August Wrap Up

A little look back at the books I read in August.

I seem to have had a crazy busy summer with a lot of changes and ups and downs so my reading has suffered from this, especially this month, SO much happened this month. However I won't bore you with the details and will show you the 7 books I read with mini reviews.

Physical Books

Ebooks

1. Hello, Goodbye and Everything Inbetween by Jen E. Smith
Jen E. Smith is one of my top favourite young adult authors so I was really excited when I found out she had another book coming out and couldn't wait to read. This was quite different to her other novels. Instead of this being a contemporary romance, this was actually more of a serious, heartfelt story about a young couple, Clare and Aidan's last night together before they go to college and are deciding whether to break up or not. I initially found this a bit too serious and downhearted to begin with as wasn't the type of story I was expecting, but as usual Jen's writing managed to get me really involved in the characters story and I ended up really liking it. It's still not my favourite of Jen's, but it was still good.

2. Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan
This was a fantastically thought through and researched debut from Gilly that deals with a parent's worse nightmare. Rachel Jenner lets her son Ben out of her sight for a matter of minutes only for him to go missing. What follows is a brilliant psychological thriller that had me hooked from the start and desperate to find out what happened to Ben.


3. It Started at Sunset Cottage by Bella Osborne
Bella's book got off to a really great start, with quite an interesting storyline. Kate, an author was widowed nearly two years ago and has been keeping herself hidden away. That is until one of her books is being turned into a Hollywood movie and she has been invited to work on the screenplay in a lovely cottage in the Cotswolds. What she doesn't expect whilst she is there is for the leading man and Hollywood A-lister Timothy Calder to turn up, but will friendship or something more blossom there. I really liked the idea of some of the storyline being about a book being made into a film, it definitely was one the best parts of the story. Although this started off really well, the pace of the story started to slow about half way through and my interest began to wane. I think about one hundred pages of this could have been cut out and then it would have been better. A nice read though, which had a lot more lighthearted feel to it than I thought it was going to have.

4. A Thousand Nights by E.K Johnston
I have never read Arabian Nights, but I am aware of one it's stories; One Thousand and One Nights, so was very intrigued to see what this young adult adaptation would be like. If you don't know the story of One Thousand and One Nights, it is about a King who is maddened to find out that his wife has been unfaithful. The King then vows to marry a virgin every night and then kill her in the morning. To survive, his newest wife Shahrazad spins a web of tales each night, leaving the King in suspense when morning comes, prolonging her life for another day. The YA retelling has a slightly different twist to it, which I actually preferred. E.K Johnston really gets across the feel for the Middle East and her descriptions were gorgeous. It was written in an old style way of writing that I think some people may struggle with, but overall this was a beautiful retelling.


5. Night Owls by Jenn Bennet
This is an absolutely stunning love story. The main characters Beatrix and Jack have such amazing chemistry. I actually want what they have, there is such depth to their relationship and what they feel for each other is almost palpable. I have never fallen quite so in love with a story as the way I have with Night Owls. One of my favourite reads this year.


6. The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew
Despite the title of this book, I am not lying when I say that I have been waiting to read a book like this for ages. The Big Lie is a high concept thriller about what modern day life would be like if the Nazi's had won the Second World War. The main protagonist, Jessika is the ultimate good girl in this contemporary Nazi World. She appears to have the perfect family life and do really well at school. Jessika is the perfect example of a good Nazi citizen until her new best friend Clementine moves in across the road. When Jessika's thoughts are challenged by her best friend, her good girl personality begins to unravel. I really hope Julie writes a second book on this as I loved it.


7. Return to Bluebell Hill by Rebecca Pugh
This was a sweet, cute read from fellow blogger Rebbeca Pugh. I was thrilled for her when I heard that her debut was being published and was very excited to read. I was really impressed with Becca's writing style, it was beautifully descriptive the setting of Bluebell Hill was perfect. There were just a few things that I would have liked to have been wrapped up more, but overall a really lovely debut.


There you have a summary of my reads this month, check back at the beginning of October for my September reads and what will hopefully be a larger number of books read.