August is my birthday month and I took some well-deserved time off work to relax a little over the summer. I treated myself to plenty of quiet reading time and had one of the best book months of 2024 so far.
Here’s how my August reading stats shaped up:
- 8 books completed
- 100% fiction
- 37.5% physical books
- 25% digital books
- 37.5% audiobooks
August reading reviews.
Once Upon a Time Bookshop #1: The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman
Isabel Gibson has all but perfected the art of forgetting. She’s a New Yorker now, with nothing left to tie her to Brinkley’s Island, Maine. Her parents are gone, the family bookstore is all but bankrupt, and her sister, Sophie, will probably never speak to her again.
But when a mysterious letter arrives in her mailbox, Isabel feels herself drawn to the past. After years of fighting for her independence, she dreads the thought of going back to the island. What she finds there may forever alter her path—and change everything she thought she knew about her family, her home, and herself.
“The Bookstore Sisters” was a delightful short story about two sisters who reunite after a decade-long falling out. Difficult family relationships and beautiful Maine countryside formed the background for this cosy read, made ever so charming with its references to home baking, a boisterous doggo, dependable love interest and the titular bookshop housed in a listed cottage with a rose garden. A lovely little piece of escapism which hit me hard in the adult-women-still-grieving-their-long-dead-mother feels. Predictable, but a perfectly sweet and emotional treat for this here bookworm.
Once Upon a Time Bookshop #2: The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman
Isabel, the long-lost Gibson sister, is finally back home on Brinkley’s Island, Maine. With Sophie and Violet, her sister and her niece, she’s got the family bookstore—and with Johnny Lenox, she’s got something even more special.
But even as life settles, not everything is falling into place. Isabel and Johnny have set the date three times, baked three wedding cakes, invited the whole island to three parties, only to have each attempt at matrimony fall apart at the last minute. Disasters seem to be conspiring against their happy ending, and Isabel is starting to wonder if their love is meant to be.
When family history comes back to haunt the Gibson sisters, Isabel knows that if she wants to make it down the aisle with Johnny, first she and Sophie will have to face the pain of their past and their present, and decide what it means for their future.
“The Bookstore Wedding” picks up several years after the first story. I couldn’t connect as much with this one, it spent a long chunk at the beginning re-telling the series of events from “The Bookstore Sisters” and wove in two love stories with lots of complications along the way. Some of the characters had a lot more grace and patience than I could ever hope to achieve, as our main character Isabel makes some questionable choices. All’s well that ends well, and I am looking forward to how things wrap up in the third part, although it’s a long wait until the release in February 2025!
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.
Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.
Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.
Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.
Mallory lands a job babysitting for a wealthy couple living in an idyllic suburb, but things turn spooky when the child begins drawing disturbing pictures…
Positives: The story begins with a really interesting account of the main character participating in a psychological study, which does play some minimal part in the rest of the story, but I wish the author had explored this more! It was intriguing right off the bat. When Mallory becomes immersed in the new lifestyle of her job as live-in babysitter for young Teddy, weird things begin happening and she is determined to get to the bottom of it.
Rich people are always a bit weird for starters, and there seems something a bit off about the Maxwell family from the get-go. Creepy kids are such a strong trope in horror and I thought this played out really well here. I loved that the kid’s drawings were included in the printed version of the book, it was really impactful and nailed that unsettling feeling. It was fun trying to piece the mystery together, there were red herrings and misdirection all over the place. The book was a real page-turner and kept me guessing until the final reveal – I would never have seen some of those twists coming!
Negatives: Mallory isn’t the most likeable main character- she is judgemental, opinionated, and an outright liar. Bit of a weird turn with the father towards the end, it kind of felt thrown in without enough build-up to be taken seriously.
Overall: I enjoyed reading this and would recommend Hidden Pictures to anyone who likes the sound of a supernatural psychological thriller. It would make a great movie!
Smothermoss by Alisa Alering
In 1980s Appalachia, life isn’t easy for Sheila. She endures relentless taunting and bullying at the hands of her classmates; she takes care of her great-aunt, the garden and home, and the rabbits; and forages for mushrooms in the forest, all while her mother works long, back-breaking shifts at the nearby state asylum. But it’s her peculiar little sister, Angie, who worries her the most. Angie is obsessed with nuclear war, Rambo, zombies, a Russian invasion of their community, and the ominous, tarot-like cards that she creates that somehow speak to her. As if all that weren’t enough, Sheila feels an unexplainable weight around her neck. Is it the ancient and strange mountain that they live on that casts its shadow on her, or something or someone else unknown? Unseen?
When a pair of female hikers are brutally murdered on the nearby Appalachian trail, Sheila and Angie find themselves inexorably drawn into the hunt for the killer. As the ever-present threat of violence looms larger, the mountain might be the only thing that can save them from the darkness consuming their home and their community.
Unsettling, propulsive, and chillingly atmospheric, Alisa Alering’s Smothermoss opens a hidden door into a world caught between rural gothic and fairytale, inviting the reader to renegotiate what is seen and unseen, what is real and what is haunted.
“Smothermoss” is a strange tale of two sisters, Sheila and Angie, set in 1980’s Appalachia. I thought this was a really interesting setting for a story, and the environment is brought to life in tender detail through descriptive imagery. The girls face many hardships due to their lifestyle, and retreat into a world of magical realism to fantasise about all the things they wish could be theirs.
The murder mystery plot is not a central focus of the book, and the lines are constantly blurred between fantasy and reality. This is really all about two girls growing up feeling othered, and how their dreams and desires are tethered to the place they belong to. Many things are left without a hard explanation, allowing the reader to pick up the threads and weave them together. The atmosphere is heavy, oppressive and unrelenting, with very little relief or lightness through the story.
Deeply immersive Appalachian gothic with rich, lyrical prose. An acquired taste for sure.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.
Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Center convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.
Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?
Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, “The Konkatsu Killer,” Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.
Inspired by the true story of a Japanese serial killer and the journalist seeking to unravel the truth of this case. “Butter” is less about crime and murder, and more about what it is to be a woman in this world. The main character reflects on the experiences of women around her, her expectations for herself, and how others have expected the women around them to shape their existence to fit external cultural ideals.
The story is a meandering look at relationships, identity, and purpose. I found it very slow to read, overly long and repetitive. Had I not been passively experiencing this through the audiobook version, I probably would have DNF’d. Fine but not really my cup of tea.
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
When a massive object crashes into the ocean off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous and legendary city, three people wandering along Bar Beach (Adaora, the marine biologist- Anthony, the rapper famous throughout Africa- Agu, the troubled soldier) find themselves running a race against time to save the country they love and the world itself… from itself.
Told from multiple points of view and crisscrossing narratives, combining everything from superhero comics to Nigerian mythology to tie together a story about a city consuming itself.
‘There was no time to flee. No time to turn. No time to shriek. And there was no pain. It was like being thrown into the stars.’
“Lagoon” is an alien invasion story like no other, told through many different POVs as we are swept up in the chaos that unravels when the alien presence in Lagos becomes public knowledge.
Everything about this book feels magical. Serious topics are tackled with heart and playfulness. The varied perspectives show us intimately personal experiences of an extremely large event, and showcase the conflicting views of those who struggle to live alongside one another in a flawed human world. There are science fiction elements mixed with African folklore elements and I was completely immersed in the spell. Some chapters that blur into magical realism and I feel this only added to the depth of the story. The characters are loveable and despicable, but the true star of the story is Lagos itself and the city shines in the centre of all the action.
One of the most unique and special books I’ve read this year, I would recommend it with my whole heart.
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin…
It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.
But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.
It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at… The Midnight Feast.
It’s opening night at The Manor luxury retreat, but this summer solstice night holds strange happenings in store. The past and the woods have been holding secrets that will come back to haunt those who return…
I was bound to love this one, I’m a fan of Lucy Foley’s previous books and enjoy how the stories are pieced together with multiple POVs. The audiobook was perfection, the voice actors nailed their roles and made it a thrilling listening experience. My roots are in the Westcountry of England so the charm of the local accents tugged at my heartstrings and made me feel dearly attached to the characters.
The mix of a modern setting and English folklore all tied up in a murder mystery really appealed to me. The characters were either loveable or despicable, and they came to life through the pages. There were a few shocking moments but overall the tone is light and engaging with a sense of humour thrown in. Thoroughly enjoyed it and can strongly recommend. I will read anything that Lucy Foley writes!
The Locked Door by Freida McFadden
Some doors are locked for a reason…
While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.
Until the day the police arrived at their front door.
Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way.
Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims.
Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she’s not a killer like her father. The police can’t pin anything on her.
As long as they don’t look in her basement.
The daughter of a convicted serial killer is drawn into a web of confusion as new victims appear following the same patterns from her childhood.
The writing style is easy and accessible, and for this fact I raced through the audiobook in just a couple of days. Maybe because I finished so quickly, I felt very aware of some things that the author kept repeating; it is 26 years after her father’s conviction, she is very good at literally everything, she also cannot remember anything. These things being referenced time and again felt very tired. I couldn’t warm to the main character, Nora, as her personality is abrasive and her walls are up so high that no one can get close, not even me as a reader. She revels in her own sense of superiority and this is reinforced by her love interest telling her she’s not like other girls. Ugh.
On the plus side: she makes for a fitting unreliable narrator, there were a few good candidates to be suspicious of and I did not figure out the ending. However, I did not think the ending made much sense and did not feel like a satisfying conclusion – it all got a bit silly and not in an enjoyable way. “The Locked Door” could have been an entertaining popcorn thriller, but I feel like it missed the mark and the main character was particularly insufferable. Despite the themes being intriguing, I would not recommend.
My favourite quote from the book, and the only time I related to Nora’s opinions:
Him: “I’m a big fan of Quentin Tarantino.”
Her: “Quentin Tarantino? That’s not better than slasher films. It might even be worse.”
September TBR.
I had great fun choosing my book picks for the coming months as we head full-steam towards Spooky Season! There are a mix of books I received for my birthday, an ARC that I need to get my teeth into, and the book that I keep meaning to read but somehow keep putting off.
- Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix ~ paperback from my bookshelf
- The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey ~ paperback from my bookshelf
- The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Lucy Mark Lawrence ~ audiobook from my local library
- Carrie by Stephen King ~ hardback from my bookshelf
- Th1rt3en by Steve Cavanagh ~ paperback from my bookshelf
- Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas ~ ARC ebook
Bookish socials
You can find me on the following platforms, posting about my reading goals and writing projects.
Goodreads @heartofhorrors
Instagram @heart_of_horrors
Storygraph @heartofhorrors
And all the rest via linktree @heartofhorrors
Let me know in the comments:
What is your most recent read?
What is on your Spooky Season TBR?
Have you read any of the books in my latest wrap-up?
