crime - classic crime - whodunnit - puzzle mystery - murder mystery - second hand books - rereader - breakfast and books - bookstagrammer - bookstagramuk - read more Christie - the queen of crime by @josiesprobablyreading

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a month ago

The Silent Appeal by @janice.hallett

A new Janice Hallett is far too tempting to leave unread for long, and I put my current read on hold to demolish this over the weekend. I wanted to take more time over it but it was such addictive reading (like all her books) that I couldn’t really put it down!

In this book Hallett returns to the Fairway Players and the world of her first book, The Appeal. Luckily I reread it in April (her books are hugely rereadable) so all the old characters were fresh in my mind. This time around the amateur thesps are putting on Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. I loved that we had a murder mystery happening while the characters are putting on a mystery play. Also kudos to Hallett for not spoiling The Hollow for those who haven’t read it!

Even though we only see characters through their emails, journal entries, WhatsApp messages etc, I can picture them all so clearly. I guess that’s testament to Hallett’s character building! I loved the format of her novels - it makes the stories so immediate and addictive, and allows her to conceal things in plain sight so cleverly.
Did I pick up on all the clues? Of course not! Though I did at least figure one secret out fairly early on, so that pleased me 😆

This was another entertaining, clever mystery (and just really fun read) from Hallett. If you haven’t read her books yet, what are you waiting for?!
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#bookreview #reviewsofbookstagram #thesilentappeal #murdermystery #janicehallett book reviews - new books - read this book - add this to your TBR - autobuy author - recommended reading - five star read - five star review - crime books - modern epistolary - read more books - great books by @josiesprobablyreading

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a month ago

August wrap up

I’d say September already but honestly August felt a bit endless! I’m glad we’re heading into Autumn and the ‘ber’ months 🍂

My favourite read this month has to be The Scandalous Ladies Football Club by Frances Quinn (not pictured because it was too popular!) Quinn always manages to bring history to life through her characters, and this book was no exception. Definitely a five star read for me.

This month I’ve also enjoyed reading and listening to some gentle nature books, revisiting Tommy and Tuppence, checking out some classic holiday crime, and spending time in two very different hotels…

August reads:
📖 The Year of Sitting Dangerously by Simon Barnes
📖 The Scandalous Ladies Football Club by Frances Quinn
🎧 12 Birds to Save Your Life by Charlie Corbett
📖 The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater (hfbookclub)
🎧 The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (readchristie2026)
📖 Cyanide in the Sun by various authors (British Library crime classic)
📖 The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobell

What was your favourite read in August?

#readingwrapup #bookroundup #augustwrapup #readingroundup #augustreads book stack - bookworms take shelfies - shelfie - library books - use your library - Agatha Christie, classic crime reads - non-fiction - nature reads - library books - preloved books - bookish post - my month in books - monthly reads - recent reads - bookstacommunity by @josiesprobablyreading

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3

2 months ago

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

This month’s #readchristie2026 prompt is Beloved Duo. I had a couple of duos in mind, so decided to leave it to chance and just choose whichever duo featured in an available audiobook on BorrowBox. And chance led me to Tommy and Tuppence.

Tommy and Tuppence are down on their luck and decide to set up a young adventurers agency - no job too dangerous or strange. Fortunately (or not) for them, an intriguing case lands right in their lap. Plenty of scrapes are had of course, and Tommy gets his first (but certainly not the last) bonk on the head.

I had great fun listening to Tommy and Tuppence’s first adventure again! They’re such a fun pair. They’re clever and resourceful, and they both have their parts to play. You can’t really imagine one without the other which I think is important in a beloved duo.

In my photo I’ve included books featuring some other beloved duos that you might choose for this prompt, from the original duo Poirot & Hastings, to the enigmatic duo Mr Satterthwaite & Mr Quin, to standalone young and adventurous detective duos Bobby & Frankie, and Emily & Charles. Who are your beloved duo?
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#agathachristiebooks #bookishflatlay #agathachristiecollection #booknerd favourite characters - favourite duo - crime fiction - golden age crime - classic crime - dame Agatha Christie - the queen of crime - mystery - murder mystery - preloved books - second hand books - read more books - readers gotta read - cosy crime by @josiesprobablyreading

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2 months ago