Book Lovers Chat - September 2024

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” George R R Martin

This voiceover is an audio version of my Slow Sunday Letter below. It is unedited, so may have some stutters, imperfections, and background noise. I hope you enjoy listening to it anyway!

Welcome to Generosity of Spirit, a gentle community exploring all aspects of Slow & Gentle living. We also get cosy with our bookish chats & I share insights into living a creative life. You are so welcome here, grab a cuppa & stay a while...

Welcome back to another Slow Sunday Letter! I hope you have had a slow and gentle week.

In this month’s Book Lover’s Chat, we are are fully embracing Autumn! The cosy season and my favourite reading season! I’ll take you through my Autumn Reading list, my reviews from my August reads, along with some book-stack recommendations and my video catch up with you all !!! We’ve got a lot to get through, so … grab a cuppa, get cosy and let’s settle down for a read together…

---

Building Our Autumn Reading

Ok - so it is only September 1st BUT indulge me, I am so excited for my Autumn reading! I have been putting books aside all year and I am so ready to dive into gothic tales, mysteries, horrors and classics! I love to plan my reading and I love seasonal reading. You can find a guide to seasonal reading here from Book Lovers Chat - July : Seasonal Reading Guide . While I love my plan, I always leave room for spontaneity, and the freedom to be drawn to a book. I like to create a list and then have fun adjusting the order as I go.

‘The Season of the Witch’

I am so ready for the change in the season as we reach the end of our glorious slow Summer and welcome our cosy Autumn.

Cool mornings, warm jumpers, tea in hand. I long for the chiller September evenings, layering up as I head home from work, as the light begins to retreat making way for the cosy dark. The rainy October and November afternoons, getting cosy under a blanket with a candle flickering away for company, as I open a new book.

This Autumn I have complied a list of books that capture the season, but lean into darker stories - gothic, ghostly, mysteries and thrillers. I may read all of these, or just a few. I won’t hold myself rigidly to my plan, but instead let it inspire me, and what I choose to gravitate towards.

My Autumn Reading List :

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

The Glutton - A K Blakemore

The Shining - Stephen King

All That Remains - Patricia Cornwell

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

Verity - Colleen Hoover

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

So as the light fades this September, the wind picks up, the leaves fall and the air turns a little colder - pull up a blanket, grab a coffee and get comfy with a cosy read !

---

My August Reads

(all my summaries and reviews will be spoiler free)

Fairytale - Stephen King

4 STARS

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was seven, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself - and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her ageing master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it.

Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.

King's storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale about another world than ours, in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy - and his dog - must lead the battle.

My Thoughts:

As my first Stephen King book this has been a great read. You hear all the time what a wonderful storyteller King is, and wow… he really is. He makes every part of the story compelling, from the ordinary all the way to the extraordinary. I’ve never read a story that feels so effortless, yet still so rich in story, and world building and characters.

I think I will think about this story for a long time, and I have a feeling I will remember Charlie and his dog Radar forever.

Scripted - Fearne Cotton

2.5 STARS

Jade Shaw has lost control.

Stuck in the middle of her chaotic family and taken for granted by her self-obsessed boyfriend, Adam, she's forgotten how to speak for herself.

The last place she expects to find answers is on the floor outside her flat. But there it is: a mysterious, untitled script, predicting an infuriating row with Adam.

Later, as if by magic, the scene becomes reality: word for word, line for line, with Adam getting his own way. Then, more scripts appear - scraps of paper predicting scenarios in which Jade's boss, mum, and bridezilla sister call all the shots.

Having been given a sneak peek at her future, Jade knows she needs to rewrite her destiny.

Can she create her own happy ever after?

My Thoughts

This was a quick and easy read, and I did enjoy the humour. However, in general I did struggle a little - the vast majority of the characters were pretty unlikeable and I think this was intentional, but this also stretched to our main character, Jade. I found her quite frustrating to read, and I didn’t always agree with her and her take on things.

I did like the gentle wisdom and advice her friend Jackson gave, but I do think the book lacked depth and heart. I liked the premise of ‘finding’ scripts and found the book engaging enough, I also liked the scenes at Jade sister Lilly’s wedding (Weddings are always fun to read) - although by this point the story had become a little more nonsensical! Overall I’d say this book didn’t live up to expectations, but I did enjoy the read.

Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

3 STARS

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago keeping busy has helped her cope. One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who sees everything, but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors - until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late...

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

My Thoughts

A beautiful and heartfelt book about love, loss and friendship. I absolutely loved all the main characters Tova, Marcellus and Cameron. I couldn’t help picturing Sally Field as Tova, ever since I found out she is playing the role in the soon to be movie version of the book! Marcellus is our grumpy, but empathetic and wonderfully intelligent Octopus, and if anything I wanted more of him in the pages. Cameron is the likeable but lost character we are all rooting for. I absolutely love a mystery, and this one was done so well, Shelby gives you enough to keep you intrigued, but keeps some surprises back. A gentle and entertaining read.

The Maid - Nita Prose

3 STARS

It begins like any other day for Molly Gray, silently dusting her way through the luxury rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel.

But when she enters suite 401 and discovers an infamous guest dead in his bed, a very messy mystery begins to unfold. And Molly’s at the heart of it – because if anyone can uncover the secrets beneath the surface, the fingerprints amongst the filth – it’s the maid . . .

My Thoughts

A murder mystery set in a hotel and a compelling quirky main character - this was enough to draw me in! If you want a cosy murder mystery with a wonderful array of characters, I think this is well worth a read. I flew through it, and while at times I was left wanting more, and found sometimes Molly’s neurodivergence could have been handled with more care and sensitivity in the writing, I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

---

New On My Book Shelf

This month I have added these books to my bookshelf…

House in the Cerulean Sea - T J Klune

The Lost Bookshop - Evie Woods

The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - J R R Tolkien

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

---

Hello, from me…

---

Next Up on my TBR List

I could not be more excited for my Autumn reading - I want to embrace the changing of the season with some gothic tales and classics to get me in the mood!

Next up on my TBR list are:

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

I also leave some space for spontaneous choices, and library visits!

Do join me again next month for all my reading in September …

---

Bookish Substacks I’ve enjoyed this month…

A Life Spent Reading

Am I overplanning my reading?

---

I hope you have enjoyed this months Book Lovers Chat! I honestly have the best fun putting this together! If you would like to see anything at all featured in Book Lovers Chat, please let me know as we grow this community together. I’ll be back at the beginning of next month with even more reading inspiration!

Please do share in the comments what you are currently reading and what you plan to read over the Autumn season!

I’d love to know if you have read any of the books we have discussed here, or if you have any recommendations this month to share!

Thank you for being here,

With Light & Love

Emily xxx

My content is completely free, but you can buy me a coffee following this link!

If you enjoyed this post, found it useful or want to help me spread the word about how enriching Slow & Gentle Living can be, please do like/leave a comment or share/restack to help others discover Generosity of Spirit. Thank you for reading!

---