Reading Round-Up: July/August 2021

Ready for another reading round-up? I can't believe how quickly the last two months have gone - it seems like only yesterday that I was sitting here writing up my May/June reading round-up! 

What is Reading Round-Up?

Reading Round-Up is a simple way for me to keep track of everything book-related and a fun way to show you what I've been reading over the last few months!

Out are the books I've read in July and August.

In are the books I've acquired during that time.

And wishlist are the books I've found out about and want to buy but have yet to manage to get my hands on!

In

• Take a Chance on Me by Beth Moran
• The Gathering Storm by Alan Jones
• The Unravelling by Polly Crosby
• The Lucky Eight by Sheila Bugler
• The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
• The Beloved Girls by Harriet Evans
• The Black Dress by Deborah Moggach
• Kind Words for Unkind Days by Jayne Hardy 
• The Insect Farm by Stuart Prebble 
• A Home in the Sun by Sue Moorcroft
• The Spanish Girl by Jules Hayes
• The New Beginnings Bridal Boutique by Kellie Hailes
• The Love Note by Kate G. Smith
• Sleepless in Sicily by Emma Jackson
• Blue Skies at the Birdie and Bramble by Alison Craig
• Summer at the Vineyard by Fliss Chester
• Black Drop by Leonora Nattrass
• Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh 
• The Forgotten Maid by Jane Cable 
• Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach 
• The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare 
• Bookshop Tours of Britain by Louise Boland
• The Killer in the Snow (DI James Walker #2) by Alex Pine
• Her Heart for a Compass by Sarah Ferguson 
• The Turnout by Megan Abbott
• A Special Cornish Christmas by Phillipa Ashley 
• The Art of Loving You by Amelia Henley
• The Collector's Daughter by Gill Paul
• Her Little Secret by Julia Stone 
• Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
• The Kinship of Djinns (Undying #1) by Ambreen Hameed & Uzma Hameed 
• My Uncle's Son (Undying #2) by Ambreen Hameed & Uzma Hameed 
• Twin Crowns by Katherine Webber & Catherine Doyle 
• The Heron's Cry (Two Rivers #2) by Ann Cleeves
• Her Nanny's Secret by Jan Baynham 
• Rachel Ryan's Resolutions by Laura Starkey
• The Woods are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins 
• Castle of Refuge (The Dericott Tales #2) by Melanie Dickerson 
• The Spirit of a Rising Sun by K.R. Galindez 
• The Liar of Red Valley by Walter Goodwater
• Sunrise Over Pebble Bay by Della Galton
• Starting Over at Sunset Cottage by Lisa Hobman
• The Perfect Daughter by Alex Stone 
• Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano 
• Blue Moon (Jack Reacher #24) by Lee Child 
• The Flight by Julie Clark 
• Her Secret War by Pam Lecky 

Out

• In Youth is Pleasure by Denton Welch 
• Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten 
• Sunny Summer Treats anthology by Choc Lit Publishing
• Touch of Euphoria by Cat Holland
• Surprise Heir for the Princess by Kate Hardy 
• The Woman from Beaumont Farm by AnneMarie Brear 
• Stolen by Tess Stimson 
• One Lucky Summer by Jenny Oliver
• A Farmhouse in Tuscany by Victoria Springfield
• Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• I Am the Sea by Matt Stanley
• Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney 
• Freckles by Cecelia Ahern 
• The Wedding Party by Tammy Cohen
• Green Rising by Lauren James

Wishlist

• The Quickening by Rhiannon Ward
• The Lucky Eight by Sheila Bugler
• Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar
• This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
• The Four Symbols by Eric Giacometti & Jacques Ravenne
• Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk & Nicola Yoon
• The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander 
• Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins 
• Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman 
• Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney 
• Court of Swans by Melanie Dickerson 
• The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
• The Long Call (Two Rivers #1) by Ann Cleeves 
• Amy Snow by Tracy Rees 

What have you been reading recently? Have you read a book I should know about? Let me know in the comments below!

Book Review: Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

AD* | Think you know the person you married? Think again...

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

Book Review: Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

AD* | 1970s, Mexico City. Maite is a secretary who lives for one thing: the latest issue of Secret Romance. While student protests and political unrest consume the city, Maite escapes into stories of passion and danger.

Her next-door neighbour, Leonora, a beautiful art student, seems to live a life of intrigue and romance that Maite envies. When Leonora disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman - and journeying deeper into Leonora’s secret life of student radicals and dissidents.

Meanwhile, someone else is also looking for Leonora at the behest of his boss, a shadowy figure who commands goon squads dedicated to squashing political activists. Elvis is an eccentric criminal who longs to escape his own life: He loathes violence and loves old movies and rock ’n’ roll. But as Elvis searches for the missing woman, he comes to observe Maite from a distance - and grows more and more obsessed with this woman who shares his love of music and the unspoken loneliness of his heart.

Now as Maite and Elvis come closer to discovering the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, they can no longer escape the danger that threatens to consume their lives, with hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies all aiming to protect Leonora’s secrets - at gunpoint.

Book Review: I Am the Sea by Matt Stanley

AD* | 1870. Apprentice lighthouseman James Meakes joins two others at the remote offshore rock of Ripshaw Reef - replacement for a keeper whose death there remains unexplained. 

Meakes' suspicions grow as he accustoms himself to his new vertical world. He finds clues, obscure messages and signs that a fourth occupant may be sharing the space, slipping unseen between staircases.

With winter approaching, the keepers become isolated utterly from shore. Sea and wind rage against the tower. Danger is part of the life. Death is not uncommon. And yet as the storm builds, the elements pale against a threat more wild and terrifying than any of them could have imagined.

Book Review: The Woman from Beaumont Farm by AnneMarie Brear

AD* | 1914, West Yorkshire, England.

Newly married to Noah Jackson, Beth is happily content working on her family’s market stall while Noah fulfils his dreams of being a teacher. Living in a small overcrowded pit house with the Jacksons isn’t ideal, but Beth knows it’s only for a short time and that change is around the corner. However, she could never have expected such shocking changes to happen.

When war erupts, Beth’s peaceful life is shattered by events beyond her control. Noah enlists to fight alongside his brothers, but it is on Beaumont Farm, Beth’s family home, where life throws the most challenges.

A devastating accident occurs that changes all their lives, and the effects ripple throughout the family. Once a loving home, Beaumont Farm becomes Beth’s responsibility, one she never thought she’d have.

Can she cope with the grief and burdens placed upon her as she waits for news from the battlefields of France?

Can she save the farm from collapse?

And will the man she loves return home safe, or will an old enemy take an opportunity to seek revenge?

Book Review: A Farmhouse in Tuscany by Victoria Springfield

AD* | Under the Tuscan sun, the lives of three women are about to change forever...

Donna has been running the Bella Vista riding centre from her rambling farmhouse in Tuscany, taking in guests who enjoy the rolling Tuscan hills, home-grown vegetables and delicious pasta. It's been a decade since her husband Giovanni walked out, convinced she was having an affair. When the truth finally comes to light, can everything return to the way it was ten years ago? Or is it too late to start over?

When self-confessed workaholic Harriet takes an impromptu holiday to Tuscany, she quickly discovers that the relaxing yoga holiday she had been anticipating will be anything but. She's shocked when she's asked to swap her yoga mat and leggings for riding jodhpurs and a helmet! But the longer she stays at serene Bella Vista, the more she begins to rethink the way she's been living for so long...

Shy artist Jess has had a crush on Donna's son Marco from the first moment she saw him. This is her second summer at Bella Vista, and while it is a riding holiday, Jess was secretly hoping to pick up where they left off last summer ­with an almost-kiss. But is Marco still interested or will this be a summer of sadness?

Book Review: One Lucky Summer by Jenny Oliver

AD* | The best-kept secrets are waiting to be found...

With an air of faded splendour, Willoughby Hall was an idyllic childhood home to Ruben de Lacy. Gazing at it now, decades later, the memories are flooding back, and not all of them are welcome...

In a tumbledown cottage in Willoughby’s grounds, Dolly and Olive King lived with their eccentric explorer father. One of the last things he did was to lay a treasure hunt before he died, but when events took an unexpected turn, Dolly and Olive left Willoughby for good, never to complete it.

But when Ruben uncovers a secret message, hidden for decades, he knows he needs Olive and Dolly’s help. Can the three of them solve the treasure hunt, and will piecing together the clues help them understand what happened to their families that summer, all those years ago?

Book Review: Stolen by Tess Stimson

AD* | You thought she was safe. You were wrong…

Alex knows her daughter would never wander off in a strange place. So when her three-year-old vanishes from an idyllic beach wedding, Alex immediately believes the worst.

The hunt for Lottie quickly becomes a worldwide search, but it’s not long before suspicion falls on her mother. Why wasn’t she watching Lottie?

Alex knows she’s not perfect, but she loves her child. And with all eyes on her, Alex fears they’ll never uncover the truth unless she takes matters into her own hands.

Who took Lottie Martini? And will she ever come home?