May, June & July Reading Wrap Up | 2023

It’s been quite a few months since I filmed a #ReadingWrapUp, so here is three months worth in one. It’s a bit of an epic video so grab a refreshment and maybe a snack as I talk about what I read in May, June and July. #BookTube #WrapUp

Channels Mentioned…

@louisesavidgemuses4135
@hardbackhypebeast
@benjaminjournal

Books Mentioned…

Illuminated by Melanie Sykes
Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater
Madwoman by Louisa Treger
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
What White People Can Do Next by Emma Dabiri
Don't Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri
The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse
Main Character Energy by Fats Timbo
The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
Mrs. S by K. Patrick
The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
The Pepperpot Diaries by Andi Oliver
And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu
Cereus Blooms at Night by Shane Mootoo
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Kevin
Open Throat by Henry Hoke
The City of Tears by Kate Mosse
Consequences by E.M. Delafield
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang
The Summer Without Men by Siri Hustvedt
Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson

Me Elsewhere…

[fionamacdonald]

Oh this is going to be amazing; your wrap ups are legendary to me🎉lovely to see you again, Simon! 😊

[charlottecantrell]

YAY!!! A wrap up!!! I bloody love your wrap ups! What a treat.

[janebowell]

Thank you Simon! I have noted down three let’s see if I can find the time to read them. 🎉

[phoenixjones]

Hope you're recovering well, Simon! What a joy this bumper wrap-up was 🧡💛🦊📚

[KathrinHäusele]

All the best from Germany. Love your videos.❤ Have a good reading time.😊

[amy_harboredinpages]

Reading Wrap-up funk/slump.... I have been there! Yep. I'm sure I will again.😌
📚🥰📖📚

[bookinwithdebra]

Hi Simon - I've recently watched all your Hay Festival interviews for Sky Arts. I really enjoyed them. I thought you were excellent. You came across as so relaxed, genuine and friendly. I'm imagine in reality it was very nerve wracking. I really hope to see you doing something similar in future. Great work. Thanks for all your continued booktube dedication 😃

[jackiesliterarycorner]

May:
1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
2. Sophie’s Pack by Dakiara
3. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
4. The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
5. The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg
6. Nona by Stephen King
7. For Owen by Stephen King
8. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
9. Time and Again by Jack Finney
10. Survivor Type by: Stephen King
11. Uncle Otto’s Truck by: Stephen King
12. Morning Deliveries (Milkman # 1) by: Stephen King
13. Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2)
14. Gramma by Stephen King
15. The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet by Stephen King
16. The Reach by Stephen King
17. Ashes, Ashes by Jessica Goeken

June; 
24. End of the Watch by J.S. Dawes
25. Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome by Anthony Everitt
26. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
27. TSFG&E The Camelot Years: The One True King by Soman Chainani
28. The Bladed Faith by David Dalglish

July:
1. Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
2. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
3. Merchants of Virtue (The Huguenot Connection Book One) by Paul C.R. Monk
4. The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
5. Jane Austen in Real Life: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne
6. Charlotte by Helen Moffett🦊

[millysbookshelf]

Totally agree - Kate Atkinson was superb.

[Tui]

🦊thank you! I have got back into reading this year and you've helped a lot with that. I've been a BK fan since The Bean Trees and I loved loved loved Demon Copperfield. I have read some great books from your recommendations. thanks again.

[cecilialau_]

The tangents and waffle is my favourite part though 😅👑 It only highlights your passion for books which is fabulously contagious btw. And vlogs to come sounds brill! Thanks for all you do.
- I like that you include dnf’s. It’s not permanent so we can come back later if we want. But it also just shows that we know what we like and want our time reading spent well. Searching for the high of it and all that 😎
- Always here till the end 📚🦊

[emmafletcher]

The longer the better Simon! Fabulous wrap up as always!
I shall prepare my bank balance accordingly! 🤣📚

[AnnaD]

I've missed your wonderful wrap ups! I'm definitely going to get hold of a copy of that Kate Atkinson book - it sounds amazing. 🦊 I'm looking forward to watching your DNF video because it's something I struggle to do. I will read a book to the bitter end and then feel cross that I wasted my reading time. 🙄

[anneroy]

The Franchise Affair was published in 1948 when attitudes about how women should behave were not what they are today ... especially in certain groups / classes ... it was inspired about a 'real life' case that had been in the papers.

[lynnesmith]

📚I loved the Poisonwood Bible, liked Tomorrow x 3 and Shrines of Gaiety! I very rarely DNF, particularly if I’ve bought it, I’m more likely to with a library copy. I DNFed Demon Copperhead last November and sent it back to the library only to take it back out in May when I saw it was up for the Women’s Prize……..and loved it! A case of right book wrong time? Or ‘it’s not you its me’ literary edition!🦊

[cindyhaiken]

📖🦊What an epic wrap up! I would love a DNF video. I just DNF’d a book earlier this week and it felt liberating! I often shift to skimming instead of DNF’ing and I don’t know why. You’ve made me want to reread Poisonwood Bible, which is an undertaking! Cannot wait for autumn officially to arrive. Best time of the year!

[spexi]

Agree on the DNF-ing. Reading isn’t a chore for me so if I’m not feeling it, I’m out .

[janedolman]

Looking forward to the Kate Atkinson short stories. Never use to DNF but I do now… too many books too little time! 🦊📖

[janebowell]

I must try Kingsolver’s, The Poison Wood Bible again as I had problems getting in to it, twice. However her Demon Copperhead was one of my favorite books this year. The Bee Sting by the way was another favorite 🎉 my latest DNF was The Other Eden such a shame.

Thank you, Simon. 🦊

[dianedickson]

Death of a Bookseller looks great. Must have a look at that. Golly my mum used to talk about a film about Nellie Bly and she remembered it for years and years. Can't remember what it was called, but hearing about the book reminded me of that. Hmm I looked at tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and didn't buy it. Perhaps I should have another look. I have a real problem with DNFing anything I need to be tougher, I reckon. I'm envious that you still have Shrines of Gaeity to read - I loved it altogether. Must get the Kate Atkinson short stories. I don't normally buy short story collections but you made that sound really tempting. 🦊📘🦊