I've finally decided I'm not going to force myself to finish any of the remaining books on my 2025 TBR, especially considering how large some of them are. That said, and considering that I slaved this month to finish a book with a title that started with "X", I would still like to finish one more year of an Alphabet Titles challenge. I have 11 to go (including one I'm currently reading), and most can be checked off with books I already own.
But before then, I am in desperate need of 1) a reread or two and 2) some science fiction. I enjoyed most of the books I read in August, but none of them hit just right.
However! I've only read one book via audio since June, which explains my slower speed but also makes me feel more accomplished.
Total books: 6 | New reads: 6 | 2025 TBR completed: 1 (0 DNF) / 6/18 total | Total books read this year: 42
July | September
#1 - Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper - 4/5 stars
Probably best classed as a short story, this was a fun, quirky little read that felt a bit Lemony Snicket-y, and the artwork was fantastic. I grabbed this for my Alphabet Titles challenge (funnily enough I ended up with another "Y" title this month), and I will be passing it on to a friend who I think will thoroughly enjoy it.
#2 - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - 5/5 stars
Not my first Stevenson, but my first of that isn't a poetry collection, and I have no idea how I've never read this story before! (I also don't know why it took me as long as it did to get through it, but that's another thing entirely.) A splendid adventure I'm pleased to have on my shelves, and one I will definitely be sharing with the niblings when they're older. (I know the second-born will probably love Jim threatening to blow out a pirate's brains. He's that kind of kid.)
Side note: I could not stop calling this "Treasure Planet".
#3 - The Moon by Night by Madeleine L'Engle - 4/5 stars
And I'm back with the Austin family! Very happy I chose August to return to this series, because it felt right for the story about their summer tour of the U.S. The tone or style felt a little different from Meet the Austins but was still cozy, with a lot of lines I highlighted. And I may or may not have teared up at the end.
#4 - Middlemarch by George Eliot - 5/5 stars ('25 TBR, audio)
I did not expect to have such an overall splendid time with this one. I figured it would be a moderately enjoyable read, but my goodness, the way Eliot writes people; living, breathing, absurd, endearing people. I had so much fun just existing with them for a while, even if I did sometimes feel like a guilty gossip. (Except Mr. Casaubon. I'm ignoring any morality lessons attached to him.)
I will say that it is huge and feels huge, and by around the 75% mark I was starting to flag a little. In the end, I only truly cared about Fred and Mary. The rest were fun or frustrating in their turn, but Fred and Mary were simply delightful.
Oh, and Caleb Garth. He reminded me very strongly of Dickon and Martha Sowerby's mother in The Secret Garden. I would trust Caleb with my life.
#5 - The XX Brain by Lisa Mosconi, PhD - 3/5 stars
I paid a high price to get that "X" title for this year's Alphabet Titles challenge.
In an apparent effort to be culturally sensitive and politically correct, Mosconi ended up contradicting herself several times in this book. Just say men and women are different and move on, please. And stop blaming the patriarchy for everything, especially when you use the next paragraph to compare the social and mental differences between men and women. Again.
Would I have picked this up if it hadn't been part of a prompt? Maybe, if I'd somehow stumbled across it otherwise, given that women's health falls under "things I'm interested in learning about". Would I have made an effort to finish reading it in that case? Probably not. Most of what this book presented as revelatory information is stuff my circle (particularly on tumblr) is already talking about, if perhaps not so neatly laid out and organized as here. The rest was largely common sense. "Men's and women's brains are different. More at 11:00."
The plus side is that it wasn't a very dense read. And yet somehow it took me almost three weeks to finish. 0/10, do not recommend.
#6 - The Young Unicorns by Madeleine L'Engle - 4/5 stars
If I thought Meet the Austins and The Moon by Night varied a little in style, this third installment really varied. I'd forgotten until The Moon by Night that all of L'Engle's fiction takes place in the same universe (tessering and the Murrys were briefly mentioned there), and to have actual magic and fantasy elements turn up here kind of threw me for a loop.
Something about this one reminded me strongly of C.S. Lewis; either That Hideous Strength or The Last Battle. The conclusion was very L'Engle, though. Not my favorite of the series, but a solid entry.
Currently Reading:
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle - I will be taking this one very slowly because it's hitting closer to home than the prequels.
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Mystery Review: Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village
Mystery Review: Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village – Maureen Johnson & Jay Cooper
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village is exactly what it claims to be – a guide. Elucidating all the things a tourist needs to know about a quiet English village in order to navigate it and the inevitable undercurrents successfully (i.e., not get murdered).
Its’ also one of the…
You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper. Rating: 3.5 stars.
Read on August 2nd.
Before I get into the review, a quick thanks to both NetGalley and the publishers over at Ten Speed Press for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. In this one, a letter is sent to you, a detective, along with the case file--including photos, interviews, and case notes--for a case they're calling "The Creeping Hand Murder." A murder took place in a room full of people who all claim they saw nothing and that no one went near the victim. Are the suspects lying? If not, how did someone get stabbed from across the room without it being seen? This one comes out on September 15th and is available for preorder now.
Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper at back at it again. I enjoyed Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village that I had to request the ARC for this one. It's done up in Jay Cooper's style which really works for the mystery. And Maureen Johnson's humor is seen from nearly every page. I absolutely loved the world that was built in such few pages. It's set in the U.K. in the 1930s and it definitely feels that way--from the art to the way the characters speak. I also enjoyed trying to solve this one for myself. As for the characters, everyone felt so real and true to life, this is something I've always found Maureen Johnson has done really well.
I think the two real things working against this one for me are sort of counters to each other. The first one is something I struggle with because of the writing: I think there aren't enough breadcrumbs for you, the reader/detective, to solve the case. It's possible that I'm just not smart enough, but there are some relationships and some jumps that are needed to solve the case that we just don't get before the solution pages. And I'm so glad there was a letter at the end giving us the solution. The second problem I had was a me issue for sure. While the author and illustrator both did a great job bringing 1933 to life, I just wasn't a huge fan of the historical aspect of the story. It's just hard for me to get over the characters doing things that were typical back then but absolutely insane in today's world. (I won't gp further into that because it's a spoiler.)
Overall, this was a fun and quick read. I'm definitely picking up when it comes out because I know it's going to be gorgeous.
