My summer has been filled with home projects such as repainting inside and placing my children in separate rooms. All the rearranging and painting led me to review my current book collection and decide which books I wanted to keep, the temporary books I wanted to read and then give away and those that seemed like a good idea but no longer seem interesting. I dove into a young adult series by Sabaa Tahir and finally finished a medieval historical novel I have had on my TBR shelf forever.

I was also able to listen to several books while I was painting. I continued with Thompson’s gaslight mystery series. I reread The Little Princess and some of the Chronicles of Narnia while setting up my kid’s rooms. Having books to listen to during the summer months has been extremely helpful as I navigate sibling squabbles and prepare the house for the new school year.

Here are the books that I read in July:

MURDER IN CHINATOWN BY VICTORIA THOMPSON

I listened to this book through Libby. This is book nine in the Gaslight Mystery series. At this point in the series, the narrator of the book changes. I had grown accustomed to the voice of Callie Beaulieu. The pace and distinctive voice had settled in. With this audiobook, there were different accents utilized by the narrator and perhaps this was why there was a shift. It is a bit jarring to have a change of narrator mid-series and I am still not quite adjusted yet.

The story of Sarah Brandt and Frank Malloy continues with the birth of baby in a Chinese-Irish home. A young girl does not want to marry an older man regardless of his wealth. Later she is found dead and there are many suspects. Frank Malloy is brought on to investigate and Sarah Brandt, in her duties attending a new mother, has discoveries of her own that may help solve the case.

After the last book in the series, this one was far better. The mystery was solved only in the final pages. The culprits seemed so guilty and clues seemed to point definitively toward a killer. The book felt drawn out and a little redundant. I still liked the mystery and I was incredibly surprised by the conclusion.

3.25/5 Stars

A TORCH AGAINST THE LIGHT BY SABAA TAHIR

The second book in Sabah Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series. The story continues with Laia and Elias on the run. They have to be careful not to be found by the Martials or the new Blood Strike. Helen does not want to bring down her friend, turned outlaw. But she has to satisfy an Empire suffering from psychosis and navigate the dangers that surround her family. Meanwhile, the outlaws try to free Laia’s brother from Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison. The story of war, alliance, betrayal, love and friendship follows.

In A Torch Against the Light, I found what I liked about the series and what I did not like. I greatly enjoyed the dystopian imagery and setting that Tahir created. Dismal, but it was captivating to read about a different world with the complications of supernatural forces. I noticed that the level of romance between characters increases quite a bit. The first book was focused on building the world of the Martial Empire and the way of life for each character. The sequel spent more time on deepening relationships—some romantic and some plutonic. Some people may enjoy the youthful romance, whereas I tend to find it a bit excessive and not very believable.

4/5 Stars

A REAPER AT THE GATES BY SABAA TAHIR

The third book in Sabah Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series. Here begins the truth of the Commandment and the Nightbringer’s true intentions. Not only are the outlying cities under siege, but the capital itself may be under attack. The Emperor Marcus grows more unstable and Helene, the Blood Strike, struggles with her loyalty to the empire and her family. Laia recognizes that the war closing in on the capital is not the real threat. In her hunt for the Nightbringer, Laia faces unexpected threats and may not have the support she is counting on.

read quickly through A Reaper at the Gates more so as to get to the last book. I was interested in how Laia’s journey would continue, but I missed the element of Elias as a Mask in the story. With him as the Soul Catcher, there was a shift in the story and more of a focus on the supernatural. Although the emphasis on the spirits was important to the plot, I missed the more tangible dystopian storyline of the first books.

3/5 Stars

A SKY BEYOND THE STORM BY SABAA TAHIR

The fourth book in Sabah Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series. This is the conclusion of the Nightbringer’s true design. He wants to cause events to happen that would affect the real world and the spirit world and perhaps cause the world’s destruction. Alongside the Nightbringer is the Commandment Keris Veturia who declares herself Empress. Laia begins to understand the role she plays in the Nightbringer’s havoc and in so doing she brings about an ancient power. Meanwhile, the Soul Catcher tries to forget his old life and the love he left behind, but doing so would be to ignore human anguish and suffering in the human world.

The clash of the physical world and the supernatural world came to a head in this story. I was excited to read about the fallout and future of the empire. I was more interested in the dystopian aspect of the series rather than the supernatural elements or youthful romances. I liked the culmination and climax with Keris Veturia and the interesting conclusion of how a person can become so corrupted. This should not detour another reader, but I am not a ‘romantasy’ type of reader. I like books with romance, I also like fantasy and I like young adult books from time to time. If you are a fan of all three then I believe you will really enjoy this series. I greatly enjoy the world-building aspects of fantasy, so once the plot centers more on romance, I lose some interest in the story. So, this series was a little much for me.

I started reading Fourth Wing and I found it far too similar to An Ember in the Ashes. Yes, one has dragons and the other doesn’t. And yet they both have a brutal regime, a seemingly weak female protagonist, a severe mother in command and, of course, an attractive love interest. For my part, I think Sabaa Tahir’s series is better than Fourth Wing—her writing and her plot lines. Although I wanted to read more about a futuristic Roman regime, the spiritual elements were still interesting and made the goals of the protagonist seem nearly impossible. This kept me reading along knowing that Laia and Elias would somehow make it through but I could not understand how they would with so much against them. Perhaps some people might not find my review of the two books fair. I read all four of the An Ember in the Ashes series and only the first few chapters of Fourth Wing. Or perhaps that tells you all you need to know.

4/5 Stars

MURDER ON BANK STREET BY VICTORIA THOMPSON

I listened to this book through Libby. This is book ten in the Gaslight Mystery series. It has been four years since Sarah Brandt’s husband, Tom, was brutally murdered. Thanks to a push by Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, Frank Malloy is instructed with the task of finding Tom Brandt’s killer. Frank also enlisted the help of the Pinkerton Detective Agency and is financially supported in his efforts by an unlikely source.

It was high time that Thompson sorted out the mystery of the death of Sarah Brandt’s husband. His death sat in the background of murder mysteries and it seemed like the right time in the storyline to have his death resolved. The truth behind his death was devastating. I had a difficult time reading about the rationale of the people involved. It was also difficult to read about the pain and suffering that affected other people in the story.

Bank Street was not as repetitive as ‘Chinatown’ or ‘Little Italy’. There was room in the story to share more of Maeve’s background which added to the depth of the story. So far this series has been enjoyable to listen to. A cozy mystery that is not wholly predictable and easy to follow along.

Trigger Warning - One of the circumstances that happen in the book is repeated sexual assault. This was difficult for me to read about without having experienced anything like what happened in this book. It may be unsettling to someone who has experienced such an assault or knows someone very dear who has suffered in such a way.

3.5/5 Stars

KATHERINE BY ANYA SETON

A classic historical fiction tale of the romantic lives of Katherine Swynford and John Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The importance of the love affair that involved betrayal, adultery, redemption and legitimization is what became of their decedents. Their granddaughter through Joan Beaufort was Cecily Neville who became the wife of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York and would have several children, two of whom would go on to be kings of England, Edward IV and Richard III. Their great-granddaughter, Lady Margaret Beaufort (granddaughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset) would marry Edmund Tudor and their son would become Henry VII, King of England.

I greatly enjoyed reading about Katherine de Roet and her rise in the English Court. The book read very similar to Sharon Kay Penman. Rather, since this book was published in the 1950s Penman writes a lot like Anya Seton. Better than any non-fiction tale of a notable woman in history, Seton weaves together narratives and brings the characters to life in a riveting way. Once I started and grew accustomed to the 14th-century setting I could not put the book down. The only part of the story that felt a little shaky was Katherine's later life and the decisions she made, but when I read factual accounts of her story I found Seton to have some creative license but was fairly accurate.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, Seton is a wonderful writer for the genre. Detailed, rich and visual, her writing painted an in-depth picture of the era around Edward III. The main emphasis is a love story and amid so much upheaval in a real time in history, the story of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford was very satisfying.

4.25/5 Stars

MURDER ON WAVERLY PLACE BY VICTORIA THOMPSON

I listened to this book through Libby. This is book eleven in the Gaslight Mystery series. When Sarah Brandt’s very proper mother asks her to attend a seance she is skeptical but not surprised. She knows that Mrs. Decker still carries great guilt over the death of her older daughter, Maggie. So Sarah accompanies her and later finds that one of the women is found dead during a seance when all the doors are locked, there is no light and everyone is holding each other’s hands.

After Bank Street, I was hoping for a shift from the more disturbing cases in the series. At first, I was unenthusiastic about reading Waverly Place. Most books or TV episodes with spiritualists come to similar conclusions—the spiritualist is a fraud or they are real and what they ‘see’ is disturbing. Waverly Place had wonderful twists and turns and unexpected tension and clues. The conclusion was completely unexpected and I enjoyed the group of characters for this installment in the series. This book jumped to the top of the list for this series. It had excellent pacing, tension and surprises. I also like how Thompson uses the two narratives of Sarah and Frank Malloy to bring about so many cliffhangers. The author does not just add suspense, she builds it and by the end, the pace quickens satisfyingly.

4.5/5 Stars

JULY 2024 READING LIST