August 2022 Reads

 

August was a very varied month for me in terms of reading. I also managed to read a couple of more books than usual. So in no particular order this is what August resulted in.

I started the month with non-fiction. I really don't read much non-fiction at all and to be honest I can't remember the last non-fiction book I did read. Having taught Maths for 35 years The Big Bang Of Numbers by Manil Suri immediately leapt out at me. This book is more philosophical than mathematical but you really do need to be comfortable with numbers to get the most out of this text.

A couple of non-thriller books made the August list. In The Second Chance Holiday Club by Kate Galley we had recently widowed Evelyn taking off for the Isle of Wight to discover her recently deceased husbands secret "other" family. The coach trip turns into a disaster but prickly Evelyn discovers new friends and a whole new outlook on life. Louise Voss offers up Kerry Tucker Learns To Live in which loner Kerry has to face reality and her past following the death of her mother. Kerry is one of those characters who doesn't challenge, she simply goes along for the sake of an easy life. The more we get to know Kerry we realise that she has quite a few burdens on her shoulders; trauma, secrets, loneliness and grief. 

Obviously thrillers dominated the month. Having read The Art Of Death by David Fennell in July I was keen to get to grips with See No Evil. I hadn't realised that the books featured the same character, DI Grace Archer, so was pleased to discover they were linked as I enjoyed the development of Grace in the first book. A gruesome story featuring a serial killer with possible links to a religious cult is perfect reading for fans of thrillers.

Nicci French is one of those writing teams that has produced some of my favourite crime fiction, however I felt that The Favour just misses the mark slightly. I was hooked from the first page but couldn't get to grips with why a highly intelligent woman would carry out a favour for someone she hasn't seen for ten years without knowing more details. The story seemed to meander a bit towards the end.

The Hiker is the first book I've read by  M. J. Ford. I initially thought it was a fairly run of the mill crime thriller and I'd sorted out who the villains were by the halfway mark. The second half of the story proved me completely wrong and took the thriller in a whole new direction. Set in The Pennines the lonely, desolate landscape gives the story a creepy feeling.

Another author who was new to me was James Buckler with The Simple Truth, which combines a mysterious suicide with extremely topical issues of the environment and Russian money pouring into the UK. The story has plenty of pace and a likeable lead character in young lawyer Lewis Miller who is determined to discover the truth, even if he ends up risking his career or his life.

Three thrillers in August gained my five star approval. I stumbled across Catherine Ryan Howard last summer when I read 56 Days so I was really keen to get to grips with Run Time and I wasn't disappointed. It's one of those novels that's hard to describe without giving too much away. A young actress is given a last minute acting role that she jumps at in the hope of resurrecting her career. She ends up in the middle of nowhere, on a creepy set and strange things begin to happen that mirror the script. 

Second in this list is The It Girl by Ruth Ware. I saw so many good reviews of this novel that I decided to check it out and loved it, probably my favourite read of the month. A dual time frame covers a fledgling friendship at Oxford University between Hannah and April (the "It Girl") and ten years later when Hannah learns that the person who murdered April has died in prison. A whole new series of questions arise as to the guilt of the person convicted of April's murder. The dual time frame works brilliantly to keep you enthralled and you really do become engrossed in the lives of the characters.

The third book that made five stars is Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister. Once again I was intrigued by all the great reviews. Just like the previous novel this uses an interesting technique to keep the reader involved. Late one night Jen witnesses her teenage son stab someone to death. Suddenly she then begins to wake up at different periods in her past and looks for clues to prevent the stabbing. Fantastic characters and a plot that's impossible to guess at what comes next.

Three audiobooks this month starting with a Christmas romance, A Bookshop Christmas by Rachel Burton. A fun story-line as it's one of those romances that pokes fun at corny romance fiction. What's not to love about a story that combines romance, Christmas and books. The last audiobook of the month was a disappointment. The Last House On The Cliff by Anne Wyn Clark started well with a seriously spooky setting but then seemed to lose sense of where the plot was going and the author threw every possible element of a mystery into the melting pot. I did consider giving up part way through but perservered, however I didn't write a review as I didn't want to be overly negative.

The third of the audiobooks was Isaac And The Egg by Bobby Palmer. In terms of a star rating this would be five stars (or even six). My year started with the wonderful A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe and this is a similar type of story. Isaac is dealing with grief, or that should be not dealing with grief. Issac is on the brink of suicide when a noise stops him and he discovers the egg. What follows will have you crying, then laughing, then crying some more. It's one of those stories that stays with you for a long time after you've finished it.

Publication dates to look out for are:

Kerry Tucker Learns To Live by Louise Voss will be published in ebook format on 6th October 2022.

The Favour by Nicci French will be published in hardback, ebook and audio format on 13th October 2022.

The Big Bang Of Numbers by Manil Suri will be published in hardback and ebook format on 27th October 2022.

The Hiker by M. J. Ford will be published in paperback, ebook and audio format on 10th November 2022.

The Second Chance Holiday Club by Kate Galley will be published in ebook format on 1st December 2022 with paperback following on 8th December 2022.

The Simple Truth by James Buckler will be published in hardback, ebook and audio format on 5th January 2023.