It’s that time to do a quick look back at August. I thought July wasn’t a stellar reading month in terms of the number of books read but it looks like the same holds true for August. I only read three books this month and one was even a carry-over from July. What is going on with my reading?

Anyway, I did finish In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume, People Who Knew Me by Kim Hooper and The Shanghai Factor by Charles McCarry. My favorite of these was People Who Knew Me. I really enjoyed that book.

With regards to my reading challenges progress, let’s just say I’m falling way behind on all of my challenges. Makes you wonder why I keep joining them but, what can I say. I love making book lists and love the idea of them so it’s fun and I’m sure I’ll continue to join more. This reminds me that I still haven’t come up with my potential reads for the Japanese Literature Reading challenge. Will work on that soon.

As far as what I’m looking forward to next month, oh lots of stuff. On the personal front, I’m doing a weekend trip with my two best friends. I cannot wait! I’m going to see some family members next month. When it comes to reading, I have some poetry, new crime fiction and lots of good stuff to dip into from my recent library haul and some ARCs that have arrived (I haven’t told you about those yet) and there’s also Banned Books Week and Hispanic Heritage month so I’ll try to put together some posts with some book recommendations. Also, shouldn’t the R.I.P. reading challenge also start soon?

So as always I’m excited to see where my reading adventures take me to next month. Actually I’m in the middle of some really good books so I’ll tell you about those in my next post. Now, how was your reading month and what are you looking forward to?

I’ve fallen behind on telling you about books I’ve read recently so I thought I’d just share some quick snippets on three books. Hope one or all sound good to you and maybe you’ll find some new books for your stacks:

Fellside
by M.R. Carey

Jess Moulsen is convicted of arson and sent to Fellside prison to service a life sentence. When she realized that the arson killed a 10 year old boy she is feels like the only way out is to die so she begins to refuse to eat. She doesn’t get a lot of sympathy from the prison doctor and guards but Jess begins to “hear” from a young boy who is asking her to find the real killer. Surprising medical staff and guards Jess recovers enough to fight for her sentence appeal.

The author creates a grim and sad world blending mystery and fantasy. The ending wasn’t what I wanted or expected but I get why certain events developed even if I wished for a more uplifting ending.

Source: Advance Review Copy

The Forgotten Girls
by Sara Blaedel

This is the seventh book featuring the Copenhagen homicide detective Louise Rick. She is now in charge of a new department focused on missing persons. Her first case will be identifying the body of a woman found in the forest. What is most disturbing is that the woman died more than 30 years ago and in that time no one came looking for her. The investigation leads Rick to investigate mental health facilities and also to trace back some of her own history.

I think I maybe would have liked this better if I wasn’t coming into this in the middle of the series. Nevertheless, I liked Louise and her new partner, Eik Nordstrom although I will say the the romance between these two was not surprising. If you enjoy Nordic noir then add this to your list of books to read.

Source: Advance Review Copy

Murder In Morningside Heights
by Victoria Thompson

Frank and Sarah Malloy are back solving mysteries and this time as a newly married couple. Frank has opened his detective agency and his first case will be to solve the murder of Abigail Northrup, a newly hired instructor at the prestigious women’s college. With a lot of free time on her hands now that she’s not practicing being a midwife, Sarah quickly joins in the investigation along with some other recurring characters. One of the best parts of this historical mystery is reading about women becoming instructors and the difficulties they faced as they tried to find a place in academia.

Overall this is a series I’ve really enjoyed since the first book, this one is the 19th entry, but if you are interested in this series I highly recommend starting from the beginning. I think Frank and Sarah had stronger roles in the beginning and I especially enjoyed seeing how their relationship developed.

Source: Library Copy

Let me know if you’ve read some of these. Would love to hear your thoughts!