The only good thing about a cold is that I spend more time on the sofa, reading.

Despite my mental state, I managed to read a bunch of new-to-me books, as well as five books that had been published in 2022 or 2023.

First and best, I am continuing to enjoy Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, repeatedly forcing Michael to listen to passages that especially amuse me. I mean, how can you not take delight in this?

(Person), being a professional to his bones, has insisted on being buried naked. He knows that any self-respecting murderer would leave as few clues in the grave as possible.

I was also delighted by The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang, which had a similar feel to Legends and Lattes, despite being a different book, and in fact this book all but name-checks it.

The other book I want to mention is the first of Chloe Liese ‘s Bergman Brother’s series. I picked up and read the second book, Always Only You, because it had a female protagonist with ASD, and enjoyed it, but put off reading other books in the series, for no reason other than Michelle Brain. This book’s main male character has severe hearing loss, and I was done for after reading the opening notes.

This story also includes a main character who is late-deafened. As of this book’s revision, expansion, and republication on August 21, 2021, its portrayal has been informed by the consulted experience and critique of a late-deafened authenticity reader. I hope I have given these subjects the respect, care, and sensitivity they deserve.

She rewrote much of the book to make the Deaf representation better.

That is amazing and I will now set out to read everything she has written, because of it.

There were lots of rereads as well. I’m rereading Freya Marske‘s Last Binding series as I wait for the third book to come out (November! — I just realized THREE books I’m impatiently waiting for come out within a week of each other: A Power Unbound (The Last Binding), Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal (A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery), and System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries) (MURDERBOT!))

So September was a decent reading month, although I could really have done without the cold.

Fantasy

• The Bookshop and the Barbarian (2023) Morgan Stang 9/10
• A Marvellous Light (2021) Freya Marske (The Last Binding) 8.5/10
• Occult Crimes Unit Investigation by Justin Gustainis: Evil Dark (2012) 8/10, Known Devil (2014) 8/10

Romance

• Only When It’s Us (2020) Chloe Liese (Bergman Brothers) 8/10
• Donut Fall in Love (2021) Jackie Lau 7.5/10
• His Grandfather’s Watch (2012) N.R. Walker 7/10
• Gouda Friends (2022) Cathy Yardley (Ponto Beach Reunion) 7/10

Mystery

• Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman: The Man Who Died Twice (2021) 9/10, The Bullet That Missed (2022) 9/10
• Murder Most Actual (2021) Alexis Hall 8/10
• Jacqueline Kirby by Elizabeth Peters: The Seventh Sinner (1972) 7.5/10, The Murders of Richard III (1974) 7/10, Die for Love (1984) 7/10
• A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons (2022) Kate Khavari (Saffron Everleigh) 6.5/10
• The Body in the Back Garden (2023) Mark Waddell 6/10

Audio Book

• Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson, Audio Book (2014) Patricia Briggs narrated by Lorelei King and Alexander Cendese 8/10
• Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs narrated by Holter Graham: Cry Wolf, Audio Book (2009) 8/10, Hunting Ground, Audio Book (2009) 8/10
• The Phoenix Illusion, Audio Edition (2018) Lisa Shearin narrated by Johanna Parker (SPI Files) 7/10