April bookish roundup

Hello lovely reader!

April done then? That’s a third of 2024 gone! Blimey.

Before too much more of the year disappears, let’s have a look at the bookish goings-on, shall we?

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Books read: 3

• Raw Spirit, by Iain Banks (own copy, hbk)
• Abroad In Japan, by Chris Broad (Audible subscription, audiobook)
• A Spy Like Me, by Kim Sherwood (Hemlock Press, ebook ARC)

Three books? That’s the lowest monthly total so far, AND there was a long weekend at Easter, AND I was on holiday for over a week up in Scotland. I took lots of books, including three ARCs I wanted to get read, bought two and read one. Ooops.

I first read Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram when it first came out, being as I am, a huge fan of Iain (M) Banks. I’d somehow lost that copy so imagine my delight to find a hardback copy in superb condition in a charity shop in Oban. Scotland, whisky, it was fate. And only three quid. And the only book I managed to read on holiday.

Bit of a month for re-reads, as we listened to Abroad In Japan, by Chris Broad on the drive up from Yorkshire to Oban. I’d already listened to it back in February, but we wanted something gently amusing to help pass the miles and apparently the audiobook of Dune wasn’t quite cutting it with the passenger.

I really enjoyed Kim Sherwood’s first Double O book, Double Or Nothing, so jumped at the chance to read a Netgalley copy of A Spy Like Me. Great stuff, review below!

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Books reviewed: 1

• A Spy Like Me, by Kim Sherwood (ebook ARC)

I reviewed a book! Look!

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Books purchased: 7

• Raw Spirit, by Iain Banks (hbk)
• Heaven, My Home, by Attica Locke (pbk)
• Gods of the Wyrdwood, by RJ Barker (kindle)
• Wrong Place, Wrong Time, by Gillian McAllister (kindle)
• City Under One Roof, by Iris Yamashita (kindle)
• Leave No Trace, by Jo Callaghan (Audible subscription, audiobook)
• Hell Bent, by Leigh Bardugo (kindle)

Heaven, My Home was also discovered in the same Oban charity shop as Raw Spirit, so I picked that one up for some holiday reading.

Bit of a kindle bargains month – I’ve got a hefty paperback ARC of RJ Barker’s Gods of the Wyrdwood loitering around somewhere, but it’s much lighter on kindle.

I’ve also listened to the audiobook of Gillian McAllister’s excellent Wrong Place, Wrong Time but really want to read it again. It’s a fantastic story of a murder and the events leading up to it. The main character keeps jumping back to the previous days and weeks leading up to the murder and it’s absolutely fascinating seeing how things unravel. Or ravel. It’s really really good.

Someone recommended Iris Yamashita’s City Under One Roof (sorry, can’t remember who) so I snapped that one up.

Leave No Trace is the followup to Jo Callaghan’s fabulous In The Blink of an Eye, which I loved. Went for the audiobook this time and it’s helping me get out to do my daily physio-mandated walk. Favourite quote so far is “This is Nuneaton, not Netflix” which made me laugh out loud just as I was passing some dogwalkers. Thanks Jo.

Last but by no means least, Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo is the sequel to Ninth House which I read ages ago.

Books received:4

• The Sword Unbound, by Gareth Hanrahan (Orbit Books, ARC, May 2024)

I adored Gareth Hanrahan’s The Sword Unbound, so was delighted to find a copy of the second book land on my doormat with a healthy thud. At nigh-on 600 pages it’s a hefty boi, but I couldn’t wait and jumped right in.

Virtual bookpost (Netgalley/email): 3

• Service Model, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor, June 2024)
• Seeker, by Samuel Griffin (Panthe Press, May 2024)
• Deadly Animals, by Marie Tierney (Henry Holt & Co, Nov 2024)

Currently reading:3

• Profile K – Helen Fields (Avon Books, April 2024)
• The Sword Unbound, by Gareth Hanrahan (Orbit Books, pbk ARC, May 2024)
• Leave No Trace, by Jo Callaghan (Audible subscription)

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As ever, any books in there which take your fancy? Any you’ve read and loved? Any that you’ve read and not loved?

See you next month!

Dx