Reading List: August 2017

We are officially into August and into the height of Summer! I will always associate August as being Summer as that is when I used to go on holidays with my mum and dad and of course, school was out. For me, it was the best time of the year.
So this month I’ll be starting by finishing the last book of my July list, being A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I didn’t quite get to finish it since Magician took me a little longer than anticipated to read.
Here is a list of the other books I am planning to read this month. If any of these catch your eye please look out for my reviews of these books as well:-
1 Lords and Ladies – Terry Pratchett

GoodReads – Lords and Ladies
Yes guys, I’m going back to one of my favourite authors this year and one of the best (and longest) series of books I have read. This also features some of my favourite characters on the Discworld, including Granny Weatherwax and her coven of witches! I love the escapism you get whilst reading of the wild adventures of the Discworld, yet somehow when the book is finished you realise that between all the magic and lunacy (and it’s hilarious lunacy at that), there is something you can take away from the book that really smacks of the world we live in. I daresay the madness isn’t as far from the world we live in as we would like to think… expect Earth isn’t transported through space and time on the back of a giant turtle of course.
2 River God – Wilbur Smith

GoodReads – River God
My granddad used to read a lot of Wilbur Smith, apparently. I only found this out fairly recently, having stumbled across a newer release of his in a local bookshop with my mum in tow. I think the book we stumbled across was called Pharaoh. I also share a lot of my reading “ventures” – for want of a better word – with a colleague of mine and when telling her about this I found out she too had read Wilbur Smith and enjoyed his books. We have similar taste in books so at that point I decided to give this a go. It’s completely new to me, but I’m excited. It’s also for me a way to get closer to my grandad. Sadly all of my grandparents are no longer with us, so if I can take the time to enjoy the things they did I see that as one of my ways of remembering them.
3 A Tale of two Cities – Charles Dickens

GoodReads – A Tale of Two Cities
I hold my hand up and say I have never read any Charles Dickens – not even A Christmas Carol. It’s one of those films I like to try to watch every year, as well as Miracle on 34th Street (but it has to be the 1994 version with Richard Attenborough as the man in red). I think I have just committed myself to reading the book this year out of shame!! As much as I say I have never read any of the works of Dickens, I’m not saying I am unfamiliar either; I have never taken the time to appreciate these works is all. Whilst I am finding myself with an appreciation for classics, I’m jumping right in to read as many as I can.
4 The Lady of the Rivers – Philippa Gregory

GoodReads – The Lady of the Rivers
I love history and I think I pretty much always have. Whilst the potential was always there my real love for the subject was kindled by two excellent teachers we had at our high school, husband and wife – they were a load of fun. They had done well for themselves, even have written textbooks distributed around schools on the subject, but equally they were the kind of teachers that would happily let you watch a film and where necessary narrate the historical context of what was going on. There was also the bread sticks too…
I have digressed from my point slightly. As I have said, I love history, but whilst I was at school I didn’t get the chance to study the Wars of the Roses… which is silly really because that is far closer to home than the likes of the Cold War and America from 1920-45.
I have heard great things of Philippa Gregory as a historical writer so this should be a great indulgent read. My sister also managed to buy me the second book of the series, The White Queen, for a pound just a couple of weeks ago. Saving money on book buys is always a bonus!!
5 Extracted – R R Heywood

GoodReads – Extracted
This book caught my eye as it also has some element of history involved. I will openly admit in the past I haven’t been inclined to read much in the way of science fiction. In fact I think my sci-fi library goes as far as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The War of the Worlds and some short stories by George R R Martin. My dad is definitely a science fiction lover by comparison. I can’t explain what it is, but a lot of the time, I can’t take to them. It’s funny really: you would think my love and purpose of reading as a form of escapism would allow me the greater ability to stretch the imagination in order to read these books. A lot of the time however I am not inclined to read it, with a few exceptions. I’m making one for this book however, so fingers crossed I haven’t made a mistake.
6 Pet Sematary – Stephen King


GoodReads – Pet Sematary
I add this last book to my list tentatively, as I may not get to finish it this month, but I’ll sure as anything give it a try! Horror is also a new genre for me to read; I have steered clear of horror as I absolutely detest horror films. To set the record straight, this is not because they scare me… I think they are so predictable they don’t scare me at all. I’m hoping with writing it will be more suspenseful rather than cheap shots at scaring people by having something jump into the camera for a quick “thrill”. Do me a favour… this is not entertaining at all. I’m also trusting that dipping my toes in the water with a Stephen King novel will be a safe way to start exploring – I already know I like his writing style!

So that is how I’ll be spending my free time this month – I’m sure keeping busy! As well as all this reading you can catch me here with updates as to how I am getting along.
Has anyone else read any of the books listed above? If so, what was your verdict?