August Books!

 I volunteer at the local library one morning a week. It means I get to see books that are available by all my favourite authors whilst I do the shelving. This month in one morning I found five books. I borrowed the lot! Here’s what I have been reading in August, in the order I read them.

Susan Hill- The Pure in Heart- After a bit of a wobbly first chapter this turned into a jolly good detective story featuring DCI Simon Serrailler. The familiar themes from Susan Hill came through even in a different genre, love, life grief, relationships. An entertaining read.

Winifred Holtby- The Crowded Street- an interesting read which I think would be a good choice for a book club to read. Life for middle class women before, during and after the First World War, the birth of feminism. If the author sounds familiar she wrote South Riding and was friends with Vera Brittain ( who is the inspiration for one of the characters). Vera Brittain is Shirley Williams mother and wrote Testament of Youth. One of my favourite books this year.

Joanne Harris- Gentlemen & Players- the middle book of a trilogy, but the third one I read. Fortunately the books work well as stand alone novels. The plots are all revealed in a similar way and in this third book I saw the big twist by page 96 of 507 pages. To begin with I thought this would spoil my enjoyment. However there was a different enjoyment to be had, first was I right and secondly and more interesting to see how the characters were being duped, and hence how the readers were being sent off in the wrong discription.The story is set in St Oswald’s School for boys and has two narrators, one who focuses on events of 15 years ago and one on the here and now. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Ann Cleeves- The Glass Room-another Vera book. The setting is an authors retreat. I was well and truly hoodwinked till the final scenes! Good detective story.

Marina Lewycka- The Lubetkin Legacy. There is love and government corruption in this tale of an iconic social housing flat designed by Berthold Lubetkin. The tenant dies and her son fears losing the right to succeed in the tenancy and smuggles in an old lady to act as his mother, for the housing officers investigations. A good read. I spent a happy evening afterwards researching the real life architect Lubetkin, surely a mark of a good book. Can’t say I liked the buildings I saw, but then I don’t like concrete much!

Have you read any good books lately?

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