September was a normal reading month for me. I didn’t read as many suspenseful novels as I normally would at the start of autumn, but I think that will change in October. As all previous months, I read a couple of “Advanced Reader Copies” which I received through Netgalley. I’m trying to find a nice balance between books I’ve purchased and books I’ve received, I think at the end of this month I already made a step in the right direction by switching from Kindle to physical book and then back. In this post you’ll read all about the books I have read this month.

Stats

Books: 8 books
Format: 1 physical books, 4 e-books and 3 audiobooks
Total Amount of Pages: 2.998
Authors: 8 new to me
Language: 7 English and 1 Translated from Swedish

L.J. Shen – The Hunter (2020)

Romance

This whole Corona craze is making me try out new stuff. I’ve read so many books this year in my usual genres (mystery/thriller/horror, non-fiction, historical fiction), I felt like jumping into a new genre. Romance it is!

Chandler Ainsley taught me on her Youtube channel that there are at least four genres of Romance. What I’ve read before is Contemporary Romance. This one with quite a bit of steaminess is plain romance. Then there’s Erotica & Smut, but that’s something for another day/year.

Sorry for the lengthy intro, but I hope it shows I’m not an expert when it comes to these kind of books. I did find out I don’t necessarily like audiobooks of this kind though. Having the book read to me is kind of creepy and off-putting. I’ll try to read a physical copy next time.

Ok, without much further ado. I did really enjoy the read. There’s so much more story than I was expecting. The book is about Hunter, a rich but troublesome heir to a multimillion dollar company. He’s given house arrest by his father. Sailor is the girl asked to babysit him, and she will make sure that he stays celibate during that period. That’s not a problem as Sailor is not attracted to him in the least, neither is he in her.

What follows is a bit of a detective novel, a bit of a romance, basically it’s a fun read. I’m looking forward to reading more by L.J Shen and I might pick up other books in the genre too! Let’s see! Let me know if you have any tips for this rookie romance reader!

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Kate Bulpitt – Purple People (2020)

Science Fiction

I didn’t know the author, the publisher and I had never heard of the book before, but I read the synopsis and I was sold. The government in Britain has a great new idea to tackle spiralling levels of crime and anti-social behaviour. The offenders will be dyed purple.

When investigative wacky news journalist Eve Baxter hears about this scheme she rushes back home to find out more about this plot. However much fun it sounds, it actually has a big impact on those tainted by it.

While the nation becomes more and more divided on the subject, Eve tries to uncover what it is that turns people purple in the first place.

The way the synopsis is written made it sound like a fun read, and fun it is! Bulpitt uses a slightly sarcastic tone throughout the novel, which makes for fun dialogues. I can’t say I was completely at the edge of my seat to find out what happens to people and why, but it was a good read nevertheless.

I definitely hope that our governments don’t use this kind of scheme to tackle anti-social behaviour because it sounds absolutely terrible 🙂 It’s a great book by first time author Kate Bulpitt. I would recommend it if you enjoy a bit of British humour in your novels.

3.5 stars

Many thanks to the publisher Unbound and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

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Maaza Mengiste – The Shadow King (2019)

Historical Fiction

I have to admit I had low expectations when I started reading this book. The top reviews of Goodreads had DNF’ed this book and called it long-winded.

My feelings about this book are wholly different though. I also found it hard to get into. The writing style isn’t easy going. It’s been called lyrical, but I didn’t think it flowed. However, once I was in, I was in and I couldn’t put it down.

I initially picked the book up, because the premise sounded great. The story is about the Italian invasion in Ethiopia during WWII. Another thing most people don’t know about is the fact that there were a lot of female soldiers in Ethiopia back then. Mengiste has written a work of fiction based on facts. We follow Hirut and Aster, two female soldiers who are the fiercest soldiers of all. I love learning new things in books, and this book definitely opened my eyes a bit more in terms of the country’s history.

This book is written from different points-of-view. There are sections that cover Haile Selassie’s story. We hear Hirut’s thoughts, but also the Italian commander & photographer play a big role in the telling of the story.

If Hilary Mantel final instalment of the Thomas Cromwell trilogy, would not have been released this year I think Maaza’s novel would be a strong contender for the Man Booker Prize this year. Who knows, she might just win anyways!

Many thanks to the publisher Canongate Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

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John Lanchester – Reality, and Other Stories (2020)

Short Stories

I do enjoy a short story horror collection every now and then, especially as Halloween is just around the corner.

The tone that was set in the first two stories gave me real uncanny vibes. I enjoy gothic horror novels, so it’s something I thoroughly enjoy reading. After the third story, the plot lines started to shift a bit more towards Black Mirror with a lot of emphasis on modern technology.

I found a few of the stories to be mediocre. The endings would either be a bit weak for my taste, a bit too easily predicted or the story itself would not be thrilling or interesting enough.

There are a few gems in this collection though. Ones that kept me reading and guessing and ones that will stick with me due to the gruesomeness of them. I guess that’s always the case when it comes to short story collections. They are hardly ever completely perfect for everyone.

I’ve had John Lanchester’s The Wall on my TBR list forever, I think it’s time I check that one out as I do enjoy his writing.

My favourites are Signal, Coffin Liquor, Cold Call & Charity.

My rating of the short stories:
Signal: 4 stars
Coffin Liquor: 5 stars
Which of these would you like? 3 stars
We happy few: 1 star
Reality: 2 stars
Cold Call: 4 stars
The Kit: 2 stars
Charity: 4 stars

This book will be published on the 1st of October.

Many thanks to the publisher Faber and Faber and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

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Fredrik Backman – Anxious People (2020)

Contemporary

Right, this little book is not really my kind of thing. Let me explain.

The story is about a bank robbery which accidentally turns into a hostage situation. The bank robber tries to rob a cashless bank. This goes wrong. The robber then runs into a house where a viewing is taking place. There are eight people inside. The robber then disappears.

The police interview the hostages one-by-one to find out what exactly happened inside the apartment.

I thought my rating would be lower than it turned out to be. The reason for that is that I didn’t enjoy the “witty” dialogue. It reminded me of Richard Curtis’ writing. The screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually. I didn’t like the characters either. They felt a bit like caricatures.

However, the novel turned out to be a bit deeper than I though it would, hence my average rating. I think a lot of people will absolutely adore this book. The story really is strong and the development of the characters is as well. However, it’s just not for me.

I’m curious about Backman’s other books as they are immensely popular, but I don’t think I will pick them up in a hurry.

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Donna Tartt – The Secret History (1992)

Contemporary

Ok, this is a completely different book from what I was picturing. I was ready for a lengthy novel about a fraternity dabbling in Mysticism and even Satanism. The only thing I got was the lengthy novel part…

So, what isn’t this book about. It’s not about a professor bringing a group of students together to do evil deeds. It’s not a mystery, it’s not a thriller, it’s not a horror.

What is it? A novel about Richard, who joins a new university and is accepted into this elite classics class which is taught by an enigmatic professor. He only accepts five students, but they have to commit fully to him (this freaked me out with anticipation, but it does nothing for the plot).

Henry, Francis, Bunny and the twins Charles and Camilla are already part of the group. All rich kids. This book is around 630 pages of rich kids being intelligent. Rich kids trying things out. Rich kids making mistakes.

The whole time I had the feeling the action happened outside of the book. We’re seeing things through the eyes of the outsider, so maybe Donna Tartt intended it to be this way but I didn’t like it. It made the story drag on and on without any thrill.

Why did I give it three stars? I can kind of enjoy a book about a friend group every now and then. Even if it’s a bit slow-paced. It didn’t fulfil why expectations about evil fraternities or professors, but it is a well-written novel. This means a lot from someone who hated Bret Easton Ellis’ “Brat Pack”. This book is a bit reminiscent of his books, but here it bothered me less that the student were so incredibly elitist and just taking alcohol and drugs all day while complaining about all their money.

Ok, I need to stop writing before I change my rating..

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John Banville – Snow (2020)

Mystery/Thriller

What an apt title. Snow features in this novel like a true master of suspense. It weaves the story together like a pro. Ireland’s landscape is atmospheric in any season, but snow makes the rural town in Ireland feel even more remote.

This remoteness is the perfect setting of John Banville’s latest novel. The story takes place in 1957. It starts with the body of a priest in a library and a detective unwilling to return to small town Ireland to solve the murder. The cast of characters are like actors in a play. It feels like an overdone Agatha Christie novel, but the plot never falters and I found the novel impossible to put down because I couldn’t wait to find out whodunnit.

What I liked most about the novel is that Banville doesn’t shy away from heavy subjects such as the divide between Catholics and Protestants and the struggle with the IRA. The historical setting fits this novel perfectly, as does the small town environment and its people. You have to be ready to face the hard-hitting subjects head-on if you’d like to enjoy this novel.

It met my expectations of murder mystery perfectly. It had the perfect cast of characters and a fantastic historical setting.

Many thanks to the publisher Faber and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

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Malala Yousafzai – I Am Malala (2012)

Memoir/Biography

Normally I like to write lengthy reviews to share my thoughts with you. There are books where I don’t like to do that. I still cringe at my review of The Diary of a Young Girl, but I’ll leave it up on Goodreads because that’s what I wanted to write at the time.

This time around, I’ll stick with the facts as to what the book is about.

It’s about Malala Yousafzai. A young girl who was shot in the face by a gunman who walked into her school bus. Malala is from Swat in Pakistan. She and her father were speaking out for girls’ rights for education and she still does so today.

This book is about her youth in Pakistan. It’s about the political landscape of her region. It’s about her life at school and about the aftermath of the attack.

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How was your reading month? What books did you read in September?

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