September 2021 Wrap-Up and October TBR

It’s been a slow reading month for me – being back in the classroom is busy and reading has taken a back seat to work.

Still, I managed to read 8 books in September and finished my Goodreads challenge for the year – 100/100 books read! That won’t stop me reading on though – I have some gorgeous October reads planned…

All my books this month were 3 or 4 stars – my favourite was ‘The Royal Art of Poison’ by Eleanor Herman which was an unexpected treat of an audiobook.

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September Wrap-Up

I started the month with ‘History’ by Miles Jupp. I had high hopes for this one and loved the school story feel of the start of it and Jupp’s keen eye for comedy. The tone and ending weren’t quite what I expected – my review is here and thanks to NetGalley for my copy.

The gruesome but highly entertaining audiobook of ‘The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine and Murder Most Foul’ by Eleanor Herman followed this and was a treat! Narrated by the lively and engaging Joan Walker, this is highly recommended. My review is here.

Then I read ‘London Clay’ by Tom Chivers, a fascinating look at what lies beneath London and an interesting mix of memoir, history book and geographical survey. I read this for a blog tour – thanks to Random Things Tours for my review copy. My review is here.

Book 4 was ‘Lying Ways’ by Rachel Lynch – the ninth book in the series featuring DI Kelly Porter and set in the Lake District. I’ve been with this series pretty much from the start and this was a good instalment that looked at corruption within the prison system. My review is here.

Then I read ‘Put a Wet Paper Towel On It: The Weird and Wonderful World of Primary Schools’ by Adam and Lee Parkinson. There were a lot of funny moments in this candid look inside primary schools by two brothers who work in the education system. My review is here.

Another audiobook followed (albeit one read in tandem with the book), and another book about the history of London as revealed by digging below the surface: ‘Mudlarking’ by Lara Maiklem. I liked this memoir of Maiklem’s time scouring the foreshore of the Thames for treasures of the past – the fact that Maiklem narrates the audiobook is a bonus too. My review will follow on the blog.

I read ‘Deep Cover’ by Leigh Russell, a copy gifted to me by the lovely people at No Exit Press. I hadn’t read any of the series featuring DI Geraldine Steel (this is the 16th one!) but enjoyed this police procedural a lot. My review will follow.

I finished the month with the book group choice, ‘The Christie Affair’ by Nina de Gramont. My Tsundoku Squad friends and I debated long and hard about this one – my review is here.

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October TBR

I have a few must-reads this month. The Tsundoku Squad have picked ‘The Whistling’ by Rebecca Netley which sounds terrifying! I also have a lovely proof of ‘Glide’ by Alison Jean Lester which looks intriguing – a portrait of a marriage facing difficulties as secrets begin to surface. Finally, I have a blog tour for ‘We Are All Liars’ by Carys Jones which looks tense and thriller-y with some great twists.

Beyond this, I have my eye on finally getting through some of the NetGalley backlog!

‘The Man Who Died Twice’ by Richard Osman is high up my list, along with ‘The Twyford Code’ by Janice Hallett (I loved her last book, ‘The Appeal’!)

Also on the radar for October is ‘100 Poets’ by John Carey – I am very intrigued by his selection and explanations for them! Finally, ‘The Shadowing’ by Rhiannon Ward is very high on my list as her last book (‘The Quickening’) was one of my top books of 2020.

As always, thanks for visiting my blog and I hope I’ve given you some food for thought for your own TBRs!

Header photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash.