June 2025: What I read

The Women by Kristin Hannah: An historical novel exploring the experience of women who served in the Vietnam War. I really enjoyed this novel. Being only in my 40s I am too young to have memory of the Vietnam War, and this was an easily accessible read that explored the experiences of a group of women that history has previously ignored somewhat. 

  

The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden: This is a hard one to summarise. It is set in post-post Netherlands and is a deep exploration of..... perhaps I could say the weight of history on our personal lives and identities. 

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill: A mystery story about a young writer who seeks to discover the identity of her mentor and lover's murderer. I love Gentill's Rowland Sinclair novels. Initially I really enjoyed this book, but I liken it a little to The Nowhere Child which I read recently - it starts off strong and then completely lost me with it ludicrous ending. 

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham: My favourite of Wyndham's novels. No matter how many times I read it, I can't put it down. 

The Good Turn and The Scholar by Dervla Tiernan: Books 2 & 3 in the Cormac Reilly series. After not being entirely excited by the first in this series, I actually think that they get better as the series progresses. 

 

Bliss by Peter Carey: Seriously kooky - really, I have no idea what I read or why I read it. Honestly, just a bizarre book, I barely know what to say. 

The Cryptic Clue: A Tea Ladies Mystery by Amanda Sampson: I love this series. I am trying to read it slowly because I enjoy it so much, but honestly if you are into a cosy detective book - this series is for you. Bonus for me is that it is set in the streets down from my current office building and so I try to imagine myself on those streets, back in the 1950s and 1960s, and really see the story through the eyes of the characters.  

Insomnia reads 

My insomnia reads - those books I read late at night when insomnia has me in its grips. In June I did what I try very hard not to do and just read my day books at night time. I try to avoid this because a new book will keep me in its grip, which makes it harder to put it down and at least try to rest. Much of The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill was read late at night. 

I did, however, have one insomnia read this month: A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie. It was chosen at random and I had read it enough to know 'who dunnit' so the mystery element wasn't there to keep me reading longer than I should.