July Round Up

What I’ve been reading:

• A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie
• The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman
• Unruly Places by Alastair Bonnett
• Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
• The Visionist by Rachel Urquhart
• Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe
• All That is Solid Melts into Air by Darragh McKeon
• The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell *best book of the month*
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Additional books reviewed:

• The Visitors by Sally Beauman
• The Bust DIY Guide to Life by Debbie Stoller and Laurie Henzel
• A Death in Duck by Mindy Quigley

Other blog posts

• Wigtown – Scotland’s National Book Town
• Shiny New Books and Me
• Cover Wars: How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia

 

A Death in Duck by Mindy Quigley

With a nod to full disclosure, I must tell you, nay – brag to you that Mindy Quigley is a very good friend of mine. She is also smart, hysterically funny and a pretty darn good writer (and she’s now on Twitter – @MintyFreshBooks). A Death in Duck is the second book in her Lindsay Harding mystery series.

The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell

One of the huge benefits of moving to Scotland is that I’ve become more familiar with Scottish literature in general and writers like Lisa O’Donnell in particular. She was at the Edinburgh Book Festival my first year here and The Death of Bees was getting huge buzz (yeah, I know what i did there), but for some reason, it has taken me until now to read it. And it was brilliant.

Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe

Summer seems to be taking over my life, so this review is going to be quick and dirty. That is no slight on Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe, but the sun is shining and I’ve got to get out there.

Love, Nina is a collection of letters Nina wrote to her sister in the 1980s while she was nannying in London. That might not sound great, but it is. Nina is un-selfconsciously funny in a way that can only be compared to Adrian Mole. Her day-to-day life in London is seriously more interesting than my life at any point. Her attempts at cooking sounds woefully inadequate and yet the family she’s working for don’t seem to mind. And everything is commented upon by Alan Bennett and other London luminaries of the day.

Wigtown – Scotland’s National Book Town

There is nothing quite like a town dedicated to the written word, and that is why I had to visit Wigtown while camping in the area. This quaint seaside town in Southern Scotland boasts more than 20 book shops and hosts an annual book festival in an attempt at economic rejuvenation.

The Visionist by Rachel Urquhart

I walked in to the library earlier this week and The Visionist by Rachel Urquhart leaped out at me, calling my name. I remember a few months back this was making the rounds on some of my favorite blogs and getting good reviews. It’s set in the Shaker community and deals with questions of belief. If that’s not up my alley, then I don’t know what is. So it seemed fated that I read it.

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

I recently read and reviewed A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie. As I mentioned then, Shamsie is one of my favorite South Asian writers, so when Ali at HeavenAli said Burnt Shadows was even better, I considered it a challenge. It had long been on my TBR list and decided now was the time to dive in.

Unruly Places by Alastair Bonnett

Unruly Places by Alastair Bonnett is one fascinating read. Don’t let the fact that Bonnett is an academic put you off. This is a book that is written in quick snippets and in an easy, accessible voice. It will also make you look at the world around you in a different way.

The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman

I know, it’s taken me forever to get to The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman. What can I say, I was saving it for the perfect moment. The Imperfectionists is a hard book to follow, so I wanted to be in the right mood to give Rachman a little leg up. The Rise and Fall of Great Powers was a really good book, it wasn’t The Imperfectionists, but it was a solid read.

The Bust DIY Guide to Life by Laurie Henzel and Debbie Stoller

If you are not familiar with Bust magazine, then you probably should be. Aside from being “the magazine for women with something to get off their chests”, it’s also pretty awesome. Just the right amount of sassy, feminist and quirkiness for me. So when I saw The Bust DIY Guide to Life I know it was something i could get into. Let’s face it, not all of bow down to the alter of Martha Stewart, but we still need to know how to get things done simply, economically and stylishly.