reading roundup July 2020

Written by hooksforeverything

I may have had a little freakout at how few books I’d read in June – my sleeping patterns were all over the place and when I did have time awake and sitting down I was making lists of all the things I was letting slip. So in July, with the help of Kindle Unlimited, I read 32 books.

Links, as always, on the very best ones. Where the links are to Amazon, they’re affiliate links.

  • The City We Became – of course this was five stars, it’s so good I’m not capable of describing it, here is a great review from Tor.
  • The Eye In The Triangle
  • Campion at Christmas (Allingham)
  • Raffles The Amateur Cracksman
  • The Persian Literature (the Shahnameh, the Rubaiyat, the Divan and the Gulistan) – a free very old translation of very old works, from Project Gutenberg
  • The Kybalion
  • The Allingham Casebook (Allingham)
  • Where The Forest Meets The Stars – this was phenomenal! I was expecting a perfectly serviceable novel of, you know, ‘She Has Moved To The Country. Is The Local Silent Hunk Really As Simple As He Appears? No!’. But as well as the rural descriptions I wanted, everyone has a proper arc and it’s about responsibility & depression & families of choice, and I was very moved by it.
  • Servant of the Underworld
  • In The Shadow Of Power
  • The Black Mask (Raffles 2)
  • The Impossible Girl
  • Black Plumes (Allingham)
  • A Beautiful Poison
  • The Giant, O’Brien
  • The Last Of The Moon Girls
  • The Complete Golden Dawn System Of Magic – has some very useful things to say about meditation and, frankly, humility. The writers have met a lot of bumptious young wizzzards and would like to advise the reader to be kind.
  • The Man of Property – the only paper book this month! A charity shop choice, from my attempt at going back into a shop without freaking out at coronavirus proximity.
  • The Twisted Tree
  • Grey Mask (Wentworth)
  • The Case Is Closed (Wentworth)
  • Lonesome Road (Wentworth)
  • The Secret River
  • Pursuit Of A Parcel (Wentworth)
  • The Return of Mr Campion (Allingham)
  • The Lancashire Witches – the narrative was fine, but the dialogue was embarrassing. Faar t’much oaverdoon spelled-oat dia-lect, tha knaws.
  • The Blind Side (Wentworth)
  • Who Pays The Piper? (Wentworth)
  • The Dower House Mystery (Wentworth)
  • Blindfold (Wentworth)
  • Touch and Go (Wentworth) – I was getting to know her formula quite well by this point, and this one had by far the most likeable romantic leads – I really wanted to spend time with them both separately and as a couple.
  • The Coldstone (Wentworth)
  • Vindolanda
  • The Amazing Chance (Wentworth)