Books Read in July

July was not a bad reading month for me... nine books read although that sounds better than it is because two of them were mostly read at the end of June.

The books:

45: Crossed Skis - Carol Carnac

46. The Village - Marghanita Laski

47. The White Road Westwards - 'BB'

48. Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield

49. The Sea Mystery - Freeman Wills Crofts

50. The Honey Farm on the Hill - Jo Thomas

51. A Lesson in Secrets - Jacqueline Winspear.

Maisie goes on her first assignment for the British Secret service. She's asked to pose as a professor at a Cambridge college that's run by, and for, pacifists who are trying to stop another war from happening. It sounds harmless enough but the Secret Service think there may be goings on there which are contrary to British interests. Maisie hasn't been there long before Greville Liddicote, the man who founded the college, is found murdered. She's told to keep a low profile while the police investigate but she realises that she's in a unique position to discover things which they cannot. Another superb instalment of Maisie's investigations. The Nazi party has come to power in Germany and the plot of the book involves groups of Nazi sympathisers forming groups in this country in support of Adolf Hitler. Quite chilling and the subject is handled well. I look forward to more along these lines as World War Two slowly approaches.

52. Jack: A Life Like No Other. Biography of John F. Kennedy which started off very interesting but somehow or other I got a bit bored with it as I went along. This is possibly because it got very political (obviously) and I don't always understand how American politics work. Very good on the personal stuff though.

53. Arabella by Georgette Heyer.

Young Arabella Tallant is about to have her first 'season' in Regency London, courtesy of her godmother. At home she has numerous brothers and sisters and the family is not well off so it's quite important that she makes a good match if she possibly can in order to help her siblings along in life. On the way to London she has an encounter with Robert Beuamaris, a rich eligble bachelor, and encourages him to believe that she's a wealthy heiress. Before long she's the talk of the town in London and all because everyone thinks she's rich and a good catch. At some stage of course, the truth will out, and what then? I think this is my third or fourth reread of what is one of my favourite Georgette Heyer Regency romances. What all of this author's books have in common is the utterly sublime writing, Heyer knew her stuff and wrote with such humour that the books are a joy to read. I will be rereading more of these gorgeous books.

So, not a bad reading month... a mixed bunch, a couple of non-fictions, three crime yarns, and four general fiction books. I seem to be reading much more in the way of general fiction these days, I particularly enjoyed The Village by Marghanita Laski for instance and Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield made for a very interesting reading experience. I like peppering my reading with the odd bit of women's fiction now as well, and Arabella reminded me how much I enjoy historical type fiction (although I know it's not in the 'serious' historical fiction category) so I plan to read more of that if I can.

Onwards and upwards into August. Happy Reading!

~~~oOo~~~