July Wrap-Up and August TBR

It has been a HUGE reading month for me – probably the best ever! I read 17 books in July – including three that I awarded FIVE STARS!

I’d like to thank the heatwave for making it impossible for me to do much else other than read. I am eternally grateful that this coincided (happily) with time off work!

I’m now at 81/100 on my Goodreads Challenge.

Links are provided for books mentioned – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases (at no extra cost to you!)

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July Wrap-Up

I started this month with a fascinating audiobook – ‘This is Your Mind on Plants’ by Michael Pollan. I found the sections on caffeine and opium particularly interesting and would recommend this to anyone who is intrigued by the power of plants to affect human consciousness. It’s engagingly written (and read by the author in the audiobook version) – you can read my review here.

Next up was ‘Arrowood and the Meeting House Murders’ by Mick Finlay, an immersive murder mystery set in grim and grimy Victorian London. This is the fourth book in a series that I’ve followed from the start – you can read my blog tour review here.

I also read ‘Notes on a Scandal’ by Zoe Heller this month, a book that I found engaging even as it horrified me! The inappropriate relationship between a female teacher and male pupil was shocking enough, but the sinister and controlling narrator gave the book another dimension. Disturbing but recommended!

Sticking with the school theme, I read ‘Let That Be a Lesson’ by Ryan Wilson, a memoir of the writer’s time in the classroom. This was often funny – sometimes extremely so – but also quite sad in places. As a classroom teacher, so much of this was relatable and familiar. You can read my review here.

I read ‘Lying with Lions’ by Annabel Fielding for a blog tour. This was an engaging story about an archivist working for a wealthy family and uncovering the secrets they keep. I liked the Edwardian setting a lot – you can read my review here.

Next up was the FIVE STAR ‘Meet the Georgians’ by Robert Peal. I loved this humorously-written and engaging introduction to key figures from the Georgian era. Some I already knew about, but there were some real hidden gems of history in here and some fascinating lives recounted. You can read my review here.

Then I read ’56 Days’ by Catherine Ryan Howard, a tense and lively thriller set during the early stages of the pandemic lockdown in Dublin. The sense of claustrophobia was intense in this one as a couple decide to spend the lockdown together, despite having just met. The result is murder, but the path to that final conclusion is a fascinating one. My review is here.

Then I read ‘White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector’ by Nicholas Royle for a blog tour. I enjoyed this memoir of Royle’s obsessive search for white-spined Picador books that took him (and us) through second-hand bookshops of the UK. Any book lovers will recognise something of themselves in this book! Review here.

Another FIVE STAR book followed – ‘Empire of Pain’ by Patrick Radden Keefe. I listened to the audiobook of this one and was fascinated by the story of the Oxycontin scandal in America and the role of the Sackler family in this modern tragedy. I’ve told everyone who will listen about this already, but my review is here!

I then read ‘The Midnight Hour’ by Elly Griffiths – I like this historical mystery series (this one is set in the 1960s) that features Max Mephisto, a stage magician turned screen actor. A strong female police officer and a storyline about the filming of ‘Dracula’ in Whitby ticked boxes for me with this one! A review will follow nearer publication.

I also read ‘The Black Dress’ by Deborah Moggach for a blog tour – the review is here. I liked this unusual and quirky tale of an older women on the lookout for a man – even to the point of donning a black dress and homing in on widowers at their wives’ funerals.

I also finished ‘A Corruption of Blood’ by Ambrose Parry. I’ve long loved this mystery series, set in Victorian Edinburgh and following the investigations of Dr Will Raven. This book – the third in the series – delivered a brilliantly twisty tale and an ending I didn’t see coming. A review will follow nearer publication in August but this is another FIVE STAR book for me!

Next up was ‘The Affair’ by Hilary Boyd for another blog tour in August. This was an unusual book with emotional depth – I don’t think it was quite what I was expecting at all, but I enjoyed it a lot.

I read ‘The Vixen’ by Francine Prose, again to get ahead of my blog tour commitments for August! I liked this story about an editor in 1950s New York getting caught up with an unusual novel and a very unconventional author. The historical moment for this one was fascinating – the execution of the Rosenbergs and the USA’s McCarthy era.

I was in the mood for a funny book, so I read ‘Early Morning Riser’ by Katherine Heiny. This is the story of an American teacher living in a small town (misleadingly called Boyne City) and the ups and downs of the kind of life where everyone knows everyone else. It is funny. although has some poignant moments too – I’m not sure it fully delivered the humour that I craved.

Another audiobook followed, ‘The History of Britain in 21 Women’ by Jenni Murray. I liked the fact that there was a huge range of women chosen by Murray – from giants of history like Boudica to more controversial figures like Margaret Thatcher. The audiobook was read by Murray herself which was engaging, especially in her personal anecdotes regarding why these figures meant so much to her (or accounts of meeting the more modern women).

I ended the month with another blog tour read for August, ‘Cold Sun’ by Anita Sivakumaran. I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a British Indian policeman thrown into a murder mystery in India. This was tense, twisty and the very promising start to a new series – my review will follow in August.

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August TBR

I’ve already started a few books so my TBR begins there…

I started ‘Death and Croissants’ by Ian Moore. I’ve previously enjoyed Moore’s non-fiction about life as a Mod in rural France (an interesting mix and told well by this comedian). This is a gentle murder mystery (also set in rural France) and I’m enjoying it so far.

I’m also returning to ‘Still Life’ by Sarah Winman (a gorgeous slice of historical fiction with echoes of E M Forster’s ‘A Room With A View’). This one got put down a while back when I had too much on the go – I want to be able to dedicate some time and enjoy this one!

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I also like the look of ‘A Line to Kill’ by Anthony Horowitz (murder mystery), ‘The Chateau’ by Catherine Cooper (thriller – I enjoyed Cooper’s first book, ‘The Chalet’) and ‘Pandora’ by Susan Stokes-Chapman (historical fiction set in Georgian London).

My book group with ‘The Write Reads’ have chosen to read ‘Malice’ by Heather Walters in August which I’m very excited about too!

It’s my birthday in August, so I’m hoping for lots of book-shaped presents to add to this TBR! Watch this space…

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Many thanks to NetGalley, blog tour hosts, publishers and authors for books in exchange for an honest review.

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