ShortBookandScribes May 2025 Reads, Book Post and Stats

Goodbye May, hello June. These round up posts seem to come round very quickly, don’t they?

Last month I watched an old BBC series on iPlayer called Love, Lies and Records. I enjoyed this series about a group of people who work in the Register Office, dealing with births, deaths and marriages, along with their own messy lives. I’ve also been watching The Bombing of Pan Am 103 on BBC and Code of Silence on ITV, both very good.

In terms of reading, it’s been another seven books month. Here’s what I read:

 

New Horizons for the Woolworths Girls by Elaine Everest

This was a bittersweet read as it’s the last book by Elaine Everest who very sadly died last year. I loved this story about Annie Brookes who takes a job working for Woolworths during WWII and meets an American soldier who she thinks will make her happy.

 

Human Remains by Jo Callaghan

This is book three in a series that I eagerly await the next instalment of. DCS Kat Frank and her AI sidekick, AIDE Lock, are back solving crimes. The end chilled me and made me consider the good and bad aspects of AI.

 

Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley

This book follows Coralie and Adam over the course of a decade in London, against a politically turbulent backdrop. It’s a superb character-driven debut.

 

The Chemist by A.A. Dhand

My first book by this author and I really liked the fast-paced and gripping storyline of a chemist who finds himself in the middle of a dangerous turf war between two drug lords.

 

The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster

This fictional story is based on the true story of Maggie Dickson who was hanged but didn’t die. It’s beautifully written and rich with historical detail.

 

The Chevalier by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Book 7 in the Morland Dynasty series sees Annunciata Morland follow King James II into exile as the Catholic Stuarts are forced out in favour of Protestant William of Orange.

The Maiden by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Book 8 in the Morland Dynasty series and the heir Jemmy and his daughter Jemima take centre stage amidst Jacobite rebellions.

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Book post received this month with thanks to the named publishers:

The Chemist by A.A. Dhand (sent by HQ)

Wild About You by Sophie Loxton (sent by Simon & Schuster)

Isabella’s Not Dead by Beth Morrey (sent by Harper Fiction)

The Girl in the Suitcase by Lesley Pearse (sent by Penguin Michael Joseph)

Can You Solve the Murder by Antony Johnston (sent by Bantam)

Shattered by Hanif Kureishi (sent by Penguin Viking)

Havoc by Rebecca Wait (sent by riverrun)

The Woman Who Laughed by Simon Mason (sent by riverrun)

The Everyday and Far Away by Jacqueline Jones (giveaway win sent by One World)

 

I also bought:

The Woman Who Met Herself by Laura Pearson

Book People by Jackie Ashenden

The Case of the Singer and The Showgirl by Lisa Hall

The Secrets of Blythswood Square by Sara Sheridan (these last three from The Works)

After the Storm by G.D. Wright

Appointment With Venus by Jerrard Tickell (a lovely Manderley Press edition and a Vinted bargain)

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

Time’s Tyranny by Linda Gillard

These two have very snazzy sprayed edges:

The Tomorrow Project by H. Critchlow

The Examiner by Janice Hallett

 

And a blogger friend passed these on to me:

Albion by Anna Hope

Ripeness by Sarah Moss

Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

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Finally, my Storygraph stats for May:

The average time to finish is always a bit misleading. I mean yes, I’m slow, but it’s exaggerated because I’m reading the Morland books at roughly a chapter a day on the Kindle app. Just felt the need to explain that!

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Please do let me know in the comments if you like the sound of any of the books I’ve read or received.