The August Book Round Up

Well, August was a slightly slower month for books – not for any nefarious reason, really. I had a hard time focusing to finish the book I had going while I was in Vegas at the end of the month, and a few I read earlier in the month were longer, so it naturally lead to reading slightly less overall. I’ve been dealing with COVID fog this week so only just finished my last August read here at the beginning of September. Also, my kiddo started school and that was all consuming, even though I was sick and couldn’t attend meet the teacher or drop her off at all! I masked up and picked out her first day outfit and got the requisite pictures.

Anyway, now I am in the middle of Madeline Martin’s newest novel, The Secret Book Society. I am moving kind of slowly through it because I just can’t focus, but it’s good so far. That said, let’s take a look back at August.

1. I had never read a book by Rebecca Reid before, but I’ve followed her on twitter for a really long time, so I was excited to see Seven Rules for a Perfect Marriage coming out this summer and pre-ordered it. I absolutely loved the sort of behind the scenes focus on an “influencer” couple, a sort of pulling the curtain back vibe. Really good and poignant in many ways.
2. I admit to having been drawn in by the cover of Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow by Damilare Kuku. I also have another book of hers on my TBR, but it’s a story collection (Nearly All the Men in Lagos are Mad) and am now really excited to read it. I love short stories and her writing is funny and emotional.
3. The same about the cover goes for The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, but I didn’t read the blurb and just dove into the 15 hour audiobook, so I was terribly confused by the description of post-war England until I realized this was post WWI and not WWII like I am so familiar with. Really fantastic writing though and just a great story about women’s roles during the war and how they were cast aside after (as happens in history).
4. Oof – The Most Fun We Ever Had nearly took me out. It was so good and so well written, every single minute of the 20 hours of audio felt necessary. There was no fluff you might want to skim over. I was so impressed by Clare Lombardo’s writing that I immediately downloaded her other novel, nearly as long.
5. In the middle of her second novel, I finally got off the library waitlist (when my husband returned it!) for Everything is Tuberculosis after several MONTHS, so I listened to this in a day. I honestly expected more of a history from John Green, whereas this was a bit of a documentary style history connected to a TB patient he had met. It was still really good but it wasn’t quite what I expected. He did successfully point out that everything really is tuberculosis though!
6. I started Same as it Ever Was before Tuberculosis, but that was a quick one day listen so it was a fine interlude. I wanted this to be The Most Fun We Ever Had, because I loved the characters, but it was not – it was just as human and moving, though. It took me a bit longer to get into, but the realistic life of this suburban mom was so easy to hear about. Lombardo is truly gifted and I hope she writes more!
7. This next one was another I had been on the library waitlist for a long time for. It’s another that drew me in both because of the cover and the historical aspects of the plot. I’m a sucker for historical fiction. I did sort of miss the magical fantasy bit of the blurb so I was surprised to see it in The Phoenix Pencil Company, but not displeased! It worked very well and felt like being told a story that was passed down through generations, not made up as a fantasy story. I loved it so much, it’s my pick for the September read for the book club I run on a spanking Discord server.
8. Would it be a book round up without at least SOME smut by one of my favorites?? I started the Doomsday series by K.J. Charles and The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen really drew me in. The Goodreads description starts with “Bridgerton meets Poldark” but honestly, it’s better than that! The setting is much further back in time than most of the historical based romance and fiction I read but it was soooo good. Charles is one of the best at showing the sexual tension and also, tenderness, between men and this was no exception. Smut, but with a good plot!

So, right now I am focusing on finishing Martin’s most recent novel and then I plan to move onto something languishing in my Audible library – I’ve got Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, the Kristin Lavransdatter Trilogy by Sigrid Undset, and The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali. Have you read any of these? Is there something else you’ve read recently that you recommend? Open to both fiction and non-fiction!

-M