August Wrap-Up and September TBR

It’s been a slower reading month after July’s 17 books (a record for me!) Still, I’ve read some brilliant books this month – 11 in total. All were 4 stars with the exception of one FIVE STAR read at the start of the month…

This puts me on 92/100 on my Goodreads challenge – the end is in sight!

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August Wrap-Up

I began the month with the hilarious and absolutely brilliant ‘My Mess is a Bit of a Life’ by Georgia Pritchett. Pritchett is a comedy writer for TV (with a really impressive CV) but uses the book to chart her ‘Adventures in Anxiety’ (the subtitle of the book). This book made me laugh out loud and also really empathise with Pritchett’s struggles – my review is here and it is an easy FIVE STARS from me.

I followed this with ‘The Chateau’ by Catherine Cooper, a fantastically twisty thriller set in the expat community in France. One family’s move to an idyllic French chateau turns out to have ulterior motives and deadly consequences – my review is here. Thanks to NetGalley for this one in exchange for an honest review.

Another NetGalley book, ‘The Dark’ by Emma Haughton, followed and this was another one I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s a murder mystery set on a research station in Antarctica – 24 hour darkness and no escape options make for a very tense setting! My review is here.

Feeling that I needed a lighter read after all that tension, I read ‘Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema’ by Lindy West. This is a hugely entertaining and funny look at some cinematic classics – ‘Love, Actually’ is here (obviously!) but also ‘Top Gun’, ‘Forrest Gump’. ‘The Fugitive’…and loads more. All are viewed through West’s comic lens – and she is funny, irreverent and absolutely spot-on in so many cases!

I read ‘Tinker, Tailor, Schoolmum, Spy’ by Faye Brann for a September blog tour – thanks to Random Things Tours for my copy of this one for review. This won the Comedy Women in Print prize in 2020 for an unpublished novel and totally deserves that accolade. It’s the comic and heartwarming tale of a woman juggling her family life with her job as a spy – with real peril when it all gets a bit close to home. My review will follow as part of the blog tour in September.

I was fortunate enough to win a copy of ‘A Passion for Poison: Serial Killer. Poisoner. Schoolboy’ by Carol Ann Lee from Readers First. I don’t read much true crime but found myself caught up in this 1960s tale of a young murderer who mastered chemistry in order to claim his victims. My review is here.

Another blog tour book followed (thanks again, Random Things Tours!) This time it was ‘The Woman in the Wood’ by M. K. Hill, a police procedural that cleverly linked together a dual timeline, reality TV and a blisteringly tense plot. Plus it’s set in Essex, a bonus for me as I grew up there so lots of the setting was so familiar. My review will follow as part of the blog tour in September.

Then I read ‘Fireborn’ by Aisling Fowler for a blog tour with The Write Reads. I loved this middle grade fantasy novel about a girl, Twelve, on a quest through the Frozen Forest in a bid to save her friend. It’s exciting and vividly-imagined but also sweet as Twelve finds her place and builds relationships in the hostile environment. My review is here.

Another blog tour book (for Random Things Tours) followed – ‘For Your Own Good’ by Samantha Downing. This was a dark and unpredictable thriller set in an American private school in which a killer is on the loose. My review will follow in September but this is definitely one to watch out for!

In a desperate attempt to get my NetGalley shelf under control, I read ‘Mrs March’ by Virginia Feito. This is a disturbing but engaging story about a women who becomes obsessed with her husband’s latest novel and the idea that it is about her. There are some elements of horror in this portrayal of her disturbed mental state. My review will be up on the blog soon.

Finally, I listened on audiobook to ‘The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym’ by Paula Byrne. I’ve read several biographies by Byrne which is why I picked up this one. I didn’t actually know anything about Barbara Pym who (it turns out) had an interesting life packed with love affairs, literary success and failure, friendship with Philip Larkin – and an unfortunate connection to Nazi Germany. My review will be up on the blog soon and I can recommend both the book (thanks, NetGalley) and the audiobook.

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September TBR

September is always a hectic month as I return to teaching and my family struggles to get out of the (lack of) routine from the summer holidays. I’m not expecting to read much!

I do have another blog tour book to read for a Random Things Tour, so I’ll be reading ‘London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City’ by Tom Chivers. I’m intrigued by the prospect of a look beneath London – the history, geography and lost worlds beneath the capital.

As the new term keeps me busy, I’ll be looking for escapism in the form of funny books and tense crime novels. I’ve got my eye on my NetGalley shelf to provide this, specifically ‘The Man Who Died Twice’ by Richard Osman, ‘History’ by Miles Jupp and ‘The Killer in the Snow’ by Alex Pine.

As I never roam too far from the historical fiction genre, I’m also hoping to fit in ‘The Shadowing’ by Rhiannon Ward. I absolutely adored Ward’s last book, ‘The Quickening’, so have high hopes for this.

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So there we go! Lots of great books read and more to look forward to in September. I hope you’ve got some brilliant books in your sights too.