Books - August 2026

[smallhobbit]

11 books this month, although a number were short, and started last month.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
This was one of the books I felt I really should read.  Although it's supposed to be funny, I wasn't amused.  I disliked the heroine and found the ending very fairy tale like.

R.U.R. by Karel Capek
The book where the word 'robot' came from.  Written in 1920, it has a lot to say today about people thinking they can do as they please and being horrified at the consequences.

Apple of my Eye by Helene Hanff
Recommended by pushkin666 it's a portrait of New York from the 1970s.  I enjoyed her very personal view of the city.

A Shroud of Snow by Sarah Hawkswood
The latest in the Bradecote and Catchpoll series, I had pre-ordered my copy so read it as soon as it came out - which confused Goodreads, which doesn't believe books can be published anywhere before the US.  I really enjoyed the mystery and the characters.  It's set in Worcester in 1145, with a quick trip to Gloucester :)

Maigret and the Old People by Georges Simenon
Once more I was taken by the different characters, and didn't anticipate the solution at all, although it made perfect sense.

By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie
A Tommy and Tuppence mystery.  I know many Christie fans like the couple, but I'm not drawn to them.

The Medici: The Golden Age of Collecting by Massimo Winspeare
I was given the book when we visited Florence.  I've looked at the pictures, but finally got round to reading the text.  I should have stuck with the pictures!  The author was really only interested in the importance of the articles collected - ignore the cost, buy the pretty.

A Telegram from Le Touquet by John Bude
I haven't been a great fan of Bude before, but I enjoyed this book and the collection of characters.  Set partly in England, partly in France, there was plenty to keep me guessing.

The Choir on Hope Street by Annie Lyons
I enjoyed seeing the different characters and how they coped with life problems, sometimes successfully sometimes disastrously.  The ending is perhaps more positive than in real life, but that's not a failing for a book, while the main characters don't have the ideal ending, it's positive, and definitely feel good.

Tea is So Intoxicating by Mary Essex
British Library Women Writers series, written in 1950.  So many characters making bad decisions because of who they are.  And yet I found it a fun read.  It revolves around creating a tea shop in an English village, which it turns out isn't as easy as it might seem.

Maigret and Monsieur Charles by Georges Simenon
The final Maigret book which still had me sucked in.

Comments

[garonne]

This was one of the books I felt I really should read. Although it's supposed to be funny, I wasn't amused.

I had exactly the same reaction. And I had only picked it up because it appears on so many "Best Books" lists.

[smallhobbit]

I'm glad I'm not the only one to have that reaction. It was disappointing.

[lucy_roman]

An interesting selection. Cold Comfort Farm is only tottering tbr pile.

[smallhobbit]

Although my main love is crime fiction, about 60% of the books I've read this year fall into that category, I do try to vary my reading. I hope you do enjoy Cold Comfort Farm.

[lucy_roman]

I'm a big crime fiction fan too. I'm working through the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths at the moment.

[smallhobbit]

I've not read much by Elly Griffiths, but then there are do many authors to choose from.

[kingstoken]

Wow! That's a lot of books for one month.

[smallhobbit]

Five of them were short, and four I started halfway through July, so it's probably six weeks reading overall.