ShortBookandScribes September 2024 Reads

I think I blinked and missed September. It’s been a busy month with school restarting and we’ve been visiting secondary schools because that’s what next September will bring. I read nine books, which is not the ten I hoped for but is better than the eight I had been managing, so I’m not complaining (much).

Did anybody watch Nightsleeper? I know it was a bit farfetched but I was completely hooked and that last episode…..my heart was beating fast! I’ve also watched A Very Royal Scandal which is a dramatisation of the Prince Andrew Newsnight interview and of course, my beloved All Creatures Great and Small is back on and it is such a joy to watch.

These are my September books:

The Home Front Girls by Susanna Bavin

The start of a new series from an author I love. This follows Sally and Betty who work in a salvage yard in WWII. Their pluck really jumps off the page.

 

A Child Far from Home by Lizzie Page

This is the first in a new trilogy from one of my favourite authors. It’s about Valerie who is evacuated from London during WWII and her mother, Jean who stays behind. It covers the war that both of them experienced and the trauma of being separated.

 

The Negotiator by Brooke Robinson

A gripping story of a siege in a museum and the fallout from it. Emotive and thought-provoking.

 

Small Bomb at Dimperley

An ode to the country house and the struggle to keep them going after the wars. It’s so humorous one minute and then the next the moving observations are like a punch to the gut. Superb.

 

The Mischief Makers by Elisabeth Gifford

A fictionalisation of Daphne du Maurier’s life with a particular focus on her family’s links with J.M. Barrie. This book completely and utterly mesmerised me.

 

Ghost Story by Elisa Lodato

Blog tour review to follow on 3rd October.

 

I Died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel

A modern day gothic country house murder mystery. Simmering tension, bones in the cottage garden, and small village mentality, together with interesting characters, made this a great debut.

 

Isolation Island by Louise Minchin

Ten celebrities on a remote Scottish island for a reality TV survival show. What can possibly go wrong? How about a dead body and a terrible storm? A well-plotted and fast-paced debut.

 

Because She Looked Away by Alison Bruce

A great premise about a detective who ends up being questioned about how a series of unsolved crimes might link to her late sister. A complex and twisty first book in a new series.

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What was your favourite September read? What have you been watching? Let me know in the comments.