A Month in Books - September 2017

It's always interesting to see which of my book posts will be most popular - other than those with Giveaways of course! - and which result in sales. The majority of Literary Flits links are affiliate links so when you click through I get a small commission for any purchases you all make. (Thank you!) September's reports had a surprise in store showing a sale of The Leopard which I'd reviewed way back in June. It's great to see older posts still generating attention! Don't forget you can browse titles of every Literary Flits book on the Author A-Z page or use the LinkWithin feature and label links at the end of each post.

Our fab holiday at the beginning of September cut into my reading time so I only read thirteen books this month! They include bizarre surrealism, poetry, crime mysteries and thrillers, and an excellent ancient-story-retelling. Keep scrolling past the Spotlights for my mini reviews ...


Guest reviews

Literary Flits hosted one Guest Review this month. If you have an indie author, small press or global literature book review that you would like to share please do get in touch.

Grace In Strange Disguise by Christine Dillon

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Read author Trix Wilkins' book review on Literary Flits

Spotlights

Do also get in touch to buy a Spotlight post for your book(s). Further details through This Link. Alternatively you could win a Spotlight by following me and retweeting my pinned tweet on Twitter! August's winner was Kathleen Harryman who promotes her York based thriller When Darkness Falls.

The Dark Mermaid by Christina L Barr + Giveaway

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Read the original post on Literary Flits

Pretty Perfect by Lana Sky + Giveaway

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Read the original post on Literary Flits

Journey's End: Death, Dying and the End of Life by Victoria Brewster and Julie Saeger Nierenberg + Giveaway

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Read the original post on Literary Flits

Blackout by Lawrence Johnson Sr. + Giveaway

Audible UK

Audible US

Smashwords

Read the original post on Literary Flits

When Darkness Falls by Kathleen Harryman + Giveaway

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery

Read the original post on Literary Flits

Carry Me Home by Jessica Therrien + Giveaway

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Wordery

Read the original post on Literary Flits

My reviews

Strungballs by Mike Russell + Giveaway

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Wordery

I won a copy of Strungballs in a Facebook giveaway. I already knew of Mike Russell's work by way of a Rebecca Gransden's Nothing In Strange Guest Review so was delighted to try it myself. This novella is seriously weird! Entertaining definitely, and wonderfully surreal!

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

Everything Is Better With A Cape by C H Clepitt

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Kerry is back and still making event-inappropriate fashion choices! I enjoyed Everything Is Better With A Cape even more than its I Wore Heels To The Apocalypse predecessor and I think it is definitely the most humorous post-apocalyptic fiction I have read! There is little in the way of grim despair in Clepitt's invented world, instead we are faced with superheroic costume choices, gooey robots and a brilliantly sarcastic badger.

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

35 Crocheted Bags by Emma Friedlander-Collins

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery

35 Crocheted Bags is a great resource for practical crochet patterns. It includes clear instructions for all kinds of bags from large totes and satchels to coin purses and glasses cases and I like that many are designed to be made with thick, chunky yarns. I can get from pattern to finished product pretty quickly!

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

The Nomad's Premonition by Georges Benay + Giveaway

Amazon UK

Amazon US

I struggled through this book for a blog tour. I know other readers enjoyed it, but I think I can safely now say that financial thrillers aren't a genre for me.

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery

My Book Of The Month! Shamsie's retelling of Sophocles' Antigone is brilliant and I loved reading this book. It's longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and I have my fingers crossed that it wins!

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

Service Disrupted: My Peace Corps Story by Tyler E. Lloyd

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Primarily Lloyd's recounting of his mental turmoil following a health scare while working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso. The memoir is an interesting insight into the reactions of a young man potentially afflicted with a terminal illness, especially the Schrodinger's Cat situation he endures whilst awaiting further tests and a definite prognosis.

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

The Hairdresser Of Harare by Tendai Huchu

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery

I had seen The Hairdresser Of Harare positively reviewed on other book blogs so jumped at the chance to purchase my own copy when the ebook was discounted recently on Amazon. It's a fairly light-hearted story - although with violent episodes towards the end - and I thought Huchu portrayed modern day Zimbabwe in a lively and entertaining way with great characters.

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

The Smallest Thing by Lisa Manterfield

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Manterfield understands the teenage small-town claustrophobic experienced by Emmott Syddall in this thriller and I felt a lot of both sympathy and empathy for this character throughout the novel. The situation in which she ultimately finds herself is extreme, but always highly plausible - especially as I already knew the real village of Eyam had suffered plague quarantine before.

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery

I felt this novel never quite decided what it wanted to be. It misses out on being a strong historical work, but didn't quite convince me as a political crime thriller either. Strong characters and some vivid writing made it an enjoyable read, but I thought it should have been excellent instead of just good.

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

A Journey Round My Room by Xavier de Maistre

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery

I learned about A Journey Round My Room by reading Traveling In Place by Bernd Stiegler a couple of years ago. Stiegler was impressed with this autobiographical travel parody and I had looked forward to discovering it too. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed!

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

What's Wrong With The Street by Andy Carrington

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Andy Carrington returns to the fervent anger of his previous poetry collection, Apathy Will Kill Us All, for this newest publication. For me, the poems felt like segments of an epic work rather than individual pieces because of their overlapping subject matter and recurring themes. The sheer energy Carrington maintains throughout the book is exhausting!

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

Sense And Sensibility by Jane Austen

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery

I'm now two-thirds of the way through my Jane Austen Challenge to read all six of her novels during 2017. I have found that they seem to fall into two categories and sadly Sense And Sensibility joins the Dull as Ditchwater side for me.

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

Havana Black by Leonardo Padura

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery

I love when charity shop take-a-chance books turn out to be brilliant and that is certainly the case with Havana Black. This Cuban crime novel concentrates more on character relationships and portraying Havana than on the mystery itself and I thought it was much the stronger for this.

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

That's it for this month and I know I have already got some great books lined up to read and review in October including macabrely titled Iranian novel, Through The Sad Woods Our Corpses Will Hang by Ava Farmehri, and an autobiography of Burundi runner Gilbert Tuhabonye. Keep up daily on Literary Flits or I will see you here at the end of the month for another round up.

Don't forget the Giveaways!