Book Review – Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

One of the biggest problems with buying so many books in a year is that I tend to forget about them. I put them on my shelf with every intention of reading them later but, inevitably, they get lost amongst the rest. In some cases, I end up buying the book again but, thankfully, that’s a rarity. Mostly they just sit there gathering dust. In order to get my every increasing TBR down, I’ve taken to buying or borrowing the audiobook version as well. I’ve grown to really enjoy listening to an audiobook at work, so it means I can cross a few off in a particularly good week. In the case of this book, I ended up listening to it by accident. I knew that I’d bought a book a few years ago that had “of London” in the title. Turns out, that book was The Ashes of London instead. Ah well, I borrowed this one and might as well give it a listen. It’s one of those books that I see everywhere but didn’t know much about. Maybe it would be a new series for me?

Book Review – The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Between the publication of Graeme Macrae Burnet’s first Georges Gorski novel and the second, he had become a Booker-shortlisted author. The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau didn’t get a great deal of attention when it was published. I’m not saying that the second book got loads but it certainly benefited from being the writer’s follow-up to His Bloody Project. I first read Adèle Bedeau last year and enjoyed it. When I stumbled across the audiobook of the sequel at the library, I decided it was time to get through book 2. There’s a third one on the way at some point, so at least it would leave me in a position to read that at some point.

Film Review – See How They Run (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Sometimes I feel as though I’m the only person on Earth who didn’t think that Knives Out was the revolutionary and original murder mystery that everyone else believes. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it but the way some people go on, you’d think Rian Johnson had invented the drama. Although, I’m generally underwhelmed by whodunnits in general. It might be because of my love of Agatha Christie or because I’m just too cynical. Either way, I just think they’re too obvious. It’s such an oversaturated market that we’ve seen it all before. I just think it’s difficult to shock, so you need to do something special to keep me on board. I was keen to find out if See How They Run would do that.

Book Review – The Bullet That Miss by Richard Osman

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Every time I browse the Waterstones website I stumble across another celebrity who has written a book. I blame Richard Osman. I understand that it’s not actually down to him but his success as a writer hasn’t helped. It’s as if publishers have finally realised that star power is a thing. Part of me is excited that people I like are writing books for me to read. The rest of me is slightly sad that these people are handed massive deals when other writers aren’t given a chance. After all, it doesn’t always work out. I’ve read plenty of celebrity novels that just fell flat.

Book Review – Dear Mr. M by Herman Koch

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Sorting out my library card has been an absolute revelation. I’m so annoyed that I gave so much money to Jeffrey Bezos for Audible when I could have been doing this. Admittedly, there isn’t a lot of choice and most of the books I want to listen to are already taken. On the other hand, it means that I can listen to books I wouldn’t have wanted to waste a credit on. Like this one. I’d heard about this book but didn’t really pay much attention. I’ve read a couple of Herman Koch’s books before and didn’t really rate them. In my opinion, The Dinner is massively overrated and Summer House with Swimming Pool was disappointing. So, I didn’t expect much from this one but, as it was free, I decided to try it out.

Book Review – How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

My family holiday was lovely overall. There was one awkward moment when, during a day at the beach, I revealed this baby. I don’t think any of them trusted me for the rest of the week. I swear they were hiding the knives just in case. There were definite side-eyes over the dinner table. It was probably a mistake to pick this as one of my holiday reads but I was desperate to finally read it. It sounded like such a fun book. Like a bit of a British American Psycho.

Bookish Post – July 2022 Reading Wrap-Up

books, wrap-up
Teacup on top of vintage books.

Number of books read: 7
Number of rereads: 0
Number of physical books: 4
Number of ebooks: 0
Number of audiobooks: 3
Number of ARCS: 0

5* reviews: 0
4.5* reviews: 0
4* reviews: 0

So, July didn’t exactly work out as I intended. It started with me getting Covid and I never really made up for lost reading time. Then my final week was spent on holiday with my 3-year-old niece and 1-year-old nephew. Meaning there wasn’t much time for reading in between playing and going on adventures. I still managed to get a few things off my TBR, so it’s not a complete disaster and I’m still ahead of my yearly target.

Book Review – The Dinner Guest by B P Walter

books, reviews

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

It’s so hot that I can’t even think about reading anything. I was a mess yesterday that I don’t know how I’m going to cope at work. I know people make fun of the UK for having terrible weather but it’s true. We aren’t prepared for this kind of heat. We should all just agree that on days with a red weather warning, we all just stay home and try and read. Or at least listen to audiobooks. I think I could cope with that. Speaking of audiobooks, I borrowed this from the library recently after having the paperback for ages.

Book Review – Murder Before Evensong by Rev Richard Coles

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

So, this week hasn’t turned out quite like I’d expected. The week started with the news that a few other guests at my friend’s wedding had got Covid. So, I madly started testing and, on Wednesday, found out that I had it too. So, instead of my normal week, I’ve been battling with exhaustion and trying to fight it off. Thankfully, it’s only like bad flu. Not what I wanted but it could have been worse. Of course, it does mean that I haven’t really done much reading. I’ve just not had the attention span. I hope this lack of energy doesn’t last. I can’t cope with just lying down all day. Plus, I’ve just pre-ordered several new books. Speaking of pre-ordering.

Book Review – A Scandal in Brooklyn by Lauren Wilkinson 

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The Sherlock Holmes stories only books that come close to convincing me that crime writing can work as short fiction. Arthur Conan Doyle manages to whittle down the relevant details so nothing feels rushed. The other crime short stories that I’ve read just don’t manage to get all the details across adequately in a shorter form. When I heard about Lauren Wilkinson’s short story A Scandal in Brooklyn, I had to see if she could do what Conan Doyle had managed.