Another month, another to-read list! I’m sticking exclusively to review copies of books that I’ve been sent this month, principally because the amount I have stacking up is getting ever so slightly unmanageable but also because moving into a new (unfurnished) flat is blooming expensive so I can no longer justify spending £50 a month on books! That said, the books I’ve been sent recently look amazing so I’m very excited to get stuck into reading them! I’ve already shared a few of the books on Instagram ‘cause I’m an absolute keeno but I haven’t properly got started on any of them yet!
The first of the lovely review books comes from John Murray Originals: Marlow’s Landing by Toby Vieira. This book sounds like nothing I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading before and presumably involves smugglers and secrets galore. The cover is absolutely incredible and that definitely would draw me to it in a bookstore, in spite of the age-old warning about judging a book by its cover! I’m hoping to get this one finished over the next few days which I think is easily done as it’s quite a short one and sounds like something you can easily get yourself hooked on!
I also posted a picture on Instagram of the BEAUTIFUL cover that is After Alice by Gregory Maguire. If you aren’t aware, Gregory Maguire is the guy who wrote the original story behind Wicked, before it went and made itself humungous as a musical! I’ve heard mixed reviews regarding this one, particularly concerning the style of writing; I’m not too far through it myself, around 40 pages in so far, and I’ve found it a little bit trickier than the average book to get into. Obviously, I’ll give it a good go and I really do hope it’s as beautiful as its cover suggests. Thanks to Headline for my copy, I’ll be sure to take good care of it!
As I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned recently, for me summer is a time where you whack out an easy going book and spend any free time lounging in the sun without a care in the world. Unfortunately for me, I live in Liverpool where the sun very rarely exists. Fortunately for me, I have a really comfortable sofa where I can lounge with a book in hand so I can still get away with reading that much-needed chick-read. I have two on my to-read pile this month. Firstly, The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans. I’ve had this one on my shelves for a little while now so thought it was about time I gave it a go. I’m not too sure on the premise of the story but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it all the same. I also have The Perfect Gift by Emma Hannigan which just SCREAMS “read me, it’s the summer hols!” Both of these were sent to me by Headline Review, so thanks to everyone there for the fab additions to my summer reading repertoire!
The last two books on my August to-read list are ones which make me SO excited to have hold of. The first is one of the prettiest looking books I’ve seen in a while, sent to me by Tinder Press. In A Land of Paper Gods is set in war-time China and, if I’m not mistaken, addresses the conflicts between the Chinese and the Japanese armies in 1941, in the midst of the Sino-Japanese War. I took a module at university this scholastic year about conflict and terror in Europe, Latin America and China and one of the topics we addressed was the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanking Massacre. I found it incredibly interesting, particularly as a Westerner, because we had never been taught anything about WW2 outside of European conflicts before. I’m pretty excited to read a little more about an unknown culture and see what this lovely looking book has to offer me.
Finally, I received an uncorrected proof of The Countenance Divine by Michael Hughes. This book is spectacular to look at and I honestly have not seen a more interesting cover than this one in a long, long time. Again, I’m not sure what the story is about but I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of time lapse involved which sounds pretty cool to me. I’m trying not to read up on the books too much, so as not to spoil the surprise, but it’s proving difficult because I really, really want to know more!
What are you reading this month? Let me know in the comments, I always welcome your suggestions!
