Okay … who stole July? It was here a minute ago and now it’s gone and August has taken up the space it left behind. On the plus side, it likely means that the bumper tins of Celebrations and Heroes will be in the shops again soon as well as all the Halloween chocolate, so that they can make room for the Christmas chocolate in mid September … The way things are going they’ll likely be the only things on the shelves but hey ho. Who wanted to eat a healthy balanced diet anyway?
Not much doing during the week – had to do another one of those pesky five days on the job things – what’s that all about? Did manage to get over to Worcester at the weekend though for the launch of Abigail Osborne’s book, The Good Husband so that was nice.
I’ve have a mixed week this week. Reading was a little easier than during the heatwave and Harrogate, but it still felt like I’m not quite back on form yet. A few pieces of book post received to top up the pile I brought back from the festival last weekend – reasons to be smiley.
Of course, I came back from the launch with a signed copy of Abigails, book, The Good Husband (would have been rude not to). On top of this I received an e-arc of Small Deaths by Rijula Das courtesy of FMcM and Amazon Crossing. I also picked up Psalms For The End Of The World by Cole Haddon and The Santa Killer by Ross Greenwood from NetGalley.
Book book wise I received a few bits of post this week. First up was the completely unexpected Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finley Boylan courtesy of Hodder & Stoughton. They also kindly sent me another title, this time less unexpected, Bonny and Read by Julie Walker. I also received The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart from Michael Joseph. Not entirely unexpected I just forgot I was expecting it …
Bought a few books too – of course I did. Just the four, 1 pre-order. The Dead of Winter by Stuart MacBride is out next year but who can resist right? I also bought Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz, Witness by Alex Wheatle and My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
Books I have read
It starts quietly enough. A tick tick ticking you can hear in your ear. Tinnitus, you think. It will pass. But it doesn’t. It gets worse. And then you pass it on…
Before you know it, it spreads. Elsewhere across the globe, it emerges: small outbreaks at first, but then suddenly it’s a plague – and only days later it is already killing people.
In an increasingly affected north London school, teacher Kit Chaplin is struggling to understand what he is witnessing. Even Lilly Slater, his partner and an eminent vaccinologist, can’t work out what’s happening. As it spreads, little by little, they are inexorably drawn into the mystery behind the illness. And what they discover will change the world as they know it…
Exciting and urgently contemporary, this piercingly insightful novel tells the story of a global catastrophe through the eyes of the three people at the heart of the storm.
Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster
This grave can never be opened.
The head of Scotland’s most powerful crime family is brutally murdered, his body dumped inside an ancient grave in a remote cemetery.
This murder can never be forgotten.
Detectives Max Craigie and Janie Calder arrive at the scene, a small town where everyone has secrets to hide. They soon realise this murder is part of a blood feud between two Scottish families that stretches back to the 1800s. One thing’s for certain: it might be the latest killing, but it won’t be the last…
This killer can never be caught.
As the body count rises, the investigation uncovers large-scale corruption at the heart of the Scottish Police Service. Now Max and Janie must turn against their closest colleagues – to solve a case that could cost them far more than just their lives…
The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson
1899, Belle Époque Paris. Lucienne’s two daughters are believed dead when her mansion burns to the ground, but she is certain that her girls are still alive and embarks on a journey into the depths of the spiritualist community to find them.
1949, Post-War Québec. Teenager Lina’s father has died in the French Resistance, and as she struggles to fit in at school, her mother introduces her to an elderly woman at the asylum where she works, changing Lina’s life in the darkest way imaginable.
2002, Quebec. A former schoolteacher is accused of brutally stabbing her husband – a famous university professor – to death. Detective Maxine Grant, who has recently lost her own husband and is parenting a teenager and a new baby single-handedly, takes on the investigation.
Under enormous personal pressure, Maxine makes a series of macabre discoveries that link directly to historical cases involving black magic and murder, secret societies and spiritism … and women at breaking point, who will stop at nothing to protect the ones they love…
The Woman On The Island by Ann Cleeves
Set before The Rising Tide, Vera goes on a day trip to Holy Island, eager to escape the pressures of work. When there she is reminded of the day decades earlier when she, as a teenager, went with her father Hector on another day trip, and the mystery woman he met there . . .
Vera already knew then that Hector kept secrets, but this time the fledgling investigator was determined to find the truth, never realizing it would mean taking her first step onto a path to becoming a detective . . .
My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
A bittersweet short story about mothers, daughters, and the witches’ brew of love—and control—that binds them, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments.
Life is hard enough for a teenage girl in 1950s suburbia without having a mother who may—or may not—be a witch. A single mother at that. Sure, she fits in with her starched dresses, string of pearls, and floral aprons. Then there are the hushed and mystical consultations with neighborhood women in distress. The unsavory, mysterious plants in the flower beds. The divined warning to steer clear of a boyfriend whose fate is certainly doomed. But as the daughter of this bewitching homemaker comes of age and her mother’s claims become more and more outlandish, she begins to question everything she once took for granted.
Not a bad result but greatly helped by a couple of short stories. Full enough week on the blog – recap below:
#Review – The Swimmer – Graham Norton & The Cutting Season – MW Craven
#Review – Dead Men’s Bones – James Oswald
#Press Release – Capital Crime Timetable Announced
#Review – The Black Mountain – Kate Mosse
#Review – The Cliff House – Chris Brookmyre
#Review – The Orphan’s Mother – Marion Kummerow
#Review – New Beginnings At The Old Bakehouse – Christie Barlow
As it’s the end of the month, I should recap my monthly reading list too. 16 titles, including 3 short stories so it’s really not that impressive. I’ve totally slowed down in my reading but the books were excellent so bonus.
Something in the Air by Rachel Amphlett
The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre
Whisper of the Seal by Roxanne Bouchard
A Silent Truth by Rachel Amphlett
The Girl In The Photo by Heidi Amsinck
The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz
The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan
The Murder Mystery by Alice Castle
The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci
You Can Stay by Elle Connel
Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster
Tick Tock by Simon Mayo
The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson
The Woman on the Island by Ann Cleeves
My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
Two tours this week, starting today with The Girl In The Photo by Heidi Amsinck and later in the week A Silent Truth by Rachel Amphlett.
So that’s it. My weird and busy but not week in a rather long nutshell. Busy week ahead for me with something to really look forward to at the weekend (more on that next week). Hope you all have a happily bookish week.
Jen x
Jen Med's Book Reviews 