Books #31

[emmer_moans]

My August reads.

MC Beaton aka Marion Chesney - The Taming of Annabelle (audiobook). Okay to listen to while running errands, set in regency era. A bit of a silly version of Georgette Heyer.

MC Beaton aka Marion Chesney - Deirdre and Desire (audiobook), also set in regency era, silly but simple.

MC Beaton aka Marion Chesney - Daphne (audiobook). Again, quick silly regency read whilst doing chores. I had a week off and did a spring clean I needed something easy and fun and MC Beaton usually fills that. Plus they were free on Borrowbox.

Lauren Roberts - Powerless. I did actually really enjoy this, not quite 5 stars but I shall be picking up the sequel soon.

Maggie O'Farrell - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox -Spoiler: This was badly structured page wise, no chapter breaks, flip flopping between POVs and past and present and random streams of consciousness inserted... Plus the two protagonists didn't really seem to develop? The book ended with some ambiguity and I hate when that happens! I need a book to have a solid ending, where bad, sad or good. I can't stand it when it's open to interpretation. I kept with it because I wanted to see if it got better I also found that I didn't care about the protagonist's issues. Maybe I'm heartless but she just seemed unlikeable.

Christina Dalcher - Vox. This was brilliant, a dystopian book about women whose voices are metred to 100 words a day and all the implications that involves. Poignant. I was holding my breath as I read this. Looking forward to reading more from Christina.

Colleen Hoover - Verity. I mostly liked this. Spoiler: but again the ending was a bit ambiguous and I don't like a book to finish that way. Just tell me what actually happened so I can 'put that book to bed', if you see what I mean. I did enjoy it overall.

Sarah J Maas - A Court of Wings and Ruin.
I enjoyed this perhaps not as much as ACOMAF but I love the bat family.

 

[LaBlonde]

I've fallen down this rabbit hole before! It's a family name, someone called Money added their mother's maiden name of Coutts to, er, get money.

why isn’t MY surname “money” that’s amazing.

my true surname would be “money-spendonbooks” though obviously

 

[aalmaalm]

My August reading month

 

[nbt]

Thanks to anyone that recommend the Prima Facie theatre performance. I went to see the cinema screening tonight and I’m so pleased I got the chance to watch it. Jodie Comer is just fantastic x

 

[BWGossip]

I am also guilty of this! I read a bit of the book first to familiarise with the characters then read the last page to see how it all ends up! I don't do it so much now, it's not as easy to do on a kindle so now i don't bother!

Same! With physical books I read the first 1/4 of the book then the last quarter then I go back and read normally. No idea why

No book read in August. Nothing appeals to me except re-reading HP fanfictions...

 

[Lyra1970]

I just finished A History of Loneliness by John Boyne. It's my third book of his and they've all been brilliant. He's one of the most engaging contemporary writers I can think of. I have the attention span of a goldfish but I couldn't put it down.

A difficult read, about abuse in the Catholic Church, but so good. He writes characters who are flawed and weak but still sympathetic really well.

John Boyne has written some fab books . Ladder to the sky is another good one .
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Ive obviously bought The Pumpkin Spice Cafe and pre ordered The Cinnamon Bun Book Store.

I am an Autumn girly and I feel like these will be perfect for the coming months.

I’m completely autumn through and through and the end of august feels so exciting ….all the Ber months coming
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Has anyone read the DallerGut Dream Department Store? I saw it in Waterstones yesterday and wanted it for the cover alone! But I read the blurb and it didn’t really sound like my cup of tea so I didn’t buy it. Kinda regret it now

I’m another who saw the cover at the checkout at Waterstones and thought oooooh . But it didn’t seem my kind of book.
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I loved this! I really good take on the issue. My favourite will always be The Heart’s Invisible Furies though. Which ones have you read? I think his books all sound really diverse but I’m scared to read any of the rest in case I don’t like them, as they don’t sound like my cup of tea.

That’s one of the things I like about him, his books are all so different from each other . Ladder to the sky I really enjoyed.
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If you like Lyn Andrews, perhaps try some Helen Forrester, her first book was Twopence to Cross the Mersey. Semi-autobiographical featuring mid-century Liverpool life.

Oh I read that series when I was about 14 and loved it
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In big news near me , I live in a little suburb and in the next street to me some one has opened…….a coffee shop and independent bookshop! Such heaven but bad for my bank account
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Just a photo of some of my current TBR pile

 

[Rachel the reader]

Murder before Evenson by Richard Coles 2
The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz 4
Cackle by Rachel Harrison 3
Once and for all by Sarah Dessen 3
A pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison 3
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan4
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry 3
The Housemaid by FriedabMcFadden 4
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa 4
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell 3

Bit of a mixed bag this month but glad to be trying some new genres and branching out a little.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Young Mungo. I adored it. Those on this thread will know how much I loved Shuggie Bain. Top 5 character for me across all the books Ive ever read.

I remember saying at the time the supporting cast of YM were so much more fleshed out than those of Shuggie Bain.

Its a bleak book, I found Shuggie bleak but with an undercurrent of love. Young Mungo isnt like that, its like a sledgehammer to the chest. There is no soft edge its just rough and heartbreaking.

Check the trigger warnings. If you have any issues with sexual assault, rape, child abuse then Id avoid.

Its been over 2 years since I read it and I think about it alot.

If youve not read Shuggie. Read it first also I went into a huge deep dive about it in Thread 8 of Books.

 

[nbt]

I started a Paige Toon book yesterday. She did a monthly read challenge back in 19/20 and I kept up with it for a few months and then lost track. I’d forgotten how much I love an easy chicklit.

I read more than half in a few hours and I’ve not done that for months and months.

 

[emerald]

Just bought Riders with the hope to read it and Rivals before the TV show in October

It sounds obvious but I'd never kept a book wishlist on Amazon before it was suggested on here. Now I check it every day and have bought so many 99p/cheap books because I worry about the price going up again and here I thought myself immune to a massive TBR

Also, I redownloaded IG after I deleted it for less distraction during my exam resit period, and I've found I've read a lot less this last week. Funny that.

 

[prettylittlebookworm]

Have looked on this thread before but never posted so hello! I am rereading The Thursday Murder Club and I'm annotating it as well which is really fun. I also think I am enjoying it a lot more this second time around, it might be because I know the characters now and there were just too many to keep straight in my head the first time I started the series.

I have not read much this month, which also meant I have adjusted my reading goal twice. It felt very demotivating to see x amount of books behind, don't mind being 1-2 books behind, I can make that up but it was getting closer to 6 books behind so lowering it felt right for this year. And due to some work moving around I will be off work the day Richard Osman's new book comes out so I can and will read it that day and have the best time.

I hope to be here more often and find even more books to read

 

[anniemouse]

I’ve just promoted my Kindle to lunchtime reading in addition to bedtime to try and get through some of my books on there. I’ll save my paperback for morning and after work as I like to sit under my blanket with a cup of tea and a paperback.

 

[wishiniwasskinny]

Finished Hello Beautiful this evening. Oh my word! Loved it. It's easily a 5* for me and deserves all the plaudits.
Now onto Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.

I loved Hello Beautiful. It was my first read of 2024.. I have Tom Lake sitting in my purchased TBR pile at home. It’s such a beautiful cover too.

in the airport waiting to fly. I have a library copy of The Bullet That Missed and 4 books on my Kindle - Ghosts, Stargazer, The Fury and The Next Mrs Parrish!

 

[OH.FFS]

August reads / audio listens …

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

My heart 🥹 I will eat My Friends up I think.

 

[Boogs]

It ends with us is the only CH book I’ve read and I hated it. I too don’t think she had the writing skills to write about a serious subject and she did a pretty shit job of it. She is very popular though and making a film of it could have been powerful so this ‘grab your girls and put on your florals for a great night out’ narrative is tone deaf. It’s mad that the only person involved with this film who is using it to address the subject matter is the director who also played the perpetrator and seems to be villainised by everyone else working on the film including CH herself.

 

[ToolaRoola]

I set a target of 50 (30 lower than last year as didn't want pressure), I'm currently on books 50 and 51.

 

[SaintLeo]

I’ve just received a KU offer 3 months for free and subsequently added a shit ton of books to my kindle library. Will I read them? Who knows

Sounds like a successful day. As we all know, acquiring books and actually reading books are two very different and not always connected hobbies!

 

[Blueblue123]

I read:

Butter - 3.5/5 (it was good but I was disappointed I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to)

The Paris Apartment (audiobook) - 3.5/5

Death of a Bookseller - 4/5 (I really liked this!)

Adding Clickbait - 3.5/5, finished it last night. Liked this too but i think it would have been better if the podcaster Tom wasnt the central character. I wasn't that surprised at the actions of the Lancasters because I wasn't invested enough in them. I was just waiting to see how the story unfolded

 

[ScoutFinch]

This is my August reading - I’ve enjoyed them all so it’s been a pretty good month!

I started reading Demon Copperhead but it didn’t feel the right vibe for me at the moment so it’s back on my TBR. I started The Unmaking of June Farrow and I’m really enjoying that too.