• I read 16 books this month
• Genre: 5 mystery, 4 sci-fi, 3 fantasy, 2 historical fiction, 1 spy novel and 1 poetry collection
• Gender of authors: 9 women and 7 men
• Race of authors: 8 white authors, 7 Asian authors and 1 black author
• Age range: 8 adult, 6 YA and 2 middle grade
• Format: 10 paperback, 5 ebook and 1 hardback

Challenges

• Prompt: Mystery
  • Usotoki Rhetoric Vol.1
  • Murder in Mesopotamia
  • Whose Body?
  • Promise Boys
  • Tokyo Express
• Sequel:
  • Murder in Mesopotamia
• Tor.com: The Wonderful Stag, or the Courting of Red Elsie

Nocean by Efa (2 stars)

This was a post-apocalyptic graphic novel that I read through Netgalley. Unfortunately, it didn’t really meet my expectations plot wise but I thought the art design was stunning!

Tokyo Express by Seiko Matsumoto (2.5 stars)

A Japanese post war classic crime story. It was super engaging in the first third and I found the ending result to be entertaining but the middle section of the book was incredibly boring. You spend most of the book watching the detective read a myriad of transport time tables and at first it was novel but by the 4th timetable I was bored.

Leo in Little Pieces by Mayana Itoiz (2.5 stars)

Another graphic novel through Netgalley this time a World War 2 memoir. A really interesting look at a first-hand experience of what it was like living in France at the time of WW2. I will say I found the narrative structure to be confusing as well as the art design not being, particularly to my taste.

The Strange – Nathan Ballingrud (3 stars)

A sci-fi western. The first I have ever read this genre mix. I loved the setting of a western-esque town on the planet Mars! The plot started off super interesting but I think the author was trying to do too many different things half way through the story I started losing interest and all the points didn’t really tie up.

Red Dust White Snow – Pan Huiting (3 stars)

I think the theme so far this month is an amazing start but a less-than-amazing ending. I loved everything about the beginning of this story. I was fully on the 5 stars train but after the 50% mark, the story just fell away from the author. I felt that this book should have been longer as it felt that the author forgot they had to wrap up the story and rushed the ending while the plot itself felt unfinished or under-explored.

Promise Boys – Nick Brooks (3 stars)

A really interesting YA thriller that tackles systemic racism, toxic masculinity and the education system. Specifically on how it affects black and brown boys. I thought the use of multiple POVS and multi-media was incredibly engaging and really pushed this theme of assumptions and how they can harm people. I thought the characters were really interesting. But I felt that the mystery itself was disappointing and not structured amazingly.

Whose Body? – Dorothy L. Sayers (3.5 stars)

A re-read from a book I listened to last Summer. I enjoyed this re-read more than the audio version. Peter Wimsey is a really engaging character and I think Sayers does an amazing job at the dialogue in this book. Incredibly entertaining. My favourite scene had to be the scene where Wimsey figured everything out in his living room. I was also not expecting the PTSD representation so much within this book.

Murder in Mesopotamia – Agatha Christie (4 stars)

Continuing on with my Hercule Poirot read-through. I had heard very bad things about this book so I went in with quite low expectations but I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. I normally hate when Poirot isn’t in the story from the beginning but I found the first 100 pages to be engaging without him. This probably would have been a 5-star if it wasn’t for the complete 180 of an ending which was too over the top even for me.

The Trial of Lotta Rae – Siobhan MacGowan (4 stars)

A heart-breaking historical fiction novel about a woman who is let down by the man who was supposed to give her justice. I normally tend to read historical mysteries or historical fantasies so this was my first pure historical fiction novel in a long time AND I LOVED IT! MacGowan’s writing is so incredibly beautiful and her characterisation of Lotta Rae is amazing. Not only is it amazing but watching how she writes Lotta’s continuous growth and constant changing was masterful.

Juniper Mae: Knight of Tykotech City – Sarah Soh (5 stars)

A super fun graphic novel for a 7+ audience. With beautiful art design, a great female protagonist and the cutest frog-like sidekicks I have ever seen!

Spy x Family Vol.1 – Tatsuya Endo (5 stars)

I am so happy I finally got my hands on this series! Every great thing I heard about this is very accurate. I love the setting, the comedic writing and the characters. FOUND FAMILY IS THE ULTIMATE TROPE!

Some other books that I didn’t feel I had enough to write a mini review about:

• A Passing on of Shells – Simon Lamb (3.5 stars)
• The Wonderful Stag or the Courtship of Red Elsie (3.5 stars)
• Usotoki Rhetoric Vol.1 – Ritsu Miyako (4 stars)
• The Promised Neverland Vol.14 – Kaiu Shirai (4 stars)
• The Girl from the Other Side Vol.2 – Nagabe (4 stars)