September Reads

This month’s reads have been a mixed bag of genres. I’ve read a nice wee mixture of safety in fluffy, escapist reads and books littered with experiences of trauma and mental health. It’s been a journey! I am now Very close to completing my challenge to read my height in books (See The challenge)– I’m about halfway up my shoulder now! Just shows what you can achieve if you stick to your strengths (in my case, being a gigantic introvert). I received a lovely stack of books for my birthday so now I just need to decide which order to read them in – a tough task!

Here‘s this month‘s reads:

Five Little Pigs – Agatha Christie

My FIRST EVER Agatha Christie! Yes, really. I won’t be arrogant enough to review this but I’m so chuffed I’ve finally read one of hers. She had me right up until the end – I had ABSOLUTELY, DEFINITELY, 100% SMUGLY worked out the whodunnit but, eh, was completely wrong.

Read this if…you like books.

Earthlings – Sayaka Murata

A girl horribly abused as a child believes she is an alien. This novel follows her right through to adulthood. I can’t really say much more as this is 100% a character-driven storyline and one you just need to read and not think about what’s going to happen too much. I read Convenience Story Woman last year and loved it – Sayaka Murata does not shy away from the causes and consequences of trauma, or societal pressures faced by women. For fellow fans of Sayaka Murata, this book is much more hard-hitting than Convenience Store Woman in how deeply the narrative goes. Absolutely worth a read but be prepared to need a wee break before coming back to it.

Death and Croissants – Ian Moore

An aging, grumpy BnB owner in rural France finds himself at the centre of a murder mystery with an unlikely accomplice. I read the sequel to this – Death and Fromage – last month and reviewed in August Reads and wanted to read more. It was the perfect tonic after the tough read that was Earthlings.

Meredith, alone – Claire Alexander

Meredith has not left her home in years. She has very limited social interactions with her very limited social circle but the safety she has built herself becomes under threat as she is befriended by a volunteer, a new friend from the internet and her estranged sister gets in touch.

I read great books this month but this one is definitely my favourite.  I picked this up on a whim in a bookshop and so glad I did. This book gives an insight into a world that is just not talked about and almost feels intrusive as you learn the ins and outs of Meredith’s life.

The Long Weekend – Gilly Macmillan

Three couples head to a weekend retreat in a barn (you know what’s coming, right?!) which turns into a weekend from hell when some of the visitors receive news that one of the intended guests is dead.

Previous readers will know I love a good, absorbing thriller and this novel certainly did the job! This is a good whodunnit which kept me guessing right to the end. I found the lack of chapters while there being chapters (flick through and you’ll see what I mean) quite disorientating but that matched the narrative really well.  If you figure out what the hell had happened before reading the ending, I applaud you as I had many theories and they were all wrong.

The Mad Women’s Ball – Victoria Mas

Existence is fascinating, don’t you think?

This is the story of women hospitalised and the staff of in a Parisian asylum in the 1800s. Select members of the elite are given the high honour of attending the annual ball to gawp at the ‘madwomen’. If you like a story-driven narrative, there is enough there but this book is carried by the journey of the characters. The main story unfolds the unlikely relationship between a patient and a matron and you learn a lot about what it took (or didn’t in many cases) to be labelled as ‘mad’ or ‘hysterical’.

This was a great read but it would be remiss to review this without including a content warning: this novel discusses rape, sexual assault, mental health and trauma and doesn’t mess about with it. I appreciated the lack of sensationalism in the writing:  no shock tactics are used to draw you in but at the same time nothing is hidden: it’s just there presented plainly and without apology. The depictions of mental health and treatment of women, despite being contextualised in the 1800s, are horribly relatable to today. I felt the fates of the characters are fairly inevitable but in a way that is respectful to the stories that are told and the messages the author is conveying (I have written in previous reviews about my dissatisfaction with tales of trauma being wrapped up with a happy ending in a shiny bow).

We Had to Delete This Post – Hannah Bervoets

A content moderator for an evil platform that is Absolutely, Definitely Not Facebook (Facebook) shares her experiences of the job. This is a wee short story that packs a huge punch.  I particularly like the lack of ending – ‘unfinished’ books are my favourite.

Read this if…. you want to know why the internet is evil.

That’s all from me this month! See you soon and thank you for reading.