Aug 1
Idle Hands by Cassondra Windwalker
UK Publication Date: 23rd July 2020
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]
This ARC was provided by Agora Books (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Better the devil you know?
In June I managed to read a whole 1 book from the 1001 list did I manage to do any better this month?
Jul 29
July took us to the sunny Caribbean. What did we find to amuse ourselves there?
We are super pumped to be reading ….(a bunch of books we didn’t predict!)
The New Wilderness by Diane Cook (US) (US Pub date August 11)
This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) (Amazon pub date says 2018)
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi (US) (don’t see a US pub date)
Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze (UK) (UK pub date September 3)
The Mirror and The Light by Hilary Mantel (UK)
Apeirogon by Colum McCann (Ireland-US)
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia-US)
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (US)
Real Life by Brandon Taylor (US)
Redhead by The Side of the Road by Anne Tyler (US)
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Scotland-US)
Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward (UK)
How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang (US)
Jul 27
The official longlist for this years Booker Prize is due to be announced on July 28 (midnight UK on the 27th!) so in the “readersroom” tradition of recent years we have assembled our shadow panel and put together our own predictions for the longlist.
Here’s hoping our 2020 Booker longlist far surpasses 2020 everything else.
Jul 26
A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom by John Boyne
UK Publication Date: 23rd July 2020
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★★]
This ARC was provided by Random House UK(via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
The story of the history of the world through multiple viewpoints across the globe and across time.
The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda
UK Publication Date: 2nd July 2020
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]
This ARC was provided by Atlantic Books (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Summary from Netgalley: Everyone knows the story of the girl from Widow Hills.
When Arden Maynor was six years old, she was swept away in terrifying storm and went missing for days. Against all odds, she was found alive, clinging to a storm drain. A living miracle. Arden’s mother wrote a book, and fame followed. But so did fans, creeps and stalkers. It was all too much, and as soon as she was old enough, Arden changed her name and left Widow Hills behind.
Now, a young woman living hundreds of miles away, Arden is known as Olivia. With the twentieth anniversary of her rescue looming, media interest in the girl who survived is increasing. Where is she now? The stress brings back the night terrors of Olivia’s youth. Often, she finds herself out of bed in the middle of the night, sometimes outside her home, even streets away. Then one evening she jolts awake in her yard, with the corpse of a man at her feet.
The girl from Widow Hills is about to become the centre of the story, once again.
My Thoughts: I really enjoy everything I have read by Megan Miranda and this was no exception for the whole time it took me to read the book I was totally caught up in Olivia’s story and desperate to find the truth. I had made some guesses along the way but I was not totally correct in my theories.
I loved the idea of looking behind the newspaper stories and seeing what happens to the people behind the headlines once the story moves on or perhaps even worse returns to haunt you. What happens to Arden while seeming far fetched actually has precedence (although not in quite the same way) in news stories in the UK.
As this is a thriller it is difficult to give a full review without giving away spoilers so all I will say is if you need a change of pace at the moment and some pure escapism give this a go.
Who would like this? Anyone who has enjoyed Megan Miranda’s other books, anyone who can suspend disbelief and just go with the flow and anyone who enjoys a good search for the truth.
We want to hear from you! Have you read this book? What did you think?
The Illustrated Child by Polly Crosby
UK Publication Date: 29th October 2020
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]
his ARC was provided by HQ (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Prepare to be transported to a place where nothing is what it seems.
The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde
UK Publication Date : 2nd July 2020
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]
This ARC was provided by Hodder & Stoughton (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Will this book make you hopping mad?
Map credit to http://www.operationworld.org
June means it’s time for some fun in the sun…
jenp27