Books #29

[daisynoon]

The Waterstones instagram really gets me at the moment...


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I've wanted to go to Prince Edward Island since I first read Anne of Green Gables when I was 9, this is just making me want to visit even more! She writes about it beautifully.

I also always wanted to go to PEI because of Anne (and I know I never can because it'll never measure up 🥲)

 

[Big_Summer_Blowout]

15 books for me this month.

1
Layla - Colleen Hoover
The Idea of You - Robinne Lee

2
Green Dot - Madeleine Gray
Red, White and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Hooked - Emily McIntire
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding - Holly Ringland

3
Confession of a Serial Killer (BTK Killer) - Katherine Ramsland
Maame - Jessica George
Black Cake - Charmaine Wilkerson
The Blackout - Ruth McIver
The Devil you Know - Gwen Adshead

4
Weyward - Emilia Hart
The Murder After the Night Before - Katy Brent
Funny Story - Emily Henry

5
The Women - Kristin Hannah

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Ive had a great month and managed 9 books!

 

[AllieBee]

This made me giggle, thought you guys might appreciate it!

 

[SaintLeo]

Five books completed in June here, but alongside those I’ve also finally followed through on my threats to give Les Miserables
another go and am actually quite enjoying it this time! (I know @LaBlonde will approve!) It does feel slow going in places even when skimming parts, so planning to read in sections and take breaks to mix it up with something lighter which means this one is probably going to be with me for a while. I’m determined to finish it this time though!

Either side of Les Mis I finished -

Midnights Children by Salaman Rushdie - left over from May and had to fight to finish. Felt overly long and wordy, the sort of book people rave about to sound intellectual when really it’s just a bit rubbish!

One True Loves by TJR - needed something light after Midnights Children. Not one of my fave TJR books, fairly predictable but not a bad read.

The List by Yomi Adegoke - like many people here this one fell a bit flat for me. Good premise not executed very well. Meh!

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - Love love loved this! And probably wouldn’t have picked it up if it hadn’t been for recommendations here so thanks book friends! Beautiful book, one that will stay with me.

The Body In The Library by Agatha Christie - good fast read, standard Christie!

 

[QueenBW]

To all of you who gave up on Circe halfway through and are thinking of picking it up again, let me warn you that it doesn't get better

I finished it on Sunday and I skimmed the last 70 pages. The book started out great, I absolutely loved the first third, but then it just continued flat from then on. The pacing was glacial and I kept waiting for the plot to either thicken or start unravelling. It was the beautiful prose that got me through it, but even that got boring after 250 pages.

Oh no!! It's one of my favorite books ever!! Really goes to show that like we say in Spanish, every head is a world

 

[StephenTJackson]

Started yesterday and finished today The Secrets of Strangers by Charity Norman.

What a stunning book, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and just really powerful and I feel like I'm really gonna remember this book. Such well fleshed out characters, all with such depth, and believable characters.

 

[Gem_woody]

Just started the first Strike book

 

[Booklover]

Only two for me this month and they were two fab ones!

 

[Chocolategoggler]

This was obviously a month for loving Lucinda Riley books hence the binge
Massive mention for the Librarians of Rue De Picardie. Plus I know I really enjoyed the fantasy romance Irregular Witches book, House in the Cerulean Sea and Once Upon A River so I must be into fantasy. Who knew .....and I found the Katie Fforde book intriguing.
So a very good reading month!!!

 

[StrawberryBanana90]

Visited Waterstones today and made a note of all the books I wanted and managed to reserve most at the library
Sounds silly but I’m a compulsive book buyer *stares at 17 unread books I’ve recently bought on my shelf* and I really need to use my local library more so I’m proud I didn’t actually buy anything

 

[nbt]

A good month for me this month.

5 - Prima Facie
4 - The Coworker, The First Shot, The Murder After, The List, The Locked Door, The Family Experiment, Asking for It, The Other Mothers.

I’m still going with Pineapple Street and Happy Place but want to finish today read to start afresh tomorrow.

 

[AllieBee]

This little excerpt from a book I'm reading makes me feel much better about not loving Beartown or The Most Fun We Ever Had, when Most of you guys adored it!

 

[SaintLeo]

4 books finished for me this month -

This Family by Kate Sawyer
My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Really Good Actually by Monica Helsey

Really enjoyed the first 3, all for different reasons. In Memoriam has to be the stand out, one that will stay with me for a while. Really Good Actually was just fairly average really. (Sure I’m not the first to make that kind of pun!)

I would have got through more this month but because I was 7 books and 1500+ pages ahead of my StoryGraph targets I decided to pick up on the the chunkier, more challenging books on my TBR - Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie. Currently 2/3 of the way through and won’t finish by the weekend. It’s a bit of a slog but not hating it! I’m already convince though that the 600+ pages could be easily cut in half without missing anything important.

Really valuing my StoryGraph stats this month, encouraging to see that even though books read is lower, pages read is actually higher than other months.

 

[SaintLeo]

Book friends, I was thinking of you all today. In Porto and took a trip to the Livraria Lello, aka the Harry Potter bookshop. Sooo beautiful (although very crowded) and the price of the entrance fee could be used as a discount on some books. How could I say no. Got two of their own special editions of 2 of my fave classics. Definitely put it on the must visit list if you’re ever here.

 

[Ding]

Bit of a slow month and no amazing reads.
The Nanny was an easy, quick read, same with new Housemaid.
My aim for this year was to read 50 books. Halfway though the year and I'm on 31

 

[Katykatykaty]

This little excerpt from a book I'm reading makes me feel much better about not loving Beartown or The Most Fun We Ever Had, when Most of you guys adored it!

I think that quote sums up this thread perfectly. We’ve all got such different tastes and although there may be the odd book that draws more people together, there is never one that gets a unanimous reaction. We’re such a lovely little bunch that no one should ever feel bad for not liking something that others love, or should be embarrassed to say “I loved it!” when it’s being torn apart by others. Books are unique to the person reading them and I think we get that and fully appreciate it

 

[LaBlonde]

A while back, I started reading My Lady Jane, which is an irreverent reimagining of Lady Jane Grey's life, which is obviously a choice. I didn't finish but just found out Amazon has adapted it.

I can't work out if the love interest is a part-time horse in the series as well as the book - anyone know?

never has a spoiler made me want to read a book more i am FASCINATED by this.

 

[LaBlonde]

my may reads as follows (again a bit of a mixed bag this month, of which the will of the many was an absolute standout):

homecoming - kate morton
island of longing - anne griffin
another life - jodie chapman
a marvellous light - freya marske
will of the many - james islington
wildfire - hannah grace
child of fortune - yuko tsushima

 

[AllieBee]

10 books for me this month. My favourite book was All My Mothers by Joanna Glen which I gave 5 stars. Can't take a screenshot of my books this month as I have a lot of dead pixels until my new phone arrives!

5 stars
All My Mothers - Joanna Glen
The Flowers of the Field - Sarah Harrison - really well researched 1st world war era family saga.
We All Want Impossible Things - Catherine Newman

4.5 stars
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
This Family - Kate Sawyer

4 stars

Weyward - Emilia Hart
Those People Next Door - Kia Abdullah
Queen Bee - Jane Fallon
The Museum of Ordinary People - Mike Gayle


3.5 stars
The Ice Princess - Camilla Lackberg

Now I remembered why I prefer to screenshot, takes ages to type it all out...