August Recommended Reads
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Do you feel that slight chill in the air? The crisp scent of autumn approaching?
Okay, so there are a few weeks yet before it’s officially fall. But for me, September 1 signals the start of spooky season. It’s true that I’m partial to dark and creepy reads all year long, but I consider this month my transition period away from beach reads and into all-spooky, all the time. It’s no surprise, then, that this round of recommended titles kicks off with a perfect book to pair with your fall festivities.
Just wait until next month, when the spooky factor REALLY intensifies.
In the meantime, here were my favorite books from the month of August:
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor
By Bianca Marais
★★★★1/2
After several decades living together in Critchley Hackle, the witches of Moonshyne Manor have gotten used to their comfortable rhythm of routine incantations and cocktail hours. But when a mob of misled men begin to threaten their beloved home and the very existence of their coven, they'll have to dredge up the most painful parts of their shared past. Can they find a way to forge a new future and still keep their sisterhood intact?
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the advanced digital copy of The Witches of Moonshyne Manor in exchange for my honest review. This book is a whimsical tale of sisterhood, identity, belonging, and finding power in the wisdom of old age. Each of the witches is imbued with delightful personality, from Jezebel’s scandalous antics to Queenie’s stoic self-reliance, and their deep and enduring love for one another is palpable from the first page. Best of all, these witches are funny as all heck, always armed with a witty retort or snarky comeback for those who wish them harm. It's all set against a backdrop of wonder and magic and the fascinating ways their powers intertwine with the natural world. I have just one question about the manor: When can I move in?
The Soulmate
By Sally Hepworth
★★★★
(Releases April 2023 in the U.S.)
Gabe and Pippa moved to a secluded coastal town outside of Melbourne to find some peace and quiet for their young family and leave the rockiest moments of their marriage behind. But the couple’s cliffside home neighbors The Drop, a sheer precipice that attracts people contemplating ending their lives. Gabe takes it upon himself to intervene, talking down person after person who appears at the edge — until he fails to get through to a woman who plummets to her death just out of view from their young daughters. When Pippa learns that Gabe and the woman knew each other, her world is plunged into a spiral of uncertainty.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced digital copy of The Soulmate in exchange for my honest review. Hepworth is known for domestic thrillers that explore the complexity of family, and this book is no exception. In The Soulmate, she skillfully directs the reader’s attention exactly where she wants it, making you second guess your view of the characters again and again. One particularly interesting aspect of this book is Hepworth’s choice to use the dead woman’s voice as the second perspective, showing us scenes from her life before her fall, as well as the action she watches unfold from some unseen purgatory after death. There is no big dramatic plot twist, per se, but you likely won’t see the final resolution coming.
Station Eleven
By Emily St. John Mandel
★★★★1/2
On the night the world ended, Kirsten Raymonde was performing on stage with the famous actor Arthur Leander. She doesn’t remember much from before the virus hit, but she does remember watching him keel over in the midst of King Lear. Now, 20 years since the collapse, Kirsten spends her days walking from settlement to settlement as a member of The Traveling Symphony, a nomadic group of actors and musicians whose singular goal is to keep art alive in this new world. But when the troupe encounters a dangerous cult led by a man known only as The Prophet, their delicate existence will be thrown into turmoil.
This book distinguishes itself from other works of apocalyptic fiction in its fierce commitment to realism. The most terrifying aspect of the book is not some virus that turns humans into zombies or an ambiguous alien threat. Instead, it is the way this book forces the reader to reflect on how they would go about surviving in the aftermath of an earth-shattering event like the pandemic depicted in Station Eleven. The unique time structure of the novel is well-executed, transitioning seamlessly between events before and after the collapse without leaving the reader disoriented. Above all, the characters are meticulously developed, making it easy to get invested in their stories and they ways they eventually intertwine.
That’s all for this month. I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading lately, so feel free to reach out and let me know. I’ll see you in early October for my next round of recommended titles!
