I'm calling it - this is a Good Month! About fifteen of my wishlist items came up, though once I'd weeded out the ones I was unlikely to read I bought:
The Bell in the Lake - I have this in paperback but have realised recently that I just can't get through physical books anymore.
Never Mind the Quantocks - Stuart Maconie - thanks to recs on here. This looks like a good book to dip into at bedtime.
A Visit From the Good Squad
The Bells of Old Tokyo
Not Safe for Work
The Morning Gift - Eva Ibbotson
The Lying Game - Ruth Ware
Between Us - Mhairi MacFarlane
Thirty Days of Darkness - Scandi thriller about a crime writer trying to write a novel in thirty days in a cabin in Iceland
Recent reads:
27. Yours Cheerfully - AJ PearceSecond in the series following Emmy Lake, features writer on a women's mag in WW2 and would-be cub reporter. I found this much weaker than the first instalment, with a plot revolving around Emmy's attempts to draw attention to the plight of munitions factory workers. This could have been great, but the plot is thin and Pearce resorts to repetition and the whole thing is a bit circular. The overuse of 40s slang, which was fun but borderline irritating in the first book, is definitely grating in this one. I won’t be reading the next instalment. 28. The White Walls - Lucilla AndrewsI think there was some chat about hospital romances in an earlier thread and Lucilla Andrews was mentioned, so I thought I would give this a go. I like vintage fiction but more crime than romance, so this was probably not the best choice for me. 29. The Bookseller's Tale - Martin LathamA book about books by a former manager of Waterstones Canterbury. Lots of fascinating trivia but more one to dip into than read straight through. 30. War Doctor - David NottMy favourite book of the year so far, this is David Nott's account of his career as a volunteer surgeon in areas visited by war and natural disaster. It's a hard read, as you would expect. Despite being a vascular surgeon, Nott realises early on that the most essential skill set is obstetrics, as he encounters so many women who have reached labour without access to adequate medical care, meaning they need urgent intervention. His experiences in Syria, in particular, are harrowing to read about, with medical facilities being increasingly targeted by both ISIS and government forces until they had to go underground (literally), and eventually many doctors were forced to leave the country altogether. He is open about how his experiences left him traumatised and almost unable to function, though thankfully he seems to have found a way through that with the help of his wife and colleagues. A brutal read but totally worthwhile. I went through a period of not reading the news recently but found I could not turn away from this book. 31. The It Girl - Ruth WareSlow to get going but good fun. Not Ruth Ware's best, in my opinion, but her books now automatically go on my wishlist. 32. Seating Arrangements - Maggie ShipsteadI really enjoyed this. The events take place over a long weekend in a fictional island resembling Martha’s Vineyard, where the Duff and Van Meter families have gathered to celebrate a wedding. Patriarch Winn Van Meter obsesses over his application to a socially exclusive golf club, while his daughter Livia tries to get over ex-boyfriend Teddy by flirting her way through the groomsmen. Ultimately the question for many of the characters is what they are willing to do to maintain a social position, and when they do, are they truly happy, or are they just settling? There is a slightly laboured metaphor involving a beached whale, but other than that it is subtle and satisfying. 33. Walking The Americas - Levison WoodLess exciting than you’d expect for an account of crossing the Darien Gap on foot. Didn’t hit the spot as a travel book, for me – there wasn’t enough descriptive detail to capture the imagination, but neither was there much practical detail of how he and his companion got managed. Disappointing, as I did enjoy his Himalayas book.