Our furry little visitor went home with his mother yesterday, so my lap is free once again and since I'm no longer spending a large chunk of my day playing ball, can turn my attention to other things. Since I didn't get a chance to post my mid-month reading wrap up in August, I'll break the list into two posts. Today I'll tell you a bit about the mysteries and the soon-to-be-published books I read in August.
I continued on with the Georgette Heyer classic mysteries. Of the 12 she published, BorrowBox has 7. I completed these in August, with the last one being available only in an e-book. I listened to the rest in audio. As I was reading the ebook, I could hear the narrator's voice in my head.
Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer (BorrowBox audiobook)
This was a bit of a departure from the previous Heyer books I listened to. A trio of siblings inherits an old priory with a reputation for being haunted. The two sisters, their brother, and the husband of one of the women laugh this off and move in with a couple of servants, only to quickly become alarmed when they hear strange noises. Investigations ensue, bringing them in contact with some strange people in the village. What's going on? Is there really a ghost or is something more sinister going on? This wasn't the best Heyer mystery I've read, to be honest. I didn't love it, but I didn't dislike it either. I think listening to it on audio helped a bit because I was doing other stuff while I listened. I'm not sure it would have been one I'd have liked to sit and read.
Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer (BorrowBox audiobook)
Beulah Birtly is the secretary to an odious women named Mrs. Haddington. She hates her job, but fears she wouldn't be able to get another because of some secret scandal in her past. She's engaged to Timothy Kane, who Mtrs Haddington had her eye on as a suitable husband for her very spoiled, shallow daughter. The daughter, however, is pretty keen on the title of a lord who fancies himself a communist. Mrs. Haddington is hosting a bridge party and everything has to be just right--she's very nit-picky. However, her plans are foiled when a guest is found dead in her boudoir, strangled with a piece of picture wire. It was Beulah who bought the picture wire and she has a secret past, so she quickly becomes a suspect. Inspector Hemingway appears to investigate and meets Timothy Kane again--a person he'd met years before on another case, when Timothy was just a boy. They work together, but can they figure things out before more deaths occur? I liked this book much more than I liked the other two Heyers I read this month as it's more what I'd become used to from her--the mystery and the humor. She does class snobbery very well and that's definitely a feature of this book. I laughed out loud at times. All of the Heyer audiobooks I've listened to have been read by Ulli Birve and she's really good. This was the last Heyer audiobook available to me and I'll miss them. At some point, I'll get the remaining Heyer mysteries from the library and read them, but I've really enjoyed these audiobooks.
Penhallow by Georgette Heyer (BorrowBox ebook)
This came in at just the right time for me because with a dog on my lap, holding books was awkward, but reading ebooks on my phone was doable since I could hold and turn pages with one hand. Like the first Heyer book this month, this one doesn't feature her series detectives and isn't really even a mystery at all. A bully of a patriarch, named Penhallow, makes most people around him miserable. There are a number of people around for him to torment--servants, children (both legitimate and not), a sister, the sister and brother of his late first wife, his second wife and his son with her, and a cousin. He is ill and drinks too much. Eventually, after much description of the house and its inhabitants, he is killed. This isn't a mystery and there is no whodunnit aspect to the story. It's part of the narrative. Then we see the reactions of those left behind and the impact of the police investigation. Didn't care for this much. I think Penhallow was supposed to be seen as a sort of lovable rogue at times, but he was just a jerk. I think this would be better characterized as a dysfunctional family saga than a mystery and I don't really recommend it.
A Mind to Murder by PD James (BorrowBox audiobook)
This is the second Adam Dalgliesh novel. In it, Dalgliesh is at a literary party celebrating the publication of one of his books of poetry. He's called away because there's been a murder at a psychiatric clinic nearby. It's a specialist clinic, catering to the well-to-do. The list of suspects is limited, but there are several suspects to choose from. This was a good solid James mystery--not spectacular, but enjoyable.
Lessons in Crime by various authors (borrowed from library)
This is a British Library Crime Classics title. It's a collection of short stories all having to do with academia/schools. It's a great collection. I'm a big fan of both short stories and classic mysteries, so this is right up my street and it didn't disappoint.
In the soon-to-be published category, I read the following books in August. Publication dates given are for this part of the world and may be different elsewhere--some may already have been published in other places.
Always Home, Always Homesick: A Love Letter to Iceland by Hannah Kent (NetGalley DRC, to be published on November 5, 2025)
I'll start by saying I loved every minute I spent with this book. In addition to be beautifully written, it was also fascinating in many ways, from the information provided about Iceland and its culture, to the inner life of the author, to her process of self-discovery, to the evolution of her novel set in Iceland, Burial Rites--it was all captivating.
I'd read Burial Rites some years ago now, but knew nothing about the author, so when I saw this book I was interested in the author's relationship to Iceland--how she got there and what made her fall in love with it. The book starts during the COVID pandemic in Australia. Hannah Kent is now married to Heidi and they have two children--2 year-old Anouk, and a newborn. Hannah is still recovering from giving birth when she wakes up on her birthday having had another dream about Iceland. From there, we go back in time to when she ended up being an exchange student there. She describes so well what it felt like to be in a place so different to anything she'd ever known and in a society that appears to be rather reserved and often standoffish. She describes learning the language, eating Icelandic food, what she learned, her relationship with her classmates and host families, her fears, dreams, and moments of self-discovery. I could relate to much of this, having had similar experiences (albeit as an adult) when moving to Alaska and working with Inupiaq people and being a host mother to an exchange student. I was telling my husband about some her her experiences and we were both unimpressed with the way she was sometimes treated. The narrative moves on from there, sometimes going back and forth in time as Kent writes about her stubborn fascination with the life of the woman who would become the protagonist of Burial Rites, her first novel. She tells readers about her research and the serendipitous moments that occurred in the process. Finally there is a bit where she explains how she came to write this book.
This book is so much more than a memoir and I highly recommend it.
The Healing Power of Korean Letter Writing by Juhee Min (NetGalley DRC to be published on September 11, 2025)
This was a delightful book. When the publisher offered me a digital review copy, I was intrigued and when I read it, I was so glad I accepted. To begin with, it's a lovely book of encouragement to write letters, covering everything you can think of regarding this method of communication. I've come to appreciate the power of letters from my own experience. My oldest friend loves getting letters from me and would prefer them to physical gifts. We live half a world away from one another and even though we email regularly, when she gets a letter/card, she saves it until just the right moment. However, as I was reading this book, so many more aspects of letter writing and receiving were brought to mind. There were parts of the book that weren't really relevant to my life. I am almost certainly never going to be in South Korea looking for a post office or stamps to buy, for example. But even those very specific parts of the book were very interesting as a window on the culture in which the author lives and works.
Another fascinating aspect of the book was the author's business--a letter shop. I'd never heard of such a thing and was surprised that such a business even exists, but it does and is successful, which is a good thing. In the shop, one can buy paper and envelopes, stamps, avail of a letter writing service, have space to write letters, and be a part of a pen pal exchange. It sounds like a great place.
Finally, I loved the way the author approaches letter writing as an art form. As a creative person myself, this book sparked some ideas about how to incorporate letters into my own work. It was inspiring and I'm thrilled to have read it.
Signs from the Future: A Philosophy of Warnings by Santiago Zabala (NetGalley DRC, to be published on October 28, 2025)
In this important book, Santiago Zabala is issuing a warning himself--we must start approaching emergencies to come in ways that are different to what we've always done. In the introduction, he asks, "Why don't we listen to warnings?" (p 6) He makes it clear that predictions and warnings are not the same thing, explaining that predictions are statements about what will happen, no matter what humans do--future as a continuation of the present. On the other hand, warnings are statements about what is likely to happen unless steps are taken to prevent these events. Warnings offer us a chance to do things differently, thus changing the trajectory of the present. They "... strive to change the future by reinterpreting the past." (p 8) This does, of course, require us to look at things in new ways and be open to radical change. In my own experience, there is real resistance to doing this. Zabala puts it this way: "The problem is not only whether we accept the involvement that warnings expect from us, but also whether we are willing to confront them at all." (p 8) This gets at the crux of the matter for me because again, my experience with this kind of thing is that people are not willing to confront the issues and the realities that warnings ask us to face. It's an issue I've become extremely interested in, which is one reason why I was so eager to read this book. It was fascinating and has given me much to consider.
Zabala draws primarily on the work of four philosophers: Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Simone de Beauvoir, and Hannah Arendt, although he does include the work of other philosophers as well. Each of the four is relevant to a particular aspect of Zabala's message and the first four chapters of the book are devoted to explanations of this--one chapter per philosopher. From there, he goes on to flesh out his arguments about why people do not want to hear warnings, how they get sucked in my disinformation, how warnings are communicated, both effectively and not, and finally, the role of art in warnings. He does a fine job of explaining why he chose the artwork on the cover of the book, for example.
To give one concrete example, he points out that for years and years scientists have been warning that a pandemic would be coming--it was just a matter of when. Measures could have been put in place to deal with such an eventuality and people could have accepted the warning and been prepared themselves. Instead, everyone seemed surprised and responses were, in many cases, inadequate. There are so many other examples both in the book and that jump into my mind. The warnings are all around us, but it's our choice--do we pay attention or turn away? The future we get depends on our answer.
I should say that you do not have to have a background in philosophy to find this book very much worth your time and thought. I have none. The author does a fine job of explaining the work of these philosophers as it applies to his arguments in terms non-philosophers can understand.
This is a book for this moment and beyond. It's a book that made me think, taught me things, and was simply fascinating to read. I highly recommend it.
And finally, I'll end this post on a lighter note with:
Winter Sky by Shelley Thompson (NetGalley DRC, to be published on October 21, 2025)
Christmas. It's a joyful time of year for some and a painful and difficult time for others. There are so many expectations, so much pressure, and often disappointment. Yet there is also joy, wonder, and connection. Sometimes, in the midst of all of this, we learn new things about ourselves or have experiences that cause us to reflect on our lives and relationships. The lovely stories in this book encompass all of these things and more. It's a wonderful seasonal collection that hits just the right note for me. The stories are not saccharine sweet, but they're uplifting, hopeful, and perfect for the season. The book was a joy to read and I think it would be a great gift for yourself or someone else. This is a collection I'd re-read every holiday season.
I hope September has started off well for you and that you're enjoying some excellent reading as we head into a new season.
